Mt.: Mills

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Wednesday, April 1, 2026

JOSEPH PAGE AND ALICE MILLS PAGE ~ELIZABETH (sisters) ~ PIONEERS OF THE MONTH ~ APRIL 2026

Joseph Page & Elizabeth ~Alice Mills

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Joseph Page, born Feb 6, 1830 to Daniel Page and Mary Sockwell in New Jersey, migrated to the west after joining the church. He and his family arrived in Nauvoo just as the saints were being expelled so they came by wagon to Utah. In 1862 he was sent to Florence, Nebraska to help immigrants come to Utah. In 1863 he married Elizabeth Mills to whom three children were born before her death in 1869. Joseph asked her younger sister Alice to take care of his three children and they were married that same year. Alice eventually had ten children.

Alice, born Jan 2, 1847 to Thomas Mills and Alice Allen in England, was converted in England with her family and then baptized aboard the ship as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean. She enjoyed seeing a whale, not far from the ship, spout water.

Joseph was one of the first school teachers in Mount Pleasant. He had a good voice and people would walk for miles to hear him sing. He was elected mayor of Mt. Pleasant in 1870; a position he held for ten to fifteen years.*

In 1873, he was appointed postmaster for Mount Pleasant which position he held for twelve to fifteen years.* His wife assisted him in the post office when he was gone with his freighting business. During his appointment as postmaster, some money sent through the mail was lost, and he was accused of stealing it. In court, he was promised that his sentence would be easier if he admitted to stealing it. He told them he had not taken the money. He had to sell a good share of his large herd of sheep to pay the attorney fees. When the new postmaster was installed, a large table that was fastened to the wall was moved and the envelope of money found.

During the Black Hawk War in 1867 Joseph was a Commissioned Regimental Adjutant with the rank of Major in the 1st Regiment Cavalry. While making a trip to Nevada in 1871, he was ambushed and shot through the knee. His leg was crippled the rest of his life permanently bent at the knee. He got around on a wooden leg strapped to his leg and waist. He turned to bee keeping and raising orchards to provide for his family.

While living on a ranch in Orangeville, Alice helped care for over a 100 hogs. She had many friends in Orangeville and served as secretary in the Relief Society for many years. Joseph died in 1911 and she followed in 1920.

*Family histories vary on time.

Source:

History of Joseph Page written by his granddaughter Elizabeth Pearl Preston Redmond.

Alice Mills Page

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Alice Mills, daughter of Thomas and Alice Allen Mills was born January 2, l847 at Radcliff, Lancashire, England.

Through the Mormon Elders, her father and family were converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and shortly after Alice was 8 years old, they started for Zion, crossing the Atlantic Ocean. When they were a few days out Alice was baptized on board the ship.

While on the ocean, Alice saw a whale spouting water not far from the ship. They were delayed in sailing by stormy weather and after a month on the water they landed at New York, they settled in Pottsville, Pennsylvania where they lived for some time. While here the children would gather walnuts by the bushel from the woods and store them for winter use.

Alice’s father was very industrious and desired the children to be the same, so he required the girls to knit so many rounds on a stocking every day.

They moved to Alton, Illinois and while living here Alice’s brother Willie was very ill and her father went to get some Mormon Elders to administer to him. He had to run all the way as the Elders were leaving that day and he was afraid they would be gone before he could get there. He arrived just in time, but in doing so he over did himself and never recovered.

His death was a very heavy blow to the family as they were left to provide for themselves as well as earn money enough to migrate to Utah. While there Alice worked at a boarding school (a girls’ seminary) as a nurse maid for two lady teachers who taught her in the evenings.

Later they moved to Council B1uffs, Iowa, always getting a little closer to Utah. From Council Bluffs the family started on their journey across the plains in l86l in a wagon with ox team. I have heard mother tell how the young folks would gather around the camp fire, sing songs and enjoy themselves until bedtime.

After reaching Salt Lake City they lived there for awhile then moved to Mt. Pleasant, Sanpete County, Utah. Here Alice became acquainted with Joseph Page who married her sister Elizabeth. After three children were born to them his wife died and later he married Alice. Joseph was the mayor of Mt. Pleasant and postmaster for fifteen years. He also taught school eighteen years and Alice assisted him, she was also assistant postmaster and did the business at the office while Joseph freighted with an ox team, which consisted of three yoke of oxen and two wagons, to a mining camp in Nevada.

