I REMEMBER GRANDPA Peter Azel Peel ~ by Peter L. Hafen

I REMEMBER GRANDPA Peter Azel Peel

Grandpa Peel was a son of Christian Peel and Miranda Seely Peel. He was the grandson of Peter Madsen Peel and Christiana Folkman Peel. 

Peter Madsen Peel was one of the original founders of Mt. Pleasant and was the first blacksmith in Mt. Pleasant. He also helped build the Mt. Pleasant fort.

Peter Azel was a farmer by trade and always had a small herd of sheep; generally 150 to 200 head.  Most of which were run with other larger sheep owners such as the Justus Seely herd.  He always kept 15 to 30 head of sheep on his farm. 

My mother, Alice Peel Hafen always reminisced about herding cows and sheep that were kept on the farm west of Mt. Pleasant.  My mother and her sisters would take the small bunch of cows and sheep down to the lanes west of town to let them feed.  They would take their dog, Tippy with them.  Then they would send Tippy down the lane about a quarter mile and the girls would stay up the lane with the sheep and cows in between them.  They would let the animals feed until they were full and then bring them home with the help of the dog.  They did this every day.

Grandpa always had a dog.  He would train them and sell them to other sheep owners.  He would show his dogs’ ability to herd sheep at Ramboullet Days in Ephraim, as well as other celebrations.

He would turn out a few chickens in an arena and then have his dog herd them into a gunny sack that he held between his legs.  The dog would put the chickens into the bag in short order.  He would also work the sheep in the arena.  The dog on command would separate a single sheep out of the other sheep and keep it from getting back to the small herd.

One of the other sheep owners would say that just one of Azel Peels dogs was better than many men at separating or working with sheep.

After Grandpa Peel got a pickup truck he would take his sheep out to a pasture that was about 2 miles north of town.  After making the trip two or three times with his dog, he would then let the dog take the sheep from the old depot to the same pasture along  500 West and the county road  alone, while he drove his truck up Main Street and then north on State Street and highway 89 to the pasture.  The dog herded the sheep  two miles to the pasture.  Then he would reverse that procedure to take the sheep home for the night. He would not leave them in the pasture at night because of the threat of coyotes.

I believe my Granddad got his first dog from Bill Miller.  I know that Bill Miller and Grandpa would sometimes buy a stud dog together.  Some of these dogs were shipped directly from Scotland.