'A Novel Ride' in 1891 down Waterfall Canyon?

              The view down Waterfall Canyon, west, from just below the Waterfall.

By Lynn Arave

 SOMETIMES historical accounts just aren't detailed enough.
EXAMPLE: A May 21, 1891 article in the Ogden Standard-Examiner, reported that a group of Ogden residents hiked up to Observatory Peak (Mount Ogden) by way of Waterfall Canyon and then road back down "on snow toboggans, having a fine ride of over a  mile and a half down on the snow," it was stated. The headline of the story labeled it "A Novel Ride."

                          The view eastward at the mouth of Waterfall Canyon.

   Where exactly did the group slide down on the snow?
Given the terrain of this area, the area around the waterfall of Waterfall Canyon is a steep cliff. It certainly wasn't there.
In the deep winter, it is possible to walk right over top of the Waterfall stream, most of the way up the canyon. However, in late May, that seems unlikely.

So, the only place this group could have actually slid on toboggans was much higher up the mountain -- between Malan's Basin and Mount Ogden. Here, in late May, the snow could have still been deep. However, who would haul a toboggan (likely a long, narrow board of wood in that era) that far up the mountain? That would have been a grueling ordeal, of 5 or more miles and almost a mile of vertical climb.
But, hey there weren't ski resorts back then and so maybe that's the effort it took for a good snow thrill well over a century ago ......?

                       The view from Malan's Basin to Mount Ogden.

Looking back at Malan’s Heights: ‘Copacabana of the West’

                                         Malan's Basin today.

By Lynn Arave

“Malan’s Heights. B. Malan has now completed a road to Waterfall Canyon and is prepared to accommodate any number of pleasure seekers,” The Standard-Examiner of Aug. 20, 1895 stated. “It is the best resort in Weber County. Rates for round trip $1 from end of Twenty-fifth street car line. Carriages leaving at 8 a.m.”

Of course this narrow wagon road, in the making since 1893, actually went up Taylor Canyon, to what would be known as Malan’s Peak and Malan’s Basin. Yet, in 1895, Waterfall Canyon was the likely only place in that area most Ogdenites knew, outside of the Malan Family.

Bartholomew Malan had secured rights to some 800 acres of mountain land in 1891 and constructed the road with the help of his sons. Some passengers were transported along the road a year earlier in 1894, but Malan didn’t advertise his resort until the next year.

There would soon be a two-story hotel, sawmill, seven cabins and a clubhouse, built, owned and operated by the Malan family on about 10 acres of land.

“2,000 feet above the city of Ogden and 6,500 feet above sea level up amongst the pines and loveliest of mountain breezes, so cool and refreshing, having just partaken of a good wholesome dinner, I am now sitting in one of the two-seated conveyances that brought four of us up a rocky serpentine road 2,000 feet and seven miles from the city,” Mrs. L.L. Rogers reported in her “Trip to Malan Heights” in the Aug. 29, 1895 Standard-Examiner.

Hard to see, but a rusty, 120-year-old water pipeline just coming above ground in Malan's Basin.

For $6 a week, visitors had lodging and meals. Individual meals cost from 35 to 50 cents. Fried chicken was the hotel specialty. As many as 100 patrons at a time visited there, though only a dozen at a time could eat in the small dining room of the hotel.

There’s little doubt hikers and runners would have no path there today, or at least a different route, if the Malan family hadn’t pioneered their wagon road.

                                                 Tree vandalism in Malan's Basin.

Malan’s Heights was a paradise by all reports. Some hailed it as “The Copacabana of the West.” However, a year later, 

“You must pay Ten cents toll” was an Aug. 9, 1896 Standard headline. Mr. Malan was forced to levy such a toll to each pedestrian using his road, because of vandalism. Some people purposely pulled rocks down on the road, or hurled stones down, endangering those below. A man was hired to collect the toll and perform upkeep on the road. (This brings to mind the current  vandalism in nearby Waterfall Canyon.)

