Well Do I Remember--Autobiographical Writings of Nephi Jenne Hansen

8/11/2019 Well Do I Remember--Autobiographical Writings of Nephi Jenne Hansen

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And they that shall be of thee shall

build the old waste places: thou shalt

raise up the foundations of many

generations; and thou shalt be called,

The repairer of the breach, The

restorer of paths to dwell in.

Isaiah 58:12


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Table of Contents

Preface .......................................................................................................................................................... v

Chapter One: My Father ........................................................................................................................... 1

Chapter Two: My First Memories ............................................................................................................ 7Nephis Childhood, 1868-1880

Peter Hansens Mission to Arizona..................................................................................................... 10

Early Schooling ............................................................................................................................... 11

Early Salt Lake City Memories ........................................................................................................... 13

Chapter Three: We Went to Work with Energy and Determination...................................................... 17

Nephi's Teenage Years--Education and Employment, 1880-1890

Farm Work .......................................................................................................................................... 17

More Education ................................................................................................................................... 19I Wanted to Make Good .................................................................................................................. 23

Exploring the Teton Basin .................................................................................................................. 26

Getting Started in Business ............................................................................................................. 33

Chapter Four: The Amusement Side ....................................................................................................... 35

Nephis Teenage YearsRecreation, 1880-1890

Speaking of Indians ......................................................................................................................... 38

We Had Very Merry Times ............................................................................................................. 41

Chapter Five: Travel without Purse or Scrip.......................................................................................... 43Nephi in the British Mission, 1891-1893

Meet Our New President ................................................................................................................. 47

Scotland............................................................................................................................................... 48

London and Paris ................................................................................................................................ 49

Chapter Six: I Knew I Could Do It......................................................................................................... 52

Nephi Goes into Business, 1893-1915

Granite Lumber Company .................................................................................................................. 54

Other Businesses ................................................................................................................................. 59

Chapter 7: My Interest in the Railroads ................................................................................................. 62

Nephis Recollections of Working with the Railroads, Early 1900s

Working for Fair Freight Rates ........................................................................................................... 63

Removing the Railroad Tracks from Sugar House ............................................................................. 65

Chapter Eight: The Mayor of Sugar House............................................................................................ 70


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The Rest of the Story

Sugar House Mansion...................................................................................................................... 70

Moving the Prison from Sugar House ................................................................................................. 72

Service to Individuals and the Community ......................................................................................... 74

Financial Reversals ............................................................................................................................. 76


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Preface

In 2011 my husband Kyle and I were living in Beijing, China, where he worked as the Resident

Legal Advisor at the U.S. Embassy. One day I found myself thinking about Kyles grandfather,

Clyde Free Hansen. After he and Kyles grandmother Marian divorced, there was almost no

contact between him and his family. This made me sad, and I was wondering whether there was

any information available about him. Using my friend Google, I began searching, and I was

surprised and delighted to find this on a genealogy website:

I'm looking for any grandchildren of Clyde Free Hansen, born approx. 1894 and raised in Salt

Lake City, Utah. Clyde died in 1972 in SLC. His father was Nephi Jenne Hansen, who helped to

found the Sugarhouse area in Salt Lake City. I have important information--family history, somephotos, and handwritten information for his grandchildren. If anyone knows of their

whereabouts, please contact me.

I was thrilled to find this posting, but unfortunately it dated from 2005. Would I be able to

contact the poster? Happily she has a somewhat unusual name, and I was able to find her on

Facebook. She was delighted to hear from me, and we arranged for me to come to her home the

next time I was in the United States.

This dear woman is the daughter of Clydes second wife. Since she was just five years old when

Clyde married her mother, she grew up in his care. When we met, she expressed her love for

him, calling him, a cross between David O. McKay and Santa Claus. He saved me! she

exclaimed. All that I becameis his doing.

The box she so generously gave me was filled with photos, mementos, and many pages of a

manuscript. As I looked through the handwritten pages, I realized that I was holding the

autobiographical writings of Clydes father, Nephi. Some of the writings had been typed, so

evidently Clyde had been working on transcribing and publishing the autobiography.

In the box I found a letter dated November 28, 1944, from Clyde to his parents Nephi and Laura

that says, I have often wondered how you are coming with that autobiography you were

working on. I hope you carry it on and give us every detail you can. If it would help to getsomeone to take it down and transcribe it Id be glad to stand that expense. It is too valuable to

pass by and becomes more valuable with each generation.

It has taken me some time to go through all the handwritten pages and organize the narrative.

Some stories were told many times, evidently from later in his life (one page mentions 1947).


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Perhaps writing these stories from his long and productive life kept him busy in his later years

before his death in 1951 at the age of 83.

I was fascinated with the world Nephi inhabitedSalt Lake City and the West after the time of

the pioneers as the area grew up. He has a gift for description that I hope you will enjoy as

much as I have. I have chosen the version of each story that I like the most and connected all ofthem into one narrative.

Nephi mentions many friends, acquaintances, and business associates, and I have tried to locate

photographs and some biographical information about these interesting individuals. I have also

tried to include period photographs to illustrate some of the places Nephi describes. Thanks to

the Utah State Historical Society for some of these photographs.

Sadly,Nephis stories end around 1920, so many of his great contributions cant be told through

his own words. Because of this I have included a short chapter summarizing his later life and

accomplishments.

I believe that Clyde wanted me to find these writings and finish the job he started. I hope he is

pleased with the result.

Mary LatimerJuly 2014

Clyde Free Hansen


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Chapter One: My Father

Nephis Memories of His Father, Peter Hansen

My father [Peter Hansen] was born [in 1836] about seven miles

out of the city of Copenhagen. His father was a truck farmer [who

produces vegetables for the market] and as a boy, my father

assisted him in taking care of the truck produce and went into the

Copenhagen market every day. He would get up about four in the

morning so as to get to the market for the early buyers.

When he was [seventeen] years old,

he came to America and to Utah

with his sister [Sophie] who had

married a man named [Jens]

Hansen. They had [one son] of

their own. Father wanted to come with them, and they finally left

on a sailboat that was coming to the United States with a load of

migrants coming to Utah. They had a very troublesome voyage,

being on the sail boat, and they were nearly eleven months coming

from Copenhagen to Utah. Their voyage was very rough part of

the time, and then the tedious strain from St. Louis across the

plains was really more than his sister could stand, and she passed away the day after their arrival

in Salt Lake. 1

1Of his trip to Utah Peter wrote, We landed at New Orleans where we got on board a steamer for St. Louis where

we stopped some time. My sister was sick there and gave birth to a daughter....We came to a place by the name

of Kansas, where we stopped a long time to get fixed up for crossing the plains. It was something new to see the

oxen work, and more so to have to drive them, and to make it better still most of the oxen had never been worked

before. When we started there was one or two on each side to drive, or rather herding instead of driving,

nevertheless we got along. It was a hard journey crossing the plains, for we had not all we wanted to eat, but had

to work all the way. I think I did not ride ten miles on the whole journey from the States here, therefore I was

many times very tired and hungry.

A strange accident, one day driving along crossing a ravine my sisters child, [Hans Peter], about 2 years

old, fell out of the wagon and the wheels went right over his breast. There was about 35 hundred [pounds] on the

wagon, but it did not hurt him any.

My sister took sick on the plains. She was sick about three weeks before we got here. I think she had

the mountain fever. She was blessed by the Elders of Zion, but she died the first night we came in. [Her baby

daughter Elementine Josephine died one month later.] Then I was left alone in a strange land without father or

mother, sister or brother. I felt like I was lost forever, for I could not speak any English (History of Peter Hansen,

transcribed from the original diary by Lois H. Wardle).

Jens Hansen

Peter Hansen


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President Brigham Young suggested that his brother-in-law go to

southern Utah where there was a goodly number of Scandinavian

people already there and his chances for his future happiness

would be much better.

