| Show MUM OF N NEVADA IN GOL D RUSH DAYS M this Is is the first of a series tak taken n from the biography of alice orser balul billings n pioneer of ashley valley and an Is first schoolteacher of jensen mrs M arx billings illings 13 la Is eighty eight ht years old and though deal d 1 1 a X still t III remarkably temar remark kably abl y active alice 6 billings waa was born in provo on christmas day in 1885 1865 the fourth child of a family of five to overt and america mecham orser oner her mother america mecham waa was the eighth child of moses and elvira elvin derby verby mecham being a premature baby america wa was very delicate when a child her health improved as she he grew older and a loon soon as he waa was large enough to wash dishes and tend a babehe baby she he went out to toworu work the farioly to ly w VM 5 large twelve it and in poor circumstances america came come to utah in 1853 with her family AH AA th the conw yance was small she walked walk ed the entire distance many times they had to gather buffalo chips as they filey walked BO so they would have a fire when night came and camp was wax made when they reached wah utah america went out to work as all of the family who were able had to get a t out and earn their own living by practice she became a good dressmaker and did all kinds of se sewing ins she worked work ed a great eat deal in the homes he ex of brigham B ham young they were very kind d to her alice 6 0 billings father alao worked lor for brigham Fam young evert oner orser has bom born in up Il lanti Ul michigan chlian hb his father died when evert was only nine ears of age a e hia his mother think kan g that t la t line e could not support go rt so many m children hildren c bound Tig alm out outs as an some people did in those dayi days she received a small sum for hid work evert however did not like his master as ashe he required more of him than the boy thought ho he could do he ran away and found work elsewhere on his I 1 own he had no one to advise or help him bim and had no opportunity of to school while will e evert vert and und america were both working SOT for bri brigham aham young you ti they became interested inter ested in e each c other and were ware married august A agust in june of 1807 1867 when alice was ai lust list two years old the family batni Y moved to cold creek white pine county nevada this was at the tinte of the white pine gold rush evert took up acres of land and raised wild hay and groin grain he lie was a great lover of horses which he raised as well won as cattle eattle the family lived on the stam stage ine line that went we nt through to california so evert operated the stables for the stage age horses am erica cooked for and fed the stage acsah era the arsers 1 9 hani lots of money but saved little as prices were high flour often cost 23 25 per hundred while living here america olied nor har husband in harvesting crops she did a lot of riding and driving of horses and cattle ar or well they aey lived with their family in a 11 four roomed log house the rooms were large and the mother worked hard she would put no responsibility on her children because she ind had had to work BO so hard that she determined to spare her children what she nad had gone through alice bays a s that was the greatest mistake mistrie her mother made for when the children were married they knew little about home keeping mrs orser had a flower garden which was admired by everyone it was so cold that few people tried to raise flowers her fler garden was a mystery to some there was a two room school house in the little community co which the children attended as they reached the proper age one room was to ho hold d school schod in and one to play in this was necessary necessary as the lenow was BO so deep in the e winter time that the children could not play outside much twelve was the highest enroll enrollment M ent the school had at a time so deep was the snow in this locality local lockade that it would co cover ver the high stockade fences the wind blew the snow into great drifts as high as the houses amusements alice remembers be ra here were horseback riding sleigh riding mayrides hay rides in wagons and dancing women and children were very scarce and were given much attention atten flon for men plentiful alice herself began dancing at the age of six at tit the grownup grown up dances at the age of seventy four she still enjoyed dancing danci she and dancink her nL brothers and slaters slaten knew nothing about church the nearest one was forty miles away the only on ly time they ever attended church was when their mother took them to provo 0 to o visit their grandparents and 4 or A rv RI 1 41 alice oner billings other relatives alice remembers on one of these visits getting a picture in sunday school which she prized very highly the pines were BO so near that the th e ch children I 1 laren could walk to them and gather pine nuts which they considered great sport in the tall fall large crowds would go 0 to winter gather pine nuts for the winter use sometimes th they would buy the nuts from the eln indians deans at one time tin e some men came to the orser home they expressed a desire for some pine nuts so alice and a brother were sent up therill the hill to get soma tome from the indian camp the indians indiana were getting the ca camp I 1 m ready for the night they the h had as covered their coals deep in n ashes to keep until morning in the dark alice stepped ged right in the middle of a buried fire and burned her foot loot so badly that her brother had to carry her home on his back they forgot all about the pine nuts when alice was about four years ears old she fell into the creek 9 that a t ran through the farm from all appearance che she was dead but b u t an old indian pulled her from the water and holding her by the feet began shaking her and shouting his medicine song her mother beard heard the comme tion ond and ran to him the indian refused to give up the child until he had bad shaken all the water out of her lungs in a short time she the regained consciousness in the winter of 1870 1879 80 it was BO so cold and there was so much snow with so many blizzards ards that cows and calves froza to death with plenty to eat the arsers had a lot of cows and had been getting seventy five cents to a dollar a pound bound for butter though the market was forty miles away the heavy loss discouraged evert and america so in the spring of 1880 they moved back to provo with their their family they started with the intention of coming to ashley valley but heard that the winter had been hard here too so they stayed in provo 0 at ahe the age of fourteen alice rode a horse three hundred miles and helped her brother drive a band of horses as they ehg could not pet t a good price pric e for them in ve nevada vada they sold what cows they had leti left but could not sell the place as the gold rush was over and there was nothing much to interest people to buy later mrs orser went back and sold the place for a small sum As they were crossing the salt a alt lake desert the sand was so deep and so hot that the little colts would lie down and put their feet up in the air to cool them one evening evenin a man advised mr orser to fake lake a cutoff cut off by taking his advice the family lost the road mr orser had been breaking some colts as they came alongia alo along ngip by changing off every day his team was young oung and wanted to ti D go as dad did the loose horses the loose horses smelled water and had gone lone to it so the family lost all all track of them mra mrs orser however was wa driving an old learn team that w was almost exhaled it was necessary therefore to string out frank alices brother tried to ke keep e in sl sight t of his ids father lather and A alice defice in sight of him would call back frequently to her mother so that she would not get lost at two in the morning the desert weary family reached a haven of green grass and water the oasis they could have reached by 10 the previous night if they had kept the road they remained at the oasis for two days to let the horses rest at another time as they were going up a du dugway sy just before reaching the feline home of porter rockwell a donkey came braying down the road freight ening the horses so an that they turna turned and ran off through the cedars frank had to help his father with his young team of colts BS 83 they were so frightened one man could not manage them alone in trying to head the horses alice A lice was caught by a cedar limb in her coat a and n d almost hung in a tree she kept tight holdom hold of the bridle reigns however ever broke the limb and came down behind the saddle though mr orser had bren well 11 acquainted acqua anted with porter rock w ell the latteri wife would not tell where he was and did not want to talk about him the fourth of july of that year alice was as cold as she has ever been the family were traveling rave n through rough the mountains before they ey reached the jordan jurdan river iver the wind was blowing and alice was dressed only in summer clothing with the exception of the little coat she had torn on the cedar when they took her off her horse she was so cold she stayed in the shape she hid been sitting on the sidesaddle side saddle and it was sometime before sh she could straighten up |
