After Stone’s Class Sings Spanish Explorers, Jak, Jessica, and Kai move to the front.
Jak: Then came the mountain men! They were fur trappers who searched the mountains and rivers of Utah for beavers and other animals. In those days a hat made from beaver fur was the best hat a person could buy. It was very popular with rich people.
Jessica: Mountain men were businessmen. The found the streams in Northern Utah loaded with beavers, and they could make money by trapping them. Utah became a center for the fur trade. Large fur companies from the United States, Mexico, and England hired Utah trappers.
Kai: After mountain men collected many beaver skins, they dug holes and hid them in the ground. They called this a cache, and they cached many of these furs in what we now call Cache County. Once a year they brought the furs to a big fair where they sold and traded furs, and this was called a rendezvous.
After all of 4th Grade sings Utah Counties, Andrew, Adalai, and Kaylee M. come to the front.
Andrew: Utah is such a great state! It is also diverse! There were other settlements that came to Utah during the 1800s.
Adalai: There were Scandanavians. When they arrived in Utah, people from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden tended to live together in towns in Sanpete County, or in Sevier, Tooele, and Cache counties. They shared their culture and skills, changing Utah in the process. For instance, Norwegians brought their skiing and snowshoeing skills to the state. They helped establish the ski industry.
Kaylee (M): There were Hispanic people. Thousands of Mexicans, most of them single men, got off the train in Bingham, Utah. They had come to work in the Utah Copper Company mine—as strikebreakers. Since then, people from many Latin America countries have come to work and live in Utah.