Lyman L. Donnan and his wife Dolly established their Upper Falls Resort in Provo Canyon in 1899, the same year workmen laid the Heber Creeper tracks through the canyon. The novelty of riding a train into the canyon and renting a reasonably priced tent in the cool mountains during the heat of the summer attracted customers from along the Wasatch Front, as well as from faraway places.

The resort became a success almost overnight, and it remained a favorite summer retreat for many years to come. In 1911, the Provo Herald asserted that Upper Falls was "fast becoming the most popular outing resort in the state." The newspaper reported that scores of families were camping there.

The resort's proud proprietor proclaimed, " There are no flies and no mosquitoes at the Upper Falls Resort." If this statement proved to be true, it definitely enhanced the comfort of visitors.

In addition to fishing, hiking, picnicking and camping, the resort entertained its guests with several other humble pleasures. In 1903, Donnan made rowboats available for rental on the small reservoir that formed behind the Telluride Power Company's dam across the Provo River just above his resort. Three years later, he put a large boat on the pond for the entertainment of excursionists.

It was not unusual for guests to bring their musical instruments to the canyon and provide music for the camp. George Tilton visited the falls in 1900 and took his violin with him. That evening, notes from the strings of a vibrant violin wafted through the canyon air accompanied by the cool breeze.

After Donnan built a dance hall in 1906, band and orchestra music provided a beat for dancers, and it also entertained campers. On July 4, fireworks competed with the percussion section of the musical group playing in the dance hall.

Perhaps Upper Falls' bonfire parties -- visitors usually roasted potatoes, baked apples and listened to ghost stories -- reigned as the most memorable activities at the resort. Fortunately, the Salt Lake Tribune chronicled what it called the finest bonfire party of the season in September 1904.

During the day of the party, four young men from Salt Lake City, all of whom had been staying at the resort for an extended length of time, prepared the fuel for the fire. These temporary woodsmen took axes up the mountainside, cut slender pine logs into lengths suitable for a bonfire and dragged them down into camp.

Next, the men dug a round hole and stacked the logs in it, forming a shape similar to a tepee. The woodsmen wired and chained the logs into position and stacked more firewood into the area under the simulated tepee. Finally, they were satisfied that they had assembled the makings for the season's best bonfire. After setting up the fire, the young men arranged rows of rustic benches around the fire pit.

When the rusticators finished this job, they decorated the campground with placards of their own design. On top of the wooden wigwam they had just created, the boys tacked a sign that read, "Smoking room." Some of the other posters they hung around camp read, "No love-making allowed," "No chaperones wanted," and "Cupid's Walk."

When shadows in the canyon deepened into evening, the four young striplings lit the fire. The flames illuminated the towering cliffs hovering over the camp and reflected off the water of the nearby river. The cheerful flames beckoned the camp's inhabitants to gather. They came to the fire, sat on the benches around it and talked.

A rustic supper rewarded those convened around the bonfire. The chefs for the evening placed a large kettle full of water on the coals and prepared the meal's first course -- corn on the cob. While the corn was being buttered, diners held the end of the steaming cob with hot pad handkerchiefs.

Mrs. W.H. Jones supplemented the corn by passing out fried cakes, and Dolly Donnan handed out nuts. Miss Ruby Armstrong, who may have been anxious to impress some of the unmarried men in camp, provided desert -- fudge made on a camp stove.

After the crowd finished its rustic repast, the program began. Entertainment varied according to the talent that was present in camp at the time, but one act remained constant: Mr. Donnan told a ghost story. After Donnan finished his harrowing tale, William G.D. Terrell staged an Indian war dance around the glowing fire pit. The program ended with community singing. "My Darling Clementine" ranked as one of the most popular songs.

At the conclusion of the bonfire program, the crowd dispersed to their various camps. A number of them entered their tents with wistful expressions on their faces. They would be leaving for town the next day, and they had enjoyed the good, old fashioned fun provided at the Upper Falls Resort, their home away from home.

