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Show Volume XXIV Issue XX The Ogden Valley news Page 9 November 15, 2017 Story of Pioneer Days – Part II By Mrs. David Eccles Note: A pioneer of 1867, who crossed the plains by ox team, Mrs. David Eccles, widow of one of the great industrial leaders of the west, today (1934) tells of her journey to Utah and subsequent events in the development of Ogden. We attended the first conference services held in the newly completed Salt Lake tabernacle, and I recall how the organ attracted us. Father sold his outfit and bought a farm in Huntsville. There was only a log house on it. The house had a dirt roof and six panes of glass. Coming through the eastern states my mother had seen many fine homes and she admired those painted white with green shutters and trimmings. She often said, “That is the kind of house I shall have when we get to Utah.” But she was very glad to have even a log house after the long journey to get here. The following year father and mother and I mixed mortar and white wash and plastered the inside of the cabin and father shingled the roof. Three years later he built a brick house which is still standing. Mother lived there the rest of her life. My brother, Peter M. (type is blurred; this initial may be an N or W) Jensen, was born there. I remember the rough road through Ogden canyon. We had to pay a toll of 75 cents for a loaded wagon and 50 cents for an empty one to make the round trip through the canyon in those days. A man named Dinsdale was toll keeper and he lived in a cabin near the mouth of the canyon. Father had purchased our farm from Joseph Parry. After selling his oxen he bought the running gears of a wagon and a team of horses from Bill Kelly. The winters were very cold in Ogden valley. I went to school at Huntsville. I remember that Indians used to come and camp on the south side of the Ogden river where the old road used to go over the hills to Peterson. In the early 70’s (1870’s) we fought swarms of grasshoppers, so thick they darkened the sun. It was difficult to raise enough to eat. I worked for a time at the home of Mrs. D.H. Peery. On December 27, 1875, I married David Eccles who came to Utah in 1863 from Scotland. Mr. Eccles was born in 1849 and lived until 1918. Mr. Eccles lived with his parents at Eden when they first came to Utah and his father ran a lathe and wood-turning machine. While still a young boy he used to make trips by team down Ogden canyon to Ogden to sell rolling pins made from native woods on his father’s lathe. He also hauled logs and wood for fuel from the mountains. Later he established a lumber yard with entrances on Lincoln avenue and on twentyfourth street where the Anderson lumber yard is now located. We lived in a house on the east side of Lincoln avenue (then called Franklin street). The site is now occupied by the Bamberger Electric railroad tracks. Twenty-fourth street used to be called Fourth street. When my sister, Mary, grew up she married William Emmett, who was the finest band leader Ogden ever had. Mr. Eccles used to have sawmills back in the forest on the headwaters of South Fork and also by Monte Cristo. Many of the older houses in Ogden contain native pine lumber cut in his mills. About 1899 we bought this house at 2580 Jefferson avenue. It had been built about six years previous by a man named Armstrong, who married a Miss Dee. Sometime in the eighties, Mr. Eccles extended his lumber interests into Oregon. He first bought a mill on North Powder river, Oregon from a Mr. Hall. Then he went into the Hood River country. He also had a mill in Pleasant Valley, Utah, near Scofield; a mill in Idaho and at one time had two in Washington. Mr. Eccles served as mayor of Ogden in 1887-1888, if I recall the dates correctly. Previously he served on the city council. His term as mayor was followed by that of Fred J. Kiesel. The beards on the men today remind me that when Mr. Eccles was mayor he was prevailed upon to grow a beard, as many people said he was so young he needed whiskers to lend dignity to his appearance. So he grew a beard and had his portrait painted. That portrait should still be in that collection at the city hall. Sometime prior to 1900, Mr. Eccles became interested in the sugar industry. I remember a group was attempting to interest him in a sugar refinery down in Sanpete county. Finally he said, “If a sugar mill is a good thing for the people of southern Utah it ought to be a good thing for the people of Ogden so I will build one here.” That was how the Amalgamated Sugar company was started and I believe he put up at least one-half of all the necessary funds for the first factory here. Later he established a factory at LaGrande, Oregon; Logan and Lewiston, Utah; and Burely, Idaho. Mr. Eccles was always active in promoting industries and developing the resources of the country. He promoted the Utah Idaho Central railway, the Sumpter Valley and Mount Hood railway, the Logan City street railway, the railway line in Ogden canyon and he interested in the Los Angles and Salt Lake line. He had ranch properties in Utah and Nevada, coal mines in Utah and Wyoming, and the Eccles building here in Ogden, Hotel and bank in Logan and was president of the First National Bank of Ogden. During his term as mayor, he was active in straightening out the affairs of the Ogden City waterworks system, which had been in private hands some time previous and he helped secure the property for the citizens. I recall that when Mr. Eccles was building the railroad line in the canyon he was advised that the line would not pay. His answer was, “Well, I traveled up and down that canyon on wagon and on horseback and suffered so much from the cold in past years that I would like to provide a more comfortable means of transportation for the people of Ogden valley.” Once when he was a young man he froze his ears one cold day in the canyon and had to dip river water on them to thaw them out. He was always a believer in the great possibilities of the west and he worked for the development of the county (perhaps this was meant to read country). He was interested in the Utah Construction company and helped that company get the contract for building the Western Pacific railroad. Since my first journey in 1867 I have been to Europe five times. Note: This history was copied from the Eccles family historical collection on file at the J. Willard Marriott Library in their Special Collections on the University of Utah Campus in Salt Lake City and at the Ogden Genealogical Library in Ogden. From The Past. . . Weber High School 1973-1974 Varsity Football team coached by Jerry Coggins. His son Dane Coggins now coaches at Weber. TURKEYS cont. from page 8 Turkeys usually stay in these lower elevation areas, and on south-facing slopes, until March. Then, as the snow melts and the temperature climbs, the birds travel to higher elevations to breed and nest. While April can be a difficult month to find birds, it’s also the most exciting time to watch them. “April is when the birds’ breeding season begins,” Robinson says. “The males are in their bright, colorful breeding plumage. Watching them strut and gobble, as they try to draw the attention of female turkeys, is one of the most interesting and exhilarating things you’ll see in nature.” To find turkeys in April, you’ll have to travel to higher elevations. “Once you arrive in a higher elevation area,” he says, “look for three things: large cottonwood or Ponderosa pine trees the birds can roost in, thick brush the birds can feed and hide in, and water. A general idea of where turkeys live in Utah is available in the 2017 – 2018 Utah Upland Game and Turkey Guidebook. You can get the free guidebook at <www.wildlife.utah.gov/ guidebooks> If you have questions about viewing or hunting turkeys in Utah, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at 801-538-4700. Thanksgiving Day Mass ~ November 23 at 9:00 a.m. Saturday Night 5:00 p.m. Sunday Morning 8:00 a.m. Sunday Morning 10:00 a.m. Tuesday Night 6:00 p.m. Fr. David Gaeta 801-399-5627 Before and after any Mass or by appointment. Saint Joseph Catholic Elementary, Middle School, and High School Providing a challenging, college-focused education in the proven tradition of Catholic schools, for the families of the Ogden Valley. We want to teach your children! For information on our program, financial assistance, tours, or application, please call 801-393-6051 or 801-394-1515. 2668 Grant Avenue, Suite #104A, Ogden, UT 801-612-9299 |