The latest controversy regarding downtown Salt Lake City is whether there should be a skybridge over Main Street.

At last, progress.

At least we've reached the stage where the talk is about what's coming instead of what's going.

A lot of people think a skybridge isn't a good idea because it would hurt future streel-level merchants in the new City Creek Center and because it would block the view north of the mountains.

To which I say, what view?

The only thing up there is Ensign Peak and it isn't exactly the Matterhorn. It's more a stump than a peak. It looks like a mountain that smoked when it was a kid.

And yet, it is the primary reason that Salt Lake City is laid out the way it is. It was from the Ensign Peak summit that Brigham Young sketched out the master plan for the city when he hiked there on July 26, 1847, two days after the Mormon pioneers decided to become the first permanent settlers in the valley.

Brigham Young said he was spiritually directed to the peak, and to build the temple in its shadow and Main Street directly below its base — and whether you believe that or not, it is why the pioneers stayed put and did not continue on to San Francisco.

This factoid has been more or less obscured in the 160 years since it happened. As J Malan Heslop observes, "I wouldn't suppose many people walk up Main Street with viewing Ensign Peak in mind."

Mr. Heslop, who was once my boss when he was managing editor of the Deseret News, is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to Ensign Peak. He has researched much of its history and was instrumental in placing the park that sits at the trail head that leads to the peak. His home is just a couple of blocks away.

"Ensign Peak is not much more than a nub," says Heslop, "but it is a giant mountain when it comes to impact and importance."

Heslop says the best view of the peak is from Emigration Canyon, which is where Brigham Young first saw it when he entered the valley.

"The next best view," he says, "is from the peak itself. It offers a terrific view of the valley."

A third best view, he offers, might be from a skybridge.

"I would think a view of the peak from a bridge across Main Street would be better than a view from street level below," he says. "That way you don't have to stand in the middle of the street to see it."

And, I might add, risk getting run over by a bus, or by shoppers.

Should either one actually ever return.

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Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.