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Show 12 Vernal Express Wednesday, October 15, 1997 n? Elsie D. Jordan writes about pioneer life K i 1 by Carol Jewart Society Writer Many are familiar with the wild tales of Gusher and the area known as the "strip." A whirlwind of outlaws, out-laws, gamblers and transient rouges blew through the area giving it a permanent place in the history books. But what gave the unruly settlement life was the sweat and determination of farmers and businessmen busi-nessmen who weathered the notoriety notori-ety and harsh land to make their homes. In 1917 Clyde and Stella Underwood, along with their daughter, Elsie, decided to leave their small Kansas farm located in the "bottoms." They packed up the covered wagon and moved out west, finally homesteading in a small settlement known as Moffat, Utah. Moffat was just a few miles from Fort Duchesne where an army base was located for protection in case of an Indian uprising between the Utes and the whites. The town was located on the "strip" which was not under the jurisdiction of the state. Consequently, it was a gathering gather-ing place for outlaws where it wasn't unusual for men to shoot each other down. The Underwoods homesteaded on land that was not very fertile which made it difficult to make a living. "We hadn't lived there long until my father's brother, Harry Underwood and his family came from Pueblo, Colo., to live," said Elsie Underwood Jordan. "They took up a homestead nearby, near-by, which was a blessing in disguise dis-guise because mom and we kids wanted to go home. The west wasn't what it was cracked up to be." Back in Kansas the Underwoods were free. In the West they couldn't go barefooted because of the cactus. cac-tus. The water they drank was either ei-ther full of alkali and sweet, or so muddy they never knew what they were swallowing. The only way they could use the water for laundering laun-dering clothes was to split a cactus, anchor it on a stick, and stir until the water became clear enough to use. All of their water had to be hauled from a canal a half mile away. After several years the ditch company com-pany engaged Clyde Underwood and his brother, Harry, to dig a cut through the rock and soil to eliminate elimi-nate this problem, a project which took two and a half years to finish. All digging's were removed cither by hand or teams, scrappers, dynamite dyna-mite and black powder. This cut was some 50 feet deep and at least 250 feet long and became known as the "Underwood Cut." The "Underwood Cut," located cast of Gusher, became the main canal system for the town of Gusher and is still in use today. After the "Underwood Cut" was finished, Clyde and his family moved into Moffat where it was more convenient for school. They rented an old hotel building which once housed famous outlaws, prostitutes, pros-titutes, gamblers and freighters going go-ing to and from Vernal to Price. "After living in Moffat several years, wc decided lo go back on a homcNtcad close to our original location. lo-cation. The only mercantile store between Vernal and Roosevelt was owned by a chinaman, named Wong Sing. He eared more about his customers than any stores lo be found in cither Vernal or Roosevelt," Some of llic ladies of Moffat called on the Underwood ladies lo invite them lo the Red Cross meetings meet-ings which were being held in the Khoolhouse each Thursday afternoon, after-noon, They promised lo leatlt how in knu heaters and sinks for the World War I soldier. Sielld. her sister. Pearl, and Ulsic decided to attend. One lady in particular stood out in LIsic' memory; Maria Dnmgaard. Mrs, Dmig,i,irJ was itw life ( the pariy, m full of vigor and enthusiasm, toil a iruc Oiristian lady. la-dy. In due time tU war ceased and ibe soldier hegan lo come home, Among them was Mrs, DomgaatJ'i siep son. Hyftim, Hymm was dis charged from VVW1 with inflamma tiort in Ibe lining of the heart. The Army plated him in the Holy Crow lhtpi!al frt Sail Lake City lot a month's rtsl before officially dis ihatging him. The dottofS there insisted in-sisted he re eded no medication, on ly ret. They a!o indicated that "smoking hestt hurt any man." Grandma Elsie Domgaard Jordan, Shirley and Eric. Hyrum and Elsie had met several times in their youth but when Hyrum returned from the war, he and Elsie began to date. After a two and a half year engagement, they were married and made their home in California. In 1932, Hyrum's work as a heavy duty operator brought him in contact with too many oil and gas fumes, which along with the smog and fog of the city, aggravated his heart condition, a service connected ailment, and they left Los Angeles. "The decision to leave the modern mod-ern conveniences was hard to make," recalls Elsie. "Due to the depression, banks were closing. You can imagine how we felt when we learned that the Bank of America, where we had our savings of $1,000, had closed. Oh yes, they promised us a return of 80 percent on our savings but we lacked the faith to believe them. Once home in Gusher the Domgaards immediately settled back to a simple life on the farm. "Had it not been for Mother Domgaard, I'm sure I would have