Introduction

The marble adorning the interior of the Capitol's Florentine, from the Tate Quarry north of Atlanta, Georgia. There are 24 Ionic columns that weigh 25,000 lbs each. A year after the building was finished, the murals on the east and west ends were hung. The west painting illustrates the Mormon pioneers' entrance into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. The east painting shows the pioneers "Reclaiming the Desert by Irrigation." Eighteen years after the building was completed, the Works Project Administration (WPA), created during the Depression, paid four artists to record the history of Utah on canvas for the Capitol. Lee Greene Richards designed the murals and was assisted by Gordon Cope, Henry Rasmussen, and Waldo Midgely. To honor the seagull, a fifth artist, William Slater, was brave enough to climb scaffolding 165 feet high to paint the clouds and the seagulls. The seagulls have 6-foot wingspans. The chandelier weighs 6,000 lbs and the 95-foot chain holding it weighs 7,000 lbs.

Rotunda:

• Large Paintings Escalante and Dominguez 1776 Expedition: The first, recorded, explorers that we know of were Spanish priests. In 1776, Father Escalante and Father Dominguez were seeking a route from Santa Fe, Mexico to Monterey, California. They were using the Colorado and the Green rivers. They hired two young Utes who guided them to Utah Lake. Here the Timpanogos Utes were very receptive to them and their message of religion. At this point the Spanish priests cast lots. The lots cast determined that they should not continue to Monterey, but that they should return to Santa Fe. Their records were the first maps of the region and included information about Utah's early plant and animal life as well as the lifestyles of the original native inhabitants.
• John C. Fremont Sights Great Salt Lake: As early as 1843, government surveyors were sent to Utah. Men such as John C. Fremont, Captain Gunnison, Captain Bonneville (Lake Bonneville was named after him) and Captain Stansbury (who has an island named after him in the Great Salt Lake) made surveys and sent them back to the United States government. Other trappers and mountain men, including Jim Bridger, had seen the huge Great Salt Lake as early as 1824. Mr. Bridger mistakenly believed he had reached the Pacific Ocean. By 1850 the government made changes in the boundaries and named the territory Utah, meaning "Top of the Mountains." Brigham Young became the official Territorial Governor.
• Peter Skene Ogden on the Ogden River, 1824: Ogden was a trapper and explorer for the Hudson Bay Company and explored much of the region around the Snake River. He led a group that mapped Bear River and Bear Lake, Cache Valley, and Weber Canyon. Ogden, Utah's sixth largest city, is named after this man. This painting is also a tribute to all of the mountain men and trappers who were the main information source for this area.
• Brigham Young Enters the Salt Lake Valley, 1847: In 1847, Brigham Young and the Mormon pioneers came through Wyoming and stopped at Jim Bridger's fort. When Bridger heard that they were determined to come to this valley, he thought they were crazy. However, he told them a route they could take by following Echo Canyon, East Canyon, and down to what's known today as Emigration Canyon. This route had also been suggested to the Donner-Reed party the year before. When the pioneers came here it was still Mexican territory, although there were no Mexican settlements. Brigham Young named the territory Deseret, which in reformed Egyptian means honeybee. This was meant to symbolize industry and cooperation. The pioneers were a very industrious people. Almost immediately they were asked by Brigham Young to settle new communities as far south as Mexico and as far north as Canada, into what is now known as seven of the western states. The following year the Mexican War ended and this territory became part of the United States. In the painting, Brigham Young is standing at the mouth of Emigration Canyon wearing a white shirt. This is not exactly factual. Brigham Young was stricken ill with Rocky Mountain (or Colorado) fever at the time and barely had enough strength to sit up in his wagon and say, "This is the right place."

