A 19th Century Look at the Oquirrh Mountains

              The north end of the Oquirrh Mountains, as they appear from West Valley City.


By Lynn Arave

OFTEN forgotten mountains in Northern Utah are the Oquirrh Range. Rising to just over 9,000 feet, these mountains are the home to Kennecott Copper's huge open pit mine, to a variety of FM radio and TV transmitters and plenty of wildlife. These mountains are also often a "rain shadow" in meteorological terms to the Salt Lake Valley, tempering its total precipitation received.
But where did the Oquirrh name come from?
The first newspaper mention of the Oquirrh Mountains was in the March 2, 1864 issue of the Deseret News. That report stated Oquirrh was "the Indian name of the range on the west side of the G.S.L. Valley." It also proclaimed recent mining for lead and silver in those mountains.
The Salt Lake Herald Newspaper of Nov. 19, 1874 noted that the Utah Western Railroad had named one of its locomotives "Oquirrh."
The Salt Lake Tribune of May 28, 1878 stated that there was a local group, named the Oquirrh Club, so the Native American name became a fixture, through it was not nearly as popular as "Deseret."
The Salt Lake Herald on May 28, 1879 reported the exploration of several caves at the north end of the Oquirrh range. The larger of the two caves even had pioneer names carved into its interior walls, dating back to 1862. The larger cave, called "Giant's Cave," boasted a 10-foot-square opening and was almost 200 feet deep. The smaller, unnamed cave was only about 50 feet long.
The Salt Lake Telegram of Dec. 27, 1948 published a reader's research on the name Oquirrh. It did not dispute that the common held belief of that word meaning "Shining Mountains," but stated that Native Americans also had several alternate meanings to that word -- "Grassy Hills," "Yellow Mountains" and even "Black Mountains." 

Sitting at the north end of the Oquirrh Mountains is Kennecott's Garfield Smokestack, which rises 1,215 feet, or just 35 feet lower than the main frame of the Empire State Building. Although this stack is the tallest free-standing structure west of the Mississippi, it is dwarfed by the nearby height of the Oquirrh Mountains, which rise more than 3,500 feet above it.

Tidbits of History About Salt Lake City

                                                      Salt Lake City.



By Lynn Arave

PLODDING through hundreds of pages of history books can be a tedious and slow process at best. Especially if you're not a fast reader, you likely won't read many historical books/publications. Also, in this fast-moving world, people tend to want facts and trivia now — without having to expend much effort or time.
In line with brevity and summarizing, here's a look at some unusual highlights of Salt Lake County history, listed in an easy and quick-read format:

• Parleys Canyon was originally known as Big Canyon. It was later called Golden Pass Toll Road and then Parleys Canyon, in honor of Parley P. Pratt, who constructed a toll road through the canyon in 1849-50.

• Drownings were among the unusual dangers that pioneers faced in the Salt Lake Valley — a desert climate. For example, on June 29, 1854, two children who were herding animals in Red Butte Canyon drowned by unexpected floods that poured out of the canyon.

• The first winter in Utah, 1847, was spent on the site of today's Pioneer Park by about 1,700 residents in a fort and huts. A school with six pupils also operated that winter.
• In 1854 in Salt Lake, 120 deaths were reported. Forty-five of those were children under age 5.

• The first winter for the pioneers in Salt Lake was a mild one and a lack of food was the biggest shortcoming. An outbreak of measles also came and hit the area's American Indian population hard. For example, settlers had to bury 36 natives in one grave.

• The second winter in Salt Lake was much colder and snowier, but much more food was stored. Many residents didn't like the howls of wolves at night and teams were organized to rid the valley of the predators. On Christmas Day 1848, 331 wolves were shot and killed by an army of 84 settlers.

• Slavery was legal in the Utah Territory from 1852 and lasting about 10 years. In 1850, there were 24 free blacks and 26 slaves in Salt Lake.

• The first speeding law in Salt Lake came in 1848 and stated that no speed would exceed a slow trot, or face a fine.

• The first store in Salt Lake opened in 1849 where today's West High School is and offered some East Coast goods for sale.

• Salt Lake County officially started on Jan. 31, 1850, with just over 11,000 residents.

• The old fort on today's pioneer site, where the first Salt Lake settlers spent the first two winters, was destroyed in the early 1850s, after leaders realized it was being used as a gathering place for persons with loose morals.

• American Indians in the Salt Lake Valley were mostly friendly. However, one settler's journal talks about how a young Elizabeth Morgan was stolen by whooping and yelling young bucks and taken to the Indians' camp. When a group of men went after her, they found her safe. The Indians were playing a prank, but the settlers weren't taking it lightly.• The Fourth of July celebration in 1881 included a first to Black Rock beach for picnics, swimming and singing. The event didn't end at dark, as the wagons and carriages remained there overnight and partygoers slept on the Great Salt Lake's beaches.

• Wagons would commonly run over snakes and cut them in two in the Fort Douglas area of Salt Lake.

• Main Street in Salt Lake was nicknamed Whiskey Street in the 1860s, because of the Army's influence in making alcohol much more available there. By 1863, liquor licenses provided more city revenues than any other source. A liquor license in Salt Lake then cost 750 a month.

