Nineteenth Century Social and Cultural History J

NINETEENTH CENTURY SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY J. he society of Weber County changed during the nineteenth century. Initially, the society was one of Native Americans, and then the fur trade developed a society where Native Americans and trap pers mingled together, as described by Osborne Russell. In the two decades following 1847, Weber County society became dominated by the Mormons; and, following 1869, the railroad and the changes it brought affected society drastically. With the arrival of the Mormons in 1847, the Native American culture and the Mormon culture of settlement clashed, much as the Mormon culture and the changes brought by the railroad later came into conflict. The journals and diaries of the early Mormons relate their joys and tragedies, including establishing homesites, planting crops, work ing the fields, daily house chores, harvesting crops, relating to Indians, surviving the heat of the summers and the cold of the win ters, bearing and raising children, tending the sick, burying the dead, and hoping for a better future. Women worked the fields and herded cattle along with the men and boys. Most families were involved with 151 152 HISTORY OF WEBER COUNTY farming in order to subsist, and farm crops included hay, grain, pota toes, corn, beans, and garden vegetables. Families generally had horses, cattle, and sheep. After the sheep were shorn, the wool was washed by the women, who also carded it, spun it into yarn, and then wove it into cloth. The cloth was made into dresses, shirts, and overalls. The family washing was done by hand, and stockings and mittens were knitted for the whole family. The early settlers had no coal and so they gathered sagebrush and other timber to burn for both summer and winter. Grain was cut with a cradle and threshed by pounding it out by hand. Bathing often took place in the rivers, during most seasons of the year. Settlers spread out over the county during the first decade of Mormon settlement, and most sought the increased protection of neighbors and forts. The Frederick and James Barker families settled in the area of Mound Fort and began to farm the land adjacent to later 12th Street and Washington Boulevard. Their farm included milk cows from which they produced butter. They dried fruit from their orchards. Elfrida Gay Barker Farley remembered how grain was harvested: After the grain had ripened and hauled in stacks, the thrashing machine would drive into our lot. The children would gather from far and near to watch the process. This made lots of work for mother and the girls, preparing a big feed for the hungry men, usu ally twelve or fourteen. But oh, how lovely the table would look, the knives and forks and spoons all scoured and placed around the plates, shining glasses and cups and saucers, for nearly all thrashers drank tea or coffee, large roasts of beef and rich brown gravy. Kettles of mashed potatoes, hot biscuits with plenty of butter, extra dishes of vegetables, rice puddings, pies and cakes, dishes of fruit, etc' Straw along with corn shucks was used to fill bed ticks. Fruit was dried on roofs, sheds, and platforms, and the dried fruit filled tubs, baskets, and boxes. Both work and play brought about picnics which included food, dances, recitations, singing, and making molasses candy. NINETEENTH CENTURY SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY 153 Recreation The Ogden River provided many places for recreation which were widely noted not only in the county and territory but also in transcontinental guide books. Jones Grove, located on Canyon Road and Jefferson Avenue, was one of the first resort areas in the county. This grove developed into Farr's Park and then Glenwood Park and eventually present-day Lorin Farr Park. Kay's Grove was located east of Gibson Avenue and north of the Ogden River. The Ogden Canyon Hot Springs Resort at the mouth of the canyon was in use as early as 1890. The Utah Hot Springs located at the north end of the county between Pleasant View and Willard became a recreation area which was visited particularly by Weber County families during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Those who visited the hot springs enjoyed both swimming and soaking in the warm natural water. The first swimming and bathing pools at the Utah Hot Springs were built in 1880 by Rason D. Slater of Salt Lake City. He was fascinated by the hot springs and felt he could establish a profitable health resort. Patrons of the springs drank the water and bathed in it to seek cures from arthritis and other ailments. In an 1883 advertisement, Slater noted: The simple bathing and drinking of these waters has proved to be a