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Show THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 18 Volume II, Issue XVII 1 September 2000 Eden of Yesterdays Note: This information was taken from “WEBER COUNTY THIRD GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES, Weber County School District, pp 237-241. The date of the publication is not printed. By all indication, the information was compiled and written by LaVerna Burnett Newey. Eden, one of the communities in the north part of Ogden Valley, has a history that goes back to the 1850’s. In that era, Ogden Valley was used primarily as a big pasture for cattle. Early residents of Weber County brought their cattle over the North Ogden pass in early spring and took them back in the fall. The first cabin was built in 1857 by Erastus Bingham and Joseph Hardy. It was built on the Middle Fork of the Ogden River, but it was used only for the herders during the summer month. The second cabin was built on the North Fork about a mile northwest of Eden. The first permanent settlers of Eden arrived in 1850, coming via North Ogden Canyon and Pass, since the road had not been completed through Ogden Canyon. The party consisted of Joseph Grover, Sidney Teepels, Stephen Wilbur, Peter Geertsen, Josiah Ferrin, Francis Clark, Elisha Wilbur, the Moffats, the Ferrells, and others. Soon they were joined by more. By 1863, the infant settlement had a population of 250. By 1870 it had increased to 1051. In 1866, the settlers were forced to move into the central part of the Valley because of the Black Hawk Indian peril. The homes were built of rough logs. The roofs were made of dirt, and the walls were plastered with mud. When it rained, the dirt from the roofs would be washed down the walls. The furniture was scarce and hard to get. Most of it was made by the people from logs and trees. Mr. Burns, who lived in the eastern part of Eden, made chairs and sold them to all those who could afford to buy them. Candles, made from beef tallow, were burned for lights. The first settlers used oxen for work animals. The plows were forks of trees which merely scratched the ground. Plows were later made with wooden beams and iron shears. Almost any crop could be grown in the virgin soil, but the early and late frosts of the seasons prevented its ripening so the main crops were hay, grain, and potatoes. The grain, when ripe, was cut with a cradle and threshed with a flail or by driving oxen on the threshing floor. The chaff was then blown out by the breeze. About ten bushels were threshed out in one day. Clothes were made from wool, sheared from the sheep. Housewives corded and spun the wool. Cloth was woven on the looms in Ogden. During the pioneer period, most of the land was covered with wheat grass which grew about five feet high. It made excellent hay when cut and dried for winter use. In clearing this land for farming, the pioneers found the grass roots very difficult to dislodge. Finally the wheat grass disappeared or was burned or dug out. Sagebrush came in its place. The land then had to be cleared of it. When this was done alfalfa, grain, and vegetables grew in its stead. Robert Burns planted the first lucerne [alfalfa] in Eden, having obtained the seed from a missionary. Sawmills played an important part in the early development of Eden. The first sawmill built in Ogden Valley stood near the bridge that separates Eden from Liberty. It was erected in 1862 by Samuel and Josiah Ferrin. Another one was built at Wolf Creek near Patio. Other sawmills came and went. When the timber became scarce, they would move to a new site. Early days in Eden boasted a blacksmith and a carpenter shop. The settlement also had its merchants. Mary Ballantyne ran the first store in Eden. This was followed by stores owned by John Farrell, Ether McBride, Elisha Wilber, Adam L. Peterson, William Waterstradt, and finally the Fuller Mercantile. The Eden merchants in pioneer days experienced many difficulties. Horses were the only mode of travel. It took a two-day trip to secure merchandise from Ogden. Most of the farmers had to have credit until their crops were harvested. Some brought their products to be traded. The writer of this article, remembers that as late as the 1920’s we took eggs to the store to buy other necessities. In December of 1887, LOCAT ED I N ... the first post office was established in Eden with Mary Ballantyne as postmistress. It operated on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Henry Shelton was the first mail carrier. The rich soil and ample water in the northern part of the valley