Bingham Canyon, Utah Lecture Series

Sporting Women

Treasures of the Oquirrh Mountains

by

W. Dee Halverson

Dee Halverson, president of Heritage Associates, recently gave his final lecture on the ghost towns of Bingham Canyon, Utah. You can read it here:

Bars, Brothels and Brotherhood

Bingham Canyon, Utah

W. Dee Halverson presents a lecture on Copperton, Utah

"This lecture series is dedicated to the memory of

Bingham Canyon's 25,000 men, women and children.

May they always be remembered."

Recently Dee Halverson, president of Heritage Associates, LLC, acquainted residents of South Jordan, Utah with the former residents of the area: people who lived in fifteen small towns surrounding what has become the largest open pit copper mine in the world.

Lecture at Garden Park Clubhouse

During the 1920s and 30s Bingham Canyon, Utah was the third largest city in Utah with 25,000 men, women and children who were mostly foreign born and who spoke 30 different languages. These miners came from Greece, Italy, Austria, Great Britain, Japan, China, Korea, Serbia and Croatia to work in the copper mines which began in 1906. Octogenarians who grew up in towns later swallowed up by the mine, were the source of stories about Galena Gulch, Frog Town and Highland Boy.

Treasures of the Oquirrh Mountains Lecture Series

One of many stories told of an avalanche that killed 31 people outright, and left 150 buried. Dr. Paul Richards revived many of the victims by wrapping them in hot towels, instructing others to massage their arms and legs. At times 60 to 80 people were working over the frozen bodies. All of the victims who had a discernible heartbeat were eventually revived. One little five-year-old girl who had been buried alive was cared for by Dr. Richards. After several frantic and frightening minutes she opened her eyes and said, "Hi, Doc. I'm cold."

Dee Halverson revives history. Towns that were buried have now been uncovered and remembered. People once forgotten have come back to life.

Contact Heritage Associates:
"We give a future to your past."

Ghost Towns of Bingham Canyon can be read in full by clicking here.
Copperton: A Company Town can be read in full by clicking here.

Recent Publications from Heritage Associates

Grass Creek Canyon Coal

"Many old settlements have vanished as if by the wave of a magician's wand, leaving only memories to prove they once existed."

The pride and history of Summit County is alive and well. This book was written to preserve its rich and diverse history.

Tales of Luke's Hot Pots
&
The Mountain Spaa Resort

The history of Luke's dates all the way back to days when an Indian called "Red Cap" used the hot springs to cook his meat and sooth his muscles in the 1850's . . .

"Legend has it that a gang of outlaws stopped to take a swim in the old hot pot. They were interrupted by a band of hostile Indians. The outlaws quickly put their gold in an old, iron kettle and buried it. The gold remains hidden to this day."

A Legend in Mink
Mink Ranching in Summit County, Utah

"Utah is one of the largest fur producing states in the nation, second only to Wisconsin, the reason being the cold Utah winters, which are ideal for mink to grow their coveted winter fur. Most of the fur farms in Summit County are family businesses, often operated by two or three generations of the same family. This is the account of an old-fashioned, American success story."

Bonner's Corners

After 130 years, three houses stand as some of the most striking ever built in Utah. Generations of the Bonner family, as well as thousands of visitors to Midway, Utah have enjoyed the story and sheer beauty of these examples of Gothic Revival style.

"After John Watkins built his own picturesque, red-brick home, with white gingerbread trim in 1869, the Bonner brothers asked him to build a similar home for their parents in 1876. Knowing that they would soon be married themselves, they contracted with Watkins to build them two smaller versions of the house directly across Main Street on two facing corner lots. They were completed and furnished just in time for the Bonner brother's double wedding in 1878."

Heritage Associates will help you
discover, preserve and utilize your heritage.

