1917: When the Logan Temple was "destroyed by fire"

                                                           The Logan Temple.

 IT is intriguing how different newspapers reports of the same event can be.

Example: Here are two Utah newspaper headlines for December of 1917:

-"Logan Temple is damaged by fire," Salt Lake Tribune, December 6, 1917.

-"Logan Temple destroyed by fire," Box Elder Journal, December 7, 1917.

  The Salt Lake Tribune story stated that a fire on December 4, 1917 caused $75,000 in damages. The fire had started in a closet under the main stairway, on the east end of the building. Nearby residents spotted the fire and called the Logan Fire Department.

 The Tribune report continued:  Firemen responded and the blaze was quickly extinguished with just one hose. However, then minutes later, a second fire broke out, this on the third floor and threatened to engulf the entire Temple. That fire required the firemen's largest hose and lots of water to put the blaze out. It was later discovered that the closet where the first blaze began contained a main electrical switchboard and that is likely how another fire began, by electrical wires two floors up. The initial blaze was sparked by an extremely flammable mixture of polish that the temple's janitor had left in the small closet. Then, some electrical wires melted on the switchboard and sparks hit the polish and ignited the large fire.

  The Box Elder newspaper stated, "The beautiful Logan Temple was entirely destroyed by fire Tuesday evening. Of course, the walls remain, for they are of stone. Almost the entire interior of the structure was burned to ruins." The fire started at 7:45 p.m., when no one was inside the temple. Damage was estimated at $100,000.

  The Logan Temple opened in 1884 and cost $500,000 then to construct.

 Just over three months later, Logan Temple reopened on March 11, 1918. The Salt Lake Telegram reported on that day that $30,000 were spent on materials, to replace those destroyed or damaged in the fire. Countless thousands of dollars were saved in free labor donated by Church members in Cache County.

-There was also an earthquake that caused significant damage to the Logan Temple. On March 27, 1975, 7:31 p.m., a magnitude 6.0 quake occurred 15 miles southwest of Malad City, Idaho. This quake was felt all over the Intermountain area. Several years later, a close inspection of the Logan Temple during a renovation, revealed that the main wooden support beam on the roof of the temple had cracked in the quake.

  According to the late Fred Baker, chairman of the Church's Physical Facilities, from 1965-1991 (interviewed about this in early 2012 by the Church History Department), this is why the Logan Temple renovation, from 1977-1979, was so extensive. Most of the inside of the temple had to be gutted and rebuilt. Sadly, some spectacular paintings were also removed and never replaced. 

  Brother Baker stated:

  "When they took it (the inside of the Logan Temple) down, we found that the main structural beam had cracked right in two from an earlier earthquake. If you had redone the temple and put the First Presidency and all the people up there on that (upper) floor, it may have totally collapsed. After all that, the Presidency told Emil (Fetzer, Building Committee member), 'Thank goodness you were wise enough to completely remodel the Logan Temple.' But local people hated us for touching their temple, and I could understand that. We never received that kind of response from the local members when we did the other temples. We did all thirteen existing temples, but the Logan Temple was the only one that we got such a negative response on." 

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

Hooper, Utah Cemetery boasts the grave of "The Last Leaf on the Tree'

 

               The Mary Field Garner grave in the Hooper Cemetery, a very modest marker.

THE Hooper, Utah Cemetery can rightfully brag about having the grave of “The Last Leaf on the Tree” –  Mary Field Garner ---- The last person in mortality who was acquainted with the Prophet Joseph Smith, first president in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Is this not significant? 

            From the middle of the Hooper Cemetery looking west toward the 2 buildings.

After all, Clarkston, Utah, in Cache County’s key claim to fame is that “The Man Who Knew” – the last home for Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon, is buried in that City Cemetery.

(This apparently rather obscure fact was uncovered in March of 2021 by my Sister, Karen Arave Hugie. It was surprising news to her and this author, since our parents, Gene and Norma Arave, were caretaker and sexton respectively of the Hooper, Utah Cemetery for some 23 years – and they never mentioned it, nor highlighted it. I’m sure some other Hooper residents may have known about it, but it was never recognized historically as it should have been.)

        The famous Mary Field Garner grave is located in between these 2 upright headstones.