A few of the people who attended these bonfire programs traveled a short distance up the canyon from the picturesque, red, two-story house of Mrs. Thayer. The structure was located near the bridge at Upper Falls Resort and just across the river from Bridal Veil Falls. Mrs. Thayer took in boarders during the summer season, and some of these people attended Donnan's bonfire programs.

Mrs. Thayer ultimately abandoned her home because a series of snowslides damaged it considerably. In June 1919, the structure burned to the ground. The Provo Post theorized that negligent campers likely caused the fire.

Through the years, many organizations like the Utah Teachers' Association, the Boy Scouts of America, the YMCA and the Reorganized LDS Church held conventions, reunions and extended camp outs at Donnan's resort. In 1906, nearly 400 people -- 182 men and women over 70 years of age, accompanied by 200 other picnickers -- crowded into several train cars and joined the Provo Old Folks Party at Upper Falls. The old folks traveled free of charge.

An article in Provo's Daily Enquirer indicated that the old-timers reveled in hometown fun. A free banquet followed a program that consisted of singing, recitations, reminiscences and poems.

After dinner, prizes delighted several elderly recipients. Jane James (92), the oldest woman present, tottered away with a silver cup. The oldest man, Charles Vincent (87) received an umbrella. Mr. and Mrs. Jesse B. Martin, the longest married couple (58 years) won a tea set (to be used only when gentile friends dropped in for lunch).

The fun continued with an early version of the Utah Senior Games in which men and women over 70 years of age competed in athletic events. George Moore, the fastest male racer, won a straw hat. H.H. Cluff received a silver dollar for his victory in the standing long jump competition.

Keener competition distinguished the female racers. Harriet Darton and Mrs. B.J. Anderson ran a race twice and crossed the finish line in a dead (nearly) tie both times. Rather than risk a stroke by having the women run a third race, the judges gave both contestants a bonnet to help ward off heat prostration.

Next, followed the talent contests. In an antiquated version of American Idol, John R. Booth won a pair of gloves, and Catherine Olsen received a silver thimble for proving they were the best swinging singers over age 70.

In the second competition, J.P.R. Johnson, Judge Dusenberry and W.D. Roberts each won a pair of slippers, and Mrs. I.B. Anderson waltzed away with a teapot for being the best over all dancers. In the last dancing event, Ann Redford won the stepdance competition for the third consecutive year.

The last event produced several winners also. In the recitation contest, Grandma Riggs, Mary W. Warner, John R. Booth, Jesse B. Martin and Robert and Martin Robey all puffed away with prizes worth up to dollars.

When the Creeper chugged away from Upper Falls that evening, many of its passengers returned home with more than they brought to the party. A few carried prizes, and almost everyone took back memories that would last for the rest of their lives.

Not everything that occurred at the Upper Falls Resort produced happy memories. Accidents happened and at least one person died while vacationing at the canyon resort.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Cochran spent one Sunday in June 1900 at Donnan's resort. While contemplating the dizzying beauty surrounding her, Mrs. Cochran became giddy and fell off the new bridge Mr. Donnan had recently constructed across the Provo River.

Luckily, she landed in the water unharmed, and her gallant husband quickly retrieved his soaked and frightened wife from the icy waters of the stream. This incident likely cooled Mrs. Cochran's ardor for the beauties of the canyon.

Thirty-three-year-old George P. Devlin was not as lucky as Mrs. Cochran. In August1913, Devlin, who worked at Strevell-Patterson Hardware in Salt Lake City, took his wife and two-year-old daughter for a week-long vacation at Upper Falls. The day the family was scheduled to leave, Mr. Devlin suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died.

Like their resort, the Donnans saw happy times and sad times during their years in the mountains. While living in the canyon, the couple had three children, two girls, Margaret and Doella, and a boy who died a few hours after his birth.

During the summer of 1913, Dolly Beal Donnan received some bad news coupled with a bit of good news. Dolly found out her mother had died and left her about $35,000, a tidy inheritance for the times.

The Provo Herald brought good news in August 1912 when it announced the upcoming visit of J.S. Dawley, head producer and managing director of the Thomas A. Edison Motion Picture Co. Mr. Dawley motored up Provo Canyon to the Upper Falls Resort and climbed to the base of the falls. He pronounced the scenery "some of the most beautiful he had ever seen."

