For the Love of Lost Stories

In the past three months, Rachel Quist has posted more than 50 stories about Salt Lake's history.

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Rachel Quist loves a good story. As an archaeologist who conducted field schools for the University of Utah and is currently the lead archaeologist at Dugway Proving Ground, she knows that some stories are buried in the ground. As a writer with a passion for history, she knows other stories hide in the pages of old newspapers or in the architectural details of buildings. In Rachel’s view, stories need to be shared, especially when they have been lost or forgotten, which is why she started to blog as the Salt Lake City History Examiner three months ago. She has already written over 50 articles.

Want to know about the Fremont people who lived here a thousand years ago? Check out “Ancient History Under South Temple.” Ever hear about the tragedy at the Buena Vista Airfield near the Jordan River or that there was once a China Town in downtown Salt Lake where a parking structure now stands? Did you know that a Salt Lake City traffic officer invented the world’s first electric traffic signal or that the community known as Hobbitville was built as a bird sanctuary?

“I’ve always been fascinated by obscure histories,” Rachel says. “In my job at Dugway,  I talk to a lot of people, and it’s given me an idea of what interests people and what they don’t know. I often find myself telling stories. The blog gives me a chance to fill in the details.”

Rachel likes history for the light it sheds on the human experience and she often writes about compelling historical figures, such as Julius F. Taylor, an African-American editor and activist who earned a living lecturing about equality during the 1890′s. In another post, she reviews Not by Bread Alone:  The Journal of Martha Spence Haywood, 1850 – 56. “Heywood intrigued me because she was a world traveler who had crossed the Atlantic three times before she joined the Mormon Church in 1848 and came to Salt Lake two years later,” says Quist. “She was very blunt about her opinions and experiences, and she provides a fascinating look into a time period.”

Quist provides a fascinating look into a wide range of time periods through her work as the Salt Lake History Examiner.  Read her articles here, and learn more about her many other interests — gardening, hiking, geocaching and primitive technology, to name a few — on her website.

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