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Show UTAH'S MOST IMPORTANT I 1 HIGHWAY NOW WELCOMES TOURISTS OF EVERY STATE i season. It is determined on the part of the Scenic highway association to make our own people acquainted with the scenic possibilities of our own state and to call attention to the tourists everywhere that Utah is the most delightful and wholesome place in which to spend he summer vacation. We are opposed to the idea that Utah should be treated simply as a filling station and have adopted the slogan "Utah a destination, not a filling station." It is thoroughly gratifying to know that the best road west to the Pacific coast, the Zion Park highway, high-way, Arrowhead Trail, is now thoroughly thor-oughly and artistically marked from I Salt Lake City west to Los Angeles. This fine accomplishment has been brought abont through a fine spirit of co-operation and state neighborli-ness neighborli-ness betwen the Scenic highway association of Utah and the Auto i Club of Southern California. lined. At the officers' meeting immediately imme-diately following the organization, Carl McXtary field secretary of the Auto Club of Southern California, met with us, the object being to devise de-vise ways and means where-by reciprocal re-ciprocal relationships might be entered en-tered into and a material increase in tourist trat't'ice be directed through Utah. It was pointed out that Utah, with its great wealth and muny attractive at-tractive features, is the "up country" coun-try" to the Pacific coast and that a tine spirit of co-operation is essential essen-tial to the highest development of each. The subject of safety and convenience con-venience for tourists was discussed and Mr. McStay stated that two absolute ab-solute essentials to touirts travels are, first, passably good roads and second, properly logged and marked roads. This discussion led to a request re-quest from the Scenic highway association asso-ciation for assistance in marking the roads and placing them in reasonably reas-onably good condition from southern California to southern Utah. Whereupon Where-upon the representative of the southern south-ern California organization proffered prof-fered to survey, log and mnrk the roads from southern California through Utah, if the consent of our state road commission could be obtained. ob-tained. Further, the Auto Club of Southern California agreed to use nil their fine organization to assist McStay suggested that the Utah as-1 sociation adopted the name "Auto ' Ck:b of Utah." This has been op-1 p.iscd by some interest in Sail Lake I City, but we feel sure that in the' interest of farmers, to the great major!! ma-jor!! y of Utah's interest and her P'-upio, that the court will grant us our request. It is a source of real gratification to be able to stale at this time that tho Zion Park National highway, Arrowhead Trail, the best established estab-lished road from Salt Lake City to the west coast, is completely marked from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. This marking includes more than this main interstate highway. Branching from the Zion Park National Na-tional highway at Nephi, passing through Sanpete and Sevier counties coun-ties is the Bryce Grand Canyon highway which will be marked to the north rim o the Grand Canyon.', from Provo east through Spanish Fork canyon into Colorado will be marked our eastern outlet and entrance. en-trance. Many other side roads and branches will be marked. This road marking system will cover a distance of upwards of two thousand miles when finished and will cost approximately $22,000. This road marking, however, is not the greatest of the accomplishments of the Scenic highway association The friendly relationship and the fine spirit of reciprocity established HyEXHc7iLini Secretary Provo Chamber of Commerce. In the language of the politician we point with pride to the fact that the Scenic highway association, through its fine co-operation with the Automobile Club of Southern California, has succeeded in having the most important high in Utah west to the Pacific coast accurately surveyed, logged and marked with tin: finest variety of road marker displayed anywhere on the American Ameri-can continent. The Scenic highway association Is to be a very great extent the child of the Provo Chamber of Commerce, since It was organized through the Instrumentality of the Provo Chamber Cham-ber of Commerce, tour finding department de-partment of the Deseret News, backed and fostered by the general manager of the Desert News, Elias S. Woodruff. During the winter of 1022-23 many hours were devoted in the office of the Provo Chamber of Commerce to the devolopnient of an organization that could adequately and justly take care of the road sit-' sit-' nation and tourist traffic through the state of Utah. It had became apparent that differences had arisen between some sections of our state and the existing state autemobile association of Utah which were admittedly ad-mittedly Incurable. Therefore, in . the interest of the entire state we ; established an organization that i would deal justly and fairly with every part of the state of Utah. Through our chamber of commerce com-merce a meeting was called in the Interest of -ood roads and tourist traffic at Provo on the 10th day of April, 1!2!S. There were in attendance attend-ance at this meeting representatives from thirteen counties and twenty-i twenty-i j&even cities and towns. After care- ' and deliberate consideration a tentative organization was perfected and the temporary president and secretary of the organization were authorized to draw up a constitution constitu-tion and by-laws to be presented at an adjourned meeting to be held at Cedar City through invitation of the Cedar City Chamber of Commerce, some date during the summer. In the meantime, two important meetings were held at Price, Utah, with a comparatively large representation repre-sentation from the southern and eastern counties with a good delegation delega-tion from Grand Junction, Colo. In all these meetings the thought was slowly and surely being crystalized of a state-wide, or probably inter-mountain inter-mountain organization, which could properly affiliate with the local organizations or-ganizations throughout our own state and other states deeply interested inter-ested in the development of good roads and the movement of tourist traffic. The adjourned meeting was held In Cedar City on the 17th day of July, 1923. It is pleasing to note that at all of these meetings members mem-bers of the Utah State Road commission com-mission were present and approved all of the work which was done. At the Cedar City meeting there were 107 delegntes from different counties and cities from Salt Lake City south, with a strong delegation from Ely, Nev., and from Los Angeles Cnl. At this organization meeting chairman of our state road commission, Preston G. Peterson and his colleague, Mr. Lunt, were present. pres-ent. Also county commissioners from the various southern counties and mayors of cities were there. They all expressed themselves as being in full accord with the spirit of the meeting and the proposed program pro-gram of work. At this meeting a permanent organization or-ganization was perfected, officers elected and a program of workout- in directing the traffic through Utah if these plans succeeded and to mark the roads from Los Angeles through the state of Utah. It was agreed at this meeting to put forth our bes(t efforts to get the consent. The matter was properly presented present-ed to the state road commission and after some investigation it was discovered dis-covered by the commission that there were some obstacles in the way. Long and careful consideration considera-tion and painstaking work on the part of the commission and visits to Los Angeles by Governor Charles R. Mabey and members of the state road commission brought about a proper solution of the problem. The Scenic highway association was permitted per-mitted to call to its assistance the aid of the Auto Club of Southern California and proceed with the road marking. At this juncture Carl between the Utali organization ana the Auto Club of Southern California Cali-fornia is the outstanding factor. This is now bringing thousands of tourists through the state of Utah whose routing would not otherwise have touched our state. Originally tourists were routed via the old southern route or northerly from the southern coast or California to Washington and Oregon, thence east. Also1 those tourists who originally orig-inally came west from Cheyenne over the Lincoln highway and branched north to the Yellowstone National Park after leaving the park directed west to the coast without with-out ever touching Utah. This proposition pro-position has been very largely overcome over-come and even the most unobserv-ing unobserv-ing have been attracted by the great increase in tourist traffic in the state of Utah during the present |
