| OCR Text |
Show Volume XII THE Issue IX OGDEN VALLEY NEWS June Page 9 1, 2005 Sheepherd- Part 1 of 2 1 ritorial claims. Like an old dog that becomes attached to his master’s pickup truck, no matter how dilapidated or out of tune, if you place a human on a piece o: land anywhere and let him grow up on it, his attachment to it will normally exceed reason. Sheepherd is such a place for our family. It’s a pocket of farm land hacked out of the lower end of a mountain valley formed at the junction of two canyons called Sheepherd Creek and Hardy Canyon. About 6,000 feet in elevation, the little valley is surrounded by modest to steep hills covered with sagebrush, scrub oak, and at high elevations, pine and aspen. As farm land, the soil is atrocious. It is spotty with patches of heavy clay soil mixed with gravelly spots. In some places, there are areas of good black mountain loam, but overall it is an unyielding, difficult soil to manage. Spring moisture leaves the ground a slick, sticky clay muck laced with rocks. When it dries the moisture goes fast and the soil is transformed into a hard crust, riddled with sun baked cracks. Spring tillage must be done quickly to take advantage of soil conditions which provide a respectable seed bed. Our affinity for Sheepherd is probably due in large measure to a subconscious belief that anyplace which fs extracted the effort and pein in hard work that it has must be something wort! hile, (his, ine or the terrain, edge that it has been owned by someone in the oy since the area was settled, gives it an attraction for us that is inescapable. The crops and livestock produced harehavet \ 5 | Il dt the effort expended. The work has been very hard but everyone who has spent time there enjoys going back. The quarter section which contains the Sheepherd hay field was acquired from the State by Grandfather Ammon and dad. The upper-most section (640 acres) at the top of Hardy Canyon was homesteaded by dad about the time I was born in 1928. In 1961 my brothers and I bought the homestead, Sheepherd field and fe | 1 in H ille fi Jad wi I i 1. In the 1970’s we bought the area in Hardy Canyon between the Homestead and the field and some land on the Sheepherd Creek flat from Basin Land and Livestock. first memories of Sheepherd involve the Homestead area more than the lower part. Homesteading requirements included the rule that the land had to be “proved up on.” a is improved with fences and water holes, ete, an and was made out of boards that could be removed mate- rial. Into the wagon “we piled bedding, cooking gear, ok grub and fencing tools. The distan m The ferrin: was level and easy going down on the valley loor. The team trotted along with relative ease. The iron wheels made for a Jarring ride even on the Ea ground idering th second. foot of water is a flow containing one cubic foot of water passing a given point every second. The small grass-lined ditches crisscrossed the fields in a pattern dictated by the location of high spots. Water was systematically diverted onto a field being irrigated by starting at the top of the ditch d di for biggest problem with these rides was the painful air pockets that formed once in a —— in ny chest or upper stomach. I guess the’ ir pockets. Anyway, they hurt. Except for this ee the ride was different from the normal routine and fun. When we reached the foothills, the road passed through the Bennett Creek area which is now part of the Monastery. Bennett is largely unchanged in the last ha road, the exact location of which has ath A k d dirt d: he field Ateab fc | t water OUL 1 there and soak the ground until it covered an area the size of the head (or volume) of water, soil texture and topographical features of the field. Usually, the flow was moved downstream one “turn” about every twelve hours. Moving the soil to make the little diversion dams was a chore. The shovel ae easily into the wetsoil unless it struck But the heavy clay texture caused a suction-like resistance vihen the the water hich wide alluvial floor made Sheepherd Creek. Thick SHEEPHERD cont. on page 12 th 1 Le nt: d, instinctively q speed to gain momentum as they approached the hill. They pulled until foamy sweat formed a lather on the inside of their hind legs and where the harness rubbed their skin. The sweat didn’t slow them down but soon their lungs and muscles gave out. If the driver didn’t stop them, they would stop themselves; displaying their superior common sense by refusin; until rested. For a minute or two after stopping, they stood there holding the wagon in place until someone jumped out and blocked the wheels with big rocks. The team then relaxed with their muscles quivering until their | became ed.Aftera Test: t road again ‘tat renewed fatigueof tthe