Yes, some of Garner's descendants may know her story well, but why has the cemetery and/or Hooper City not documented or highlighted her unique place in LDS Church history?

Her grave should be highlighted in any Hooper City history and any Hooper Cemetery story or a list of famous graves there...

A Deseret News story on August 21, 1943, by Bishop Marvin O. Ashton of the Church’s Presiding Bishopric is the source of “The Last Leaf on the Tree” comparison.

Mary Field Garner was born in England on February 1, 1836. She died at age 107 on July 20, 1943. At the time, she believed to be the oldest ever member of the LDS Church.

“At the time of the (Prophet’s) martyrdom she was eight years old and remembers vividly the day that people rose in their seats, when Brigham Young, as it were, was transfigured into the personality of the prophet,” Bishop Ashton wrote in the Deseret News.

Ironically, she also had a rather embarrassing confession about that transfiguration story – she was tending an infant on her lap in that meeting. Her parent’s had brought a tin cup along as a plaything for that baby and yet just as Brigham Young rose to his feet, the tin cup fell to the floor and created an embarrassing noise.

                                                           This cannon is a landmark in the Hooper Cemetery.

Sister Garner had lived in Slaterville, but moved to Hooper and resided there for many years, where her last five of 10 children were born, and where she passed away.

(Some old newspaper stories incorrectly claim she lived in Roy, probably assuming most people would not know where Hooper even was…)

-To find the modest grave of Mary Field Garner, turn on the interior cemetery road heading east, just past and north of the 2 white buildings; When this road curves north, look for 2 tall upright markers just to the south of the curve, about 30 yards distant; her grave is a flat marker in between them.

Of course, with 107 years of life, Sister Garner has a long, long story to tell of traveling across the plains to Utah and of the territory and the State of Utah’s early history. 

This writing will not delve into all of that, as the detail of Mary Field Garner's life is substantial – but can be accessed on other sources listed below:

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74672893/hooper-utahs-claim-to-fame

https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/overlandtravel/sources/6068/garner-mary-field-autobiographical-sketch-ca-1940-8-9

http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/5367

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/26082465/mary-garner

https://mchangroverheritage.wordpress.com/2019/01/06/the-last-leaf-mary-field-garner/

 

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

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The Manti Temple: From Rattlesnake Heaven to Mummies to Bigfoot

                                            The Manti Temple.

By Lynn Arave

THE story of Adam and Eve and the Serpent probably has a little more relevance at the Manti Temple, than at any other Church Temple.
Why?

ACCORDING to www.ldschurchtemples.com, "The Manti Utah Temple was built on a rattlesnake-infested site, known as the Manti Stone Quarry."
The Temple's construction started in 1877 and was completed 11 years later in 1888, as the third temple in Utah.
Located on "Temple Hill," the exterior of the Temple was obtained from quarries in the hill where it is located.

                                          Some of the exposed rock just east of the Temple.

                Some above ground rock, left intact,  in a yard just to the south of the Manti Temple.

This hill was apparently rattlesnake heaven as not dozens, but hundreds of the poisonous reptiles called it home when the first pioneer settlers arrived there.
In fact, according to the Ensign Magazine of March 1978, settlers "battled rattlesnakes for possession of the valley." 
According to several pioneer diaries referenced on scholarsarchive.byu.edu, the Temple Hill had the greatest infestation of all.
The first pioneers arrived in the fall of 1849 and sought refuge by building dugouts on the south side of the hill that would later be known as "Temple Hill."
After what was one of the worst winters ever in the area (according to the local Native Americans), a warming spring brought hope to the settlers.
However, as temperatures warmed in the spring of 1850, rattlesnakes began to appear everywhere on the hillside -- even in people's dugouts, beds, etc.

             The famous, now cancelled, Manti Pageant used to be held on this open lawn.

One pioneer diary claimed 300 snakes were killed during the first night they appeared. Another stated at least 500 were killed. Still another claimed "1,500" were wiped out. The extermination of the reptiles continued several more nights too.
Settlers primarily used primarily torches and clubs to kill the snakes and the miraculous factor is that there was not one report of a snakebite.
According to Utah Pioneer Stories on Sanpete.com, the spring of 1850 brought this development:
"Soon hundreds of hissing rattlesnakes appeared in the dugouts. They were everywhere! As the sun began to go down the snakes became more plentiful and the battle was on. The settlers armed themselves with clubs, torches and anything else that they could use as a weapon against hundreds of snakes."

