Oral History Program Bert Dickson Interviewed by Jeanine Carter 15 July 1976 i Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Bert Dickson Interviewed by Jeanine Carter 15 July 1976 Copyright © 2012 by Weber State University, Stewart Library ii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. Archival copies are placed in University Archives. The Stewart Library also houses the original recording so researchers can gain a sense of the interviewee's voice and intonations. Project Description The Weber State College/University Student Projects have been created by students working with several different professors on the Weber State campus. The topics are varied and based on the student's interest or task for a specific assignment. These oral history assignments were created to help Weber State students learn the value and importance of recording public history and to benefit the expansion of the Weber State oral history collections. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Stewart Library of Weber State University. No part of the manuscript may be published without the written permission of the University Librarian. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed to the Administration Office, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408. The request should include identification of the specific item and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Dickson, Bert, an oral history by Jeanine Carter, 15 July 1976, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Bert Dickson. The interview was conducted on July 15, 1976, by Jeanine Carter, in Dickson’s home in Morgan City, Utah. Dickson reminisces about the conditions around the turn of the century in devil’s Slide and Richville. He also describes the building and remodeling of the East Canyon Dam and some of the experiences he has had. JC: Mr. Dickson, will you tell me about yourself, who your parents were and about your early life in Morgan County? BD: My parents were Albert Douglas Dickson; my mother was Harriet Rosella Flint. I was born May 2, 1892, in Richville, Morgan County, Utah. I was the seventh child in that family of ten. I was raised in Richville. I knew all the old timers at that time. Some of my favorite people were Gillispie Waldron, Fred Clark, Uncle Will Dickson, James Peterson, Baltzer Peterson, Peter Peterson, William H. Rich, and all the Riches. There were a lot of other people. JC: Will you tell me of the experiences you had as a child going to school? BD: When I was five years old, I thought I was a big boy. I remember my Dad gave me a quarter when I could just look upon the table. I wanted to go to school and I had an older sister Hattie, so I went to school. Joseph T. Welch was the teacher. The schoolhouse was a little brick building with three windows on each side, a stage, a classroom with a big stove right in the center. That's where we went to school. I don't think the teacher wanted me there, but he put up with me. He said I could stay if I wanted. He didn't teach me much. I watched all the kids and knew what was going on 1 and what was expected. I finished that year out. The next year I was all ready to go for I had a very smart sister just older than me that could read and write. She was always teaching me. When I would start a conversation she would pick-it-up and put-it-through. She said, "He can't talk plain." I can remember one other instance at that early age, I couldn't pronounce words very good. Sister Lizzie Peterson that would be Jim Peterson's wife, use to get a big kick out of me. She would want me to tell her certain things. She would say, "Say squash blossom," I would say "quarto blossom." I couldn't say it. She would laugh. You know, every time she tried me on that I got a big piece of apple pie. JC: How long did you go to school in the Richville School House? BD: I went to school up until the seventh grade. The seventh and eighth grades went to Morgan.1 I graduated from the district school with honors. I won a scholarship, but I couldn't go on to school because of a misfortune in the family. One of my brothers took terrible sick and had meningitis. We were so busy with him I didn't have a chance to go to school. I finally got through the ninth and tenth grades. I took a high school examination which lasted for three days on each subject and I graduated. We used to meet at the top of the old courthouse in Morgan. Our teacher was H. B. Fry; a great man. That's about all the schooling I had. All the rest has been experience. JC: Across the street from the Richville Church House is what is known as the tithing lot. Will you tell me about that lot? BD: Across the street from the old church house and schoolhouse was a tithing lot. There they built a tithing grainery. They built these little graineries all over the church. The grainery would possible hold five or six hundred bushels all together. They had different 2 bins and would put different things in them. I can remember very well, my father being the bishop during that time when people would harvest