History of Logan, Utah

Founded in 1859, Logan, a city of approximately 33,000, is located on the east side of Cache Valley in northern Utah at the mouth of Logan Canyon.
LOGAN
On 6 June 1859 a small group of Mormon settlers sent to Cache Valley by Brigham Young surveyed a fort site near the banks of the Logan River and began harvesting logs for houses. By the middle of the month, the first drawing for parcels of land took place. A second group plowed land and planted three acres of wheat on 10 June on an area called "the island." They constructed two rows of cabins facing each other, patterning the settlement after Salt Lake City, including streets wide enough for several vehicles to pass each other. By March 1860 there were 100 houses in the settlement, which was named Logan after an early trapper, Ephraim Logan. The city was incorporated on 17 January 1866 and Alvin Crockett was elected Logan's first mayor.

Though not the first white settlement in Cache Valley, Logan became the principal city because of its central location and its abundant water supply for mills and irrigation. Farmers and their families gathered there to buy and sell; industries grew to service the community. Eventually, Logan became the county seat for Cache County.

In November 1859 Mormon apostles Orson Hyde and Ezra T. Benson installed William B. Preston as bishop of Logan. That winter the citizens built a schoolhouse which doubled as a meetinghouse for the seventeen families of the settlement. The founding settlers included John B. and Aaron D. Thatcher, W.B. Preston, George L. Farrell, Thomas E. Ricks, and their families. The Thatchers developed a family empire in Logan--including business interests in banking, merchandising, manufacturing, mining, building of railroads, and commerce. In the spring of 1860, the Thatcher patriarch, Hezekiah, brought the first assortment of general merchandise to the city.

Other early industries in the town consisted of a sawmill, a lime kiln, a tannery, and a carding mill. Of course, agriculture formed the basis of the local economy.

In the winter of 1865 work began on the Logan LDS Tabernacle but was halted for a time while some church leaders went on missions for the church. When work resumed, a new foundation of rock was put in, and the building was completed in 1878. Construction on the Logan LDS Temple began in 1877 and was completed in 1884. These two buildings remain as landmarks in the city.

In 1873 Logan had 2,033 inhabitants. In that year, the Right Reverend Daniel S. Tuttle organized St. John's Episcopal Church in the city. From that time on an active group of parishioners organized a school, established businesses, and participated in city government. They helped prepare the way for people of many religious faiths to settle in Logan.

Higher education came to Cache Valley with the founding of Brigham Young College in 1878. Some ten years later, after the passage of the Lund Act by Congress, the Agricultural College of Utah, a land-grant institution, came into being; it opened its doors to students in 1890 with a faculty of eight. It was later known as Utah State Agricultural College, and is now Utah State University. Also in Logan, Bridgerland Applied Technology Center is one of five such schools in the state and trains 6,100 students in office, managerial, and technological subjects.

Logan is presently administered by a mayor and city council, and it is the center for county government. Its largest employer is Utah State University. There are more than sixty manufacturing industries located in and around Logan, including printing of business forms and yearbooks, exercise apparatus fabrication, the production of sewn products, wooden windows and doors, and cheese and meat processing plants. Logan also has many scientific research and computer firms. There are more than 200 retail outlets in the city.

Logan Regional Hospital serves northern Utah as well as parts of Idaho and Wyoming. Newspapers include The Herald Journal and The Cache Citizen. Logan City School District instructs almost 5,500 students.

Cultural endeavors include the Festival of the American West, Summerfest Art and Jazz Fair, Old Lyric Repertory Theatre season, the Summer Concert Series, AVA Holly Faire, and the Capitol Arts Alliance, which is housed in the historic Capitol Theater on Main Street. Many museums provide talented local artists space to display their works.

The elevation of Logan is 4,775 feet, producing cold winters and cool summer nights. The nearby mountains, streams, and valleys offer sites for fishing, hunting, skiing, four-wheeling, hiking, and snowmobiling opportunities. Since World War II, Logan's population has nearly doubled from 16,832 in 1950 to 32,762 in 1990.

