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Summer Skiing on Mt. Timpanogos
Timp Glacier, on the east face of Mt Timpanogos, isn’t really a glacier. But the distinction hardly mattered to thousands of skiers who were anxious for the unique chance to hit the slopes in July.
Beginning in 1912, thousands of adventure-seekers…
No Dam Here! The Echo Park Controversy
As the population of the American West grew in the mid-twentieth century, so did the demand for water. Learn how the fight over a proposed dam in the middle of Dinosaur National Monument gave birth to the modern conservation movement.
Echo Park sits…
Pleasure Cruising: The Galloway-Stone Expedition
The outdoor recreation industry in Utah is worth billions of dollars. But getting out into nature for simple pleasure – and paying someone to guide you – is a relatively modern concept. Learn about a river trip taken in 1909 that forecast the…
Carbon College and Utah’s Educational Revolt
Back in the 1950s, Utah’s budget-slashing governor J. Bracken Lee wanted to close the first institution of higher education in eastern Utah – which he actually helped establish! But Utahns balked at his plan and stopped it.
Upon its approval in…
Fistfight Between Old & New: The 1971 Park City “Riot”
Tensions between the old and new are not new to rural Utahns – but in 1970s Park City, these tensions erupted into an actual brawl between two seemingly opposite groups: hippies and miners.
Park City’s population rapidly changed during the…
Utah’s Gay Rodeo
Saddles, denim, country music, and… drag queens? It’s an unexpected combination but an important one for community and belonging in queer rural Utah. Find out more about Utah’s famous gay rodeo.
Utah is known for its rodeos. Burly cowboys ride…
West Desert Wasteland: Pollution and Sovereignty in Rural Utah
Just around 45 miles west of Salt Lake City is a vast landscape shrouded in mystery and controversy. It’s also a holding place for some of the US military’s deadliest materials.
Perhaps no part of Utah suffers as much disregard as Utah’s arid…
Sacred Healing: Traveling Midwives in Early Rural Utah
Frontier life in late-nineteenth century Utah was rough. Today, many rural Utahns still struggle with access to medical care, but once upon a time midwives traveled throughout rural Utah, providing healthcare services to those in isolated areas.
In…
Ghost Towns: An In-Person History Fix
Did you know that Utah is haunted? Our state has an estimated one hundred ghost towns. While reasons for their abandonment vary, ghost towns throughout rural Utah have one thing in common: our desire to idealize a lost past and try to connect to it…
Orderville & the Great Pants Rebellion
The rural Utah town of Orderville was once a communal utopia – until a single pair of pants scandalized the whole settlement.
Inspired by the utopian visions of LDS prophet Joseph Smith, Utah settlements in the 1850s reorganized into an economic…
Welcome to Main Street: Helper Commercial District
Every rural Utah town has their own special Main Street. In Carbon County, Helper’s main street tells a rich historic story about change and continuity in its unique community.
In the early twentieth century, the small community of Helper was…
Orchards to Steel: The Transformation of Utah Valley
Today, Utah Valley is known for its rapid development and urban growth. But the valley just east of Utah Lake used to be farmland and orchards. Find out how wartime transformation brought prosperity to this region -- but also irrevocable…
Segregation, Racial Violence, and the Klan in Rural Utah
African Americans living and traveling through Utah in the early twentieth century had to delicately navigate the increasing power of the Ku Klux Klan, which contributed to an acceptance of racially-motivated violence.
Black people have lived and…
Dinah the Dino
She’s big, pink, and has long beautiful eyelashes. Learn more about this unique rural Utah icon.
Looming large on the side of Highway 40 in eastern Utah, a sign reading "Vernal: Utah's Dinosaur Land" greets visitors as they enter town. It’s a…
Sundance: How Hollywood Changed Rural Utah
The natural beauty and recreational opportunities offered by the Wasatch Range have long brought people seeking an enhanced quality of life. But how did the arrival of Hollywood change the culture and economy of this corner of Utah?Tucked in the…
Midway’s Swiss Party for their Rural Community
On the east side of the Wasatch Mountains, you can find a little slice of Switzerland right here in Utah. Learn more about Midway’s Swiss Days celebration.Midway City, located in the Heber Valley on the east side of the Wasatch Mountains, boasts…
Turkeys: Industrial Change Makes it Everyone’s Bird
This Thanksgiving, you might enjoy a meal that includes a roasted turkey. What are the chances it was born and raised here in Utah?Few people might associate Utah with one of America’s favorite holiday meals: turkeys. But, the turkey industry in…
Putting a Face on Poverty: Dorthea Lange in Utah
Famous photographer Dorthea Lange captured the heartbreaking struggles and resiliency of rural Utah during the Great Depression. Find out more about Lange and her extraordinary photographs.During the Great Depression of the early 1930s, Utah…
Utah Downwinders: Rural Activists for a Post-Atomic World
Atomic testing in the nearby Nevada desert had devastating effects on rural Utah communities, but activists calling themselves "Downwinders" banded together to demand action from the federal government.
Between 1951 and 1992, the United States…
Eugene Jelesnik: The Man Behind the Music
How did a Jewish, Ukranian violin player become one of Utah’s most beloved local celebrities? Learn about the life of one extraordinary man.
Eugene Jelesnik, skillfully riffing his violin wearing one of his thirty-seven sparkly dinner jackets, was…