their wheat. They would bring in a tenth and put it in the grainery. When they would haul hay, they'd bring the tenth load in for tithing. They'd stack it in a big barn there. I've seen then places right full. I've seen so much tithing come in there you wouldn't handle it so we had to put it down to the center in Morgan. They paid tithing that way for quite a few years and then it was changed to paying cash. They could sell their hay and pay their tithing with cash. They could have sent that to Salt Lake easier than they could the hay, livestock, and things. It was interesting to live in those days, everyone was poor. There were no automobiles to speak of at that time. It was just about the time that they were coming. I can remember very well when the first telephone came.2 It was a great boost to the people. They would just fight to talk over it at first. Some of them wouldn't believe it. There was one man that came in from the sheep camp and he said, "I don't think they can talk over them wires. I don't believe it can be done." They said, "Well, try it." They gave him a number to call. He called the number and when the guy on the other end spoke he looked all around in back of him everywhere and said, "I don't believe it, I don't believe it, I don't believe it's possible." He hung up and out he went. JC: What did your father do for a living? BD: He was just a farmer. He run a bunch of milk cows, over ten or fifteen. He raised beef, hogs, and sheep. He always had a lot of chickens. We had to make all of our living right on that farm. He had a family of ten and it was quite a job keeping them clothes. We all kept clothed all right. One thing we were never short of and that was something to eat. Our clothes sometimes got shabby and sometimes worn down pretty much with patches 3 on. If there ever lived happy families, it was in them days. People were close to each other, they loved each other, they helped each other. They worked together even in the families. Some of the best experiences I've had in my life was being close to my Mom and Dad and brothers and sisters and all the people in Richville. I can truthfully say, there were never better people on this earth, I don't believe, than in Richville. Why some of them old fellows would lay awake trying to think up things of how they could make you feel happier. JC: You spoke of helping one another; did they help one another when it came to planting and thrashing the crops? BD: Oh yeah! When thrashing come or any sickness, they never had any trouble harvesting. If a man got sick and couldn't take care of his own farm, they would organize and they would take care of that farm and do all the thrashing. They never charged a guy a cent. If there happened to be a death in that community, when I was a boy, it never cost that person a cent. The grave would be dug; all the clothing would be furnished. Everything would be done, the coffin made. Of course, they didn't have any embalming in those day, they just had to bury them as soon as they could. In the winter they would pack them in ice, but in the summer they had to bury them as soon as possible. That's the way they done it. They worked together. There were very few scrimpers in them days. We were all pretty opened minded and I guess the reason was they were all poor people. JC: Will you tell me more about how they made the coffins, and how they buried a person? BD: When they buried a person, they would appoint their best carpenters to build a coffin. They had saw mills around and they would get the best pine, the best grade, and they 4 would make it just as fine as they could make it. It looked almost as good when they got it lined, with what they had, as they do today. Of course, the outside didn't show up quite as nice, but everything else was. They were laid away just as careful as they could be. They were put away in those pine boxes in silks and satins. They fixed them up with the very best they had. They would haul them in a white top, if possible to the grave yard. Some of the people were buried in Porterville, some of them were buried in Richville, and some were buried in South Morgan. JC: You said your father had about 10 or 15 cows. This would be more milk then one family would drink, what would you do with the rest of the milk? BD: We would feed it to the hogs. JC: Was there a creamery where milk was delivered? BD: You bet. There was a creamery right on the old creamery corner there. I don't know how to describe it. The Randalls used to run it. It was right on East Canyon Creek Bank.3 the Randalls had a home and a little store there. You would take your milk there and they would make cheese and butter. We just lost one of them good old sisters that was a little girl when they run that creamery. When I was a kid, I used to gather eggs and take them down to the creamery. I would get a few pieces of candy for them eggs, take it back home and divided it among the other kids. This Randall girl, she married a Carrigan, she just died the other day. Julia was her name, and I've known her all them