In fall 1876, Brigham Young left Salt Lake City for his annual winter trip to St. George. But this year would be different. For the first time in more than three decades, the Saints would dedicate a temple. In the Nauvoo temple, Young and others had performed proxy baptisms for deceased relatives and friends and participated in the endowment ceremony and sealings for themselves. These practices had continued in the Salt Lake Endowment House along with proxy sealings for deceased individuals. But the temple in St. George would mark a fundamental change; under Young's leadership, the Saints would perform all ordinances that they saw as essential for salvation, including the endowment, for both the living and the dead. The temple ceremonies expressed the highest ideals of the Latter-day Saints: eternal covenants that bound families together and bound them to God.As he left for St. George, Young knew his health might not allow him to live for many more years. He had begun his time as presiding church leader by emphasizing the completion of the Nauvoo Temple even though it became increasingly apparent the Saints would have to abandon the temple shortly thereafter. And now, in the twilight of his life, Young would oversee the dedication of another temple. For Young, the visit to St. George promised to be a time of profound spiritual significance.Leaving on November 1 from Salt Lake City, Young went to St. George with a traveling party that included his wife Amelia Folsom, daughter Shemira, son Brigham Jr., apostles Wilford Woodruff and George Q. Cannon, and Truman Angell (Young's brother-in-law and temple architect).1 The traveling party was eager to see the temple as they crossed the red hills into St. George. The “pure white” temple, Cannon recorded, “stood out in bold relief and in marked contrast with the black and red hills which surround the little valley in which St. George stands.” “It excited peculiar emotions in all the party to witness once more a temple erected to the Most High God,” he wrote.2 As the party came into town, the temple workmen welcomed them, carrying two banners. The first proclaimed “Holliness to the Lord” and depicted Zion's workmen. The second announced, “Welcome to Brigham Young our chief Builder.” The workmen took off their hats and bowed to Young and his companions, who returned the salute.3The next day, Young and the other leaders inspected the temple. In the basement, they saw the cast iron baptismal font, which was being bronzed, sitting on twelve oxen, representing the tribes of Israel. They then ascended into the “grand hall” of the temple. Cannon gave a glimpse of the party's emotions: “The hall is beautifully proportioned and the workmanship is very superior. . . . I felt as though I trod on holy ground. A person who can enter that room without feeling peculiar sensations and being impressed that it was a holy place must be either very thoughtless or dead to all sensibility.”4 Young and his companions continued the tour up to the roof. “The power of God rested upon us,” Woodruff noted.5Ill health soon robbed Young of his opportunity to be involved in the temple's final preparations before a planned partial dedication on New Year's Day. When he arrived, one workman observed that he “looked well and seems in better health than he did last winter.” But Young's health took a turn for the worse, struck both by a heavy cold and a flaring of the rheumatism in his feet.6 Apostle Woodruff blessed him and “rebuked his fever.”7 A week later, Young fainted twice. After two more weeks, Young was still ailing with rheumatic fever. His feet were so painful that he could barely place them on the floor. Woodruff and others again blessed him.8 While the cold passed, the rheumatism remained and kept him homebound for three weeks in December. Finally, on Christmas, Young visited the temple.9During his sickness, Young had delegated key responsibilities to Woodruff, Brigham Young, Jr., and others.10 Young now found the temple bustling with activity, even on Christmas, as men and women hurried to prepare for a preliminary dedication. Charles Walker, one of the workmen, wrote, “The sisters are busy sewing the carpet and getting the screen ready. All are busy pushing the good work along.”11 Brigham Jr. saw divine intervention in his father's improvement, as the Saints had prayed that their prophet could attend the dedication.12 Young spent the evening before the dedication with Woodruff, apostle Erastus Snow, and Brigham Jr., who each would deliver a dedicatory prayer. Young told them that the written prayers were good but needed to be longer.13On New Year's Day, over 1200 Saints crowded into the temple for the preliminary dedication. The final portions of the temple would be finished so that a complete dedication could occur in April. Young's rheumatism left him so crippled that men carried him throughout the temple in a chair with rollers. Young had waited too long for a temple dedication to miss this occasion.At 1:00 in the afternoon, the services began in the basement with a choir singing, “The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning,” a hymn sung at the first temple dedication Young had attended—at Kirtland forty years earlier. Woodruff knelt in prayer at the west end of the baptismal font to dedicate the basement, with Young sitting nearby. After Woodruff's prayer, the choir sang a “Temple Dedication Song” that spoke of the revered place of Young as the Saints’ prophet: We thank thee, God for Inspiration,Poured out upon our Living Head,Who holds the keys of Revelation,And ordinances for the dead.14With Young carried in his chair, the Saints then moved upstairs, where Erastus Snow offered a dedicatory prayer for that floor. Snow asked the congregation to remain behind, in silence, while a group of about thirty (including Young carried in his chair) went upstairs to a sealing room so that Brigham Jr. could pronounce a final prayer.15After the group returned from the sealing room, Young hobbled with his cane to the pulpit to reflect upon the Saints’ history of temple building and the significance of the present moment. He saw the occasion as a crucial moment in the history of the world. Solomon had built a temple but, according to Young's understanding, had performed “very few if any endowments,” and the scriptures did not record whether Enoch had also constructed temples in his efforts to build a “people so pure and holy that they were not permitted to remain with the wicked inhabitants of the earth, but were taken to another place.”Young spoke of the Saints’ early efforts to build temples. In Kirtland, they had performed neither baptisms for the dead nor the endowment ceremony. Joseph Smith had planned for temples in Jackson County and Far West, Missouri, but they had not been built. Looking into the audience, he saw individuals who had worked with him to build the Nauvoo Temple. “They got it nearly completed before it was burned,” Young said. The temple in St. George was different. The Saints would not be driven from this temple. They would enjoy it. And in the temple they would do work—endowments for the dead—that “we have no knowledge of any other people enjoying since the days of Adam.”But Young worried about the spiritual welfare of his people. “Those that can see the spiritual atmosphere,” he commented, “can see that many of the Saints are still glued to this Earth and lusting and longing after the things of this world, in which there is no profit.” “Where are the eyes and hearts of this people? Where is their interest for their own salvation and that of their forefathers?” Young asked. If the Saints awoke to their privilege of participating in the “salvation of the human family,” the temple “would be crowded, as we hope it will be, from Monday morning until Saturday night.”“What do you suppose the fathers would say if they could speak from the dead?” he queried. Would their ancestors say they had “lain here thousands of years, here in this prison house, waiting for this dispensation to come? Here we are, bound and fettered in the association of those who are filthy?” The relatively few Saints had a great responsibility, he taught. The world's dead depended on the Saints for their salvation: “All the angels in heaven are looking at this little handful of people. . . . So also are the devils in hell looking at this people too, and trying to overthrow us, and the people are still shaking hands with the servants of the devil, instead of sanctifying themselves.”He wanted to wake up his people. “Can the Fathers be saved without us? No. Can we be saved without them? No.” Until other temples were dedicated, the Saints would need to converge on St. George. Young had stopped baptisms for the dead in the Endowment House the previous fall. At the time, the Saints had pleaded with him. But now, he said, they could come to St. George and perform the proxy work for their deceased ancestors and free them from spirit prison.Looking at the congregation, Young lamented that some of those present were too involved in the world of Gentiles, particularly in mining. “Some of our brethren,” he grumbled, “are putting their wives and daughters into their society, and will go to the devil with them too, if they do not look out.” He contrasted his own attitude: “It has been the Kingdom of God with me. What I have, I have got in this kingdom.” Some men present were corrupt and would go to hell unless they repented. “You may think this is plain talk.” But, if they did not change, they would be faced with even plainer talk: “If you should ever go to the gates of heaven, Jesus will say he never knew you.”Gripping his hickory cane, Young peered at the congregation: “I do not know whether the people are satisfied with the services of the dedication of the Temple or not. But I do not mean to and never expect to be satisfied,” he continued, “until the devil is whipped and driven from off the face of the Earth.” As he spoke these last words, Young struck the pulpit with his cane so forcefully that he left three marks.16 “There,” Young said, “let those marks remain” as a testimony of his fervor in warning the Saints.17 The striking of the pulpit left a deep impression on his audience. “The marks are on the stand,” one congregant wrote, “and will remain there as a testimony of the truth and the great power by which he spake.”18The sermon was classic Young. He always spoke to the Saints directly, both to laud them and to call them to repentance. He had not mellowed with age. Perhaps he had even grown more cantankerous as his physical pain and his frustration with some Saints mounted as the years passed by. And the actions of the congregation that day must have reminded Young of the slowness of the Saints to reform their Word of Wisdom habits; so much tobacco chewing and spitting occurred that it would take days to clean the floor of the assembly room.19 But most of the faithful Saints in the temple seemed to appreciate Young's words. John Nuttall recorded that Young's sermon had given him greater “determination to press onward in the great work of the last days, in the redemption and salvation to myself, wives, children, and the human family.”20As he sometimes did, Young likely tempered his language before publication of the sermon, revising his sermons for the press in the following