Faces in the Crowd - Salt Lake City Pioneer Day 1897

This 1897 photograph captures a glimpse of the cross-section of people living in Salt Lake City at the turn of the last century.

This photo (source) is of a float for the Pioneer Semi-Centennial (Pioneer Day) on July 24, 1897. The float itself is rather interesting as it is a replacement for a Chinese dragon from Rock Springs, Wyoming, that was originally planned. The Chinese dragon made an appearance the year prior, 1896. Read more about that here and here. 

Salt Lake City's Pioneer Centennial celebration on July 24, 1897.
Colored by author. Original from USHS.

The Chinese dragon never made it from Rock Springs, Wyoming, (the parade organizers didn't pay) so this float was made as a replacement. It was titled "the serpent of the Great Salt Lake" and was described as "It's gaudy trappings will be covered with drapery which will glisten with salt crystallizations.”

But more than just the story of the float, I like that it shows all types of people. The images below are detailed clips of people in the crowd.

Two Black women. They are dressed up with puffy sleeves and wearing nice hats.

A fellow with an interesting beard, maybe Chinese (it's hard to tell).

 Buffalo Soldier (Black Soldier) stationed at Fort Douglas.
His situational awareness training is evident as he is is looking directly at the camera 

Two Chinese individuals. They could be from the SLC Chinatown at Plum Alley or they could be from Wyoming- Rock Springs and Evanston both having a high number of Chinese residents.

A loving dad and daughter. A White family who are out to see the parade. Dad is wearing a bowler hat, a more expensive style than the utilitarian style hat of the man in the foreground.

Shoshone-Bannock individuals, probably part of the parade. Likely from Idaho.

Well-dressed White kids. Away from parental supervision. Perhaps friends, perhaps relatives.

An older White lady with a fancy hat. She does not appear to be very pleased.
It is likely hot and the sun is bright.

Walking Tour of SLC's Unseen History - University of Utah Lifelong Learning

Join me in April for my tour of Salt Lake City's unseen history. This is a 2 day class (Saturdays) through the University of Utah Lifelong Learning program.

This class focuses on SLC's multi-cultural neighborhoods, specifically the Black American
neighborhoods of Central City and Franklin Avenue (now Edison St) in downtown Salt Lake.

The class is open to everyone, you do not need to be a U of U student.

 Click Here

The Chinese Dragon That Toured the Intermountain West

A teaser for my next post…

Illustration of a Chinese dragon, from the Frank A Beckwith collection

Photo of a Chinese Dragon used during a celebration in Rock Springs WY, 1899

This Chinese Dragon was a big part of celebrations in the Intermountain West in the 1890s (including Salt Lake City) through what time period I’m not sure yet.

This illustration by Frank A. Beckwith (1876-1951) is based on an 1899 photograph taken during a celebration in Rock Springs Wyoming. The illustration and the photo are in two different archives (Utah and Wyoming).

Frank Asahel Beckwith has been dubbed “the Renaissance Man of Delta” as he was a well-known man in the deserts of Utah and his home being Delta in Millard County, Utah. He was editor and publisher of the Millard County Chronicle from 1919-1951. And he was an amateur geologist and anthropologist who collected many items.

These two images probably will not make the cut for my upcoming Chinese New Year post so I thought I would share them now.

Images:
1) Drawing: Chinese dragon, from the Frank A Beckwith collection of Delta City library, digital image housed at Marriott Library, University of Utah.
2) Photo: Chinese Dragon used during a celebration in Rock Springs WY, 1899. From Wyoming State Archives

A Chinese Dragon Once Paraded the Streets of Salt Lake City

Chinese dragon at the 1896 Midsummer Carnival.
Colorization done by author. Image from UDSH.

A grand Chinese dragon once paraded the streets of SLC. But, it turns out that this dragon only made one appearance in SLC: the Midsummer Carnival, during the week of the 4th of July in 1896, the year Utah became a state.

The 1896 midsummer carnival was described as “brilliant and lavish” and “the grandest affair ever undertaken in Utah.” It included 4 different parades, carnival rides, Wild West Show, concert at the Tabernacle, chariot race, and the Chinese Dragon.

At the time, there were only 3 Chinese Dragons in the US: 1 in New York City, 1 in San Francisco, and 1 in Rock Springs, Wyoming. The dragon secured for the Utah midsummer carnival came from Rock Springs.