While he was freighting, the Black Hawk and Indian War broke out and he enlisted in the Utah militia. He was made adjutant general with the rank of major. During this war, he was shot through the left knee crushing the bone. He was taken home and as there was no doctor nearer than Salt Lake City. Alice had to take care of him until the doctor arrived from Salt Lake City, a distance of over one hundred miles, by ox team.

When Dr. Anderson arrived he said there was no use of doing anything for him as the bone was so badly shattered and the leg was swollen so badly, but Alice being so determined to do all that could be done to save him. She wanted the doctor to dress it and she took care of him. Finally through their faith and prayers after one and a half years he was able to get out of bed though the leg was bent straight back from the knee leaving him a cripple for life.

Alice became the mother of ten children in Mount Pleasant. She had many friends and was loved and respected by all who knew her. When her youngest child was 6 months old she with her husband and family moved to Orangeville, Emery County, Utah. Soon after arriving in Orangeville their next to the youngest child died.

While living in Orangeville she made many friends and was secretary of the Relief Society for many years. After living in Orangeville, some years her husband bought a ranch ten miles east of that place on Huntington Creek, and during the winter months the children attended school at Orangeville.

While living here they had a herd of over 100 hogs. One day 6 or 7 of these hogs had got into the granary under which was a potato cellar. They had gone down a dozen stairs to get into the cellar when Alice found them. Joseph wasn’t able to get them out on account of his leg, so Alice coaxed them and tried to get them out every way they could but finally could see they would stay there until they had eaten all of the potatoes. So she carried 30 bushel of them up and put them in a bin in the granary above the cellar. When the hogs got hungry enough they walked up the steps and came out. Joseph thought Alice had left the door open but the next day he saw one of the hogs climb over a tight pole fence which was around the granary and stand on its hind legs with its front ones against the wall while with its teeth it pulled the spike out of the staple which held the door shut. Then he knew Alice hadn’t left the door open.

When the Uintah Indian reservation was opened in 1906, Alice and her husband and family moved to Roosevelt where she with her husband went into the bee business.

Four years later her husband died at the age of 8l leaving Alice to finish life’s journey alone. Nine years later she had an attack of the influenza from which she never recovered and on the September 13, 1920, she died at the age of 73 years.

This history written by her daughter Lorana Page Anderson

Alice Mills Page

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Alice Mills, daughter of Thomas and Alice Allen Mills was born January 2, l847 at Radcliff, Lancashire, England.

Alice’s father was very industrious and desired the children to be the same, so he required the girls to knit so many rounds on a stocking every day.

When the Uintah Indian reservation was opened in 1906, Alice and her husband and family moved to Roosevelt where she with her husband went into the bee business.

This history written by her daughter Lorana Page Anderson

Alice Mills Page

Contributed By

Alice Mills, daughter of Thomas and Alice Allen Mills was born January 2, l847 at Radcliff, Lancashire, England.

Alice’s father was very industrious and desired the children to be the same, so he required the girls to knit so many rounds on a stocking every day.

When the Uintah Indian reservation was opened in 1906, Alice and her husband and family moved to Roosevelt where she with her husband went into the bee business.

This history written by her daughter Lorana Page Anderson

Wednesday, November 5, 2025

HOME OF HENRY MILLS AND WIFE ANN ALLEN

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

WALKER INDIAN WAR (Taken from History of Mt. Pleasant ~~~ Hilda Madsen Longsdorf)

Thursday, November 14, 2024

ASPEN GRAFFITTI ~~ James L. Jacobs

The white trunks of aspen trees growing along roadsides in the mountains east of Sanpete Valley are covered with names and other graffiti carved by knives of former visitors. People who traveled or worked there seemed to have had an irresistible urge to establish their status by leaving their names displayed on these stately and attractive trees for future visitors to see.

When trees were properly carved, the knife cuts were formed into black scars that remained in vivid contrast to the snow-white bark for the lifetime of the tree. If cuts were too shallow, the tree healed them up so no scar was left. Some inexperienced carvers had cut channels clear through the bark down to the wood, and these caused such large scars that the carvings were almost illegible. But most carvings were made properly by competent and experienced carvers so the carvings became permanent and attractive.

In the early 1900’s all travel was by horseback or horse drawn vehicles, which was slow enough to give travelers ample time to observe and reflect on the great collection of carvings they found on the trees. There was also time to add one’s own name while the horses were resting or while they were stopped for lunch.

The names of entire families, father, mother and children, were often left on trees as evidence that they had been in the mountains. A family trip to visit a sheep herding father or to fish in the mountain streams made it possible for them to record their names on the biggest tree they could find. In areas most frequented by people, tree trunks were so covered with carvings that there was scarcely any bare surface left within reach.

