Show Andrew An early cheese plant at Hardware Hyrum settler Andrew Israelsen’s is filled with stories of adventure hard work piety and absolute integrity in all mat- Early ters But he was not averse to a little levity in life either His grandson Boyd Israelsen 78 yean old now but still continuing the family dairy farming tradition remembers carrying out his chores under the watchful eye rtf his grandad But his grandfather's “watchful eye" was truly something to think about for a young child TWo occurrences made his look distinct During Andrew’s first summer in Hyrum in 1865 he worked at a molasses mill One day while feeding sugarcane into the press he held onto the cane too long and his fingen were crashed in the heavy cast iron rollers that squeere the juice from the stalk One finger had to be amputated and another was left badly mangled and forever crooked Several years later another accident left him scarred again He was cutting wood in Blacksmith Fork Canyon when a wood chip flew into his left eye cutting it severely The eye had to be removed replaced eventually when gins eyes were invented Those injuries never kept Andrew Israelsen from hard work and nothing was going to keep Us grandkids from learning the importance of a work ethic either So when chore time rolled around Boyd remembers his grandfather’s instructive magic: "He’d take that hooked finger reach in and pullout his glass eye He’d put it in his hand and say ’Now this'll watch over you Then he'd set it on a fence port Page 40 Photo oourtMjf of 9m ImqiIma fwnty The author and Ns famtylvad next to where we were working'' Do you think the kids did their work? Boyd laughs at the joke now remembering his grandfather fondly and noting his importance as an early Cache Valley dairy farmer and cheese maker: Andrew’s autobiography Utah Pioneering tells a fascinating tale of his advCTturous life — conversion to Monnonism crossing the plains church mission work in Alabama (during which he was fired upon and forced to outran mobs on five occasions) snowbound in Blacksmith Fork Canyon The excerpts that foUowate from the early days of his dairy fanning and cheese making expe- - In this houao at Hardware Ranch for 13 years Canyon which began shortly after he returned from LDS Church missions to Alabama and Norway THE CHEESE-MAKIN- G milk was weighed once a month as is now done by the cow testing association lb milk these cows die company would hire from IS to 20 girts and a few boys" PLANT The Hyrum United Order Dairy cheese making plant was first built in Blacksmith Fork Canyon territory 3 miles south of die Curtis or Hardware Ranch 1 believe it was built in 1875 This was the cheese largest plant in the territory of Utah at that time Cows were rented from people in nearly all die towns of the valley As high as 300 cows were milked during the summer: The rentals for cows were paid in cheese according to the amount of milk they gave The MY NEW JOB "In early spring I began to make preparations for the work by renting cows and hiring boys and girls to do the henfing and milking I had rented 115 cows and had hired two boys and six girls The girls were paid according to the number of cows they milked Their wages ranged fhm $150 to $150 per week for milking from 12 to 18 cows twice a day and SeeDAIKToapage41 |