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Show Volume XVII Issue XXIII The Ogden Valley news Page May 15, 2010 Memories of Huntsville and Its People Note: This is the fifteenth in a multi-series of articles that is from the above titled compilation. It is being reprinted by permission of the McKay family. The information was initially printed in 1960. Now we return to the Farm Bureau. The potato market was greatly depressed that spring. Through the efforts of the Bureau, twenty cars of 1917 crops were dehydrated and shipped to various markets and brought the growers eighty-five cents a hundred. Four cars were from Huntsville and Plain City. During the year the Bureau handled thirty-five cars of coal and other commodities but practices of companies from which they brought supplies became unfriendly, so the Bureau organized a co-op on a legal basis, for the purpose of making purchases for the farmers. It was reported by Chairman J.L. Robson of the Drainage Committee that a petition for the creation of the drainage districts at Huntsville had been signed and would be presented to the County Commissioners asking them to create the district. Mr. J.L. Robson was County Assessor and also chairman of the Drainage Committee. He was deeply interested in this project and his investigation of it naturally took him over into the related field of irrigation. Another reason for that interest lay in the fact that an irrigation district based on the new law was being planned. He had watched the growth of litigation over water rights and came to the conclusion that the money spent in such action had settled nothing, could go a long way toward supplying additional water. His work revealed that one hundred fortyfive claims had been filed on the Weber and Ogden rivers, and several smaller streams and that many people claimed more water than they had any legal right to, and that their dates of filing were, in many cases wrong. Looking over the plans and people involved in the Farm Bureau work of forty years ago, I am astonished both at the scope and detail of the plans and the number of people involved. The outline of the work program, prepared by W.P. Thomas, covered seventeen pages for the year 1918 and covered a twelve-month period. The first project planed was production costs covering beets, tomatoes, peas, potatoes, grain and alfalfa. There were eighty-seven individual farmers cooperating in the project. Every angle of the project was outlined. The work was outlined, cards distributed, follow-up work outlined, varieties tested, and publicity of every kind sent to all farmers. Meetings, group inspection trips and group conferences were planned. Looking over this program and all the other work of the County Bureau that year and time, I wondered if there is like enthusiasm now and as big a percentage of the agricultural population working in it. This program reminds me of another angle of those times, too. Everybody had public jobs as wells as his own affairs. No matter how busy and involved with his own work W. Preston Thomas was during this period, he always took care of my work, whatever it was, when I had to be away. He had wonderful help in his office with Miss Edith Haybell and Miss Hattie Peters. I am deeply indebted to Pres and these two girls. Preston still reminds me that he can sign my name better than I can. The Farm Bureau News of December, 1918, compliments the Huntsville Local on its annual report. The other committees functioning in the county that year besides the one already mentioned and their chairmen were: Farm Management - M.K. Jacobs; Canning – M.P. Brown; Sugar Beets – J.R. Beus; Buying-Selling – T.R. Jones; Drainage – J.L. Robson; Weeds – D.D. McKay; Potatoes – C.A. Groberg; Dairying – T.E. Powell; Hogs – Thomas Fowles; Beef Cattle H.B Stallings; Membership – M.K. Jacobs; Labor and Club Work – B.S. Jacobs. These committees had an even hundred members. Louis Wangsgard was Secretary of the Local Farm Bureau for this year of 1918. His annual report indicated that the organization was the most active in the County. In all their activities, he said, there was shown a desire to serve the interest of the people of the town regardless of individual gain. Weekly meetings were held in the school house, both for the purpose of arousing interest in the Farm Bureau, and for the entertainment and advancement of the townspeople. In working through the Farm Bureau the people were able to get a better contract with the canning companies and increase food production as well as helping in securing the town’s quota for the Red Cross. Albert Engstrom, who was Treasurer, gave a report of the business activities of the Local for the year. The report showed they had paid Ninety-Seven dollars to the County Farm Bureau as membership fees. They bought considerable material and services, including eleven cars of coal, and had a cash balance of Eighty-Four and 14/100 ($84.14) out of a budget of $2,527.26. These were the two reports that the Farm Bureau News had complimented them on. There was not a local that I know of like it. The Huntsville Farm Bureau was legally incorporated on the 11th day of December, 1924, with the writer as President, David