MUSEUM DAY AT MT. PLEASANT 2016

Coins From the Mt. Pleasant Union Pavilion or Opera House owned by the Madsen family. ~~~ Contributed by David R. Gunderson

I

Home of David Edward Young and wife Mary Ann Clark ~~~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

Journey of Faith ~ Eric and Caroline Gunderson ~ written by David R. Gunderson

With permission of David R. Gunderson, we include the following book to our blog.   I will do a few increments at a time, as I have done with the Andrew Madsen and James Monsen histories.  I will also paste the pages over to David's own blog page: http://davidrgunderson.blogspot.com/

This book will be of interest to not only the Gunderson Family but also to the Brotherson, Ericksen, Peel,   Madsen, Larsen and more.

Because specific records of Erick’s work and contributions are not available, the following sections will describe the importance and magnitude of the various projects and situations that we know he and Caroline participated in as they helped to “Build the Kingdom”. Mt. Pleasant became the home of our Gunderson1 family for three generations (some of the. family still lives there) and it is still our spiritual home.

Mt. Pleasant Scene in Pioneer Days  Note Pleasant Creek and Fort  

Many of Mt. Pleasant’s earliest settlers3 had crossed the plains with Erick, Caroline, her Mother, Jens, and his family as follows:

 At least 25 of Mt. Pleasant’s early settlers came in the Canute Petersen wagon company with Erick Gunderson.

 At least 20 of Mt. Pleasant’s early settlers came in the Cowley Wagon Company and the Christiansen Handcart Company with Caroline and her Mother and Jens and his family, (C. C. A. Christensen, whose memoirs are noted above, was one of these early settlers.)

Therefore, they were not joining a settlement of strangers but a settlement of proven friends. The story of the settlement of Mt. Pleasant, still known as the “Queen City of Sanpete County”, follows

9.1 The First Settlement of Sanpete

The first settlement in Sanpete was made in 1849 at the invitation of the Ute Indians. Longsdorf, in her book4 “Mount Pleasant” describes this as follows:

“In June of 1849, scarcely two years after the arrival of the first company of pioneers in Utah, Chief Walker (Wakara, meaning yellow or brass) and Chief Sowiette with a band of Ute Indians visited President Brigham Young in Great Salt Lake City, and asked that colonizers be sent to the San Pitch Valley5, named after the Indian Chief, Sanpitch, a brother of Chief Wakara, to locate there and teach the investigate. They camped on the present site of Manti on 20 August, where they were kindly received and entertained by the Indians. After remaining there a few days, they returned to Great Salt Lake City and reported conditions favorable for settlement.” Soon after, Manti, Ephraim, Spring City, 

In 1853 – 1855 trouble with the Indians erupted and the so-called Wakara War occurred. During this war all of the settlements in Sanpete except Manti had to be abandoned and all of the settlers had to gather to Manti for their defense. One of the settlements that was destroyed was Hambleton, which was located on Pleasant Creek near the present site of Mt. Pleasant

1 Many decedents of Erick and Caroline Gunderson still live in Mt. Pleasant.

2 Art work by C. J. Jacobsen (born in Mt. Pleasant) : Longsdorf, p. 221

3 Longsdorf, p. 43

4 Longsdorf, p. 15

5 The name Sanpete came from the name of Chief Sanpitch’s grandfather Pan-a-pitch who was captured by the Spanish while on a trip to Santa Fe, to sell Piede and Paiute slaves in the 1780 time frame. They tried, unsuccessfully, to force him to reveal the source of the Ute gold then held him for several years. During that time they gave him the Christian name of San Pedro (Saint Peter). In time it was shortened to “San Pete”. His people had a hard time saying it and it became San Pitch and the valley in which they lived, came to be known as the Sanpete Valley and the river was called the Sanpitch River. (Note that a river and its valley having different names is a middle eastern custom.)

6 Hambleton is the correct spelling. It is often mistakenly rendered as Hamelton. (Longsdorf, p. 18) and other settlements were established

9.2 Consent Sought for Establishing a New Settlement on Pleasant Creek

After the Hambleton Settlement was burned out in 1853, nothing was done, so far as it is known, about re-establishing a settlement on Pleasant Creek, until about the middle of August, 1858. This was shortly after the arrival at Manti and Ephraim1 of the Big Move Caravan. The Big Move was caused by the arrival of Johnson’s army in 1858 as part of the Utah War. This army had been dispatched by Washington to put down the so-called “Utah Rebellion” in 1857.