days.21 The published remarks have no swearing. But Nuttall recorded that Young had called Saints who engaged in mining as “damned fools” and John Smith wrote that he called them “spawn of hell.” Young did not apologize for his language, saying “he would not ask to be excused for swearing for he intended to swear worse yet at the April conference.”22With the temple dedicated, Young and others prepared the spaces for ordinance work. Young had called men and women who had deep experience in the ordinances in the Endowment House, several of whom he had asked to move to St. George, to assist. First on the list was Woodruff, who would supervise the ordinance work under Young's direction. Brigham Jr. and Young's wife Lucy Bigelow were called as well.23Young clearly wanted his family members to engage in the work of the temple. On January 9, Lucy's daughter Susie became the first individual baptized for the dead in the temple. Using his crutch and walking stick, Young hobbled up the steps to the font so he could witness as Susie was baptized for a deceased friend by Woodruff. Standing near the font, Charles Walker “could not refrain from shedding tears of joy on beholding the commencement of so great a work.”24 Young participated with Woodruff in performing the by the on of that the Young was not participating in a moment for his he was also the of the ordinance the day of baptisms and Young a few for the better in the temple also the first deceased to endowment by proxy was who had performed in Nauvoo and in Salt Lake City and who had been called by Young to in the St. George called it the and work I ever While and Woodruff were with the endowment, of the workmen were in the was not proxy that took Lucy's daughter own endowment on January a later, of also endowment, as did also the of the of the endowment ceremony as another essential When Joseph Smith had the in he had not it to Young and others In the the ceremony had not been But in those decades, the endowment had been performed in one place at a the House in Salt the Endowment the of Young and other Young was the church for a in which the endowment would be performed in at from each and a written would be was not in had been performed in the Endowment he saw the opportunity to long given him by Joseph after performing the first in had Young, this is not we have the we could under the in which we are I you to take this in and all these Young had taken that in to the ceremony in the Nauvoo Temple in the winter of but he would now supervise Woodruff the of all the ordinances of the including the temple Brigham Jr. and John Nuttall Young worked with them, revising and as they When they had Young told Woodruff, you have before you to on the in all the until the of the of also to perform the ceremony for of people. on that he spent the day and evening with Woodruff and others the of Young in of the Young and his had completed the of and revising the ceremony and the of the On Woodruff recorded that Young been all winter to up a of as as to performing for the dead for the first time, a final temple ordinance began in St. George as sealing deceased to deceased to a crucial of temple from on salvation of individuals and in the ceremonies of for the the endowment, and to the to family also spent much of his time following the New Year's dedication the Saints of the and in the temple. A few weeks after the he a to with for Saints who would to the temple. Young the of those the spiritual but the Saints should all over before the prepare the Saints and Young temple to visit both to about the temple and the wanted to they would whether they would come for their own ordinances or also be prepared to do ordinances for deceased friends and temple returned with many from the Saints that they to Young. When should their Young's “If of a and early of and as early as twelve but as a years is early When the temple to be to their should they be In Would who before the of need to be baptized for the dead or temple ordinances sealing to their No. need any No. deceased who had been out of be to their or to their “They should be to the one who has the and on who would be for temple their a faithful to a endowment and be to and What about a individual to their own they be baptized by until we see one that Young What about the are not Young came by from Saints in on Would a in in a need to the ceremony in the upon whether there has been a record kept of or not. If there has it will be Young taught. on individuals in family had two or three living their is the for to The as Young other Saints to attend the temple, he was not a He that would him to do proxy ordinance work for For Young wrote to the of Young's first wife who had more than a earlier. Young asked a living in to the and of so that the temple work could be performed on their ordinance work performed by Young his for the salvation of the first of some of his Young performed his first proxy endowment for first John who had after three of Young had as proxy for in sealing the for in the Nauvoo temple before he had been to for this The next day, he performed temple for first also prepared to do proxy ordinances for his but the end of his in St. George, he he was to go the He asked his Brigham Jr., and his to the proxy and sealing for John and Young. Brigham Jr. recorded that day, for the dead is a of and of the most and in of spiritual was in the St. George temple, on the that Saints should be to a faithful than their own who might the The first performed in the St. George temple, on were the of two of his and and the deceased of But it was not relatives of his wives who were to Young. On April John called as in St. George, was to Young by temple work was and for Young. For the first time in more than three decades, the Saints again had a temple. the in Young wrote, work is being to in the Temple The of the work for and in of the dead up before the Saints more than ever and they are increasingly the upon the of those who are called to be the upon in the last kept of many ordinances were performed each day in the temple. The of ordinances each day more than individual They were to Young and his that they were building the of God both here and in the spirit Young's work and church temple work needed by both women and Like other the women of the Young family found significance in temple For the two decades, Snow, Young's had temple work in the Endowment Lucy Bigelow Young, by took on the in the St. George Temple. On Lucy and Wilford Woodruff both in to perform the temple a for Lucy told the St. George was in the of being by them with as all would be by those who could not do the work for themselves. to live to of in Young, another of Young's wives, took place as both and in temple work. had also been involved in the for the St. George temple, than to to for the temple from where the were Young worked in the temples in St. George, and Salt presiding over the temple Young also continued to the work of the throughout the world from St. George, even while his and others took of many of the in Salt Lake passed and St. George and Salt Lake City, Young's and his on a of and also continued to hope for the Saints’ in another of his Word of to his wife Young, in his years, Young to upon the people the of both in and When he up a list of to the spiritual of Saints in the St. George the Word of Wisdom had the for Word of Wisdom on But now, members and the Word of Wisdom according to the Spirit and the first time since the great Young a place than Salt Lake City for perform a temple this time of the Young the Saints in that were in St. George, so most Saints in should not the to come to the dedication and But the leaders and many of Young's own family the to temple another of to prepare for the final dedication. by Young did physical and the pain in Young's feet continued to him as did his But Young in to he did not from pain as he had in the Saints’ ideals and their was ever present for Young. The Saints who had so to build the St. George temple to the of then as the of tobacco while the temple and But Young's final in St. George were The Saints had constructed a temple where they and their deceased ancestors and friends could the ordinances of was a moment of eternal significance to be Young had this Temple and the of the A great joy and had been in the spirit world on of the performed by the for the dedication of the St. George temple and the of and sealings of to for the deceased the Young's in that Saints to the St. George temple to perform proxy ordinances for their deceased family and began a by which temple became a crucial of for the Latter-day on the of the Young told temple “we had work since “I it to be the work that I have ever
On March 30, 2024, a chunk of Highway 1 outside of Big Sur, California collapsed into the ocean stranding as many as two thousand people in the Big Sur area.1 Since its inception in the late 1910s, the cliff-perched highway has become an iconic feature of the American West, providing tourists with scenic views of the California coastline. More importantly, it has become an essential route for Californians. In some cases, it provides the only road between many of California’s coastal towns. With even the partial closure of Highway 1, many of California’s small coastal communities are severely impacted financially and physically with no tourists to drive business and no way to commute to other towns. The road collapse in 2024 was a minor incident in a long history of road collapses and landslides along Highway 1. Significantly, the January 2021 collapse left behind a 150-foot gap, and the March 2017 landslide covered twelve miles of the highway with more than a million pounds of debris.2 Most of the highway runs on top or alongside of the San Andreas Fault, which makes up the Circum-Pacific belt or the “Ring of Fire” where more than 80 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur—making the California coastline one of the most seismically active regions in the world. It is no wonder that each year tourists flock to the coast only to find parts of it closed, destroyed, or under construction. As part of the “Ring of Fire,” the California coastline is subject to constant change and geological shift, only made more unstable as the effects of climate change cause sea levels to rise, cliffs to erode, and temperatures to climb. The boundary between land and sea is moving farther inland, taking with it those lines and demarcations that are used to illustrate where California ends and the ocean begins. Undoubtedly, the future of California’s coastline will become a series of ghost stories of places long-gone, eroded and swept out to sea. The narratives, images, and maps representing California’s coast will no longer allow one to, as Don Quixote would have it, “stroll all over the world just by perusing a map” (Cervantes 588). Instead, those narratives, images, and maps will stand in for the remnants of coastlines sitting beneath the waves. The future looming over the coast forces us to consider what we will lose to the sea—what stories and artifacts will be lost to climate change? This essay takes up this question as a way of thinking with erosion, not as a devastating loss but as an opportunity to embrace change—to gnaw at the histories of colonial, racial, gendered, and