Happy Birthday to Me

11 April 1983

My first birthday in Utah … a quiet celebration.

Mui comes bearing gifts …

… for the birthday girl.

It’s nice to be remembered by far away friends.

Temple Square: the Symbolic Heart of the LDS

9 April 1983

Utah, the Beehive State, was founded by the Latter Day Saints (LDS, or more commonly, the Mormons).  When they first arrived in the region in 1847, under the leadership of Brigham Young, they named it Deseret, meaning honeybee in the Book of Mormon, and representing industry and hard work.  (The name was changed to Utah when it became a territory in 1850.)

Our day of sightseeing took us to Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City (SLC).  The square is considered to be the symbolic heart of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It is completely enclosed by a 15-foot (4.5 m) high wall that surrounds the imposing granite Temple, domed Tabernacle with its great organ, Assembly Hall, Sea Gull Monument, two visitor centers, and the log remains of Salt Lake Valley’s oldest standing home.  (For more information about the Mormon Church and Temple Square, click here.)

Aerial view of Temple Square.
[scanned from a postcard]

We started our visit at the Meridian Marker, which is located outside the wall.  It was placed in 1847 to define the boundaries of Temple Square.  The marker also serves as the point of origination for the numbering system for the streets of SLC, which are laid out in a well-planned grid.

The Meridian Marker is placed at
Latitude 40°46’04” and Longitude 111°54’00”.

Inside the walls, we stopped to see various points of interest, starting with the Nauvoo Bell, which originally hung in the Nauvoo Temple in Illinois.  The bell was removed by the Saints in 1846 when they were forced to leave Illinois.  It was brought to the Salt Lake Valley by the second company of pioneers that made the cross-country trip.

Next, we stopped to view the Gothic-style Assembly Hall, which was constructed between 1877 and 1882.  We found the Sea Gull Monument in front of this building.  Why a monument to sea gulls?  You see, in the spring of 1848 the Mormon pioneers planted crops in the valley.  As these crops ripened, they were attacked by crickets.  The Saints fought a losing battle against the crickets until, like a deliverance, their prayers were answered and thousands of sea gulls showed up to feast on the pesky bugs.

Left: the Nauvoo Bell
Right: the Assembly Hall and the Sea Gull Monument

Of all the buildings in Temple Square, the one that is probably second only to the temple itself is the oval-shaped Tabernacle.  The idea for it came from Brigham Young.  It was built between 1863-67 by a bridge builder named Henry Grow.  Virtually no nails were used in the construction, and the building is held together with wooden pegs and rawhide strips.  The Saints liked marble and oak, neither of which was available, so they used pine for the benches and pillars and then painted them to resemble their favored medium.  The Tabernacle’s most striking feature is the great organ, built by an Austrian convert.  Made of white pine, the organ has 11,000 parts.  The world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs regularly (more information here).

The acoustics are so perfect that from the back you can
hear a pin that is dropped on the stage at the front.

Of course, at the heart of square is the majestic, six-spired Temple.  It is not open to the general public and we were told that only “good” Mormons can enter through the doors.  Begun in 1853, construction was completed 40 years later.  It is built of granite, which was hauled 23 miles (37 km) by ox-drawn carts.  The 9-foot (2.7 m) thick walls at ground level narrow to 6 feet (1.8 m) at the top.  The center tower is 210 feet (64 m) high and is topped with a gold statue of the Angel Moroni heralding the restoration to earth the gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter days.

The temple is used by church members for weddings and other
sacred ordinances designed to strengthen family ties,
both now and for eternity.

This was the first of many visits we made to Temple Square during the eight years we lived in Utah.  Yes, each time we went there, we were approached by missionaries who wanted to educate us about the Saints and their church.  They were always polite; never insistent — a quick thanks, but no thanks; and we were left to wander around on our own.

Easter Snow and Canyon Winds

3 April 1983

We weren’t expecting to see snow when we woke up and looked out the window on Easter morning.  By the end of the day, we had somewhere around 10 inches (25 cm) of accumulation in the driveway.

There was quite a bit of wind as well, but we took it in stride … until the next day, when a 3-day siege of extreme canyon winds began rattling the windows with a fury that you had to be there to appreciate.  The wall of glass in the living room, which faced the Wasatch Mountains, bore the brunt of the winds.  Gusts up to 104 mph (166 kph) were recorded.  When the news came that Hill AFB had essentially shut down, we knew the storm was serious.  We rode it out, safe in our basement apartment.

Kaysville: Our Home Base in Utah

March 1983

We’d decided early on that we didn’t want to live on base, so the day after we arrived in Utah, we started to search for a place not far from Hill AFB.  Within a few days, we’d found the perfect place — a two-bedroom basement apartment in nearby Kaysville.

The map shows Kaysville in relation to Salt Lake City
to the south and Hill AFB to the north.

