Show 0 OUR U R P PIONEERS 10 NIE ae R S who are they their names go seek them on oil the golden page A gift g ift to glory of remotest age the vau van of civilizations westward sweep the few who planted what millions yet shall reap it appealed to us that in this edition of the news we 0 ought u ht to pay our homage to our beloved pioneers more than once while we were gathering the information to do this we were forced to whisper to ourselves god bless the noble pioneers who have suffered so much for us god bless them that they have set us such examples of thrift industry perseverance patience hope optimism charity gentleness and love may contentment joy and peace be theirs during 0 their declining years anamay tile the young learn to show them the respect and honor to which they are a thousand fold entitled optimistic people in gathering this data we talked with quite a large number of our pioneers and we must say that these chats were the most refreshing and strengthening features experienced in the getting up of this issue we found these dear old people uniformly cheerful clie erful hopeful optimistic and inspiring though some are past seventy we were obliged n in every case to call them from their work and when we good told them that we lad had come to give them a little rest while we chatted with them they cheerfully acquiesced to our wishes while assuring us that duty pleasure satisfaction health everyl everything bing depended on oil their daily work young people nowadays are not so anxious about work we suggested to one good sister no she said with ampha si s say not I 1 never saw such a trifling set as tile the young people are th theres e res no dependence in them but yet she continued perhaps its not their fault they were not brought up tip as we were and im 0 glad lad they AW 2 early experiences this led us its to tile the things we desired to hear early experiences in brigham and smiles of pleasure and satisfaction would brighten up ap the faces of tile lie old people as they narrated the eventful things of pioneer life to be sure these were experiences largely of hardships and trials stories of danger front from threatening indians lales of stern battle with direful hunger cold pestilence and even death but never a story was finished without the remark but yet notwithstanding we had bad good times and we en better than people do nowadays we loved each other like sisters and brothers then hen and we know how to appreciate our blessings hardships one can scarcely believe the stories of hardships that our fathers and mothers here in Brig Drig r hain city have endured it was not an unusual thing for families to be absolutely without bread for weeks and months many families lived on such small rations ration 9 as would seem to us insufficient to keep body and soul together M L ensigns family for instance were reduced to three quarters of a pound of breadstuff per day and this was baked in a small pie tin and cut up for six others lad had even less but we ire must not mention because some people believe it here is another story too horrible to tell but it illustrates the dire situation into which the people were thrown during the famine of ag 56 one of our oxen lad died front from starvation and we dragged it outside the city soon the famishing Lama began to surround the carcass and devour us its flesh and woe 0 woe I 1 some of our brethren crazed hv bv bun agn KIT r went and secured slices to cook for their consuming appetites such narrations we know are too terrible to tell but when we consider how men must have been reduced through having not even a taste of bread for weeks and mouths months we must most prepare to hear for desperate strokes we believe that such instances as the one above were rare but all of the pioneers feel that a ili higher her power overruled for their preservation and that as the israelites of old were fed from heaven with manna so also were they miraculously fed during the entire summer season son there was found along the many little streams in our meadows below town an abundance of a peculiar root which they called water segos begos these they gathered every day and boiled more than one pioneer said to us AN when Ilien we could afford just a little milk and flour for gravy in which to boil them 0 my they were good but when we just boiled them in water they were not anything extra of course but they kept us from starving some of the pioneers repeat in now new form the story of the widows wonderful cruse of oil and her handful of meal with which she fed elijah and haw story of the wonderful pitcher from which milk was continually poured but which never became empty in recounting the story of the gathering of segos begos many and many a time we came home somewhat discouraged for we thou thought lit we had exhausted our supply as we could find no more but behold when we would return in the alie morning we could fill our sacks a again 0 ain for weeks says bro cardon of willard I 1 1 I used to gather daily one and one half bushels of segos begos and carry them on my bade back up to briggi bri aham am when we lad had nothing else to eat a man needed just a peck a day not only segos begos but other roots and all sorts of greens were daily gathered gatli cred for food wearing apparel not only did the people suffer for want of food but they lacked clothes it seemed almost impossible to get sufficient clothes to keep their bodies covered say nothing about protection front from the all c cold blasts of winter more than one man rose from his bed in the morning wrapped liis his blankets about him and started off to the canyon for wood arriving there lie he laid his blankets aside while lie worked and wrapped them about him hain on his return trip sister boothe at one time parted with her factory factor ceiling in in an all upstairs room to provide garments for some of the needy deed brethren thought though slie she herself forgot tile the kind kindness nes it was not overlooked by others as will be noted in the letter printed elsewhere in this issue from pros pres brigham young to elder lorenzo snow for years and years says drother brother mathias 1 I had ad no shoes except the clogs my father made me ile he used to get straps of leather from immigrants or from whatever source lie could and these lie he fastened on to birch bot bottoms fashioned out of timber procured in the mountains of course in the summer time I 1 went barefooted and the bottom of my feet became as hard and tough as your shoe soles and so etwas it was everything we learned to do without our plates and bowls and spoons and other utensils as of course what furniture we had father made himself when we think of the pioneers and what they have suffered and ami done for us it must certainly make us feel that we ve cannot honor them with too deep fi a reverence we cannot love them hem with an affection too pure and fervent we cannot serve them with in an energy of purpose or a faithfulness of zeal too steadfast and ardent |