One of Parley P. Pratts wives who had no children wanted to takethe boy Peter as her own and promised him a good home and

good care. This seemed the practical conclusion of the situation,

so Peter joined the Pratt family as a son of Elizabeth Pratt.2 The

training he had in Denmark made a very good foundation for him

in his new home, and he soon won the love and confidence of all

the Pratt family, so much so that in a few years the mothers of the

other Pratt boys would instruct their children to do whatever Peter told them to do.

To illustrate what I intend to convey, W.B. Richards,3who lived

near the Pratt family and with whom I was confidential, used totake pleasure in telling me many little circumstances of my

fathers thrift and energy. He would often go over to the Pratt

home to get the boys to out fishing or hunting, and Peter would

always say, Now Willard, dont disturb the boys. They must

finish this certain piece of work before they can go. If you want

to get in and help them finish, then they may go, but not until the

job is completed.

W.B. Richards has often told me that he had asked my father

many times in the later years of their lives how it was that he hadsuch an influence over the Pratt boys when most of them were

older than hehis answer was always the same, Willard, I could not have done a thing with

them if their mothers had not all been solidly back of me and upheld me in everything I wanted

them to do. As time passed, they placed more responsibility on Peter.

When Father was in his early 80s, I quite often took him for an auto ride which he seemed to

enjoy very much. One Sunday I took him up City Creek Canyon just after they opened Rotary

Park. When anything struck his fancy very strong, he would state his approval by saying, Well,

well, well.

2Elizabeth Brotherton Pratt [1816-1897] was the third wife of Parley P. Pratt. She was born in Manchester,

England, in 1917 and married Parley P. Pratt in Nauvoo in 1843. She accompanied him on both his missions to

California, returning to Salt Lake City from the second mission in 1855. This must be when she met 18-year-old

Peter Hansen, who arrived in Salt Lake City in October of 1854.3Willard Brigham Richards [1847-1942] was the son of Willard Richards and was born at Winter Quarters,

Nebraska. A farmer and stockman, he invented and patented a plough with wheels on which the ploughman could

ride. He lived to be 95 years old and attributed his long life to not being cooped up in a house.

Elizabeth Brotherton Pratt

Willard Brigham Richards


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As we were riding along smoothly over the paved road, he said, Well, well, well, it has been

over fifty years since I have been up this canyon. We used to get our winter wood out of this

canyon. Each fall we would cut the birch, maple, oak and pine, haul it down, and cut it up for

winter heat.

One evening I was sitting in the back of the room reading andseveral of Parley Pratts [wives] were gathered as was their

custom to talk and do their sewing and knitting, and they spent a

lot of time telling about what a fine boy Peter was, how he would

always do his work pleasantly and well, never complain, and

always seemed to be pleased to do it, how he always got his load

of wood each day, never missing, six loads each week, while the

other boys would complain that something was the matter with

the wagon or one of the horses needed shoeing or for one reason

or another they would only get four or five loads a week.

This talk swelled me all up to hear them say all those nice things

about me and not a bit of praise about their own boys. So the next day when I went for my load

of wood, I worked hard and got out the biggest load of wood I had ever hauled out of the canyon.

I had a big pair of mules. One was a splendid animal in every way but the other one would

refuse to go if the load was too heavy.

The roads were not like they are today but ran up hill and down and over dugways, and just as

we got almost to the top of the steepest hill in the canyon, the bad mule stopped still and refused

to budge. The wagon started to roll back downhill. The good mule could not hold the load, and

as I pulled the brakes, the wagon wheels, turning back, pulled both brake blocks out of theirsockets, and mules, wagon, and load went rolling down the hillside. As I jumped off the load, all

I could was to watch it roll over and over, and when it finally landed, there was one mule under

the wagon and the other one stripped of its harness standing there wondering what happened.

When I got down to the wagon, I found it was the bad mule that was under the wagon and my

good mule was not badly hurt, so I took the ax and put the bad mule out of its misery, as it

seemed to have most of its bones broken, and I got on the good and went home. The next day

we took two teams and two wagons and went up for my load of wood. We got them down and

had the wagon fixed, then the womenfolk told me to go to Brigham Young and see what he

thought about it.

He said, Peter, we just had a lot of wild mules come in from Wyoming. You go out there and

pick out a good pair, the best you can find in the bunch. They will not be as large as yours, but

you take that mule you say is so good and break those wild ones in until they are thoroughly

broke so you can do anything with them. Be sure they are thoroughly broke, then bring the good

mule back to us. Those mules proved the wildest things I ever tried to handle.

Peter Hansen


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When he was older, he met a girl, a

daughter by adoption of Franklin

D. Richards.4 He thought a great

deal of her and she reciprocated his

attention, and he went to Franklin

D. Richards, as was the custom in

those days, and asked if he had any

objection to his paying attention to

his daughter, Roseanna [Jenne]

Richards.5Mr. Richards assured

my father he had no objections at

all. As long as his attentions were not repulsive to the girl, he would be delighted to have him

pay her attention. He further stated he admired his thrift and perseverance and his personality,

and therefore gave his full consent.

Father said she was the sweetest girl in Salt Lake. When they were married [in 1866], her father

said, Now I have some ground down near Brigham Youngs Forest Farm; also a city lot of

about 2 1/2 acres in Salt Lake, and that meant there were four lots in a block. He, therefore, had

a quarter of a block on First South and Main Street. Brother Richards said, You may either have

the city lot or 20 acres down next to Brigham Youngs farm which is on 6th East, running to 27th

South.

Of course, Father said he couldnt make a living on the 2 1/2 acres in town, so he took the 20

acre farm. He built a log cabin and squared it off on three sides so it could be fairly nice on the

outside and that is where he raised his small family.

My Father received a letter from my mother some place west of Wells, Nevada, where he had a

contract on the Southern Pacific Railroad for grading. In fact, he had quite a number of contracts

west of the Promontory on the north side of Salt Lake. That was at the time when the Southern

Pacific Line ran around the north end of the lake and the government gave a bonus to people who

would take up land adjacent to the railroad. This gave the people the inducement that the railroad

gave the settlers in every other section that they would take up and develop, and it was called

The Railroad Section. The matter was worked out with the legislators at Washington and

discussed for many, many years before the government decided to give that to the settlers in

order to induce them to get the country, which was then a wilderness, under production.

4Franklin Dewey Richards (1821-1899) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1849 to 1898,

and was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve from 1898 until his death in 1899. He served as Church

historian and the first president of the Genealogical Society of Utah. Four times he was called to labor in the

missions of Europe and the British Isles. He was also a judge in Utah.5Roseanna Jenne (1841-1872) was the daughter of Benjamin Prince Jenne and Sarah Snyder. After Benjamin and

Sarah divorced, Sarah married Franklin D. Richards in plural marriage.

Franklin D. Richards Roseanna Jenne


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It was in this stage of its construction that Father received the above letter from my mother

saying that she thought he had better return home because she had been feeling very

uncomfortable for the last several days, and she would appreciate him coming home if he could

get away from his work.

Father immediately got someone to take care of his teams he had working there, and he took thefour-horse stage back home. Soon after he arrived home, I came into the picture on the 5th day of

December, 1868. I have not been able to obtain just how many days he was on the road home,

but he was there in time to meet me on that day.

While I have had considerable

experience with the railroads

locally, why, I blame the

experience my Father had with the

railroads for my interest in them.

On the Jubilee Celebration on the50th day after the completion of

the two railroads, which happened

at the Promontory on the north end

of Great Salt Lake, he was

awarded a gilded spike. As you

know, the Golden Spike was

driven at the Promontory on the

Jubilee on the union of the two

railroads, the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific. [The driving of the Golden Spike occurred

five months after Nephi was born.]

Driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory, Utah, May 10, 1869

The Golden Spike, engraved on this side with the words, May God continue the unity of

our Country, as this Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world. Presented by

David Hewes San Francisco


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Peter and Roseanna were the parents of five children: Peter, who died in infancy, was born in

1861; Sarah Luella was born in 1862; Anna, who died before her second birthday, was born in

1864; William Lawrence was born in 1867; and Nephi Jenne was born in 1868. Roseanna

became ill and died in 1872.

Peter and Rosanna with their children (l-r) Nephi Jenne,

William Lawrence, and Sarah Luella


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Chapter Two: My First Memories

Nephis Childhood

1868-1880

My first memories were of my sisters6gentle care. My mother having died when I was [three

and a half] years of age, my grandmother, Mrs. Franklin D. Richards,7came to our home to look

after the small family. She was of a

very genial disposition, full of love

and affection and also experience in

caring for the sick. As she was a

good nurse and a mid-wife, she

spent most of her time in thecommunity administering to the

sick and helping the new babies

come to town. My father having

bought her a gentle horse and a nice

buggy to travel in, she soon became

well and favorably known

throughout the country, especially so as her services were free. Occasionally someone would

give her a sack of flour, or a ham or a piece of beef, but more times, nothing at all.

Well do I remember my auntshome, as my grandmother would

send us once a week to stay

overnight with our cousins,

children of Mrs. George Q. Cannon

[Sarah Jane Jenne8], who lived in a

great house on the corner of 1st

West and South Temple Street.

Later they moved to 6th West near

10th South and still later, near 10th

West and 14th South where George

6Sarah Luella Hansen (1862-1954).7Sarah Comstock Snyder Jenne Richards (1813-1894) was one of the first of her family to join the Church. She

traveled to Utah with her husband, Benjamin Prince Jenne, and their children, but they divorced. She afterwards

married Franklin Dewey Richards in polygamy. His first wife was her sister Jane Snyder Richards.8Sarah Jane Jenne Richards (1839-1928) was the sister of Nephi Jenne Hansens mother, Roseanna Jenne Hansen.

She walked every step of the way across the plains to Utah.

Nephis grandmother, Sarah

Snyder Jenne Richards

Sarah Jane Jenne Cannon George Quayle Cannon

Nephis sister,

Sarah Luella Hansen


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Q. Cannon9built each of his five

wives a great two story house.

Here we could go swimming in the

Jordan River, and at this home we

were big enough to have our own

horses or at least one for each of us.

Angus J. Cannon10was about the

age of my brother, and Hugh J.11

was about my age, so we grew up

to manhood more like brothers than

cousins.

Another aunt, Olive Peck,12[married William Peck,13a blacksmith, and] lived for a while on

North Temple near 1st West, later settling in Gentile Valley, Idaho. We also grew very fond of

these cousins.

My other aunt, Lovisa Roundy,14lived at Wanship on the Weber River. I recall when very small

I would go with my father in the fall of the year to Wanship and stay there for the day and two

9George Quayle Cannon (1827-1901) was an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a

member of the First Presidency under Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow.10Angus Jenne Cannon (1867-1957) as a young man served a mission to Switzerland and Germany, and later was

the president of the Swiss and German Mission. He also served as a bishop.11Hugh Jenne Cannon (1870-1931) was a member of the General Boards of the Sunday School and the YMMIA,

and a stake president for 20 years. In 1921 he accompanied David O. McKay to Beijing when Elder McKay

dedicated China for the preaching of the gospel.12Olive Sophronia Jenne Peck (1835-1920) and her husband William Peck moved to Gentile Valley, Idaho in 1873

where they settled and raised their family.13William Page Peck (1834-1923) was an 8 thgeneration American who served in the Walker Indian War of 1853.

He loved books and was very handy, making caskets for many in Gentile Valley, Idaho.14Lovisa Jenne Roundy (1832-1917) had fond memories of Joseph Smith from when her family lived in Nauvoo.

She and Jared were the parents of nine children.

Angus Jenne Cannon

Olive Sophronia Jenne Peck William Page Peck

Hugh Jenne Cannon

Lovisa Jenne Roundy


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nights, returning the third day on a load of coal as Father would put in a supply of coal for the

winter, taking three days to get the load. Several trips were made each fall.

I well remember my uncle, Jared Roundy,15as he had a very large

barn and a lot of big horses and some smaller ones that were very

fast. My uncle hauled the coal from Coalville up to the OntarioMine at Park City and hauled the ore down to the U.P.R.R at

Echo. He had a lot of teams of four and six horses each hauling

coal up to Park City and the ore down, and for years he would

come to our house at all hours of the day or night with a pair of

bright, quick horses on a very light spring wagon. He always

carried a large steel box under his seat and two guns by his side.

The horses were trained to jump into a run as fast as they could go

because in this steel box he carried the gold and silver with which

to pay off all his men for the hauling and for the coal.

He came regularly each month, never traveling the same time of the day or night twice in

succession as the trail was rough and subject to being held up by robbers at any time. He always

had a team he thought could outrun the robbers horses, and they had been trained to jump into a

run at the signal from him.

I recall how horrid it seemed to see those big six-shooters which were the best we could buy in

the state at that time, that might kill a man at any time, also how anxious I was to see what he

had in what he called his grub box as he was sure to bring us cakes or candy or something to

which we were not accustomed and how anxious my father and grandmother were about him

each trip until they got a letter from my aunt saying he had arrived home all right.

When leaving the bank with his load of gold and silver, he would give the impression he was

going out the next day but would travel all night at as rapid a pace as the roads would permit, or

if he gave the impression he was going that night, he would wait until the next day so it would be

more difficult. If word should reach some robbers, they would be thrown off the track to some

extent.

My Roundy cousins always rode the fastest horses on the river and were not afraid to ride the

wildest horses without a saddlejust a pair of good spurs and a hackamore,16no bridle. These

were great days for us boys although we were too young to do much riding at the time.

15Jared Curtis Roundy (1827-1895) was the son of Shadrach Roundy, one of Joseph Smiths bodyguards. Jared

served as a bishop, a commander during the Black Hawk Indian War, and a sheriff of Summit County.16Asimple looped bridle, by means of which controlling pressure is exerted on the nose of a horse, used chiefly in

breaking colts (Dictionary.com).

Jared Curtis Roundy


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Later on when we were big enough to ride and care for a horse, he gave us boys a very fine

saddle pony, well trained and gentle, and we were the envy of the boys in the neighborhood for

having such a fine pony.

Peter Hansens Mission to Arizona

President Brigham Young often chose Peter Hansen when he wanted a good man to do a good

job. He was called to fight the Indians when they got beyond control in Battle Creek, now

Pleasant Grove. Later he was called to Arizona to help protect the new settlements in northern

Arizona against the Indians and assist the new settlers to get a foothold in this new country.

When their mission was completed down there, and they had gotten as far as the Colorado River

on their return trip, they were met by another group from Salt Lake going to Lees Ferry. The

captain of this new company had a letter from President Young to choose two of the best men in

the returning company, men of honor and strength of body, and give them a goodly supply of

provisions, and ask them to survey and explore a new and quicker route from Salt Lake to

Arizona. Peter Hansen was one of those chosen for this hazardous journey.17

After losing one of their pack animals and most of their food

supply when the animal was swept down the river a few miles,

they had to kill a couple of mules to eat because of the scarcity of

meat. When they came to evidences of human life, they also came

across one big buck Indian. Some of the men were walking due to

the loss of their mules, and they asked that Indian where white

man was. He pointed to the hills quite some distance away and

motioned that white man lived on the other side of the big hill.

When they got to the top of this hill, they could see a number ofhouses where the white men were living. They used the rest of

their energy to get to this farm where they told the people of their

trip and of the terrible time they had in finding a new road for the

Saints to follow, and that Brigham Young had sent them to accomplish this task. They had no

success in finding any such road that seemed, in their estimation, an improvement over the ones

originally followed in leaving Salt Lake. The food supply was so exhausted that they had spotted

another mule to be killed the next day for their meat.

