Friday, January 28, 2005

Confirmation?

There it was.

For years I've wondered.

Did anyone else call it Sugarloaf?

On all the maps I've seen, in all the promotional pamphlets I've read, the volcano is listed as "Pahvant Butte". On the other hand, my whole life I've heard it referred to as Ol' Sugarloaf. My dad called it that. My grandpa called it that. My uncles called it that. But outside of the family it's "Pahvant Butte".

Grandpa even took us up there to see the project he helped work on in the 1920's: a huge wind-powered electric generator. They barely got the barracks and the footings for the windmill completed when the backer ran out of money.

During the past few years the question has bothered me. Family members are passing away. I've even conducted an informal poll, asking folks from Millard County what they called that extinct volcano...

Pahvant Butte just seems a little bland, Ol' Sugarloaf much more descriptive. In my mind anyway. Sugarloaf as a name connects me to my grandpa.

Well, Wednesday afternoon there it was, in print. A history of Clear Lake, Utah has a chapter on Sugarloaf. Ah ha! I'd found it! Yup, there were photographs and the story of the ill-timed wind-mill project. The source for the information in the chapter?

My grandpa.

So, the question remains.Does anyone outside of my family refer to Pahvant Butte as Ol' Sugarloaf anymore?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

both of my parents were from millard county and I always heard it called Sugar Loaf.

Elder Hud said...

My father is from Millard County and called it Sugarloaf. I actually had a friend recommend I go check out the ruins at Pahvant Butte. When I looked it up I thought, "I think that's what my dad always called Sugarloaf!" So you aren't alone on that.