Show early experiences of a pioneer 0 written D december ec ember 15 1931 1 by C L christensen 1 bluff in december I 1 I 1 came to 1890 having helped ben perkins I 1 to move his wife mary ann and family from carcas rabbit valley via haws halls ferry A man named Me meacham achain met us with a small skiff and ferried us across piece meal having to pull our J wagons all to pieces towing the I 1 wagon boxes behind with the gates out we had 35 head of horses and a like number of ct cack tle on account of cold weather we had a hard time of it we finally towed some colts and calves and tied them on the east side of the stream then they went in with a rush however the cattle milled some on a sand bar in midstream mid stream Ws we had a fine trip as kate apte parkins akins 1 drove one of the teams we had bad a tip over and broke some f furniture I 1 and dishes john perkins and I 1 drove the stock and horses when we ale got down big blue hill we left the animals at some lakes toward san juan river we were nearly all night getting back brother ben was quite diligent making fires of which we got a glimpse once in a while there were so eo many hills hollows and washes we could hardly keep our bearings when we got to camp brother perkins was nearly out of wood it was the roughest road I 1 had evex ever seen especially from ring cone to bluff when I 1 got near the old cottonwood church I 1 asked when will we be at bluff city looked for inhabitants or more someone answered this is it A sure surprise the only man I 1 met that I 1 had ever seen before was my esteemed friend president platt D lyman I 1 had heard him preach often in my boyhood days in ephraim as also his father amasa M lyman both great preachers I 1 was made welcome by the bluff authorities bishop nielson Nie json president E A hammond and others I 1 felt quite timid I 1 was poorly clad having just emerged from the utah penitentiary in june 1890 while I 1 was there I 1 lost five head of oxen out or six three head of cows three mares on account of no feed for them in my absence my families also were very short in the f fall all of 1889 1 I was prepared with this outfit including two good wagons to go to bluff by permission of president wilford woodruff who had released me from the arizona mission but not to quit the labor among the navajos cavajos and other in deans I 1 was prepared to assume my labors at bluff but not so to be marshals mcgarrey and armstrong nabbed me and changed my plans I 1 had been hounded by the marshals in arizona for more than two years having hid out among my indian friends I 1 had all I 1 could do at times to keep them from shooting the men who were hunting me of course I 1 told them that would involve me and them both and they listened to me they always did I 1 came nearly being caught at onetime one time in tuba I 1 was in the chicken coop listening to a marshal talking to my wife ann E christensen I 1 had told my folks to tell the truth about my being at home or elsewhere she said she was looking for me soon but I 1 did not show up so he went down to moen kopi where he was entertained by E astone D stone and who had stolen off jumped and taken possession of our old missionary fort so much continued on page five EARLY experiences OF A PIONEER 0 continued from page one needed ceded in our early experience aith pith hostile indians well wel I 1 did not show up I 1 went to an indian camp next day I 1 landed at lees ferry and assisted david brinkerhoff in running the ferry for three months then the family was left again and again to do the best beat they could on another occasion I 1 went to flagstaff with a load of melons and green corn I 1 met the marshal I 1 sold him a melon he asked me if I 1 knew christensen the noted indian interpreter I 1 had always been frank with all strangers as I 1 had directed hundreds of men across the indian reservation by request of president lot smith and others on this occasion however I 1 sudden I 1 stopped I topped my civility by seeing lir ir of handcuffs hand cuffs securely attached to his buck board so I 1 dispensed with him as soon as I 1 could and I 1 did not meet him coming back either I 1 went around south of san francisco mountain through seven hopi villages and then home ile he was so iso vexed letting me slip him so easy he came right back and I 1 only beat him by a few miles to lees ferry where you could not ind find a flock of geese if they hid yut out in the rocks well this is my apology for gong ing to utah in all this I 1 did n not at suffer one half w what hat my families passed through crossing the desert I 1 with small boys for teamsters and always short of grain for horses and grub for themselves to eat from this I 1 returned to bluff the br ethern counseled how to help me to san juan brochar Broth Br othar lor kumen jones furnished one bi big fine horse a stallion L 11 redd a young horse that had not been worked much peter allen alien a light stout wagon and bishop nielson corn a plenty to keep them fat until I 1 got to rabbit valley the second night out at white canyon I 1 soon found the colt he had done his best to keep with the stallion who was chasing a bunch of broom tailed ponies for miles the colt would not ride so I 1 tied him to a tree when I 1 got back he had pawed a hole nearly big enough to bury him in I 1 followed the horse for five miles where he had lost the track of the ponies while crossing a mule shoe bend a long one I 1 had hobbled him with a loose strand rope hobble he had bad only one strand left but I 1 caught him had this strand broken I 1 no doubt would have had to go to bluff for help when a man is stranded on a desert he be is pretty bad off alone but luck was with me homer hite me over and 1 I made the river that night and I 1 made blue valley the same day 1 I crossed the river I 1 found f my milica f all right ri ht one in carcas tho the other at teasdale all well friends friend 3 assisted me in many ways especially the String hams bunk er hoffs and meeks bishop of the then thurber town well when I 1 got ready to go back with aunt serena and the children we had to go down some awful steep north side dug ways very icy on one of them in arranging my chain I 1 made it too short so it did not brake at all the horses were slick shod also against me old tom the sf allion held as long as he could finally off we went just one rod and cedar tree kept us from going t off an edge 75 feet fram the dug way to the bottom I 1 did not tell my family until I 1 was back on the road again in safety they were under cover on account of the january cold it was very cold ito to get feet the wagon back cope drove the horses bioni behind and I 1 steeled the tongue we had some looie lode horses a 1 stallion foil H red and a more ms c for a mexican who hod gove gore on foot to bluff having been cared out by cow hoy bo vh lit ile had left every thin S sj w in i ht hia with us ue lie is the llie man who over overt tk jk ben Ferk iii and company lie ile 1 nad iad had nothing i s eat f roi foi two and rd ni rats ats when he be v K us blue hill |