Temple Square is still top tourist draw in Utah

It looks like Temple Square is still the top tourist driver for Utah -- and it's not just Mormons coming here. People are genuinely curious about Mormonism.

That doesn't surprise me as much as this very candid comment about Temple Square from Deseret News, the church friendly newspaper owned by a corporation of the Church.

Like visitors to St. Peter's Square in Rome, people touring Temple Square should expect to find a church-sanctioned version of history. Don't come looking for a lengthy discussion of polygamy or a detailed explanation of the "Utah War" of 1857, when Mormon militia and federal troops engaged in a tense standoff.

America's Forgotten Precursor to the Civil War

I've been to various national museums in Utah and Colorado, and even managed to speak with a few curators. They've painted a picture of the 1857-58 Utah war as an attempt to squash rebellion and a pre-cursor to the Civil War. Some might even call it the first battle of the Civil War.

According to one curator I recently spoke with, the territory of Utah, pro-slavery and pro-polygamy, was perceived in open rebellion against the Federal government. One thing new that I learned from the curator was that Utah had quite a few slave owners from the Missouri saints. I had never heard of that before.

With a misreading of the Mormons and the political situation, President Buchanan sent 20% of the total federal force - a huge show of force - to squash the rebellion.

The Deseret News features a neat piece on the Utah War and how it showed how the American nation would deal with perceived rebellion and how an invaded people would react, foreshadowing events of the real Civil War that would follow just four years later.

Dog Days of Summer

I had to take a photo of my dog demonstrating to the rest of us what “the dog days of summer” means when it is heartfelt. It means finding a cool wooden floor around 9am and camping out until it’s time to take a walk around the cool of sunset.

1 Cliff 3:4. And my father dwelt in a tent. 5. And it came to pass that my dog dwelt on the floor.

Unusual Web Server Error

The things and people we take for granted that try to make our life easier. Here's a 404 error page that makes you stop and think about the everyday life of a web server.

Can't Take It With You, But This Comes Close

You might not be able to take a baseball team with you to Heaven, but this comes awfully close. Die-hard baseball fans will soon have a way to be close to their favorite teams in the afterlife. They can now buy a casket with the name of their baseball team to comfort them on their everlasting journey.

Ain't it grand to be American?