You’ve probably heard some of the most-frequently-told pioneer stories dozens of times until you may even stop listening when they are repeated because you know them by heart. Perhaps, in that repeating, those stories have lost their impact. Or maybe you never felt you could relate to them because those stories never really connected with you.
Larry Nielson art
But it is through stories that we daily relate to each other and to God.
What if you’re trying to tell your story to an unengaged listener? Then that story must to be told well enough to bring the listener along on the journey. Just ask the folks at Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, the largest gathering of storytellers in the entire west. They should know. Their festival attracts some of the best storytellers in the country and they were kind enough to invite us to come share our special brand of storytelling this past weekend.
And just what is our “special brand” of storytelling here at Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts? First, we start with lesser-known pioneer stories that contain great drama, or pathos, or humor – stories with educational value and emotional impact. Then we commission one of Utah’s professional songwriters to create a memorable setting that summarizes some aspect of the story. Visit www.upharts.org to listen to examples.
Take the story of the Panguitch Quilt Walk, for example. The dramatic dilemma in that story is the desperate need to get food for the new settlement from a town on the other side of an 8,000-foot snow-bound mountain pass. The song, “Get Us Over This Mountain, Lord!” summarizes the focal point of the story, and provides the emotional connection that helps them internalize the message.
There are hundreds of these lesser-known, lesson-filled stories. Do you know the one about Isaac & Hannah Morley’s confrontation with Chief Wakara in Manti? What about the heartache of pioneer midwife “Sagebrush” Mary Alice Barker Shurtz? She delivered six hundred babies all around Escalante and only lost one patient – her own daughter, who was then buried in the wedding dress that she had never worn because she had eloped.
What about Orson Adair, the boy freighter from Glendale, who began his career as a teamster at age 8, to help out his family? Have you heard about William Harrison Folsom, Flora Washburn, and J. P. L. Breinholt, who each played a part in the construction of the Manti Temple?
We are combining these stories and songs with visual art to add even more impact. Together, they are finding their way into our new Legacy Series of Artisan Artbook/CDs. There will soon be one for each of Utah’s 29 counties.
The first in the series, “The Saga of the Sanpitch”, portrays stories from the geographical center of Utah, and the heart of the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, Sanpete County.
The stories and songs feature some of Utah’s premier singers and songwriters: Cherie Call, Payton Kemp, Mary Kaye Knaphus, Kate Macleod, Sam Payne, Clive Romney, Ryan Shupe and Gary Voorhees.
“Feed My Sheep” by Carl Purcell
Some of Utah’s best visual artists added to this collector-quality artbook: Larry Nielson, Susan Gallacher, Laurie Lynn Farrer, Carl Purcell, Shirley Taylor McKay Britsch, Jason Quinn and historical artists such as Mabel Frazier as well as photographer John Telford and sculptor Jerry Anderson.
The next two in our Legacy Series will feature stories from Garfield and Kane counties. If you have a well-documented family pioneer story that happened anywhere inside Utah, that meets the criteria described above, contact us at [email protected]. It might end up with its own song and artwork in The Legacy Series!
One additional element in our “special brand” of storytelling comes in the form of mini-movies similar to this one:
We call them “docu-musicals” because they blend elements of documentary films with music videos. These are being developed to enable tourists to explore Utah’s role in the settling of the Old West.
Every road in this fair state has its stories and we are building Story Road Utah to bring to us tourists who are curious about Utah’s history and culture. This tourism will not only generate revenue, it will help support Utah’s artist community.
Story Road Utah will become a network of locations linking stories like the Panguitch Quilt Walk. Some will be represented by mini-movies such as the YouTube video above, others by audio episodes. We invite you to visit www.storyroadutah.org for a taste of the future of Utah storytelling as we work not only to bring listeners along on the journey, but to bring new visitors to Utah.
Here, the “Saga of the Sanpitch” Artisan Artbook CD is pictured along with our handmade, laser-engraved, keepsake mahogany CD chest for those who want to collect and display all 29 CDs.