Midway

Provo Canyon

In April 1859, John Wesley Witt traveled with his wife, Lavina, and their five children, up the new Provo Canyon Road to settle what became the Heber Valley. While traveling along the steep road in a driving snowstorm, the Witt’s wagon with all its contents suddenly tipped over into the swirling waters of the Provo River below.

Working quickly, Uncle Dan and others helped lift the heavy wagon box off the family and miraculously snatched up the 13-day-old baby daughter, Nancy, as she began floating down stream. They salvaged what they could: the bake oven, one sack of flour and one chest of clothes. But most of their belongings were lost.

The Witt family arrived in the new settlement on April 29, 1859. The weather was cold, snowy and the conditions were miserable as they made their first home out of the wagon box placed in a rude dugout.

John and the other men soon put in a crop of wheat and barley grain with the hope that it would be ready for harvesting before winter. The Witt and nineteen other families celebrated a meager, but happy first Christmas of 1859 in the Heber Valley.

Dee Halverson has finished the text for his second book on Midway, entitled My Love Affair With Midway. This will be out sometime next spring, filled with unpublished photographs, maps, and untold stories that will make anyone familiar with Midway, UT fall in love with her all over again.

Contact Dee Halverson: wdh@heritageassociates.com for information.

History in Summit County, Utah

Cemetery near Wanship, Utah

Lawsuits are often decided based on history. Heritage Associates was commissioned to find evidence of a long-lost road in Summit County, Utah when a land owner discovered her vast and valuable land inheritance was landlocked. Her neighbors said the old trail was not a public thoroughfare, but part of their land. For her to develop or sell her property, she needed access; otherwise it was worthless.

Dee Halverson spent a year looking for evidence that it was a common use road from the days when Indians, trappers, explorers, miners, and farmers hauled supplies over the mountain to Park City.

Using old geological maps that listed areas by property owners, he tracked down some of their descendants for memories. An 80-year-old grandson remembered ice skating to school and recalled a girl who worked at a bar on the old road in her teens. She was alive in a nursing home in Seattle, with a keen memory of those by-gone days. One story led to another, and soon Dee had directions for short cuts through the canyons, used for over two hundred years.

Because the giant acreage was inaccessible to cars, Dee explored it on a mountain bike to see if the trails hooked up at the top of the canyons. With a little digging, he found evidence of a community.A white column marker was surrounded by several family graves and a little fence. There were some children ages 2, 4, and 6 who had died within days of each other, the father dead within a few weeks. The mom held things together for several years, but still died at age 45. What stories lie within that little cemetery!

Old foundations nearby indicated houses and barns, disintegrating steps led to what looked like a small school. The places matched up with stories from those still living, and a few memories recorded by those already gone. Dee proved the existence of a common use road, and the client got official permission to access her land.

Heritage Associates is a public history company with experience in litigation research. Contact us for access to historic evidence that will prove your case.

Heritage Associates: Historian on Location

Dee in Lancaster, MA town Library

Heritage Associates specializes in research on location. (Click here for listing.) Primary sources found in local libraries and archives give valuable information not found anywhere else. Collections carefully preserved, now relegated to dusty basements, hold vast and sometimes unread details relevant to families, businesses and other organizations.

Marty in Trezesniow, Poland Library

Links to posts detailing some of the places where Heritage Associates has gathered history follow:

Newfoundland:Searching for Ghosts
Polish Roots
Trezesniow, Poland
Krakow, Poland and Beyond
Czech Republic: Check it Out
Austria: Family Ties
British Isles: Attics and Basements
Brandywine, Pennsylvania
Ogden, Utah: Miles Goodyear Cabin
Summit County, Utah: A Life Forgotten

Midway, Utah

The House that Jack Built

Sometimes referred to as the Mushroom House, this picturesque home in Midway, Utah has a story worthy of another name: The House that Jack Built. Dee Halverson recounts the history behind it's unique curved shingles, hidden turret and carriage house, and why a United States president was a frequent guest, in a new book to be released in January, 2012.