These people were so generous that they shared what they had. However, the men were so

ravenous that the people had to withhold their meat, telling them to go and rest, and they wouldawaken them later and let them eat again. They were afraid the men would overeat and become

17In July 1876, a scouting expedition was sent to the Tonto Basin in Arizona to assess the possibility of establishing

a colony there. The men, John Bushman, Pleasant Bradford, William C. Allen, and Peter Hansen, returned a report

that the area was almost inaccessible and dangerous because of Indian unrest (James H. McClintock, Mormon

Settlement in Arizona).

Peter Hansen


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ill and therefore insisted that they lie down and rest first. After a day or two of rest, they were in

better condition, and the people provided transportation for them to go home.

A Mr. Carlyle brought a covered wagon and a big pair of mules to our house and told them (my

grandmother and my sister) that my father had been sent to find a better route to Arizona and

would be back sometime soon. The covered wagon had a water barrel fastened on each side ofthe wagon, as they often would go two or three days between water supplies and would carry

water for their animals and themselves. Later there came a shaggy man with long hair and beard,

and they were all happy to see him, and they said, This is your father.

Father was very happy to arrive home safely after his strenuous trip from Arizona and to find the

family well and to find that the neighbors had very generously helped the two small boys to get

the crops in such a healthy condition.

The twenty acre farm was improved yearly until it was a very fertile fieldhay, grain, corn, and

potatoes. Father was always improving the place while at home, constantly doing something toimprove the barn and stables to make it comfortable for the livestock. He had accumulated

several head of horses and cows by this time.

Early Schooling

Our early schooling consisted of merely learning to read and write. This school was formed by

four families children, the farthest being one half mile away. The other three lived fairly close

because the farms joined each other. The schoolroom was either the kitchen or the living room,

and the teacher was the lady of the house. My older sister [also] had a prominent part in our

education. This was usually done during the winter months and only when the teachers had time

to teach. Very little progress was made in this system.

Later, we went about a mile and a half to a little adobe school house on the hill at 12th East and

21st South where Irving

Junior High School now

stands. This served as a

school house, a church

for the Sugarhouse Ward

(which at this time

extended from the

mountains on the east to

the Jordan River on the

west and from 13th South

to 27th South), a show

house, dance hall, and for

any other kind of a

gathering that was to beSugar House Ward building and school house


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held in that locality. The building, as I recall, was about 24 x 40 feet with a small building in the

rear called a vestry. Here they had a hired teacher and an attendance of from sixty to one

hundred pupils and a half dozen or more classes or grades, as they would be called now.

This school was not usually held for more than three months in the year--December, January and

February--as this was a farming community, and children had to help plant and gather the cropsand take care of the land, preparing it for the spring planting, and when spring came, there was

the planting and caring for the ground that was not prepared in the fall.

This school was a fascination to me as it seemed very hard to learn to read with the system they

had in those days. They held six or eight classes, and the children were to study at their desks,

and at appointed times they would be called upon to answer questions put to them by the teacher

or recite the lesson assigned to them. The other students were supposed to get their lessons while

the one class was reciting, and it was the children that were caught whispering when not in class

that received the punishment. A lighter form of punishment was to stand on the floor, in view of

the whole school, in a circle marked on the floor by the teacher with chalk. If you moved out ofthis circle, you were subject to more severe punishment. We would all stand up in a row and

recite the lesson assigned to us, and when we made a mistake, down to the foot of the class we

would go.

The first teacher I remember was a very gruff man who had always had a bunch of birch sticks at

the back of his desk, and when the rules of the school were broken and the pupils needed

correction, he used these sticks freely according to the magnitude of the offense, and being a man

of not much sympathy, he treated some of them pretty rough, leaving big welts across their back

and shoulders.

I recall one day when he was thrashing one of the bigger boys (and he was very severe in his

thrashing), the boys sister, who was in her early teens, screamed out in school and fainted. She

had been raised in a fine family and, of course, not used to such treatment. This created quite a

sensation in the school and brought the teacher before the trustees later. His treatment was rather

severe on infractions of the rules. I think he taught for but one season.

We had a great deal of fun at recess and noon, coasting down the21st South hill to 11th East.

When coasting was good, we could go almost to McClelland Ave. We made sleighs out of a

couple of maple saplings which grew in the nearby canyons, using the long ends for shafts and

the crooked ends for the runners, fastening them together with crosspieces on which we wouldbuild a seat. We put canvas across the shafts to keep the snow from being thrown in our faces

from the horses hoofs when being pulled by horses. These sleds were often used in taking grain

to the grist or flour mill and bringing the flour and bran back; also for running to the city for

groceries.


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Early Salt Lake City Memories

The trip to and from school had its interesting sides. We took a great deal of pleasure in seeing

the stage coach with its four splendid horses driven by a fur clad driver in a high hat pull up to

the post office, take on a

sack of mail and leaveone, then climb into his

big seat and with a crack

of his long whip, they

were off on the run to

Park City. They would

change horses at

Mountain Dell and go on

to Park City, changing

again on the return trip

the next day. The Ontario

Mine at Park City was a

very rich mine in those

days.

I was amazed at the

magic of a big water

wheel on the south side of a big building, built by Brigham Young for a sugar factory but then

being used as a paper mill. This was located on what is now 11th East and 21st South, one block

west of the school. The stream from Parleys Canyon was run through a canal above on what is

now 13th East, then

through a wooden

flume to the large

overshot wheel which

would turn the

machinery for the

manufacture of the

paper and to see the

mammoth vats boiling

with the pulp, thenrolled out in large

sheets of fine white

paper was to me,

quite a sight.

Stage coach in 1868 on the streets of Salt Lake City

Water wheel at Brigham Youngs grist mill (not the one Nephi describes)


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Some seasons of the year there was

a lot of water in Parleys Creek.

There was no reservoir to impede

the water in those days. Up

Lambs Canyon they ran a sawmill

and made lumber to build with. A

little farther down Bishop Hardy18

had a sawmill. His son Owen

Smoot Hardy19married my sister.

Still farther downstream they used

the power to run a brewery to make

beer. Still a little farther the power was again used by the Jenning

Brothers at about 20th East to make cloth and yarn, and about 17th East the power was again

used to run a woolen mill for Brigham Young.

It was at this mill that father took his potatoes and flour to trade for cloth to make our clothing. I

well remember how happy we were to have a new suit of clothes we had seen them make the

cloth for. They employed a great many women and girls at both of these factories.

The next power plant that I recall was at 11th East and 12th South. After that was Smiths flour

mill on 9th East and

12th South, later moved

to 8th East. Still farther

downstream was a nail

factory. A very busyand useful stream.

It was also a fascination

to me to go with my

sister to the

cocoonery as we

called it where she

worked. This was

located between 7th and

9th East Streets, justsouth of 12th South,

18Leonard Wilford Hardy (1805-1884) served a mission to England in 1844 with Wilford Woodruff and in 1869 to

Massachusetts. He served for many years as a bishop and in the Presiding Bishopric.19Owen Smoot Hardy (1860-1942) grew up on a ranch near Mountain Dell Reservoir in Parleys Canyon. He was

elected Peace Officer in Sugarhouse and served as a Seventy in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for

many years.

Owen Smoot Hardy Nephis Sister, Sarah Luella

Hansen Hardy

Utah women working in the silk industry


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Salt Lake City from East Temple in 1870, two years after Nephi was born


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Chapter Three: We Went to Work with Energy and Determination

Nephis Teenage Years--Education and Employment

1880-1890

Farm Work

My father was a thrifty man and was always making improvements around the place, building

barns and sheds to make it more comfortable for the cattle and horses, and before many years he

had acquired a dozen or more cattle and a half dozen horses. As soon as us boys were big

enough to handle a team, we would help with the farming, plowing, and harrowing the ground

and helping with the planting and harvesting the crops. The neighbors marveled at the work we

accomplished at our age. We would help with our own farm, and Father would work on theother ground, giving the owner a portion of what was produced.

