Utah in the Twentieth Century

By Jessie L. Embry, Brian Q. Cannon

Reviewed by Russell Y. Anderson
On 5/26/2010

Utah State University Press, 2009 Hardcover:
400 pages
ISBN-10: 0-87421-744-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-87421-744-5 Price: $32.95

Reviewed by Russell Anderson for the Association for Mormon Letters

Although I have lived in Utah on several different occasions, there is still a lot about Utah that I don't know. I was excited to get a greater depth about many subjects that I thought I knew and many other historical events or aspects about the state that were new to me.

In sixteen chapters, these eighteen authors give us the details on many different aspects of activities in Utah during the 20th and into the 21st century.

We learn about the beautiful Red Rock Country as we examine the adventures and disappearance of our first ecotourist (Everett Ruess) into the country that he loved. The tourism industry that developed, "seems to target a very un-Utah-like audience: largely well-to-do, out of state and non-Mormon." (p. 26)

Knowing about why many of the pioneers settled in Utah, I was surprised at the many changes that have taken place. "By the turn of the twenty-first century, Salt Lake City was 'the least Mormon place in Mormondom.' Only about one-third of the city's population was nominally LDS, and nearly 20 percent of the population was Latino." (p.19)

The "Famous Blue Valley" gives a clear picture of the hardships that pioneers faced in trying to eke out a livelihood when mother nature seems so determined to cancel any such efforts. Some of the stories are faith promoting, but still very difficult. "During one long stretch, the Nielsens' flour bin, like the Old Testament widow's barrel of meal, never failed, even though it always seemed as though there couldn't possibly be enough flour for another batch of biscuits." (p. 51)

Other chapters detail the development of the motels in the state, Bernard DeVoto's comments (as one of Utah's most famous native sons), parachutes that were made in Manti during the 2nd world war, and the grassroots opposition to the MX missile deployment in Utah and Nevada.

It is interesting to watch the discussions that ensue between two Mormons over the ways to solve the problems of the depression. The question was whether the church could take care of their church members or if there really was a benefit to the state from the New Deal WPA government program. "Mormons represented approximately 60 percent of the population in Utah but 79.3 percent of the relief load in general. The total Mormon participation on WPA projects was even higher: 83.1 percent." (p. 180)

Additional chapters discuss such tidbits as Reed Smoot's battle for tariffs to protect the Utah-Idaho Sugar company, Voting, Civil Rights, Government Functions and Public opinion. Some interesting facts come out, such as: "B. H. Roberts went so far as to publicly question the political authority of the church president at the church's October 1912 General Conference." (p. 238)

There were exciting times in Utah during the 20th century, there were also some sad or unfortunate developments. One chapter details the slow progress for Indians and how Utah became the last state to give them full voting rights.

It is sometimes hard to see how some actions were justified from our 21st century perspective. We would be appalled at the way that free speech was limited and strikes were broken up with support from law enforcement.

Utah saw significant population growth during the century. "Over the course of the twentieth century, Utah's population multiplied eight-fold, rising from 276,749 in 1900 to 2,233,169 in 2000. The number of residents swelled every decade, due partly to high birthrates. The most dramatic gains occurred from 1900 to 1910 (31.3 percent) and during the 1940s (25.2 percent), 1950s (29.3 percent), 1970s (37.9 percent), and 1990s (29.6 percent)." (p. 305)

One of the real challenges for Utah was meeting the needs of education. At the end of the 20th century education "accounted for about 42 percent of all state and local expenditures." (p. 318) There were many attempts to meet the educational needs of the state, but even at the end of the 20th century it was still a challenge. "42 percent of all state and local expenditures went for education (both public and higher), as compared with a national average of 34 percent. . . even though it ranked third in the nation in terms of education as a percentage of all state and local government spending and second in terms of spending as a percentage of personal income, Utah still spent less per student than any other state, and the average class size was larger than any other state." But even with these problems, "Utah students continued to earn above-average scores on most national tests . . . Utah stood among the best in the nation in terms of high school graduation rates. In 1998 it was tenth highest, with 81 percent of the senior class graduating." (p. 336)

It is interesting to follow the developments of the Central Utah Project in its quest to bring water to needed parts of the state and to see the "Sagebrush Rebellion" push back against the federal control of such a large portion of the land in the state.

Finally, the growth in St. George/Washington county is examined and compared with other parts of the state.

Overall, this is a wonderful book for getting an in-depth look at several aspects of the state. It provides some extra depth in understanding the many forces at work in a state and what has created the history and background for the 21st century. Quite often Utah is only seen as the state the Mormons settled, but there is much more to the growth and development of the state. This volume gives us a much better well-rounded perspective.


Copyright 2010