brought abundant crops. Richard Ballantyne began irrigation in 1861, taking the water from Wolf Creek. In later years a ditch was provided from the North Fork of the Ogden River and the Eden Irrigation Company was organized. This company still controls the irrigation water supply in that area. Wells were dug for culinary use. Some used the pure mountain streams. In 1889, the first artesian well in the valley was drilled on the premises of James Ririe. It had a depth of eightyfour feet and flowed forty gallons of water per minute. Since that time Ogden Valley has become famous for its splendid artesian wells which were located at the bottom of the hill from what was known as the Stringtown of Eden. About 1924, water from the Burnett Springs above the present Patio [Wolf Creek], was piped to the town below. This system was never entirely satisfactory. Because there were no meters, those in the center of town had plenty of water. Those on the side line with smaller pipes had very little. In 1966, meters were installed and the water flow was equalized. John Fuller, who passed away in 1954 at the age of 88 told the following experiences to Dena Richins as she sat by his bed four months before his death: “My father owned a herd of dairy cattle. When I was six years old, a merchant in Huntsville, Christian Mortenson, known as “Butter Mortenson,” made trips to Salt Lake once a week to sell the dairy products. My mother churned forty pounds of butter a week, and on a certain day she would put the butter in a bushel basket. She took hold of one handle and, though I was only six, I held the other handle and we walked and carried forty pounds of butter from Eden to Huntsville, which was about five miles away. We sold it to Mr. Mortenson and brought back a basket of groceries in return for the butter. “When I was seven years old my job was to help the other boys of Eden herd the cows. We herded them on the foothills to keep them off the crops in the Valley. When we got a few years older, our job changed from herding cows to farming. I learned very early in life to drive an ox team. I learned to put shoes on them. When they got sore footed, they would lay right down in the middle of the road and wouldn’t move. “The hardest job I have ever done while helping my father farm was helping clear new land. There was sagebrush higher than our heads. As it was plowed, we boys would follow along, pulling it out of the dirt. We would pile it in piles to burn. We worked from four o’clock in the morning until we couldn’t see any longer at night. “I never owned a pair of shoes when I was a kid. In the summer I always went barefooted. The calluses on the bottom of my feet served as shoes. In the winter we wrapped our feet in rags or sacks to keep them warm. “We were pretty poor there for awhile. I remember eating sego lily bulbs and cow cabbage. Mother would cook them and they would taste mighty fine. I have gone out into the grain fields with my mother to glean the wheat that the cradle left. “Hunting and fishing wasn’t the sport in those days that it is now, because wild game was too plentiful. I remember there were lots of wolves, fox, coyotes, and three kinds of bear. There was a grizzly bear, a black bear, and a little brown bear. It was nothing to see seven or eight a day while we were logging. There were lots of bobcats, cougars, and lions. The farmers had to keep close watch of their animals.” In 1866 the grasshopper plague came. It lasted for seven years. The grasshoppers destroyed almost all the crops and nearly brought starvation upon the people. During this time they sold cattle, and cut down logs from the canyon to sell. The Union Pacific Railroad owned alternate sections of land throughout the area. This had been received from the federal government to help pay for the building of the railroad. The settlers bought this land for $2.50 an acre. Government land, however, was homesteaded, which meant that they would build a home on it, clear the land, and then file a claim on it. H U N T SV I LLE OGDEN VALLEY’S ONLY TOWING SERVICE IT’S FINALLY HERE! TAR ROUTE GARAGE The long awaited Ogden Valley phone book is finished. It is now being sold at the Valley Market as a fundraiser for the Ogden Valley Sports & Recreation. With a lot of work put into compiling, editing and printing, this phone book will be a valuable tool. ★ S EMERGENCY TOWING & ROAD SERVICE SPECIALISTS IN OFF ROAD TOWING. LIGHT HEAVY THREE 4-WHEEL DRIVES TWO NEW HYDRAULIC WINCHES MOTOR HOME TOWING “WHEEL DOLLY” NO TOWING DAMAGE 745-6 6665 733 S. 9500 E. 1 MILE NORTH OF MONASTERY 24 HOUR SERVICE |