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Utah Westerners Field Trips 1989-2012
2012 California Gold Fields
2011 Fur Trade Rendezvous
2010 Land of the Hopi & Highway 89
2009 Loneliest Highway & Ely
2008 Mesa Verde
2007 Utah Wars
2006 Nebraska Trail, Fur Trade & Sioux Wars
2005 Central Idaho
2004 Monument Valley & Canyon De Chelly
2003 Nine Mile, Uintah Basin & Baxter Pass
2002 The Black Hills
2001 Fort Limhi & Big Hole
2000 Meeker Massacre & Saratoga
1999 Montana with Roy Souder
1998 Bear River Massacre & City of Rocks
1997 Northern New Mexico & Santa Fe
1996 Mountain Meadows, Parawon Gap & Lee’s Ferry
1995 Southern Arizona, Tuscon, Nogales & Tombstone
1994 Wyoming, Montana & Buffalo Bill Museum
1993 Wyoming, Sheriden & Custer Battlefield
1992 Donner Trail & Pass
1991 Fur Trade Rendezvous
1990 Mesa Verde
1989 Eastern Wyoming
Utah Westerners 2012 Field Trip
California Gold Rush, July 19 to 22
The Utah Westerners explored the history of “The Gold Fields of California.” We saw the significant emigration trails carved into the granite of the Sierra Nevada and gazed upon sites that changed the direction of our nation.
Our trip included tours of: John Sutter’s Fort, James Marshall Gold Discovery site, California Railroad Museum, Empire Mine State Park, Old Town Sacramento, Mormon Station at Genoa, and a guided tour of the Mormon Emigrant Trail with Frank Tortorich. We saw some very special items brought out from the California State Library “California Room” exclusively for the UW by Gary Kurutz.
Utah Westerner Steve Berlin took hundreds of photographs of this great trip. That you can view here http://steveberlin.smugmug.com/Other/Utah-Westerners-2012-Field/24371688_qDGmrk#!i=1986431879&k=RnWHRRx
June Announcement for the Utah Westerners
RHYME TIME: COWBOY POETRY AT UTAH WESTERNERS
ROD MILLER
GIBBS SMITH
PAUL BLISS
BRENDA “SAM” DeLEEUW
Rhymes will ricochet off the walls of the Alta Club as we enjoy an evening of a time-honored Western tradition: cowboy poetry. Utah Westerner Rod Miller will introduce the subject, with a brief rundown of the history, resurgence, and continuing popularity of cowboy poetry. Gibbs Smith, Westerner and respected publisher, will recount his involvement with cowboy poetry, including the publication of several anthologies that helped popularize the art.
Then the microphone will pass to two ofUtah’s finest and most acclaimed cowboy poets. Award-winning reciter Paul Bliss will favor us with recitations of classic poems from cowboy poetry’s distant and more recent past, and Brenda “Sam” DeLeeuw will entertain us with the humorous, entertaining, and downright outlandish poems that make her a popular performer around the West.
Rod Miller is author of the collection Things a Cowboy Sees and Other Poems and several other books. His poetry has appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies. A founding member and former officer of Cowboy Poets of Utah, he now serves on the Executive Board of Western Writers of America and is winner of that organization’s Spur Award for Poetry.
Long-time Utah Westerner Gibbs Smith is a pivotal figure in the resurgence and current popularity of cowboy poetry. His contribution to the art includes publication of numerous anthologies, including the ground-breaking Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering, Cowgirl Poetry: One Hundred Years of Ridin’ and Rhymin,’ and several others. A long-time supporter of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering and the Western Folklife Center, he serves that organization as a member of the National Advisory Council.
A lifelong Utah cowboy, now living in Salem, Paul Bliss has driven livestock across the West from the saddle, a wagon, and the driver’s seat of a long-haul truck. One winter he rode horseback through the west desert to the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. He has appeared on the main stage of that gathering; won championship buckles at the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo, and has appeared at other cowboy poetry gatherings around the West. Paul is a respected reciter of original as well as classic cowboy poems. He served as both President and Chairman of the Board of Cowboy Poets of Utah.
