Rotary In The Mountains A history of the beginning of District 5420
The story of Rotary in the Intermountain West begins with Wesley E.
King. Initially Wesley was skeptical on the idea of a
service-oriented club but once he caught the vision of what Rotary
could do, he devoted his life to furthering the cause. Toward the
end of his life, Wesley was asked numerous times to tell the history
of Rotary's founding in the Intermountain West. It all began in 1909
when Wesley was commuting on business between
Salt Lake City
and New
York. Along the way he stopped in Chicago to visit his dear friend
Chesley Perry. We glean the following from his writings:
"Commuting four times yearly between here and New York City, I
always stopped [over in Chicago] for a little shoot the breeze
session with Ches to chew over our Spanish American War days." Ches
Perry was later to become Rotary's first international secretary and
possibly the most influential man in Rotary Global History. It has been
said that while Paul Harris gave us Rotary, Ches Perry gave Rotary
to the world. Ches and Wes talked about old times and current
events. Wesley also learned about a young service club in which
Chesley was the secretary; the Chicago Rotary Club. Chesley told his
friend that they had clubs in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles,
Portland, and New York. He also told him about Rotary's vision of
humanitarian service, high ethical standards and goodwill. "He
promised that Salt Lake City could be Number 7, provided we got a
move on and set up an organization." I was skeptical [about the
whole concept.]" Wesley knew that Salt Lake City was a difficult
place to do business at the turn of the 20th century. Community
members were sharply divided in their religious views and tempers
could be short and strongly expressed.
"On my return trip west, in the Fall of 1909, Ches bundled up so
literature about Rotary and shoved it into my pocket. I mulled over
it." A few months later, another friend of Wesley's Joy H.
Johnson-became president of the Salt Lake Commercial Club. "When Joy
became president of the Commercial Club in January, 1910, 1 dumped
all of Ches's Rotary literature on his desk. Joy was an up and
coming Salt Lake citizen and a real leader in civic life. In my
opinion he was responsible more than any other man for melting the
ice barrier which then clearly divided this fine community into two
camps. He saw that Rotary had the elements that could lead to that
end, so he said `What are we waiting for?"'
"Harry L. A. Culr, the noted mountain and desert artist happened to
co into Joy's office just then. We grabbed him and proceeded to hold
the first Rotary get together in the lounge of the Comercial Club,
the predecessor of our present Chamber of Commerce Right there we
began to pick our prospective members and each of us took so names
of men to contact. Soon we had a small group. I wrote Ches to send
along the rules and regulations, constitution, by-laws, etc. He
replied that they had none, except two rules: No. 1, We must show an
urban population of 100,000 souls and No. 2, We must get the written
approval of our group from three of the nearest clubs."
To their great disappointment the 1900 census for Salt Lake City
showed less than 90,000 but a new census was being taken that very
year. "We got advance figures through Senator Smoot, showing only
92,777. Our hearts sank, but that fine citizen, Joe E. Caine, then
secretary of the Comercial Club, wangled an affidavit out of Mayor
John S. Bransford that there were 110,000 people within spitting
distance of the City and County Building. So that fixed rule No. 1."
Joy Johnson believed that fulfilling rule number 2 would be "a
cinch" but it proved much more difficult. Word had spend throughout
the west that Salt Lake City was not a place of public goodwill.
"Two of [our nearest] clubs demanded that we form our club entirely
of Mormons or exclusively of non-Mormons. They said, ‘you are a
divided community. If what we read in your papers is true, how can
you hope to have Mormons and Gentiles join in membership in a club
like Rotary?' Those were the days when the Salt Lake Tribune and
Deseret News made faces at each other every day. Most every day the
editorial writer for the Tribune chewed up a Mormon and spit him out
the window, and that evening the Deseret News tore up a Gentile,
hence our neighboring cities would not see how a club with a mixed
membership could ever survive."
However, Joy Johnson was determined to found the club on Rotary
ideals and improve the business setting of the community. "As
president of the Comercial Club he invited the owner of each
newspaper and magazine, the church leaders, bankers, business and
professional men and civic leaders to be his guest at a luncheon.
There he covered briefly the status of affairs. Then he boldly
locked the dining room doors and announced that he would unlock them
when an agreement was reached looking toward a condition of amity in
this community. That started the melting of the ice. It took the
vitrol out of future newspaper editorials. Armed with proof of these
facts, Joy went to the coast and ca back with the coveted letters of
approval for the organization of the first club in the Intermountain
West."
"Filled with excitement, we held our first meeting the evening of
January 31st, 1911, in the law offices of Gustin, Gillette and
Brayton, in the Boston Building. Harry Culr accepted the presidency
and John S. Critchlow, the vice presidency. Dean Brayton became
secretary and I was made treasurer. The minutes of our meetings
reflect the troubles we encountered in getting men who walked on
different sides of the street to join up. Invitations were extended
personally. Two out of every three refused and the third often
stayed in for only a month or two. Harry was sent to the first
International Convention in Portland in 1911. It was there that Mr.
Sheldon proposed the slogan `He Profits Most Who Serves the Best.' A
committee was appointed to adopt an emblem. Paul P Harris was
returned as president with Chesley R. Parry as the spark plug,
Rotary began to roll."
Not long afterward Rotary lowered its requirement for urban
population, so members of the Salt Lake Club began inspiring new
clubs throughout the intermountain area. As Rotary began to grow a
better system of organization became necessary. In 1915 the need for
districts as an efficient means to organize contiguous clubs into
geographic units became apparent.
The first district in this area comprised the states of Colorado,
Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, being designated #14. John E.
Zahn, a prominent Denver cent manufacturer, became the first
District Governor. It grew from four clubs in 1915 to nine in 1916.
The district comprised the largest territorial expanse of any in the
association. As Rotary continued to grow areas were shaved off to
create additional districts. We have been known as District 20, 5,
110, 165, 542 and finally 5420.
Before his death Wesley King mused, "Rotary was the predecessor of
all civic service luncheon clubs in the world. Many followed, all
imitators of Rotary. Ches would tell us again and again, `This thing
will be worldwide so day.' I didn't believe him but Joy and Harry
did, so we just kept on trying to get it going. Rotary stands out as
the most potential influence in the development of personal
friendship, not only in this strife ridden commonwealth, but - as
Ches predicted - in the entire world. In the passing years I have co
to know how right he was and I have marveled that I, of little
faith, was made the unwilling instrument of a great movement in this
Intermountain West. I hope our history makes better Rotarians of us
all." - Wesley E. King 1947. edited for brevity and clarity.
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