On the farm we helped with the gathering of the grain from the time they would take the bundles

of grain from the machine that would cut the grain and drop it in bundles behind the machine

loose. We would find it and lay the bundle aside so the machine could come around again.

Three or four men were stationed around the patch of grain so they would not have so far to

walk. We were pleased a few years later when we got a new machine that would cut the grain

and lay it on a platform, and a rake would come and rake it in bundles free from the machine so

the man on the machine could help cutting until he had completed the field, and we could bind

the bundles at our leisure. Still later they invented a machine that would cut the grain and bindthe bundles with strong twine and drop them on the ground, so all we had to do was to put the

bundles in what we called a shock, and stand them up on their end so they would dry out ready

for putting in a stack for the machine to come to thrash the grain, separating the grain from the

straw and chaff, the grain to go into the granary to be taken to the mill when we wanted flour.

The straw and chaff was to be stacked around the barns or sheds to keep the cattle warm in the

winter.

The cattle were increasing yearly, and they required a lot of feed in the winter. In the spring we

would send all the animals we were not using to the canyons. As we boys grew older, we looked

forward to the time when we could drive our cattle to the canyons for their summer rangebecause we could round up the cattle on horses. There was always someone who had a place in

the canyons, and they would come and get the cattle and see that they not come out until fall. In

the fall [the cattle] would be brought down, and [the landowner] would charge us $2.00 or $3.00

per head for the seasons service. They always came back fat, and we would sell a few for beef

and keep the producers through the winter.


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Father was now able to acquire more land on shares in order to keep himself and us two boys

busy with whatever we could do on the farm. He increased his livestock so that there was always

a little revenue coming in from that source. I recall when I was about 13 or 14, he had acquired

100 acres of ground in Mendon, Cache County, Utah, and in the spring of the year, he sent me up

there, and made arrangements for a place for me to stay and have one meal a day. I got my other

meals in a little house that he had on the property when he bought it. I handled a plow at this age,

and I broke up ground with this plow on the bench land northwest of Mendon. It was covered

with a plant we called biscuit root.20The roots were hard on the outside but pithy on the inside,

and unless you had a firm hand on the plow, it would almost throw the plow out of the ground as

well as give you a hard jolt--rather hard work for a small boy, but the land was very fertile and

we raised a good crop of wheat.

Next, he purchased 40 acres on the Weber River where the Beaver Creek from Kamas empties

into the Weber. There was a small house on this property. When the crops were planted and

before they were ready to harvest, I hauled lumber from a sawmill in Weber Canyon to the

Ontario Mine in Park City, taking one day to get the load from the

canyon and another day to deliver it to Park City. While I lived on

this farm, every day that it rained, the boys at Peoa would have a

dance in the school house or church, which was one and the same.

My brother [William Lawrence Hansen21], who was older, got a

job taking care of the teachers horses and cows for his board and

schooling in the 20th Ward. This was very much advanced over

the Sugar House School. However, I stayed on at the farm caring

for about 16 head of cattle and horses, milking 4 or 5 cows, then

walking the mile and a half to school.

Our spending money was had by raising pigeons and rabbits and selling them. The money spent

by children was very littleperhaps 25 cents to 75 cents every month or two. There was always

work to be done since I was old enough to rememberpulling weeds out of the grain fields,

hoeing the corn and potatoes, helping harvest the grain, corn and potatoes in the fall, loading the

hay and grain, and helping to bind the grain in bundles after it was dropped behind the machine

or after father had cut it with a scythe. Later we were greatly delighted when a machine was

invented to cut the grain and bend it into bundles, thus relieving us of the backbreaking job of

bending it by hand. It was then put into shocks of a dozen or more bundles each with the heads

of grain always up. When it was thoroughly dry, we hauled it into the barnyard to await the

threshing machine. The stacks of grain from our farm would be about 25 to 35 feet high and

20A plant whose roots were eaten by Native Americans.21William Lawrence Hansen (1867-1941) served two missions to Germany. He was bishop of the Sugar House

Ward from 1914 to 1920 and served as a counselor in the Northern States Mission presidency after moving to

Chicago. In 1836 he was the first patriarch of the newly-organized Chicago Stake, and he also served as the stake

mission president.

William Lawrence Hansen


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about the same thickness. These stacks were made round and made so the threshing machine

could set between two stacks and when one stack was done, they could start on the other without

resetting the machine.

It was some job to set the thresher as each of the four wheels had to be set in the ground and

fastened so they would not move. Then, they would fasten the power plant some distance fromthe thresher in the same manner. Long sweepers were put out from the power plant and one span

of horses was hitched to each sweeper, and six sweepers to each threshing machine. The horses

would go around and around, turning the machinery in the thresher, thereby separating the grain

from the chaff and straw. The threshing in those days took five span of horses, one man sitting

on the power plant driving them, one man to cut the bands on each bundle, another to feed the

loose bundles into the mouth of the machine, three on the stack to put the bundles to the band

cutter, two or three to take the straw from the machine, one to take the chaff or fine straw, one to

take the grain as it came from the machine, one to hold the sacks as they were filled, and two

men and a team to take it to the granary where it was stored. Usually all the neighbors

exchanged work so there was very little hiring of men, and when there was, it was usually paid

for in grain instead of money. The straw was used to mix with hay to feed the dry stock milk

cows, and work horses were to get the hay.

After the grain was threshed, the corn was to be gathered and then the potatoes to be harvested,

then the beets and carrots. The farm work kept us going until the snow came, which in those

days usually came the forepart of November and lay on the ground until spring. The corn was

cut and laid in rows then hauled in the yard near the straw stacks and put in shocks standing up,

and we could take the ears and feed the pigs and the horses and feed the stalks to the young

stock, the horses not working and the cows not being milked.

After harvesting the crops of the Weber farm, Father disposed of it for a farm in Union on 9th

East just a block north of the school and church.

More Education

After I had been attending school at Sugar House for a few winters, the Church started a school22

[Salt Lake Stake Academy] in the old Social Hall formerly built by President Young for social

22Deseret News, Feb 2, 1887: SALT LAKE STAKE ACADEMY. A Successful InstitutionThe Good Work Being

Done. Elder Willard Donesaid that he felt indebted to those of the Saints who had taken an active interest in

the school for the results attained. It had been with some misgivings that he had taken charge of the department,

knowing that a school on this plan was a new venture in Salt Lake, but it was not long before those misgivings gave

place to a confidence which still remainedAs the school was especially designed for Latter-day Saints, the

teachings had been conformed to the Spirit of the Gospel.Elder Karl G. Maeserfollowed, stating that when he

was invited to take charge of the Academy, he did so with reluctance, knowing that he had not sufficient time to

devote to it without neglecting his duties. He had, however, obtained the consent of the Brigham Young Academy

Directors to take Brother Willard Done from that place in the middle of the term, and install him as Instructor here.

PRINCIPALS REPORT,The Salt Lake Stake Academy opened with an Intermediate Department in its present

locality, November 15, 1886, and was placed in charge of Brother Willard Done as instructor. The plan and


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functions and was the scene of

many functions and historical

events. This was presided over

by Professor Karl G. Maeser23,

one of the bright lights of the

intermountain country.

Professor Willard Done24

taught most of the classes I was

in. I rode my horse to school

every morning, meeting Heber

Sheets25every morning at 12th

South and State. We would

leave our horses at Mr. Sheets

barn on 2nd East between 3rd

and 4th South and would ride

back together to 12th South.