                   Manti is a Utah pioneer city older than any outside the Wasatch Front.

Some 27 years later in 1877, presumably most of the snakes were gone by then, as Brigham Young announced the temple site.

President Young reportedly said, “Here is the spot where the Prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land for a Temple site, and that is the reason why the location is made here, and we can’t move it from this spot; and if you and I are the only persons that come here at high noon today, we will dedicate this ground.” (LDS Church News, March 8, 1958.)

A section of the City's garden, southwest of the Temple. There used to be a "Mortal" Moroni statue standing nearby, but it was permanently removed in about 2012.

(Note that some now question that Moroni  actually dedicated the site for this temple. That's because it relies upon a single source and the occurrence was never included in any official Manti Temple histories, such as its dedication proceedings.)

Construction began that same year and the first step was to level out the hilltop so a temple could sit there. It required significant blasting as the hill contained a lot of rock.

Note that there is no Angel Moroni on either of the Manti Temple's spires. That's ironic, a lack of Moroni's image on the outside of the temple, given that from at least one source, the Prophet Moroni as a mortal, wandered the Americas and possibly dedicated the very spot where the temple is to be such.

(In fact, even today Temple Hill only has dirt that extends downward from a few inches deep to several feet before hitting all rock.)
When the temple builders were creating the western foundation for the structure, they discovered an extensive network of caves and tunnels, obviously where the rattlesnakes used to nest in winter several decades earlier.
Rattlesnakes have left a lasting impression on the Manti area. Indeed, one of the tallest mountain summits in the area is named Rattlesnake Peak, at 8,612 feet above sea level.

-There are also other, more fanciful tales regarding the Manti Temple.
There are unconfirmed stories of strange inscriptions on some of the rocks found inside Temple Hill's caves during the early construction.
Other tales speak of even metal plates and mummies found beneath the hill in its caves.
Some stories claim local Native Americans spoke about an ancient temple and altar being on the hill long ago. These Indians also warned of the dangers of going inside any of the caves.

-Even stranger story: At the timber camp in Ephraim Canyon, during the early construction of the Manti Temple, likely in the late 1870s, there was an incident one night where men of the camp were terrified by some creature in the forest. It made strange noises, killed some of their dogs and frightened their horses. They finally started a bonfire and shot guns in the darkness to try and get it to leave. It did finally depart.
Some believe this creature was Bigfoot and could have been the first recorded sighting ever of Sasquatch in Utah territory.

The enclosed arch where you used to be able to drive through the temple without a recommend.

-TRUE TALE though is that you used to be able to drive THROUGH the Manti Temple.

The original construction included an arched tunnel at ground level, just wide enough for a small automobile or wagon to pass through.

The archway was eventually filled in decades later and is now a large window and stone.

Still, people back in the day used to joke that Manti was the only temple you could go through WITHOUT a recommend.

(Some early photographs of the Manti Temple clearly show the archway.)

Another ironic occurrence to the construction of the Manti Temple was that much of its lumber came from the nearby “Hell’s Kitchen” area of a nearby forest.

NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.

A capsule look at the 'Three Nephites'

 

                       Moroni was the last known mortal Nephite to live on the American Continent.

Elder Orson Pratt was the first leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to call attention to the famed “Three Nephites” to the general church.

He did so on April 7, 1855 in a sermon at the new bowery in Salt Lake City.

(The “Three Nephites” are translated beings, like John the Revelator from the New Testament. They cannot die and are beyond the powers of earth. They will remain on earth until Jesus Christ returns.)

Elder Pratt’s sermon said these heavenly beings can show themselves unto whomever they choose to. Otherwise, they remain unseen. They do come among us openly because the time is not right and there is work for humans to do to prepare to Christ’s return. They work in secret to promote righteousness.

Elder Erastus Snow and Brigham Young also gave sermons later that alluded to the existence of these Three Nephites.

