The stories of Utah are its LEGACY – treasures of the past and present. UPHA has been gathering and curating the heritage and pioneering stories of Utah since 2008 with the goal of bringing families and communities together. These stories, told using the entertainment arts (live and virtual performances, recorded narrations, songs, visual images, and more) can help guide you to find your own strengths, a stronger sense of belonging, and the courage to take on your day-to-day challenges. Here is a comprehensive list of all those Legacy Series Stories and Songs.

These collector-quality full-color CD-sized books are brim full of gorgeous art and photography, as well as the stories and lyrics to each song. Songs are contained on the enclosed CD. The stories and songs are available for digital download.

Like most central Utah areas, Sanpete County had its humble beginnings centered around a river. The San Pitch River was named after the Ute Chief Sanpitch. It frames our collection of stories, songs, and visual art as the settlers moved into the lands cared for by those who came so long before.

At the invitation of the Ute Indian Chief Wakara (the settlers simply called him “Walker”), and at the direction of Brigham Young, Isaac Morley led the first company of Mormon pioneers into the area in the late fall of 1849.

Heavy early snows made it impossible for them to construct any shelters, so they dug makeshift dwellings into the hillsides of present-day Manti. The winter was so severe that many of the pioneers’ cattle died because they couldn’t find forage.

That first winter foreshadowed the many difficulties those settlers would face, both with the harsh climate and with the local Indian tribes. Farming, ranching, and relationship-building all required vigilance and cooperation. But even that was not enough to keep all those pioneers alive. Sanpete County was the scene of more Native American Indian/Pioneer Settler battles than any other county in Utah.

Track List, Artists and Descriptions

1. Blood Upon These Hills (by Sam Payne) 4:09
The conflict that erupted over land ownership vs. stewardship as the settlers entered the valley.

2. Grandpa Had a Grandpa (Clive Romney) 2:54
How our family stories show us our roots and give us hope.

3. Pete’s Mule (Clive Romney, Payton Kemp) 2:41
The playful confusion of nicknames among certain pioneer cultures.

4. Hooves, Hide and Mane (Sam Payne, Ryan Shupe) 3:04
A galloping tribute to the role of the horse in settling the West.

5. Sole Provider (Ryan Shupe) 3:56
A modern-day craftsman keeping pioneer artistry alive.

6. I Built a Pearl (Cherie Call) 3:36
How the early Manti pioneers came together to erect a temple to their God.

7. What Doesn’t Feel Right (Clive Romney) 3:25
Was it a Ute custom or child abduction?

8. He’s Home (Cherie Call) 3:03
The unexpected resolve of that perceived kidnapping.

9. Part of Me (Gary Voorhees) 4:20
The story of discovered family roots and personalities.

10. Tend Each Other’s Lives (Kate MacLeod) 3:43
The way pioneer neighbors were and the lessons we can learn from them.

11. The Sanpitch Dragon (Mary Kaye Knaphus) 2:55
A unique mosaic honors a town’s dedication to the importance of community.

12. The Power of the Horse (Clive Romney, Paul Kern) 3:37
A cowboy poem honoring the role of the horse down through history.

On the pathway to everywhere for thousands of years, Sevier Valley has seen ancient peoples, explorers from Manuel Metas & Mauricio Arce to Jedediah Smith, Capt. John Gunnison, and Parley P. Pratt, as well as modern highway engineers. It has been praised for its beauty (“land of the sleeping rainbow” to the indigenous peoples) and extremely rich soil (“if you drive a crowbar into the soil in the evening, by morning it will have sprouted ten-penny nails”).

Grass Valley also has valid claim to the title “Valley of the Trails.” The stories of the people of these valleys reveal wisdom that enlightens. The peace of her open spaces can heal and rejuvenate.

Sevier County has seen conflict and drama, heartbreak, and reconciliation. Its soil conceals secrets its canyon walls reveal in petroglyphs and pictographs. Its high plateaus wring water from the skies and release it through the year, making life in the valleys possible. Its hills hold treasures that miners painstakingly unearth.

Come enjoy the pages, stories, and songs of this colorful collection and discover the Valley of the Trails.

Track List, Artists and Descriptions

1. Valley of the Trails (Ken Stevens, Clive Romney, David Ogden) 2:47
The promise of riches has lured people to and through this valley for centuries.

2. A Mystery Still (Tom Hewitson, Clive Romney) 4:20
Traces of artifacts and ancient dwellings prove they were here, but who were they?

3. The Old Spanish Trail (Clive Romney) 3:29
The trade route from Santa Fe, New Mexico out to Pueblo de Los Angeles once wandered all the way up through Utah past a surprising lakeside overview.

4. Wooden Shoe Man (Jo Lynne Kirkwood) 3:43
Would there be room for a humble Danish shoemaker in this new pioneer wilderness when what they needed most was irrigation water?

5. On My Knees (Cori Connors) 3:26
How could a pioneer girl who lost both her lower legs to frostbite during the winter migration manage to live a normal life?

6. Oscar Had a Vision (Clive Romney) 3:05
A 17-year-old boy found a way to open an entire forest of valuable timber to his fledgling town.

7. Watching O’er Us All (Sam Payne) 4:21
The inspiring story of a life that was spared during the Indian Wars told from the Native American perspective years after the event.

8. Underneath the Redmond Moon (Ron Simpson) 3:31
The dance hall music brought one young bachelor out after the days’ work in the Redmond salt mines. Would he have the courage he needed to ask her?

9. The Many Mills of Glenwood (Ryan Tilby) 3:39
The humming of the mill stones combining with the splashing of the water wheels bring back the memories of this small United Order town

10. The Big Rock Candy Mountain (Harry McClintock) 2:48
Which came first, the place or the song? Many hobos with their lofty dream of better days on that particular railroad spur could probably tell you.