A Standard report on June 5, 1899 stated, “The visitors exclaim they never saw anything like the mountain scenery of the Wasatch Range near Ogden.” Baseball, horseshoes, croquet and hiking up to “Observatory Peak” (later named Mount Ogden) were among the activities there.

After just a 10-year run, the resort closed for good at the end of the 1904 season, after Malan’s sons grew up and sought other employment.

By a report in the Salt Lake Tribune, most of what was left of the resort burned down on Nov. 8, 1910 in a forest fire caused by careless hunters. A Standard-Examiner report on Dec. 20, 1910 stated that almost all the resort buildings had been burned down by campers in the past two years.

The Malans had moved to 2720 Taylor Avenue, in Ogden and Mr. Malan died in 1913.

                      The old boiler still resting in Malan's Basin.

    An old wheeled chassis in Malan's Basin, presumably used to haul the boiler up the mountain.

(Note: This information is from old newspapers. Malan family history details may differ somewhat.)

-Originally published on-line and in print in the Ogden Standard Examiner on June 11-12, 2015, 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

Ogden's Waterfall Canyon: Deadly scenic beauty and more

            The 125-foot falls, not so impressive in the spring of 2015, thanks to a drought.

By Lynn Arave

OGDEN'S Waterfall Canyon is as deadly as it is beautiful.

Over the decades, more people have likely been killed, or injured there than any other canyon in the Ogden area.

There’s the infamous triple tragedy of Dec. 26, 1962, when three youngsters – all under age 10 – fell off rock ledges just south of the falls and plunged to their deaths.

But there were other accidents there too.

-“Boy, 14, plunges from top of Waterfall Canyon” was a May 16, 1941 headline in the Standard-Examiner.

Leland Oxnam, a student from Washington School, was climbing on rocks directly above the falls, when he slipped and was killed. He was with two other classmates at the time.

                           More a cascade than waterfall in 2015.

-Kimball Vaughn, 25, of Ogden, died in an Ogden hospital on April 24, 1939, from injuries sustained two days prior from a 50-foot fall in Waterfall Canyon.

       The rocks around and above the waterfall are a dangerous magnet to amateur climbers.

-Andrew Cooper, 17, of Ogden, was found dead in the water at the base of the waterfall on April 23, 1974, after a fall from a top the rocks. He was alone at the time.

 There were also lucky survivors from accidents too:

-On Aug. 6, 1883, some boys found a strange metal capsule inside the canyon. It turned out to be an explosive device and went off when one of the boys shook it. His hands were mutilated and he lost two fingers. The other boys suffered face and head wounds.

-David Melvin, 16, fell 30 feet off a cliff in the canyon in April of 1895. He somehow was only bruised.

-“Eludes a rattlesnake, but breaks a leg” was a Aug. 13, 1910 headline in the Salt Lake Herald. “Preferring to take the chance of jumping from a thirty-foot cliff in Waterfall Canyon, than being bitten by a rattlesnake, Fred Craner, 19, today, suffered a severe fracture of his left leg,” the story reported.

The man said the rattler was coiled and ready to strike behind him when he chose leaping to a pile of boulders below instead.

     Now you can no longer legally climb above the waterfall, with a posted no trespassing sign and a steel cable in place to block the way of the traditional route, a draw southeast of the waterfall..

-“Binks ‘comes back’ after fall to death” was a Nov. 14, 1910 headline in the Salt Lake Herald. William Sawyer of Ogden claimed his bull terrier, “Brinks,” had fallen some 200 feet off a cliff while hunting  in Waterfall Canyon. Sawyer said it took hours to climb down to where the mangled animal was and he buried it there, as best he could.

Two weeks later, the dog somehow amazingly came through his family’s gate, collapsing lean and hungry on the doorstep. The family nursed the dog back to health, but could not find a single broken bone. He ate enormous amounts of food, but the family and neighborhood considered it a miracle.

                      The trail at the mouth of Ogden's Waterfall Canyon.

-"Climber rescued after 23 hours on death perch" was an Aug. 3, 1925 newspaper headline. Louis Buswell, 28, became stranded on the cliffs near the waterfall and rescuers needed 300 feet of rope to haul him off a cliff face.

