MILLCREEK CITY RETURNS FULL CIRCLE
in Archives by Jeff Waters

MILLCREEK CITY RETURNS FULL CIRCLE

 

When the residents of the four community councils that made up the Millcreek Township: Canyon Rim, Millcreek, East Millcreek and Mount Olympus, voted to incorporate into Utah’s newest city in November 2016, I’m confident the majority of those voters did not realize the peaceful and picturesque community in which they reside almost became Utah’s first city.

Three days before Brigham Young led the Mormon migration into the Great Salt Lake basin on July 24, 1847, Erastus Snow and Orson Pratt entered the valley on an advanced scouting exploration and turned south, following, almost precisely, the route that Interstate 215 now occupies. They set their base camp at the mouth of a canyon from which ran a crystal clear and flowing creek that would later bear the new city’s name.

Those men realized then, and what history has since acknowledged to the more than 60,000 residents that live here now, the beauty, accessibility, and setting of the Millcreek area make this one of the most choice and livable regions in all the Salt Lake Valley.

The abundance of arable land, vegetation, wildlife, vistas and of course, the essential element in a desert, an abundant water source impressed those early Mormon scouts and they encouraged the Mormon president to settle in this part of the valley. Brigham Young, however, chose to establish the main encampment farther north on the flatter land and more steady flowing stream which is now City Creek.

Whether owing to divine inspiration or the genius of a master colonizer, President Young saw, on that hot steamy July day, the main encampment for those hardy pioneers, which is now our capital city, lay on the north side of the valley, not the south.

Although Millcreek would not become the first permanent settlement in Utah, its history commenced quickly enough. As soon as the winter snows abated in February 1848, industrious individuals like John Neff and the Garderner brothers, Robert and Archibald moved to the area and established mills on the creek that would bequeath our city its destiny. Nineteen mills would eventually line the stream from, what is now, Highland Drive to the top of the Millcreek Canyon.

Those mills, driven by the water supplied by a life-giving source, were essential to grind the corn and wheat necessary to sustain a growing and hungry community.

Permanent homes soon followed and the Osguthorpe, Stillman, Fisher, and Keller families planted the orchards, tilled the farms and cultivated the pastures to raise the stock and grow the crops that would feed the thousands of settlers flowing into the Salt Lake Valley.

Without these life-saving goods, nurtured from a creek that gave them life, the success story of the great Western Mormon Migration, could not have happened.

One hundred and sixty-nine years later that first camp, established by those early Mormon explorers at the base of Mount Olympus, has become Utah’s newest city and the Millcreek community has played an essential and important part in the history of this state with many and varied accomplishments.

But consider what could have been if Brigham Young had turned South instead of North oh so long ago.

Millcreek, Utah’s newest city, would have been the first municipality and maybe the Capital City of all of Utah. “Gateway to the Mountains” would not just be the slogan of Utah’s newest city, it would be on the license plate of every car in the state.

Jeff Waters is Chairman of the Canyon Rim Citizens Association and is currently in pre-production on a documentary about the history of Millcreek. You may contact Jeff on his website at www.jeffgolfguy.com

With over a half-century of engagement in the sport of Golf, Jeff Waters has become one of the most accomplished, experienced, and qualified Golf Professionals in the history of the PGA of America. He is a fully certified and trained Master Professional joining an exceedingly small and elite group of Professionals in the World to have achieved this prestigious title. Jeff holds University Degrees in Political Science, Teaching Minors in Economics and Finance, attended graduate school in Commercial Recreation, taught undergraduate classes at the University of Utah, and earned a master’s in business administration. With more than fifty years of experience and success in the business of Golf, Jeff spent ten years playing and competing in the game at all levels ten years laboring as an Assistant Golf Professional, acquiring the job-related skills, responsibilities, and training required for a career in golf, ten years fulfillment as a PGA Head Professional overseeing all aspects of the total golf course operation, three years’ service as Director of Player Development for Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, administering and managing multiple golf course programs and activities, thirty-three years as a Golf Coach and Instructor at The Rocky Mountain Golf Academy, The University of Utah’s College of Health and the Granite Peaks Community College, teaching and tutoring the game. Additionally, Jeff has spent the last twenty-seven years as the Owner, President, and CEO of Rocky Mountain Golf Enterprises (RMG), a Utah-registered and licensed business offering golf-related services throughout the Western United States utilizing golf as the marketing tool. Finally, Jeff has performed on the national media stage for the past thirty-eight years as an Announcer, Author, Producer, and Talk Radio Host, communicating and sharing the joy, art, and skill that is the Game, Sport, and Challenge of Golf. Jeff, a well-known golf journalist, has been active in print media from an early age. His articles, commentary, and features regularly appear nationwide. He has authored two golf instruction books: “The Ten Commandments of Golf, Proven Principles That Make Your Golf Game Better,” and “The Short Game, the Transition from the Golf Course to the Putting Green.” Both are available as e-book downloads and on Amazon. Jeff penned his first short story while still in his teens and has since published 100’s of commentaries, essays, and instruction pieces in magazines, blogs, internet forums, and other platforms, including Golf Today, Utah Golf Magazine, Utah Golf News, Rocky Mountain Golfer, Fairways Magazine, Jackson Hole Golf News, Talking Golf with the Golf Guy, Voices in the Community.com, and Jeffgolfguy.com. He is the author of multiple books, stories, articles, posts, and evaluations of other writers’ publications. Jeff began his public communications career in High School and has had a constant presence in sports commentary throughout the years, providing play-by-play and color analysis at many diverse levels, including announcing football, baseball, and basketball games, along with local and national golf tournaments, while performing on other media platforms as well. Jeff was an early pioneer in Sports Radio, hosting a weekly talk show, “Talking Golf with the Golf Guy,” broadcasted and aired on various radio stations throughout the regional market, syndicated nationally on The Rocky Mountain Golf Network, and offered on most of the recognized podcast directories and streaming services. Over his extensive announcing career, Jeff has provided the vocal narration for hundreds of voice-overs, commercials, radio programming, sports interviews, tournament updates, blogs, podcasts, audiobooks, and videos, including the original voice work on the best-selling X-Box Links golf game. Jeff also contributed voice and commentary on the Centennial production, “One Hundred Years of the Utah State Amateur,” which is available on iTunes and Apple Music. As a member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Jeff has attended and reported on-site more than a hundred golf tournaments, including an assortment of Major Golf Championships, including The United States Open Championship, The Masters, the PGA Championship, and The Ryder Cup, along with other competitions on the PGA Tours annual tournament schedule. Jeff has produced, directed, and distributed numerous film and video projects as stand-alone presentations while incorporating them within his blog, website, syndicated podcasts, and national radio programming. All are available for review on YouTube. Known as “The Voice of Golf” and “The Golf Guy” throughout the Western United States, Jeff is regularly sought for advice and counsel and often speaks to groups on golf-related subjects. You may contact Jeff by email at jeffgolfguy@att.net and on his website at www.jeffgolfguy.com.