Traveling with Grace: Onward to Salt Lake City!

In today’s #TravelingWithGrace we finish our visit to Yellowstone and head into Utah. To read more of Grace’s travels, click here.

Montana Hot Springs, vintage postcard, c. 1950s. Via.

Monday, July 28, 1947

Weather: Perfect

After lunch we went out to the north gate, a very pretty ride, the road skirting the Gardiner River which runs in to the Yellowstone. Just outside the entrance is the small but neat town of Gardiner, Mont. Which we heard was a little Reno. [Sfileud?] wanted to visit one of the gambling joints which they say are numerous and wide-open, but the fun doesn’t start until after dark. So, we satisfied our thirst at a soda fountain, rode as far as Chico, a little spa back in the hills, and then came to the hotel to rest.

Tuesday, July 29, 1947

Weather: Perfect

Last night we went to the little rustic amphitheater in an elbow of the mountain where we joined in a sing-song in the light of a full moon and looked at slides of birdlife in the Yellowstone with running comment by a ranger named Irving bloom. Today we are taking things easy as tomorrow will be a long pull. We just went up to Undine Falls after lunch. Then rested on the porch where the breeze is delightful and wrote cards.

Grand Teton National Park – Snake River Overlook vintage poster. Via.

Wednesday, July 30, 1947

Yellowstone to Salt Lake City

Weather: Good

We left Mammoth at 8AM going out the South Gate and going thru the Grand Teton National Park (5 miles driveway and 90 miles of trails). We are our picnic lunch in the most beautiful spot facing Lake Jenny with its fringe of snow flecked craggy peaks. In the sun it is warm and a few feet away in the shade it feels like winter. We came out of the park at Jackson.

‘Howdy Stranger Yonder is Jackson Hole’ ~ Hoback Canyon WY ~ c1947 RPPC Postcard. Via.

The ride thru Hoback canyon was simply beautiful. Then came miles and miles of sage brush prairie – a wilderness – it was good when we finally came out at 2 little towns: Marbleton and Big Piney. Just before reaching La Barge we had a blow out so I had to buy a new tire in the latter town and long distanced to Hotel Utah to say we would be late (it was 290 miles but I got them in a minute). Then another long stretch of wilderness to Susie, a mining place, Frontier and Kemmerer the first big town we have seen today. We passed a lot of Dude Ranches earlier in the day and along the many miles of desert waste (they call this the little Colorado desert) we passed concrete shelters marked 1, 2, 3, etc. where travelers may take refuge in storms. Each one has a little outhouse. Then on to Evanston, a rather large town and from here across the Utah state line where the roads are much better.

Drawing, Union Pacific Railroad Depot, n.d. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

We follow the scenic route paralleling the Union Pacific R.R. into S.L.C. bordering the Lake a good part of the way. It is a pity that we had to make some of the prettiest road after dark, but we have the benefit of a full moon. Arrived in S.L.C. 9:30P.M. and ate supper at Café Utah.

Vintage postcard, Salt Lake City Utah 1947 Centennial: Riding on Great Salt Lake. Via.

Thursday, July 31, 1947

Salt Lake City, Utah

Weather: Fine

We slept late this morning, being very tired from our long trip yesterday (448 miles). Our first glimpse of S.L.C. was gorgeous, a myriad cluster of diamonds shimmering in a bowl of dark hills. The city is in gala attire (flags and pennants and beehives everywhere) in honor of the Utah Centennial. This morning we went to the capitol, a beautiful building atop the hills where we visited a most interesting museum of pioneer days – costumes, farm equipment, household furnishings, etc. the silver service from the Battleship Utah and upstairs the beautiful rotunda with hand-painted murals and the magnificent gold room (also portrait of Simon Bamberger, Utah’s Jewish governor and statue of Massasoit friendly Indian chief). The capital stands in a lovely landscaped park. The flowers here are beautiful and the homes too, mostly bungalows. We then rode to the Exposition grounds where we went thru the large art exhibit (pictures loaned by the Metropolitan museum) and a very competent art teacher conducted us through, explaining something about every picture. We also saw a very pretty flower show but did not bother about the other buildings.

Vintage postcard, University of Utah Campus, Salt Lake City. Via.

We came back to the Hotel Utah, had dinner on the roof, went to the stadium of the University of Utah where we saw a magnificent operetta “The Promised Valley,” the music written by a young student is of the highest order, the leading actors Alfred Drake (of Oklahoma fame) and Jet McDonald. It tells the story of the Mormon pioneers. The surrounding mountains, full moon and star-spangled sky made a stunning backdrop. They let us ride right into the track and someone asked Charles if he was driving the gov. or senator from Md.

Salt Lake Temple, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, UT. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

 Friday, August 1, 1947

Weather: Fine

This morning we visited Temple Square, a pretty park trimmed with flowers and beautiful statuary. We went in the Tabernacle and heard a fine organ recital which took about 45. There was some excitement when a man – presumably drunk – had to be forcibly evicted by the police when he refused to leave quietly at the request of the Elders. In the afternoon we went to the Great Salt Lake where Helene put her hand in the water, and we watched the bathers and the speed boats. On the way we passed the Am. Smelting and Refining Co. plants.

American Smelting and Refining, Garfield, Utah, November 1942. Photo by Andreas Feininger, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Renowned Utah-born artist Mahonri M. Young stands at the foot of what is perhaps his best-known work, Salt Lake City’s This Is the Place Monument, after its completion in 1947. Young, a grandson of pioneer leader Brigham Young, was commissioned to design the epic granite memorial and to create its bronze statuary, honoring the Mormon pioneers of 1847, as well as the Indians, mountaineers, explorers and trekkers who preceded them. Courtesy of the Utah State Historical Society. Via.

Saturday, August 2, 1947

Weather: Fine

Yesterday we went out to see the lovely new monument “This is the Place” recently dedicated. It is of white granite with bronze high reliefs of Utah’s historic personages. Eventually it will stand in a beautiful landscaped park. Last night and again today for lunch we enjoyed the roof, cool and attractive, delicious food and good band music. Today there were a number of smart luncheon parties and it was like watching a fashion show. This afternoon I walked, did window shopping and saw the movie “The Hucksters” with Clark Gable and Deborah Kerr.

The Hucksters promotional poster, 1947. Via.

Vintage postcard, Cosgriff Hotel and Court, 1942. Via.

Sunday, August 3, 1947
Salt Lake City to Craig, Colorado

Weather: Fine

After breakfast at Sutton’s Cafe we left for Craig. The road was very scenic for most of the way. At Duchesne we stopped for gas and at Vernal, Utah we had lunch at a perfectly dandy new hotel Vernal where the waitresses were dressed like cowgirls and the men employees like cowboys, the food good, service super (my fountain pen had been out of order for days and the man at the desk graciously fixed it for me while we were eating). In Colorado the roads don’t seem quite as good as in Utah. We arrived in Craig (381 mi) about 5:30 and are very pleased with Hotel Cosgriff. Took a walk after supper.

Thanks for reading “Traveling with Grace,” a series where we’re sharing (and annotating) posts from the travel diaries of Grace Amelia Hecht, native Baltimorean, b. 1897 and d. 1955. As mentioned in my introductory post transcription errors sometimes occur and I’ve made my best guesses where possible, denoted by [brackets]. – Rachel Kassman, marketing manager