Dixie (Utah)

"[The] first groups of settlers [arriving in Spring 1857] – the Adair and Covington Companies – were people from the Southern States, mainly from Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia, Texas, and Tennessee."[5] While there is no indication that slavery was practiced in Utah's cotton farming, Robert Dockery Covington, the leader of the second company of saints, was formerly a slave overseer and owner of eight slaves in the 1840 Census,[6] which made "farming a very profitable occupation". It is unknown whether Covington personally had experience growing cotton, or if his experience was limited to the enslavement of other humans who grew cotton. [7] A contemporary said: "He was a strong Rebel sympathizer and rejoiced whenever he heard of a Southern victory."[8][9] Covington was the first President of the Washington Branch of the LDS Church.[10] Covington's first counselor was Alexander Washington Collins, who the contemporary says was a former slave driver, who boastfully, with humor, and in public, told horrific stories of whippings and rapes of his slaves.[8][9][11]

Andrew Larson's landmark history of the area states that in 1857, the area was already taking on the "Dixie" nickname:

Already the settled area of the Virgin Valley was being called Utah's "Dixie". The fact that cotton would grow there, as well as tobacco and other semi-tropical plants such as the South, produced made it easy for the name to stick. The fact that the settlers at Washington were bona fide Southerners who were steeped in the lore of cotton culture—many of them, at least—clinched the title. Dixie it became, and Dixie it remained. ... The name "Dixie" is one of those distinctive things about this part of Utah ... It is a proud title.

— Andrew Larson, I Was Called to Dixie (p. 185) [Emphasis in original]

"[T]he harsh environment, the intense heat of summer, the continual toil, and the ravages of malaria . . . led some of the settlers to desert the place at the end of the first season."[12] In the fall of 1858, it was reported "that of approximately 400 acres planted to cotton only 130 acres could be counted a success".[13] Cultivation of cotton and food crops depended on irrigation, which was a collective activity.[14] There were regular food shortages, including "the 'starving time' when many people were reduced to eating pigweed, alfalfa, and carrot top greens in lieu of a more substantial diet".[15] But the sense of humor was not absent. George A. Hicks wrote a twelve stanza song which was a lament as well as wry comedy:

I feel so weak and hungry now, I think I'm nearly dead.
"Tis seven weeks next Sunday since I have tasted bread.
Of carrot tops and lucern greens we have enough to eat --
But I'd like to change that diet off for buckwheat cakes and meat.[16]

Charles L. Walker, a Latter-day Saint hymnist, wrote a song titled "St. George and the Drag-on" with a chorus first line meant to inspire singing along: "Mesquite, soap root, prickly-pears and briars." This verse is the last:

The sun is it so scorching hot,
It makes the water siz, Sir.
The reason why it is so hot,
Is just because it is, Sir.
The wind like fury here does blow,
That when we plant or sow, Sir,
We place one foot upon the seed,
And hold it till it grows, Sir.[17]

The culture in the time, on a foundation of a shared religion, shared suffering and success, and even a collective economy for a time.[18] A Mormon Pioneer in a neighboring area gave this expression:

Now this commandment from God, as we supposed, was our cement; this what brought us together, what held us together, what comforted us in our sorrows, what cheered us up when cast down, and in our vicissitudes, we felt to rejoice and put up new determinations to endeavor to surmount every obstacle and make every sacrifice necessary to and consequent upon establishment of a new order of things.[19]

This was a challenging task, in significant isolation, in the deserts of southern Utah. This collective bond is a foundation of what is often called the "Spirit of Dixie".

The Cotton Mission did not work out as well as Young had hoped. Yields in the test fields were not as high as expected, and economic viability of growing cotton was never achieved, although a cotton mill was built and used for a few years in the town of Washington.[20] "[C]onsistent operation of the Factory" ended in 1897.[21]

Strong ties to the "Dixie" name are felt by some descendants of the pioneers. Those with long-standing ties to the area, and those who are newer, speak with deep affection of the land as giving you "red sand in your shoes" – something they feel is unique to that part of Utah. A well-known song (adapted from a popular Southern song published in 1915[27][28]) sung by college students, school children, and former Mayor Daniel D. McArthur, is "Are You From Dixie?"

Are you from Dixie?
I said from Dixie!
Where the fields of cotton beckon to me.
We're glad to see ya
To say 'How be ya?'
And the friends we're longin' to see.
If you're from Santa Clara, Washington
Or St. George, fine,
Anywhere below the Iron County line,
Then you're from Dixie,
Hurray for Dixie,
'Cause I'm from Dixie, too!"[29]

To some in the area, "Dixie" in the historical sense refers to the growing of cotton – a failing enterprise that exhausted their ancestors. Cotton was an expression of faith and solidarity; a commitment to a common cause. And after cotton, "Dixie" came to mean home. From the end of cotton before 1900 to 1950 meant the unique low-lying desert surrounded by high red cliffs and black lava bluffs, bisected by the Virgin River that gave life to people, livestock, fields, and pastures. Utah's Dixie was so distant from the Wasatch Front, where most of Utah's population lives, and from the state capital in Salt Lake City that it was a separate existence. Utah's Dixie had no geographic ties with most of Arizona, only that near-wilderness of the Arizona Strip, north of the Grand Canyon. And while the Virgin Valley area of Nevada had close relations, the historically religious residents of Southwestern Utah did not feel connected to Las Vegas.