                          Hikers enjoy the limited waterfall flow in the spring of 2015. 

-On May 28, 1958, Larry Smith, 14, fell more almost 100 feet from the rocks around the falls and was severely injured. 
He was climbing the face of the falls freehand. He was near the falls about three fourths of the way up when he waved to us girls and then fell.
He and some friends had skipped school that day with parents permission except, Larry.
Three friends ran to the nearest place which was the St Benedict hospital. They called for help. The friends all hiked back most of the way and rescuers it from there. They took him to the Dee hospital. He was there a long  long time. He was paralyzed for months. After years, he learned to walk with a crutch dragging his feet. He now owns an archery place south of Salt Lake.

 (-Originally published on-line and in print, April 9-10. 20-15 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

A campground proposal for Ogden's Taylor Canyon and more …

       Taylor Canyon, left, is just north of Malan's Peak, center. Waterfall Canyon is on the right side..

A major campground and loop road were proposed for Ogden’s Taylor Canyon back in 1936.

“Road proposed toward Taylor camping site” was a May 1 headline in the Standard-Examiner that year.

At that time, some thousands of acres in Taylor Canyon were owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. Creating a road to the mouth of the canyon and developing public camping sites was a proposal by the Utah Motorists Association.

In addition, a one-way, four-mile long road along the mountainside was proposed too, toward Waterfall Canyon.

Plus, a previous proposal by F.A. Huish of Ogden was also mentioned as a possible sidelight. This involved building a concrete dam at the brink of the waterfall in Waterfall Canyon, so that the falls would be more spectacular and seen by more of the general population of the area.

(Relocating this waterfall had already been tried in 1922 with a metal pipeline as a way to move the falls to the northwest and make it more visible. However, after six months the piping was reported destroyed by vandals.)

                     Some Ogdenites enjoying Waterfall Canyon in the 1920s.

This ambitious campground/road/waterfall enhancement was all so that it “would give Ogden a scenic attraction,” according to the story.

The Association believed just $50,000 would be needed to do much of the project and that some of the construction could qualify as a federal work project.

Unlike Waterfall Canyon (or even the South Fork area east of Huntsville), there’s no year-round stream in Taylor Canyon. Also that canyon is quite narrow and so the campground proposal there seems somewhat illogical in hindsight. In any event, none of it ever happened.

However, Huish had tried unsuccessfully earlier to have special artwork sale in 1936 to try and finance a diversion flume at the top of Waterfall Canyon.

According to the Standard of July 31, 1944, he was still pushing to have a diversion of the falls in Waterfall Canyon that year too.

It is worth noting too that at least one of those reports about Huish reported that the initial rerouting of the waterfall wasn’t destroyed by vandals, but by a “flood.”

                       The bottom of the  Ogden Waterfall in a typical spring.

-In a related historical note, back when Mount Ogden Park was first considered, Huish proposed the name of “Waterfall Park” as  its moniker.

In the Standard of July 28, 1944, “Residents show interest in mountain project” was the headline for that prospective park story.

-In a final historical note, “Ogden lady breaks her nose” was a June 23, 1911 headline in the Standard.

On a slow news day, this was a four-paragraph-long report of how an unnamed woman broke her nose in a single automobile crash, south of Brigham City.

The driver, traveling “at a high rate of speed,” had lost control of the vehicle after his hat blew off, and the car crashed into a tree. The woman’s child suffered minor bruises in the impact, as both mother and child were thrown to the front of the auto.

 (-Originally published on-line and in print in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on Jan. 1-2, 2015.)

