History

In the Fall of 1857, some 120 California-bound emigrants were killed in lonely Mountain Meadows in southern Utah; only eighteen young children were spared. The men on the ground after the bloody deed took an oath that they would never mention the event again,...

A book of timeless importance about the American West and a modern classic by National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Wallace Stegner. “Stegner catches the paradoxical essence of American civilzation.” —ChoiceThe essays, memoirs, letters, and speeches collected in The Sound of Mountain Water encompass memoir, nature conservation,...

The definitive biography of Everett Ruess, the artist, writer, and eloquent celebrator of the wilderness whose bold solo explorations of the American West and mysterious disappearance in the Utah desert at age twenty have earned him a large and devoted cult following.“Easily one of...

By Uintah County Regional History Center As early as 1915, the Flaming Gorge Canyon, named by early explorer Wesley Powell, was considered for a reservoir and dam site. For years, the Upper Colorado River Storage Committee fought for a dam on several sites along...

By Lynn Arave and Ray Boren Blessed with a magnificent landscape, Utah also abounds with secrets and peculiarities. Most are unaware that the Beehive State has its own rocky Noah's Ark or a hidden hoodoo Chinatown. Many have never seen a peak reminiscent of...

Ordinary history books often fail to address the obscure or the unexplained, leaving questions buried in annals of yesteryear. Where were Utah's mythical monsters, including Bigfoot, spotted? How did 'Schoolmarm's Bloomers' become a state symbol? What created the Lagoon Amusement Park's 'dark side'? Why...

By Marilyn Brown and Valerie Holladay Provo is one of Utah's oldest historic sites. Still a medium-sized town, it has kept its pristine antique quality, its quaint buildings, and its relaxed atmosphere, which won it the title "Most Stressless City of the Nation" according...

By Don Strack Railroads and mining in Bingham Canyon have gone hand in hand since the first railroad was constructed in the canyon in late 1873. Bingham Canyon in the early years was a gold and silver mining camp, and the railroads were small...

The central focus in the book is on the large body of work Russell produced primarily to satisfy the needs of the Union Pacific. Daniel Davis posits that this set of Russell’s photos is best understood not through one or a handful of individual...

Generations of Ogdenites have grown up absorbing 25th Street’s legends of corruption, menace, and depravity. The rest of Utah has tended to judge Ogden—known in its first century as a “gambling hell” and tenderloin, and in recent years as a degraded skid row—by the...

By Katherine L Weinstein Businessman George Whetman, who managed automobile dealerships in Draper, Utah, between 1931 and 1960, predicted that one day the town would become "the Beverly Hills of the state." His prediction was remarkably accurate. Draper has been ranked as one of...

Illustrated with black & white photographs. This entertaining volume tells the history of Park City, Utah from its first days as a frontier mining camp to its present status as one of America's premier winter-sports havens. Between these two incarnations the famed "treasure chest...

Edited By: Lamar Underwood The mountain men were the trappers of the Rocky Mountain fur trade in the years following Lewis and Clark's Expedition of 1804-1806. With their bold journeys peaking during the period of 1830-1840, they were the first white men to enter...

“Roadside History of Idaho” by Betty Derig offers an engaging exploration of Idaho’s rich and varied past. The book is structured around the state’s highways, guiding readers through historical sites and events as they travel. It covers the early history of Native American tribes,...

By: Howard Kazanjian and Chris Enss On May 17, 1876, Elizabeth Bacon Custer kissed her husband, George, goodbye and wished him good fortune in his efforts to fulfill the Army's orders to relocate those Native Americans unwilling to move to a reservation. Adorned in...

By: Michael Rutter How much of what we know about the history of the Old West is true? In this new book, author Michael Rutter looks at the legend and lore behind such notorious figures as Billy the Kid and Calamity Jane and the...

By: W.B. (Bat) Masterson A legendary lawman, buffalo hunter, Indian fighter, and newspaper columnist, Bat Masterson served as sheriff of Ford County, Kansas, ruled Dodge City, and became an eyewitness to the heyday of the Old West's most notorious outlaws. His thrilling collection of...

By: Joanne S. Liu How could an ordinary fence shape a nation's history? Before the 1870s, much of the American West was an uninterrupted expanse of plains, where native tribes followed buffalo herds for hundreds of miles and cowboys ran cattle wherever water and...

In this collection of vintage-photograph postcards, Gary Topping, Melissa Coy Ferguson, and the Utah State Historical Society explore the city's past from 1890 to 1930. 15 Historic Postcards

The “insightful [and] even-handed” (Outside) story of a heroic animal whose existence is in danger. The wild horse, popularly known as the mustang, is so ingrained in the American imagination that even those who have never seen one know what it stands for: freedom,...