Midway: Portrait of a People is a sequel to Midway: Portrait of a Town, and includes stories and photographs of each of the canyons surrounding the beautiful valley made famous by the 2002 Winter Olympics. Find out how a natural hot pot, owned by Swiss immigrants, became part of the world-class Zermatt Resort and Spa. Unique photographs show views of the valley seen only by horseback and described by local old-timers who know the trails and tales by heart. A must-read for hikers, bikers, photographers and history buffs who love the Wasatch mountains.

For more details on Midway: Portrait of a People, contact:

wdh@heritageassociates.com

Heritage Associates: Ghosthunters

Some of Dee Halverson's best friends are ghosts.
Heritage Associates specializes in bringing them back to life.

One particular ghost died in 1780, and Dee was hired to tell his story, to flesh him out, so to speak. He started with the name of a cemetery in Newfoundland. Driving with his wife Marty along the rocky coast north of St. John's bordering the Atlantic Ocean, they passed tiny fishing villages: Old Pelican, Cupid's Bay, and Come by Chance. Heart's Content was minuscule, but they finally saw the church spires and knew a cemetery would be close by.

Slippery rocks covered ground that was wet and spongy underfoot, with thistles and wild flowers everywhere. The tiny grave yard was perched on a steep slope plunging into the bay and there didn't seem to be an entrance.

Marty Halverson, Heart's Content, Newfoundland,

Since the guardrail was too high to climb over, they went under! Dee hiked around until he found the surname he was looking for, and on the headstone was all the information he needed: name, birth date, birthplace, parents, marriage date, wife and children.

Ghostbusting with Dee Halverson

At the small local library Dee requested histories written by local historians. The librarian went down to a dusty vault and brought up an applicable volume, handwritten in old-fashioned script.

News surrounding a ghost's life, pieced together with general history of the larger community, brought the ghost to life. The name of the ghost's shop, the location of his farm—he almost stepped through the wall and shook Dee's hand!

Dee Halverson gathering history.

People can be so insensitive to ghosts—it's spooky. If you know of any that need to be found, contact Heritage Associates. Dee is haunted by the ones that are lost!

Celebrating 25 Years!

Booklet designed by Amy Robinson

Heritage Associates is in the memory business, and this year we're celebrating our own! With roots in York, England, our company opened its doors in Utah in 1986.

Heritage Associates Office

Located in Salt Lake City just three blocks from the world famous LDS Family History Library, Heritage Associates also affiliates with Ancestry.com for genealogy expertise. Clients range from individuals to international corporations, with a unique final product to meet specific requirements.

Collectibles

W. Dee Halverson has twenty five years experience in writing corporate and public histories. Research on location for family history is a specialty, as is legal research for imperative historic details.

Dee and his associates

History books sometimes seem too dull to grab regular people by the lapel. What differentiates Halverson is his conviction that history is personal. Dates and places in history books are important only when personalities jump out of the pages and make themselves memorable.

Books by W. Dee Halverson

For twenty five years, Dee has been telling good stories!
Celebrate with us.
Tell your story!

Midway, Utah

Mining for Memories

Dee Halverson went on a mining expedition in Midway, Utah last week. A hundred years ago, would-be millionaires made fortunes from silver in the neighboring valleys, but Dee was searching for something much more valuable. Memories.

Kay Probst, Midway Utah

Kay Probst has been exploring this valley for more than seventy years, and knows every canyon, trail and peak personally. Devil's Hole, Sid's Canyon, Bonner Hollow, Dutch Fields, Gerber Springs, Snake Creek, Jesse's Mound—there are stories for dozens of campfires, heroes for every bike ride and villains for every hike.

Mount Timpanogos from Memorial Hill, Midway Utah

History is scattered all around Midway if you know what to look for. The town hall, a pot-rock saw, the House That Jack Built, an old sheep camp, hot pots, Memorial Hill—the mountains themselves have stories to tell.

