Utah legends

Almost 200 miles north at the other end of the Wasatch, a similar story is told of an Indian maiden who also commits suicide by leaping off Soda Point — at the extreme north end of the Wasatch — into the Bear River below after her love died.

Lost gold mines — The fabled Rhoades (or "Rhodes") Mine, the most fanciful Utah gold mine legend of them all, is widely believed to be in the Uinta Mountains. However, a close second is the "Dream Mine," supposedly located east of Salem, Utah County, as another ancient Nephite gold vein.

There could be a lost mine for every major canyon in the Wasatch. For example, Taylor Canyon, east of Ogden, supposedly has a lost gold mine, and bona fide abandoned mines are plentiful in Park City, Alta, Willard and other areas.

Monte Cristo — This is probably the biggest name mystery in the Wasatch. It means "Mountain of Christ" in Spanish, but there's no clear information on who named it. This 9,148-foot summit is east of Ogden, near a point where the borders of Rich, Cache and Weber counties come together, along U-39.

The three stories on its name origination are: (1) Gold miners thought it resembled the Monte Cristo Mountains in California. (2) An early road builder in the area read the book "The Count of Monte Cristo" to his co-workers and the name stuck. (3) The name was given by early trappers.

All are inconclusive.

Sardine Canyon — This is perhaps the fishiest of stories in the Wasatch Mountains. This so-called canyon, located on U.S. 89/91, between Brigham City and Logan, is actually three separate canyons with official names. Box Elder Canyon, not Sardine Canyon, runs from eastern Brigham City to Mantua. Then the highway follows Dry Canyon from Mantua until about Sardine Summit. From Sardine Summit until Cache Valley comes into view, the area is Wellsville Canyon, not Sardine Canyon.

The Sardine Canyon name apparently came, not from any narrow passage, but from the lunch menu of the pioneers.

In fall 1856, the first settlers on the way to Cache Valley stopped near a spring about 1 1/2 miles east of Dry Lake. They ate a lunch there consisting of canned sardines. They even reportedly littered and left the sardine containers as sort of a cheap monument that later travelers saw — hence the name Sardine Canyon.

World's steepest mountains — The Wellsville Mountains, a subrange of the Wasatch, between Brigham City and Logan, are often reputed to be the steepest anywhere. Where this claim started is unknown, but scientists are quick to say there's no set formula for determining what's steepest.

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