-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  

1922: When Ogden relocated the falls in Waterfall Canyon

                        The Waterfall in the spring of 2015.
By Lynn Arave

THE treasured and historic waterfall in Ogden's Waterfall Canyon has always been exactly where it is now, right?
Wrong. 
It was "moved" for about six months in the 1920s, though there is no mention of that feat in any history book.
They weren't called the "roaring twenties" for nothing. Remember this was the era of national alcoholic prohibition and locally it was when Weber County vainly tried to enforce a vast outdoor game preserve in the Wasatch Mountains from Weber Canyon to the North Ogden Divide.
Well, it was also when the Ogden Kiwanis Club, in cooperation with Ogden City officials, re-routed the waterfall itself in Waterfall Canyon, for about six months, from November of 1922 to May of 1923.
Talk of rerouting the falls had originally surfaced more than a decade earlier.
"Would make beautiful falls" was a Standard-Examiner headline on June 1, 1912. H.C. Bigelow, president of the Ogden State Bank, said he would give the first $100 toward conveying the falls through a short flume, further to the northwest, so it could be visible from all points in the city. He believed this would be a one thousand percent improvement in Ogden area scenery.
Arthur Kuhn, A.F.Parker, H.J. Craven and A.P. Bigelow were all named later that month by the Ogden publicity bureau to a committee to study such a proposal, estimated to cost about $500.
"City to start work on falls, Cataract to fall over precipice in full view of Ogden" was the Standard headline on Sept. 20, 1922.
"Queer moving job in Ogden just finished" was the headline on Nov. 12, 1922, as the dream became a reality.
Why the project took more than a decade to fruition was never mentioned.
"One of the strangest moving jobs ever undertaken in the west has just been completed -- the removal of a waterfall," the story stated.
No cost was mentioned, but pipes conveyed the water from the "its old-tumbling over place" in the secluded southeast corner of Waterfall Canyon, to a new spot where "it now dashes over the rocks nearly 300 feet."
That presumably took the falls hundreds of feet to the northwest, where the vast cliffs below the south end of Malan's Peak made it much more visible from numerous vantage points -- and pretty much tripled its drop.
(Otherwise, like today, the falls are only visible in the spring, or in high water flow, ideally from the 30th-32nd Street area, and best viewed from the west side of town.
The water volume in November of 1922 was noted as low, as usual, in the late fall season and hopes of "a picturesque appearance" next spring and summer were dreamed for.
But tragedy struck.
"Vandals ruin unique falls east of city, Project for making cataract visible in Ogden defeated" was a May 13, 1923 headline in the Standard.
"The result of many days of work and expenditures of hundreds of dollars have been wiped out through the malicious mischief of unknown persons in Waterfall Canyon," the story reported.
A Boy Scout executive made a trip up the canyon and found the pipeline utterly destroyed, with many joints hurled over cliffs.
To repair the damage would cost almost as much as the original effort, with only a few sections of pipe intact.
"And now just when the falls would be most beautiful and a unique attraction the work has been undone by vandals," The Standard report concluded.
There's no more newspaper mention on repairing the damage as the project was simply abandoned and the falls were back to their original course.
However, this vandalism was reminiscent of what had also happened in nearby Malan's Basin/Heights, where vandals had burned/destroyed what remained of the former hotel there, also in about the same time period.
Weber County was simply fascinated with waterfalls in the early 20th Century. Not only were there numerous newspaper accounts of this appreciation of Waterfall Canyon (also featured in this column last Friday), but another falls -- the artificial waterfall (sometimes called "Rainbow Cataract" back then) at the mouth of Ogden Canyon was also heralded and loved by residents too.
In fact, some newspaper stories confused or interchanged the two waterfalls.

(-Originally posted by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on April 10, 2014.)

-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  

Waterfall Canyon: Ogden's "Stream of sparkling Diamonds'

              Hikers at the base of Waterfall Canyon's falls, probably in the late 19th Century.

