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Upcoming Pony Express Field Trip
Fort Douglas Military Museum and Utah Crossroads chapter of OCTA are sponsoring a Pony Express field trip on September 11. The trip will leave SLC at about 8 a.m. and return about 5 p.m. Our own Joe Hatch and Pat Hearty will lead the trip.
The trip will visit Simpson Springs and points between. $60 gets you a seat on the bus, a box lunch, a guidebook, and entrance fee.
Note that this is in conjunction with Utah State History’s annual conference on September 8-10. (More on that later).
Call (801)581-1251 for more info.
Congrats to Tom Warner!
Tom has been sharpening knives at L Lorenz for 50 years. That has to be some kind of a record. Congratulations for a LOT of work well-done!
Pat Hearty in the news
A Salt Lake Tribune article highlights Westerner Pat Hearty’s involvement in the Pony Express re-ride taking place right now. Pat is president of the National Pony Express Association (!) Here’s the link to the whole story (while the Trib maintains it) http://www.sltrib.com/outdoors/ci_15229291
And here’s the story’s first couple of paragraphs:
Pat Hearty experienced his “Pony Express moment” at 3 a.m. on a dark and empty west desert night as he rode his big sorrel horse west from Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge.
“There was not a man-made structure or a light,” he recalled about participating in a Pony Express re-ride. “Chills ran up and down my back. It must have been just like this. It was kind of an epiphany, a direct connection to 1860.”
Hearty is the Utah president of the National Pony Express Association. Like hundreds of other riders, he will be participating in the 150th anniversary Pony Express Re-Ride beginning today through June 26….
Hearty will be among the 600 riders and 1,200 volunteers scheduled to participate as they transport commemorative letters and personal mail. Each rider participating will take the Pony Express Oath and receive a commemorative Bible.
He said annual re-rides such as
this one help connect riders with the history and importance of the Pony Express.
“Our purpose is to keep this in the public eye and tell about how these riders and station people helped build the life we enjoy,” said Hearty. “It is that connection with history that grounds us in our lives. It gives us a sense of time and place.”
The re-ride is scheduled to come into Utah around 5 p.m. from Nevada on June 12. There will be a potluck dinner, food and entertainment at a party at Willow Springs near Callao that night.
May newsletter
Get the May 2010 newsletter and meeting announcement here. And y’all come!
Fraughton is honored by Westerners International
The Westerners International Buckskin Bulletin has printed a nice article by Vern Gorzitze about Ed Fraughton, naming him a Living Legend (#52).
Congrats, Ed, and thanks, Vern, for letting the world know about one of our notable Utah Westerners.
See the article here.
Welcome New Members!
Angie Hinckley and Ron Fox have recently joined our ranks. Learn more about them:
Angie T. Hinckley
Angie was born and raised in Provo, Utah. She is married to Stuart Hinckley, and they have four married children and six grandchildren. She graduated with a bachelor’s of arts in English literature from BYU, and she pursued postgraduate work in American studies at the University of Utah. She is an avid reader and admirer of the works of western American authors and is an enthusiastic student of American history. Angie has worked as a teacher and currently works as a paralegal helping her husband in his law practice. Over the years she has been involved in various community matters and she is now serving on the board of the Legacy Dance Academy Foundation, Inc. She is also a published author of essays on historical and contemporary topics. In addition to her interests in literature, history, and writing, she is an artist and a student of American art.
Ronald L. Fox
Ron is married to Linda (Johnson) Fox, and they have three daughters.
He is president of The Fox Group, Inc., a firm specializing in public affairs, advocacy & marketing in Utah, California and Washington, D.C. Mr. Fox has over 20 years in government service; he is the former principal minority consultant to the California Senate Committee on Finance, Chief Assistant to the Republican Whip and Senate Republican Leader. Mr. Fox has worked with White House Advance office and U.S. State Department, Protocol Office assisting five Presidents and Vice Presidents in the planning and execution of numerous national and international trips over 37 years. He was the State Executive Director of the George W. Bush for President Committee in 2000 & 2004 and a three-time delegate to the Republican National Convention and a member of the United States Electoral College in 2000. He has served on several task forces, boards, and commissions.
February 2010 Meeting
Get a PDF of this month’s meeting announcement here.
January 2010 Newsletter
Utah Westerners
Dinner Meeting: January 19, 2010, 6:30 p.m., Alta Club
Donna L. Poulton
Painters of Utah’s Canyons and Deserts
Our own Donna Poulton will tell us about her phenomenal book with Vern G. Swanson, Painters of Utah’s Canyons and Deserts. Donna is Associate Curator of Utah and Western Art at the University of Utah’s Museum of Fine Arts, and she’s working on bringing along her co-author. For more on this great book, see this month’s Bench Press.