years. All the boys and girls in Richville got acquainted with that creamery. It was the closest store. JC: How did you preserve your food? 5 BD: They raised currants, cherries, and apples and would dry them. They dried them on boards covered with screens. They would do this by the bushels. Father would raise a lot of good hogs. He would kill those hogs and cure the hams. He would smoke them in the old smoke house. He would take them out to the grainer, and he would bury them in the wheat bins. I saw as many as twenty-five or thirty good hams in there all at once. I never did know him to have a bad one. They were always eatable as you can buy them today, anywhere. Every once in a while they would kill a beef in them early days. They would have about twelve families there. It would be in the summer. They would cut that beef up. They had ice houses and they would put it there to cool. They would deliver each one, they would keep record, each one of these families would get a part of that beef in the summer. Then the next guy would kill, and they would keep a record of the parts of beef. Every time it would come around you would get the best cuts, all of them would. That's the way they done it in them days. JC: How was the ice house constructed? BD: It was mostly lined with straw in the walls. They would leave a hollow place, and they would place the straw down in there and put a big cover over it. To make the ice house they would pack the ice in there. It would last quite a while. That's all they had. They had to do it that way. JC: What did you use for plumbing in your home? BD: Well, we didn't have any plumbing in them early days, not a bit. We use to haul our water from what's called Rose's spring where Wiscombes live now. At the bottom of that hill there is a spring. They run it through a pipe and it would run out where the cattle all drank. The water was pure. We hauled it by the barrels. Later, when I was a boy, they 6 dug a well. They dug wells all over Richville. Just about everyone had a well, and that was good water. They hit water about thirty to forty feet usually. I can remember our well was perfect water; we went and had it tested several times. A little later when I was about seventeen or eighteen, they piped the water down from what is called the upper springs in Taggart Hollow.4 When they got down a ways, they turned and put it down Mecham Hollow, it was called, and turned it out by Roses close to Porterville. Then they cut it back down over the bench, all through Richville to the lower end. I worked all the way on that. Digging a trench and helping out. The first water we had in our house I plumbed it in there myself for mother. She was tickled to death for it saved a lot of work when she would wash. The old mill race-run not too far away, before that time. We would carry some of the water, if it happened to be clear, so she could do her washing. We used to stand at that old washer and push it back and forth, back and forth, to get the clothes clean. I'll tell you, in them days a women had a lot of work to do. JC: Where would you get your water for irrigation? BD: The old mill race. They run it from the old Kilbourn Ranch, down through Richville, to the old creamery. Everyone had a ditch. We had a mill race what took care of all the west side and they had a ditch on the east side. It came out of the same place in Porterville.5 One run down on one side of the valley and one on the other. They done their irrigation through that natural flow of water, that would come. There were very few years they were ever short. Once in a while, maybe for a little while, but if they handled it right they got by anyway. JC: Did they worry about high water? 7 BD: When the run off came, yes. High water would cover the fields. I can remember a lot of times it would come within forty or fifty feet of our house when we lived in the Richville lane, below the canal. It never did get right up to the house, that I can remember, but it did come through the fields. In the winter, sometimes it would spread out and they could skate right from Richville down to the old creamery corner and never run out of ice.6 they had some of the greatest skating bees I ever saw and some of the finest skaters. They would skate out on the fields because a lot of it was frozen. When the spring came it would clear up, and they would have good crops. They always raised plenty of wheat and grain. JC: Please tell me about the construction of the East Canyon Dam. BD: I can remember when the Davis County people came up there. Some of the Harris and others. I couldn't remember them all because I didn't know them all. They built that East Canyon Dam. They picked out a nice sight.7 that first year or two when they built it they didn't get too much water, but they got some. If I remember right, they wanted more water so they organized to get money from the people down below so they could raise the dam and build it up higher. The first dam was constructed of mostly rocks. They had a big plate of 1/2 inch steel. They set that up and