See: Vera A. Christensen, A Place In Time (1989); Joel E. Ricks, ed., The History of a Valley (1956); Cache Valley Data (1992); A.J. Simmonds, The Gentile Comes to Cache Valley (1976).

Audrey M. Godfrey

You can't always get what you want

Cache Valley Center for the Arts presents the internationally renowned Vienna Choir Boys at 7:30 p.m. March 8 and 9 at the Ellen Eccles Theater.

After six centuries, the famed Vienna Choir Boys continue to delight music lovers across the globe with their purity of tone, musical depth and distinctive charm. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer described the choir as “a superb musical ensemble … (with) clarion sound.”

The Vienna Choir Boys performed to a sell-out crowd in their first season at the Cache Valley Center for the Arts 10 years ago and again in 2001. After hundreds of sell-out performances, the choir will roll into Logan for another performance.

“The Vienna Choir Boys are known around the world for their beautiful voices and centuries of talent,” said Wally Bloss, executive director for the Cache Valley Center for the Arts. “They will perform a little bit of everything including classical, modern, folk and world music; the makings of a perfect evening.”

This year’s performance will feature baroque and sacred music, German and Austrian polkas and waltzes by Strauss and others, as well as a few Rogers & Hammerstein selections from “The Sound of Music” and some fun contemporary pieces.

Known throughout the world as Wiener SŠngerknaben-Vienna Boys’ Choir, but literally translated in English as Vienna Choir Boys, the group consists of 10- to14-year-olds in one of Austria’s oldest musical institutions. It dates back more than 500 years to Emperor Maximilian I of Austria, who moved his court from Innsbruck to Vienna and issued a decree that six singing boys would be part of his court at all times.

Since that pronouncement, “six singing boys” have developed into a world-famous organization that survived not only its ruler and founder, but the Holy Roman Empire. Until 1918, the choir sang exclusively for the court, at mass, at private concerts and functions on state occasions. Over the years, countless famous composers and conductors like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart have worked with or have been choristers themselves, including Jacobus Gallus, Franz Schubert, and later the conductors Hans Richter, Felix Mottl and Clemens Krauss.

Currently, four groups of approximately 24 singers tour the world with a repertoire including everything from medieval to contemporary and experimental music. The four choirs perform about 300 concerts each year in front of nearly half a million people worldwide. Nine to 11 weeks of the school year are spent on tour, traveling all over Europe, as well as Asia, Australia and the Americas. The boys also still provide the music for the Mass in Vienna’s Imperial Chapel.

The Law of the Fast

Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Law of the Fast,” Ensign, May 2001, 73
My beloved brethren and sisters, I feel as you do that Elder David B. Haight is an inspiration to the entire Church and so many others.

Two thousand years ago, upon the sand and stones of Galilee walked a man that few recognized for who He truly was: the Creator of worlds, the Redeemer, the Son of God.

A lawyer approached Him and asked, “What is the greatest commandment?”

Jesus answered: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

“This is the first and great commandment.

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” 1

Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord has established His Church once again among men. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, restored to the earth in these latter days, is centered on those commandments the Savior proclaimed as the greatest: to love our Heavenly Father and to love our fellowmen. Our Savior said, “If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments.” 2 One way we show our love is through observance of the law of the fast. This law is based upon a primary yet profound principle—a simple practice—that, if observed with the proper spirit, will help us draw closer to our Heavenly Father and strengthen our faith, while at the same time help us ease the burdens of others.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, members are encouraged to fast whenever their faith needs special fortification and to fast regularly once each month on fast day. On that day, we go without eating or drinking for two consecutive meals, commune with our Heavenly Father, and contribute a fast offering to help the poor. The offering should be at least equal to the value of the food that would have been eaten. Typically, the first Sunday of each month is designated as fast Sunday. On that day, members who are physically able are encouraged to fast, pray, bear witness to the truthfulness of the gospel, and pay a generous fast offering. “The law of the fast,” taught Elder Milton R. Hunter, “is probably as old as the human family. … In ancient times, prophet-leaders repeatedly gave to church members the commandment to observe the law of fasting and praying.” 3

We observe that in the scriptures, fasting almost always is linked with prayer. Without prayer, fasting is not complete fasting; it’s simply going hungry. If we want our fasting to be more than just going without eating, we must lift our hearts, our minds, and our voices in communion with our Heavenly Father. Fasting, coupled with mighty prayer, is powerful. It can fill our minds with the revelations of the Spirit. It can strengthen us against times of temptation.

