November 18, 2019

Tomorrow, November 19, marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of Zion National Park in southwestern Utah in 1919. The park covers nearly 150,000 acres (60,000 hectares) and has many colorful canyons, some of which are extremely narrow and have steep, plunging walls. The Zion National Park Forever Project’s “We the Keepers” centennial campaign included a benefit performance featuring the rock artist Sting and the Utah Symphony. A centennial film also encouraged the park’s 4.3 million annual visitors to care for Zion’s delicate habitat.

A hiker splashes through a fork of the Virgin River in the Narrows, a popular site within Zion National Park. Credit: © Galyna Andrushko, Shutterstock

Zion Canyon is the main feature of the park. It is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) long and from ½ mile (0.8 kilometer) to less than 50 feet (15 meters) wide. Its walls tower as high as 3,000 feet (910 meters), in some places almost straight up and down. Rock formations at Zion National Park range in color from dark red and orange to light purple and pink. These colors change continuously as the light changes. Wild plants and such animals as mule deer and bats flourish there.

Steep cliffs rise behind the visitor center at Zion National Park. Credit: National Renewable Energy Laboratory

The park was originally set aside in 1909 as Mukuntuweap National Monument. In 1918, the park was enlarged, and in 1919 it became Zion National Park. Zion National Monument, a vast area of rugged land adjoining the park, was added in 1956.

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Zion National Park lies in southwestern Utah. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

May 10, 2019

On May 10, 1869, 150 years ago today, the world’s first transcontinental railroad was completed in the Rocky Mountain state of Utah. On the momentous occasion, a celebratory final golden spike was driven to complete a transportation network connecting the east and west coasts of the United States. The coast-to-coast railroad revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West, allowing for the fast and inexpensive transport of passengers and goods. Before the train, transcontinental travel by horse and wagon often took more than four months. By 1876, the rail journey from New York City to San Francisco took just three and a half days.

Railroad workers meet to drive the final spike in the world’s first transcontinental rail line on May 10, 1869, at Promontory, Utah. Credit: Union Pacific Railroad

The transcontinental railroad came together at Promontory, an area of high ground about 66 miles (106 kilometers) northwest of Salt Lake City. In 2019, northern Utah’s “Spike 150” sesquicentennial celebration includes a festival and other activities at Promontory, excursions on vintage trains, exhibitions of historical artifacts and photographs, and tours of recreated workers camps that highlight the immigrants and others responsible for building the railroad.

Beginning about 1830, the first steam locomotives began serving passengers in the United States. By 1850, rail lines served every U.S. state east of the Mississippi River. In 1857, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad reached from Baltimore, on the East Coast, to St. Louis, just west of the Mississippi.

The Utah state quarter features images that highlight the region’s role in linking the railroad systems of the United States. The transcontinental link was completed by the celebratory driving of a golden spike, which appears at the center of the coin. Credit: U.S. Mint

In the early 1860′s, the U.S. government decided to extend rail lines across the country. The proposed route roughly followed the 42nd parallel from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California. Eastern rail lines were to extend westward from Chicago to meet the new railroad at Omaha. The Pacific Railroad Act, passed by Congress in 1862, gave two companies responsibility for building the railroad between Omaha and Sacramento. The Union Pacific was to start laying track westward from Omaha, and the Central Pacific Railroad was to lay track eastward from Sacramento. Congress granted both railroads large tracts of land and millions of dollars in government loans.

Work began on the Central Pacific track in 1863 and, after a slow start, on the Union Pacific track in 1865. The railroads faced the task of crossing the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. The Central Pacific hired thousands of Chinese immigrants to work on the railroad. Thousands of European immigrants, hundreds of African Americans, and many former American Civil War  soldiers worked on the Union Pacific.

North America was the first continent to have a rail line from coast to coast. The Canadian Pacific Railway completed Canada’s first transcontinental line in 1885. Extensive rail networks were also built in other parts of the world in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The railroads opened up vast regions to settlement, farming, and trade.

January 12, 2017

On Dec. 28, 2016, President Barack Obama created two new large protected areas in the southwestern United States: the Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah and Gold Butte National Monument in southern Nevada. To do so, the president used the executive power provided by the 1906 Antiquities Act. The act, meant to stop looting and destruction at prehistoric American Indian sites, gives the president the power to establish national monuments on federal land. Obama’s December actions protected some 2,500 square miles (6,475 square kilometers) of fragile and important desert landscapes, adding to his legacy of environmental protection.

Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah protects one of the most significant cultural landscapes in the United States, an area with thousands of archaeological sites and other areas of beauty and importance. Credit: Bureau of Land Management

Bears Ears National Monument contains numerous sites considered sacred by Native American groups. The monument protects ancient petroglyphs (rock carvings), cliffside dwellings, and lands traditionally used by Navajo and other native groups to forage for wild plants used for food and herbal remedies. The protected lands will remain open for livestock grazing. The monument is to be administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service, in conjunction with an association representing native groups.