11. Miss Mary’s Vacation Bible School (Tim Gates, Scott Lindsey) 3:33
She was sent to “civilize” the town of Salina, so this Presbyterian missionary painted her piano bright pink and taught the children how to sing.

12. We Have Changed the World (Clive Romney, Bob Morphis) 4:09
A classroom of fourth graders couldn’t understand why Utah’s state tree was the Colorado blue spruce, but how could they succeed in getting it changed?

13. Mornin’ at the Post (Jo Lynne Kirkwood) 3:15
This cowboy poem paints a familiar picture of just what goes on as the old timers gather to start their day in this self-reliant rural part of Utah.

On our travels down through Southern Utah, we found a treasure trove of heritage stories in a county that is tucked way down in the bottom/middle of Utah. Kane County is the home of “Little Hollywood,” the film location for hundreds of familiar and beloved movies and TV shows. While most of those were Westerns, many of those titles would surprise you.

But Kane County is so much more than that. Their relative isolation and pioneering history made it the birthplace of some of the most surprising stories we had heard in our travels. And the people in those stories inspired us to not only create an Artisan Artbook/CD, but to create a full-blown concert to put those stories onto a DVD. Check out these stories and you’ll see why.

Track List, Artists and Descriptions

1. A Canyon Peoples’ Portrait (Merrill Jenson) 19:37
Performed by the Legacy Series Orchestra, members of the Symphony of the Canyons, the Legacy Chorus, the Legacy Folk Ensemble, and narrated by Sam Payne, this piece stands as the Overture to the concert as well as an introduction to each of the featured stories and songs.

2. The Ancient Ones (Merrill Jenson, Eileen Quintana) 3:48
The tracks of both an adult and young dinosaur are etched in the stone on top of the bluff. Then, down below, petroglyphs made by the early Puebloans display the same pattern. One of our Navajo artists celebrates this dichotomy in this story and song.

3. Fire in the Bedroom/Levi’s Lament (Sam Payne, Daniel Beck) 7:49
Life in Jacob Hamblin’s rough fort was cramped with cabin/rooms lined up together within its walls. And, while fire was a valuable servant in pioneer life for cooking, heating, washing, blacksmithing, and more, it became terrible master.

4. Pull Together (Clive Romney) 3:10
Peter Shirts was certain that his relationship with his Native American friends would protect him during the Indian uprising, despite the oncoming drought.

5. John Wesley Powell (Sam Payne) 4:18
A one-armed Civil War veteran, pre-eminent explorer and scientist set up camp outside of Kanab in the 1870s, determined to finish mapping the great American West while keeping a “safe distance away” from the Mormon settlers.

6. Work to Be Done (Ryan & Brittany Chamberlain Tilby) 3:47
The Chamberlains played a key role in maintaining the United Order in Orderville, and this is how they got things done.

7. Store-Bought Pants (Doug Wintch) 2:31
How was a teenage boy in Orderville going to get the attention of the girls at the town dance if it wasn’t by doing something just a little scandalous? And what were the other boys to do in response?

8. Use It Up! (Clive Romney) 2:33
When you have traveled over half-way across the country in a covered wagon or handcart and you have almost nothing to your name, how do you get by? You come up with a utilitarian slogan and a whole new way of life.

9. Get the Job Done (Cherie Call) 2:08
The wives of the prominent leaders of the town complained so much about how they were running things that the men played a trick on them – one that completely backfired.

10. Rollaway Saloon (Doug Wintch) 3:09
Was it true or just folklore? Could you really build a saloon that could escape the laws of prohibition on both sides of the border?

11. Be Kind to Your Cowboy (Rachel S. Findlay) 3:49
“Little Hollywood” portrayed a glamorized vision of the American cowboy, but one storyteller/songwriter painted the real picture of the cowboy way of life.

12. A Kingdom for the Beasts (Cherie Call) 3:59
In the early 1980s a small group of friends with a big dream took a huge leap of faith and bought 3,700 acres in Kanab Canyon to create a haven for at-risk animals. It has grown into the largest no-kill animal rescue facility in the U.S.

13. Plow a Straight Furrow* (Clive Romney) 3:22
Jonathan Heaton was a polygamist farmer during the United Order. His philosophy stands as a powerful example to any man wanting to keep his family strong.

14. Alton Aire* (Clive Romney) 3:01
A calming musical tribute to one of the most beautiful pieces of farmland in Southern Utah.

15. Our Father, Too* (Doug Keller) 2:43
Jacob Hamblin’s son wanted to be the same shrewd businessman his father was, but he missed one important aspect in his dealings with his Native American neighbors.

*Not included on the DVD

Here is the complete Launch Concert of “A Canyon Peoples’ Portrait” DVD, the full cast with orchestra, actors, dancers, narrator, pioneer band, and all the bells and whistles!

The Echoes of Hammers and Spikes book/album is just the FIRST in the next generation of Legacy Series products from UPHA. This format – a 9” x 12” hard-bound book – includes beautifully illustrated stories, downloadable songs, videos, PDFs of sheet music, lyrics, and a trove of educational supplements. This book/album series is available in digital format including an “enhanced audiobook” with cinematic sound effects and scoring that turn each chapter into a complete listening experience.

• 9” x 12” Collector-quality, 20 chapter hardbound book & CD
• Digital download of the entire 20 chapter book (in PDF format)
• All 20 songs on CD and in digital download mp3 format
• Lyrics to all 20 songs in PDF format
• All 20 songs in Karaoke (sing-along) download
• Lead sheets (melody, lyrics, chord symbols) in PDF format
• Educational Extras (Discussion Points and Age/Grade-Targeted Activities)