View of the Devil's Slide, looking south from the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, Wasatch Mountains, Utah, ca.1900-1930

Photograph of a view of the Devil's Slide, looking south from the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, Wasatch Mountains, Utah, ca.1900-1930. The rugged limestone slide sits on the side of the mountain. Below the mountainside is a river (or creek?). Opposite of the river is the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. Trees cover the area between the river and the tracks. The mountainside is covered with shrub grass and sparsely scattered trees. Picture file card reads: "On U.P.R.R. east end of Ogden in Weber County."; "Devil's Slide is located 9 miles east of Morgan. Hundreds of legends associated with this natural formation have been recorded since the early 1800's when the Indians and Trappers roamed the area. The best tale of the bunch led to its rather fitting name and helped establish it as one of Utah's best-known natural wonders. The unusual limestone formation, which was painted by famed artist Thomas Moran in 1873, consists of two parallel reefs 20 feet apart and 40-foot or so high slabs running up the mountain. According to Rufus Wood Leigh's book, '500 Utah Place Names,' the chute was probably considered 'fit for a devil's slide.' The site is frequently listed in early railroad tourist guides. The railroad still runs right by the site, but most people see it today from their automobiles. Weber Canyon once had names that were associated with the Devil - Devil's Slide, Devil's Gate, the Devil's Chair, Devil's Looking Glass -- it was basically because it was such a treacherous and hard canyon to get through. About 170 million years ago the area around Devil's Slide was covered by a shallow sea. And on the floor of this sea, many layers of rock were formed. Some hard, some soft. The layers that eventually created the Devil's Slide formation were hard limestone. The limestone was turned on end during the uplifting of the Sevier Mountain Belt, beginning about 100 Million Years ago. Periods of uplift and erosion eventually resulted in the present Wasatch Mountains and the exposure of these beds." -- unknown author.