Mr. Sheets father was the manager of the Church farm which at that time ran from about Main

Street to what is now 33rd South, west to the Jordan River, and thence north to 21st South, then

12th South.

programme having been previously arranged, the exercises commence at once, with 84 students in attendance,

while an almost equal number of applicants had to be turned away for want of more accommodation

(http://news.google.com).23Karl Gottfried Maeser (1828-1901) was a convert to the Church in Germany. For sixteen years he was the

principal of Brigham Young Academy, the forerunner of Brigham Young University. In addition, he was the head of

the Church Educational System.24Willard Done (1865-1931) was a teacher and scholar of the scriptures who wrote Women Of The Bible: A Series

Of Story And Character Sketches Of The Great Women Who Have Aided In Making Bible History. He also taught

James E. Talmage to ride a bicycle.25Heber Spencer Sheets (1869-1948) worked for the Salt Lake City Water Department for many years and was also

a partner in the Woodruff, Sheets, and Morris Coal Company.

Willard Done

The Social Hall in 1877

Karl Gottfried Maeser


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President Maeser was a very brilliant man and had a pleasant way of impressing on your memory

some very high ideals which some fitting circumstances came to make fitting and impressive.

He seemed to have the discretion to make the best of the opportunity to plant a lofty idea in your

mind when the subject gave him the chance.

The following winter I went with my brother to the university26[forerunner of the University of Utah], and part of my classes were

under Dr. Park.27 The school was then held in a three story

building on 2nd West where West High now stands. Dr. Park was

a great character, of the hardy type. I recall an expression he often

made when the class or some of the class did not seem to

understand the full import of what he tried to put over. He would

say with a good deal of force, I am merely a sign post to show

you the way to go. If you dont go, thats not my fault. You must

go yourself or you will never get there. Another motto which I

have always retained in my memory was, Nothing ventured,

nothing won, nothing gained is lost. Every good deed nobly done

will repay the cost.

26In 1869 the university took a major step forward when Dr. John Rockey Park, who had been operating a school

in Draper, was hired as principal (later called president). He assembled a faculty of some dozen professors to teach

such diverse subjects as phonography, natural history, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, music, and drawing.

Increasing numbers of students made most classes crowded and oversized.Construction of the main campus of

the University of Deseret was made possible by improved economic conditions. By 1884 the University Hall was

finally completed on Union Square, site of present West High School.Eight years later, in 1892, the Legislative

Assembly changed the school's name to the University of Utah (Yvette D. Ison, The Beginnings of the University

of Utah, History Blazer, January 1995, historytogo.utah.gov.).27John Rockey Park (1833-1900) was an influential Utah educator (see footnote 26).

John Rockney Park

Main Street, Salt Lake City, in the 1890s


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The following winter I attended

the Salt Lake Business College

held in some rooms over the

Utah State National Bank.

This was rather appealing to

me because we had cards

representing merchandise and

money, and we would do

business in this way as though

real business. I have forgotten

the name of these instructors;

they were not local men.

My school days were rather

scarce as compared with later

years, and it required lots of

energy to acquire means to

attend school. In my L.D.S. College schooling, we would haul wood from the canyon and sell it

for the cash to buy clothes and books, etc.

Our main source of wood at this time was in a small canyon entering into East Canyon about

eight or ten miles north from Gorgoza. We would start before daylight in the fall, go up to about

two miles below Lambs Canyon, turn

off in a small canyon to the northeast,

pass up this canyon and over the divide

to what we called Glory Hole. Here

there had been a fire years before

which killed the green pines, and now

they were perfectly dry. We would

unhitch the team, feed them, and then

commence cutting down the dry

timber. When we had our load cut, it

was mostly on the side hill and some

distance from the wagon road. We

then took the horses and fastened eachone to one, two or three dead trees,

according to the size of the trees. We

would lead one horse, and the other

one would follow. We would drag

them up near the wagon and go back

for more until we had enough for a

Utah State National Bank building around the time Nephi attended

classes in rooms on the upper floors

Men hauling wood out of Big Cottonwood Canyon in the

1870s


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load. We would then put the horses to feed again and load the wood on the wagon. If the logs

were too large and heavy to lift, we would put some smaller ones in the spokes of the wheel and

roll the heavy ones into the wagon. When the load was on, we would put a long chain around the

load and bind it securely. After resting for the night, we would drive down to East Canyon,

thence up over the summit and home. Sometimes it would take two days to dispose of the load,

although it was usually accomplished in one day. Some years we got team work to do and would

not have to go to the canyon for wood which only brought $7.00 or $8.00 per load.

Sometimes we went to Coalville for coal. This was a three-day trip, going to Wanship or the

Weber River the first day, then to Coalville, getting our load of coal, and back to Wanship the

second day, and home the third.

I Wanted to Make Good

It became very evident that if ever I had

any of the comforts, I would have toproduce them myself. The first steady job

I had off the farm was delivery boy for a

general store opposite Z.C.M.I.: Hardy,

Young and Company General

Merchandise. They carried groceries and

dry goods

The firm was composed of two Hardy

boys28(or men) and a son of President

Young. A boy school friend of mine wasdiscouraged with his job because it kept

him so late every night, especially

Saturday night, sometimes until 10 or 11 oclock. His was to

make two trips in the forenoon, one to the east side and one on the

west. The same in the afternoon. The last trip was to leave the

store at 6 P.M. I went with him for a couple of days to get

acquainted with the route.

I had not been working long before I discovered that the long

hours were the fault of the delivery boy, not the management, andas I took an interest in doing everything they wanted done, I was

given more liberty, and they soon found that the more I could do,

the happier I was.

28Leonard Goodridge Hardy (1852-1938) and Oscar Harvey Hardy (1853-1902) were brothers who established their

general merchandise business in 1881. Later they expanded to include Alonzo Young and Elias Morris.

ZCMI circa 1880

Oscar Harvey and Leonard

Goodridge Hardy (l-r)


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I could see that he had neglected his team and delivery wagon, so I

was not discouraged. I would ride my pony up to one of the

owners places on 2nd South on 4th East where the horses and

delivery was kept, and the first thing I did was to wash the old

delivery wagon and brush up the horses. I fed them well, and it

was not more than two weeks before the boss, Mr. Alonzo

Young,29told me the team was looking better. They kept looking

better, and in several months he said, That is a rather shabby

delivery wagon for such a fine team, so he got me a new delivery

wagon and a new harness.

I had the second best-looking team in the city. The other one only

surpassed mine by reason that the other team was well matched in color, they being both light

sorrels, while my team was one black and the other bay. But there were no better taken care of

than my team, and when I had been there nearly six months I was again complemented for the

orders I had brought in while delivering.

The store had regular customers that wanted the same butter and eggs from the farmer each twice

a week, and if they were not wanting anything else, that was their regular to be delivered. When

I made these deliveries, I would ask them if there were any groceries they wanted in the

afternoon as I was coming that way. They seemed pleased, and they would often order

something. I found my orders were increasing as time went on, and I was careful that those

orders were put up right.

I received a great deal of pleasure forty years later to have Pres. Talmages wife30and Mrs. L.

Young tell me that I was the most careful and considerate delivery boy they had ever had, bothof them having been my customers.

I had not been there two years before they got another delivery

boy and gave me a job as clerk inside, which was a splendid

promotion, but when spring came I longed for the outside, so I

began looking around.

I had acquired a team of horses, and I would work on the farm

part of the time, and then get a job with my team as I could. I

would drive to the city and work hauling dirt from basementswhen there were any buildings being built, or grading roads,

29Alonzo Young (1858-1918) was a son of Brigham Young. He later worked as a shoe and boot buyer for Zions

Cooperative Mercantile Association and was the head of their wholesale shoe department at the time of his death.

He was a member of the high council of the Ensign Stake.30Merry May Young Talmage (1868-1944) married James E. Talmage in 1888 and would have been a young bride

when Nephi was her delivery boy. In fact, he was just one year younger than she.

Merry May Young Talmage

Alonzo Young


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traveled what I was sure was four miles an hour for one hour and a half, and it was dark, and I

could hear the wolves howling in the distant hills, I did not feel so comfortable, but what I could

I do? I was traveling east of south when presently I saw a small light to the north of me. I

immediately made for the light. As I approached the house, I heard a man working about the

stable, and thinking it was Mr. Young, I certainly was thrilled. I asked him if this was Mr.