Gold Butte National Monument protects a beautiful and culturally significant desert landscape northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. Credit: Bureau of Land Management

Gold Butte National Monument in southern Nevada contains striking rock formations, forests of Joshua trees, ancient Native American sites, rare fossils, and a number of ecologically sensitive areas. The monument, known to many as “Nevada’s Piece of the Grand Canyon,” will continue to allow such recreational activities as hunting and fishing.

Conservationists, Native American groups, and many others applauded the president’s actions. Opponents of the monument designations included state legislators and county leaders who preferred the lands be used for mineral and fossil fuel exploration.

Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to use the Antiquities Act when he protected Wyoming’s Devils Tower in 1906. In 1908, Roosevelt also set aside 1,250 square miles (3,200 square kilometers) in Arizona’s Grand Canyon, creating a forerunner of the popular national park. Since taking office in 2009, Obama has used the Antiquities Act more than any other president, establishing or expanding more than two dozen new national monuments.

Throughout Obama’s presidency, his administration has taken numerous steps to combat global climate change, promote energy efficiency, and create or extend protections in areas of scenic, historic, and ecological importance.

December 23, 2013

A United States District Court judge ruled on December 20 that Utah’s 2004 constitutional amendment restricting marriage to a man and a woman violates the U.S. Constitution. He ordered the state to immediately cease enforcement of the same-sex marriage ban. “The court holds that Utah’s prohibition on same-sex marriage conflicts with the United States Constitution’s guarantees of equal protection and due process under the law,” federal District Judge Robert J. Shelby wrote in his 53-page decision. “The state’s current laws deny its gay and lesbian citizens their fundamental right to marry and, in so doing, demean the dignity of these same-sex couples for no rational reason.” Before the county building closed for the weekend, Salt Lake County officials had issued at least 100 marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Utah is generally considered one of the more conservative and religious of states, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is headquartered in Utah’s capital, Salt Lake City, responded to the ruling with a statement noting that the church “has been consistent in its support of traditional marriage while teaching that all people should be treated with respect.” Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert condemned the decision and court order, stating that he was trying to determine “the best course to defend traditional marriage within the borders of Utah.” The state attorney general requested an emergency stay of the order pending an appeal, but the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the request.

The Mormon Temple and reflecting pool are part of Temple Square in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Utah is one of the most conservative states in the United States. (© Mark E. Gibson, Corbis)

Judge Shelby’s ruling could have far-reaching effects. More than 30 states have passed amendments or laws restricting marriage to a man and a woman. If Judge Shelby’s ruling is upheld, Utah will become the 18th state to permit same-sex marriage, along with the District of Columbia. The decision came one day after the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the right to marry.

In a 5-to-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 26 ruled that  the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)–which defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman–was unconstitutional. Passed by Congress in 1996,  DOMA barred federal recognition of same-sex marriages for such purposes as Social Security survivors’ benefits, insurance benefits, immigration, and the filing of joint tax returns. The Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional because it denied same-sex couples the “equal liberty” guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. The court’s ruling meant that same-sex couples that marry in the states where gay marriage is legal are entitled to the same federal benefits as married opposite-sex couples. However, the ruling did not have broader implications for the legality of same-sex marriages nationwide and did not affect the state laws and amendments banning same-sex marriage.

Additional World Book articles:

• Civil unions
• Civil rights 2010 (a Back in Time article)
• Civil rights 2012 (a Back in Time article)

April 24, 2012

Utah Republicans denied U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch an outright nomination for re-election by a few dozen votes at a convention with nearly 4,000 delegates in attendance on April 21 in Sandy, Utah. He will face former state Senator Dan Liljenquist, a Tea Party favorite, in the primary election in June. The primary challenge is Hatch’s first in many years. He is Utah’s longest-serving senator, having been in the Senate for six terms.

Orrin Hatch (U.S. Senate)

Richard G. Lugar (U.S. Senate)

FreedomWorks, part of the Tea Party movement, spent more than $700,000 through a super PAC to defeat Hatch, who it claimed is insufficiently conservative. The Tea Party movement solidified its presence as a force with Utah’s Republican Party in 2010 when it helped orchestrate the defeat of three-term Senator Bob Bennett, who Tea Party activists claimed was too cooperative with Democrats.

Tea Party activists are also trying to unseat another long-time incumbent Republican–Richard Lugar of Indiana, who has also served six six-year terms. Considered an expert on foreign policy and international affairs, Lugar is accused of paying insufficient attention to his Indiana constituents.

Additional World Book articles:

• Republican Party 2010 (Back in Time article)
• Tempest in a Tea Party (a special report)