The historic Echo Church, which is closed for the season, will reopen Saturday for a special image-fueled lecture by Lyuba Basin, rare books librarian of the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah.
Basin will present “From Field Sketch to Photograph: An Illustrative Journey of Echo Canyon”
4 p.m., and she will use historic illustrations and other visuals to examine the changes in Echo Canyon over the course of the 19th century.
The storyline took shape as Basin pulled up the library’s images and documents.
“I’m lucky because a lot of these things are accessible to me,” she said. “I have been familiar with some of the expeditions that have passed through the Salt Lake Valley, like the Donner Party and the Mormon pioneers. So I knew we had materials that were available, but I didn’t know if those materials would be able to tell the story I wanted to tell.”
The more Basin looked into it, the more she realized the story of traveling through Echo Canyon changes from the mid-19th century toward the later part of the century.
“Initially the canyon was something to be surveyed, kind of explored and measured,” she said. “We start off with the Stansbury Expedition, helmed by Maj. Howard Stansbury of the United States Army’s corps of topographical engineers, and the book that was published in 1852.”
From there the canyon’s history starts being told through the lens of pioneer trials, according to Basin.
“So we shift our focus from measurements and surveys to narratives that tell readers what to expect along the way — whether there would be water available or if there would be steep cliffs that they will have to navigate around.”
As more people head out west, the narrative shifts again, Basin said.
“Echo Canyon, like other places in Utah, becomes more of a tourist destination, especially once the Transcontinental Railroad is completed,” she said. “More people who travel by train or stagecoach can stop at Echo Canyon, not only to pick up supplies, but to explore the landscape and places like the Witches Bluffs, Sentinel Rock and Hanging Rock.”
During that time, the public saw an increase of published tourist guide books, Basin said.
“Later, actual photographs of the landscape, taken by people like A.J. Russell and C.R. Savage, accompanied these books,” she said. “So we see the area is coming to life, not just through written description, but visuals as well.”
Basin’s audience will see some changes in technology throughout the lecture.
“We go through woodcut engravings to lithography and chromolithography to photographs,” she said. “All the materials I use are all available at the Marriott Library. So people can come see these things as well.”
The audience will also see landscape changes, according to Basin.
“This comes in as more people settle into the area,” she said. “The photographs show buildings, settlements, railroad and power lines. So you start seeing this relationship between humans and the land develop quite quickly.”
Basin caps off the presentation at the beginning of the 20th century, due to logistics.
“It’s because rare books age out,” she said with a laugh.
Saturday isn’t the first time Basin has presented a lecture at the Echo Church.
She’s friends with Echo Community Historical Organization treasurer Sandra Morrison, whom she met through Utah Westerners, another historical organization and social club that focuses on fact-based and well-researched history of the American West.
“I did a presentation two years ago at the Echo Church about the Donner Party, and it was such a great success,” Basin said. “So Sandra and I wanted to do something again that was a little different. For my last lecture, I presented images that went along with my talk about some of the ways Echo Canyon had been presented visually with expedition routes and pioneer trails. So, we wanted to focus on the illustrated history of Echo Canyon and what that looked like over the course of the 19th century.”
Basin enjoys giving lectures because she feels being a librarian is all about telling stories.
“I love books, and I love telling their history,” she said. “I’m so in love with the geology of Utah and spending time in the mountains, and I’m also fascinated by our own relationship with that history. So the best way I can best tell these stories is by thinking about a book or a photograph as physical objects and how we encounter them.”
‘From Field Sketch to Photograph: An Illustrative Journey of Echo Canyon’ by Lyuba Basin
- When: 4 p.m. Saturday
- Where: Historic Echo Church, 60 Temple Ln. in Echo
- Cost: Free
- Web: tinyurl.com/2zb3t5ta