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Show Morgan Pioneer History Binds Us Together Ash Hollow, it had been raining so that the alkali water stood in puddles. The cattle drank some and that night eight head of oxen died. One of them was ours. There was a man named Taylor, who was driving some cows loose, he let Father have two cows to work. He sawed his yoke in two and hitched up two yokes of cows and one ox on ahead. When we traveled about two weeks, that ox got so lame we had to trade him off for a bull at a trading post. We passed lots of Indians, five hundred or more. They were Sioux Indians who were going down to Omaha to fight the Pawnee. When we got to Big Sandy, the bull became so lame we had to trade him off for a yearling steer. That left us with only two yoke of cows the rest of the way. When we camped at the head of Echo Canyon, there was a store and the men bought some cheese and crackers. It was dark when we started on. We had to walk to Henefer where the train was camped. We got there about midnight and stayed all the next day to let the cattle rest. We then went up East Canyon over Big Mountain and over Little Mountain and down Emigration Canyon. We landed in Salt Lake City, September 16, 1859. When we got to the city, Mother baked the last flour on the camping stove. John my oldest brother came in three weeks before and had earned some flour which came in very handy for us. My parents knew how to take care of money. While they were in Pennsylvania, Father worked for forty-five cents a day in winter and seventy-five cents a day in summer, and with that large family they saved enough money to buy an outfit to come to Utah independently. We received no help from the church. We first moved up to the mouth of Parley's Canyon. There we lived in a dugout for about a month. There was no floor in the house. Angus Cannon got us a place up in Bingham Creek about a mile from the mouth of Bingham Canyon. This place belonged to Apostle John Taylor's uncle. We herded cattle for him. On New Year's Day, Barney L. Adams came and wanted a boy to herd his sheep. Father said for me to go with him. I took care of his sheep in rain or shine until the next fall. 1 had no overcoat and no underclothes. He bought me a new pair of boots that kept my feet warm. About the middle of June, they took their sheep down to the Jordan River to wash them before shaving. The river was very high and the water overflowed the banks. I must have been standing on the bank where the current was quite swift. I let go of the sheep and he kicked me in the stomach. I slid into the water like a post, but my hat stayed on top. I heard one of the men say, "There goes his hat!" That gave me courage so I tried to swim. I stayed up long enough to get my breath before going down again. When I came up the second time, I saw a man jump in after me. When I went down the third time, I reached my arm upward and he caught hold of my hand. I brought my other hand upon his shoulder and we both went down. When we came up again the current had carried us still further into the bend. I saw a willow sticking out so 1 let go of him and caught hold but I went under again. It seemed that I was going down a thirty-foot well. Suddenly I stopped and found that the willow was securely fastened to the bank. I gave a pull which brought me to the top. I hung there with my arms across the willow until the men came for me. The men had momentarily lost track of me and gone after the man that tried to save me. There was some power besides human power that saved my life. I think my guardian angel must have been with me that time. In 1860 I went to work for Daniel H. Wells. My chore was to stay around the house and run errands for the women. They had a nice orchard beside the house. The fruit would fall off at night and I would get up at daylight and pick it up, eat what I wanted and take the rest into the house. They had seven mule teams and the men who worked them by day boarded at their home. They would go to work at seven o'clock and a man by the name of James Snarr had to walk eleven blocks to feed and tend the mules. I thought I could do it for him occasionally and save him a long walk every morning, so I went out with him to see what rations he fed each animal. They were fed carrots and hay. So the next morning I slipped out and tended the mules. As I was feeding the last one, he came and was surprised to see me feeding the teams. He looked at each one and said that was as good as he could do. The fourth morning Snarr didn't come, so I had worked myself into the job. Soon the weather became very stormy and the men didn't come to work. I had to take care of the teams twice a day then. I had to take them two blocks for water. I was riding one mule when I met Snarr coming up the road with a tin pan in one hand. He banged the pan and frightened the mule and I lost my balance and fell off striking the inside of my left knee on a frozen clod. My brother John came along and took me to my sister's place. I couldn't walk for five weeks. March 8th, 1862,1 went with Brother Wells and his family to the Salt Lake Theater to a play called Pride of the Market. That was the first play I had ever seen and I saw every play that winter. 94 |