This action was taken because of false accusations made by two Territorial Officials who had abandoned their posts in Utah and a US Mail contractor who had lost the mail contract to a Mormon transport company. In addition, the U S President, and Southern Leaders in Washington, wanted to get the US Army out of the way because Southern secession was being considered. (The Cowley wagon company and the Christiansen Handcart Company both encountered this military expedition while crossing the plains as has been noted.)

Gov. Brigham Young, was not at all pleased by this development, and vowed that the Mormon people had “built for the last time for others to occupy”. As Governor, he placed the Territory under Martial Law and ordered the people living in the northern parts of the territory to abandon their communities, prepare to burn their homes, Pioneers2 cut down their orchards, burn their crops, and destroy their irrigation systems if the army caused any problems . In addition, He caused Johnson’s Army to be delayed on the plains through the winter of 1857 -1858. He also had fortifications built all along the north ridge in Echo Canyon (which are still visible as shown below) and he had the Utah Militia3 stationed behind those fortifications, ready to interdict the army if they caused any trouble.

About 30,000 people moved south as a result of this order. Thus it is referred to as the Big Move. Many stopped in the Provo area but many many more continued further south and filled the new communities in Sanpete and other areas to over flowing.

Needless to say, this caused a great strain on the local economies. Many of the Big Move Caravan did not return to their former homes in Northern Utah but stayed to help build the new communities in Sanpete and Sevier Counties, etc.

 

Government investigators, who came with the Army, found that the claims made by the truant territorial officers and the disgruntled mail contractor were false and issued pardons to all territorial officials who had been wrongly accused. It was further agreed that the Army would make a camp on the western side of Utah Lake, at least 40 miles from any Mormon settlement. This camp was called Camp Floyd.

As a result of the crowding and economic strain, James R. Ivie, and six others were chosen at Fort Ephraim as an exploring committee, to select a suitable location for a new settlement in the northern part of the valley. They decided upon a site on Pleasant Creek. They then returned to Fort Ephraim and stated their views to the immigrants and others, who had reached Fort Ephraim and planned to remain over the winter.

1 Longsdorf, pp. 29 -34

2 Art work by C. J. Jacobsen (born in Mt. Pleasant): Longsdorf, p.11

3 Then called the Nauvoo Legion. My great grandfather Andrew Madsen, who came in the Petersen Wagon Company with Erick Gunderson, was stationed in Echo Canyon when the army arrived.

42

Three Breastwork Defenses in Echo Canyon

 A breastwork on a high cliff It could have been used for defense or its stones could have been rolled down to block the wagon road in the bottom of Echo Canyon.

The inset is a close-up of the remains of the original breastwork.

Jerry Irvin Conlon

Jerry Irvin Conlon


08/01/1939 ~ 9/13/2016










Jerry Irvin Conlon, beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother passed away peacefully on September 13, 2016 in Provo, Utah.


Jerry Irvin Conlon was born August 1,1939 in Mount. Pleasant Utah to Irvin and LaRue Conlon. He was raised in Mount Pleasant later moving to Scofield later coming back to Mount Pleasant where he played football and graduated from North Sanpete High School.


In 1958 he joined the Navy where he served until 1962. In 1959 he married the love of his life Patricia Ann Bohne from Fairview, Utah, in 2000 their marriage was solemnized in the Manti Temple. Jerry served in scouting for many years, he was a mission leader and 2nd counselor in the Branch Presidency in Quarzsite, Arizona.


He had a very outgoing personality and had a love for life, he will always be loved and remembered for his ability to make you laugh and leave with a smile. He was a self taught artist, he worked in oils and wood burning. He will also be remembered for his cartoon drawings.


Jerry worked for Western Electric, AT&T and Lucent Technologies as a Telecommunications Technician, while in this field he attended school in Columbus, Ohio, Bel Labs in Boston, Massachusetts, he attended Princeton University and Maramec Valley College where he furthered his education which he used to help train others. He worked all over the United States as Telecommunications Technician installing, training and managing telephone and fiber optics from 1963-1993. Among his many professional accomplishments he installed the first fiber optics system in the County, it was in Dugway Utah. In 1985 he accepted a position in Tague and Soul Korea where he was a Telecommunications Manager for the U.S. Army 1st Signal Brigade. He installed the fiber optic Communication system there for the entire Country of South Korea. He spent 5 years in Korea military rank as a 5 Star Colonel. He retired at age 53 from Lucent Technologies.


