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David E. Miller
David Eugene Miller (June 5, 1909 - August 21, 1978) was a prominent Utah historian and am Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Utah, where he was also a founder of the Alpha Rho Chap...view moreDavid Eugene Miller (June 5, 1909 - August 21, 1978) was a prominent Utah historian and am Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Utah, where he was also a founder of the Alpha Rho Chapter of the national history honorary society Phi Alpha Theta (one of the first chapters), Head of the History Department, a president of the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, and a founder of the American West Center.
Born in Syracuse, on the shore of the lake, he was a great-grandson of Henry W. Miller, who had created in 1859 the family sheep grazing business on Fremont Island (once known as Miller Island). He completed his undergraduate and master’s work at Brigham Young University.
His career at the University of Utah spanned three decades (1947-1977) where he was affectionately referred to as the “dean of Utah historians.” He was distinguished especially as an authority on the Great Salt Lake and Utah’s historic trails, though his expertise extended as well into the entire trans-Mississippi West, the Nauvoo period of Mormon history, and United States Constitutional history. He also served in various capacities with the Utah State Historical Society, the Organization of American Historians, and as a Visiting Professor in Germany.
Miller’s interest in historic trails persisted throughout his life. In addition to researching portions of the Oregon Trail through Wyoming and Utah, during which he was able to revise considerably the current understanding of the routes, Miller was chosen during the Bicentennial year to supervise the Utah portion of the retracing of the route of the Dominguez-Escalante expedition.
He passed away in Salt Lake City in 1978 at the age of 69.
A point on Fremont Island, “David E. Miller Point,” was designated by The Utah State Place Names Committee in his honor.view less
Books by David E. Miller
Hole-in-the-Rock: An Epic in the Colonization of the Great American West