• The "Great" in Salt Lake City's name was dropped in 1868.

• By 1883, there were 14 mule-drawn street cars going along nine miles of track in Salt Lake City.

• In 1869 before the railroad, there were only 700 non-Mormon church members among the Salt Lake Valley's 11,000 residents. By 1873, the "Gentile" population had risen to 25 percent. Most non-Mormons lived on the south and west sides of downtown, while members of the church dominated the north and east sides.

• Brigham Young named Sandy City in 1873, for its thirsty soil.

• Calder Park, a popular amusement place that attracted up to 100,000 patrons a season, eventually became Nibley Park Golf Course.

• In the late 1880s businesses in Riverton used to close every Thursday for decades. No one remembered why this was, although theories of the Thursday Mormon fast day or traditional British half-days off might have caused it.

• The original Salt Lake Palace was on 900 South, between State and Main.

• In 1915, Salt Lake City began chlorinating drinking water.

• World War I meant more jobs in Salt Lake City — even mechanical jobs — became open to women for the first time.

• Smoke pollution was a problem in the early 1900s in Salt Lake. Some said the city rivaled Pittsburgh pollution, but it was the topography that made it seem worse. Smelters in Murray finally closing eased pollution somewhat.

Sources: "A History of Salt Lake County," by Linda Sillitoe and "The Utah History Encyclopedia," edited by Kent Powell.

(-Originally published in the Deseret News, an article by Lynn Arave, Jan. 5, 2007.)

-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  

Salt Lake's Majestic Landmarks of the Wasatch Mountains

THE most striking geographical features in Salt Lake County are the Wasatch Mountains on the east side of the valley.

Rising sharply 7,000 feet above the valley floor, the Wasatch Mountains create natural landmarks in Salt Lake County. (The Oquirrh Mountains dominate the west side of the valley.)

We take these mountains for granted, and while we may enjoy their inspiring, majestic beauty, their place as natural directional landmarks may not be appreciated until we visit a region that is flat.

(See the photos below for the peak/canyon names of S.L. mountains.)

"When I drive through Kansas or Nebraska, I wonder how people know where they're going" Dale J. Green, a past president of the Wasatch Mountain Club, said.

Green started hiking the Wasatch Mountains in 1953 and believes he may have hiked almost every trail in Salt Lake County. He said his favorite peak is the "Pfeifferhorn," not visible from most of the Salt Lake Valley but located between American Fork Twin Peaks and Lone Peak on the south side of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Charles L. Keller is another longtime Salt Lake hiker who is wrote a book on the Wasatch Mountains, "The Lady in the Ore Bucket."

"They're my church," Keller said of the Wasatch Mountains. "I've spent the last 40 years trampling over them."

He especially loves Little and Big Cottonwood canyons and Mill Creek Canyon. His favorite hike is up Kessler Peak.

"It's steep, and there's no easy way up," he said.

Keller agrees it is too easy for Salt Lakers to take these mountains for granted.

These mountains are home to many animals, offer year-round recreational activities and are important watersheds — a critical factor each year.

The Wasatch Mountains are also the reason we have substantial water in the Salt Lake area.

"They're the main source of water for Salt Lake," said Brian McInerney, a hydrologist with the Salt Lake office of the National Weather Service.

Without the mountains, the storms would just keep moving by without raining or snowing here, and there would be neither the snowpack to fill the reservoirs nor the recharging of groundwater supplies.

McInerney said mountains substantially change how air circulates in the area.

Perhaps the most dramatic view of Salt Lake's segment of the Wasatch Mountains can be enjoyed from near the north end of Beck Street. Here, the peaks all seem compacted together, rising sharply above the city's downtown skyline.

What's the tallest peak in Salt Lake County? How many names of the peak do you know? Where did the peak names originate?

The Twin Peaks (11,489 and 11,433 feet above sea level) are the tallest summits in Salt Lake County, but where are they located? Could you point out Mount Olympus, Farnsworth, Lone Peak or Wire Mountain? You probably know where Little and Big Cottonwood canyons, Mill Creek and Parleys canyons are, yet could you pinpoint Bells, Ferguson or Heughs canyons?

One of the most surprising things about the names of Salt Lake County mountain peaks is the repetition of Twin Peaks. There are no less than three sets of Twin Peaks in the Salt Lake section of the Wasatch Mountains listed on maps. Don't get lost or in trouble on one of these peaks, because who will know which one you're on? (You would think a name like "Double Peaks" or "Dual Peaks" would have been used instead of Twin Peaks three times.)

The "Broads Fork" Twin Peaks are perhaps the most 

noticeable of the three Twins in Salt Lake County. They also 

contain the Twin Peaks Wilderness Area and are located 

more near the center of the Salt Lake Valley than the other 

"Twins."

(-Distilled from an article in the Deseret News, by Lynn Arave, on Aug. 2, 2001.)


THE NAMES of SALT LAKE COUNTY'S MOUNTAIN 

PEAKS, from north to south --- below

                                      Photographs by Scott Winterton

Like the Wasatch Mountains?

Consider buying my new book, "Images of America Wasatch Mountains."

You can buy the book on Amazon.

-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