Over the mountain to Park City and Brighton

They just need to be written down. Heritage Associates is making sure they won't be lost to future generations by mining for memories. Midway: Portrait of a Town was published in 2003. Midway: Portrait of a People will be available for Christmas.

Photos by Scott Robinson

Dee will follow anyone anywhere for a good story.

Dee's Projects

"Nobody trusts a young historian."

The door opened and I heard the jingle of Dee's keys as he put them on the table. Then I heard his briefcase thump as he dropped it on the chair. I went in to say hello and was startled to see his mud-streaked pants. He looked miserable! His arms and the backs of his hands had splotches of caked, dried mud spotting them, his shirt was damp and dirty and there were patches of mud on his forehead when he removed his wet baseball hat.

"What happened to you?" I asked. In a pathetic whimper he said, "Dear, I've had a really bad day."

He peeled off his wet and dirty duds, washed the mud out of his hair, and came into the kitchen shaky with hunger. After a restorative ham sandwich, he was able to tell me his tale.

Dee puts the story in history.

Dee is writing a second volume about the history of Midway, Utah, this time detailing the stories of more contemporary events and people. He had an interview scheduled with a former mayor. The 80+ year-old rancher met Dee at the town hall, riding aMule. It does everything the animal does: packs a load and is sure-footed on steep curves. But it's more like a 4-wheel drive golf cart, open on the sides for a breezy ride.

The mayor wanted to show Dee some particular accomplishments of his administration, and said they could get there easier in the Mule. Dee hopped aboard and they toured the irrigation ditches and discussed bringing water to the desert community in pioneer times. They visited some of the numerous old homes, and drove up to the top of Snake Creek Canyon. It was a great interview from both perspectives. The mayor had lots to talk about and finally somebody anxious to listen, and Dee was filling in many gaps in his research. There's no source like an original source, and this guy had actually lived Dee's story.

Suddenly there was a lightning bolt and an immediate crash of thunder. A cloudburst drenched them both within seconds. The rain wasn't falling down, it was being blown sidewards right through the open sides of the cart. The rancher knew all the hide-a-ways, and drove quickly to a passageway under the road where sheep cross without blocking traffic. The men clamored out of their cart and slid down to the tunnel, where they stood, sheltered from the pelting rain, listening to the fireworks going off in the sky. After about 30 minutes, the clouds cleared, and the sun came out.

As Dee was climbing the slick mud hill back up to the road, he lost his footing and slid, finally losing his balance and landing face first in the sludge. Embarrassed in front of his weathered guide, he said it was nothing, he was fine. He must have convinced the old guy, because he continued the excursion around the valley while Dee air-dried.

When he was dropped off back at the town hall, the mud was too wet to brush off, and not dry enough to chip off, but on the hour-long drive home it hardened and most of the big chunks fell off when he climbed out of the car. He staggered to our door and burst inside in a poof of dust.

Some people think historians just sit in a library and memorize dates. Not always. Lots of the time they're exploring interesting places looking for clues to unravel a mystery. The clues are in the types of mortar used in the buildings, the way the stones were cut, the tools left forgotten in the back of an ancient barn. There are clues in irrigation records, carved in tree trunks, and especially in the memories of old folks who did things the hard way and built a community.

Miles Goodyear Cabin

Dee writes about many previously unknown heroes who made a difference in the past that made an impact on the future. They crossed rivers, stood against enemies, harvested boulders, chopped down trees, faced fire and floods, and probably had a lot of really bad days. I think Dee takes pleasure in having a bad day of his own once in a while, while pursuing and telling their stories.

Who in your past made a difference? What difference are you making for the future? If you've ever found yourself wallowing in the mud, writing about how you got out is really important. It might make a difference to somebody else when they have a really bad day. That's your history, in the making.

