Since no writing is entirely objective, it is the contention of this thesis that Dr. Juanita Brooks and Dr. LeRoy R. Hafen, the most authoritative writers of the Southern Nevada and Southern Utah region, were greatly influenced in their writings by the folklore of the region and of the people. The two aspects of folklore which are most prominent in their writings are, first, those which treat the supernatural aspect of divine intervention, and, second, those which surround the struggle for survival.Folklore stories of divine intervention include the lore of divine aid given in time of great need, divine counsel presented as a guide, and divine healings obtained through the medium of the church. Both good and evil influences are manifest.Folklore stories of survival include the lore centered about the home, the land, the food, the medicinal supplies, etc. Both the folklore stories of divine intervention and the folklore stories of survival are influenced by the region from which they arise, and from the kind of people who live in the region.The Southern Nevada and Southern Utah region is comprised of desert land which depends upon a notionable river for irrigation water. The people who live there belong to a church which embraces very emotional precepts. Given, then, a land which has been difficult to conquer, and a people who have relied upon divine intervention in every emergency, and one has the basis for the background of Dr. Brooks and Dr. Hafen. They are so much a part of their own survival lore and their own need for divine intervention in time of crisis, that the folk stories which have grown up around these motifs either find their way into their writings, or, are closely associated with those which are included.

The purpose of this thesis was to study the efforts of ten Utah artists who played significant roles in formulating early Utah art history.