The hot-air ballooning sex abuse scandal that fueled efforts to privatize Liberty Park

The Salt Lake Herald-Republican, May 26, 1889. Image via Utah Digital Newspapers archive, the University of Utah

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.

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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.

Previously in Old News

• John Stockton's zonk of a draft day
• Utah's big eyeroll at early swimsuit modesty scandals
• A Utah school's "Don't say 'queer'" rule
• When WWII Rosies "invaded" Utah's mining industry
• May Day used to rock in Utah