lost my mind trying to adjust to the inconveniences of pioneer life," states Elsie. "This new way of life was hard but challenging. I learned to pack water, heat it on a wood burning stove, pour it in a galvanized galva-nized tub, and to make music on an old fashioned washboard as I washed clothes. That same tub was used on Saturday nights as a balh-lub. balh-lub. After each one bathed, I would pour in a fresh tea kettle full of hot water to warm it up for the next fellow." fel-low." The couple began keeping bees. The buying and selling of livestock as well as the home grown vegetables vegeta-bles were also the necessities of farm life. The family had lo move to an area called the Flatts and they needed a house. Clsic's brother, Art. had built a 14 x 1 8 fool garage but he was about lo be married and his future wife warned all the modern conveniences. conve-niences. He remembered that Elsie had an electric washing machine thai she brought from California, so an idea struck him. He asked if he could trade the garage for the washing wash-ing machine. 'To us this was no coincidence, co-incidence, the Lord was leading and providing for our need. Wc made a deal with him. He helped us move the garage onto our property where il siands today." The coming of electric power in the early 1950's was of great benefit to all the farmers, After using coal oil lamps all (heir lives they realized just how much they had missed seeing. see-ing. Trie same year, Calder Broihcrs Creamery began lo buy fresh milk from farmers instead of cream. Their trucks came right lo the ranches to pkk up the milk, At ihis lime Domgaards were milking an average of ten cows twice a day. Those weekly milk checks were the only source of regular cash income, During inly, five years after leav-Ing leav-Ing Los Angeles, Elsie began fech ing out of sorts, as she pul it, "cranky " She was confronted with the fact thai she was going lo have a third child. author, son, Neal Domgaard and "My work never abated. I continued contin-ued to milk three and four cows twice daily. I did all the laundry by hand, canned a year's supply of fruit and vegetables, baked all our bread, and churned cream for all our butter, besides keeping the Sunday School going, until one month before my child was born." Tuesday, April 22, 1936, Elsie's child took its first breath of fresh air. Still living in the one room garage, the Domgaard's wondered where they would put a little bed for him. A heavy pasteboard box was found at the grocery store which rested nicely on top of the sewing machine. As their children grew the house became smaller and smaller. Early in the spring of 1945, Elsie and Hyrum wanted a larger home without with-out going in debt. Throughout the reservation there were many unoccupied two-room houses built from sawed logs. These buildings were selling for $50 each so they bought one closest to them. It did not take Hyrum and Neal but a few days to demolish the house and haul it home. "Early the next spring the house was finished. A lovely six-room structure. Our home was not modern but it was the nicest thing that ever happened to me. Oh how I did enjoy and appreciate it! My heart still goes wild when I think of how I stood in the middle of my kitchen and admired the new things, smcllcd the fresh paint and appreciated appreci-ated those two big wide windows with the dotted swiss curtains. And we did not owe anyone a penny when it was finished." A week before the hunt of 1950, the church and neighbors announced an-nounced that they wanted to help the Domgaards celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. Because of Hyrum's failing health, he did not enjoy the occasion as much as he might have; so he retired early. In the fall of 1952, they harvested a $8,000 alfalfa seed crop and after paying all the bills they were ahead exactly $100. "All during that cold winter Hyrum felt uneasy and distressed. dis-tressed. He seldom complained and due to his easy relaxed personally, I believe he lived longer than he would have otherwise." April 6, Hyrum slipped away around 4:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday. He w as buried close to his father in the Gusher Ccmcicry. "Hyrum Domgaard left us a heritage her-itage that we should he proud of. The things he left behind bear testimony testi-mony to his working faith, courage and determination lo succeed regardless re-gardless of the cost. He had a reputation repu-tation for honesty, esteeming his character seemed to he much more importanl to him than silver or gold." Vernal resident Elsie D. Jordan spent much of her life shaping the history of the Uintah Basin and has written a book about her life as a Utah pioneer. Her varied and surprising csperi ences are collected into a book cmU tied "Delivered from the Bottoms." his wife, Kerry and Shawn and Subsidized Housing for the Low Income Elderly and Disabled (Elderly must be 62 years of Age) 1 bedroom Apartments EQUAL lOPPORTUNITY HOUSING s fIDD 299482 COMPLEX Sharon Skerl 789-2788 I Days Only! THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY to SEE 3 TIER BRASS PLANT STAND $ 12 T.V. 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