When dynamite could have destroyed Lone Peak ...

COULD Lone Peak have been destroyed by a dynamite blast in 1937?

 “Will dynamite crash hilltop(?)” was the headline of an Associated Press story in the Ogden Standard-Examiner of August 19, 1937.

The story stated, “Lone Peak, lofty outcropping of the Wasatch range upon which a great airliner crashed last winter, is to be blasted at its tip into a tomb for the tragedy that claimed seven lives.”

On December 15, 1936, a Western Air Express Boeing 247 crashed just below Hardy Ridge on Lone Peak. Most of the aircraft was hurled over the ridge and dropped over a thousand feet into the basin below.

Lone Peak is an 11,253-foot above sea level summit in the Wasatch Mountains, located east of Draper. (However, strictly speaking, Hardy Ridge is located hundreds of yards south of Lone Peak, above Hardy Lake.)

The A.P. story stated that Western Air Express had secured permission from the U.S. Forest Service to dynamite the mountain top. This was in order to “bury the crash area which now attracts sight-seers and which, because of frequent rock slides, is considered a menace.”

The story stated that the seven bodies, luggage, mail and plane parts were all recovered after six months of searching, followed by two months of digging and removal work.

It does NOT appear that Lone Peak itself was ever dynamited. No reports of such a blast could be found in old newspapers or through Google searches.
However, at least one person who read this report said a book on the history of the plane crash does mention that dynamite was indeed used to cover up the crash site.
(The Lone Peak area includes a lot of unstable looking rock and so an explosion could have likely altered the appearance of the area somewhat.)

In any event, according to www.lostflights.com, Amelia Earhart herself participated in the search for the plane early on, but it wasn’t located until July of 1937 (the month Earhart disappeared).

(There have been four deaths on Lone Peak in the past 20 years. Two were from lightning and two were from falls off cliffs.)

-Notwithstanding the Lone Peak area’s disastrous plane crash, it has always been a popular hiking destination. “Teachers climb peak” was a Sept. 6, 1915 headline in the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper. The story said 15 principals and teachers from the Jordan School District climbed the peak on Labor Day weekend. They faced a heavy wind and snowstorm half-way up the mountain.

-The American Fork Citizen newspaper of Sept. 8, 1923 stated that six men climbed Lone Peak, also on Labor Day weekend. They camped overnight and had a large fire that could be seen from all over the area.

-“Wasatch Mountain Club hikers ascend Lone Peak” was an Aug. 4, 1925 headline in the Salt Lake Telegram. A party of 14 took three days to complete the hike.

-“Hikers climb peak to set new record” was a Telegram headline on Oct. 3, 1938. Wasatch Mountain Club members, Odell Pedersen, W.C. Kamp, Orson Spencer and Keith Anderson all climbed the peak in 3 hours and 58 minutes, one of the speediest times ever.

-Three members of the Wasatch Mountain Club scaled Lone Peak from the east side, that includes a 700-foot-high wall of granite. They did it in July of 1958, according to The Midvale Sentinel newspaper.

                                         Malan's Peak is east of Mount Ogden Park.

-ANOTHER HISTORICAL TIDBIT: This probably wouldn’t be safe in today’s drought conditions, but in the late 1930s, Weber State College students would hike to Malan’s Peak and Malan’s Basin each September and have a block “W” fire.

(Malan’s Peak is east of 32^nd Street in Ogden.)

Some 90 students made the first-ever such hike in 1937, according to the Standard-Examiner of Sept. 20 that year.

In 1938, approximately 150students made the hike. They left the college campus at 6:30 p.m., drove to Taylor Canyon and reached the Basin about 9 p.m. and returned about 1 a.m.

“A flaming W on the mountain was lit at seven-thirty,” the Standard-Examiner of Sept. 10, 1938 reported.

This annual hike eventually stopped, but was restarted in 1988, though the fire tradition ceased.

                                                   Taylor Arave poses on Malan's Peak.

-All material was originally published in the Deseret News on May 13, 2020.

1914: The first skiing in the Ogden area?

                                   The mouth of Taylor Canyon.