environmental violence that make up the bedrock of America culture. To do so, it takes the history and continued effects of Sir Francis Drake’s supposed 1579 landing in Northern California as its case study to explore the violence of reconstructing and maintaining eroding narratives. It analyzes the narrative of Drake’s landing with erosion thinking, a bodily and geological practice of “gnawing” or “wearing away” (erode, v. 1.a and 2.a) at histories and narratives that continue to perpetuate violence upon bodies—human and nonhuman alike. This essay will move through time by adopting the methodology outlined by Frances E. Dolan in Digging the Past, whereby unearthing the past “is always in the service of the future.” To attend to an uncertain future, one must “hold different time frames in tension and face in multiple directions, moving forward in part by turning back” (2). This essay takes Dolan’s Janus-faced approach by first presenting the mythology of Drake and his landing. It will then oscillate between the early-twentieth century and the late-sixteenth century to illustrate the attempts to reconstruct and maintain the Drake mythology. Finally, it reflects on California’s coastal futures and the stories we tell about them. Erosion thinking affords us the opportunity to confront narratives and histories, whether explicitly violent or not, and decide whether they are worth maintaining, or whether they should, like the sands they were built upon, be swept out to sea. In December 1577, English privateer and sailor Francis Drake set sail on what would become the first successful circumnavigation of the world.3 When he returned to London in September 1580, he was lauded as a hero and knighted six months later aboard his ship, the Golden Hinde. The records of the actions that provoked Drake’s sailing and the events that followed are well-documented. What is less well-documented—and the subject of this essay—is the actual exploration that occurred during those three years. As England was in a decades-long conflict with Spain over control of the oceans and the wealth from overseas colonies, Drake’s voyage sought to legitimize England in the “New World” and, more importantly, find the speculative “Northwest Passage” that would allow England to reach the Pacific without passing through Spanish territories. Secretly, however, Drake was chosen for this mission due to his infamy among Spanish sailors, who referred to him as El Draque or “The Dragon.”4 Working covertly for the English Crown, Drake’s naval expertise established him as not only a successful captain but also one of the most dangerous pirates in the world.5 Though disguised as an exploratory voyage, Drake’s circumnavigation returned, at a low estimate, £500,000 in Spanish gold, “gems, and other precious items” (Bawlf 191).6 Adjusted for inflation, Drake returned with more than £100,000,000 in stolen Spanish goods, making him one of the wealthiest men in England.7 For his efforts against Spain, Drake was knighted in 1581 on orders of Queen Elizabeth by the French ambassador, the Seigneur de Marchaumont. This move was strategic, signaling to “King Philip [of Spain] the potential for a new alliance between England and France” (Bawlf 196). In choosing the French ambassador to knight Drake, Elizabeth indicated to Spain that France, despite aligning religiously with Spain, would condone piracy in service of the English Crown. After his knighthood, Drake requested to return to the sea, but he was ordered to remain in England for fear that further piracy might provoke Spain into war.8 Additionally, the specific details of Drake’s circumnavigation were kept secret due to the threat of such a war. During the voyage, Drake kept extensive journals and produced detailed maps of his route and the places where he anchored. These documents, however, were seen only by the crew of the Golden Hinde and the Queen following his return. Accounts of the voyage were spread by word of mouth, but while there were “books, pictures, and ballads [that] appeared in praise of Drake,” none revealed information about his actual journey (Bawlf 194). The details of where Drake sailed were a closely guarded secret and have remained so to this day. Drake’s first-hand account of the voyage has since been lost, with most historians agreeing that the journals and maps were either destroyed in the 1698 fire that razed Whitehall Palace or hidden and subsequently forgotten.9 Most surviving records come from second-hand accounts, notably Richard Hakluyt’s Principal Navigations (1589) and The World Encompassed (1628), compiled by Drake’s nephew, also named Francis Drake. These are, purportedly, true accounts of the voyage relayed by Drake or his Chaplain, Francis Fletcher, and published widely for the English public, but without Drake’s first-hand account, the validity of these texts is dubious at best. Both narratives provide details of Drake’s voyage, the lands he anchored on, and the that he along the The details of Drake’s are notably in narratives in of presenting a “New World” for English and of the of these accounts was to England as a set to Spain in its In this the Hakluyt’s Principal in presenting an England that was and to The of Drake’s first-hand narrative a in to Drake’s accounts relayed to and he sailed farther than Hakluyt’s of Principal Navigations that Drake sailed as from to him as as and as as in Drake’s account, Drake made it the which places Drake as as the de from by that in the of on the and his was in the of on the coast of Drake anchored at the or The of where Drake made with is and be no as to where Drake on the Pacific coast of the Drake’s Drake’s landing in there are, in so many for Drake’s landing that there is a from Northern to with through and the was has eroded and the remnants have been and to and for more than detailed Drake’s his Pacific for to his Sir Francis Drake was a sailor for his Sir an English naval captain for in the with Drake the for out his the of and the Crown, which were more than to on Drake’s naval in the that he would return from his overseas with In the of Drake from a sailor to one of the and most men in in would later become a for that was on the that Drake was a on the of The of Drake as a against an Spain with during the of the century as they to in California against the long history of and later and For many the of Drake as a of a of was an from which they a new for for to California have since Drake’s The true history of his Pacific sailing has been by with many of these narratives and religiously In the question of Drake’s we must his for an Pacific coast was not by but by the men who In the of a narrative has histories of and who have long the Pacific The of this essay some of these narratives and in the mythology of Drake’s Pacific In of a was on the San he a and a and a the was a of that be used to his so he it for months it to his than by with the would later be as the of from Drake’s voyage California to Queen Elizabeth by Richard in his Principal Navigations and by Francis Drake in The World Encompassed that long It its way to of and of the at the of long been on the for this specific so with it, his was this the only the accounts of Drake’s and Richard The was for by the of California and as an of California what and other either to that the of they so in a by the of and history who would to it been by in and the would not be a the it was first With the of and which was only the as Drake’s This in English since actual over California lands and The of the is that it was or even have in the of the of since the actual be The not and there were multiple of for since the to be that the was not in the English are to since the three of on the are the only of a it is that the were not as with the was but the was later by more Additionally, Queen Elizabeth is referred to as Queen Elizabeth of despite by the of Queen of France, and of the the more and widely used for the also the the English was with no there were of that are from the For was more was more and as out in a year the was is that the of the and it all such a Drake the in his and on to that is that the of the was so successful in the of such as and and up over the word and left out a in a of the it and always has that it is a The in the was a series of of the in that the to The who the at and at that the was most a of the late or century not a of Drake’s Pacific coast of of the at the of by and to more between the and the and to the out its the has always it is not a but its as a was no for the that As the it was a widely secret among the in history that the was and a the was not it was but behind just was and that there was a it, no one its validity for The established through Hakluyt’s and Drake’s more than three the was as history to a The of that the of the of on the of Hakluyt’s and Drake’s accounts of Sir Francis Drake’s voyage, in on who to those accounts by the Hakluyt’s and Drake’s the of on there a narrative that was by a The history of the Pacific from the San to and the that sought to and those coastlines has always on as the that sought to the to legitimize the of what Drake that attend to later in this Hakluyt’s and Drake’s of Sir Francis Drake’s In accounts, they such as and and that just as to of the landing also the of that to the to Queen Hakluyt’s account set a of as also of and to the a a was the and of with the of the and people into with and in a of of English the where was also the of Francis Drake’s account we from to be set a of as also of and and to that a of to a and is and the and of and of the of the and by the and into with and in a of English by a made of through the was the of These accounts to have been relayed by the with the of The World that the account is to Sir Francis are Drake’s is more these Drake’s the for the of The account that the must be with of and the and of of the and by the and into and a where of these accounts do not in the used by Drake to up a of they do provide information that one to a What that narrative like on who is the The the that to Queen Elizabeth and for two the to with the account in The World Encompassed to the and as in the land and history to the as a of English that of Drake’s account of has been lost to and eroded and swept out to sea, the second-hand accounts by and Drake’s to reconstruct a narrative that or not be in to an The of built upon those narrative to further on the Pacific these narratives one about the and by these narratives have been for the that in that have become The to the Pacific as an of is into the narrative of the Drake by and Drake’s Both narratives an of Drake as a who is as a the he Hakluyt’s account that Drake on to they supposed to be and would not be to the the which they were and of the of is as a to Drake as a The makes Drake as a to the that Drake and his men This of is a in the of an Pacific The between and is and it to the The of Drake as a a future in which are to English as the and of the land and the communities that The that have Drake’s all future part of and of Hakluyt’s account what the from and the lands that they on the has made it that the future of those and the land is a English In and the account the that the Pacific has always been English and will continue to be English in the to When Drake and his men to the Pacific the narrative that by