Fasting and prayer can help develop within us courage and confidence. It can strengthen our character and build self-restraint and discipline. Often when we fast, our righteous prayers and petitions have greater power. Testimonies grow. We mature spiritually and emotionally and sanctify our souls. Each time we fast, we gain a little more control over our worldly appetites and passions.

Fasting and prayer can help us in our families and in our daily work. They can help us magnify our callings in the Church. President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “If you want to get the spirit of your office and calling as a new president of a quorum, a new high [councilor], a new bishop [or, I might say, a Relief Society president]—try fasting for a period. I don’t mean just missing one meal, then eating twice as much the next meal. I mean really fasting, and praying during that period. It will do more to give you the real spirit of your office and calling and permit the Spirit to operate through you than anything I know.” 4

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “Let this be an [example] to all saints, and there will never be any lack for bread: When the poor are starving, let those who have, fast one day and give what they otherwise would have eaten to the bishops for the poor, and every one will abound for a long time. … And so long as the saints will all live to this principle with glad hearts and cheerful countenances they will always have an abundance.” 5

Book of Mormon prophets taught the law of the fast: “Behold, now it came to pass that the people of Nephi were exceedingly rejoiced, because the Lord had again delivered them out of the hands of their enemies; therefore they gave thanks unto the Lord their God; yea, and they did fast much and pray much, and they did worship God with exceedingly great joy.” 6

The powerful combination of fasting and prayer is exemplified by the four sons of Mosiah. They faced overwhelming odds, yet worked miracles in bringing thousands of the Lamanites to a knowledge of the truth. They shared the secret of their success. They “searched the scriptures” and “they had given themselves to much prayer and fasting.” What was the result? “They had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.” 7

When we fast, brethren and sisters, we feel hunger. And for a short time, we literally put ourselves in the position of the hungry and the needy. As we do so, we have greater understanding of the deprivations they might feel. When we give to the bishop an offering to relieve the suffering of others, we not only do something sublime for others, but we do something wonderful for ourselves as well. King Benjamin taught that as we give of our substance to the poor, we retain “a remission of [our] sins from day to day.” 8

Another Book of Mormon prophet, Amulek, explained that often our prayers have no power because we have turned our backs on the needy. 9 If you feel that Heavenly Father is not listening to your petitions, ask yourself if you are listening to the cries of the poor, the sick, the hungry, and the afflicted all around you.

Some look at the overwhelming need in the world and think, What can I do that could possibly make a difference?

I will tell you plainly one thing you can do. You can live the law of the fast and contribute a generous fast offering.

Fast offerings are used for one purpose only: to bless the lives of those in need. Every dollar given to the bishop as a fast offering goes to assist the poor. When donations exceed local needs, they are passed along to fulfill the needs elsewhere.

As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have traveled the world testifying of Him. I come before you today to bear another witness—a witness to the suffering and need of millions of our Heavenly Father’s children. Far too many in the world today—thousands upon thousands of families—experience want each day. They hunger. They ache with cold. They suffer from sickness. They grieve for their children. They mourn for the safety of their families. These people are not strangers and foreigners but children of our Heavenly Father. They are our brothers and our sisters. They are “fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” 10 Their fervent prayers ascend to heaven pleading for respite, for relief from suffering. At this very hour on this very day, some members even in our Church are praying for the miracle that would allow them to surmount the suffering that surrounds them. If, while we have the means to do so, we do not have compassion for them and spring to their aid, we are in danger of being among those the prophet Moroni spoke of when he said, “Behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel … more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.” 11

How well I remember my father, the bishop of our ward, filling my small red wagon with food and clothing and then directing me—as a deacon in the Church—to pull the wagon behind me and visit the homes of the needy in our ward.

