SLC KKK Set Crosses Ablaze on Ensign Peak

Ensign Peak ca 1940, gift of Charles Kelly
(who was briefly in the SLC KKK) From UDSH.

The SLC Ku Klux Klan lit blazing crosses on Ensign Peak on several occasions during the 1920s.

The first time a blazing cross appeared on Ensign Peak was Feb 23 1925, just before 9 pm as a kick-off to a KKK parade that wound through downtown SLC in celebration of George Washington’s birthday.

The KKK also lit a cross on Ensign Peak on June 1 1927 to welcome a national KKK leader to SLC.

By far the most spectacular cross lighting occurred on the night of Monday April 6 1925, as part of the first Utah KKK Konklave (statewide meeting).

Ensign Peak was aglow with several fiery crosses that burned so bright they could be seen in almost every part of the Salt Lake Valley.

On a shoreline just below the peak, the hooded and robed Klansmen formed a circular guard line nearly a mile in diameter around the peak. Within the circle, the KKK held an initiation ceremony for new members from across the state. Two alters were used- one for men and one for women.

Automobiles of KKK members were parked within the circle to avoid identification. The massive demonstration also included flag displays and martial music.

The event drew thousands of participants and spectators. Of note, none of the SLC daily newspapers reported the event.

Sources: Blazing Crosses in Zion by Larry R. Gerlach, pgs 105-108; SL Telegram 1927-06-02.

The SLC KKK Publicly Recruits Members in 1920s

Heath’s Auto Tourist Camp, 995 S. State. From flickr user firstearta

The mid 1920s were the height of membership and activity in SLC for the Ku Klux Klan. After the failure of Alex Christensen’s membership campaign (see previous post) the KKK began a public recruitment effort with much greater success.

When Klan representatives arrived in SLC in summer 1924 they found the SLC KKK on the verge of extinction. The local Klan had relinquished its charter and had ceased operations.

On Sept 16 1924 the KKK formally announced the beginning of its membership campaign in SLC. Local newspapers ads invited the entire public to “come hear the truth about this great American movement.”

An estimated 4K people including nearly 100 Klansmen in regalia gathered at Heath’s Auto Tourist Camp at 995 S. State St to hear Klan members speak about the principles of the KKK. Many of the men in the crowd stepped forward to get membership applications. Klan officials reported that their supply of 250 membership cards was exhausted and that many others handed in their names of slips of paper.

Several more open-air meetings were held at Heaths throughout the autumn of 1925. On one occasion, more than 50 new members were initiated at a single meeting.

By Nov 1924 Klan organizational efforts had met with considerable success. The strategy calling for public rallies to promote credibility had worked. Active chapters of both the Knights of the KKK and the Women of the KKK had been established and were holding regular meetings in SLC.

Within 6 months the KKK had become pervasive throughout the larger cities of Utah. Harry Sawyer, head of the Ogden Klan, was appointed King Kleagle of Utah.

The KKK membership drive provoked forceful opposition from municipal officials, newspaper publishers, immigrant residents, and from the LDS church. Consequently, most of Utah’s KKK disbanded or went underground; only the KKK in Carbon County and SLC remained active in early 1925.

Source: Blazing Crosses in Zion by Larry R. Gerlach, Ch 3.

Deseret News May 28 1927

Salt Lake Telegram Oct 17 1924

Profile of SLC Klansman: Alex Christensen

Alex Christensen, SL Trib Oct 5 1921

Alexander W. Christensen (1874-1929) was the first King Kleagle of the Ku Klux Klan of SLC. Under his leadership between 1921-1922 the SLC Klan failed to establish any significant numbers of membership and ultimately disbanded by Oct 1922 (soon to be reborn, however).

Alex was born in Brigham City to Danish and Scottish immigrants. He moved to SLC as a child after the death of his prominent and civic-minded father.

Author Larry R. Gerlach describes Alex as a professional white-collar drifter who sought employment as an insurance agent or as a manager of small business. He usually did not remain in a job for more than a year and from 1905-1918 he held 12 different positions.

Alex was no more successful as a Klan organizer than he had been a businessman.

Alex conducted a clandestine recruitment effort, mostly through trying to recruit his associates at the Mt Moriah Masonic Lodge where he served as Master. He would talk up the Klan without revealing his membership; as a result, recruiting efforts were slow and in a report to the Imperial Wizard Alex stated he had secured only 9 members by Feb 1922.

