Thursday, October 31, 2024
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
INDIAN WAR VETERANS REUNION ~~~ 1922 ~~~ SPANISH FORK
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L to R: Eli Brazee Kelsey Ferguson, Joseph Moroni Westwood, Rudolphus Nathaniel Bennett |
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Monday, October 28, 2024
Dr. Duncan J.McMillan ~~~ Wasatch Academy ~ Founded April, 19, 1875
This page is taken from Louise Johansen's Scrapbook.
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Deseret News May 28, 2001 ~~~Poor Farm
Memorial is dedicated to 'Poor Farm' inhabitants
By Deseret News May 28, 2001, 10:40am MDT
Carma Wadley senior writer
https://www.deseret.com/2001/5/28/19588594/sanpete-honors-forgotten-souls
William Ditmer was a blind shoemaker who lived and worked in Fairview. At the end of his life, he went to live at the "Poor Farm," as the Sanpete County Infirmary was called in those days. When he died in 1916, Ditmer was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave.
Legacy's a quirky thing. Those who try to manufacture it are not always successful. Those who never give it a thought are often the ones who have untold impact.
When William Ditmer lived out his quiet, useful life in Fairview, he probably had no idea that all these years later people would be remembering him. Or that because of him, others whose only claim to fame might be that they did the best they could would be honored.
This Memorial Day, the town of Fairview is dedicating a monument to all those who lived and died at the Infirmary. They need to be remembered in a positive way, said Norma Vance, who has spearheaded the the memorial project. "At the time, there was a bit of a stigma attached to going to the Poor Farm. Maybe this will help to exonerate them."
Many of them were immigrants, far from their families. But to come here showed such faith and courage, she said. And many were simply caught by circumstance. "When age came upon them, some fell victim to ill health and could no longer do for themselves."
The story of the monument actually began on a wintry day in 1992. A former resident of Fairview came to the home of Norma and Herald Vance with an old clarinet. It had belonged to William Ditmer, the man said, and it should go in the Fairview Museum.
"I had read a little about Ditmer, but when I actually saw and touched his clarinet, he seemed so real, and I wanted to know more about him," Norma said.
She thought about him from time to time. But it wasn't until 1998, when she and Herald were asked to speak at Fairview's Patriotic Program, that she did more research. "I knew I wanted to talk about William Ditmer."
He had been born in Denmark in 1857, she found. As a small boy he had contracted the measles, which had taken his sight. He learned the shoemaker trade at a school for the blind in Denmark. He joined the LDS Church and came to Fairview in 1886.
Golden Sanderson, one of Fairview's long-time residents, remembered Ditmer in his life story. "He did his shoe repairing mostly by feel," Sanderson wrote, "and could always pick up the right tool or tacks. . . . He lived an isolated life and barely lived off his trade. My parents often helped him with a bowl of soup or other food."
But Ditmer was also a skilled musician. "When darkness came with only the flicker of the kerosene lamp, it was comforting to hear strains of music coming from the old man's house," wrote Sanderson. "It was Ditmer who started some students out on reed instruments until finally a band was organized."
That's what struck her about Ditmer, says Norma. Here he was, blind and barely getting by, "but he gave something back to the community."
Norma went to the Fairview sexton's office to get Ditmer's exact birth and death dates, and that's when she found out that he had gone to live at the Poor Farm. "And I was shocked to see so many more names on the sexton's records of people who had died there."
At least 34 other men and women had died at the Infirmary during its years of operation, and many had been buried in unmarked graves at the Fairview Cemetery, she found.
After the talk at the Patriotic Program, one of the audience members commented on the need for a monument, and that kept nagging at the Vances, who finally took the matter to the City Council in September 1999.
The council agreed, but it has taken awhile to get it all put together. And it has become a community project.
"The Poor Farm was a special spot. Everyone knew where it was, and that's what everyone called it," says Margaret Bench, chaplain of the North Bench Camp of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, which has been involved.
"One of our DUP themes is that our heritage binds us together," adds DUP secretary Becky Roberts. "And this is our heritage."
