A century ago in Utah: the trip that killed a president

It was a fateful trip.

On June 20, 1923, a popular Republican president said goodbye to his dog, Laddie Boy, escaped the 90-degree weather in Washington, D.C., and embarked on what he called the “Voyage of Understanding.” It was a hundred years ago this week that President Warren G. Harding made a two-day stop in Utah as part of this tour.

The people of Utah did not know Harding was just beginning to learn about the corruption of his friends who had high positions in his administration. Utahns didn’t know his doctors were worried about the strain the vigorous trip might have on his weak heart (which was being treated occasionally with a commonly prescribed medicine called arsenic).

They didn’t know he would be dead 37 days after his visit.

Former Utah Gov. William Spry, whom Harding had appointed U. S. Commissioner of Lands (like the Bureau of Land Management director today) acted like a modern-day White House advance man, planning out the minute details of what was officially called the “Tour of the President to Alaska.” With help from Utah Sen. Reed Smoot, it was no surprise that one of the stops had to be the Beehive State.

Harding and first lady Florence Harding arrived in his personal railroad car “Superb” in Ogden on June 26. After visiting with city officials, they boarded a car with Utah Gov. Charles R. Mabey and his wife for the trip to Salt Lake City. Thousands of Utahns lined the road. Passing through Layton, the president’s motorcade stopped for a little girl on the side of the road who had a large basket of flowers for the first lady (the little girl was Elizabeth Ellison, who in later years, with her husband and president of Zions Bank, Roy Simmons, was very active in civic and business affairs).

The motorcade next stopped at the Bountiful Tabernacle for a speech. The president and his motorcade later drove down South Temple, then Main Street, where 100,000 people greeted their president, then out to Liberty Park where he spoke to thousands of schoolchildren who practically buried his automobile with flowers. It was estimated that he shook 3,000 hands that day. He also met with Elizabeth Stapley, the first Latter-day Saint to be born in Utah.

The party ended up at the Hotel Utah where he was greeted by yet another large crowd. After a luncheon reception, Harding partnered with another president, Heber J. Grant, the prophet leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for a round of golf at the Salt Lake Country Club.

Following a private dinner at the hotel, President and Mrs. Harding visited the Church Office Building and then went to the Mormon Tabernacle where Harding made a radio address to the large crowd regarding economic conditions, and World War I veterans. In the evening, the presidential party boarded his rail car at the Union Pacific Station and traveled overnight to Cedar City.

Arriving in Cedar City at 7:30 in the morning on June 27, the president and party were greeted by thousands of local citizens and officials including a group of Native Americans. At Zion Canyon, the president was greeted by sheriffs that assembled some 75 horses for the president, first lady, Smoot, Mabey, President Grant and other dignitaries to ride up the canyon. Harding donned a cowboy hat, kerchief and oversized chaps. After the ride, the first lady said, “I would not have missed this trip for anything.”

The president’s train departed on its way to Yellowstone National Park. He made one more stop at Brigham City where he greeted local officials and a large crowd.

The strain of the trip, including food poisoning, caught up with Harding in Alaska. He went to San Francisco to recuperate but died suddenly of a heart attack on Aug. 2. Reports say his dog, Laddie Boy, howled mournfully that night.

Today, Harding is mostly remembered for the corruption of his administration, particularly the infamous Teapot Dome scandal, involving the bribery schemes of his secretary of the interior, Albert Bacon Fall. But in the summer of 1923, his friends’ scandals were not yet known. One last time, the president would travel through Utah in his car, making no stops, making no speeches, heading east to lie in state in the White House.