Drake the This the of the the and the in its to those this not just the to Drake but also the of the people as they Drake’s and as a The people make and they are they and they Drake with the which the account is a of This the of that frames the people as not just but also as upon Drake’s in is to these and the and of the lands into his As Drake is a subject of the English Crown, the narrative a in the that he his as a The account that he his as a he not to he not what and it might be to The account Drake as a who not for his he the lands and its people for his at future is for them. This is built on the that the will the lands and and in this the makes it so that they the of landing and the land as the future where England and the Pacific The of the Pacific as on and the of a The narrative that Drake the and that for two the one in of the and which the and the it might some with in which was so The is in Drake’s landing as it a past to a not just it time in to the they are established as it is the land of in of of the of to the were of and by a for Hakluyt’s Principal Navigations is to as they to a between England and its Additionally, texts that praise the of English and It is for to not only a time in but also a as Drake’s taking up of the lands a future on the Pacific As the narrative is of a history and a of the of and cliffs in the In the was an as it of landing on As was first part of seen and later by in his the of In the Pacific coastline Drake is at a of a in of and and the of a that into the past and the The land and of are as new to the English and The of not just an English history but also a The a it is as it to a time the were one The that history into the future they are one with all the and lands from from the word or also the Pacific coastline to the of its English the as a to the maps the account and the a and the Pacific coastlines are as always been and while also Hakluyt’s the by Drake as a for the English and the land to between and the Pacific coastline. This narrative of its so into the Pacific coastline that it is to to consider those coastal without Drake. The Pacific and its demarcations on a in a narrative history from the that those narratives. the narrative is upon that Drake sailed along the Pacific coast and lands as as the and as as the and that he was the lands and the that be from those to to from In the of as the and the erode, the from and history has been to to the that and that to of Drake’s coastal landing. of as this essay what the is of the to the on is most in service to the the of Drake’s and and for one of the most the of the The with narratives, like Drake’s Pacific is to and this essay to through erosion as a of the on narrative that the coastal that they erosion also as it to the and artifacts that those narrative from the As one with this as part of the and is with the of artifacts and that the is and to the it have to in The to and make the question of what narratives one that expertise and and what is in that As the American Pacific coastline as a by climate it more to the of to specific coastal Both Hakluyt’s and Drake’s accounts of of the land and The accounts and which the with the only of the land that it is with and The people are to in the and from the of the of set and at the like on the of a which with no to and are It is to the of the upon specific Pacific despite attempts the to do the of the in the to a of a the account of these through Drake’s the and the actions of the his The account be outside of this and is by In the of specific the and cliffs have become a of all Pacific coastal For Drake and and American the of this has the opportunity to in the as is for and Most the lines of so by Drake have not just the Pacific coast and its demarcations but also the of the American Significantly, the of for England to to of that to set up a in Drake’s The of the of in English and of “is the and on the that Drake to of that and as his Pacific landing as would the of that that Drake established the America as used Hakluyt’s in his of which to the of overseas for the for the of coast and for the of to the Drake that “New England is that part of America in the to in the by the most Sir Francis Drake in his voyage about the In this is in the The was to Drake’s Pacific landing and to the English in the “New Drake’s landing on the Pacific coast the English over a not only of that coast but also over its The of and England was a for continued his established English over the America with the of hidden to be The from the to the Drake’s Northern and of by to illustrate that some of the land in the world. that “is also as as in the of which is as and as as other in the The first by Drake and then by for the English on the that lands at that been for the of such as and as from it, is the most part of the of the and the most of the and which is the part of which the Spanish in the time no with and then the The then the to in those as the the to and for a of of England moving from England to to and that that long World” The of the of and other artifacts and along the Pacific as of the Drake they have been and America making it to to consider these lands without Drake. In of has become and the land and coastlines that the and have come to into Hakluyt’s and Drake’s accounts at the of but the following have seen that to and Drake’s Pacific sailing has eroded The remnants one are not of history but of and attempts that are to What might it to have an America without the of Sir Francis What might it to gnaw at the question of Drake’s landing in of erosion, of narratives to but not to to not the lands that they have so As this essay has it has to California as not just an of but as a for the of many of the American the of the Drake in the Pacific has become a of The to to this like the Drake in continue to the that Drake in and the as as Drake’s as a only to a in the to of the to Drake and his landing. the narrative eroding with the lands that it was built upon, it of The to the only as to the of the the coastal that have been by its Northern California are to the As in his of in with the and as and The of the Drake with and the of climate with these making a of environmental and The over and coastal erosion reflects a fear of a future without future from a The future of California as a of its past through and and to only one future that the as it its as in California the more than one way to with but of what the coast be has the of what the past to the future has left for the with the coast as it is has been to reconstruct coastal to the of narratives to the Pacific even as this the of as in constant change and of the Drake eroding with the it has been The to and reconstruct the coast as an to environmental of a future of and This in many and are come to what coastal The potential future, just as it was for Drake, and all the that has for one must with change and the potential for environmental one also must not lose of the coast and the other potential futures that in the face of climate the with the coast is not about control or about the past and it with the It is about to change with the that erosion is and affords one the opportunity to gnaw at the continued histories of violence against and nonhuman by those histories to, and into the sea. Erosion thinking, as one to with the of and and such loss to of the coast and its narratives as they are and and and to those As erosion thinking is as it forces one to consider what is through the to the and for the coast and its narratives to the histories of the and who have the This essay for erosion, not as but as of with the coast of against it and with the histories and futures that one one
In Utah of late it seems that water has been both everywhere and nowhere at once. For the past two decades our state and much of the American West has been locked in a “mega-drought,” the region's worst in 1,200 years. At the same time, unprecedented population growth and the increasingly impossible-to-ignore effects of climate change have pushed the West toward the brink. The crisis on the Colorado River—where in late December 2022, Lake Powell stood at 23 percent of capacity and Lake Mead at around 28 percent—portends both painful cutbacks for water users and years of legal and political battles to come.1 Meanwhile, declining water levels on Great Salt Lake have exposed hundreds of square miles of playa, creating toxic dust storms that imperil human health, and threatening catastrophic impacts for the migratory birds, brine shrimp, and other species that depend on the lake's ecosystem. That is the nowhere part.The everywhere part is the awareness of the water crisis in the media and in the public consciousness. Once a local or regional story, the West's disappearing water has become headline news on the national and even global stage. The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, and CNN among many others have covered the crisis. HBO's John Oliver even made water the subject of an episode of his satirical news show Last Week Tonight, taking particular glee in skewering Utah and its political leaders.2 This is all in addition to sustained coverage by local and regional outlets, including the important work of the Great Salt Lake Collaborative, a consortium of twenty-three media organizations with the shared mission of raising public awareness of the crisis.3 Everywhere, it seems that alarm bells are finally sounding.Water has also been on my mind a lot over the past several years as I have worked with a dedicated team from Utah Humanities on Think Water Utah. My involvement began in 2019, when Megan Van Frank asked me to serve as the state consulting scholar for the Utah tour of the Smithsonian Institution's Museum on Main Street (MoMS) exhibit Water Ways. Utah Humanities regularly brings MoMS exhibits to Utah and I had acted as consulting scholar on a previous tour, so I thought I knew what I was getting myself into. Besides, as an historian of the American West, water is never far from the center of the story, whether it be mythologized, celebratory tales of hardy pioneers or grimmer accounts of environmental injustice and the struggle to control the precious resource. Indeed, some noted western historians such as Walter Prescott Webb and Donald Worster deemed aridity the region's defining characteristic.4 Then Van Frank had the vision to secure the tour of a second Smithsonian exhibit H2O Today, transforming Water Ways into Think Water Utah, which she informally and lovingly dubbed the “water circus.”5 By the time the big top was struck for the final time in October of 2022, our travelling circus reached every corner of the state. All told, Think Water Utah included the publication of my extended essay “Utah Water Ways,” companion exhibits and local programming at nine partner venues, a statewide exhibit developed to accompany H2O Today, associated exhibits at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts and the Natural History Museum of Utah, online resources for teachers, and multiple episodes of Utah Humanities’ Beehive Archive podcast.6While it was enough to leave me feeling waterlogged, I believe that Think Water Utah and projects like it can play a crucial role in our civic life. As a citizen who cares deeply about Utah and the West, I worry about our future. We live in a