By Lynn Arave

ONE of the hiking gems  of Weber County is Waterfall Canyon.
Located approximately east of Ogden's 32nd Street, or above Mount Ogden Park, this 100-foot falls is a treasure of nature.
But, when did it first become popular and why?
Possibly the canyon's first recorded reference in the Ogden Standard-Examiner was a casual mention on Jan. 7, 1882.
The newspaper on March 9, 1885 referred to it as "a wild scene of beauty" and noted that the "Adams Brothers" took photographs of the falls in the spring of 1884 and raised "some excitement" about it by showing them around the area.
It was in the Standard-Examiner on May 28, 1887 that a reporter, referred to as "Kennox," described it as a "stream of sparkling diamonds ... misty rainbows. Something to transport the artist's soul ... the most magnificent cataract in Utah."
The writer, who had also visited Yosemite, claimed that it even rivaled Yosemite's famed Bridal Veil Falls, which had "no greater beauty than this."
Having lived in Ogden for five years, the writer said it had taken that long for him to have finally noticed the falls -- for the first time ever -- from a distance. So, he asked others about it and found that only about one in five residents knew anything about and that only one in ten locals had ever visited it.
Another article referred to it as "scenery unequaled by any other place in the country."
Hiking to the falls in the 19th Century was simply not as easy as it is today.
Some of the newspaper articles mentioned big ferns growing at the mouth of Waterfall Canyon, obscuring access.
Another stated "the journey is a difficult one, true."
In fact, in the 1880s, the only apparent access into Waterfall Canyon was from part way along the ridge between it and Strong's Canyon to the south.
"The place is well worth a visit," a report in the Standard from June 10, 1884 said. "But do not try to go up there before breakfast, nor with the idea that it is a palace car trip."
"Waterfall Canyon is impassible absolutely," the Standard-Examiner reported in 1887. "The densest, most tangled mass of thorny shrubs that ever I encountered filling up the entire ravine" was a description of the mouth of the canyon.
So, hiking a mile up thie ridge between canyons and then "carefully climbing into the amphitheater of beauty" was the best access originally.
It is likely that its later popularity and some waterline piping is what improved access and made the mouth of canyon accessible.
Also, the opening of the "Malan Heights" hotel in 1894 inside Malan's Basin (where the Waterfall Canyon stream descends from), also opened up a popular eastern access to the falls.
It wasn't long and Waterfall Canyon was a magnet -- especially for young people.
"A large party of Ogden society's young people will make the trip to the famous waterfall in Waterfall Canyon today," A Standard report from July 17, 1892 stated. "They will be provided with lunch baskets, kodaks, tourist glasses and rattle-snake antidotes and expect to have a fine time."
On Aug. 12, 1911, a group of 13 young adults had a bonfire at the base of the falls and included music and story-telling.
There were also some tragedies in the canyon.
On Aug. 6, 1883, some boys found a strange metal capsule inside the canyon. It turned out to be an explosive device and went off when one of the boys shook it. His hands were mutilated and he lost two fingers. The other boys suffered face and head wounds.
David Melvin, 16, fell 30 feet off a cliff in the canyon in April of 1895. He somehow was only bruised.
In January of 1912, a young boy wounded himself with his .22 rifle inside Waterfall Canyon.
A cloudburst on Aug. 17, 1923 sent mud and water from Waterfall Canyon as far west as Taylor Avenue. The torrent uprooted trees, moved five-ton boulders and destroyed a 14-inch pipeline in its path.
A large fire on Oct. 11, 1926 inside Waterfall Canyon scorched or burned most of its trees and greenery. The steep rock walls around the canyon apparently kept it from spreading elsewhere.
"Climber rescued after 23 hours on death perch" was an Aug. 3, 1925 newspaper headline. Louis Buswell, 28, became stranded on the cliffs near the waterfall and rescuers needed 300 feet of rope to haul him off a cliff face.
Of course, the most shocking and infamous tragedy of all in Waterfall Canyon happened much more recently. "Plunge Kills 3 Ogden Children On Hike in Waterfall Canyon, Bodies Found at Cliff Base At Climax of Tragic Hunt," was the Standard-Examiner headline.
The Youngsters, each from separate families of local medical doctors, and all neighbors, were killed in what was believed to have been a fall of at least 200 feet on Dec. 26, 1962. Bonnie Ross, 9; Shauna Southwick, 8, and Mark Way, 7, were all killed.


(-0riginally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner on April 4, 2014.)

-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