In 1965 Jerry and Pat moved to Brigham City, Utah where they raised their family. In 1993 he retired, and in 1999 they moved back to Sanpete County where they built their summer home at Skyline Mountain Resort in Fairview, Utah. They also had a home in Brenda, Arizona where they spent the winters.


Jerry spent the last six weeks of his life in the hospital. He fought hard until the very end. He passed away at the Utah Valley Hospital in Provo Utah on September 13, 2016 due to Multiorgan System Failure.


He is survived by his loving wife Patricia Ann Bohne Conlon, Son, Robert Conlon, daughter Robin (Kirk) Head, son, Roger Conlon, 11 Grandchildren and 17 Great Grandchildren. He is also survived by sister Carolyn Allred, sister Louise Nielson (Bruce Johnson), sister Bonnie Draper, brother in-law Robert (Judy) Bohne, sister in-law Linda (Chris) Larsen, an Uncle, two Aunts, numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Irvin and LaRue Conlon.


“His memories will be remembered by his cartoon drawings, story telling and; his jokes”


Funeral services – Monday September 19, 2016 at 11:00 A.M. in the Mount Pleasant North Stake Center (461 N 300 W) Friends may call Sunday from 6:00 – 8:00 P.M. at Rasmussen Mortuary (96 North 100 West, Mount Pleasant) and Monday from 9:30 – 10:30 A.M. at the Mount Pleasant North Stake Center. Interment in the Mount Pleasant City Cemetery.

School Class 1909 ~ Unknown Submitter

1950s Testing in Nevada and “Downwinders”

Taken from 
 http://ilovehistory.utah.gov/time/stories/index.html

1950s Testing in Nevada and “Downwinders”


The "Dog" atmospheric nuclear bomb test at the Nevada Test Site, conducted in 1951. Photo from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

During the 1950s, the U.S. government tested atomic bombs on in southern Nevada. They chose this area because the population of the area was not large, and only thousands of people, not millions, would be affected by radiation. The fallout from the bomb tests drifted over southern Utah. Livestock died, and over time people became sick, some fatally, from their exposure to radiation.

More of the story:
After World War II, the U.S. military continued its interest in developing new weapons. In particular, it wanted to improve the atomic bomb. The government looked for a place to test these weapons. The ideal area would be flat, not very populated, and with good weather conditions--meaning that the wind would blow the debris, or fallout, away from big concentrations of people.

The government found that area in the southern Nevada desert, not too far away from where crews trained for the Enola Gay bombing missions.

U.S. citizens as guinea pigs.

The first test bomb exploded over the Nevada desert on January 27, 1951.  The fallout drifted east, into southwest Utah.  The commission that oversaw testing, the Atomic Energy Commission, promised residents of southern Nevada and Utah that the testing was safe, and residents believed them.  Even when livestock began dying, many of the residents didn’t question what the government was telling them.

Unfortunately, the Atomic Energy Commission lied, and they did it knowingly.  Their own scientists knew that radioactive fallout could kill or harm both animals and people,  but the Commission did nothing to warn residents or stop testing.

Dead and deformed sheep.

By 1953, sheep in Iron County showed clear symptoms of radiation poisoning.  Animals had burns on their face from eating radioactive grass. Birth rates dropped as animals miscarried at an increasing rate. Many of the young were born so deformed or sick that they did not live long past birth.

The Commission investigated the livestock deaths and deformities, but it falsified the reports so that no one knew that Iron County was slowly being poisoned by radioactive fallout.  It was not until a Congressional investigation uncovered the massive fraud of the Commission in 1979 that the real picture began to come to light.  By then it was too late for many families in the area.

Many believe that there are too many cases of leukemia, infertility, and birth defects in these communities to be a coincidence.  Those affected by the testing fallout call themselves “Downwinders,” because the wind blew radiation from the test site over their communities.

Seeking justice.

Many people filed lawsuits against the government, and though the courts have been reluctant to state for sure that the testing caused cancer and other problems, Congress passed a compensation bill in 1990 that apologized and provided money to help survivors deal with their diseases and other problems that may have been caused by the Nevada testing.




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Lars Hansen Farmland ~~~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

1885 Primary Class

Second District Court John D. Lee Criminal Case File

Second District Court John D. Lee Criminal Case File

Second District Court John D. Lee Criminal Case File

John D. Lee (seated) awaiting his execution at Mountain Meadows on March 28, 1877 (source Wikimedia Commons) 

Marvin and Verla Coates "My Farm"

Verla and Marvin Coates.  Verla was and is a sister to my Dad, Neldon Rigby.