The infirmary was built in 1895. At that time, not only was the county's population increasing, but the economic depression of 1893 had created a growing number of indigents, and county commissioners looked for ways to support them.
"They settled upon the idea of purchasing a farm where able-bodied indigents could work," Norma said. A two-story building was constructed, with separate wings for the men and women. At any one time, it could accommodate between 16-20 men and eight women.
It operated until the early 1930s. The abandoned building was finally torn down in 1980.
Nowadays, you probably couldn't get away with calling it the Poor Farm, but it was an important part of Fairview history, Mayor Ron Giles said.
The granite marker has been created by Leon Monk, who owns a monument shop in Mt. Pleasant. The marker features a drawing of the building on one side, and a tribute to those who lived and died there on the other. They decided not to list individual names, Monk said, because there were some discrepancies in names and dates and they weren't sure they even had all of them.
It's been quite a project, but he's been glad to be involved, said Monk, who has donated all his labor in creating the monument. "Those people had tough lives. But we need to remember them."
Remembering, after all, is what this day is all about.
But it is not just for their sake that we remember the William Ditmers of the world, Norma said, it is also for our own. The very act of remembering can make us more aware, more appreciative, more connected to each other.
And that, as much as anything, may be the legacy of the blind shoemaker of Fairview.
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Friday, October 25, 2024
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ~~~ From Our Archives ~~~Women Can Now Wear Trousers
The following is taken from Wikipedia:
Since the adoption of trousers in Western Europe in Late Antiquity, trousers have been largely worn by men and not by women until the early 20th century.
In 1919, Luisa Capetillo challenged the mainstream society by becoming the first woman in Puerto Rico to wear trousers in public. Capetillo was sent to jail for what was then considered to be a "crime", but the judge later dropped the charges against her.
Women increasingly wore trousers as leisurewear in the 1920s and 30s. In the early 20th century female pilots and other working women often wore trousers. Actresses Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn were often photographed in trousers from the 1930s. During World War II, women working in industrial work in war service wore their husbands' (suitably altered) trousers, and in the post-war era trousers were still common casual wear for gardening, socialising, and other leisure pursuits.
Similarly, in Britain during the Second World War, because of the rationing of clothing, many women took to wearing their husbands' civilian clothes to work while their husbands were away in the armed forces. This was partly because they were seen as work garments, and partly to allow women to keep their clothing allowance for other uses. As the men's clothes wore out, replacements were needed, so that by the summer of 1944 it was reported that sales of women's trousers were five times more than in the previous year.[1]
In the 1960s, André Courrèges introduced jeans for women, leading to the era of designer jeans.
In 1969 Rep. Charlotte Reid (R-Ill.) became the first woman to wear trousers in the U.S. Congress.[2]
Pat Nixon was the first American First Lady to wear trousers in public.[3]
1967-68 ~ Still in Dresses.
For a period in the 1970s, trousers became quite fashionable for women. In the United States, this may be due to the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which declared that dresses could not be required of girls. Dress codes thus changed in public schools across the United States.
In 1989 California state senator Rebecca Morgan became the first woman to wear trousers in a U.S. state senate.[4]
 |
| Hillary is the first, and still the only, first lady to ever wear a pant-suit, or even pants for that matter, in the traditional first lady portrait. |
Women were not allowed to wear trousers on the U.S. Senate floor until 1993.[6][7] In 1993, Senators Barbara Mikulski and Carol Moseley Braun wore trousers onto the floor in defiance of the rule, and female support staff followed soon after, with the rule being amended later that year by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Martha Pope to allow women to wear trousers on the floor so long as they also wore a jacket.[6][7]
Since 2004 the International Skating Union has allowed women to wear trousers instead of skirts in competition if they wish.[8]
In 2012 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police began to allow women to wear trousers and boots with all their formal uniforms.[9]
Until 2016 some female crew members on British Airways were required to wear British Airways’ standard "ambassador" uniform, which has not traditionally included trousers.[10]
Since the adoption of trousers in Western Europe in Late Antiquity, trousers have been largely worn by men and not by women until the early 20th century.
