The hot-air ballooning sex abuse scandal that fueled a push to privatize Liberty Park
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135 years ago, Utah was in the grip of a moral panic after a celebrity balloonist ran off with a teenager, improbably contributing to a park-privatization campaign in Salt Lake.
- This is Old News, where we float through the stormy clouds of Utah's past.
Why it matters: You know it's bad when a Victorian-era conman is so slimy that Hugh Jackman couldn't play him in a movie.
Catch up quick: In 1889, the renowned (and shady) Midwestern balloonist J.W. Price came to Utah to perform at the season-opening of Lake Park — now known as Lagoon.
- Balloon stunts were big entertainment, especially at the Great Salt Lake's "pleasure resorts."
- Price bragged that he was building "the largest balloon in the world," to be christened the City of Salt Lake, and was invited to take it abroad — "a big advertisement for the town," the Salt Lake Herald trumpeted.
Friction point: That summer, Price was arrested south of Salt Lake for "fornication" with a 14-year-old.
- The girl told police Price promised to marry her — and he did, when the girl and her family showed up on his court date with a marriage license.
The intrigue: The scandal was invoked as a reason to grant the powerful Walker brothers "exclusive rights" to run Liberty Park as an amusement park.
Context: The park was in rough shape and needed funds for simple amenities, like benches.
- That was driving "decent people" to "resorts and public places which are not always respectable or reputable," the Herald wrote.
Threat level: The Salt Lake Tribune seized on the Price drama as a dire example of what would happen to more girls if the city did not allow the Walker brothers to operate Liberty Park as a spruced-up alternative to resorts.
- Otherwise, editors opined, girls would be tempted to "go with hoodlums to the lake."
The other side: The Deseret News called the effort a money-making scheme and urged against forcing the public to "pay for admission to their own premises."
- City officials agreed and rejected the Walkers' plan that July.
The bottom line: The Prices divorced barely a month after their wedding when J.W.'s young wife accused him of adultery
- Price ended up touring the world as a stuntman.
- The teenager later married infamous Montana gambler Harry Woolrich. After settling down in San Francisco, she accused Woolrich of abuse and had his race horses and other assets seized in their divorce.
- Liberty Park eventually became the city centerpiece we know and love — with no ticket gates at the entrance.