Verla and Marvin Coates 

"My Farm"
by Marvin LeRoy Coates

My farm to me, is not just land,
Where bare, unpainted buildings stand,

To me, my farm is nothing less
Than all God's created loveliness.

My farm is not where I must soil
My hands in endless, dreary toil..

But there, through seed and swelling pod,
I've learned to walk and talk with God.

My Farm, to me, is not a place
Outmoded by a modern race..

I like to think I just see less
Of evil, greed and selfishness.

My Farm's not lonely - for all day
I hear my children shout and play

And here when age comes, free from fears,
I'll live again, long, joyous years.

My farm's a heaven -- here dwells rest,
Security, and happiness

Whatever befalls the world outside,
Here faith and hope and love abide.

And so my farm is not just land,
Where bare, unpainted buildings stand

To me, my farm is nothing less
Than all God's Hoarded Loveliness.

BlackSmith

History of Washington Perry McArthur and Urania Gregg McArthur (as remembered by Louise M. Watts a granddaughter)

A George Edward Anderson Photo contracted by Joseph Seely, Unknown Children

Home of Mons Anderson Rolph and Wife Bengta Larsen ~~~ Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

Judie Anderson Has Gone Home

Judith Ann Lund Anderson, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and sister, age 77, passed away peacefully on September 8, 2016 in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. Judie was born April 19, 1939 to Leslie Truxton Lund and Helen Cowlishaw Lund in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. She married the love of her life, Rodney Layne Anderson, on Valentines Day 1959. The marriage was later solemnized, in the Salt Lake LDS Temple January 5, 1967. Judie was blessed with wonderful musical abilities. She began plunking out tunes on the piano when she was 5 years old and she would accompany hundreds of musical numbers, funerals, and church meetings over her life.. She has been pianist and organist for various church wards and stakes for over 60 years. She attended North Sanpete High School, Wasatch Academy and Utah State. Early in their marriage they lived in Bountiful, Utah where their children were born. They loved living close to many of Rodney’s family and made wonderful friends during that time. In 1969 she and Rodney moved back to Mt Pleasant and became the 3rd generation of owners/managers of the movie theaters in Mt. Pleasant and Ephraim including the Basin Drive-in, Towne Theatre, and SouthTowne Theatre. Many will remember her selling tickets, popcorn & snacks and serving up those famous Drive-in hamburgers. She loved to travel and she and Rodney visited Korea, England, Japan, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Hawaii, Monaco, Alaska, Bahamas, and one of her favorites was a “service cruise” in the Yucatan Pennisula with all of her kids and grandkids for their 50th wedding anniversary. A lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, she had a strong testimony and selflessly served wherever she was called. Besides her many music callings she also served as Relief Society president in Bountiful and again in Mt Pleasant. In 2009-2011, she and her husband were called to serve in the Texas McAllen Mission which she considered one of the highlights of her life. She is survived by her husband, Rodney Layne Anderson, daughter, Lyn (Kurt) Francis of Alpine, UT, son, David (Diane) Anderson of Taylorsville, UT, son, Matthew (Molly) Anderson of Mt. Pleasant, UT. Grandchildren: Erica, Dillon, & Taylor Timboe, Kevin, Lukas, Katie, Layne, Christian, and Amelia Anderson. Sister, Sandra (Larry) Krieger of Parker, CO. Many beloved sister and brother-in laws, nieces and nephews and countless friends. Preceded in death by her parents, Leslie Truxton Lund and Helen Cowlishaw Lund. A viewing will be held on Sunday, September 11th, 6:00-8:00 pm at the Mt. Pleasant 6th Ward, 461 N. 300 W. and again on Monday, September 12th from 9:00 -10:45 am . Funeral services follow immediately at 11:00 a.m. Interment at the Mt. Pleasant City Cemetery. The family would like to thank the staff of Country Lane Assisted Living (Autumn Park).

Bjelke~ Wall Family Group Sheet

OUR HOME ~~ David Lund Peterson

Hamilton School 4th Grade ~ 1932-33

Golden Anniversary ~ Today

Fifty wonderful years, three beautiful children and ten grandchildren.  We are soooo blessed !!! 

Isaiah Cox ~ First White Child Born In Mt. Pleasant

Isaiah Cox, born June 5, 1859 in Mt. Pleasant.

His parents were Isaiah Cox of Crawford Missouri

and Henrietta Janes of Tolland Connecticut. His parents migrated north to

Fairview, and later, south to St. George. Isaiah grew up in St. George and married

Abigail McMullin. He passed away in St. George April 17, 1949.

