SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Utah may not have been a state for all of America’s 250 years, but it hosted plenty of U.S. presidents, beginning while it was still just a territory. ABC4’s Craig Wirth took a look back at presidents who made stops in the state.
To start off, President Ulysses S. Grant was the first president of the United States to visit Utah, back in 1875. He stopped both in Ogden and in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, we don’t have a picture of his visit, but the Ogden Junction newspaper recorded his visit.
“Long before the time of the arrival of the special train on which the President traveled, the people flocked to the railroad platforms anxious to see the hero of Appomatox and Chief Executive of the nation,” the article says.
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President Rutherford B. Hayes also visited Utah while it was still a territory in 1880. This is the first photographic evidence we have of a president visiting Utah, at the Commanders House at Fort Douglas. You can see the president at the top of the steps in this photo.
In the Salt Lake Herald paper of 1880, we can see what the presidential party did and who they met, including the Ogden brass band and a committee of citizens delegated to meet them. The paper printed the speeches given, and it also made sure to note that each speech was met with cheers.
Then there was President William Henry Harrison who was here twice for parades on Main Street.
Other presidents also later participated in parades in Utah, including Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson in Salt Lake City, and Herbert Hoover was in a parade in Ogden.
Then there was President William Howard Taft, who really loved Utah. He visited multiple times, and Utah loved him. Crowds waited for him at each of his four visits, from Logan to Salt Lake. He also visited Ogden, he tipped his hat to crowds at the Utah State Fair, and he spoke at the Tabernacle.
Governor William Spry also took Taft for a drive around Salt Lake, and Taft stopped for a round on the golf course at the Salt Lake Country Club. Taft stayed at the Knutsford, and then he was one of the first guests at the brand-new Hotel Utah in 1912, where he reportedly loved the room and the food. The Hotel Utah is now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Back then, visits had to be much longer because there was no air travel, so once they were in Utah, they stayed and celebrated. Every president came to Utah via train.
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That included President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who spoke from the train at Union Station in Salt Lake City. Those speeches were called ‘whistle stop’ speeches, because the president was able to step out and give a few words anywhere the train stopped before moving on…