I. Tracy as Vice President, Wilmer Jensen, Secretary, and Fred A. Berlin, Treasurer. D.D. McKay, David I. Tracy, Ira S. Lowder, E.R. McKay and A.W. Schade were elected directors for the term of one year. In 1919, the most spectacular project was undertaken as the Drainage District and the Irrigation District. In the drainage work the regular committee had the assistance of L.M Windsor, Department of Agriculture, and W.O. Israelson of the A.C. In the irrigation work a committee of Bureau membership and persons from canal companies and businessmen was created to gather several thousand dollars and finally pass upon the feasibility of the project. Besides this group there were engineers and other technically trained people helping in the planning. These were William W. Green, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, who, with a crew of men, ran a double row of diamond drilled test pits at the Magpie site; A.F. Parker, who designed the East Canyon Dam; Dr. Samuel Fortier, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture; C.O. Roskelly, S.G. Margrets, W.M. Bostaph, W.W. McLaughlin, Brice McBride, and William Peterson, Geologist of the State Agricultural College. Filings were made on the Weber and Ogden Rivers and on the Bear River for storage at the Bear River Bay. Both the drainage and Irrigation Districts began to function in the latter part of this year (1919). Trouble began for the projects with the panic of 1920. The certain individuals and businesses involved both organizations in dissolution suits that ended this fine effort to solve one of the county’s problems. We are now doing this exact job forty years later at a cost many times as great. The whole story is told in another article (Irrigation in Weber County). Now let us return to the Huntsville Farm Bureau, where all the Bureau movements had their inception. This local joined the County Farm Bureau when it was first organized and John Felt was Director in it in 1915, ’16 and ’17 and did a lot of work on breeding and production of dairy cattle as well as the marketing of the product. In 1918 he and T.E. Powell were Chairmen of the Dairying Committee. In 1917, T.W. Stoker was a member of the County Potato Committee and the next year Arthur Grow had the job. In 1917 George Aldous was on the Dairy Committee and the next year John Felt was chairman and also a committee member. A.A. Allen was a member of the County Committee on Weeds for 1917 and ’18. Joseph Felt was a member of the County Sugar Beets Committee for 1917’18. William Halls was a member of the Canning Products for 1917. Albert Engstrom was a member of the County Committee on Membership; J.C. Wangsgard, BuyingSelling; C.C. Wangsgard, Rural Credit; and Francis Bingham, Beef Cattle, during the year 1917. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich to Speak at Church History Museum SALT LAKE CITY - Author and lecturer Laurel Thatcher Ulrich will speak at the Church History Museum on 21 May 2010 as part of the museum’s lecture series. Dr. Ulrich’s lecture, “In the Garrets and Rat-Holes of Old Houses-How Objects Make History,” will be given at 6:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The museum is located at 45 North West Temple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. Ulrich is the 300th Anniversary Professor at Harvard University and is the immediate past president of the American Historical Association. She is the author of many articles and books, including A Midwife’s Tale, which won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1991. The lectures are free but do require a ticket. To order tickets, call 801-570-0080 or toll free 866-537-8457, or visit <http://lds.org/events> Interactive Latin American Exhibit at Church History Museum Mi vida, mi historia: Stories of Faith and Inspiration from Latin American Latter-day Saints, the newest exhibit at the Church History Museum, can now be viewed online. The bilingual exhibit features two dozen Latin American Latter-day Saints who share experiences that have influenced their lives and fortified their faith in God. Each person’s recorded stories are told through thematically arranged video segments and photographs just as they appear on the interactive audiovisual kiosks at the museum in Spanish and English. The online exhibit can be accessed at <www.mividaonline.org> The exhibit will be on display at the Church History Museum through January 2012. For museum hours and location, call 801-240-3310. Historical Photo Celeste C. Canning PLLC Attorney at Law 2590 Washington Boulevard, Suite 200 Ogden, Utah 84401 Local: (801) 7 1-10 2 Office: (801) 612- 2 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. Huntsville Pioneers Photo taken, most likely, in late 1890’s or early 1900’s. Do you know anything about this photo or the individuals? Please let us know if you can help. Call Jeannie at 801-745-2879 or Shanna at 801-745-2688. Picture courtesy of Gordon Madsen. Jeffrey D. Shepherd DMD, MSD Specialist in Orthodontics SHEPHERDORTHODONTICS Fast Treatment Times • Children and Adults • Flexible Payment Options Call to schedule your complimentary exam today! 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