Youngs place. He said no, Mr. Young was down the stream about two miles, pointing in the

direction I had just come from. He said there was a wagon track or a trail a little to the south,

and if I would go over to that, it would take me close to the house.

I said, No thanks. I have followed the wagon trail for about five miles and couldnt find the

place, and I have heard sweeter music than the howling of those wolves.

He says, Well, you can follow this creek, which is a little farther on account of its winding, but

it runs close to the house.

I took the creek route, hoping there were no wolves in the brush, although he assured me theywouldnt hurt me this time of the year as there were too many rabbits and chickens for them to

eat, and they would not tackle a man unless they were hungry. Still, I didnt feel as comfortable

as I would have done if I had of known the country well. I started off and finally reached the

house. All houses were merely log rooms thrown together that summer as they all had to gather

their hay for the winter feed while the weather was good.

I knocked at the door. Mr. Young called, Whos there?

I asked if they could take a traveler in for the night. I heard George yell, If it isnt Nephi! and

jump out of bed and run to the door. You would have thought we were a couple of girls the way

we hugged each other. I was mighty happy to see him for two reasons. I liked his voice better

than those sounds I had been hearing outside, and I was certainly delighted to see my old chum.

I found his mother and sister had come up to have a visit with him, and it was a happy reunion.

George S. Youngs home


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Mrs. Katie Spencer Young37was one of the most refined,

dignified, and gracefully loveable women I have ever known, used

in early life to her luxurious home, servants, and society. She

never lost her poise when in later years these were denied her,

always sweet and pleasant in the most trying circumstances. Her

one sweet thought and hope was that her children were

comfortable and happy always. When we would be at the big

farmhouse and I would stay all night with George, she was always

sweet and gracious. In the one room log hut she still wore the

queenly grace both in words and actions. It was the same when I

later went through Jacksons Hole and Yellowstone Park with

George and his wife, my wife and myself, and we had to camp

out, sleep on the ground with bears disturbing us almost every night. I never once saw her lose

that angelic pose. That wonderful angelic disposition seemed to never leave her under the most

trying circumstances.

That was a sweet sleep on a hay bed and warm bedding after the

two previous nights broken rest. Awakening in the morning, it

was a joy to see and talk with Mrs. Young and her daughter

Mabel.38 I went out to look around the place with Mabel, and not

more than fifty yards from the house we saw a beautiful spotted

fawn playing around in the willows. This Teton Valley was one

of natures beauty spots before man attempted to reclaim it. The

lower parts were damp from the seepage of the melting snow on

another range of mountains, and this produced a heavy growth ofluxurious grass and flowers, making a splendid meadow. As the

slope grew less gradual, the heavy growth of grass began to fade,

and the lighter grass mixed with small sage brush seemed to mingle, gradually growing into

larger sage brush as the slope gradually became steeper.

This made it so the settlers went in the first year and cut the grass for their winter feed for their

stock. They all located their land so they would have the damp meadows and part of the dry sage

land, and as the timber was plentiful at the ridge of the mountains, it was comparatively easy to

get out the logs for their homes. Those which were at all thrifty got themselves comfortably

fixed up before the rigors of winter set in. George Young and his folks seemed extremely happyto see an old time neighbor after a lonely summer by themselves in this new country.

37Catherine Curtis Spencer Young (1836-1922) is the daughter of Orson Spencer and Catherine Curtis who joined

the Church when Catherine was five years old. Her mother died five years later as the family crossed the plains on

the way to Utah. Catherine married Brigham Young, Jr. and was the mother of ten children.38Mabel Alexandra Young (1865-1940) married Charles Paul Held. They settled in Salt Lake City and became the

parents of five children.

Mabel Alexandra Young

Catherine Curtis Spencer

Young


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After a few daysvisit with my old friends around the valley, George and I took a couple of

horses, tied some provisions and bedding behind us on the saddle, and started out for Jacksons

Hole. As we got a few miles above what is now Victor, we came across a big camp where the

wagon tracks ended and horse path or trail began, for here is where the trappers brought their

hides from the Hole on the pack horses for shipment to the eastern states, and it was here they

had their supplies brought from the towns or RR station farther down the valley. Here they

would pack their winter provisions and supplies of various kinds on the backs of their pack

animals and off for the Hole again.

They seemed to have plenty of flour, bacon, and both fresh canned fruit and dried fruit. They

had no need for meat or fat as the deer and elk furnished plenty of that, and the wild duck and

geese gave them plenty of eggs in the summertime, and as there was only about six weeks in the

year when the snow on the mountain top and the water in the river would make it possible to get

to their trapping ground. We passed on up the trail after having a visit with these strange men

who seemed to have plenty of money and plenty of horses.

As we reached the top of the divide or Teton Pass as it is now called, it was a wonderful sight to

look down on the Snake River and the beautiful Jackson Hole Valley. In following the trail, we

reached the river, and it

was a question where we

should cross, but we finally

made it as both our horses

were good swimmers. As

we proceeded down the

valley, we found hundredsof antelope, and as they are

very inquisitive creatures,

we got very close to them.

Then they would all run

away, looking like a great

herd of sheep. There were

some deer and elk among

them, but not so many as

very few had come down

out of the hills, it being a

little too early for deer and elk to come down to the valley.

That night we camped at the north end of the mountain or hill that rises out of the level valley

between Flat Creek and the Snake River. Here we made our campfire, cooked our chicken and

some of the antelope meat, tied our horses to some willows in an abundance of nice grass, and

Elk herd in Jackson Hole Valley


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proceeded to wrap ourselves in our quilts for the night. Our sleep, however, was not as long as

we would have liked it to be, and in the morning there was plenty of frost on the grass and plenty

of chill in the air. We cooked our breakfast and rode over to the east side of the valley, then south

some distance, looking over the country. We were going south on the hills or ridges when we

came to the top and up jumped three great big deer, and how they did run. They seemed to spring

to their feet and were off all at once. They were fat and pretty.

We stopped at a cabin for lunch about seven miles north of east from where we spent the night.

It was on Flat Creek about one and a half miles below Jackson, and here were two trappers who

had just returned from bringing in their winter supplies from the basin. We had a very interesting

time with them, staying for the night. They told us how they would go back in the hills where the

berries were thick and shoot an elk. They spoke as though they could hit one any place they

wanted to. Then they would visit the dead elk every day, and when they saw that the bear had

made an opening in the carcass, they would skillfully set their traps, covering up all the human

scent. They then cut a small tree and fastened the trap to this tree so that when Mr. Bruin saw hewas caught, he would drag the tree along after him, and they could track him and shoot and kill

him, taking what fat they wanted and whatever part of the body or meat they wanted, taking the

hide carefully as that was the most important part to them. They then cure the hide so it will not

deteriorate but will be in perfect condition when they ship it to the eastern markets the next fall.

Remember, there is only about six weeks during which they can get out of this place, and that is

in the fall of the year.

The next day we went from this camp up to the lake and the swamp and to the cabin of another

pair of trappers a little above where Jackson now stands. Here they had built a fence around

their cabin, the fence being made of elk antlers woven together. One man had some cattle, and hehad taken a mowing machine and a wagon apart and packed them in on horses. Here feed was

plentiful as the grass grew tall and thick and the horses and elk and deer could get plenty of feed

by pawing the snow off with their feet or pushing it off with their noses, and there the grass lay

thick and luxurious. It had grown together for ages, forming a kind of blanket that was very

tough and thick which would hold up herds of animals and still not be more than a foot or two

thick, or so the trappers told us.

In our travels around the lake and swamp, we found

many curious things. This seemed to be a favorite

mating place for the wild water fowl, geese, and Brant

ducks as well as many of the smaller birds. There must

have been millions of geese and ducks in this valley.