WHEN did the first skiing in the Ogden Mountains begin?
Long before Snow Basin came along in 1940, winter recreation was was at least underway to some extent by 1914.
According to the Ogden Standard-Examiner of Jan. 17, 1914, a local minister, Rev. F.G. Brainerd and  a group climbed to Malan's Heights (today's Malan's Peak and Malan's Basin). Then, they used skis to slide down "with the wind,"
Rev. Brainerd said Ogden's mountains are even more "majestic and beautifully inspiring in winter than in summer."
He did regular snowshoe trips east of Ogden in the winter.
Tobaggan rides were reported to be popular pastimes in the eastern U.S., but in the west, few as yet, "realize the joy in store for those who will get out in the hills" in the winter season.
The Standard story concluded: "Our winter scenes, in canyon and mountain top, and the possibilities of our winter sports, should be one of the advertised features of Ogden."

                  Some antique, wooden skis of yesteryear.


-Just over five years later, a headline in the Standard-Examiner was: "They slide on snow banks in sight of Ogden and have a delightful time."
This story reported on May 27, 1919, that several groups of people had climbed to the top of "Observatory Peak" (today's Mount Ogden) that weekend.
There was still significant snow at high elevation that spring. The group went up and down the mountain saddle via the Malan's Heights trail. However, one of the two groups, were Japanese and they slid down quickly much of the distance on some sort of "rubber pads" on the snow.
The other party, presumably white in race, slid down the snow without such a pad and got very wet in the process. Members of that party were: R.F. Baker, Grace Jennings, Clifford Huss, Lucile Davis, George Bauman, Marjorie Turner and Ada Childs.

                          Looking toward Malan's Basin along the trail from Malan's Peak.

In the late 1920s, there was a ski jump near the mouth of Ogden Canyon. By 1937, Taylor Canyon's mouth featured a ski jump and later an ice skating rink.

1919: The year of the Christmas tree famine in Ogden

                                         Malan's Basin in 2015.

HIGH prices for Christmas trees and general scarcity of them was the hallmark of the 1919 holiday season in the Ogden, Utah area.
The Ogden Standard-Examiner newspaper on Dec. 19, 1919 reported that both a scarcity of pine trees around the city, as well as heavy snows in the mountains during October had made it almost impossible to secure the trees for the holiday season.
The owners of the Malan Height property (Malan's Basin and Malan's Peak) also stated they were placing guards on their property to prevent the loss of trees. The Malan's resort had not been operating for many years, but there were hopes to revive it and the property was also be used by ranchers.

                  Pine trees along the Taylor Canyon trail to Malan's Peak/Basin.

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net

1917: When a motorcycle ride to Malan’s Basin made headlines

                                           The mouth of Taylor Canyon in 2015.

                   Some rugged outcroppings on the Taylor Canyon trail.

"MOTORCYCLE driven from Ogden to Malan’s Heights” was a large headline in the Sept. 18, 1917 Standard-Examiner.

With World War I still raging, five young men from Ogden – L. Keller, Ronald Halstrom, James Rawson, Ed Lewis and Wright Corey – combined their might to get the machine up Taylor Canyon and eventually into Malan’s Basin, where a resort had existed 12 years prior.

                                       Malan's Peak.

         

The route up had so deteriorated in just over a decade that while Keller rode the motorcycle, his four friends had to physically lift the bike over rocks and some impassible places in Taylor Canyon.

“Several spills were unavoidable,” the report stated. The bike was driven down into lower gear, braking most of the way.

                                  Malan's Basin in 2015.

This was likely the first time a motorized vehicle had traversed Taylor Canyon, up to Malan’s Peak and into Malan’s Basin.

More historical tidbits:

-“Young people climb mountain” Was a July 21, 1915 headline in the Standard.

Seven “young folk” – one young man and six young women, including Iva Bailey, Theresa Chadwick and Earl Chadwick from Weber County, plus three New York young ladies and a Salt Lake young woman made the hike to Ben Lomond Peak.

They hiked up North Ogden Canyon, then followed the mountain saddle to Ben Lomond and returned by way of Liberty.

                   Ben Lomond Peak, center, as seen from Malan's Peak.

The group reported snow on the peak up to 10 feet deep, so snow must have persisted on local summits far longer that they do in the 21^st Century. They also found the register book and flag pole left there two years earlier in good condition.

-“Trip of Ben Lomond Club” was a Sept. 30, 1924 headline in the Box Elder News. The stable men of the 116^th Calvary took horses from the south side of Mantua to Ben Lomond Peak.

The group periodically nailed signs with arrows on them to help future travelers to the peak. They also reported deep gullies and fallen trees to negotiate through – especially near Willard Canyon, where a severe flood in August of 1923 had obliterated the trail.

Yet, every member of the company reached the Ben Lomond summit. Its 41 horses had been tied one quarter mile below the peak. The new group voted and adopted its bylaws while resting on the summit before its return.