put rock down at the bottom and filled it back of it, anyway they didn't get it to high them first years. If I remember right, they went up about three times.8 The last dam now holds quite a bit of water. JC: Can you remember the Indians coming to Morgan? BD: Yes. There used to be thirty or forty of them come through. When I was little, I can remember when they used to come to Dad. He was the bishop and they would come there for something to eat. He would feed them. He would have them scattered all 8 around there. There was one old Indian what would labor long after the rest left. That was just before they put them on the reservation. His name was Charley. He used to play marbles with us and he would show us Indian games. We had quite a time with him. I think he joined the church, if I remember right. When they took them over on the reservation he only got back a couple of times and that was just for a day or two and he would have to go back. JC: You mentioned Indian games. How were they played? BD: I don't know exactly. I know they played with all our family some of them Indian kids. They had different games. They had one game I can remember, kind of hide-and-seek. They would hide from each other and scare each other. They were great with a bow and arrow. They liked to shoot the bow and arrow. They would put a target up and they would have the kids shooting with them with the arrows. It was quite a game and a lot of fun, but as far as I can remember, I can't remember any bad Indians but still I was half scared to death of them. JC: What were the stores like in Morgan? BD: The first I can remember, Morgan had five saloons on that front street and some little stores. There was the Clawson Hotel, one of the first hotels I guess built in Morgan. Then the Stewart Hotel was built over there in the business district. They always had shoemakers and he was still alive when I was a kid.9 A guy by the name of Pulson, he made some of the best harnesses that was ever made in Morgan. Z. C. M. I. a few years later had a store in there, that's where Palmers is now.10 A. W. Francis had a good store. They sold a lot of things there, including clothing. J. . Williams had a store in them early days. They sold about everything, and it was good stock to. They had a 9 show house or two and they built the Old Opera House in those early days. The main place before they built the Opera House was Simmons Hall.11 That's down towards the Island road. It was on the left side of the street and it was a dance hall. They showed all the shows in there and had all their dances. I danced there when I was a kid. Then they built this place over here in Morgan that Alva Dearden runs now.12 They built that and it became quite a famous place. They had Fredrick Morris and Paul Either Company, and all of them old companies come in three or four times a year with their best shows. At that time we had one of the best home operas that was ever had. I can just remember a few of them. There was John Wood, he usually took a villain part. There was Ed Wadsworth, he was a good actor. He had a sister too that acted. Kate Littlefield and another Littlefield girl. Lawrence Porter, he was just a young guy, but he played with them a lot in them days. He had a good voice and he done a good job. I watched some of the first shows that ever come into the old Opera House here in Morgan and some of the best shows ever put on there was put on by local talent. I can't remember them all but there was a lot of good actors, good singers. They had big dances there. I guess George Peterson was one of the greatest dance promoters we had. They had a dance once a week in this old place when they danced up stairs. He saw that everyone danced. He had no wallflowers there. He would just mix them up and keep them a dancing. We had one of the best home orchestras. I remember Henry Johnson, Spike Harding, Dan Harding—boy, if I got to naming them I'll hurt someone because I can't remember all of their names. Some of the Taggarts, some of the others. That orchestra played all over the country. I believe some of the Thurstons was in that. Some of the Petersons from Milton. That dance once a week was a popular thing in Morgan County. 10 They all came into this center from Porterville, Richville, Littleton, Milton, Peterson, Croydon, Devil Slide and they had a good time. There was a lot of people. The old place would be full. JC: Now that we are talking about recreation. Did you go to Como Springs? BD: Yes, I went to Como Springs when it was just Como Springs.13 They had one little pavilion up there that set way back. It was used for a dance hall but that kind of died a little bit and the brush grew up around it. The spring was still there and about 30 by feet of water was what you could swim in. It was warm water. We used to go up there by the crowds. The boys would go up, if there wasn't too much going on there, we still would have a good time. We would go in the nude most of the time. Later years they fixed it up and had a pavilion and a dance hall. Cleaned the old