Sure, Bill and Shirley, the owners of the apartment, wanted a bit of rental income, but more than that, they wanted a trustworthy couple who would house-sit for them during their frequent escapes to the warmer climes of southern Utah.  As such, they gave us the run of their home, generously inviting us to use the entire house in their absence.  That must be why I have no photos of our apartment — at least not in the photo album I’m presently scanning.

Settling into our first place in Utah, Mui began his daily routine at the base while I started one of the things that I have always dreaded (and still do) — searching for a job.  I was lucky and within a few weeks, I was gainfully employed at Petrolex, a small company in Salt Lake City.  I mean it when I say a small company — there were just three employees: Burke, the president; Dave, the vice president; and me, the corporate and administrative secretary.  The company represented the owners of oil and gas land leases.  It was my job to prepare the submissions we made to big oil companies that might have an interest in acquiring the drilling rights to such land.

Life was good.

Hill Air Force Base

March 1983

With orders in hand, we drove from Washington to Utah and arrived at Hill Air Force Base, located 29 miles (46 km) north of Salt Lake City.

The base was Named Hill Field in December 1939 for Major
Ployer P. Hill, who lost his life in 1935 while piloting the
famous B-17 Flying Fortress at Wright-Patterson AFB (Ohio).
[scanned from an air force magazine]

Hill Field was officially activated in November 1940.
In February 1948, following the 1947 change from
Army Air Corps to USAF, the name was changed to Hill AFB.
[scanned from an air force magazine]

The news that there was no vacancy at the inn was not what we were expecting to hear at the end of a long day’s drive.  But fear not, there was temporary lodging available in the flight line bunker where pilots were housed.  And a bunker it was.  No windows; thick, concrete walls — all designed to minimize any effects from aircraft operations!

Under the circumstances, is it any wonder we had no idea that a blizzard had raged overnight until we stepped out the door the next morning to start our search for off-base housing?

From Washington to Utah

10-12 March, 1983

The passage of time has blurred the details of many past events and adventures. I so wish that I had gotten into journaling much earlier than I did. As it is, I’ll have to rely on pictures to tell the story as I count through the years.

Mui returned from basic training with orders to report to Hill AFB in Utah. We packed our belongings, turned some of our stuff over to the Air Force for transport, rented a car-top carrier to take the must-haves with us, and got on the road.

From Washington to Utah via Oregon and Idaho

If the dates on the back of the few photos I have are anything to go by, we took three days to make the trip, stopping in Oregon and Idaho to do some sightseeing along the way. We spent one of the nights on the road at the Indian Hills Red Lion Inn in Pendleton, Oregon. I only know that from a note scribbled on the back of a photo. Mui tells me we stayed the second night at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho; I'll have to take his word for that as I have no recollection of it myself.

Columbia River Gorge from Crown State Park — Oregon

Latourell Falls — Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
Unique among the best-known Columbia Gorge waterfalls
in that it drops straight down from an overhanging basalt cliff.

Multnomah Falls — Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
The fourth highest falls in the us.
(upper falls: 549 ft [167 m]; lower falls: 69 ft [21 m])

There is an Indian legend associated with Multnomah Falls. This is how I recorded it in my photo album:

When the Multnomah people were stricken with sickness and many were dying, the Medicine Man told the Chief that a virgin maiden had to throw herself from the cliff overlooking the “Big River.” The Chief, however, was reluctant to ask any of the maidens for such a sacrifice. The decision was taken out of his hands when his daughter decided to sacrifice herself so that her lover, overtaken by this sickness, might live. As a token of the maiden’s welcome by the “Great Spirit,” a stream of water started to cascade from the point where she threw herself down. And thus the falls were born.

Bonneville Dam Spillway — Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
Named for Army Captain Benjamin Bonneville, an early explorer
credited with charting much of the Oregon Trail.

Shoshone Falls — Twin Falls, Idaho
At 212 ft (64 M), they are higher than Niagara Falls.

And so our eight-year stint in Utah began.

Thank You and Goodbye

February & March 1983

Lee (or Leon — as Jean, his wife, prefers to call him) was my boss for most of my brief stint at KCPQ TV, Channel 13. While Mui was doing his basic training at Lackland AFB, Lee and his family took me under their wing. Jean took on the role of an older sister, looking out for me in Mui’s absence. I became an older sister to their four children — Mac, Katie, Doug, and Robbie. I spent many weekends at their home, sleeping on the trundle bed in Katie’s room and participating in their family activities.

(Remember to click any photo for a larger version.)

Cuddling with Robbie.

Their farewell gift to us was this coffee table book filled with images of the state that we’d come to love during our 13 months living there.

Despite our best intentions, we haven’t made it back to visit with our friends since we left the state in March 1983. We promise we’ll go back soon after we retire and have time on our hands to renew old-but-not-forgotten relationships. In the meantime, Christmas cards keep the connection alive.