The St. George Sugarloaf rock, newly painted with the word "Dixie" (31 December 1914)

The area was not connected to much, physically or culturally. Roads were rough and rugged until the 1950s and Interstate 15 was only completed in 1973.[30] Air service from St. George began in the late 1950s. Television service came about the same time.

The community was small. St. George only had 5,130 inhabitants in 1960 and 11,350 in 1980.[31] It did not wield much political influence, but it was advanced by exemplary state legislators from the area, such as Orval Hafen.

The Confederate flag was removed as a Dixie College symbol in 1993. In 2005 the Confederate soldier 'Rodney the Rebel' was eliminated as the mascot, and use of the nickname 'Rebels' was discontinued in 2007.[26]

In 2007, as then named Dixie State College was considering affiliation with the University of Utah "U. officials said dropping the 'baggage' of Dixie would be mandatory." "'Dixie' has connotations of the Old South, the Confederacy, and racism,’ Randy Dryer, then the U. trustees' chairman, wrote to The Chronicle of Higher Education."[34] The affiliation with the University of Utah did not happen.

In 2012, many articles appeared as the school was about to make "the leap to university status next year".[34] The Salt Lake Tribune editorialized that the school needed a new name based on the pioneer origin of the name, and Confederacy-honoring practices of the students.[43] An African American student told the Tribune he was shocked to find old yearbooks with photos "of students in blackface, holding mock slave auctions, dressed in Confederate uniforms and staging parade floats and skits that seem to ridicule blacks, such as a crowd in black face behind a white student dressed as a Col. Sanders-type figure. 'In 1968 they were still doing minstrel shows,'" he said.[44] The college student body president said in 2012 that when "on recruiting trips to California that he encountered students unwilling to consider studying at a place called Dixie. "One said, 'Your name makes me shudder,' and walked away ..." Faculty members who raised the issue complained about being asked to leave the community.[45]

In 2015, following the Charleston, South Carolina, shootings by Dylann Roof, Dannelle Larsen-Rife again editorialized for renaming Dixie State University.[46] She was interviewed on an episode of RadioWest (KUER) with professors from the University of Utah and University of Wyoming.[47] A substantial statue of rebel soldiers and a horse, with a Confederate flag displayed, was returned to its sculptor.[48]

In 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests, the issue again returned. Jamie Belnap, a former resident of St. George, wrote "Now, seven years after the vote at DSU [to retain the Dixie name], murmurings about the name 'Dixie' have begun again. There's a new petition and, unsurprisingly, online detractors from the community have already begun to emerge.... Isn't it time DSU sends a message to its students of color that it cares more about equality than nostalgia?"[49] On December 14, the University's board of trustees voted to recommend removing the word Dixie from the school's name. The 2021 Utah Legislature voted to take the recommendation, starting a year long process to solicit input and consider alternative names.[50][51] The Board of Trustees of DSU and the Utah Board of Education both voted unanimously voted to move forward with "Utah Tech University". Earlier than expected, after in November 2021, the Utah State Legislature was called into a special session by Governor Spencer Cox. While the primary purpose for that session was to approve redistricting maps, The name change bill for Dixie State was included on topics to be discussed.[52] While the issue continued to be contentious, the decision to bring the issue early in special session was made because leaders felt no more information was needed, only a vote and decision. Both bodies of the legislature voted on November 10, 2021 to change the name of the university to Utah Tech University effective July 2022.[53]

In 2020, controversy affected the Dixie Convention Center. After a rebranding study, the governing board voted to change the Dixie Center name to Greater Zion Convention Center, consistent with the area's Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office, which had a name change in 2019.[54] "The vote to change [the Convention Center name] to Greater Zion on June 23 led to a flood of social media posts and an online petition that gathered over 17,000 signatures in favor of keeping Dixie as the name." [55] "[A]fter a public comment period in which multiple community members expressed strong support of the Dixie name, the Interlocal Agency amended the motion to temporarily revert to the Dixie Center name and to meet again on the issue in six months."[56]

A substantial number of citizens gathered at the St. George City offices July 2, 2020 to advocate for retaining the "Dixie" names.[57][58] Joey Sammons Ashby, who organized the event as part of the Protect Dixie effort,[59] said "People in St. George are not racist.... We were never racist — never...." "You're not going to get rid of racism, but, instead of complaining, think about the blessings black people have." "Because of their ancestors, they're able to be an American, they were able to be born here, they're able to do something for themselves because this is America. This is America, and they can pull up their bootstraps and do it if they want to. There's plenty of people to help the blacks right now so instead of complaining, do something." "We used to have minstrel shows here in St. George. It was in fun, it was nothing racist." "I used to dress up with a blackface for Halloween. I think actually it was a compliment to want to look like a blackface."[60]

On July 16, 2020, Intermountain Health Care announced the name of the former Dixie Regional Medical Center would change to Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital effective January 1, 2021. Mitch Cloward, hospital administrator, said "The meaning of Dixie is not clear for everyone. For some, it only requires explanation; for others, who are not from this area, it has offensive connotations.... Our hospital name should be strong, clear and make everyone we serve feel safe and welcome." [61]