OCR Text |
Show Hutchings Museum has a long family history By KAREN HOAG Special to The Daify Herald It's a museum on the move for the the Hutchings past 80 years Museum of Natural History. On the third move the museum settled in on Feb. 13 at the old Memorial Building. 55 N. Center St.. Lehi. Two trailers full of artifacts have been carefully moved from 685 N. Center St.. during the last year. The Hutchings family began collecting in 1915. "Our family his always had a museum." savs Harold Hutchings. director of the museum. "We opened it in our home in 1920. then later built a new building at 685 N. Center." It's gone from a family museum to a nonprofit corporation w ith a board of directors. The museum now has a 100-yelease on the old Memorial Building which was built to honor World 'War I soldiers in 1920. Exhibits at the museum honor soldiers in every war since WWI. 90-fo- ot what my father named it." Stalactites and stalagmites from the cave are on display in the Mineral Room. The Pioneer Room has pitcher and bowls dating back to 1700s. "The pioneers loaded up with anything they had. When the wagons became too heavy they discarded this and that. So when they got here, only the finest articles were left." Harold explains. The first organ in Lehi is on display. It crossed the plains bv ox team in 1857. Also on display is the dictation machine used by James E. Talmadge w hile he w as w ruing Jesus the Christ. called Timpanogos III rsA.tsQ fPECIALISTS AND METAL FABRICATORS tall back bar (with mirA ror) made of marble and walnut from Lehis first drugstore must have been hard to move to the museum. ot ar Where does he get enough artitrailers? facts to fill two It dates back to childhood day s for while his father. John, was Harold a miner in Scranton. a mining town north of Eureka. 90-fo- ot no schools, "We lived in tents no churches, only the workers and bunkhouses. Dad went to mine. Mother and I had nothing to do but prospect." remembers Harold "I was taught to collect an thing and everything that interested me: birds" eggs. tossiK. Indian arrowheads. I uj allowed to show them at Home Night." He calls it "habit" passed down through the generations: he describes L. William Grandfather his as of the England, person Hutchings. who took care of all the armor on Lord Breadboard's estate. His Grandmother Mary Wanlass to the queen. was a Her job was to take care of the jewels and keep them polished. Harold continues to take care of artifacts and keeps things polished at the museum. Local collections from Utah make up 92 percent of the museum: 6 percent is family collected and 2 percent is donated. The museum director and his three siblings have traveled the world over and contributed museum pieces. He lived in South America for seven years, has traveled most of the Pacific and journeyed from Alaska to the southern tip of South Africa. He's proud to say. "Dad discovered Timpanogos Cave on the east side in 1913. On the west side of the hill was Hansen Cave which goes back to the 1800s: then a middle Now that is all one cave and cave. s Dinosaur tracks, bones, gizzard stones and dung stones found in Duchesne, near Vernal are favorites of school children. Shell mirrors from the Philippines are from the Ferdinand Marcos family, grass skins from American shells from abalone Samoa, California. Mexico and New Zealand are on exhibit. Since 1940 The first mechanical fire fighting the Lehi Fire Engine of equipment 1901 is on display. WELDING & FABRICATION HI-TE- ALUUINUU and gun of Porter Rockwell draws attention. He wa a body guard for Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and the first territorial marshal. A saddle STAINLESS STEEL STRUCTURAL STEEL EQUIPMENT REPAIR & FABRICATION A rifle of Butch Cassidv's is one of the popular items to see. The gun was found in one of his hideouts in the state. Verification showed that the gun was shorter than a standard rifle to fit Cassids's arm plus a sight was fashioned out of a coin those markings are viible on the gun. The Bird Room has everything from hummingbirds to eagles. One golden eagle has a nine-fowing spread. There is alo a hornet's nest that is bigger than a basketball. THE WELDING SUPPLY CENTER MEDICAL & INDUSTRIAL GASES LINCOLN WELDERS COMPLETE SUPPLY & EQUIPMENT CENTER DRAW-TIT- The Indian room has working tools, rocks for tanning hides, mane for grinding food. pots, arrowheads and a grizzlv bear skull the nux-it-v of these are fa-- uh ro'jeciej in Utah. Hutchings was pieied to icajire flag that flew over the county building in Salt Like City the dav Utah became a state. This voung boy who explored wherever his curiosity took him ended up hav ing multiple degrees in zoology and mineralogy. Hutchings feels museums are "Kids important for education learn all about birds and minerals the fun way It eases the pain of hav in 2 to studv ! the E TRAILER HITCHES WiBssrbtWifw 37-st- ar FIELD J It'ifcphMt. CaM! moNstHBrtxmfC. 502 S. 300 W. FR0V0, UTAH 373-837- 2 |