Brenda “Sam” DeLeeuw grew up inIdaho where she competed in arena events and was a rodeo queen. Sam is widely recognized and honored for her poetry and has won numerous awards: twice named Female Poet of the Year by the Western Music Association, inducted into the Cowboy Poets of Idaho Hall of Fame, named Humorist of the Year and Will Rogers Award winner by the Academy of Western Artists, and National Cowboy Rodeo winner. A popular performer, Sam appears on stages all over the West. Past President of Cowboy Poets of Utah, she currently serves as president of the Wordsmiths Chapter of the Western Music Association.
This will be an unforgettable and entertaining evening that you won’t want to miss. In fact, you would do well to invite a guest to enjoy this unique event with you.
May Announcement for the Utah Westerners
EMIGRANTS ON THE CENTRAL OVERLAND TRAIL
JESS PETERSEN
Western writers and historians have paid a lot of attention to emigrant wagon roads like the Mormon Trail, the Salt Lake Cutoff, and the California Trail. There would be few who are not at least somewhat familiar with the story of the Pony Express, that short-lived, but romantic experiment in transporting the mail across the western states. But how many know that the route the Pony Express followed through Utah and Nevada was also used by a significant number of California-bound covered wagon emigrants? Until recently little was known about this aspect of western history.
Several years ago, Utah Westerner James Hall began to look into the possibilities that emigrants had indeed used this route. He found more than twenty diaries written by individuals who had traveled west on the Central Overland Trail between 1859 and 1868. James turned over the material he uncovered to fellow Westerner Jess Petersen who has since found several more diaries and other sources of related information. Jess compiled and edited all this material which was recently published by The Arthur H. Clark Company as West From Salt Lake: Diaries from the Central Overland Trail. Jess will tell us how the book came about, the history of how the Central Overland Trail was opened, where the trail and some of its variations went, and some of the experiences of the emigrants who kept the diaries.
Jesse G. Petersen is a Utah native who was educated in the state and has spent most of his adult life in law enforcement, having served 24 years as Chief of the Tooele City Police Department. He has had a life-long interest in history, but it wasn’t until 1992 when the Lincoln Highway Association was organized that he actively participated in historical research. He went on to help Gregory Franzwa research and write two books on the Lincoln Highway and has served for many years as president and also treasurer of the Lincoln Highway Association. In 2008, his book, A Route for the Overland Stage: James H. Simpson’s 1859 Trail Across the Great Basin, was published by Utah State University Press. Jess is a member of OCTA and is currently working on a project to install Rail Post markers at various sites on the Central Overland Trail.
April Announcement for the Utah Westerners
CHIEF JOSEPH: GUARDIAN OF THE PEOPLE
CANDY MOULTON
In 1877 Nez Perce Chief Joseph, with more than a thousand men, women, and children, outraced a military force commanded by General Oliver O. Howard, in a desperate bid to remain free. The story of the Nez Perce people prior to those momentous events is one of adaptation and cooperation with encroaching settlers; and although Chief Joseph made his defining statement “From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever” at the Bears Paw Battlefield when he surrendered in October 1877, that was not the end of his fight for justice.
In her talk this month to the Utah Westerners, Candy Moulton will outline the full story of the Nez Perce band that followed Joseph. The journey begins in theWallowaValleyof northeasternOregon, crossesIdaho,Yellowstone National Park,Montana, and extends to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) before Joseph and his people ultimately return to theColumbiaBasin.
Candy Moulton is the author of fifteen books and many articles on Western history including Everyday Life Among American Indians from 1800 to 1900, Writer’s Guide to Everyday Life in the Wild West from 1840 to 1900, Roadside History of Wyoming, and Valentine T. McGillycuddy: Army Surgeon, Agent to the Sioux. Her biography, Chief Joseph: Guardian of the People, won the Spur Award from Western Writers of America. She has also written, produced, and been a re-enactor in several documentary films. She received a Spur and other awards for the documentary film, “In Pursuit of a Dream,” which she wrote and produced with Boston Productions, Inc., for the Oregon-California Trails Association. Moulton is also the Executive Director of Western Writers of America.
We are very fortunate to have Candy Moulton as our special guest speaker who is traveling a long distance from her home in Encampment, Wyoming, to be with us.
