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Show Volume XIV Issue I THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 11 October 1, 2006 Life in Huntsville in the late 1800’s - Part I Remembrances by Donald D. McKay Pioneering seems to be a tough job. It certainly was in Utah. Frequently epee made it so. Often after a settler been located for some time in their new home and had acquired some property around, the family might be called to move and help establish a new town somewhere else in a new part of the country. Thus, the strenuous work required at first had to be sacrificed in order to get located a second time. The purpose of such a policy was to get settlements established over as wide an area as possible so that a large stream of immigrants coming into the country would have no great difficulty in finding people of heir liking and land enough which to raise food for themselves and acquire a home. Men and families, therefore, who had this experience, were the most suitable people to go into these new places. They thus became important advisors to newcomers in all the problems that were likely to face them in the new settlement. When I was a small boy, I remember such an occasion occurring. Bishop F. A Hammond and his family were called to move from our town to Bluff, way down in San Juan County. The day he moved out, the whole town watched with heavy hearts as the stock, wagons, and all went down the street. I can remember that procession, for I had a feeling in me that something awful was happening. That feeling soon passed off, however. The Bishop, it seems, had always been a most hospitable man and he had gratified that feeling by inviting people to dine at his house. He had built a very long and substantial table of native red pine with rounded ends, and painted red. Upon it, I suppose, many a sumptuous feast had been served. Because of its size, I imagine, it could not be transported on those heavily loaded wagons down to distant Bluff, so it was disposed of to my father. The long caravan was not yet out of sight when that table began its trek to our house, followed by a highly pleased boy. Our old rock house had two large rooms on the lower floor and two rooms and a sizeable hall upstairs. The north room downstairs was the kitchen. It had a large fireplace and a nice mantle shelf. Stoves, ofa kind, had arrived by that time, so very little use was made of the fireplace. The south room was the parlor. It, too, had a fireplace and a nice mantle. Occasionally, an extra bed had to be set up in it The two rooms and the hallway upstairs were the sleeping quarters. Almost everything in the house, like the furniture, bedding, and clothes, was homemade. The floor in the kitchen, and I suppose throughout the house, was made of native pine, and was as knotty as it could by. It had been used for a long time, I suppose, without any kind of floor covering. As a consequence, since the knots were harder than the balance of the wood, they had resisted the natural wear and therefore stood out as conspicuously as a sore thumb. The so-called “rag carpets” had made their appearance about that time. At harvest time in the fall, white, clean oat straw was gathered and all carpets were taken up, the old straw removed, and the floors scrubbed white. It was at this operation that I first noticed the knots in the floor. s a real joy to see the new straw come in. It had to be spread as evenly as possible over the whole floor and as deep as the carpet could be stretched to cover, and yet to be tacked down at the edges. To keep the youngsters form bouncing around on top of it during the stretching operation required half a dozen pairs of sharp eyes. It was soft and springy when completed. How warm and inviting, that combination of rag carpet and clean oat straw. Cooking for a large family was an unending task. There was the yeast to keep fresh. Bread was mixed first as “sponge” and usually allowed to raise overnight. In the morning it was mixed down, then put in the pans and finally baked. There was nothing that could be served out of cans as now. Everything had to be prepared and cooked in the home. Foods were so limited that mothers were driven to distraction. skimmed from the pans and churned. The butter had to be mixed, and salted. Every piece of tallow was saved, and when there was enough on hand it had to be ‘rendered” for greasing cowhide boots and harnesses, as well as for making soap and candles. There was always a pile of darning, knitting, and patching waiting until mother found some leisure time. Woo to be washed, scoured, and dried, then oats into rolls and finally spun into yarn. I can remember as though it were just yesterday, a plainly furnished room, dimly lighted of a winter evening, with an old fashioned cook stove placed out in the room some distance from the wall. There was a shallow ash pan covered with a moveable lid protruding rom the front of the stove that constituted a useful hearth. In front of the grate there was a door that swung out when necessary, and air vents that exposed the whole box. This allowed emanation of considerable heat and not a little light ofa kind. Nearby sat a woman at a spinning wheel. Close at hand there was a pile of soft, fluffy wool rolls. At regular intervals, one of these rolls was taken form the pile by her left hand and, without any apparent effort, was attached to the end of the yarn without the GALLERY Come 334-9881 www.gallery250gden.com Mention this movements of the woman—your mother—to fall asleep OT is, for a Huntsville Town HUNTSVILLE 1800’s cont. on page 12 Buildings Celeste C. Canning PLLC Attorney at Law 2590 Washington Boulevard, Suite 200 Ogden, Utah 84401 Local: 801 791-1092 Office: 801 612-9299 Email: ccanninglaw@aol.com Meeting the Legal Needs of Small Business and Their Owners FREE Initial Thirty Minute Consultation. Appointments in Ogden Valley upon request. discount. el surroundings Old Meat Market (left), Dentist (middle), Telephone _ ice (right) Photo courtesy of Erma Wilson of Huntsville. 268 Historic 25th Street ~ Ogden Hours 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. ~ Mon. - Sat. ad for 10% in, such child, truly heavenly. n common with all boys of my time, I wore cowhide boots, when I wore anything on my feet. They were thick and durable, but uncomfortable. There was a small brass cap on the toe, and a small square of softer leather, dyed red, at the top in front. The uppers were cut in two pieces, front and back, and the seams were on the sides where they could rub the most effectively on the ankle bone as though they were designed as an instrument of torture. Probably because of this, no youngster wore them in the summer. Before the season was over, the sole of the foot got as thick as the leather in the boots, and as tough, and boys returned to the use of these boots at the end of the summer season with great reluctance, and usually this action was delayed too long. The wet, cold weather was sure to prove disastrous. The skin by then would get wet so frequently that it soon chapped, cracked, and bled in many places. Many a night, mother put me to bed with a bran poultice on my feet to rid them of chap so I would wear my boots again In most home, furniture was of the Historical Photo visit us for: - Original paintings - Sculpture pieces - Commission work “a local artist cooperative” loss ofa second. Her hand moved methodically from end to end, thinning and shaping the roll to the prepared size of the yarn as it moved to the spinning wheel. At the same time, her foot kept the peddle moving up and down at the proper speed to allow the work of the hands to be thorough as well as comfortable. In a corner of the room, a bed was improvised for the comfort of two small boys, the tick of which was fat with the — filling with new, clean, white oat stra’ On the floor, a rag carpet, stretched tight over an abundant layer of that white material used in the bed tick, which gave the youngsters a feeling of soft, springy comfort, never since attained by the most expensive rugs. The air is loaded with the scent of the heated wood behind the stove and the home made soap ae over the pine floor before the carpet was laid. The fickering light form the stove dancing on the opposite wall, the purr of the spinning wheel, the diminishing pile of the fluffy white wool rolls, the ceaseless, rhythmatic orthodontics 3 Tverson Dental | ~ et——— Vern Iverson DS 745-3882 Iverson Family Dentistry offers all phases of general dentistry to you and your family. ert eM Onitod 2580 N. Hwy. 162, #A 84310 801.745.2519 Nitrous oxide, and stereo and video technology will make your visit to the dentist much more pleasant. Extended hours available. 2627 N. Highway 162, 745-3882 RiaB usta yey ay BROOM GCty nen #9 UT 84405 Eden 801.479.9448 Certs ewe Om as Sine oseo Bes taeelare! Specialist in Orthodontics Children and Adults No Charge For Initial Exam www.shepherdorthodontics.com ecg ae eMC tes Ren acess ta lye sm |