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Show Utah Press e ocUtion 467 East Third South Salt LakeiCity, Ut, 84111 Letter To The Editor Volume 4 No. 27 Thursday, July 15, 1982 20 iw w to Page 2 & cents single copy Labor For Five Years r Men Write 'Book of Mormons' .T iwrtu from 800 pages to 450. "We became so What started out to be an original familiar with the people it was like historical novel ended up to be a peek into the lives of 78 historic figures of cutting people out of our will to cut ' any out of the book," Walker said. the Mormon Church. last "We started our last Richard S. Van Wagoner and June and spent every minute we could Steven C. Walker have collaborated on it," Van Wagoner smiled, "a to make A Book of Mormons an imhistorical editor went through it for portant addition to the libraries of buff . church accuracy before it was published." every history During their research Van Wagoner According to information on the . n and Walker became intrigued with book's cover, photographs, facts, and anecdotes vividly ' the life of Chief Walker. With only a few clues to guide them, they made a portray the public and private lives of pioneering trek of their own to find prominent Mormon personalities. the gravesite of the famed Indian The cast of characters includes all the chief. presidents of the Church from Joseph The tomb of Chief Walker was Smith to Harold B. Lee, apostles and apostates, businessmen and found in the mountains near Meadow, Utah, (south of Fillmore) in 1942 by educators, pioneers and politicians. Charles Kelly. He didn't want to let The frontspiece goes on to say that the struggles and contributions of people know about his find so few clues relating to the site were found Mormon women are reflected in the lives of Lucy and Emma Smith, among his papers. Van Wagoner and Walker studied women's rights advocate Martha these clues and found the gravesite in Hughes Cannon, and Church and civic 1977 after an arduous trek to the top of leaders such as Eliza R. Snow, the mountains. Emetine B. Wells and Amy Brown They encountered so many obLyman. in their search for Chief stacles The authors' approach Walker's grave that they wondered if gives the reader an opportunity to there was a mysterious force working evaluate the checkered careers of against them. The search included a early leaders such as Oliver Cowdery, six bile hike up and down the David Whitmer, Sidney Rigdon, and mountain where they dropped the John C. Bennett, authors Fanny lens to their camera down a deep Stenhouse, Frank J. Cannon, and crevice. Many other obstacles before Fawn Bnxtie, and renegades Bill and after their exploration occurred: Hickman and Orrin Porter Rockwell. : there was thick oak brush covering "A Book of Mormons" is the result the mountain, there was no trail and of five years of work, which includes researchinto the? archives of chundf tftfthe intftpid historians made their-desce-nt 1 from the mountain it history libraries, personal search of seemed that they could hear ghosting gravesites, and person to person voices of the past. interviews with ancestors of several The gravesite had already been people mentioned in the book. looted. The things that had been There were three buried with Chief Walker had been before characters were mentioned in the book: They had to be dead; they removed, including a letter from had to be Mormons, and they had to Brigham Young which had been be interesting. placed in a pocket of his burial clothes. He had been entombed in an Van Wagoner and Walker searched out the gravesites of all but two of the upright position and a slave boy had been buried alive with him. Aspen the of Mormon Church, presidents logs and stones had been placed over spent three years on research and rethe site to completely hide and protect wrote the book 11 times before its it from the elements and curiosity completion. seekers. "A Book of Mormons" was edited te r little-know- f' K I TAP W f 1 even-hand- ' j es RICHARD S. VAN WAGONER, of "A Book of Mormons" is a Lehi resident. His mother Gail Van Wagoner also resides in Lehi. Ancient Indian Site Studied Near Mercur By JOHN BEST At a site in the Oquirrh Mountains near the old Mercur mining town, a group of Archeologists are carefully examining the only open archaic indian site presently being studied in Utah. This site dates back thousands of years before pioneers or early explorers ever carved trails through Utah's pristine wilderness. The group of archeologists are working through the Cultural Resource Management Services which is a branch of the Archeology Department at BYU. According to Alan Hoffman, crew chief of the archeologists, some of the projectile points found, such as northern side notch points and humbolt concave points, represent those used by early desert cultures that roamed the Utah area over 6,000 years ago. The prehistoric location was Howard C. Nielson, Republican candidate for Congress from Utah's new Third District, has announced the appointment of Lee Farnsworth as campaign associate. "Because of our friendship, our relationship in the party, and because of the strength Lee brings to us as a campaigner, I must say that I couldn't be more pleased that he has decided to help us in our primary campaign," Nielson said. front-runnin- Farnsworth said that he and Nielson had been friends and mutual supporters for 16 years and even though they did run for the same seat in Congress this spring, they ran for the office and not against each other. MIKE HALL surveys area for the production of a topographic map of the prehistoric region. 