Show conditions 54 bears years ago in san juan by a boy of fifteen mr frank silvey well known in san juan and grand counties recently received a letter from a niece miss hattie silvey jacoby of centerview Center view mo mb with which she enclosed a letter written 54 years ago from la sal to his sister and her husband may and levi jacoby at centerville Cent erville in which a description of conditions in this county as they then existed and seen by a lad of 15 are depicted we believe our readers will be interested in perusing the letter as we were so are appending it below la sal utah oct 8 1882 to may and levi jacoby centerville Cent erville missouri dear sister and brother I 1 sent levi a buckskin it was one that we got from the indians there was about bucks squaws squads and oses they were very civil and were from the buncom pathre utes and also some from the southern utes they were going over to the navajo indian iknaian reservation er who live in the blue mountains 50 miles west of here the uncompahgre utes live that is their reservation is only a few miles northwest they had more than head of horses they say they will be back in about a month the buckskin I 1 sent levi is is not a very good one but I 1 will send a good one back some time I 1 wonder what they w would sell for back there A person can make monay if he can get or a skin for I 1 can get them for from to a hide me and will have just got back from durango we had a pretty good trip of it we have got the house fixed up good now me and will got about 1000 lbs ibs of goods besides the lbs ibs of the goods that jesse sent we got a stove and a plow groceries dry goods and some flour but we sent by a man out the other way for flour or pounds we get it delivered here for from to 3 6 per hundred mother likes it very well here now it is a pretty country you said some people thought we would come back in about a year dead broke they had better look for the moon to drop first this country is better than that country ever was or will be for a man to make money in and I 1 guess that is what most of them want and I 1 like it to live in good gracious I 1 wish levi was here it would excite him more than me to see so many deer jumping up all around a person I 1 have not been out but orice since we have been here that was on a ridge two miles south of us we saw six deer but all were does the mountain a little ways north of us is the place for fat bucks just a few minutes ago two men came in with three one fellow living near us killed three without out of his tracks they are the best meat I 1 ever ate and we have all we want all the time we have as good a acres of land as there is back there and we can have a season to suit ourselves that is to irrigate and then we have a world of side range both summer and winter stock keep fat all winter the fattest stock here I 1 ever saw stock is about the same price here as back there when you buy a cow you always get the calf we have three cows and jack is going to bring in about 20 head next spring or fall this is a good place for a young man that has got a home A young man living near us has got eight head of hofsas or es and nearly head of cattle cattie and he has made it all a 11 in the past three years he s started with one cow that his father gave him cows are the most profit here always gets 50 cents a pound for butter when he goes over to durango he can haul 1000 pounds or more and look at that and if he has got 20 or 30 cows he can save that much or if he has only a few cows it will be anyhow a few hundred pounds may did not say what they had named the baby and I 1 dont want it to look like old granddad fletcher love to all the family I 1 good by FRANK SILVEY |