Often, when fast-offering funds were depleted, my father would take money from his own pocket to supply the needy in his flock with food that would keep them from going hungry. Those were the days of the Great Depression, and many families were suffering.

I remember visiting one family in particular: a sickly mother, an unemployed and discouraged father, and five children with pallid faces, all disheartened and hungry. I remember the gratitude that beamed in their faces when I walked up to their door with my wagon nearly spilling over with needed supplies. I remember how the children smiled. I remember how the mother wept. And I remember how the father stood, head bowed, unable to speak.

These impressions and many others forged within me a love for the poor, a love for my father who served as a shepherd to his flock, and a love for the faithful and generous members of the Church who sacrificed so much to help relieve the suffering of others.

Brothers and sisters, in a sense, you too can bring to a needy family a wagon brimming with hope. How? By paying a generous fast offering.

Parents, teach your children the joys of a proper fast. And how do you do that? The same as with any gospel principle—let them see you live it by your example. Then help them live the law of the fast themselves, little by little. They can fast and they can also pay a fast offering if they choose. As we teach our children to fast, it can give them the power to resist temptations along their life’s journey.

How much should we pay in fast offerings? My brothers and sisters, the measure of our offering to bless the poor is a measure of our gratitude to our Heavenly Father. Will we, who have been blessed so abundantly, turn our backs on those who need our help? Paying a generous fast offering is a measure of our willingness to consecrate ourselves to relieve the suffering of others.

Brother Marion G. Romney, who was the bishop of our ward when I was called on a mission and who later served as a member of the First Presidency of the Church, admonished: “Be liberal in your giving, that you yourselves may grow. Don’t give just for the benefit of the poor, but give for your own welfare. Give enough so that you can give yourself into the kingdom of God through consecrating of your means and your time.” 12

The deacons in the Church have a sacred obligation to visit the home of every member to collect fast offerings for the poor. President Thomas S. Monson once related to me how he, as a young bishop, began to sense that the young deacons in his ward were complaining about having to get up so early to collect fast offerings. Instead of calling the young men to task, this wise bishop took them to Welfare Square in Salt Lake City.

There, the boys met a disabled woman operating the switchboard. They saw a blind man placing labels on cans, and an elderly brother stocking shelves. As a result of what they saw, President Monson said, a penetrating silence came over the boys as they witnessed the end result of their efforts to collect the sacred funds that aided the needy and provided employment for those who otherwise would be idle. 13

As members of the Church, we have a sacred responsibility to assist those in need and to help relieve their heavy burdens. Observance of the law of the fast can help all people of all nations. President Gordon B. Hinckley asked: “What would happen if the principles of fast day and the fast offering were observed throughout the world[?] The hungry would be fed, the naked clothed, the homeless sheltered. … A new measure of concern and unselfishness would grow in the hearts of people everywhere.” 14

Fasting in the proper spirit and in the Lord’s way will energize us spiritually, strengthen our self-discipline, fill our homes with peace, lighten our hearts with joy, fortify us against temptation, prepare us for times of adversity, and open the windows of heaven.

Listen to the rich blessings prophesied for those who live the law of the fast: “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. … The Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, … and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” 15

As we live the law of the fast, we not only draw nearer to God through prayer, but we feed the hungry and care for the poor. Each time we do so, we fulfill both of the great commandments upon which “hang all the law and the prophets.” 16

I know that Jesus the Christ lives. I know that President Gordon B. Hinckley is our prophet, seer, and revelator. And I bear solemn witness of this reality. I also bear witness that He who had compassion for the “least of these” 17 looks with love and compassion upon those today who “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.” 18

I raise my voice in testimony and promise along with the great Apostles that have preceded us that those who live the law of the fast will surely discover the rich blessings that attend this holy principle. Of this I bear solemn witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Gospel topics: compassion, family, fasting, forgiveness, generosity, love, peace, poverty, prayer, priesthood, service, spirituality, welfare