team forced us to stop. This process was repeated five or six times depending upon the condition of the team until we reached the wide, open saddle at the top of the hill. On top, in an unlikely place, is a grove of cottonwood trees on the west side of the road. We never stopped there but I always looked at the grove and wished its cool shade could somehow surround the wagon. Often the sheep of the neighboring sheep ranch occupied the grove. At those times the lambs diverted my attention as they sprang recklessly out of the path of the wagon into the sagebrush or ran full bore down the road so far that I worried whether they would ever be able to find the ewe they belonged to. Once over the saddle, the road makes a gentle d } it hott + | Helen McEntire’s Third Grade Class at Valley. First Row: Keith Grow, Donna Smith, Virginia Nelson, Lonn Wangsgard, Kay Fuller Paul Yanz lohansen, Beverly Ann Trotter, Lorna Joh ansen, Karma Wangsgard. Secon d Row: Ure, Louise Allen, Keith Rash, Wendell ‘Hislop, Ruth Aldous, Scott Allen, Sharon Barnett. Third Row: Rulon Creezee, Nelda Burton, Douglas B., Wallace Jensen, Norman Montgomery, Bert Engstrom, Veda Bailey, Athlene Felt. Photo courtesy of The Allen Family. th floor of the valley at the western boundary of the hay field. Through the gate, immediately across the creek = and then up through the middle of the field, the ‘oad took us past a labyrinth-like system of irrigation ditches which Dad had plowed or dug by hand to irria the a ‘groun “1 tH } Make Father’s Day Special! Come see us. 508 Ogden Canyon,Ogden, UT 392-6775 Sunday Brunch Served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Call for reservations. ~ BRANDI HAMMON Local Innovative Specialist 801-389BRANVIGPFINE VIE = YPRROF Ate PINEVIEW REAL r ESTATE w : 4 a 10 Acres Huntsville $295,000 Under Takei in 2 months Wolf Creek, $175,000 | tinder Contract es Under Carat © in 30 days Bun der Contract in Coming Soon! Coming Soon! 1 Acre Nordic 1 Acre Durfee Creek $269,000 $169,000 60 days ——————— free Moahet Cnobapir giv Going to the Homestead usually included an interruption to change the water setting or perform some other task in the field but soon we would head up the road again. It led through the gate in the four strand arbed wire fence bordering the field and eastward up what was then a half.mile long sagebrush flat. The road forked at th int of ich positions i Historical Photo for a mile or so to the point where it goes over the hill into Sheepherd. The grade over the hill is steep even for the cars and trucks which traverse it now. Then, it was a test of endurance for the horses. The cut in a draw west of the present dugway road is what is left of the old road. Rocky and steep, it was a hard road to drive Ip i Sg e, shovelful was lifted. Once es the material on the shovel would not slide off wl was release over the intended dam. Bapaiene soon taught us to place the dam in a rocky place so the shovel could be struck against a rock to jar the stuff off. Luckily the dams did not need to be large to divert the small stream of water and a feeling of doing something worthwhile inevitably came over me as I watched the sparkle of pure mountain water surrounding the drying < Jeg gated vo es anything grow there. The water supply, cept in the spring whenit was too wet anyway, was limited Most of the time, we fflood irrigated with less ¥ ee he fielde;: because,if the aieuly of the task is roa understood, — Mans summertime for a number of years. Dad had built a one room e cabin on the north side of the section at the top of Hardy Canyon. In the summer we traveled to the Homestead in an iron tired wagon with “dump boards” on it. The dump board — resem- n Note: The following history is part of a series The OGDEN VALLEY NEWS will be printing in the next several issues. It was written by Scott D. Allen, who was born in 1928. He was the second son and the second of eight children of Abner Allen and Elmina Peterson of Huntsville. Here he helped with the farm and the Jamily’s land and homestead until he went off to college in 1946. Over his life he enjoyed skiing with his fa ily and worrking on the Allen Samily anche mH Huntsville their many son. Scott died in 1996 at the age of His wife Betty lives in SLC. In 1984 Scott spent some of his spare time writing his personal memories of growing up in Huntsville. His account is a rich portrait of life in the Valley within the memory of many still living here. Betty has also graciously allowed the paper to reprint, as a part of this series, a a collection of his poetry pertaining to the Valley. py of = 5 book can be found in the Ogden ee Libr ‘ary. PartI Sellers Home Warrenty, Included 7 Featired on www.recbtor.com oo i Wolf Creek a a00 Vertach Tour Included |
