Utah’s Road to Statehood: The Earliest Utah Settlers

Maren Peterson Digital Archives, History, Research

Indigenous Americans The earliest settlers in modern Utah were, of course, the Indigenous Americans. The Ancestral Puebloans lived in the vicinity of Utah from 500-1300 AD. They were commonly known as ‘Anasazi,’ an exonym coined by the Navajos, and not preferred by the Puebloans, which means ancient enemies. The Puebloans occupied the southeastern portion of Utah, as well as portions …

We’re in Love: Trademark Registers Now Online!

Lauren Katz Digital Archives, Research

Happy Valentine’s Day weekend! We are celebrating the holiday of love by sharing our newly digitized Trademark Register series with all of you! This collection is packed with colorful labels of both popular national brands and smaller local companies dating back to 1881! Series 401 – Secretary of State Trademark Registers, 1881-1979 This series is a chronological list of the trademarks …

New Transcription Project: The State of Utah vs. Joe Hill

Lauren Katz Digital Archives, History, News and Events

Do you know the story of Joe Hill? Did you know that the Utah State Archives has a rich collection of records that illuminate the case of Joe Hill, the international controversy it engendered, and the worldwide response and publicity his trial and subsequent execution generated? Joseph Hillstrom (also known as Joe Hill) was born in 1879 in Gävle, Sweden …

Part of road map of Utah

Highway Maps Online

Gina Strack Digital Archives, History

Before we had GPS and phones with map apps, people used folded paper maps. Across the United States, transportation departments distributed free highway maps both as a public service and a way to promote tourism, including here in Utah. The Utah State Archives is pleased to announce that a collection of Official Highway Maps from the Utah Department of Transportation …

Mae Timbimboo Parry: Stories of Utah Women

Maren Peterson Digital Archives, History, Research

Mae Timbimboo was born in Washakie, Utah in 1919. Washakie was a community of the Shoshone tribe, made up of descendants of the people who survived the Bear River Massacre in 1863. Mae attended boarding school at Washakie Day School. Boarding school was common for Indigenous Americans at the time and was designed to force Indigenous American children to assimilate …

Topaz Internment Camp: Stories of Utah Women

Maren Peterson Digital Archives, History, Research

Pearl Harbor and Alien Enemy Registration After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the U.S. was suspicious of Japanese citizens. They were afraid that those who had immigrated to the U.S. from Japan were secretly spies for their birth country. As tensions rose, people of Japanese descent were evacuated from the Pacific Coast due to fears …

Probate Records for Salt Lake County: Part 3 – Brigham Young

Gina Strack Digital Archives, History

This post is the third in a 3-part series on the Salt Lake County Probate Case Files. See Part 1 and Part 2. When Brigham Young died on August 29, 1877, he left behind a thriving frontier community grown from a few arriving wagons in 1847. He also left behind a complicated set of heirs with the practice of polygamy, …

Women in Law: Stories of Utah Women

Maren Peterson Digital Archives, Research

First Female Lawyers in Utah The Utah Bar admitted Phoebe Couzins and Georgia Snow on the same day in 1872. Couzins studied law at Washington University Law School in Missouri, and had been admitted to the bar in Missouri and in Arkansas. The Utah bar accepted her automatically, as she had credentials and experience practicing in other states. Judge McKean, …

Probate Records for Salt Lake County: Part 2 – John B. Farlow, Druggist

Gina Strack Digital Archives, History

This post is the second in a series on the Salt Lake County Probate case files. See part 1. The remaining case files from 1889 to the end of the territorial period  (numbers 1397-2689) for Salt Lake County are online. As the end of the 19th century approached, the process and documents continued to become more professional, uniform, and better …