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The writer, being interested in the agricultural project of cotton growing in early Dixie, and finding scarcely anything written on the subject, has gone into the original sources, histories, journals, diaries, etc., and found a reservoir of enlightenment regarding cotton culture in Utah's Dixie. He has tried to assemble from the most important sources, an informative yet interesting study of cotton culture in Utah. The writer in no wise pretends to have exhausted the subject, nor to have reached all the sources. Many of those early cotton growers who did most to produce this staple, kept no record of their achievements. Few are now living who participated in the cotton culture of Dixie during its most productive years, therefore, in many cases, the narratives of men who planted, picked and ginned cotton have passed into oblivion. Yet the records extant, convince the writer that the pioneer exertions in Utah's Dixie to raise cotton equals in many ways the cotton culture of the southern states.

This thesis introduces map interactivity as a new learning resource for historical geography subjects. The purpose of the research is to examine the ability of interactive maps to improve the learning process in social studies classrooms in Utah's public schools. An interactive map and paper maps focused on Utah settlement and hypothetical geographical attractors were created for this research. A two-group experiment was conducted in six classes of Utah Studies; the experimental group used an interactive map, and the control group used a series of paper maps and corresponding tables. Students' conceptual knowledge was tested before and after they used the maps via a pre- and posttest. In addition, at the conclusion of the unit, students rated their feelings about the unit and their assigned maps on a bipolar adjective (semantic differential) scale. Students using the interactive map showed significantly better improvement on two sections of the test: matching and multiple choice. The cognitive processes and the types of knowledge the questions tested likely contributed to this result. Although a significant difference was not found for the attitude assessment, the slow speed of the computers may have increased students' frustration with the interactive map and, consequently, negatively impacted their attitudes about the unit. Integrating interactive maps in social studies classrooms can enhance learning, as these maps can promote an environment in which students learn more effectively and are more interested in the subject matter. As schools update their technology with faster computers, educators should implement more technological mapping resources that may enhance students' learning and attitudes about social studies.

The first missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints went to Hawaii in 1850. As native converts joined the Church, many desired to gather in Utah with converts from other parts of the world, in order to perform Church ordinances in the temples located there. Until about 1870, Hawaiians were prohibited by their government from leaving the Islands permanently. As the laws were relaxed they came to Utah a few at a time with returning missionaries until by 1889 about seventy-five were living in Salt Lake City.Cultural and social problems arose causing the Church officials to decide to locate all the Polynesians in one place by themselves. Under the direction of the First Presidency of the Mormon Church a committee of three former Hawaiian missioanries and three natives selected the ranch of John Irch in Skull Valley, Tooele County, Utah as the site for a Polynesian colony. A Church-controlled corporation was established to purchase and hold the colony's properties. The Polynesians were hired to work on the ranch.A townsite was laid out, lots were sold and homes were bult for the colonists. The colony was named Iosepa, in honor of the sixth president of the Church, Joseph F. Smith, who had served as a missionary among the Hawaiians and was solicitous of their welfare.For the first decade, the company operated at a loss due to the financial difficulties of the 1890's. Gradually financial conditions improved, the company began to feed more livestock, a store was opened and then Iosepa began to realize a profit.At first Iosepa was isolated from other Utah communities. The only way in or out of the colony was by foot or horses. Its post office was in Grantsville, about thirty miles to the northeast. In 1906 the Western Pacific Railroad Company built a line through Utah passing through Timpie, fifteen miles north of Iosepa. A Stagecoach line was established between Timpie and the colony and mail services were extended to the settlement. About the same time, a long distance telephone line gave the colonists a means of rapid communciation with the outside world. By about 1910 the Hawaiians were enjoying as many of the amenities of modern life as any other Utah community its size.Ecclesiastically Iosepa held a unique position in the Church. As a mission branch, all its reports went directly to the First Preidency. Religious leadership was vested in a returned Hawaiian missionary. Hawaiian members usually served as officers in the auxillary organizations.Leprosy and various illnesses caused some concern in the colony, but by 1900 the lepers had died. As doctors became more attainable and as the Hawaiians became more acclimated, problems of sickness decereased.In 1915 the Church announced that a temple was to be built at Laie, Hawaii. Upon hearing this some of the Hawaiians announced that they were returning to the Islands. Soon the movement to return was under way and all were swept with it. By 1917 all had returned to the Islands but one family which remained in Salt Lake City. That fall the Deseret Livestock Company purchased the Iosepa property and Utah's Polynesian colony ceased to exist.Some have asserted that leprosy, other sickness, financial failure or failure of the Polynesians to become acclimated to the area caused the failure and closing of the colony. Each one of these problems was overcome years before the colony's end. The colony was a success. It had been established for a purpose; when its purpose was fulfilled it ceased to exist.