Lack of success in recruiting coupled with infighting led to the disintegration of the SLC KKK in Oct 1922. The state charter was surrendered in summer of 1923.

According to Gerlach, the KKK was initially organized by a group of SLC Gentile businessmen, including Alex Christensen, who saw the KKK as, among other things, an economic combine to challenge Mormon mercantile power. This appears to be an unusual and unique aspect of the SLC KKK as Klansmen in other states feared identification would adversely affect cash receipts.

Alex Christensen, the most publicly visible Klansman in the state, apparently paid a heavy price for his association with the Klan. After the SLC newspapers ran articles in Sept 1923 identifying him as a former King Kleagle, he and his wife left SLC and moved to Provo.

Source: Blazing Crosses in Zion by Larry R. Gerlach, pgs 25-38.

Advertisement for Alex Christensen and his campaign
for City Commissioner. From SL Trib Oct 5 1921

Charlie Chaplin Secretly Edited and Sold "The Kid" While Residing at the Hotel Utah

Poster for “The Kid” from
Wikimedia commons

100 years ago, Charlie Chaplin sought legal refuge in SLC and secretly edited and sold his film “The Kid” while residing at the Hotel Utah.

Charlie Chaplin arrived in Salt Lake City on Saturday Aug 7 1920, although his presence was not discovered by the press until two days later. He had fled Los Angeles and the divorce proceedings of his first wife, Mildred Harris, who sought to stop him from selling his first feature length film “The Kid” and who considered it a marital asset.

A Utah law prevented Charlie Chaplin from being served the legal restraining papers which sought to stop the sale of the film. So, he took the first print and film negatives (reportedly stowed in coffee cans) and set up short-term residence in the Hotel Utah, located at 15 E South Temple (now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building), where he edited the film.

This was rather dangerous, and illegal, as the nitrate film stock was highly flammable and was not allowed in public buildings.

While in SLC, Chaplin successfully dodged the process servers and a continuance of the divorce case was made necessary.

Chaplin screened the film “The Kid” for the first time to a private audience at the SLC American Theatre at 241 S Main St. Once he successfully negotiated the sale of the film Chaplin left SLC, around the first week of Sept 1920. His divorce was granted the following month.

 Hotel Utah, 1911, From UDSH

Original Hotel Utah lobby prior to the 1974-1976 renovation, from UDSH.

Hotel Utah President’s Suite 1911, Did Chaplin sleep here? From UDSH.

The First Appearance of the KKK in Utah

Utah Klansman at the funeral of
Gordon Stuart, SL Telegram 1922-04-20.

The first public evidence of the Ku Klux Klan in Utah came in the form of a newspaper advertisement on March 6 1922, and then a public demonstration at the funeral of a Salt Lake County Deputy Sheriff on April 19 1922.

The initial effort to establish a chapter of the KKK in Utah began in SLC during the latter half of 1921. A national organizer for the KKK, E. T. Cain (probably an alias), arrived to assist with preliminary set up.

By early 1922 the KKK had established a formal Klavern and had obtained an official charter from Imperial Headquarters. Cain soon passed off management to SLC resident Alexander W. Christensen (more on him later).

Cain and Christensen made little progress in recruiting for the KKK. By Feb 1922 only 9 men were members.

In an effort to boost membership they placed a public advertisement in the Salt Lake Tribune and Salt Lake Telegram on March 6 1922, which was largely ignored. A couple months later they made their first public appearance… at a funeral.

Gordon Stuart was a 26-year-old Salt Lake County Deputy Sheriff who was killed when he went to serve civil papers on a farmer and to confiscate his livestock.

The nearly 500 mourners were dumbfounded when near the end the graveside service at Sandy City Cemetery, 8 or 9 masked men in full regalia suddenly appeared.

Forming a human cross, they marched silently in their white robes with a small red cross in a circle over the right breast and tall hooded caps tipped with red tassels.

The leader placed a cross of lilies with a banner inscribed “Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Salt Lake Chapter No. 1.” The Klansmen then turned to the west, raised their left hands toward the sun, and departed in two curtained and unmarked cars.

Although the Klan’s visit was carefully prearranged it is unclear their specific motivation.