In 1919, Luisa Capetillo challenged the mainstream society by becoming the first woman in Puerto Rico to wear trousers in public. Capetillo was sent to jail for what was then considered to be a "crime", but the judge later dropped the charges against her.
Women increasingly wore trousers as leisurewear in the 1920s and 30s. In the early 20th century female pilots and other working women often wore trousers. Actresses Marlene Dietrich and Katharine Hepburn were often photographed in trousers from the 1930s. During World War II, women working in industrial work in war service wore their husbands' (suitably altered) trousers, and in the post-war era trousers were still common casual wear for gardening, socialising, and other leisure pursuits.
Similarly, in Britain during the Second World War, because of the rationing of clothing, many women took to wearing their husbands' civilian clothes to work while their husbands were away in the armed forces. This was partly because they were seen as work garments, and partly to allow women to keep their clothing allowance for other uses. As the men's clothes wore out, replacements were needed, so that by the summer of 1944 it was reported that sales of women's trousers were five times more than in the previous year.[1]
In the 1960s, André Courrèges introduced jeans for women, leading to the era of designer jeans.
In 1969 Rep. Charlotte Reid (R-Ill.) became the first woman to wear trousers in the U.S. Congress.[2]
Pat Nixon was the first American First Lady to wear trousers in public.[3]
For a period in the 1970s, trousers became quite fashionable for women. In the United States, this may be due to the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which declared that dresses could not be required of girls. Dress codes thus changed in public schools across the United States.
In 1989 California state senator Rebecca Morgan became the first woman to wear trousers in a U.S. state senate.[4]
Hillary Clinton was the first woman to wear trousers in an official U.S. First Lady portrait.[5]
Women were not allowed to wear trousers on the U.S. Senate floor until 1993.[6][7] In 1993, Senators Barbara Mikulski and Carol Moseley Braun wore trousers onto the floor in defiance of the rule, and female support staff followed soon after, with the rule being amended later that year by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Martha Pope to allow women to wear trousers on the floor so long as they also wore a jacket.[6][7]
Since 2004 the International Skating Union has allowed women to wear trousers instead of skirts in competition if they wish.[8]
In 2012 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police began to allow women to wear trousers and boots with all their formal uniforms.[9]
Until 2016 some female crew members on British Airways were required to wear British Airways’ standard "ambassador" uniform, which has not traditionally included trousers.[10]
lthough the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was written in order to end discrimination in various fields based on sex, religion, race, color, or national origin, in the area of employment,[1] the 1964 Act did not include any prohibition on gender discrimination in public education and federally assisted programs[2] but it did energize the women's rights movement, which had somewhat slowed after women's suffrage in 1920.[3]While Title IX is best known for its impact on high school and collegiate athletics, the original statute made no explicit mention of sports.[4]
In 1967, President Lyndon Johnson sent a series of executive orders in order to make some clarifications. Before these clarifications were made, the National Organization for Women (NOW) persuaded President Johnson to include women in his executive orders.[3] Most notable is Executive Order 11375, which required all entities receiving federal contracts to end discrimination on the basis of sex in hiring and employment.
North Sanpete 1964
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 declared that dresses could not be required of girls. Dress codes thus changed in public schools across the United States.
Women were not allowed to wear trousers on the U.S. Senate floor until 1993. In 1993, Senators Barbara Mikulski and Carol Moseley Braun wore trousers onto the floor in defiance of the rule, and female support staff followed soon after, with the rule being amended later that year by Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Martha Pope to allow women to wear pants on the floor so long as they also wore a jacket.[6][7]
In California, Government Code Section 12947.5 (part of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act) expressly protects the right to wear pants (American English for trousers).[25] Thus, the standard FEHA discrimination complaint form includes an option for "denied the right to wear pants." [26]
North Sanpete1984
Thursday, October 24, 2024
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
JAMES BRIDGER ~~~Utah History Encyclopedia
James Bridger
Matthew Despain and Fred R. Gowans
Utah History Encyclopedia
Jim Bridger
James Bridger was one of the greatest frontiersmen of Utah and American history. During his lifetime he was a hunter, trapper, trader, Indian fighter, and guide, and one of only a few trappers to remain in the Rockies after the demise of the fur trade. In 1822 young Bridger heeded William Ashley's call for one hundred "enterprising young men" and ascended the route of the Missouri River under Major Andrew Henry's command.