time when both the validity of science and the relevance of history are under attack. Neither trend bodes well for dealing effectively with the water crisis. Yet at the same time, as a publicly engaged historian, I remain hopeful that my work, and the work of so many others, facilitates meaningful public discussions as we face consequential decisions both as individuals and as a society. In saying this I do not suggest that history provides an objective roadmap for the future. We have all heard the old saw about those who cannot remember the past being condemned to repeat it. But in fact, historians are notoriously bad at predicting the future. And so, despite living in Utah for over three decades I make no claim to being a prophet. No historian should. What then is the role of an historian at the confluence of water and the public?If historians cannot predict the future, we can provide desperately needed historical context that in turn contributes to informed public discussion. In public-facing projects like Think Water Utah, our central goal is to provoke visitors and readers. I use the term provoke advisedly. In doing so I am following Freeman Tilden, the National Park Service's guru of interpretation, who long ago asserted that provocation was the chief aim of public interpretation. Effective interpretation, he wrote, served to “stimulate the reader or hearer toward a desire to widen [their] horizon of interests and knowledge, and to gain an understanding of the greater truths that lie beneath any statements of fact.”7 To provoke, then, is not to pick a fight. Of course, we knew that for Think Water Utah to truly have value, we must ask hard questions and tell difficult stories. By retelling well-known (and lesser known) stories with a critical eye toward their meaning in light of current concerns, our goal was never to disparage heroes or tear down heritage but rather to expand and complicate popular narratives and get our visitors and readers to stop and think more deeply about the past as context.That is also what I want to do here, by addressing several intertwined historical threads that provide particularly relevant context for understanding our present and pondering our future. All are linked by the central notion that water is not only life but also power. Moreover, they also illustrate the fundamental contingency of history. Utah's historic “water ways” were not predestined nor were they simply dictated by the state's harsh environment. Rather, they took shape where the natural world and human cultures met. It was there that people made decisions, rooted in their own cultural traditions and historical experiences, which impacted their own lives and in many cases transformed the lives of others. Our future water ways will be formulated the same way, through adaptation and resistance, conflict and compromise.There is an oft-repeated adage, popularly though falsely attributed to Mark Twain, that in the West “whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.”8 It is a funny line, but it also reflects a deeper truth: in arid places like the West water is power, and it is often a source of conflict. The general scarcity of water meant that the relatively few places such the Wasatch Oasis zone, where water was more abundant, became the focus of intensive and permanent Euro-American colonization, setting the stage for the dispossession of Native peoples. Later, the struggle to control water meant the difference between success or failure for those same colonists, be they farmers, ranchers, miners, and even whole communities.And if water is intensely political in the West, in Utah it is has also been also central to cultural identity, for it figures prominently in the LDS faith's cherished narrative of hardship, trial, and triumph. Fleeing persecution in the East, the popular narrative goes, Brigham Young led the Mormons into an unforgiving land where through hard work and with a shared sense of purpose they made the desert “blossom like the rose.” The whole story is, of course, far more complicated. To tell the more complete story, we must begin with the central premise that different cultures and societies can and have approached the natural world with radically dissimilar values and goals. These differences have shaped lands and waters in distinct ways and very often have engendered conflict. Indeed, making the desert bloom for Euro-American colonists came at the expense of Utah's Indigenous peoples.The central difference between Native and Euro-American water ways came down to adjustment, to adaptation: more precisely, who or what was expected to adapt or change. Utah's Native peoples generally accepted the natural limitations of their homeland and made optimal use of its resources without attempting to reengineer the world around them. For Numic-speaking peoples—Utes, Shoshones, Goshutes, and Paiutes—mobility was a crucial strategy for survival throughout much of the year, but this was balanced by more sedentary camps the of a on those which the people had to Water of course, a and in and and as well as In the were camps that with to and for In the people and in the Utah the at of the in the their both and colonists came to the arid lands of the American West with about human with For it was not a of but a of to to the of their their At a fundamental their in the that had been over they that transforming was as well as In the for and to and an of life they knew in the to the arid In doing so they only as far as to the natural world and its and then the land we Utah, water became a of conflict. and their that or linked and other water was the of and and The peoples of the Great living to the the In many cases the important water often the Native peoples who had for many of the of the of of in of a much greater other the Mormons to The Wasatch Oasis their only to a between the and to the of came at the expense of Native lands and In the over the and lands of the Utah It was the of two decades of that led to the of people from the Wasatch Oasis and central Meanwhile, to the LDS into the homeland of the there in the of the of Native peoples in the American not engaged in the as they had been in Utah colonists from the and the as the of the failure to they were control over Native Mormons engaged in struggle over this with other This not play on but in the of a values as well as its Brigham goal in the to Utah was to an with or of water was an part of those and through of the Utah's worked to that is legal struggle took environmental and the of a were to water the arid Water in the began with the of if land a or they a to use its they not the for others. The was well to the like the meant not water to their In the West, a very different took in the of the two in time, in and Water are not to land but rather depend on an claim with the the state to a with and use to others with on the same or The of the or the of not in time, in the also on a for this is where into water is a not It is the to use a of water that is not the water whether they be or must their claim by the water to some which or a or to meant of the water use is often more as it or the goal of the use was to and that a served the it has also led in of their to use every of their of or rather the LDS led to and served to the of At a time when other and the to the values of the of New Water was be but water As and the Wasatch local water not to but to the and of the As the in Utah the to control of in the Water and resources came under the of in the that for the of included to and Yet over time, the of in and Utah. In the and water with water and and on By when Utah its water was the of the the LDS to the world at through the control of water were they for an vision of western by John the to doing Powell a for with and public This is he a in the public particularly in Utah and among of the environmental and In popular Powell was the despite an in the led two through the and in the Today, some as to the of and more many more for the natural world and But Powell was a nor a of And so, there is in who he was and was as well as his vision for western That never came to not its for about water in the American West and for public think about the of was not a but an of and in the natural and he an of no and to following his into and a long in which he and the natural history and human cultures of the for years he both the and the of American and his interests were part of the same of national For a understanding of the land and its peoples was a for the of the arid saw the between water and in the It was central to his goal of a vision of that was rooted in the of and other of the For political The to the he was to a made of In the decades the this by a became the of who the of the the to and being in an Powell also this of And he to both to the of human and to that vision of American saw both the of the as well as to that to the in the of the These included the the and the that more any other the of the the This an to claim from the public that on the land for years and made they to their in other their very own in American the Powell that the in the not of and but of the natural environment. In places of the of in any year, the of that provide a living in the made sense in the arid West, where or much to were more to the environment. American in be to the lands of the American This was the that important And in it he a radically different of the waters and the which had it been have transformed the political and face of the American his Powell time in Utah and were by a different their the arid West became of the that Powell through his Powell not the same with and that LDS colonists, but he want to interests and the of and local control over that precious also to his That is and important began his for the American West, which deemed a for a with his on the of the of the the over the years in and finally a of in of an understanding of the environmental limitations by aridity in the American that only percent of the West be there are about under in Utah, or percent of the state's land this under to provide for over a American It be a and of and It also the of to every of the region's That the West's be was not a are Powell his he that resources be that no water to the The that we so were a like and the same some ways Powell be a of those he that and resources must be developed for human their on he for to science and be to make western he but only the by work to a regional that the of environmental and the New But there were also important differences between Powell and of not the vision of sustained by the provide and but the control of the must be to the of and political and the cherished vision of between the natural world and was at the of for the it the arid West's political to with its natural and were often the of the and making over water under of the waters human and political as well as water In the American West, that meant a of effectively be with two or more which Powell Powell have in of a of water Water be to land but the and of the land be central or from the to all the water that be To a of and of lands in the be to and all and be as the the or the on to local waters as well as the to the waters that down from in of the more their water be to those of water no their or only to the water that be