Roadside History of Utah (Roadside History (Paperback))

Roadside History of Utah takes readers on a journey through time as it follows the state's highways, vividly portraying the determined people who faced the challenges of making a home in Utah. Readers will meet them all: the native peoples, early explorers and traders, Mormon pioneers, miners and ranchers, and even today's developers. In addition to detailing the state's major historical events, author Cindy Bennett displays a love of Utah that casts a warm glow on her accounts of tiny settlements taking root and growing into amiable towns like Pleasant Grove, whose main landmark today is a hamburger joint called the Purple Turtle, and Richmond, home of Utah's first evaporated-milk factory. Bennett relates stories such as the terror of Bear Lake, where for years a 75-foot monster was believed to lurk until it was discovered that the disturbance in the water were caused by local cattle. These, and many more tales, are the compelling stories of Utah's exceptional people.

Cynthia Larsen Bennett was born in Utah and spent her school years in Michigan and Washington. She earned a BA in humanities from Brigham Young University in 1981, after which she married and settled in the Salt Lake area. Since then, Bennett has "explored just about every square mile" of the state, her love of the land, history, and people of Utah growing with each trip.
Bennett lives in Layton with her husband and their three children. Roadside History of Utah, her first book, "is the result of a lifetime of stories passed down from parents and grandparents...and seventeen years of in-depth exploration in this magnificent state."