Bridger spent his first year with the company on the upper Missouri until Blackfoot Indian hostilities forced the expedition back down river in the spring of 1823. Bridger then accompanied Henry's brigade to the Yellowstone River, where, en route, Hugh Glass was attacked by a grizzly. Evidence would indicate that Bridger volunteered as one of Glass's caretakers, but that he abandoned Glass believing he would not live. Glass miraculously survived and apparently exonerated Bridger's desertion due to his youth.
Bridger spent the fall of 1823 and the following winter and spring of 1824 trapping and wintering in the Bighorn region as part of John Weber's brigade. By summer's end, he had pushed west across South Pass to trap the Bear River. The brigade assembled in "Willow Valley" (Cache Valley) to winter on Cub Creek near present Cove, Utah. Allegedly during that winter of 1824-25 a dispute arose concerning the Bear River's course south of Cache Valley. Bridger was selected to explore the river to resolve the question. His journey took him to the Great Salt Lake, which he believed was an arm of the Pacific Ocean due to its saltiness. For years, Bridger was recognized as the first documented discoverer of the great "Inland Sea"; however, more recent evidence seems to indicate that this honor should be given to Etienne Provost.
The following spring, Weber's brigade spread along the Wasatch Front to trap. In May, Bridger was probably at the Ogden-Gardner trappers' confrontation near present Mountain Green; however, there is no documentation that indicates he participated in the proceedings. That summer Bridger attended the Randavouze Creek rendezvous, just north of the Utah-Wyoming border near the present town of McKinnon, Wyoming.
The winter of 1825-1826 was spent by Bridger and most of Ashley's men in the Salt Lake Valley in two camps: one at the mouth of the Weber River and one on the Bear. Bridger continued to trap the regions of the Wasatch Front for approximately the next four years, spending some of his winters in the Salt Lake Valley. He was present at all the rendezvous, including the Cache Valley rendezvous of 1826 and the rendezvous of 1827 and 1828 on the south shore of Bear Lake at present-day Laketown, Utah.
In 1830 Bridger and four other partners formed the Rocky Mountain Fur Company; however, exhausted fur reserves and increased competition from John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company forced the company to venture north into hostile Blackfoot territory. The Rocky Mountain Fur Company was dissolved in 1834 and by the end of the decade the fur trade itself was over.
During the final years of the fur trade, Bridger, with partner Louis Vasquez, planned and constructed what was to be Fort Bridger, located on Black's Fork of the Green River. This new enterprise was to become one of the principal trading posts for the western migration, established specifically to serve the wagon trains heading to the far West. Bridger's post served many immigrants heading west, including the ill-fated Donner-Reed party.
In June 1847 Bridger had his first encounter with the Mormon pioneers near the mouth of the Little Sandy River. At this gathering, Bridger and Brigham Young discussed the merits of settling in the Salt Lake Valley. Also during this meeting Bridger drew his map on the ground for Young depicting the region with great accuracy and conveyed to the Mormon leader his misgivings regarding the agricultural productivity of the Salt Lake area. This first meeting between the Mormons and Bridger appears to have been pleasant, yet this relationship was to become a bittersweet one for Bridger.
The coming of the Mormons increased the number of immigrants at the fort. However, the Mormon settlements attracted away a significant portion of Bridger's trade, including that of the Indians, causing economic hardships for the post.
In 1850 Bridger consulted and guided the Stansbury expedition, which established a road much of which would later become the route of the Overland Stage and the Union Pacific Railroad. The same year, the territory of Utah was created; it included under its jurisdiction the Fort Bridger area.
Animosity between Bridger and the Mormons festered in the summer of 1853. Mormon leaders were convinced that Bridger was engaged in illicit trade with the Indians, especially guns and ammunition, and that he had stirred hostility among the Native Americans against the Mormons. Mormon leaders revoked Bridger's license to trade and issued a warrant for his arrest; however, before the posse's arrival Bridger had fled.