CERTAIN SPECIFIC for Rheumatism, Catarrh, Asthma, Erysipelas, Syphilis, Salt rheum, Paralysis, all affections of the Kidneys, Nervous diseases, General Debility, and all the peculiar complaints and disabilities to which females are subject.2 In 1896 the Hot Springs resort owners made major improve ments. They added a saloon where a mug of beer could be purchased for a nickel, and they also added a commissary, a dining hall, a dance hall, and a forty-room hotel. A horse racing track was added west of the resort. By the 1890s it was possible to travel the eight miles to the Hot Springs from downtown Ogden by the "dummy" line. The "dummy" was an enclosed steam engine which pulled two or three passenger cars along a track. Visitors to the Utah Hot Springs as well as to other resorts also traveled by a variety of means including walk- 154 HISTORY OF WEBER COUNTY ing, riding horseback, riding in buggies and wagons, and riding bi cycles. The Winslow family established a hotel and eating establishment on a grassy flat on the Ogden River bank near where the Thiokol Center now stands below Pineview Dam. The dam, built by Utah Power and Light Company in 1889 above the Winslow property and below Wheeler Canyon, made a small reservoir that provided a scenic view and boating. Idlewood Resort was built on the south side of Ogden Canyon near where Wheeler Creek flows into the river. Patrons of the Idlewood Resort could eat at the resort, rent boats to use on the small reservoir, have picnics, and enjoy the atmosphere of the canyon. The Hermitage Hotel, which was established in 1905, was the most famous spot on the river. The hotel was visited by many national as well as international visitors, and it was well known for its trout and chicken dinners as well as its rugged mountain and canyon setting. The hotel, located above the river valley about halfway between Ogden and Huntsville, was built by and under the direction of Billie Wilson. It was constructed of pine, maple, and oak, with many of the logs hewed by Wilson, a Scots immigrant. Wilson took over the old Hermitage Camp on the Ogden River in 1889 and gradually improved the area. He believed that a hotel would attract visitors, and he began construction in 1904. The hotel included about twenty-five rooms; another sixteen were later added to the second floor. The floors were carpeted with Navajo rugs, and a large fireplace covered much of one wall. Visitors from around the world stayed at the Hermitage, and they arrived by both motorcar and horse and car riage. As many as thirty waitresses were employed at peak times, with four desk clerks working on staggered shifts. The menu for the hotel was famous; it included a T-bone steak dinner for one dollar, ox-tail soup for fifteen cents, lobster salad for forty cents, a sardine sandwich for ten cents, and a pot of coffee for ten cents. The lifespan of the famous Hermitage Hotel was only about thirty-five years, for on 4 January 1939 it burned to the ground. The view from the famed hotel is still available for those who climb the steps to the hotel site. Both up and down the canyon are vistas that those on the river and highway cannot possibly see. NINETEENTH CENTURY SOCIAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY 155 Billie Wilson had died two decades earlier, in 1918. In his prime he was 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 310 pounds. Below the hotel on the river valley floor was the Hermitage Resort. It included a pic nic place, a dance hall, a merry-go-round, and a place to buy food for those who couldn't or didn't want to eat at the hotel. After Wilson's death, the Hermitage passed to a number of owners, and in the 1920s it was rumored to be the largest whiskey-producing site in Weber County. A 400-gallon still and a 300-gallon still were found during a Prohibition raid along with barrels of mash and gallons of whiskey. In 1870, Lester Park at 24th Street and Jefferson Avenue was ini tiated as a public meeting place for parties and other activities in Ogden. The Ogden Driving Park was opened on 21 November 1879, and horse racing was a major activity at its location on Monroe Avenue and 20th Street. Summer activities throughout the county included picnics, orations, band concerts, swimming, and baseball games. July Fourth, Independence Day, and 24 July (Pioneer Day) were particularly celebrated. Charles Middleton recounted the 24 July 1871 celebration: July 24, 1871 We had a grand celebration, procession formed on Tab. Square & marched to Union Square, around our block & hence to the bowery where an oration by D. H. Wells was read by G. Q. Cannon, also speeches, songs, toasts and music, President Young was present.

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