their and have only a and the in and water be a of the arid the of western like who the and the in and Powell to But not want to of natural and and other western saw that not their for the only two years the effectively of a very different vision for the West was on in in October when Powell what to be his on water and western was there as the of the National The was the of who in his of Salt Lake where he had the two years The were a of and Powell his on the it was an began by his not to the or other but to a that will the of for the I am more in the and the I am in the they truly with such the and in the with the who shared he his the in the from for the and to The when Powell the of natural what I to make to is is not Water enough to all the that when all the are when all the in the when all the when all the are when all the the are when all the waters are when all the waters are when all the are or that can be in all this arid there is not water to all this arid I make that is but a of the land which can be when all the of then a years the interests in water will I tell are a heritage of conflict and over water for there is not water to that it became difficult for Powell to others with questions and at the who a became the of the the that whole on for some general The he was the only he had in this being from the Powell as the of the to the a vision of and and for it was an of that to any natural no of has our lives in an arid like Utah to a population in the it is to believe that can every often the very they were to This brings me to of water in Utah and the American western water an but in the and their in the struggle to control the region's precious resource. This not as a the West has been and it the of the about percent of live in places as in the West, it is over And about percent of the water in Utah to of that to a growth accounts for the in and has and very to current and that October in when Powell the of the who stood in was then of the Water and the of the of Water and In he the of of Water to and not of which was for that was but was not in was on the current more future of the he that his were on the waters of the as a to water the was a in the of and its population By the turn of the the and two decades as the in and the American Yet despite its growth and the water its as a The water source was the a of a that became a The was natural and without more water its that its growth The the water in American a struggle that the and the of the political of the West, all the environmental of our the of the and it made in the other in the Great the waters of the never reached the but rather into an It is a or as is Utah's Great Salt a the pioneers the Salt Lake and Utah other Indigenous people and began in the of the natural which were not those of the Wasatch it became the of the Service's in and had other a who served as and was in of the his was but came to believe that it was the only to the the began to water in the In a conflict of the in of the the in and the of water to to more water and the In fact, the water was not and be in the beneath the it was were by but the public it not be without In Frank present was the old and who as of the was a of of was in his own for the for the that there was greater to be served by the water in The a to a over that have the water the became and the following the the from the to become at the of Water and every of the between and it water miles the over miles of and twenty-three to and without the for It was a But it not the of the nor it to only the water in the led to the that he must it all in to the water No water meant no future for the and and they and the on several the to the with conflict but growth and its for more water The was extended to the Lake which became and the But even that was not In the an even was to water from the Colorado to over a in And the water over miles from Lake on the in to In and throughout the American West has more has the of the far from Utah, we not its historical the for being the of By a second and began even more and water of the The was environmental Once a for migratory birds, Lake became a toxic dust storms that the legal have in to water into but it and so the with and to The between Lake and our own Great Salt Lake are hard to In a on the Great Salt the New York not are of important differences For the toxic dust storms from Lake relatively few people in like and a Great Salt Lake the and of people living the Wasatch This is a to be but it also a of came at the expense of hundreds of miles the Wasatch we are doing this to and that the to change. is in and if have the will to a hard at they a there are no or public discussions of water in Utah have increasingly toward and more toward the that percent of the water in the state year, ask if it sense to so much of our precious to a that percent of the state's It is a and water from use to other seems like an to Utah's water But we also for the state's it to be no at the Utah was the state in the and are that population growth will for decades to we cannot stop growth is that not want to even if it were we can it more We can and over the of and water projects that have greater growth and even greater will and will in our cultural values and And they will from every of our cannot predict it all will turn but I do believe that historical context will be in our future water Think Water Utah was to provoke and meaningful discussions of our past and our future I public The goal was to get our visitors and readers to their to water and to That is also what I have to do In the ways in which Native peoples and Euro-American colonists engaged land and water in different or the vision of western by John or population growth and in the West, we to more and decisions about our water future. For me that is the role of a historian at the confluence of water and the
In his “Easy Chair” column in the September 1953 issue of Harper's magazine, Utah native son Bernard DeVoto reported on a newly popular form of lodging growing up all over the West—the motel. To him the word motel was an “awkward word, a coinage out of the folksiness that named the suburb's Kan-di-Korner,” but for the motorist it had conveniences that made it superior to a hotel. DeVoto dubbed the motel “the highway's hotel,” a boon to the motorist who wanted nothing to do with tipping bellboys or crowded lobbies but preferred to carry in his own bags to his spacious air-conditioned room.1 According to DeVoto, motels and their towns sprouted like mushrooms along the highways of the West.DeVoto's commentary is valuable for his accurate description and the signal it sent: motels were here to stay. They were everywhere in the West, along the edges of the highways and lining the town sidewalks. As DeVoto makes clear, motels offered a clean private room, along with the privacy and ease of parking right outside the door. This hybrid form of lodging replaced the old tourist cabins and courts with something new and modern, befitting the postwar era. World War II was over, and the consumer economy was heating up. American families took off in their station wagons looking for the authentic West of cowboys and Indians they saw in movie westerns. Traveling businessmen appreciated the desks, free stationery, and a telephone to the switchboard in every motel room. But the neon lights and the swimming pool were put in to attract the pleasure traveler who chose the motel while driving through what DeVoto dubbed “Motel Town.”The advent of the motel and its impact on Utah and the Mountain West was more complicated than DeVoto suspected. The building of motels at mid-century was spurred by the expansion of the highways and robust consumer spending but could not have taken place without the investment of capital and labor in the family motel business. Three Utah men played prominent roles in the growth of the motel industry in Utah and the Intermountain West: Ray Knell of Cedar City, Bentley Mitchell of Logan, and Ken Orton of Salt Lake City and Phoenix. All three were actively involved in creating business associations that set up the scaffolding for an extensive western hospitality network. The regional lodging associations were a crucial step in the metamorphosis of the lodging industry from small, family-owned motels to the later dominance of the nationwide motel chains like Holiday Inn.These three men helped enable the rapid growth of the motel industry in the modern West by founding affiliate organizations on a state, regional, and national level. For the motel entrepreneurs the organizations created networks of friendship that insulated the owners from the uncertainties of expansion in an era of ascendant Fordism.2 In the postwar era of increasing federal control, notably the expansion of the interstate highway system, the trade associations gave the owners a forum to voice their concerns. Small business associations lobbied for relief from the regulatory apparatus of federal oversight. Those associations would later become lifelines to their very existence as family-owned motels became overshadowed by the expansion of corporate lodging chains.Born in the early twentieth century and reared on farms in Utah, all three of the Utah motel entrepreneurs were embedded in a culture of market capitalism mediated by the Mormon historical experience and values. The Mormon value of cooperation, a hallmark of the faith's approach to capitalism, was reflected in the construction of the associations.3 The Utah motel men drew upon skills gained while serving as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and through later church leadership experience. Influenced by the Mormon cooperative tradition, they formed networks of business connections to promote tourist lodging. A striking similarity among the Mormon moteliers in their religious practice and family relationships illuminates the cultures of capitalism in the Mormon culture region in Utah and beyond. By seeing the Mormon motel entrepreneurs as embedded in a culture of cooperative and competitive capitalism, we can better understand the forces shaping entrepreneurial tourism in the Intermountain West.4Utah played an important role in luring tourists to the West. Tourists to Salt Lake City on the Union Pacific Railroad in the late nineteenth century sought glimpses of the private life of polygamy, but local boosters turned their attention to the impressive architecture and birds-eye views of new parks and boulevards. Indeed, Salt Lake City was dubbed the crossroads of the West, and the “See America First” movement originated in the state's capital city. The expansion of state and federal highways across the West ushered in the automobile age, and Utah became a proving ground for roadside businesses like the motel.5The history of the distinctively American motel has generally been set within the context of highway travel. Historian Warren Belasco argues that the desire for comfort and convenience powered the tourist court mania and subsequent motel boom. While Belasco's book provides an excellent history of the genesis of tourist courts, it ends in 1945, before the postwar economic recovery gave a boost to motel construction.6 John Jakle and Keith Sculle propose that motels followed the same place-product-packaging marketing strategy as gas stations and