By the end of 1853, the Mormons had begun to move in and secure control of Bridger's Green River Basin, opting to establish Fort Supply rather than occupy Fort Bridger. Bridger had gone to the east, but returned to the mountains in 1855. That summer, Bridger sold his fort to the Mormons for $8,000. The Mormons paid Bridger $4,000 in gold coin that August; however, the final payment was not made until 1858, when Vasquez received the remaining $4,000 in Salt Lake City.
The Mormons took possession of Fort Bridger in 1855, making much-needed improvements, including erecting a large cobblestone wall around the fort. However, in 1857, the fort was destroyed by the Mormons to hinder the advance of Albert Sidney Johnston's Army, which was being guided by none other than James Bridger. The army occupied the fort until 1890. Bridger tried to deal with the army regarding leasing the fort under the premise that the Mormons had forced him out and stolen it from him. During the 1870s and early 1880s, Bridger inquired about the army's lease, but without success.
Bridger died in July 1881. After his death, the government paid his widow for the improvements of the post, which consisted of thirteen log structures and the eighteen-foot-high cobblestone wall, which, ironically, were built by the Mormons.
See: Cecil J. Alter, Jim Bridger: A Historical Narrative (1986); Fred R. Gowans and Eugene E. Campbell, Fort Bridger, Island in the Wilderness (1975); LeRoy R. Hafen and Harvey L. Carter, eds., Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West (1982); and Dale L. Morgan, ed., The West of William H. Ashley (1964).
Monday, October 21, 2024
Ron Lee Taylor November 29, 1934 — October 14, 2024
Ronald Lee Taylor, better known as R.L., passed away peacefully in his sleep in his home in Mt. Pleasant, in the early morning hours of October 14th, 2024, in the care of his devoted daughter Melanie, who loves her Daddy dearly, and the great hospice professionals from Zions Way Home Health and Hospice. He was 89 years old.
R.L. was born in Mt. Pleasant Utah, on November 29th 1934, to Florence Cestella Jensen Stewart Taylor and Alma Ellison Taylor. He had two older half-brothers, Owen and Melvin Stewart who were raised by their grandparents, and a younger brother, Larry Wayne Taylor, and an older sister, Maridean Joyce Taylor Johansen.
R.L. was born smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression. He was 5 years old when World War II began. His parents divorced when he was 11 years old, and he, Maridean, and Larry were subsequently raised by their single mother. It was a hard scrabble life. R.L. learned, at a young age, the value of hard work. "Be a doer" his mother would say. But R.L. would later comment, "I don't remember feeling a lack of anything. I feel we had an average childhood."
R.L. loved to ride horses and to go hunting. He made true, fast, lifelong friends. They enjoyed getting together in the fall to hunt deer. One year he had his face too close to the side-mounted scope on the 30-30 Winchester that his father had given him. When he touched off a round, the scope slammed back, creating a gash that left a scar between his eyes that he carried for the rest of his life. He got the deer though!
As a freshman in high school doctors discovered that R.L. had "an enlarged heart and a murmur", caused by a case of rheumatic fever as a child. They would not allow him to continue playing high school basketball. R.L. regretted that the same heart condition would not allow him to serve a mission for his church, or to join the military to serve his country.
The summer before his junior year in high school, R.L. had saved up $300 and he bought a black 1940 Ford, "and it was fast. I loved it" he was heard to say. That fast car came in handy later on, when he was dating a gorgeous girl from Chester, Carlene Anderson. They attended rival schools. R.L. went to North Sanpete High School, back when they were still called the Rams. Carlene went to Moroni High School. R.L. would be in Moroni, having lunch with Carlene, when the bell would sound, warning that there were only five minutes until the resumption of class. It was said that R.L. could make it back to Mt. Pleasant from Moroni in those five minutes, and be on time for his next class.
