Life filled with politics, horses

SPANISH FORK — Horses have always been Sterling Jones' passion.

They were his love when he attended Utah State University, but especially when his horse, Snip, raced and won at Payson Downs.

(The historic racetrack was razed in 2003 to make way for city ballparks. "It's kind of a shame. All that's left are some awfully good memories," he said.)

A Utah County commissioner for three terms in the '50s and '60s, including a two-year stint, Jones has been in politics since his high school days.

Now approaching 90, Jones is no longer part of the inner political circles, but "the commissioners must be good because they keep sending them back."

Jones prefers the old way of conducting business in Utah County.

"We split up the county — gentleman's agreement, you know — so there was representation by area, by a third north, middle and south of the county (based on population) . . . If someone had a problem we went to the commissioner in our area. If there was no action we went higher up," he said.

Race horses continue to capture his interest. He has trophies from the 1958 and 1959 races that Snip won with jockey Paul Johnson from Lake Shore on his back. Johnson had a weak heart but insisted on riding Snip. Often when Johnson finished a race he was blue in the face, but he didn't let his heart condition stop him.

Once, after Johnson brought Snip in for a win, the jockey climbed off the horse and collapsed. He was revived to race again.

"He (Snip) liked to run. We raced most of the local riding club races," Jones said.

Jones was president of the Diamond Fork Riding Club. He spent the better part of 30 years with the local equestrian set. While betting on the horses was a problem during many of the years Payson Downs existed, "No one ever got rich off it," he said.

Because gambling is illegal in Utah, betting took place "on the side." Later, when para-mutuel gambling became popular in Wyoming, the interest in horse racing shifted.

"That kind of slowed it down," he said. The Payson track turned into a community racetrack and gradually fell into disrepair.

Born in 1917 in the family home on Main Street, now the private Jones-Hughes Pioneer Museum, Jones graduated from Spanish Fork High School in 1936. He was student body president and captain of the football team. The museum, complete with a collection of pioneer cabins, is still in the family.

Jones' parents were the late Utah Sen. David H. Jones and Mary E. Nielsen Jones. He married Dorothy Pulver from Payson in 1939. They had three daughters.