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A Canyon, a Peak, a Grave and a Monument: Names, Symbols and the Politics of History

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People talking about what we should change because it’s correcting mistakes of the past for the present or shouldn’t change because it’s denying the reality of history has me thinking about Grandstaff Canyon.  It’s one of the most beautiful trails in the Moab, Utah area, and it has a history to it. Brace yourselves, because it was once known as “Nigger Bill Canyon.” I think you’d be awfully hard-pressed to find many people who would seriously defend keeping that name if it were as it still stood today.   It’s a strange word to carry so much weight; those who use it in its basic form have often been associated with illiteracy, low standing, vulgarity and contempt for not only people but good manners; but it’s born out of slovenly pronunciation of the once perfectly acceptable “negro,” the Spanish word for black, and “nègre,” the French word for black.  The southeast regions of the United States where slavery was most commonly practiced were previously colonized by the
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Adventure Guide Brigham: Some of My Favorite Trails

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People who know me know that I hike a lot, but what those people may not know is that I know dick about hiking.  That's not quite true, but I don't have any special expertise or training beyond my own experiences.  I'm not a backpacker who goes on multi-day hiking trips.  I don't use any fancy equipment, I don't have any special technical canyoneering skills, and I certainly don't know how to do repelling.  Some people who grew up in rural Utah were raised in families who emphasized outdoor activities like camping trips, hunting and the like, but camping trips and hiking were a novelty during my childhood, and Boy Scouts were a secondary concern.  As such, I know about as much as the average person, but lots of practice has allowed me to work up to more strenuous trails and experience has taught me a few tricks.  So when I tell you some of my favorite hiking trails, they're not exactly the most hardcore, except sometimes in terms of physical fitness and will
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Adventure Guide Brigham: How to Do a Day Trip

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Utah has plenty to offer the adventurous, especially those willing to make a 2-3 hour drive, but a lot of people can get hung up on the details just getting out the door.  What these people don't realize though, is that not only do you not need an outline, a lot of money, gear, or even know where they're going to have a great day trip, that stuff can just drag you down.  The first step is getting your butt out the door. RULE 1   YOU DON'T NEED A PLAN, JUST THE WILL John Lennon sang "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."   Planning is a waste of time, because the universe doesn't give a shit about your plans.  Peruse your options, consider the possibilities and figure out what you're actually going to do on the way there based on your impulses.  The pivotal moment is getting out the door and out on the road.  You don't even need to know where you're going.  Just go! RULE 2   WHATEVER IS FORGOT CAN BE BOUGHT This o
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The Trial of Don Pedro León Luján and the Saga of Slavery on the Utah Frontier

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New Year's Day 1852, in the Utah Territory, a Mexican trader from Abiquiú, New Mexico Territory was found guilty by a jury of violating the Trade and Intercourse Act of 1834.  The law regulated "trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes," and required anyone trading with the American Indians west of the Mississippi (Indian country) to have a license issued by a government official of Indian affairs.  It's true, Don Pedro León Luján's license did not permit him to trade with the indigenous people of the Utah Territory, but the true matter at hand had less to do with whether Luján was trading without a license, and more to do with whether he was trading in slaves. Three years earlier, when the first Mormon emigrant parties arrived in the Great Basin, the Utah Territory had been part of a Mexican province called Alta California, a vast state with its eastern border stretching partway into modern Colorado, its southern border partway into modern Mexico, and its we
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