Rotunda: Smaller Paintings

• Social Gathering in the Bowery: Culture, including dance and music, were very important to the early settlers.
• Seagulls Saving the Crops: In June of 1848, the region suffered a severe cricket plague and the pioneers were faced with losing all their wheat. Miraculously, flocks of seagulls consumed and then regurgitated the crickets. The seagulls continued this process until they saved the crops. The Seagull is Utah's State Bird, the Seagulls located on the dome have six foot wingspan and 165 feet from the floor.
• Driving the Golden Spike, 1869: Leland Stanford is shown driving the golden spike (Stanford University is named after his son) near Promontory, Utah, where the eastern and western railroads met, forming America's transcontinental railroad (There were two golden spikes, one was silver and the other one was made of gold, silver, and iron. These were placed, not driven, into holes which had been drilled in a railroad tie. The final spike was driven into the next tie. The golden spikes are now in a museum at Stanford University). Twelve thousand Irish immigrants (Union Pacific from the east) and 15,000 Chinese immigrants (Central Pacific from the west) worked for the railroad companies. Later, many of these workers turned to mining and service industries for jobs. In the 40 years before 1900, the population jumped from 40,000 to 210,000. These people brought the area a more diversified culture and an end to Utah's isolation.
• Irrigation: The first day in the valley the Mormons began digging irrigation ditches, channeling the water and planting crops. The Mormons' system for irrigation was very innovative for the time and made farming and plant growth possible in the arid climate.
• Peace with the Indians, 1852: Brigham Young's philosophy was "it is better to feed the Indians than fight them." The Indians who lived in Utah did not consider the Salt Lake Valley a habitable area, so tension with white settlers was not as extreme as in other parts of the American frontier. As the Mormon later settlements spread however, the number of conflicts with the Indians increased. Leaders on both sides worked to promote peace between the two groups, as this painting depicts.
• Pony Express and Stage: This service, which lasted only 18 months, was a mail route which went from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California--a distance of 2,000 miles. The riders were able to arrive in Salt Lake City (from Missouri) in an incredible six days. En route, horses were changed every 15 miles and riders every 100 miles. Way stations along the road provided the riders with places to eat and sleep after a changeover. These riders were paid $125 each month and were predominantly orphans.
• General Patrick Conner: This man is commonly known as the father of Utah mining. Although he was first stationed in Utah to protect overland mail, shipping routes and telegraph lines, he encouraged up to 700 California volunteers to mine and establish Utah's first mining company. He also established Fort Douglas, which still partly operates near the University of Utah.
• Ensign Peak: This is the hill behind the Capitol. The second day in the valley, Brigham Young (still recovering from Rocky Mountain Fever) climbed this mountain and determined where the LDS temple should be located. He also determined the layout of the city. The grid layout was chosen because of its success in Ohio and Illinois. They also raised a flag to mark the spot, but despite the depiction of this painting, they did not have an American flag with them. Instead, they raised a "banner" (some say it was a bandana on a walking stick).

