Zane Grey and the Mormons
Saturday, February 28, 2026 – 10am
A Cosmopolitan Event at Silver Reef
Zane Grey was a Sigma Nu frat boy who studied dentistry and played baseball at the University of Pennsylvania before going out West and making his name as America’s most famous Western writer. His experience with the Mormons of Southern Utah influenced his writing and his life. This presentation provides a fascinating background of author Zane Gray’s travels through Utah that ended up inspiring many of his famous books.
Video of Presentation
Mining Then and Now Part 1 – TEST VIDEO
About the Presenter
Fred Esplin lives in Salt Lake City where he teaches courses on Utah history through the University of Utah’s Osher Institute. He studied at Southern Utah University, the University of Utah, and the American University. Much of his career was in public broadcasting where he worked for PBS in Washington, DC, the Pennsylvania Public Television Network, and KUED Channel 7 (PBS Utah). Before retiring in 2020, Fred worked for two decades as Vice President for Institutional Advancement at the University of Utah. He is a native Southern Utahn whose family still operates a homestead cattle ranch on the North Fork of the Virgin River.
