- Hoosier on The “Jim Bridger Discovered the Great Salt Lake” Billboards and the Myth of the Empty West: ““Settler colonialism” absolutely is deployed to delegitimize the existence and independence of certain peoples and I’m tired of pretending it doesn’t. One only needs to read Hemopereki Simon or Thomas Murphy to see that plain as day.” Mar 6, 07:55
- on Latter-day Saint Where’s Waldo and Stephen Biesty Cross-Sections: “On the one hand, this is AI slop. Yes, there is art (“artifice”) and skill involved in crafting the AI prompts to get what you want, and there can be value in using AI tools as part of a larger creative process. But this is still slop. On the other hand, I am highly amused by all the hallucinations, confabulations, and conflations in the Kirtland Temple cross-section. Clearly, this AI tool does not have enough domain-specific knowledge either in the Kirtland Temple or in cross-section illustrations to come up with a remotely convincing model of the building’s interior and grounds.” Mar 6, 07:31
- on The “Jim Bridger Discovered the Great Salt Lake” Billboards and the Myth of the Empty West: “bmp, that part is well known and hasn’t been erased. Every history that I’ve read about Latter-day Saints and Native Americans admits that. And yes, I also take pride in many of the accomplishments of my pioneer ancestors. (I wouldn’t be publishing a biography of one of them in a couple months if that wasn’t the case.) But that doesn’t change that their settlement here came a huge cost in human life to the people who already lived here, much larger than the loss of life and resources that the Latter-day Saints endured in those previous persecutions. The Latter-day Saints came and took the land with the assumption that because of their race and religion, they had a right to do so. To me, that isn’t something I feel the need to defend as just and righteous, because it wasn’t. As you say, we don’t have to love every part of the story. It’s definately something that I feel conflicted over. John Mansfield, sure. I will also note that the records of the Domínguez–Escalante expedition predate Bridger, which contains references to the Timpanogous tribe telling them about the Great Salt Lake, so there are other paper trails at play too.” Mar 5, 20:13
- on The “Jim Bridger Discovered the Great Salt Lake” Billboards and the Myth of the Empty West: “If we’re talking about deceptive language, “settler colonialism” is also a term that gets used to delegitimize the existence of certain people and erase a history of violent persecution. The Salt Lake Valley was the third option for the Saints after they had been expelled from Missouri and Nauvoo. We don’t have to love every part of their story, but what they built in Utah was undeniably impressive.” Mar 5, 18:22
- on The “Jim Bridger Discovered the Great Salt Lake” Billboards and the Myth of the Empty West: “Joseph Priestley is said to have “discovered” oxygen in 1774, which he called “dephlogisticated air.” Lavoisier understood better what Priestley had discovered and named it oxygen in 1777. Oxygen had of course already been used by people for countless generations to burn fires and for respiration. Were we to consider simply breathing as intimate knowledge of oxygen then lizards, beetles, and some bacteria also have long had that intimate knowledge. Gabriel Bowen, a professor at the U. of Utah, wrote a paper last year, “Multi-Millennial Context for Post-Colonial Hydroecological Change in Great Salt Lake.” His multi-millenial understanding of the lake comes from studying sediments. A line can be drawn from such work back to Stansbury, and from Stansbury to Fremont, and Fremont to Bridger. That is where that line begins. Bridger discovered the Great Salt Lake to the same extent that Priestley discovered oxygen. They both uncovered things and made them known to the world at large.” Mar 5, 14:52
- on The “Jim Bridger Discovered the Great Salt Lake” Billboards and the Myth of the Empty West: “I always appreciate every effort to combat our white supremacy/settler colonialism. Thank you for a thought-provoking post.” Mar 5, 10:07
- on The “Jim Bridger Discovered the Great Salt Lake” Billboards and the Myth of the Empty West: “Off-topic, I know, but your story reminds me of a class I took in early 1976 on Presidential Character in which the professor took note of “Reagan” popping up on billboards (he had never noticed it before) and speculating that it was a stealth campaign tactic on behalf of the Gipper.” Mar 5, 09:06
- on The “Jim Bridger Discovered the Great Salt Lake” Billboards and the Myth of the Empty West: “A Turtle Named Mack, sure. If there’s anyone left alive here at that point to put one up.” Mar 5, 07:58
- on The “Jim Bridger Discovered the Great Salt Lake” Billboards and the Myth of the Empty West: “I had the same reaction when I saw those billboards a few days ago.” Mar 5, 07:55
- on The “Jim Bridger Discovered the Great Salt Lake” Billboards and the Myth of the Empty West: “In a few years someone will stand in the exact spot Jim Bridger stood and “discover” The Great Salt Pit. It won’t be something the indigenous inhabitants had known about for millennia. A truly new geographical feature, bereft of water or any other redeeming features. Can we then put up a plaque?” Mar 5, 07:24