-“Sunday sales City problem” was a Sept. 7, 1927 headline in the Standard-Examiner. It was then reported that some small stores in Ogden City, on north Washington Avenue, were using their soft drink licenses as a subterfuge for keeping their stores open on Sunday to sell all their other merchandise too.

City ordinances back then did allow soft drinks to be sold on Sunday, but not other merchandise. Ogden Mayor George E. Browning asked the police to investigate this illegal practice, as this business is “unfair to larger merchants whose stores are closed on Sunday.”

 (-Originally published on-line and in print on July 9-10, 2015 in the Ogden Standard-Examiner by Lynn Arave.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net

Malan’s Basin almost rose to new heights several times

                              Malan's Basin today, just clearing in the trees.

THE resort at Malan’s Heights in Malan’s Basin (weber County, east of Ogden, Utah) closed at the end of the 1904 summer season but plans were already underway to improve it.

“New resort planned. Electric line to Malan Heights, overlooking Ogden” was a May 31, 1905 headline in the 

Ogden Standard-Examiner. David Mattson, Weber County Clerk, had secured a one-year option on the land and then an option to purchase it.

Mattson wanted to improve the wagon road to the resort and eventually put a rail line in.

“Mr. Mattson is very enthusiastic over the proposition and states it is his intention to establish a hotel, dance halls, etc., on the heights and no pains will be spared to make the place attractive,” the Standard reported.

Those plans fell through.

By February of 1907, new plans were underway. Thomas Slight, a local artist, was painting a large picture of Malan’s Heights. It was to be given to engineers to design a cog railroad to Malan’s Basin and even a dam for a lake in the basin.

                    The spectacular view looking north from Malan's Peak.

“Cable to the clouds. Phil O’Mara and Associates to build to Observatory Peak,” was a March 12, 1907 Standard headline. Now, even more ambitious dreams of creating a cog railroad to “Observatory Peak” (today’s Mount Ogden) were made as the resort would be enlarged and known now as “Haven.”

“Will be no Resort at Malan Heights” was a June 30, 1907 Standard headline. “… there were too many obstacles in the way to procuring clear titles to the property” was cited as the reason for this plan’s failure.

In succeeding years, vandalism plagued the old resort’s property. From trespassing herds of sheep, who destroyed trees, to boys and men cutting down trees for Christmas sales/usage, a Dec. 20, 1910 Standard story stated up to 100 evergreen trees had been stolen on the private land and at least $1,000 in trees had been burned down.

“Electric sign on the Heights” was the next failed chapter in the resort, from the July 18, 1912 Standard. Ogdenite Gus Wright wanted the Ogden Publicity Bureau to put an “Ogden” sign, illuminated by electric light bulbs on Malan’s “Point” (today’s Malan’s Peak), to attract the attention of train travelers. That never happened.

                           Mount Ogden, 9,572 feet above sea level.

“Campers endangered by a gang at Malan’s” was a July 20, 1915 Standard headline. Some 50 picnickers in Malan’s Basin were terrorized by an unknown group of men who fired guns in all directions and eventually forced everyone else off the mountain.

“Notice to the public. We have leased Malan Heights for grazing purposes. Do not trespass. Hansen Livestock & Feeding Company,” was a June 4, 1918 advertisement in the Standard.

A May 22, 1923 Standard report mentioned a plan by William R. Miller to establish a pleasure resort in Malan’s grove, complete with a 10-mile automobile road and railroad access. He now had a lease on 1,100 acres, with an option to buy from G.H. Malan. The July 4, 1923 Standard reported that Miller had a temporary store, food and refreshments for hikers available in Malan’s Basin – for that summer only.  Groups of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts also camped there that summer, but no permanent resort was ever realized.

On Sept. 13, 1925, the Young People’s Society of Ogden’s First Methodist/Episcopal Church held Sunday services at Malan’s Heights.

Another big fire on Sept. 5, 1927 destroyed anything left of wood in Malan’s Basin.

 

            Just a trail now, this was a narrow wagon road a century ago in Taylor Canyon.

Note: Jump to 2005-2006 and Chris Peterson purchased 1,140 acres in and around Malan’s Basin with hopes of a year-round resort featuring skiing and accessibility by a gondola. That modern day proposal didn’t work out either and sadly vandalism (tree carving, equipment destruction, littering) continues to plague this historic property.

(-Originally published on-line and in print, June 18-19, 2015 by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner.)

-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net