--- title: Utah Desert: Photos from the 1940s description: An unpublished 1947 LIFE assignment captured the stark beauty of the desert in Utah and the people and animals who called it home. canonical: https://time.com/3817668/utah-desert/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-23T12:00:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:45.756Z og:title: See Photos of the Pristine Utah Desert in the 1940s og:description: An unpublished 1947 LIFE assignment captured the stark beauty of the desert in Utah and the people and animals who called it home. og:url: https://time.com/3817668/utah-desert/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e43a5dee46dd117/6987ea962dce0126629e140b/150410-utah-desert-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2338 og:image:height: 1315 og:image:alt: Utah Desert, 1947 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See Photos of the Pristine Utah Desert in the 1940s twitter:description: An unpublished 1947 LIFE assignment captured the stark beauty of the desert in Utah and the people and animals who called it home. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9e43a5dee46dd117/6987ea962dce0126629e140b/150410-utah-desert-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Photos of the Pristine Utah Desert in the 1940s > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 23, 2015 12:00 PM UTC  Taking a moment in the shade, 1947. Taking a moment in the shade, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 23, 2015 12:00 PM UTC Utah’s national parks and monuments were established in the teens and 1920s, but it wasn’t until the mid-century construction of the Interstate Highway System that station wagons began to snake their way through the American West in droves. In 1947, when LIFE dispatched Loomis Dean to photograph the people and animals that called the desert home, it seemed there were still more sheep in the roads than cars. Dean’s photos, never published in the magazine, capture the future tourist mecca with nary a track in the sand save for the sheep, the shepherds who herded them and the Native Americans who lived there. Though the images are in black and white, it’s hard not to see the rocks as red and the sky, stretching on forever, as blue. There is something quiet about the photos—you can see the wind in the hair of two children on a mule and the blinding sun on a man’s weathered face, but the noise of traffic and industry is miles away. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Native American woman and girl with sheep, Utah, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Close-up of sheep, Utah desert, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Shepherds herding sheep, Utah desert, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unidentified man, Utah, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sheep among the sand dunes, Utah, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Taking a moment in the shade, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A man and his horse rest among the desert rocks, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Utah landscape, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  An unidentified man smokes a pipe, Utah, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Two young girls ride a mule, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Arched rock in Utah desert, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Utah rock formation, 1947 Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Two young children with rock formations in the background, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Utah desert landscape, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Utah desert landscape, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A car drives through a narrow canyon between the rocks, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sitting beneath arched rock, Utah, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Headlights pierce through desert darkness, 1947. Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Sheep crossing, Utah. 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