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From the moment you walk into the back patio at Rulon McDaniel's house, you can see the history of Alpine framed all around you. When he starts talking, you begin to feel the history.
McDaniel lives a block away from the City Hall of a town that does not resemble the one he grew up in. He used to work in a steel mill which is gone, along with his family's cabin that was burned down.
Alpine was originally called the settlement on the upper dry creek according to McDaniel who has contributed to a book about Alpine titled "Alpine Yesterdays, A History of Alpine, Utah County, Utah 1850-1980," by Jennie Adams Wild. Lehi was the settlement on the lower dry creek.
The pictures on the walls of the patio are but a few of the 140 pictures that make up a slideshow presentation on Alpine which he has shown around 30 times.
Alpine Community Arts Council president Chris Culver told about McDaniel's pictures and scenes which no longer exist.
"My heart breaks for our disappearing landscape," she said. "They take me back in time to the age I really love. His work is something we have to preserve."
Clarity is one of the first things noticed in the pictures displayed. Many pictures taken at much later dates have yellowed and faded with the time. A B-2 Shur Shot box camera originally purchased for $2 is responsible for the majority of pictures McDaniel took personally.
A diagram of the first Alpine water system is next to a framed collage of the different milk houses that still stood as of 1991. The milk houses were popular in the 1920s and 1930s, he said. "The government wouldn't let them sell a drop of milk out of them old barns now."
One picture shows the first LDS church in Alpine, which no longer stands. Next to it is McDaniel's primary class from the 1940s. There are 10 boys in the class which was the sum total of boys in the city of Alpine his age at the time.
Other pictures include the original school house of Alpine, his family's tractor which was made from a modified 1928 Model A truck, and a section of ragged mountains west of Lone Peak. The oldest picture is of his great grandfather David Stoker McDaniel, who was a pioneer in 1852.
The original settlement in Alpine had a population near 50, two-thirds of whom were related.
McDaniel knew the majority of the sons and daughters of the early Pioneers of Alpine. His knowledge of the people has yielded a wealth of stories ¬-- published and not published -- about the roots of the city.
For a celebration of Alpine's 140 years of existence, McDaniel wrote an essay about what is best about the city which took second place.
"Have you ever, on a warm summer day, lay on your back in the grass and flowers of one of the many high meadows, and watched a pair of golden eagles soar for hours with the air currents without ever moving their wings, and marvel at one more of God's fascinating creations?" he wrote.
Along with his words, his photography evokes feelings for nature.
"His pictures make me want to get out and take a hike," Culver said. Some of his pictures which show the lakes and peaks up above the city are truly breathtaking.
Anyone who loves the city of Alpine or who wants to know the roots of this town would do well to spend a few hours chatting with McDaniel. The love of history he conveys is infectious and the tales woven along with the pictures make for an informative time. |