Richard Bruce Seely ~ A Sketch of His Life

Home of Jens Hendricksen (Henriksen) and wife Mary Frandsen~~~~Researched and Compiled by Tudy Barentsen Standlee

History of Labor Day

John Hafen Sketches

John Hafen (the artist)

John Hafen, the artist was a distant cousin to Mt. Pleasant's own Jacob Hafen.  Both grew up Scherzingen,  Canton Switzerland which is located in the northern part of Switzerland next to Lake Constance or  Boden Sea (german).  This little community had only fifty families when the L.D.S. missionary arrived  in the 1860s.

The name "Hafen" in the German language is beautiful and very significant as it means harbor or haven. 

These sketches are found in "Hafen Family History" by LeRoy Hafen

The following comes from wikipedia:

John Hafen's parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Switzerland and along with many others, immigrated to the United States and then to the Utah territory to be with the Saints. The family first settled in the Payson area but later moved to Springville.

Hafen is known as a prominent Mormon Artist of the 19th century. 

In 1868 Hafen began attending the 20th Ward Academy in Salt Lake City, with Karl G. Maeser as one of his main teachers.

He studied painting under George Ottinger and Dan Weggeland. He was one of several people to found the Utah Art Association in 1881.

In 1890 the LDS church called 3 men to be Art Missionaries. Hafen, along with Lorus Pratt and John B. Fairbanks traveled to Paris for their mission. Hafen's wife, Thora Twede Hafen, and their children lived in Springville during the time Hafen was on his mission.

Hafen developed his technic for landscape painting during this time and it would become the focus for much of his following work.

Upon completion of their studies in France, the 3 missionaries returned to Utah and painted murals in the Salt Lake Temple.

Hafen and Cyrus Edwin Dallin donated works to Springville that became the genesis of the Springville Art Museum. 

Hafen developed the art department at the Brigham Young Academy, which became Brigham Young University. He had been recruited to the school by Benjamin Cluff specifically for this great task.

Hafen's Springville home was designed by Alberto O. Treganza.

Alice Merrill Hone, an early Utah art activist, declared Hafen, "Utah's greatest artist" He, of all the early Utah artists, best communicated the poetic essence of nature.

"The influence of Art is so powerful in shaping our lives for a higher appreciation of the creations of our God that we cannot afford to neglect an acquaintance with it. We should be as eager for its companionship as we are eager for chairs to sit upon or for food to sustain our lives, for it has as important a mission in shaping our character and in conducing to our happiness as anything that we term necessities."

-John Hafen

AUTOBIOGRAPHY and JOURNALS of C.N, LUND

This autobiography and journal of C. N. Lund is found at the 

Relic Home.  It is a valuable document in that it tells of the early days of the people of Mt. Pleasant.  It also describes the missionary journeys and duties that C. N. Lund experienced in his homeland of Denmark.  In particular interest are the interactions he made with the early Mt. Pleasant Pioneers.  

History Of John Henry Owen Wilcox

taken from Family Search written by J.O. Meiling

On December 25, 1775, in a little town in Rhode Island, was born Hazard Wilcox. He met and wed Sarah Seeley. In 1824 the resided at Benton, Arkansas, where on 14 Feb. 1824, was born John Henry Owen Wilcox, the youngest and last of a larg family and the subject of this treatise.

Little is known of his early life. Leaving Arkansas the family settled in Missouri, where in 1831 the father died. It was here in Marion County, Missouri that the boy accepted Mormonism. This new religion had aroused such bitter antagonism against its adherents that mob violence was prevalent throughout the Middle west. They lived in Jackson, Clay, and Caldwell counties in Missouri, being driven from place to place with less regard than for so many cattle. On one occasion, Grandfather escaped the wrath of the mob by hiding in a corn field, and another time he was clad in girls clothing to cover his idnentity lest he be taken away by a brother-in-law who was bitterly opposed to his affiliating with the Mormons. He witnessed the transfiguration of Brigham Young when he assumed the likeness of the Prophet Joseph Smith at the time a successor to lead the western trek was being discussed. When it was seen futile to further attempt to maintain the homesteads in the Mississippi valley, and hold their religious convictions, the Mormon converts, in accordance with the advice of the Prophet Joseph, prepared to head west into the unknown Rocky Mountain region. John Henry Owen, with his widowed mother and sister Jane, was among them and early in the summer of 1847, in a slowly moving ox drawn prairie schooner, set out in John Taylor's Company, bound for that unknown, unexplored western wilderness. Jane and Justus Azel Sealey were married 10 March 1842, and were in the same Company. Over the prairie lands, along the North Platte river, up the ridges and valleys, up of the Wasatch Mountains, and down through Emmigration Canyon continued that trek of more than 1000 miles, the like of which is recorded no where else in history. What were the emotions that surged through his being his being when , on September 30, 1847, from a vantage point on the Western Slope of Big Mountain, he gazed over Salt Lake Valley, a cheerless, desolate, uninviting desert wasteland? What did he behold in that panorama to bid him welcome, or to suggest that this is the long sought haven in which to build a home? Somber indeed, was the picture painted by Jim Bridger when he urged the original emigrants not to stop in Salt Lake Valley. Said he, "This is no place for civilized man. Nothing but wild beasts and savages could possibly survive the vigors of the elements and the destitution of this barren land. Nothing can grow and utter starvation will inevitably follow if settlement is attempted." Did Grandfather lament and want to turn back as did the children of Israel? Never. With a burning desire for a home in a land of religious freedom, as the obstacles that beset the way of the o conquer the obstacles that beset the way of the frontiersman, as in the woof there was woven into his being some of the most enduring fabric that ever formed a part of human character.