Also all during our travels around the lake, and in fact

all through this district, we came across a pair of

bleached bones where some of the noble bull elks hadBrant goose, often mistaken for a duck


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fought and locked horns and both died as their horns were still locked together. We could not

sever them without breaking. Near the swamps, there were thousands of single antlers where

they were shed annually.

After several days of very interesting travel around this country, we returned to the Teton basin,

and Mr. Young soon took his mother and sister and me down to Rexburg where we took the

wagon to Market Lake and the train for home. However, I left the train at McCammon and got

another train to Soda Springs, as I wanted to see my cousins, the William Peck family, who were

located in Gentile Valley at what is now Thatcher. After a night at Soda Springs, I succeeded in

finding a man who was going to within seven miles of my uncles home. On our way from Soda

Springs, we passed a cave which must have been near the present site of Grace, Idaho. Here was

where the people came for their ice in the summer when they wanted any. They would usually

stop on their way from Soda Springs where they went for their shopping or for what few things

they had to have, usually two or three trips a year proved to be enough, as their wants were few

and their provisions mostly produced on the farm or ranch as they were in those days. Comingfrom the ice cave where it was so cold into the hot sun almost caused me to be overcome, and I

had a very close call to a sun stroke. I had some difficulty in keeping my mind clear for the next

hour or so. Not so long after this, I left the wagon to follow a wagon trail to my uncles place. I

passed near several large herds of cattle in this seven-mile trip. They were all fat and sleek and

partly wild, but they did not charge me as I thought one bunch was determined to, but changed

their minds after apparently lining up for a charge.

Finally, I came in sight of the house, but here was the Bear River between us. I knew if they

could cross with a wagon, I could manage, so I took all my clothes off, tied them in a small

bundle, held the bundle over my heat and started across the river. When I was across, I found adry place, dressed, and went on my journey.

I soon reached the house, and they were a surprised lot, and I was a happy boy. My Aunt Olive

was always like a mother to us boys before she left Salt Lake, and I did enjoy being with them.

Their son Roy39was about my age, and he had four brothers, two older and two younger and the

daughter, Effie,40was one of the sweetest girls I ever knew. She was about my own age. This

was certainly a warm and much appreciated reception, one that always brings fond memories. I

stayed here for several days and had a roaring good time every minute. My Aunt Olive was so

sweet and motherly that it was a real sensation and joy to be with her. Effie seemed so happy that

she could hardly contain herself. The reason for this super-happiness was, I found out, when

39Royal Henry Peck (1873-1929) was a director of the Ogden Livestock Show and was a stockman with his

company, Peck Brothers Livestock Commission. He filled a mission to Great Britain in 1911.40Effie Mabel Peck Eldredge (1870-1940) married Clarence Eldredge in 1890. She served as a ward and stake Relief

Society president, as MIA president, and was serving as the head of the LDS church welfare program at the time of

her death.


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introduced to a fine outstanding

young man of whom any girl

wou1d be proud whose name was

Clarence Eldredge.41 She was the

envy of the girls, not only of the

whole valley, but of Davis County

from where he had come and where

his folks still lived. He had cattle

and land interests in Gentile Valley,

but his home was really in Davis

County.

About the second day of my visit, they wanted to know if I did not want to go with them to look

after their cattle. Of course I did, especially when they showed me the excellently built horse

they told me was mine as long as I stayed. Roy and Clarence had a horse as good as mine, fornothing but the best piece of horse flesh in the valley would suit them. If anyone obtained a

better horse, they soon had one from outside the valley to outdo it. They took me over the

mountains to the west of the valley. Then came the thrill when we started down the mountain.

They told me that when going downhill, to give the horse its head so he could handle himself, as

he was sound and sure footed and would never stumble. I knew enough about horses that I could

believe it all about this beautiful animal, but the way those boys slid down that mountain, it was

nothing short of a miracle that they made it safely. I believe they even urged their spirited horses

a little at times. They left me far in the background, and how they did laugh at me, the

tenderfoot from the city. Here in the city I thought I was good with horses, always riding and

having no fear of being outdone. In fact, I had some of the sportsmen from the city pay me forkeeping their fine horses and training them for both riding and driving. But during that ride down

the mountain, I felt I was just as short of sure death as l ever cared to be. The other boys horses

would very often slide twenty feet or more down a steep slope where the dirt was soft. We all

had a great thrill out of that ride. I have had many rides in many places, but never one with the

thrills of that ride down the mountainside.

After a few days of sensation there in the valley, I came out with Roy and Clarence, who were

going to the Smithfield Flour Mills to get their winter flour and other provisions. They each had

four splendid horses on their wagon, and I rode with Roy. We drove down the valley, and finally

the road led us across the river at a wide shallow place. We had lots of fun on the way down. I

traded him a watch for a heifer he had at the ranch. We traded pocket knives, shirts, and

practically everything we had on or with us. I left them at Smithfield and took the train for home

while they secured their load of provisions and returned to the valley. Didnt see them for

41Clarence Eldredge (1868-1950) served in the Southern States Mission. He and Effie were the parents of seven

children.

Effie Mabel Peck Eldredge Clarence Eldredge


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several years until when we were invited to the wedding of Clarence Eldredge and Effie Peck.

The banquet was given at the Eldredge home at Woods Cross, and the dance in the ward house

was a gala affair for the south end of Davis County.

Getting Started in Business

The following spring [in 1890], my brother returned from a mission to Germany and was

desirous of getting started in business. We contacted Joseph E. Jensen42and Hyrum Jensen,43

boys we had known in our

childhood, and the four of us

bought a piece of land from Mr. A.

C. Smoot about a hundred yards or

more south of 12th South on 11th

East, which was then part of Mr.

Smoots cow corral.

The capital was furnished by our

parents as all of us boys had lived

at home and worked hard on the

farm, and any profits gained went

back into more farms except for a bare living. Our parents were delighted to see us make our

start in life.

There was some oak brush on this ground, west about 150 feet to

the east bank of the old Salt Lake & Jordan Canal. Since I had ateam, I started to level off the ground, changing the course of the

water ditch which ran through the property. We immediately

started to build a mill, buying our first wood from a man by the

name of Marchant from Peoa. Later we bought from David

Eccles44in Pleasant Valley, Utah. It was shipped over the narrow

gauge Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad to us at Sugar

House. The lumber in those days was all shipped in the rough as it

came from the log. We would grade it as we received it.

42Joseph Erastus Jensen (1868-1945) married Grace Emma Hortin, and they were the parents of eleven children.43Hyrum Julius Jensen (1869-1953) served a mission to Denmark beginning in 1906 where he was president of the

Aalborg conference. At the time his wife, Bodel Christine Hansen, was expecting their seventh child.44David Eccles (1849-1912) was born in Paisley, Scotland, and came to the United States when his family joined

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He became an extremely successful businessman and industrialist,

and was Utahs first multimillionaire. He is the father of Marriner S. Eccleswho served as Chairman of the Federal

Reserve.

Joseph E. Jensen Hyrum Jensen

David Eccles


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The firm of Jensen-Hansen Brothers bought machinery enough to make our finished lumber. We

had three machines. One could make siding, flooring and casing for doors and windows,

baseboards--in fact most any kind of moldings by grinding different knives into the patterns

desired. Then we had a small machine just to surface boards smooth. These two machines

together with a few smaller ones completed our equipment. The frame of the mill building was

put up and the machinery set and we proceeded to make our own siding. As soon as it was

finished, we nailed it on, and soon we had a very efficient little mill. My brother and I took care

of the office and the lumber yard while the Jensen boys, both being excellent carpenters, took

contracts for buildings.

This business grew, and while we were all young, not one of us married, we went to work with

energy and determination. We soon found that we needed more capital in the business, so we

formed a larger company and took some more experienced men in

to run it. The new company was called the Pacific Lumber &

Building Co. The profit and goodwill of this firm for this shorttime was estimated at $1300.00 each, and we took stock in the

new company for this amount while the others put up

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Well Do I Remember--Autobiographical Writings of Nephi Jenne Hansen

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