Utah Has Mountains Of Mysteries

When it comes to mysteries and legends, Utah certainly has a wealth of rich material for an author to draw upon. There are famed outlaws, hidden gold and ancient treasures, strange lights hovering over the West Desert and that elusive and rather hairy big guy who in these parts goes by name of Bigfoot.

It was Salt Lake City author Michael O'Reilly's intention to write a book that hit upon some of these stories, and he does so in "Mysteries and Legends of Utah: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained" (Globe Pequot Press, $14.95). O'Reilly is a writer, outdoorsman and business owner who earned his master's degree in poetry from the University of Utah.

His book is broken into 12 chapters, each dealing with a different subject, ranging from historical events such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the Mormon handcart disaster, to colorful characters of the Old West like the storied, tough-as-nails trapper Jedediah Smith and the infamous, but lovable, outlaw Butch Cassidy.

In an interview with the Standard-Examiner, O'Reilly said one of his favorite chapters, "The Lost Rhoades Gold Mine and the Secret of Carre Shinob" tells the story of the legendary gold mine and a sacred Indian burial site containing spectacular treasures.