Dawley shot motion pictures of the resort, falls, Telluride Power Company dam, Olmstead and other Provo Canyon scenery. These films advertised the canyon and the Upper Falls Resort in motion picture theaters all across the nation.

The Donnan's traveled frequently during the resort's off season. They spent some winters in California. Mrs. Donnan and her daughters also went to visit relatives in Iowa; occasionally they stayed all winter. Some of their relations spent the hot season in Provo Canyon. Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Donnan stayed the summer of 1906 at Upper Falls.

L.L. Donnan and his family took two years off and stayed in California during 1919 and 1920. The family returned in time for the 1921 season, and Donnan told the Herald, "California is a good place to spend a bit of time, but for a long life and a useful one give me Provo Canyon." Campers enjoyed Provo Canyon also, and they returned to the resort that year to welcome the Donnan's home.

When their daughters were young, the Donnan's hired a governess to watch the girls during the busy summer season because it took the undivided attention of both parents to run the resort. One particular governess apparently caused more trouble than she was worth.

The Donnan's hired Miss Margaret Comrie who came to Provo from Lawrence, Kansas, and taught for two years at Procter Academy, a city school run by the Congregational Church. One seemingly ordinary day in 1917, Miss Comrie went to visit the tent of a woman from Provo who was camped at the resort.

For some reason unspecified by the Provo Herald, Mrs. Donnan seems to have been influenced by the spirit of the Great War. She became angry with Miss Comrie, went to the tent she was visiting and commenced a frontal assault on her employee.

Miss Comrie, who was frail and slight, "was unable to cope with Mrs. Donnan." The older woman threw the governess down, choked her and sat on her. The Provo woman in whose tent the tussle took place, finally succeeded in separating the two female combatants. Miss Comrie likely left her job before a lasting armistice could be declared, and she later sued the Donnans for damages. The possibility of avalanches and floods worried the Donnans during the years they ran the resort.

Snowslides rumbled from the canyon walls east and west of Upper Falls, and a few damaged the resort property. In 1907, an avalanche dammed the Provo River, and rising water undermined the kitchen and back part of Donnan's house.

Damage to the buildings and grounds of the resort amounted to about a $2,000 loss. The Deseret Evening News commented on the structures damaged by the flood: "It will take a great deal of work and money to replace them in as good a condition as they were before." Another snowslide in 1932 tore out Donnan's private fish pond.

The Donnans, it would appear, were litigious people who were very protective of their resort. A freak flood in August 1930 put Donnan at odds with the State of Utah. Heavy rains near the headwaters of the Provo River sent water gushing down Provo Canyon. The flood left 3,000 cubic yards of debris, including boulders, trees and brush clogging the Provo River. This debris caused the water to back up and overflow the highway near Ferguson's Ranch (approximately the current location of Frazier Park). The water restricted traffic to one lane, and men with teams pulled cars through the flooded stretch.

The state wanted to use a 1.3 acre strip of Donnan's land along the river to operate a steam shovel and a dragline in order to clear the river and alleviate the flooding. Provo's Evening Herald reported that Mr. Donnan refused to let the men and machinery on his property.

Judge George W. Worthen issued a court order condemning the land for public use and authorizing men and machinery to enter the contested land. The court order prevented Donnan from interfering with the road crews in any way, since the work had already been delayed several days.

Donnan denied absolutely refusing to allow workmen on his property for any reason. He told the Herald: "When the public employ unfair, discourteous, inefficient officials to handle public business they cannot expect courteous treatment at the hands of citizens who demand just, fair and courteous treatment."

The irascible resort owner seems to have had the last laugh. The county purchased the property in question for what was deemed to be a fair market price. Almost exactly a year after the flood, a landslide covered the highway in the same place where the river had flooded it earlier.

Donnan pursued other lawsuits while he ran the Upper Falls Resort, but not all of them targeted the local government. Litigation he initiated in an incredible case in the early 20th century actually made him a hero of the local people and their officials.