The gardens of early Mormon pioneers are a unique cultural resource in the western United States, but little guidance has been provided for understanding or providing landscape treatments for Mormon landscapes. Mormon pioneers came to Utah and the Great Basin to escape religious persecution and build their own holy kingdom. In relative geographical isolation, they built towns that have a distinctive character delineating a Mormon cultural region in the West. Self-sufficiency was an important feature of these towns and of the religious culture of early Mormons, both because of their geographical isolation and their desire to be independent of the world, which they viewed as wicked. This emphasis on self-sufficiency made gardens and gardening an important part of every household, encouraged by religious leaders and individual need. The cultural and personal preferences of individuals did influence the style and contents of Mormon pioneer gardens, but perhaps not to the extent that the religious culture of self-sufficiency did. When managing or treating Mormon pioneer landscapes or gardens, it is helpful to start by assessing any historic features that still exist. Then, the property owner or manager can choose one of the standard landscape treatments of preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, or reconstruction, or opt for some combination of these treatments. Because Mormon pioneers brought plants from all over the world, a large selection of heirloom plants may be suitable for historic Mormon landscapes. A few historic plants are no longer appropriate in Western landscapes because of ecological concerns such as invasiveness or water efficiency, but substitutions for these plants can be found by considering the plant's form, function, and meaning in the historic landscape.

The following thesis is a study of the founding years of the Mormon supplementary religious education between 1890 and 1930. It examines Mormonism's shift away from private denominational education towards a system of supplementary religious education programs at the elementary, high school, and college levels. Further, this study examines the role that supplementary religious education played in the changes between the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. During the 1870s and 1880s, Utah's territorial schools became an important part of the battles over polygamy and the control of Utah. As the Federal Government began to wrest control of the schools from the Mormon community, the Church established a system of private academies. Economic problems during the 1880s and 1890s, however, made it difficult for the Church to maintain many of these schools, necessitating the Mormon patronage of the public schools. As a result, in 1890 the Church established its first supplementary religious education program, known as the Religion Class program. The Religion Class program suffered from a variety of problems and was criticized by both Mormon and non-Mormon officials. Despite the failings of the Religion Class program, the need for supplementary religious education became increasingly important during the first two decades of the twentieth century. In 1912, the Granite Stake established the Church's first high school seminary. Within ten years, the seminary program replaced the majority of the academies and became the Church's preeminent educational program. During the 1920s, the Church began extending supplementary religious education to its students in colleges and universities through the establishment of the institute program and the near-complete abandonment of its private colleges and schools. The successive establishment of these three programs demonstrates a shift in Mormon educational priorities and attitudes throughout this period. Whereas the academies and the Religion Class program emphasized a general fear of Americanization, the seminary and institute programs accepted the public schools and much of the Americanization that accompanied them, while at the same time providing means for the continued inculcation of Mormon values into the lives of Latter-day Saint youth.

The following thesis is a study of how communities of Washington County, Utah developed within one of the most inhospitable deserts of the American West. A trend of reliance on public works programs during economic depressions, not only put people to work, but also provided an influx of outside aid to develop an infrastructure for future economic stability and growth. Each of these public works was carefully planned by leaders who not only saw the immediate impact these projects would have, but also future benefits they would confer. These communities also became dependent on acquiring outside investment capital from the Mormon Church, private companies and government agencies. This dependency required residents to cooperate not only with each other, but with these outside interests who now had a stake in the county's development. The construction of the Mormon Tabernacle and Temple in St. George during the 1870s made that community an important religious and cultural hub for the entire region. Large-scale irrigation and reclamation projects in the 1890s opened up new areas for agriculture and settlement. And in the 1920s and 1930s the development of Zion National Park and the construction of roads provided the infrastructure for one of the county's most important industries, tourism. Long after these projects' completion they still provided economic and cultural value to the communities they served. Some of these projects provided the infrastructural foundation that allowed Washington County communities to have greater security and control over their economic future. Over time the communities of southern Utah created dramatic reenactments and erected monuments of these very projects to celebrate and preserve the story of their construction. During the first decade of the twenty-first century Washington County has become one of the fastest growing areas in the country, and as a result public works programs continue to be important to support this growth.