Grass Creek, Utah

Dee Halverson was recently hunting ghosts in the desert mountain canyons and valleys east of Park City, Utah. He was searching for memories of Grass Creek, a thriving town that once had over 500 residents, a school, church, and railroad station from 1860, but totally disappeared in about 1965.

There is almost no evidence of the huge coal mines and boarding houses, and the numerous company homes on that property. The local folks made memories here: The kids used to ice skate a couple of miles to the one-room school house, and ride their horses along the train tracks the 1/2 hour it took to reach the wild, booming silver mining town of Park City. There they tied up their horses on Main Street while they visited the movie theater for a matinee.

The residents took in homeless people, giving food, board and often work to get them on their feet. There were romances, feuds, deaths and births. But although they made memories, nobody kept them. They aren't written down anywhere. There are very few photos, no scrapbooks, letters or journals. The history is as blank as the landscape.

Outlaws had hideouts in the vicinity, and fortunes were discovered and lost on a daily basis. But who? How? The stories are no less interesting just because we haven't heard them. The ghosts can't hide from this history detective.

Have some ghost towns to haunt or some ghosts to be busted? Heritage Associates specializes in dead people. Contact us in Salt Lake City, Utah at 801-532-2561.

Opening Doors to the Past

W. Dee Halverson at Heritage Associates, opens doors to the past.

Genealogy, corporate histories, legal research, or family history research on location, are specialties, but those are just the keys. Opening the door requires a story-teller.

Academic histories, while fascinating to a historian, are often too dull to grab regular people by the lapel. What differentiates Halverson from academics is his conviction that history is personal. The dates and places in history books are important only if real personalities jump out of the pages and make themselves memorable. Currently Dee is writing the history of a coal mining community which has now disappeared into the dust.

"One of the most important tasks of a coal miner's wife was having a tub of water heating on the stove ready for the grimy workman to jump into on his return from a twelve-hour shift.


"Lucille Judd, a 93-year-old Grass Creek native recalled, 'In Grass Creek there was only one water source for washing, cooking and bathing. We called it the Town Pump. The townspeople would all line up on Saturday with their buckets and tubs to get water for the family's weekly baths. They would be there again on Sunday night to get water for Monday wash day. I think the only place with running water in Grass Creek was Mrs. Buchanan's boarding house.'"

Grass Creek, Utah is a ghost town, one of many old settlements that have vanished as if by the wave of a magician's wand, leaving only memories to prove they once existed. As fragile as memories are the stories of the people who once lived in these now deserted towns.

Grass Creek, Utah Classroom

Many of today's ghost towns were prosperous mining camps, boom towns built upon silver, gold and even coal. But they might as well have been built upon sand, for they bloomed briefly, then faded and died. Sometimes they were deserted overnight when the miners left to answer the call of rich strikes elsewhere. More often the mines died gradually when their veins pinched out, or when underground water flooded their shafts.

Not many people alive today can remember Grass Creek when hundreds of miners, speaking a dozen different languages, made their way up the six-mile canyon. Or when schools, boarding houses, saloons and homes crowded streets, and picnics, dances and daily chores crowded lives. But no matter its size or how long its life, historic towns like Grass, Creek, Utah should be remembered—if only as places where people lived, loved and died.

Is there a door to your past that needs opening? Heritage Associates has the key! Contact us in Salt Lake City, Utah, at 801-532-2561, or wdhalverson@heritageassociates.com

Book Smart

You can recognize a true book-lover by the way he touches an old book. He notices the feel and smell of the leather, the softness of the pages, the embossing on the cover, the colors of the endpapers.

Dee Halverson, president of Heritage Associates, LLC, has always loved historical artifacts of every variety. When he first started collecting old books, he became familiar with the problems peculiar to them: loose hinges, torn linings and dust jackets, frayed spines, and other defects that begged to be fixed.