Partner’s Night
January will be our annual partner’s night, so don’t forget to include your significant other when you make reservations. Cost of dinner is $35.00 per person. YOU MUST MAKE RESERVATIONS for dinner. For reservations: call Walter (363-1331; e-mail walter.jones@utah.edu
Walter must hear from you by the Thursday before the meeting. If you e-mail him, Walter asks that you put Westerners in the subject line. Walter will confirm either by email or phone with everyone who makes a reservation. If you make a reservation and fail to cancel it by the day of the meeting, you will be charged for the cost of the meal.
Upcoming Programs
Next month Jay Banta will share with us tales of his long career caring for Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge. And in March we’re in for a special treat, when one of Utah Westerners’ finest historians, Steven K. Madsen, will share his experiences researching and writing Exploring Desert Stone: John N. Macomb’s 1859 Expedition to the Canyonlands of the Colorado, the first comprehensive history of this forgotten exploration of the American Southwest.
Directory
We’re once again updating our annual directory SO PLEASE check last year’s listing to make sure your contact information is up-to-date. If you need to change you directory information or wants to add or change your mugshot, contact Nelson Wadsworth (801-598-0753 or n.wadsworth@comcast.net) by January 15.
A New Board
January marks the installation of our new board, which now has a total of five new members, including Judy Dykman, Vernon Gorzitze, Oscar Olson, Brent Reber, and Brad Westwood.
Officers for 2010 are Brent Reber, president; Brad Westwood, vice president; Walter Jones, treasurer; Kristen Rogers-Iversen, secretary. Judy Dykman is membership chair, Oscar Olson is field trip chair, Bob Steensma is publications chair, and Curt Bench is programs chair.
Next Year’s Trek: Hopi Country
Our 2010 field trip will be to Hopi country, by way of Highway 89, and it will take place on June 3, 4, 5, and 6. If you have any questions or suggestions or are interested in helping out, contact Steve Gallenson at galico@comcast.net or 801 244-8468.
Vegetarian Meals
The Alta Club will prepare specially ordered meals to accommodate your dietary preferences and medical needs. If you would like to request a vegetarian or special meal, make it known when you make your reservation.
BENCH PRESS
BOOKS OF WESTERN AND REGIONAL INTEREST
By Curt Bench
PAINTERS OF UTAH’S CANYONS AND DESERTS by Donna L. Poulton and Vern G. Swanson. Published by Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2009. 290 pp., oversize, illus., photos, index. $75.00
For over a century and a half, writers, artists, and photographers have attempted to capture the stunning beauty of southern Utah’s canyon country and desert landscapes in various art forms. The Red Rock country of the Colorado Plateau has long been a magnet for some of the most talented artists of the West: Thomas Moran, William Henry Jackson, Solomon Nunes Carvalho, Alfred Lambourne, Georgia O’Keefe, Maynard Dixon, LeConte Stewart, Everett Ruess, and many more.
Donna L. Poulton and Vern G. Swanson, both respected art experts and authors of several books of Western and Utah art, spent three years finding, viewing, and researching hundreds of pieces of artwork on southern Utah. The result, after careful selection, is a lavishly illustrated volume of the most beautiful and vivid examples of the art of the southern Utah country ever assembled. This large, handsome book contains over 300 color and black and white images which show the various media used by the many artists from oil, watercolor, and acrylic to block print and lithography. The book is divided into three sections: “Utah’s Red Rock, 1848-1970,” “Utah’s Plateau Parks & Monuments, 1900-Present,” and “Utah’s Continuing Allure, 1960-Present.” Informative and insightful text provides background on the many artists and descriptions of their specific work on Utah landscapes.
Having family roots in Springdale and the Zion National Park area, I was particularly pleased to see a wealth of material and images of the area created by a large number of artists, both famous and lesser-known. I learned that Alfred Lambourne was the first artist to explore the Zion region and the first to fully paint the grandeur of the area. There is also much on Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, the Grand Staircase and other monuments, and the many natural arches and bridges in southern Utah.
Donald J. Hagerty writes in the foreword: the authors “have compiled an almost encyclopedic approach to identifying and discussing those artists who have defined and delineated the lithic landscape of Utah’s canyon country from 1848 to the present. . . . No artists—past or present—have been overlooked.”
In a Deseret News interview about the book, author Vern Swanson said that woven into the history of the art is a history of the land and its people. He emphasized that it is much more than just a book of pretty pictures, saying that it will appeal to many people on different levels—those interested in art, those interested in the area, the geography, geology, and the history. He added, “It’s a nice combination of scholarship and beauty. It’s the warp and woof of art in southern Utah.”
Congrats, Rick!
Rick Turley has won 1st place in the Best Book Award competition from Westerners International for Massacre at Mountain Meadows (co-authored with Ron Walker and Glen Leonard). He’ll get his award at the Western History Association conference in Denver on October 10. (at the Westerners International breakfast)
Fort Douglas Military History Symposium – Oct 17
Put this on your calendar: The annual Military History Symposium sponsored by the Fort Douglas Museum (and our own Bob Voyles). This year it’s focusing on Fort Douglas in the 20th century, with several fascinating topics. Really. Check out the flyer. (You can make it larger by pressing Ctrl + on your keyboard. )
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