Every rural person and place has a story. Change is part of that story. “Rural Utah at a Crossroads” is part of the Smithsonian traveling exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America, which explores the changing meaning of rural life and identity. Utah Humanities is touring Crossroads to eight rural communities across Utah in 2024. As part of the tour, Utah Humanities and Utah Public Radio are partnering with exhibition hosts to interview local residents about change in their communities.
This interview with Danielle Stirling took place in collaboration with the Silver Reef Museum in Leeds, Utah.
Danielle Stirling: I moved here in 2000. I was a widow with two small children, and I originally moved to a little town called Hurricane. And it was a great little area. Then I met my husband, and we've been married for 22 years. He lived in Leeds, and so I moved to Leeds, Utah.
In my case, it was such a blessing to be able to, when I did live in Hurricane, have that opportunity for all of the individuals that I met just scoop me up and help me heal, because it was a difficult time. But you know, we all grow. And we're all transplants, no matter what. I mean, we were not the first ones here.
The majority of people that move into Leeds want to contribute positively to the community with their invaluable skills. They have retired and have knowledge, insight, and experience that they want to continue to use. We are always so excited when people move in and genuinely want to contribute.
I also realize that those that move in and don't want to contribute are usually going through some of the hardest times of their lives, and they just can't, but they're still always welcome. And I think that correlates with rural Utah, a lot of people have gone through hard times and they do have that empathy.
We've basically felt that we don't inherit the earth, but we borrow it from our children. So that's primarily the reason we'll never necessarily leave. But when I am gone, I miss everything. I miss the people, I miss the views out of my windows, which are breathtaking, every minute of every day. I miss the feeling of community, and I miss the pureness of my farm. For me, the determination and the sacrifice that my husband's great-great-grandfather put into this little community, because he was one of the original settlers as well, it's just pure. It's pure determination and love for life.
I feel that being a good steward of the land is one of the most important things about the landscape. We farm peaches, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes, tomatoes, and herbs. We were basically professional gamblers being farmers. Raising melons, you had to rotate the ground and there were so many places we would rent to be able to rotate the ground.
We actually could see the writing on the wall, and the land we rotated our crops on was not going to be available anymore. We never saw this as being like that we were being pushed out. We just saw it as the cycle of life. And God always provides the next cycle, and you just have to ride the wave. But it's an incredible journey. We saw that the push for development and tourism began an avalanche of pushing farmers out.
Responsible growth is productive. But when individuals don't have a say, that live in their community, of how responsible growth looks to them, then it’s not responsible.
“Rural Utah at a Crossroads” is a collaboration between Utah Public Radio, Utah Humanities, and the community hosts of Crossroads: Change in Rural America, a Smithsonian Museum on Main Street exhibition made possible in the Beehive State by Utah Humanities.
Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.