While studying historic preservation in York, England, Dee had the opportunity to apprentice with a world-renowned book binder (Peter Smith on Grape Lane) where he learned many tricks of the trade. Since then, as Dee acquires books, he examines, cleans, and, when necessary, gently repairs each addition to his library. His book repair kit is stashed in a closet, with supplies that have added life to favorite old books, from nursery rhyme collections to holy scriptures.

It is routine for Dee to investigate the volumes on some one's bookshelf and say, "Can I take this book home and fix it for you?"


He assembles pots of special adhesives, toothpicks, small artist's brushes, wax paper, alcohol, Vaseline, fine grain sandpaper, large soft erasers, clean cloths, elastics and heavy books to use as weights. Baking soda, solid air freshener and even leaves of tobacco can be used to "de-stink" moldy pages in a large suitcase or metal file-cabinet drawer.

The English bibliographer William Blades said, "An old book, whatever its subject, is truly a portion of history. We may imitate it or reprint it, but we can never exactly reproduce it; as an historical document it should be carefully preserved."

To Dee Halverson, every book is a personal friend.

Wallsburg, Utah

Wallsburg, Utah

Standing in the center of Wallsburg village is the 115-year-old Ford Merchantile Store. Although it is no longer open for business, it was the hub of commercial activity during four generations. The store represents the essence of Wallsburg--faith, commitment and service. Inside is the original telephone that was installed in 1897, that provided townspeople with a connection with the outside world before radio or television. In the back corner stands the barred-window that served as Wallsburg's first post office.

W. Dee Halverson became familiar with the beginnings of this unique village in Round Valley while writing the biography of it's founder, William Madison Wall, in 1991. Commissioned in 2005 to write a history of the community, Heritage Associates has watched it awaken from a sleepy little farm town to a coveted address. Newcomers and visitors are fascinated by this photo-rich chronicle of "A Valley of Dreams."

Heritage Associates: Oral History

Old-Timers in Grass Creek, Utah

Grass Creek, Utah is a ghost town. It was once a thriving community in Summit County, with a population of nearly 1,000 Italian, Greek, Slovakian, Chinese and American coal miners. Since nobody lives in the Grass Creek Valley, it now only comes alive in peoples' memories and scrapbooks.

Heritage Associates has carried out oral history interviews to tap into the memories of the people who remember this forgotten community. Skilled oral historians ask the right questions, so that participants feel pride in their contribution. Stories passed on by parents take on special meaning when nothing has been written before to recognize their contributions, and dignity is given back to those who built the foundations for a way of life.

Oral histories recover a record in fleeting memories. Heritage Associates recognizes the value in discovering vital details with living case studies.

Midway, Utah

Midway: Portrait of a Town
by
W. Dee Halverson

Midway: Portrait of a Town was commissioned by the Midway Heritage Foundation for publication in 2003. Midway is located off highway 40, south of Park City, Utah in Heber Valley. It gained international attention during the 2002 Winter Olympics as the site of cross country and Nordic skiing events.

In preparation for this project, Heritage Associates spent two years examining private and government archives, collecting photos, oral interviews and historic documentation. The result was a hardbound book richly illustrated with images, stories and photographs from the past and present.

During the research of Midway, many other stories came to light. In the town, which was founded in 1859, there are numerous architectural masterpieces. Bonner's Corners was produced by Heritage Associates to tell the story of the original families who lived in the unique red houses that still stand on Midway's Main Street.

Bonner's Corners
by
Dee Halverson

Luke's Hot Pots is another offshoot of the Midway project, describing the history of hot pots (turned resorts and spas) that the area is known for.

Smith's Grove, settled April 15, 1859, is one of two original settlements that joined forces to build Fort Midway. Current research is underway for a Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2009, supported by business, religious and community leaders.

The Swiss influence in Midway is undeniable. Heritage Associates has followed the paths of 20 original settlers who came from the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland to this verdant farm valley in Utah, and will soon be able to connect those early contributions to the contributions Midway's citizens continue to make.