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Show For the first time in an undetermined period of was opened. On the outside of the safe is written time, the interior of an antique safe at Provo's the name White & Johnson, and beneath is the Pioneer Museum sees the light of day. Museum location. Tropic. Does anyone know anything curator Mrs. Lela De St. Jeor and locksmith Bill about the safe? Wormley inspected the safe Just seconds after it Efforts Underway to Discover Safe Origin (Editors Note: The following article appeared in the Provo Herald and was written by Jack E. Emmerson He sent the article to Garfield County News in hopes someone in this area could tell him more about the old safe located at Provo s Pioneer Museum If anyone has information about this safe please send it to the Garfield County News in Panguitch and it will be sent to Emmerson.) Officials of Provo's Pioneer Museum and locksmith Bill Wormley discovered a treasure Wednesday, when they succeeded in opening a 100-plus year-old safe at the museum, 500 North 5(H) West Curator Iela De St. Jeor explained that the safe had rested inside of the museum foyer as long as she could remember. "It has been there since the museum was built back in the early 1930's during the depression. It was a Works Project Administration (WPA) undertaking," she explained The safe has stood unopened for an undetermined period of time, due to a lack of combination and the loss of a release handle used to draw back the safe's heavy deadlocks. According to Mrs. De St Jeor, it was rumored that the safe, of antique design and construction, had been brought to Utah in the 1850 s by general Albert Sidney Johnston when the U.S. Army was dispatched to Utah Territory to subdue an alleged Mormon uprising. The release handle had apparently been pried or beaten off in some undetermined manner, but with the aid of Wormley, a locksmith from Bilco Safe and Lock Co. in Orem, the safe was finally opened Was there a treasure inside'' It is believed the safe was used to hold the Army payroll and military papers. Perhaps there would be secret papers, or maybe the general's private diary telling all about his sojourn west into Mormon country and his dealings with the westerners. Wormley, who had volunteered his time and talents for the ruusuem, managed to drill into the broken-off safe handle and attached two screws which were levered in a clockwise manner releasing the deadlocks, but not before he had manipulated the combination lock with the aid of headphones and an amplifier attached to the safe. Using a pry bar to ease the safe open, Wormley slowly pried the heavy door loose to reveal the hidden treasure Cobwebs! Dust and a few old tree leaves! But there was a treasure there, for painted on the inside of the safe door in gold lettering was the statement, "Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston brought this safe to Utah in 1858 " This alone is a treasure, as is the workmanship of the inside safe door The exterior of the same is handsomely done in iron filagree and the entire safe could be considered a collector's item, if you are in the habit of collecting 2,500 pound safes It was evident that someone had been in the safe since General Johnston quit the territory, for in a child's scrawl, written in cxayoi. across the inside of the 'li idi was the name, Kelly Gene Hanson The history of the safe is still unknown Ixjcksmilh Bill Wormley did confirm one tiling, the safe is at least 120 year, old mi! it holds many hidden secrets. On the outside of the safe is written the name White & Johnson, and beneath is the location. Tropic, Utah Speculation is that White and Johnson was a business firm who acquired the safe after it was abandoned by the Union Army. It probably served in some storeroom or bank for decades before being discarded, but the legend painted inside the door saved it from going into the junk pile. As the result of the above article in the Provo Herald, BYU officials said the safe was in their possession. They do not know how it got from them to the Provo Pioneer Museum How about it readers, do you know anything about the safe9 |