R.L. met his future wife of 68 years at a sock hop in the new gym at Moroni High School during his senior year. He married Carlene Vione Anderson of Chester on December 10th, 1954. The young couple moved to Salt Lake City in April of 1955. R.L. quickly found a job working for a construction company building homes. R.L. and Carlene had three children. Ronald Craig, born in 1956. Chad A., born in 1958, and Melanie Ann, born in 1961. R.L. went on to work for the Post Office as a part time letter carrier for a short period, but ended up working for the Air Force at Hill Field, commuting from Salt Lake City for all of those years. R.L. was an active member in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He served in the Elders Quorum and enjoyed being Scoutmaster for a few years.
In 1970 R.L. and Carlene bought a lot in Mt. Pleasant with a dilapidated pioneer home on it. They would later construct a house there, incorporating the pioneer home, to where they would ultimately retire, which they did in 1995. With their love of antiques, it was only natural to open an antique shop in Mt. Pleasant. It was called Heart of Utah Antiques and Collectables. R.L. also stayed busy in retirement buying and renovating four more properties. He was very good at it. The man was a craftsman.
R.L. loved his family, loved his Savior, and loved his country. He was a friend to anyone who needed one, and would give a total stranger the shirt off his back. He truly had a "big heart." He will be greatly missed. R.L. was known to say, "In a hundred years, none of this will matter."
R.L. is survived by his brother, Larry, Cedar City. His children, Craig, Mt. Pleasant, Chad (Jeannette), Mt. Pleasant, and Melanie (James) Hancey, Salt Lake City. Also by seven grandchildren, fifteen great grandchildren, and nine great-great grandchildren. R.L. was predeceased by his wife, Carlene, His brothers, Owen and Melvin, and his sister Maridean.
Funeral services will be held October 26th, 2024 at 1100 a.m. in the Mt. Pleasant Stake Center. Viewings will be held October 25th, 2024 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and October 26th from 9:30-10:30 a.m. prior to services in the church. Interment in the Mt. Pleasant City cemetery.
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Kenneth "Bunz" D Lund February 7, 1953 — October 8, 2024 Mt. Pleasant ~~~ wonderful friend to all
Kenneth D Lund 71 born in Nephi, UT on February 7th, 1953 left this world with loved ones by his side on October 8th 2024. He is survived by his wife, Diane (Beck) Lund, Children Kenny, Lataya Boylan (Justin), Robert (Shelby), His siblings Dixie Riding, Dave (Debbie) Lund, Grandkids; BreiLynn, Alex, Graysen, Adalyn, TayLee, and BreckLyn. Ken or as everyone knew him, Bunz was a man of all trades. He graduated from North Sanpete High School as a member of the German Club, Tennis Club, and most preferred man (which he reminded his family of that often). After Graduation, he
had high dreams and followed them to California. He later returned home to Sanpete and met the love of his life, Diane. Together they spent the next 47 years creating a life and family they were proud of. He was a talented mechanic that managed his own shop for 30 years and was the best known mechanic in Sanpete County. it was not uncommon for him to do a personal pickup service for clients by picking their car up at their house, servicing it, and bringing it home. He had a love for Golf, Snowmobiling, camping, four wheeling, and spending time in the sunshine with the people he loved most. He was a friend to all. He truly had a heart of gold. He is preceded in death by his parents, Othello and Petrea (Taya), Step Farther Parley, Siblings: Hyrum, James, Doris, and Shirley.
A Viewing was held Sunday October 13th at Rasmussen Mortuary MT. Pleasant from 5-7 pm, on October 14th. In true Bunzerelli fashion, don't be afraid to show up in a classic vehicle, old truck or street bike to follow him to his final resting place.
To Watch Recorded Graveside Service, Click Here
Recordings will be available for 60 days from date of service.
Saturday, October 19, 2024
Friday, October 18, 2024
Annie M. Johansen ~~~ First Telegraph Operator (from our archives)
Annie M. Johansen was one of the early telegraph operators in Mt. Pleasant. Annie was a cripple and having to do such hard work for a living Mina Ericksen took her in and gave her the necessary training for a telegraph operator. She became very efficient. Annie went out of her way many times to help both the people of Mt. Pleasant and the telegraph company. There were few phones in the small settlements and messages were carried by messengers. Oftentimes Annie would take the messages herself and, as they usually told of a death or some other tragedy, she would stay a few moments, and in her quiet, understanding way give strength to all who needed it. For many years she worked faithfully for the company and was given a certificate acknowledgting her years of service.
