Oak Knoll

Reams in the Desert is the first book to explore the complete story behind the Wests pioneer attempt at paper production. The unlikely site was a desert valley in northern Utah. Paper had been made commercially in the United States for well over a century by the time that the first paper made west of the Mississippi River emerged from the vat. Complicated by isolation, the story of Utahs small and short-lived paper industry stands as one of the few success stories of Latter-day Saint-sponsored home manufacture. Even so, Utahs paper industry became a casualty of economies of scale that characterize the industrial age. Commitment and make-do provided a basis, but available investment, limited production capacity, and small markets imposed limits on what could be sustained. Drawing on primary sources and a deep study of the product itself, Dr. Saunders explores the personalities, sacrifices, and decisions driving Utahs four-decade experiment with paper production.

The appendix by paper historian Cathleen A. Baker provides a description of the pulping technologies, as well as hand and machine papermaking methods and equipment in use in the Utah mills.