OCR Text |
Show 5 a Hf "s- $ CP November 16, 2000 Tyron Kolb, left, Richard Daniels and Jacque Laursen Photo by Senior Airman Russ Martin they settled on the Daniels Ranch and were married by Senior Airman Russ Martin Hilltop Times on Blue Mountain in 1885. Aaron died in 1896 but the Daniels heritage didnt die n with him. Rose became a horticulturist; florist, gardener, interpreter and was known for raising cattle. Out there where granma Roses house used to be, we have a cemetery where granma Rose and Aaron Daniels are buried. Theres a number of our family buried out there, said Laursen. Richards dad, sister, uncles are all buried out there. All the land Rose owned was left to one of the sons, after a while most of that land was sold to the Faucett family, except for where the Daniels Cemetery was and staff Rose Daniels left her mark in the snowy mountains of Utah in the early 1900s and now, more than 50 years after her death, her great grandchildren take pride in well-know- her legacy. Jacque Laursen, production planner, Aircraft Directorate; Tyron Kolb, PMEL planner, Technology and Industrial Support Flight; and Richard Daniels, machinist, wheels and brakes unit, Commodities Directorate, not only find common ground in being Hill AFB employees, but they also are all descendents of one of Utahs most famous Native American women, Rose Daniels. In a rather unique situation, Rose Daniels was an interpreter and her knowledge of the Navajo, Ute and English languages proved invaluable to the government. Now, several generations later, three of her greatgrandchildren not only work for the federal government but work in a close proximity to each other. We really hadnt associated much, we knew about each other, said Kolb. My dad, Richards dad and Jacques mother are all first cousins. We all kind of knew each other as kids, said Laursen. As we got older, it wasnt until we started going to the family reunions that we got reacquainted. Laursen knew Daniels worked on base because shey worked with his wife, Joanne. Later, she learned of Kolbs employment at the base through the grapevine. Weve all got our own things that we do, said Laursen. Richard and I would talk all the time when I worked in Bldg. 100 because Id be coming to work and hed just be getting off. Were still very family oriented, said Kolb. I go hunting with Richard and his brother, my uncles and cousins. We know were family and theres a really close tie there. Its not like you just happen to run across each other and say hi. We go to family reunions often and have a great time. The Daniels reunions, which rejuvenated the descendents interest in each other, came about in an unusual way. A chance conversation with a nurse in a resthome proved to be worthwhile. One of my relatives was in a resthome, said Kolb. He got talking to one of the nurses there and said something about being related to Aaron Daniels. The nurse said, well you know what, that lady across the hall is related to Aaron Daniels. When that old lady died, we all went to her funeral, he said. Me, grandad, Jules we all went. When we got there, we met her side of the family and just invited her family to the reunions. They had quite a number of family. The Daniels family has been organizing reunions for years. For many of those reunions, the site was Roses is. Because that sacred ground had only my Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother, my uncle and a few assorted relatives, it wasnt really considered a cemetery until my grandfather, Herman Crumbo Rose Daniels in the early 1900s in traditional Navajo dress. - ranch near the Uintah River. We used to hold the reunions down on the riverbed (Uintah River) where old granma Roses house used to be, said Daniels. It was held there quite a bit. Rose moved around a lot in her life, from being kidnapped by the Utes, to bouncing around at the hands of her employers. Her life is the story of one brutality after another, but her legacy lived on. When she was a little girl, the young Navajo girl. Rose, took her familys sheep herd into the hills, and her life was changed forever. Rose was taken captive by the Ute Indians and four days later would be living her life in the Colorado Utah area. Rose was taken to Fort Bridger to be sold by the Utes and was purchased by an Army officer, Byron Lane. Lane was the husband of Leonora Ida, daughter of Aaron and Carolyn Daniels. Both Daniels Creek and Daniels Canyon are named for Aaron Daniels who was a freighter, trapper, prospector and polygamist. After a falling out with his Church and his second wife, Aaron found himself not divorced from one wife, but both. Rose then found herself bouncing between the two helping with their needs. In the early 1880s Aaron fell ill while prospecting in the mountains. He sent for Rose who came and nursed him back to health. Because of his love for the Navajo girl, Aaron tried to persuade. Rose to leave him and go find some young man to marry. But Rose wouldnt marry an Indian and no white man would marry her. Rose continued to live with Aaron, and the couple came to Ashley Valley where ex-wiv- es (mar- ried my grandmother Mentora Daniels Crumbo) made sure there was a fence put around it with a gate and named it the Daniels Cemetery, said Laursen. After that new improvements were added and the population grew. Now it is very nice. Many of the Daniels descendents also have their places reserved for when the time comes, but until that day they have pride in their families history, heritage and accomplishments. Im very proud of my heritage. Every form I fill out, every bit of paper that asks, I put down Native American, said Kolb. My dad taught agriculture for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said Laursen. I grew up on many different Indian reservations and have had a tie with Indian culture. Ive always tried to live that way. I do traditional dancing as well. In the observance on Nov. 15 Ill be dressed in traditional Navajo regalia. Aaron had four children with Rose and a half dozen or more with his other wives, said Kolb. So theres quite a bunch of Daniels running around out there. Writers note: As a journalist , its my job to find as many bits of information as I can and piece them together to tell a story. Its not often one researches and writes a story only to find that he is part of the tale. In hearing the information presented to me by Kolb, Laursen and Daniels, I recalled my grandfather, Hal Brent Daniels, not only shared the same name as one ofRose Daniels and Aaron Daniels children, but was also born in Ogden. I called him the night following the interview, and was surprised to learn that he indeed was a descendent of Aaron Daniels. Its strange how one day you could be going through life thinking this is the way it is, and this is the way its going to be, and before you know it, you find out theres more to your family then you knew. |