Busts and Statues

• Emmeline Wells: She was a leader of the Mormon's women's organization called the Relief Society. She was also a writer and a proponent of women's rights, campaigning for female suffrage (the woman's right to vote). Female suffrage was included in the original state constitution in 1896. She was a friend of Susan B. Anthony and advised her on the national suffrage scene. Utah was technically the second territory/state to grant women the right to vote (after Wyoming), but Utah women were actually the first women to cast ballots, because our polls opened before those of Wyoming. Thanks to her, Utah women had the right to vote in 1870. (The right of women to vote was included in the first state constitution, which went into effect in January 1896).
• Thomas Kane: He was a notable friend of the Mormons who were driven from their homes in Illinois and who trekked across the frozen plains of Iowa. He led an effort to enlist 500 men to aid in securing lands from Mexico along the southernmost border of the United States. This group was known as the Mormon Battalion. These volunteers were then able to use their pay to buy food and supplies for the exiled Mormons. In 1857, President Buchanan sent 2,500 men, dubbed "Johnston's Army," to Utah to quell a supposed Mormon rebellion. Kane, who was an army colonel from Philadelphia, sailed the Atlantic Ocean to Panama and north to San Francisco and mediated talks between Mormons and Johnston's Army to establish peace.
• Brigham Young: He was the Territory of Deseret's first governor. He led 100,000 members of the LDS Church to the area and established 350 communities. Consequently, he is known as a modern-day Moses. He built canals, railroads, and temples and founded banks, stores, industries, and other institutions before dying in 1877. A statue of him, sculpted by his grandson Mahonri, is also found in the Hall of Statues in Washington, D.C.
• Daniel Jackling: He is noted for developing a process in which companies could profitably mine low-grade copper ore. He founded Utah Copper Company. Later, the project he started became the world's largest open-pit copper mine (see side of statue base). The mine, now known as Kennecott, has produced over five billion tons of ore and is still producing 150,000 tons a day.
• Philo T. Farnsworth: He was a farm boy from Beaver, Utah. He is credited with receiving the first patent for television. The original statue of him, holding an image dissector, is found in the Hall of Statues in Washington, D.C.
• Martha Hughes Cannon: Dedicated July 24, 1996, this newly added statue is a tribute to a woman who worked towards women's suffrage. She was a committed physician in the Salt Lake Valley and, when elected in 1896, became the first female state senator in American history.
• Maurice Warshaw: He was the child of poor Russian immigrants who eventually helped pioneer the development of supermarkets and the Grand Central Stores. He later became a famous philanthropist, dedicating much of his time and efforts to aiding the handicapped and underprivileged.
• Simon Bamberger: A member of a prominent Jewish family, he became the first non-Mormon Democratic governor. He made many political and social reforms and also improved roads, rails, and public utilities while serving one term as a popular political leader. Bamberger was an influential railroad magnate. He developed a railroad line extending west to the Great Salt Lake and another extending north through the area around Lagoon.
• Peace Officer Memorial: This is a memorial to all Peace Officers who have died in the line of duty from the time Utah was a territory (95 names are placed on this plaque).
• State Constitution: Utah became a state in 1896, the 45th state accepted into the Union. This is a copy of the original State Constitution, which is in the state archives.
• Don Lind Statue, Lind was Utah's first professional astronaut. He orbited the earth on the space shuttle Challenger in 1985. He was a professor of physics at Utah State University. The statue is made of Utah granite and the base is formed of part of the shuttle's solid rocket booster.

Peace Officer Memorial

Now has 100 names on plaque.

Paintings of Governors (west end of second level)

The first painting is of Governor Heber M. Wells, Utah's first governor after statehood. He was only 36 years old at the time he was elected. The third portrait is of William Spry, Utah's third governor. It was during Spry's time that the Capitol was constructed. Calvin Rampton was the only governor to serve three terms (Utah has a 3-term limit). Norman Bangerter was a governor for two terms and also the speaker of the House for ten years. Michael O. Leavitt is the current governor and in his second term. He is the second youngest governor of Utah, and enjoys a 75-85% approval rating.

Gold Room (also called the International Room)

This room was meant to be the official reception room for the governor to entertain dignitaries. The designers felt that it should be as grand as the reception halls in Europe, so they traveled to Europe to get the furnishings. The room is decorated with golden traverse marble that was mined in Spanish Fork Canyon in Utah, and adorned with 23-karat gold leaf. The original hand-woven carpet was from Scotland and weighed 1,000 lbs. (It has since been replaced by a replica) The huge table in the center of the room is made of Russian Circassian walnut; the purple tapestries are made with bits of 14-karat gold thread; the mirrors and chandeliers are from France. The painting on the ceiling, entitled "Children at Play," was done by a New York artist, Lewis Schettle, in 1916. The room alone is now worth double what it cost to construct the entire capitol building, which was $2.7 million, the original cost of $65,000 and is valued today at approximately 5 million dollars. In the past, the Gold Room was only used for the governor's inauguration and a few other important events. However, Governor Leavitt has decided to begin using this room as a working reception room for all important diplomatic functions, so it is now in use more regularly.

Governor's Board Room

Governor Leavitt's office is to the south, and Lieutenant Governor Walker's office is to the north of the entrance foyer. The Governor's Board Room is in The center of the area. leaded glass windows, at the entrance, display the beehive and sego lily state symbols.

Attorney General's Office

The mission of the Attorney General's office is to protect the legal rights of the people of Utah and to provide the highest quality legal services to their government. The office represents the State of Utah and its agencies in all matters in which the state is a party or has an interest.

The Attorney General, an elected office, is also Utah's chief law enforcement officer, with the authority to investigate and enforce the state's laws. Goals are to make Utah safe for our children; offer justice and healing to the victims of crime; protect the people of Utah against unlawful and unjust conduct; vigorously defend Utah's natural and monetary assets; and deliver excellent legal services at a minimum cost to taxpayers.