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Halley's Comet 1910~~~ Bob Sleigh Ride ~ Talula Nelson (from our archives)
Rides in straw-filled bobsleighs with plenty of quilts and warm rocks on our feet were a very delightful experience of my girlhood. Our voices rose in song and laughter as the crisp air stung our faces while the horses trotted over the snow-covered roads.
It was on just such a bobsleigh ride in 1910 when a group of us teenagers were on our way to attend a dance at Snow College, that we had an unexpected experience. Mid-afternoon found us on our way. We left Mt. Pleasant, passed Hoo-Doo-Hill, on through Spring City, and into Pigeon Hollow when the sun began to sink out of sight. We snuggled deeper into the quilts and sang louder as we missed the warmth of the sun.
Shortly after the sunset, a beautiful "star" with a long, fan-shaped tail appeared just above the horizon. Someone said, "It must be a comet!" We all sat suddenly quiet and subdued. To us, comet meant earthquakes or the end of the world. The silence was broken only by the weird sound of the sleigh-bells as they fell on the slow-moving horses. The driver was too overwhelmed to keep his whip in action. How could anything so beautiful be a forerunner of such awful things to come?
After some concern about whether to turn around and return home, we proceeded to the dance. The atmosphere was tense. The music seemed out of place at first with so many telling strange stories of calamities to come.
The night passed. The next day came and went with no hint of destruction. As evening came, the beautiful comet reappeared just above the horizon in the western sky. For days it returned. Then one day, it did not show and we felt a bit relieved that the world was safe again.
On November 2, 1985, I was invited to join the Halley's Comet Club. We met at the Lafayette Ballroom of the Hotel Utah for our first club party. We enjoyed a nice program, saw Edmund Halley pictures in the 16th century costume, and were tested on our ability to identify cars of 1910, dry goods of that year, and advertisements. Prizes were given. After refreshments, a group picture was taken which was published in the December 16, 1985 edition of Time Magazine. We were then escorted to the Hansen Planetarium where we enjoyed the history of Halley's Comet. It was a thrill to be there after 76 years and to be reminded of that eventful night when I saw Halley's Comet in 1910.
(note: the next appearance of Halley's Comet is 2061)
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Monday, October 14, 2024
Introduction to Our Trees~~~ by Leoan Gunderson, David Gunderson,
Introduction to Our Trees
One fall, when my Mom got her copy of a little magazine called "Saga of the Sanpitch", She decided to write her memories of the trees that had grown along the south side of their yard or lot, as they used to say, during her childhood. “Saga” contained stories of life in Sanpete Co. Utah from pioneer days forward and Mom had plans to submit her little article to "Saga" for publication but just didn't get around to it. I recently found a copy of it and I decided to get it into electronic format so that all could have a copy.
I made a few editorial changes, added some explanatory notes, found the words of the two childhood songs she referred to on the internet, and added them in an appendix. I also found the music for the song “Come Little Leaves” on the internet and I added a hyperlink to the website which contains the music so that you can hear it. I hope that you enjoy “Out Trees”.
Some have asked if I have submitted “Our Trees” to “Saga”. I would have done so, but Saga is no longer being published. I think that the demise of Saga is a great loss.
~David Gunderson~
Cottonwood Trees
Our Trees
By Leoan Gunderson
1910 - 1998
Fall Circa 1986
It’s October again, when the fall season comes upon us, with its beautiful trees all dressed up in their finest clothing of gold, red, green, and brown and sometimes even a bit of purple shows up as a background for the beautiful fall scene, When I see it again each fall, I always think of the trees we had at our home when I was a child.
I guess the real thing that is spurring me along to write my feelings today is the little song that I learned as a young student at the Hamilton School in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. The words to the song went something like this …..
Come o’er the meadows with me to play.
Put on your bonnets of red and gold,
For the summer is gone and the days grow cold.
Or perhaps it was the song that goes…
October gave a party.
The leaves by the thousands came.