roadside restaurants, relying heavily on branding to provide a reliable sameness to their customers.7 This story of a trio of Utah motel men demonstrates the importance of business associations in explaining the sudden rise of motels, the subject of DeVoto's 1953 essay in Harper's Magazine.8The foundation of modern tourism in the West, from highway towns to mountain canyons, began by building places for tourists to stay. The word motel was coined in San Luis Obispo, California, in 1926, but it was not commonly used as a term until the 1950s, at about the same time DeVoto brought it to the attention of his readers.9 The predecessor to the motel was the tourist court, a group of cabins around a filling station with an open court facing the highway. DeVoto did not think highly of the cabins: “A motel may be dingy or uncomfortable but at its worst it is always better than the highway's slum structures, the corn cribs and chicken coops called, offensively to our patriotic tradition, ‘Cabins.’”10 The growth of tourist lodgings in Utah followed the same pattern, of maturing from auto camp to tourist court to motel.11Motels did not “sprout” up, as DeVoto alleged, but many were built on the foundations of tourist courts already on Main Street. Courts changed their painted signs to electric neon and updated the architecture from homey to modern by building a shared roof and raised portico. Newer motels were built on either side of the highways outside town to lure tired motorists before they reached the downtown business district. The tall neon signs beckoned to the highway traveler who scanned the roadside at dusk to find a place to stay. DeVoto complained that his stay in Motel Town was often sleepless because “the whirr, hum, and flick of passenger cars continue all night.” Because of the glow of the colorful neon outlining the windows and eaves, “The tourist closes the venetian blinds, turns out the lights in his room, and may still read the Gideon Bible without eyestrain.”12 His observations help us appreciate the novelty of the both the architecture and the art form of roadside lodging.There was money to be made owning a motel in the West as tourism replaced mining and agriculture as a significant economic contributor in the mid-twentieth century. Motel net profits were reported to range from 36 percent in the late 1930s, to around 25 percent in the 1940s. The profit margins resulted from low and with on family labor and and the the motel the the of In the early the the industry trade magazine, was on the of industry percent of as net profit has reached a it attract and of were who could the labor of their and could on family for investment small, businesses became as the motels, family businesses that had a low to with the of a of Ray Knell of Cedar City the of building a motel business and associations to promote western travel. in Knell up on a in In for a in California, and his Bentley in They to Cedar City, and by the time a tourist court in they had three The along to new of construction with a for a of Knell the of a motel court the that modern of motel By the was on the of modern with its over the The with but the were very in in modern with venetian at the were with a used in was of a postwar business in Cedar City at the of automobile motels in town were to by at and The in Cedar City be to of the tourist in of the state, with a to provide excellent for a of up the of new motels and to the tourists driving the highways to the national City was the to and parks and the In the early twentieth tourists took the to the town the Utah by to the the advent of automobile the of a to the tourist The to the not the To to “the they in and they and for their to money from Knell the of and owners of the in to his on the side of the motel The Cedar City of a the town as the to the Utah a of and tourist courts the tourist of was an early of the The history of as the with his and in of In was not by but by a group of men Knell and John both from The motel men the for at a of the Courts in in or They were that Courts in was in its and that “the it offered were the group of entrepreneurs the and of and comfort in an era of in the motel was a boon to motel owners who wanted to to a motel of A at motel could the to a at motel for This was a valuable in an era were made by The the of the of western motel a for and be of the be for of the time the for but it was in creating a of motels a Knell was in on the ground of the As of a founding Knell along as as to owners to the the of in the same region to they were state and regional lodging By Knell was the and the of the Utah was the of the Utah Motel and a to promote tourism from to offered Ray and Knell the to As a of the national of of the American and his in City, and In the took a to the of at the of the to a in and to the his motel business Ray became a in Cedar to the of the 1953 of and of the Knell was a of the and the of As a the local to signs the at the and the at the brought business to Cedar City, state of motel owners and the Utah his church as a in local Mormon from until of his to his and a of his leadership was an early in the motel who his in Cedar City played an important role in and state tourism The of his and him to and the business and to better the of his was to motel and stay in a highway but his to and in trade associations had an impact on the of motels not in the state, but in the western Ray Utah motel Bentley Mitchell in his local to his in Mitchell a Latter-day to from gained a in the and became to church his Utah They in and on the family in In was to to as of the who had in as a him with their three in early Mitchell the construction of the Latter-day and a new for the in Church from Salt Lake City for the in and the was by three from as as While in Mitchell gained skills and in to his as Mitchell to than to stay on the family his to in Mitchell to a as a motel In the Mitchell Motel on the The low the and to cars up to the of their a story was A tall neon with at the with out in a the A of and modern the Mitchell Motel was of motels in along with the was in many and was an of the Utah Motel and the American In his motel Mitchell was more than a regional as of the of of the American out of City, In role sought from state on industry as the newly federal highways and the of with from owners of courts and motels from to was in the of the had at the Utah in Salt Lake City in September The in and to without a by the distinctively Mormon local the a to the Salt Lake for its and a of the city. the was a with by the of By the time they Salt Lake City, the would have had a to not Mormon culture in Utah, but Pacific as by was a founding of the a group of hospitality along from to The was at the of in in September by a group of hospitality owners of motels, and The of the was with about of the and in Utah, in and in A the of at the in Salt Lake City, a that many of the have been Utah founding in September for the of a of and the The was for the to be played in and on the the on had the of on by In the of the the was the on to the They with the on to and of in its from Utah, in to in Those the that were their and local were not new Mitchell the the to the Mitchell of built around the from of to the out to their of at the in they took through the a and a in business off by a of and all for While the businessmen and their the up the of for the and to in their of capital would be to the of by to be to But were signs of the of a of to in and the of for a movie the is but it that the in or a of and a nationwide of Bentley Mitchell may have played a in the of the was from up a new in for a local his in on with His was to their and the Bentley as was the of the Mitchell to its the motel a of business from Utah The to the of town In had at the Motel for the for an to a before their that the motel to to Indeed, to that were to by the motel the at the Motel and for the group to stay at the Mitchell they did of but by the of in the Pacific have made more to of the in provide that was a a Mitchell tourism in the a local to a group of tourists on a in with the and the and the tourists were to a and the of of the Utah and who of the put excellent that old Utah hospitality always The business of Mitchell the importance of the to the of motel Mitchell and his used the Mitchell Motel in as the for motel growth through the West. In his as an in and the Mitchell was embedded in national lodging networks that him to national in motel Indeed, his out of to his in the but his to within organizations and promote their him to within the a but on his Knell and Mitchell built their motels, Utah native John Orton his in in in Utah, his in began a Latter-day in Orton was of missionaries in all of with the of the and more The and the native and of the the was in three of His gave him valuable in and him to and they had Ken and a local business and in the of the the of the became its motels as a later by at as at old had money to a on Main Street. it for a it and later to the on By the late motels on in Salt Lake City, the and the The was a with Ray who was to his capital was to in on the ground of owning a Orton upon the of church who wanted to a to by the prominent The was a of The The a of by early church John became a of the for in its and to the Mormon son later was a family business in made the the and and helped with the and Orton to have been embedded in the of Mormon business and but had set his on a as a World War Orton was among from who the American in in was as of with the of more in to that did not motel owners to As that in to the the was to and of the that a who had than had to be offered a a that did not to In a in the Orton they to to open an in to for their Orton was in that and motels in profits because of the that they had to provide for the many and were from their was not until that the were still the importance of as a voice for motel owners was for the his The story is that the Ken to to his in a for the of have been the but more was to by the business in By had his Utah motels for a from the and a to The family to Ken the at West and it to His profits from were his hospitality business at a but more capital for a business a who was from a in a of took and formed a that the at and a in and the profits in his The in was while with his in that that the would The and put the in to over in the West. His businesses a of the World War and became as and Orton were in for the tourists who to to the motel Motel on on and motels in and But it they did not have capital to as as they in the for the the for to for to the and room, and to the and his in Orton a from of Utah, his life they had the and in early Ken to his still in a as as the is have to but have had for him the the was for the to his the court business a of more than and more to in to A they were of and of the to be to put in more the who the would have to and the they to a they were to from the the motels were took in in a percent over the to for of in the new in the The built their with the and in by from the and the the and and who a and motel in Salt Lake City, the group of would become the for their of built by In they built the at on from Orton took for the and it was as with courts and all the of a The architecture was of the motels, with open by made of by all painted in