He first settled in Salt Lake, where on the 14th of March, 1848, he was married to Mary Young, a convert from Ontario, Canada, who also came westward in John Taylor's Company. In 1850, they moved to Manti remaining there until 1853, when they settled at Fort Hamilton, a settlement located some distance west of the present site of Mt. Pleasant. That same year, they moved to Pleasant Grove, Then to North Ogden. In 1860, he came to Mt. Pleasant whare they resided the rest of their lives. He homesteaded 20 acres of land Three miles north of the town and tilled this land for nearly 40 years until he became so feeble he could plow but a quarter of an acre per day.

Grandfather participated in the Walker and the Blackhawk Indian Wars. While residing at Fort Hamilton, he was employed at a sawmill in Pleasant Creek Canyon, where on one occasion he was left as a watchman while the other workmen went to town. In the early evening he heard the words, "go home." He paid no attention to this until the warning was repeated three times then he went home. On returning to camp the next day they found it a smoldering mass of ruin. The Indians had set fire to the lumber, the logs, the wagons and every combustible object, and driven off the cattle. This cost Grandfather his wagon and oxen, but did not deter him in his determination to strive on. He traded all his possessions, including a house and lot for another wagon and yoke of cattle.

Though he went hunting occasionally to augment the family food supply, he had little recreation, his first concern was to supply provisions for a wife and eleven children. His life was filled with toil, trials, hardships, privations, sacrifices and heartaches incident to life in that time. He was ambitious and worked at any form of labor available, including farming, logging, mining, building log and adobe dwellings. At one time he worked at a mine near Austin, Nevada, where he was so severely injured that he was weak for years. He was an expert log hewer, even made lumber by this method. His ability in making ox yokes was widely known and many men came to him for his service. On one occasion he exchanged a large load of poles for 40 pounds of wheat, which he planted on an acre and a quarted of land, and with joyousness they gathered from the threshing floor seventy bushels of grain. He grubbed oak brush for a peck of corn per day and thanked God for the opportunity of earning that 14 pounds of corn to help feed his family. In our day, we hear much about the full dinner pail but Grandfather well remembers the days his dinner bucket contained only a pinch of salt, with which he hoped to season a kettle of segas, thistle stocks, pig weed or other edible plants he might find to cook for his noon day meal. Grandmother Wilcox oft repeated, "As I look back on these agonizing times, I wonder how in the world we ever managed to keep body and soul together. I know, However, that it was through the graciousness of the Good Lord on High, we were able to withstand those terrible ordeals." The Mormons made the desert blossom as the rose, but the first "roses to bloom for grandfather were a few potatoes broduced from seed brought from California on pack animals and sold pour to a customer at 25 cents each.

Grandfather never learned to read or write, yet the feat of turning this sagebrush covered wasteland into fields of bounteous harvests, will be emblanzoned on the history of Utah by these early pioneers. It was not the call of wild, the desire for fame or fortune, or adventure that promted him to abondon his friends and posessions, but the hope of finding a place where he could dwell in peace and safety, unbomolested by a bloodthirsty mob determined to annihilate the converts to this newly-born religion. He had morality, truthfulness, and strict adherence to the golden rule worthy of emulation to the end of time.


"Well done, thou good and faithful servant, ... ... ..."



Written by J. O. (Owen) Meiling, Lehi, Utah. 4 Aug. 1939