However, Elder James E. Talmage, an LDS Apostle in the early 20^th Century stated the church members in his era were too eager to attribute any unusual happening to the Three Nephites. As such, he said they must be the most overworked of all individuals.

Later, it has been assumed that since physical struggles are so easy for us in modern times, that we don’t have the need to these individuals, at least for physical matters.

Notwithstanding, in many of the tales of visits by these beings, they are described as old men with white hair and beards.

From ghostly hitchhikers who appear, offer some spiritual advice and eventually just disappear from a back car seat, to beggars who ask for food to test our generosity, there are various such stories from Utah over the decades.

In others, someone is saved from death. For example, in the 1950s, a young boy fell into deep water at the Ogden Bay Bird Refuge, located west of Hooper. He might have drowned had not an older man appeared out of nowhere to save him. Then, the man vanished.

In another tale, two young girls were hiking in the mountains around Richfield in the early 20^th Century. They became lost and then a man appeared and led them back to the trail, before disappearing.

-Some of these stories are contained in a 1947 book by Hector Lee, “The Three Nephites: The Substance and Significance of the Legend in Folklore,” (1947), a Ph.D. dissertation for the University of New Mexico.

 

'Three Nephite' Web searches are complicated ...

                                                  Photograph by Rolf Muller on Wikipedia Commons.

THE Three Nephites are an essential element of The Book of  Mormon in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
However, even though the Internet has made finding stories -- and even fanciful tales -- of the Three Nephites easier, there is one complication.
That being Nephi, Utah.
A lot of newspapers stories in the early to mid-20th Century referred to residents of Nephi, Utah as "Nephites."
"Former Nephite dies in Salt Lake City" was a headline in the Times News, a newspaper from Nephi, Utah, on May 15, 1930.
-Notwithstanding, very recent -- 21st Century -- accounts of the actual Three Nephites visiting or helping someone seem to be at an all time low.
Is the world too wicked?
What are the Three Nephites doing right now?
There aren't a lot of answers, but these three translated beings are definitely still out there ....

Should Church members celebrate Halloween?

A ward's "Trunk or Treat" decorated vehicle, as part of a Halloween party, with inside the cultural hall events too.

THERE are some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints who DO NOT believe in celebrating Halloween, mostly because of its dark beginnings. That is their freedom of choice to do so.
When I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, Halloween was mostly about scary and the equivalent in costumes.
However, today that is NOT the universal case. When some 170 children came to my door on Halloween night of 2019, I'd estimate that 95 percent-plus were wearing super-hero and fantasy costumes -- not scary ones.
Halloween today is mostly about candy and cute or inventive costumes. Yes, there are some haunted houses one can visit and even Lagoon Park in Farmington, Utah, hosts "Frightmares" each fall, with a scary twist.
However, even some of the most popular decorations of Christmas have strong roots in pagan rituals and so does one forsake Christmas because of that shady past?
The choice is yours, but about the only advice on Halloween in Church Handbooks has been that masks are not allowed inside a Church building.
So, Halloween is what you make it.

Forget about decaff products or only health issues -- The Word of Wisdom is also designed to separate Latter-day Saints from the world

                   

                                  A cup of coffee                                 Wikipedia Commons photograph


THE Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints recently re-clarified some of the taboos of the Word of Wisdom.
A lot of the member reaction focuses on one forbidden ingredient: caffeine.
In my opinion, this is where all too many Church members miss a key purpose of the Word of Wisdom: to separate Latter-day Saints from the rest of the world.
(This is just like the ancient Israelites' health code separated them from the world ... But too many Church members only read The Book of Mormon and have never studied the Old Testament.)
The Word of Wisdom isn't just about health, in my view and not enough young church members are taught that.
Members can argue health studies all they want, or feel fine if they drink a decaff coffee, tea or even cola. But the spirit of "separation from the world" in the Word of Wisdom to me says NO to any coffee, tea or cola -- and says to stay out of any coffee shop period.
-My wife thinks the Church should firmly come out against energy drinks, which I do see many in the younger generation consuming daily. They are, of course, not a healthy alternative and a no-brainer to avoid regularly.
-Also, others notice that some Church members eat too many unhealthy snacks, or don't exercise. We can't lengthen our lives, yet we can certainly shorten them by unhealthy habits.



NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and opinions only.