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Utah Tree History: A Landscape in Flux
Utah history isn’t just about the people who lived and worked here. It’s also about some of the oldest living organisms in our state – trees! Learn more about our arborous elders.
The history of trees across rural Utah is one characterized by…
An Imaginary River: The Legend of the Rio Buenaventura
For almost a hundred years, explorers and mapmakers recorded a river that ran west from Utah out to the Pacific Ocean, despite no such waterway ever even existing.
From the 1770s to the 1840s, a majority of explorers, politicians, and white settlers…
Water Warnings from Great Basin Caves
Ancient caves in Utah’s arid West Desert may hold key information to Utah’s uncertain water future.
Formed under the waves of ancient Lake Bonneville over 10,000 years ago, Danger Cave was home to members of the Desert Archaic culture. Located in…
Water Right: Just Allocation of a Precious Resource
Who has a right to water? How you answer that question likely reflects your cultural concept of water ownership. It’s no surprise that ideas about how to fairly allocate this precious resource vary wildly – both today, and in the past.
It's…
Red Reed Water: Clear Creek as Native Waterway
The valley floor and cliffs of Clear Creek Canyon were sculpted over millions of years and evidence hints that humans moved along its waters as early as 8,000 years ago. You may have driven through this canyon yourself, but do you know the importance…
Town that Drowned: Big Village at Willard
The historic settlements underneath Willard Bay were submerged twice - first by years of dirt, dust, and debris and then again by a flooded reservoir.Buried under the Willard Bay reservoir on the northeast end of Great Salt Lake is not one but two…
Ancient Farmers & Prehistoric Waterways
People living in Utah have been managing water to support agriculture for over a thousand years. Using tools and techniques perfected by their ancestors, these ancient farmers manipulated water and adapted to their dry environment in order to…
Prehistoric "Snowbirds": Fremont Indians' Life on the Move
Birds do it… So do humans. In fact, humans in Utah have been heading south for winter for more than 1500 years. Along the lower Bear River, where it stretches into the Great Salt Lake, are the remains of five prehistoric campsites. …
The Crossing of the Fathers
One of the goals of the Dominguez-Escalante expedition was to find a northern route to the Spanish missions in Monterey, California from the Spanish colonial stronghold of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Led by two Franciscan friars named Silvestre Velez de…
Archaeology Underfoot: Salt Lake’s Downtown Fremont Village
The unique discovery of an ancient Fremont Village in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City tells a story of a time before Utah was settled by European pioneers.Thousands of people ride the Trax line through downtown Salt Lake City every day. As they…
What's so Special about Utah's Danger Cave?
A seemingly non-descript cave in Utah’s west desert holds the key to understanding Utah’s ancient past.To the untrained eye, Danger Cave near Wendover, Utah, is utterly unremarkable. But ask any archaeologist about this dusty desert cave and…
Wildhorse Canyon Obsidian Quarry
A pre-historic obsidian quarry in western Utah was used for thousands of years to manufacture razor sharp tools and weapons.Overlooking the west desert in Beaver County’s Mineral Mountains is Wildhorse Canyon, a remote, dry, scrappy place that…
Father Escalante and Joaquin
A story of friendship between Spanish explorer Father Escalante and the Ute boy who was his guide through the Utah territory.In July 1776, a group of Spanish explorers set out from Santa Fe, New Mexico in search of a northern route to one of…
What's for Dinner? Salt Lake Valley's Prison Site
A Salt Lake Valley archaeology site holds clues to that age old question- ‘what’s for dinner?’ The surprising answer may change the way we understand Utah’s ancient past.For most of us living along the Wasatch Front today, making dinner for…
The Old Spanish Trail
Utah’s position as a social and cultural crossroads of the west began well before European settlement. Native trading and war parties gave way to Spanish exploration throughout the territory along the Old Spanish Trail.Utah’s always been a…
The Escalante-Dominguez Expedition
In 1776, the same year the Declaration of Independence was signed, a group of Spanish explorers entered present-day Utah Valley. Led by two Franciscan friars named Silvestre Velez de Escalante and Francisco Dominguez, the expedition was launched to…