UW members David Bigler, Will Bagley and Rod Miller win 2012 Spur awards
Utah Westerners, David L. Bigler and Will Bagley, won the Western Writers of America 2012 Spur Award for Best Western Nonfiction Historical for the work ‘The Mormon Rebellion’ http://www.oupress.com/ECommerce/Book/Detail/1527/the%20mormon%20rebellion
Utah Westerner Rod Miller, won (two!) Western Writers of America 2012 Spur award for Best Western Short Fiction Story for the work ‘The Death of Delgado’ and again for Best Western Poem ‘Tabula Rasa’.
http://www.writerrodmiller.com/index.html
One of our speakers, Frederick H. Swanson, wn the Best Western Nonfiction Contemporary Spur for “The Bitteroot and Mr. Brandborg,” University of Utah Press, edited by Peter DeLafosse.
http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/upcat&CISOPTR=1771
A link to the other 2012 winners here: http://www.westernwriters.org/spur_award_history.htm#2012
March Announcement for the Utah Westerners
DOCUMENTINGENTING THE TRANSFORMATION
OF THE GOLDEN STATE:
MORMONS IN GOLD RUSH CALIFORNIA
MICHAEL LANDON
Mormons traveling to California in the late 1840s and during the 1850s did so for a number of reasons. While there, many Latter-day Saints recorded events that highlighted the sweeping changes that the state experienced after the discovery of gold. Their collective record provides a literary snapshot of California at the beginning of a remarkable transformation that would impact the entire nation. However, the documentary record of Mormons as observers of the historic changes taking place in California has been largely ignored by many historians engaged in the study of the state’s history.
Using examples primarily taken from surviving accounts left by “Gold Missionaries” who traveled to California in the fall of 1849, this presentation will explore the potential value of LDS documentary sources in describing, political, religious, social, and environmental changes occurring in California during the 1850s. Michael will also discuss possible reasons why Mormon records have missed the attention of both California and Utah historians and the impact of increasingly available digital resources on the future use of such records.
Long-time Utah Westerner, Michael Landon, holds degrees in history, political science, and public history. He is currently employed as an archivist in the LDS Church History Department and during his years there has devoted much of his time in acquiring documents significant to Mormon history, assisting on various projects, and providing reference services to patrons. He is a member of several historical, archival, and library associations. Michael is co-author with William Slaughter of Trail of Hope: The Story of the Mormon Trail and the editor of The Journals of George Q. Cannon, Volume 1: To California in ’49.
This will be a very timely presentation as we prepare for this year’s field trip to the gold fields of California.
Bidwell-Bartleson Trail Tour
On Sat, 9 Oct 2010, you are invited to join the Crossroads Chapter of OCTA on the Bidwell-Bartleson 1841 wagon trail from Soda Springs, ID to Corinne, UT (west of Brigham City).
Meet at 8:30 AM, Sat, Oct 9, in Soda Springs, ID at the north side of the park (about 2½ to 3 hrs. from SLC).
$5.00 per car.
Bring a CB radio; buy lunch in Preston or bring a sack lunch.
RSVP: call or email Linda Turner by Oct. 4th to get on the list: 801-953-0370 lindat.crossroads@yahoo.com
The tour will be led by Roy Tea. There will be some mild gravel roads but mostly it will be a highway – smooth – EZ tour.
In 1841, Bidwell and Bartleson made the first wagon trail across Utah around the north side of the Great Salt Lake, down the east side of Pilot Peak Range, past several springs and through what later became Bidwell Pass and on to Big Springs in Nevada, where they abandoned all their remaining wagons and continued on to California riding and packing on their draft animals.
Your publications
It occurs to us (the royal “we”) that it would be cool to have a record of Westerners’ new publications (as well as other achievements) noted on this blog.
Yes, it’s true that some names might be popping up incessantly, but that’s a risk we must take. With that in mind, please do send by comment or email any books of the past year or the future that should be noted.
Take note that we have two fine bookselling Utah Westerners (are there more that I’m not aware of?) ready to sell us any titles that catch our fancy: (Ken Sanders Fine Books and Benchmark Books — Curt Bench).
(They didn’t ask for that plug–honest.)
Congratulations, Bob Steensma!
We just learned today that Bob was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the South-Central Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. He was surprised with the honor at the Society’s annual meeting (held in Salt Lake this year). As many of us know, Bob is a scholar of great breadth–and a gentleman as well. His latest book is Wallace Stegner’s Salt Lake City.
The Utah Westerners are fortunate indeed to have people like him in our midst. Congrats, Bob!
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