A committee of Utah Chinese (likely Ogden and SLC residents) went to Rock Springs to secure the dragon, which took some diplomacy as some of the Wyoming Chinese objected because it was sacrilegious to exhibit the dragon outside of Chinese New Year or a religious occasion. The Utah delegation convinced the Rock Springs Chinese that the 4th of July was “sacred” to Utah citizens and that the recent entry of Utah into the union made it even more significant.

The~200 ft long Rock Springs dragon came from China at a cost of $1500 (~$50K today). The skin of the dragon was made of ~500 yards of silk and satin fabric stretched over a bamboo frame and fastened together by rope with bamboo handles to control the dragon. It required 34 individuals (only Chinese permitted) to operate; one person each at the head and tail and the rest to operate the body.

The dragon’s head was bamboo and paper mache with copper scales. One report indicates it had “flashing eyes, smoking nostrils, and gnashing jaws…the latter being manipulated by a "mechanical contrivances” in the interior of the head. Another memory by Ivy C. Towler describes the head spitting fire from its vicious red mouth and the body coloring being red, yellow, and green.

The dragon was advertised to reappear in the 1897 Pioneer Jubilee but the committee was not willing to pay for the cost for repairs and transport. A substitute dragon was created instead. More on that story later.

I found no evidence that this dragon from Rock Springs ever made another appearance in SLC. And I found no evidence that a Chinese dragon was part of any SLC Chinese New Year celebrations.

A Chinese dragon did make an appearance at the 1904 Chinese Fair held at the (first) Salt Palace, built in 1899 and located on 900 South between Main and State streets. It measured 210 ft long and was part of an exhibition of other Chinese items and customs. It is unlikely that the dragon display at the Salt Palace was the Rock Springs dragon and is more likely that it was part of a traveling exhibition of curated items.

Sources

• Salt Lake Herald 1896-05-16 The Midsummer Carnival
• Salt Lake Herald 1896-06-28 Midsummer Carnival
• Salt Lake Herald 1896-04-01 The Carnival Arrangements
• Salt Lake 1897-07-26 Expense and Results
• Millard County Chronicle Progress 1940-10-31 Find Skeleton in Dad’s Old Store in Rock Springs
• Salt Lake Tribune 1897-07-23 Today’s Program
• Salt Lake Telegraph 1904-08-11 Chinese Fair at the Salt Palace

Chinese dragon at the 1896 Midsummer Carnival.
Colorization done by author. Image from UDSH.

How Tom and Josie Found a Loophole in Utah's Interracial Marriage Law in 1907

News clipping headline from
The Salt Lake Herald Jan 6 1907

This is the story of Josie and Tom Sun who in 1907 found a loophole in Utah’s ban on interracial marriage.

Their marriage made headlines across Utah but this clipping from the Jan 6 1907 edition of the Salt Lake Herald certainly used the most racist language to describe the union.

According to newspaper articles printed at the time, Tom and Josie were schoolmate sweethearts when they both lived in San Francisco (but Tom was nearly 10 years her senior so maybe not so much) and the two corresponded quite often, even after Josie and her parents moved to Seattle. When Josie turned 18 they decided to marry.

Tom was of Chinese descent (records conflict on if he was born in China or California) while Josie was African American, described as an “octoroon” (a dated term meaning one-eighth black by descent) and as a "Negress."

Laws prohibiting interracial marriage were common in the U.S. The couple was turned away by 4 different states (California, Oregon, Washington, Montana) citing miscegenation laws.

When they arrived in Salt Lake City, the County Clerk initially turned them away, but Tom had secured an attorney and soon the Salt Lake County Attorney’s office was involved.

The Utah law prohibited Asians and Whites from marring and Blacks and Whites from marrying but the law was silent on Asians and Blacks marrying. So, the County Attorney said the couple could marry under Utah law and they married that day, Jan 5 1907.

Life was pretty good for the couple for a short time. They were respectable people, purchased a house at 208 E 800 South SLC, and had a daughter, Susie.

But life soon became difficult: Susie was a colic baby (and Josie being 19!), Tom was away to Nevada, and then Tom went bankrupt. Josie even gave up her baby for adoption once but soon changed her mind and got Susie back.

The last record I could find on Josie was in 1914 when she was sentenced to 14 days in jail for vagrancy on Ogden’s 25th Street.

The last record I could find of Tom was his death certificate in 1937 when he died at the County Hospital in Roy, Utah, with no known relatives.

Whatever happened to Susie Sun is a bit of a mystery. The 1910 census is the only record I could find of her. My guess (but I have no evidence) is that she was given up for adoption again to the same local Black family she was originally given to. Her last name probably changed and I lost track of her in the records.