Carvings varied as widely as the people who made them. Most names were formed of large block letters, but there were many styles, kinds and sizes of name carving. Some names were made in beautiful script instead of the usual printed letters. Lon Larsen was one who used uniform, flowing longhand made with real artistic quality.

Another who left his name in fine script was Orange A. Olsen, a Forest Service officer who has a ranger station named for him in Joe’s Valley on the Manti Forest. Most carvers were content to leave only their names or initials, but some added their addresses and the dates the carvings were made. The oldest I recall was dated 1890, while other dates showed continuous carvings from then right up to the time I herded sheep, from 1922 to 1927. Many indulged their artistic talents by carving a wide variety of pictures which included everything from horseshoes to teepees, houses, snakes and human hands.

There were more pictures of people than anything else, especially voluptuous ladies and virile men, and many likenesses of horses, bears, and various other animals. Many sentiments were expressed in messages left for future visitors to see. Some of these read, “All sheepherders are crazy,” “Hate these blatting woollies,” “Lonesome Joe,” “Killed a bear.” In one area there were many short poetic verses, most of which were somewhat ribald in character. Some carvers thought it smart to counterfeit the names of well-known celebrities, so when one found “Daniel Boone,” “Tom Mix,” or “Woodrow Wilson,” it was understood these had been faked and were not authentic signatures.

During the years I herded sheep I was fascinated with the carvings, most of which had been made by sheepherders. In the long summer days, sheep shaded up from mid-morning until late afternoon, leaving the herders free for many hours in the middle of the day. So what could occupy their time better than tree carving! Andrew Tidwell was the most prolific carver of all the sheepherders on the north end of the mountain. He sometimes carved his full name in large letters, but at other times he shortened it to “A. Tid.” But in most places only his initials were found, on hundreds of trees along roads and trails and back in the boondocks where only sheepmen and hunters usually go. No one filled up a tree trunk like he did. He would ride his horse up to a tall tree, stand up in the saddle and carve “AT” as high on the tree as he could reach, then place another initial under that one and repeat it all the way down to the ground. I counted 28 “AT” initials in a column on one tree, and there were many more like it.

The regular camping places where sheep camps were located year after year where known by well established names, many of which were carved on trees at the camps. “Little Bear,” “Beer Spring,” “The Jumpoff,” were some of the names. But “Honeymoon Camp” was my favorite. It was so named because a sheepherder once took his bride there right after they were married. It was an ideal place to spend a honeymoon and get a sheepherder’s salary at the same time. But there was a problem. The bunk on which the honeymooners slept was made of aspen poles with rawhide strips crisscrossing each other for a mattress. The groom had slept alone all his life, and it was difficult for him to get any rest cuddled in the arms of his affectionate bride. After several restless nights, the groom solved the problem. While the bride was not looking, he tightened the leather strip running down the center of the bunk. This raised a slight ridge down the middle with depressions on each side. Thereafter when the bride fell asleep, the cuddling was ended as she slipped of the ridge onto her side of the bed, and the groom slept soundly on his side, happily remote from her cuddling arms.

To relieve their loneliness, herders would often ride to the neighboring camps to visit and have dinner together. On Sundays two or three herders would catch a mess of trout and have a joint fish fry at one of the camps. It was customary for all to leave their names at all camps. I once wrote down the names on the trees at Harve Spring Camp. These were: Lynn Averett, Wenzel Brewer, Dan Christensen, James Jacobs, Loftin Johnson, Lon Larsen, Hans Lund, Howe Lund, Ray Lund, Bruce Madsen, Chet Mills, Liandro Serrano, Andrew Tidwell, Kenneth Tidwell, Aurel Winkler, Montel Winkler, Owen Winkler, Irl Wilson, Peter Woolsey and Shirley Zabriskie.

Not all aspen graffiti were manmade; bears also left their marks. It was rumored that a bear would claim his home territory by reaching high on a tree and marked the bark with his claws to show that this area was owned by a large bear. I doubted this, but I did see hundreds of trees deeply marked by the claws of bears that had climbed them. There were then very many bears in the mountains. A marauding bear ran amuck in the sheep I was herding one night and killed or mortally wounded 42 sheep on their bed ground. We used bear grease rendered from bear fat to keep our shoes oiled. Sam Pierce was employed as a bear hunter and killed more than 100 bears in 1916 on the Manti Forest area.