Source: Blazing Crosses in Zion by Larry R. Gerlach, pgs 25-28.

SL County Deputy Sherriff Gordon Stuart, SL Telegram 1922-04-18.

First advertisement of the KKK in Utah, from SL Trib 1922-03-06.

Dinosaur Caravan at the University of Utah in 1924

From University of Utah "articles by Earl Douglass 1924 p3

On Sept 17 1924 a dinosaur caravan arrived at the University of Utah bringing the fossil remains of 5 dinosaurs from the Carnegie Quarry in what is now Dinosaur National Monument. 

Automobiles were quite common by 1924 and the people of SLC were surprised to see anything, let alone dinosaur fossils, being transported by wagons. The reason wagons were chosen was because there were no railroads into the Uinta Basin and in many places the roads were impassible for automobile trucks so the old-fashioned method of transportation was resorted to.

The trek from the dinosaur quarry took 9 days and 19 two-horse teams. They arrived in SLC greeted by the SLC Mayor and a mounted police escort. The dinosaur caravan proceeded north on Main Street and then east on South Temple to the U of U.

The wagons held 141,457 pounds of fossils encased in plaster of paris jackets. The species included Brontosaurus, Diplodocus, Ceratosaurus, Allosaurus, and an unidentified species. They were excavated by Dr. Earl Douglass and arranged to be brought to the University by Dr. Frederick J. Pack of the Geology Department.

The drivers camped behind the Park Building on President’s Circle during the 2 days it took to unload the crates. The wagons were then loaded up with supplies from SLC and headed back to Vernal.

The fossils were on display for a while at the University of Utah’s Geological Museum (now integrated into the Natural History Museum of Utah). Most of the collection was transferred back to Dinosaur National Monument in the early 1980s.

Sources: multiple newspaper articles but especially SL Telegram 1924-09-17

The dinosaur caravan arriving at the U of U. From University of Utah Collections

The dinosaur caravan arriving at the U of U. From University of Utah Collections

The caravan on Main Street of SLC. From University of Utah Collections

Hate Crime in Murray in 1922: Jim Bing

4863 South State, Desert Star Playhouse, constructed in 1930.
This building replaced the one at which this incident occurred.

On the night of March 30, 1922, a group of White men terrorized the only Black man living in Murray, Jim Bing. The ordeal started at the location that is now the Desert Star Playhouse..
This is one of the stories documented in the book Blazing Crosses in Zion.

In 1922 the Ku Klux Klan had started to publicly recruit for members in SLC and the surrounding communities. The aura of mystery around the KKK prompted several local incidents that were never tied to official KKK activities.

Jim Bing was an honorably discharged veteran of WWI who had just moved to Murray from the Pacific Coast and started working as a bootblack (shoe shiner) for Joseph Chivrell at his store, Champion Shoe Repair, at 4863 South State Street.

Three Murray men, George B. Studham (1896-1949), J. Eugene Bringhurst (1901-1961), and Amos Jensen (1900-1948), “rigged themselves up in ghostly attire” and burst in upon Mr. Bing while he was sleeping in the rear of the store.

Bing initially fled but was captured, “severely beaten,” and then taken by automobile (probably Studham’s car since he had one and was a chauffeur) to Murray City Cemetery where he was further tormented by being forced to “offer up prayers for his ancestors” while “kneeling upon a grave with his hands clasped around a tombstone.” The men also threated Bing with a coat of tar and feathers if he reported the incident.

The next morning Bing’s face showed signs of a beating and his neck was so swollen that he could not swallow. Two days later, on April 2, Bing disappeared leaving all his belongings in the back of Chivrell’s shop.

On the complaint of Bing’s employer, Joseph Chivrell, the three men were arrested and charged with assault and battery. But without Mr. Bing to testify against them the charges were ultimately dropped.

Sources: Blazing Crosses in Zion by Larry Gerlach p34-35; SL Trib 1922-04-15; SL Telegram 1922-04-14 & 1922-05-02

Note: I looked for Jim Bing in the historic records but could not find any other info on him. Unfortunately I am not convinced the local papers that reported the incident even got his name correct (they misspelled nearly everyone else's involved as well). I could not find a Jim Bing WWI vet that was a Black man that ever left the South. His name could have easily been King or Binge or something else just one letter off. I do hope he made it out if town alive.