Oh I do wish I could remember the rest of these beautiful little songs . But today, my memories of them have inspired me to write of the trees that grew along our sidewalk in Mt. Pleasant.
on the south side or our lot, which was one half of
a city block long,
on 3rd North going west from State Street.
I do believe that our trees were pretty during each of their phases of live most all year long. In the spring they were adorned in that striking and welcome color of spring green. It was a delicate green and so easy to enjoy.
Of course, most everything does have one or two little distasteful things about them which we all have to endure. Our trees were cottonwood trees and each spring after the pretty new green leaves appeared they had a habit of bearing cotton. The cotton would catch a little breeze that was passing by and soon would be flying everywhere. Here I must add that at this point in the life of our Cottonwood trees, they became a real problem to my Mother and to my sister Evelyn. They both suffered from hay fever. I remember how they both wore silk masks over their noses to strain out the cotton. But this would pass – until the next cotton season arrived.
[1] See the Appendix for the word to both of these songs
Then came the summer, and our cottonwoods would stretch their strong leaf covered arms out to form an arch over our sidewalk so that we might walk up and down our sidewalk in comfort, protected from the strong glare of a very penetrating sun. Oh yes, I did enjoy this phase in the life of our trees.
But, as one season follows another, soon it would be fall again and our cottonwoods would supply me with another thrill in my young life. Our trees would begin to turn that beautiful golden color that only cottonwood trees do and I would imagine how rich I was with all of that “Gold that did grow on our trees”. One could not believe all of the wonderful imaginary things that I purchased with that easy to acquire gold from our trees.
Of course this beauty came and then gave way to the next phase in the life of our trees. This is when the wind came and sang the little song to the leaves –
And the leaves fell but they didn’t all go with the wind. Those that stayed on our sidewalk and in our yard became a shear delight to me, my sister Evelyn, and her friend Helen Jones. Oh we made the most beautiful houses one could ever imagine from those mounds of leaves. I doubt that any contractor could ever build or create for us a more beautiful house than the ones we fashioned for our selves with our imaginations from these leaves.
We had many rooms – they were really mansions, believe me. We had bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, dining rooms, and of course, what else but a lovely parlor. And people that were allowed to go into the parlor had to be pretty special. We had furniture also, and it had more beauty than anyone else’s. It’s too bad that we were the only ones that could see all of this beauty.
I am so truly glad that I had a childhood full of fantasy and imagination. I am so glad that I was allowed to create, arrange, and imagine rather than to have everything created for me. As you can see, we were never bored, and no one had to do our planning for us.
But, our trees were not through yet. One day, depending on the weather and usually a short time before Halloween, Mother would tell us, “Tonight after school you can begin to gather the leaves together and soon we will have our big bonfire.”
Of course when the fire was out or nearly out, the apples and potatoes would be blackened or burned from the fire and smoke but would only be half done. But how could an apple or potato ever taste so good. Each boy or girl would bring their own salt shaker to shake salt on their potato each time they took another bite. The apples usually didn’t need salt.
This was truly the beautiful life of our cottonwood trees.
Appendix
The Children’s Autumn Songs
That Leoan Remembered
Come, Little Leaves
by George Cooper,
Come, little leaves, Said the wind one day;
Come down to the meadows With me and play.
Put on your dresses Of red and gold;
For summer is past, And the days grow cold.
Soon as the leaves, Heard the wind's loud call,
Down they came fluttering, One and all.
Over the meadows, They danced and flew,
All singing the soft, Little songs they knew.
Dancing and flying, The leaves went along,
Till Winter called them, To end their sweet song.
Soon, fast asleep, In their earthy beds,
The snow lay a coverlet, O'er their heads.
October’s Party
by George Cooper
October gave a party; The leaves by hundreds came.
The Chestnuts, Oaks and Maples, And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet, And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing, Professor Wind the band.
The Chestnuts came in yellow, The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple In scarlet looked their best.
All balanced to their partners, And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow, New fallen from the sky.
To hear the music to Come, Little Leaves, do a CTRL+CLICK on: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/comelittleleaves.htm
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