1976 Exhibit Brochure
In 1846 the Harlan-Young Party successfully brought 39 wagons through Weber Canyon. A windlass was used to raise the wagons and oxen up a 75-foot cliff. One wagon was smashed and a yoke of oxen killed when the windlass failed.
2023 Exhibit Guide
In 1846, The Harlan-Young party bound for the west coast, was encouraged by Lansford W. Hastings to change course and cross an unknown passage through Weber River Canyon. After passing through Echo Canyon, they decided to follow the Weber River instead of the more popular Oregon Trail.
They averaged less than a mile each day, almost three weeks behind other parties bound for California. In addition to losing valuable time, the pioneers experienced significant property damage as they dragged heavy wagons over the steep and rugged mountains along the canyon.
Kaysville Area Connection
That same year, the Bryant Company, first pioneer company recorded in Davis County, was worried that they wouldn’t be able to make it down Weber Canyon because of a wildfire. When down the canyon, they traveled along the native trail through Fruit Heights and Kaysville. They followed what is now the Old Mountain Road to Spring Hollow Creek, south to what is now Cherry Hill, then traveled west toward the lake and finally traced the shoreline trail.
Artist
Dale W. Bryner (1935-1999)
Mixed-media artist and educator, Dale Bryner (1935-1999) of Ogden, Utah, was commissioned to contribute this piece to a 1976 bicentennial exhibition held at Weber State University. A highly regarded life-drawing and figure-structure teacher and artist, this draftsman and painter received degrees from the University of Utah (BFA, 1963; MFA, 1965), followed by an appointment to the Weber State College art department faculty.
Apart from his skill as a teacher in terms of the human figure, Bryner was also an accomplished painter in gouache and oils, an effective illustrator, and a stained-glass designer who studied in Europe and Japan. While teaching he worked as a commercial artist in Ogden and Salt Lake
Sources
- “Bicentennial Historical Art Collection.” 1976 Exhibition Brochure, Special Collections, Weber State University.
- Eyes Toward the Past. DVD.
- Karras, Marilyn. “Canyon Disastrous for Pioneers”. The Ogden Standard Examiner, August 1, 1976.
- Corns, J. Rodney, as edited by Dale L. Morgan. “West from Fort Bridger ”. Utah Historical Quarterly, XIX, 1959. Translation of portion of trail from Fort Bridger to the Humboldt as journaled by Heinrich Leinhard.
- Bryan, Edwin. What I Saw In California: being the journal of a tour by the emigrant route and south pass of the Rocky Mountains, across the continent of North America, the great desert basin, and through California in the years 1846-1847. New York: D. Appleton & Co.; Philadelphia, 1849.
Notes
Copyright owned by Weber State University Storytelling Festival. All rights reserved. Painting shown by Kaysville – Fruit Heights Museum with permission. Painting number 14 in the 2023 exhibit guide.
