In a remote part of the desert in Tooele County, about 80 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, stands an abandoned yellow shed that was once used to test rocket motors capable of delivering a retaliatory nuclear strike in the event of a Soviet missile attack. Like the anachronism that it is, politically and otherwise, the shed stands in stark contrast to the surrounding … [Read more...]
Salt Lake’s Early Days: Prostitution in Utah
Red Lights & Scarlet Ladies Salt Lake's Early Brothels You won't read about it in the history books, and you won't hear about it at Sunday School, but Salt Lake’s early days were rife with vice, including prostitution. Although the Mormon settlers practiced virtuous living and eschewed sins of all sorts, it wasn’t long before the saloons, gambling halls and … [Read more...]
Five Ways Utahns Can Save Water
Utah is in full-blown drought mode. Reservoirs and storage systems are desperately low, and even the Great Salt Lake, that paragon of salty buoyancy, is only slightly more than a shallow, briny puddle, instead of the vibrant desert ecosystem it is supposed to be. The evaporative effect of a full GSL is vital for normal weather patterns and the snowfall that fills the … [Read more...]
Riverbed Ranch Utah: A Cult, or Utah’s First and Only Farm Steading Community?
If you’ve ever thought of leaving the rat race for an off-grid life, here’s your chance. There is an unincorporated community tucked away in northern Juab County, where modern families can trade a life of gridlock, utility bills and grocery shopping for a life of self-reliance and cooperation with like-minded folks in an agrarian desert paradise. Riverbed Ranch is an … [Read more...]
Five Things You May Not Know About Utah: Cultural Quirks and Fascinating Facts
Utah is known the world over for a number of reasons. Most notably, Utah is famous for its stunning scenery, almost limitless outdoor recreation opportunities, world class Olympic venues, the greatest snow skiing on earth, the largest saltwater lake in the western hemisphere, the Sundance Film Festival, and for the five national parks which highlight our incomparable red rock … [Read more...]
Utah was Land of Dinosaurs: Utah’s Natural History is Older Than Dirt
Say the word ‘dinosaur’, and most kids’ eyes light up with excitement! Imagine if you will, a Utah where vast savannah-like plains surrounded the waters of an ancient sea ― Lake Bonneville ― where gigantic four-limbed behemoths lived and died, sometimes violently. These creatures are still here, but today they’re encased in stone. Utah’s reputation as a … [Read more...]
Utah’s Porn Problem
Despite our reputations as political conservatives who extoll family values, a 2009 study out of Harvard University assigned Utahns the unflattering status of being number one in the nation for online pornography consumption. But a more recent analysis by PornHub.com, one of the world’s largest purveyors of pornographic material, says the online viewing of porn has dropped 68 … [Read more...]
San Rafael Secrets: What Did Madame Marie Curie Do in the Middle of a Utah Desert?
High-quality uranium brought Madame Curie to Emery County Deep in the San Rafael Swell lie the lonely stone remnants of the Temple Mountain townsite, a remote cluster of stone cabins where Marie Curie, aka Madame Curie, once lived for a short time. Long before Charlie Steen struck it rich with his discovery of uranium in Moab during WWII, ushering in the age of the atomic … [Read more...]
Frank Page: A Local Author on His Latest Novel and the Murder at the Green Parrot
On May 17, 1992, two armed men with ties to neo-Nazi groups attempted to rob the Green Parrot Night Club in Salt Lake, and fatally shot an employee. The tragic event shattered many lives. Frank Page and his brother Paul were two of the lives most affected by the heinous and senseless murder, changing them forever, and forging an even stronger bond between them. … [Read more...]
The Story of Snowbird Ski Resort
Ted Johnson and Dick Bass built a recreation legacy. Snowbird’s millionaire oil tycoon and financier Dick Bass was an outdoor icon. Bass jet-setted the world’s highest peaks, summiting seven of them in his fifties. Bass not only set world records, he also started a trend that other aging, adventurous multi-millionaires would follow. John Krakauer’s famous Everest expedition … [Read more...]