Most carvers left their names on many trees, but two men told me they had each carved their names only once. One was Ernest Winkler, whose name I found near Commissary Spring where he had carved it as a boy. The other was James Larsen, whose one carving was in a grove of trees on top of the mountain. He carved this while his sheep were marooned in deep snow from a severe early fall storm, and he was waiting for help to rescue them. A team of horses dragged a fir tree through the snow to make a trail the sheep could follow off the mountain, strung out in single file.

Recently I found a forgotten carving of my own name on a tree near Silver Creek. With it was the date, “Sept. 9, 1924,” and the comment, “114 fish.” I remembered carving this on my way home to attend school after herding sheep since early May. Another herder and I had gone fishing before I left the herd. The legal limit was then thirty fish per day with two day’s limit allowed in possession. I was bringing home, packed in grass in a gunny sack tied behind my saddle, my sixty fish and those the other herder was sending home. So the “144 fish” were six fish short of the 120 we were entitled to.

The tree carvings gave a taste of history to visitors at a time when the leisurely pace of horse travel made it possible to see and admire them. Now that motor vehicles whisk people through groves of trees so rapidly, they do not take time to observe and add to the carvings as they did sixty years ago. And many people contend the carvings destroy the beauty of the picturesque aspen trees. So the day of the popularity of aspen graffiti is past.

Friday, October 11, 2024

Hamilton Elementary Grade 7 ~~~1909

Tuesday, April 2, 2024

Roger Glen Rosenlof February 17, 1943 — February 13, 2024

Roger Glen Rosenlof passed away on 13 February 2024, in Bountiful Utah at the age of 80, 4 days short of his 81st birthday. He was born 17 February 1943, in Mt. Pleasant Utah, to Harold "R" Rosenlof & Reiva Elizabeth Anderson. He was the 4th child and second son. He had an older brother Travis, older sisters Sally & Ruth and younger sister Dixie.

Roger grew up on the farm. He spent much of his time helping his father and grandfather with the sheep, cattle, hay etc. He was not fond of this work to say the least growing up, nor as an adult. He graduated from North Sanpete High School in 1961. In his High School yearbook a classmate wrote, "past tease, present tease and future tease." He would sometimes help his brother Travis haul and deliver coal. Roger was also a member of the Utah National Guard, serving in the 1457th Engineer Battalion, 116th Engineer Company in Mt Pleasant Utah.

He married Beth Mills 2 March 1968 in Ogden, Utah. They were sealed later in the Salt Lake City Temple on 3 June 1983. They are the parents of two children, Michelle and Cameron. Roger has one grandson Shandon Roger Jones. Roger lived all of his adult life in Woods Cross, Utah.

He worked for Mountain Fuel Supply Company in Salt Lake City as an industrial meter setter and retired from Mountain Fuel after 24 years of service. He also had a part-time job while working for Mountain Fuel at the Browning Freight Company. After retiring from Mountain Fuel, he worked as a casual for ABF Freight. He worked a total of 20 years at the two freight companies. During retirement he liked to meet his friends at the coffee shops. Roger was very good with his hands and enjoyed making things such as walking sticks and other items. He was a very good welder.

One of his favorite things was to have a few pets. He loved dogs and had a "cat calling" Cockatiel. His dogs were like additional children, and he took them with him most everywhere.

He enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping and anything outdoors. He loved to take his motorhome to Mt. Pleasant and camp out for a couple of weeks every year. He enjoyed riding his side by side on the Skyline.

Roger is survived by his wife Beth, daughter Michelle, son Cameron and grandson Shandon and by his sisters Ruth and Dixie. And of course, his dog Bailee and his Cockatiel, Taylor. He was preceded in death by his parents and Beth's parents Ray & Selma Mills. Also, preceded in death by his brother Travis and sister Sally.

A viewing was held from 9-11 a.m. on 17 February 2024 at the Russon Mortuary in Bountiful,

The family will then have a viewing from 2:00-3:00 p.m. in Mt. Pleasant, Utah at the LDS Stake Center located at 461 North 300 West in Mt. Pleasant, UT. Interment will be in the Mt. Pleasant City Cemetery at 3:15 p.m. on 17 February 2024. Arrangements are under the direction of Russon Mortuary, Bountiful, UT.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Hematology & Oncology Clinic in Layton, the staff at McKay-Dee Hematology & Oncology, the staff at the Holy Cross Davis Hospital, the staff at Sandstone Park Skilled Nursing facility, and my Costco family for the love and support they have shown us in caring for Roger.