This maple goes by many different names including, Lost maple, Sabinal maple, Western sugar maple, Uvalde bigtooth maple, Canyon maple, Southwestern bigtooth maple, Plateau bigtooth maple, and Limerock maple. Related to the sugar maple, it was indeed a source of sugar and syrup for the early Mormon pioneers in Utah. However, unlike the maples back east it takes 40 gallons of sugar maple sap to make one gallon of syrup and the sap is much less concentrated and takes 160 gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup. So you can see it is not quite the same high producer as other maples and never could have produced enough for trade in this region. 

Somewhat common, it can be seen in canyon areas, around Park City trails and university campuses. Its medium size makes canyon maple a good tree for small- or large-scale residential landscapes, parks or other open areas, and street plantings where the parking strip width is at least four feet (six feet is better). With its toughness and better adaptability relative to non-native maples, canyon maple has great landscape potential. 

Considered by many a "maple outcast", it is indeed in the maple family and the only native maple with more than one single blade or leaflet on a single leaf stalk. These trees help to shelter wildlife and stabilize stream banks. The trees can be crafted into a bonsai and are often used as a screen or windbreak. However, in urban areas, they are considered a type of weed and in fact, they have brittle, weak wood. That means that the trees break easily in wind and ice storms. It's seeds, found in winged samaras, a pale green seed that twirls if thrown up in the air and self-seed easily. These trees are also known as the ash-leaved maple. Although considered a less desirable tree by visual standards, Boxelder can be a huge asset in adverse tree sites. A boxelder in the landscape grows to a height of 25 to 50 feet and lives 75 to 100 years. Its drought tolerance makes the tree a great plant in dry country landscape and very easy on limited water resources. 

Fun historical fact: The lower trunk is fine-grained, used by Native Americans for bowls, dishes, pipestems, and drums. The inner bark was boiled into a tea that was used as an emetic, a medicine that causes vomiting. You can learn more about boxelder maples here and here.