To in more a to motels and across the The to lodging with an of court, and the term from his hospitality business the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints him to as in the of his as a In late and his to of his was to better with the was in three and in increasing the of missionaries from to was in a of from the at the Orton the motel business was not as His took a from in to the family motel His to his of for profits and labor in business has off very were from for the have been and find that it is all over town but we to a to out more and to up more was to the business and did not have the to the Ken Orton an of and was from his a in Salt Lake City and to in Orton his with a hotel. In built the on A for the motel in the it of the modern a the by a swimming is by a room, room, and private a out of who had and the took out a in The the of the in the Orton and his had made the from highway motels to with and that for local organizations and private was the in at The was of a in the American West of and of the but have been by his for the of in the of Orton a his of the as son became a and the a in that took him to and The was turned over to but the families their in the until the and in the By building the motels as tourism to the owners a foundation for the growth of tourism in the to Salt Lake City to Orton to become a regional in the hospitality the to the Orton an business associations that helped him by building motels in the West. His in his experience in the growing hospitality industry in By his we better understand the highway motel gave rise to the of the story of the three Utah motel with its in the of Mitchell and Orton in us better understand the growth of motels in the West, as by The men their were in building business associations that the foundation for the automobile tourism of tourist courts and experience in church and organizations skills in the associations they and in the western They were with the motel owners from and were at business Mormon skills were put to as they up new to their own they to be to organizations they would and their church leadership they to and associations they helped a culture of capitalism that the edges of competitive The networks of state, regional, and national associations helped their in an corporate economy that was more subject to state and federal The associations were like before chains like Holiday the hospitality The organizations were not but became organizations in an era of expansion of federal business role of the of three men is more to Bentley Knell and Orton were as of their but Mitchell is to us because in the business can that were as the of motel owners their to The up for the and and The gave the a to the and The the a from the of on and for their motel were up in the local a that their in The history of their has to be but is to understand the of their motel on family labor and the capital from family networks and like life As family changed and federal highways from the motels were to in The of motels in the with in but began to by The of the era to the of the of family-owned motels, and by the early owners from chains like Holiday and The motel owners to stay and they began off motels in the early as the chains for the of who could better money at a and the of the were in the of the family-owned business. would be to that the chains motels were by their as changed who wanted to the business could do by a from a with and a highway motels have Ray who had up of to the of his motel took over the the of Knell in the was to become the by Cedar City, of the in the Utah the Mitchell Motel to as its of the motels was to the was to in The were of a of from who the motels by the and of who built in Utah, is a motel at every on and Salt Lake City, and in every town along the or a national their who motels, the on family capital and and a national business the American The of the the western lodging and its impact on Utah, is Mormon Mitchell and the for Mormon hospitality industry and the of America and America in and Utah, built his from in in the business did not until the and on the but his Utah Mormon his own business motel men in the Intermountain West created the foundation for the from family businesses to to the of Bernard DeVoto would have about the hospitality of is open for his clean his or the would have something to we were to read of his we would and our in But be to the of the mid-century highway motels at time the owners at the and their brought of to room. for old motels has spurred their motels, with their open colorful neon and convenience to tourists for an authentic in the of the old motels a of to motel towns all over the West. the tourists a while by the they a to the motel of the West.
The American Reaper: Harvesting Networks and Technology, 1830-1910 By Gordon M. Winder Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2012. xii + 225pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, and Index. $124.95 (hardcover), ISBN: 9781409424611.What role does the manufacturing of farm machinery play in the rise of corporate capitalism? How did networks, legal protections, and technology condition how the American reaper was produced? How did the harvesting machinery industry prefigure contemporary economic geographies of globalized networks of industrial capital and localized networks of agglomeration economies with urban metropoles? These are some of the questions Gordon M. Winder seeks to answer in his fascinating volume Ihe American Reaper: Harvesting Networks and Technology, 1830-1910.Winder demonstrates quite clearly that the development of the reaper industry prefigures later patterns of vertical disintegration, flexible specialization, and agglomeration economies that were identified by economic geographers as exemplary of the new face of industrial capitalism starting in the latter third of the twentieth century. In Winder's retelling of this important chapter in United States economic history, it is not simply a case of individual firms and an industrial sector implementing mass production techniques in response to rising demand for farm machinery. Rather, the development of complex production networks and the eventual rise of corporate-led vertical integration was the outgrowth of the interplay between the technological limitations of Victorian era craft production, a strong patent protection system that facilitated technology transfer and decentralized production networks, and struggles over control of the labor process.From the 1830s to the 1880s, harvesting machinery manufacturing in North America and globally was dominated by a decentralized craft production paradigm due to locational, technological, labor process, seasonal, and institutional factors. First, it made sense to distribute production to minimize transportation costs of the finished product. Second, prior to the production of steel, harvesting machines used wood, then iron as the primary materials; these materials were not amenable to mass production techniques, which required both skilled labor and significant modification of finished parts before final assembly of harvesting machines. Third, the International Molders Union struggled with reaper manufacturers over the shop floor, and the key role of skilled foundry workers in producing iron implements served to limit economies of scale and hold down productivity advances. Fourth, most production prior to 1870 was seasonal for two reasons: One, this was the general pattern in manufacturing because laborers would work on the farm or forest for part of the year, and in factories another part of the year. Two, the sale of harvesting machinery was seasonal, with sales having to take place before the harvest season. Seasonality of production discouraged large investments in plants because of low capital utilization, and encouraged dispersal of production to reduce capital requirements. Fifth, a strong patent system and requirements by many foreign governments to license manufacture for sale to domestic markets, along with import limitations, encouraged the creation of decentralized production networks and technology transfer as a business expansion strategy in the United States and abroad. Reaper manufacturers licensed out production of entire machines, as well as components used in their own plants. Patent holding companies, such as McCormick or Deering, would license other companies to manufacture and sell machines within a particular region or country, with royalties paid per machine sold to the patent holder. This type of business organization demanded high levels of trust among the members of a business network of largely autonomous actors.Winder provides an extensive case study of one highly decentralized harvest implement manufacturer based in New York - D. …
While industrialists are discovering the hidden costs of minimal compliance with environmental regulation, environmentalists assert that EPA regulations contain too many loopholes. Since government regulation pleases neither environmentalists nor the regulated industries, we have to think in new directions. Can financing alternative technology be superior to monitoring pollution? Can local communities play a role in creating cohesion out of decentralization? What are the best new strategies both on the level of local communities and alternative technologies?
Between 1916 and 1941, Henry Ford embarked on an effort to decentralize the production facilities of the Ford Motor Company. One component of this effort was an experiment in which he located seventeen small factories, called Village Industries, in rural areas throughout southeastern Michigan. These factories were designed to utilize water power in the production of sub-assembly parts for Ford's main assembly plants and were intended to provide jobs for rural residents. Ford endeavored to develop a sense of “field and factory” in these plants by training rural workers in the latest technological advances, allowing them release time to farm their fields, and paying them “city” wages. The Ford experiment is important for, despite a significant body of literature calling for the decentralization of industry during this period, there were few efforts that were comprehensively implemented, few which included rural areas, and even fewer that were totally financed by the private sector.
Historians have recently given much attention to the active, formative role of state governments in the American economy before the Civil War.1 The states exercised nearly exclusive control over many aspects of economic life, and in such areas as labor, banking, and corporation policy the federal government interfered relatively little. The consequence was considerable decentralization of power in policymaking, together with variations in policy from state to state.2 Perhaps in no policy area were variations so dramatic as in state legislation on banking. In some states banking was prohibited outright, while in others the state government itself established and operated banks, sometimes on a monopoly basis. Elsewhere, safety funds were established and banks required to meet minimum standards of specie reserve and the like; and in a few states, stringent regulatory policies were pursued, with public commissioners given considerable discretion in administering policy.3