9 , $5y "Lin feV- - randomly selected and each selected gid is then excavated to, or below bedrock. At this site, excavation holes were being dug about five and a half feet to reach bedrock or virgin soil. The meticulous digging is aided only by a small hand trowel. Any artifact that is found must be carefully recorded according to its depth and location in the grid system. This method will aid the analysis of any artifacts that are found. Every scoop of dirt removed from the excavation hole is screened h inch mesh and through then washed to be sure that clues to an earlier civilization are not lost. All artifacts that have been found will be taken to be analyzed in the laboratory at the Museum of Peoples and Cultures located in the Allen near BYU Building campus. Hoffmanexplains that analyzing the artifacts will be the biggest part of the project. He expects it will take approximately five months of lab work to effectively analyze all of the artifacts. Some of the artifacts found include projectile points, scrapers, knives, grinding stones, bone awls and ceramics. Some of the points that have beta found at nude of one-eight- ' AMBER JOHNSON DISPLAYS PINTO POINT found approximately three feet below the surface In an excavation pit. g long-standin- g T3 VS. The publisher is interested in a second book and the authors have decided on 50 more characters for the sequel, many will be histories of colorful Mormon women. Van Wagoner grew up and attended schools in Lehi. He is married to the former Mary Carter and they have daughters. He is a clinical audiologist in Salt Lake City but the family resides in Lehi. Richard developed an interest in audiology after suffering a hearing problem while in high school. He has a 90 percent hearing loss but with five Farnsworth Joins Nielson Camp originally discovered in 1980 by AERC, an environmental consultation firm. AERC was conducting an environmental impact study for Getty Oil Corporation, who is laying ground work for a large mining operation soon to begin. Getty is also helping fund this archeology study. In the fall of 1981, BYU instigated testing of the site which resulted in significant amounts of cultural material being found. On May 4, 1981, the archeology team began surveying and clearing debri not relevant to the site. Archeologists by reason of their profession must conduct a scientific study of the area to draw reasonable and accurate conclusions. The scientific process at this site began by carefully surveying the complete area and dividing it into grids. Several grid sections are then 4 STEVEN C. WALKER, who "A Book of Mormons," is a son of long time Lehi educator Elaine Walker and her husband Jess Walker who live in Pleasant Grove. obsidian and have been analyzed by Fred Nelson of BYU. Nelson determined the obsidian came from Topaze Moutain, aproximately 60 miles southwest of the excavation site and possibly indicates some type of trade system may have been in force in early culture. Most clues to the earlier group of inhabitants have rotted and dissolved in the damp soil, except bone and rock. Finding artifacts makes the work more exciting and worthwhile, ' according to Amber Johnson, a member of the archeology crew. Hoffman admits that part of the thrill of being an archeologist is holding something old. He also points out it is satisfying to dissolve some of the mystery and curiosity of the past. Some conclusions have already been drawn about the study site. They believe the site was a summer range for a group of Indians living thousands of years ago. The high altitude site provided hunting of big game, deer and elk bones have been found. Berries and some grass seeds have also been found. Pollen studies "Howard liked to joke that inasmuch as I supported him for eight years and then he supported me for eight vears. that now it was mv turn to support him again," Farnsworth quipped. He was referring to the fact that after Nielson decided not to run for for a fifth term in the legislature, that he took Nielson's open seat and held it for eight years. Farnsworth is the Currently Majority Leader in the House. "Howard came out first in the State Republican Convention; and he was right 1 am now supporting him for Congress," Farnsworth said. He continued saying that in his judgement Nielson's experience as Speaker of the House would allow him to be an effective voice for the people in the third district without having to be trained in legislative processes. Nielson said that Farnsworth will be involved with organization and fund raising along with any other area his talents might prove helpful. Campaign Begins In Utah County When people think of foreign steel dumping, they think of the of the importing of slab steel-n- ot bringing in of automobiles, pans and other everyday items, Ted Wilson, Democratic Candidate for the U.S. Senate and Mayor of Salt Lake City, was told Tuesday as he visited with workers at U.S. Steel's Geneva Works. Wilson was on a campaign Utah in an marathon, effort to meet as many people as possible. His visit to the steel plant came at 11:30 p.m. and lasted until just after midnight as he met and talked with workers just coming on or going off shift. "The most important issue in this campaign is jobs, jobs, jobs," Wilson said, stating the steel industry must be protected. "If the recent tightening of regulations does not help, I would urge Congress to take more stern measures," he said. "We must elect a Senator of, by and for the people of Utah-- a Senator who understands the problems of the people of Utah County and all the state, and who will take these 36-ho- criss-crossin- g to Washington to seek solutions," he said. Wilson said his visit to Utah County is part of his promise "to travel the depth and breadth of the state," to meet personally with local problems residents. "I can't afford a multi-milliodollar media campaign but what I can do is take the time to meet with as many Utahs as possible," he said. After leaving the steel plant, he continued on for a 1 a.m. press conference in Orem, then visited as many places as he could find people. At 3 a.m., he left to fly to St. George. n all-nig- Earlier Monday, he visited with workers of Kennecott Copper in Magna, spoke to the Transportation Engineers in Salt Lake, discussed energy and rapid growth in Vernal, and discussed the flat rate tax with Salt Lake City business and community leaders. Making over 70 stops during his marathon, he also visited in Moab and Delta before returning to his home in Salt Lake. |