spring out, made a good swimming place out of it. It became quite a noted place. For years and years we would go there for picnics, our jubilees. We had a great time at Como Springs. JC: Let's talk about the industries in Morgan. Will you tell me about the grist mill that was in Richville? BD: That was about 1900, and I was eight years old. I used to go down to this grist mill. It was down a little ways from the church towards Morgan. Taggarts built it, and then some other man came in there I don't know just who.14 In 1900, it was run by my Uncle John Dickson. JC: What did the Grist Mill look like and how did it run? BD: Well, it run just like the other old Morgan Mill. I run this other Morgan Mill for a while. It was built of silks and satins like all of them are and they've done a good job. They used 11 to come from Coalville, Kamas, Kaysville, Layton, and all over the country to get their flour there. It run until about 1904 or 1905. I think it was when it went out of business and it just stood there as an old mill. They had the old grinding blocks there and someone took them. I remember the last rock was taken by mayor of Ogden, Mr. Harmon Perry. He took it up to the resort up the canyon as a show piece. I think it's still there. JC: Will you tell me about the Lime Industry in Morgan? BD: Well, all I know about the liming in North Morgan is that it was across the street over under the hill just before you turn up the canyon. There used to be a lime mill there. All I can remember was that Jack Hopkins worked there before he went to Devil Slide; he was a foreman up there for many years. He worked there and he made that lime. I believe that brother, Jim Rawle was working with him and quite a few others, I can't name them all. They put out a lot of lime. In them days, a lot of adobe houses were built. When they built an adobe house, they mixed it with a mixture of lime and sand and they got just about the same mixture as cement. I know it holds in them walls. They are about as hard to tear down as cement is. They built a lot of them homes. I think that run at least until 1920 or 25, maybe longer than that. I don't know for sure. JC: Will you tell me about the Brick yard? BD: The Brick yard up Taggart Hollow about a mile and a half I guess.15 When you’re going west, there's a little canyon that breaks off and it’s called Mecham Hollow. It goes around by Otis Roses' place. This was the dividing line, all below there was Richville and all above there was Porterville. This stream of water, just a little one, runs down through there. They had a lime kiln right down at the bottom, now there are two houses 12 built there. They made the bricks there for the old Porterville meeting house that's still standing. They made the brick for Uncle Will Dickson's home, Uncle Jack Dickson's home and a lot of the other homes. JC: Will you tell me about the saw mills? BD: There were so many of them saw mills that I couldn't mention them all.16 I don't know their names but a pretty well know there locations. There were a lot of home built from the lumber of those saw mills. They had a saw mill or two right there in Porterville. The big hotel that was built in Devil's Slide was built from those saw mills up Hardscrabble. Years later we tore that old hotel down; the church took it over and sold it. The stake made a little money out of it. Some of the finest lumber came out of that hotel that was ever made. It was so tough it was hard to get a nail in. JC: Hardscrabble reminds me of bear stories. Do you know any bear stories? BD: I know one good one. This happened when I was about nine years old. I had a good pony. I had to go up Taggart Hollow and gather the cows at night. There were about three or four families that I would gather cows for. They would turn them out in there in the mornings. Sometimes they would get up to the upper springs; that's where the water is piped from. I would get on the pony and I'd go up there. Everyone’s herd would have a different toned bell. Their cows would get acquainted with each other’s and would stay pretty well together. Just this side of Pole Hollow, I was going up a trail loping along on the horse. I could hear a bell way over, all at once I found myself laying on my belly trying to get my breath. I looked up and there was a bear about eight feet from me. He was just as scared as I was, I guess. I can just see him now, he raised up on his hind legs and stood up, looked right at me and then went down and up the trail he went away 13 from me. Down the trail I went running all the way home and the horse with me. At home I caught the horse and went back and got the cattle, but I didn't see no more of that bear. It's quite a thing to be face to face with a bear and just a kid. JC: One of the largest industries in Morgan County is the Cement Plant. Will you tell me about the process used in making cement when you were first employed there? BD: The process was lime rock, they had oceans of that up there and they still got it.17 There's a lot of Gipson down to Nephi County. Lime has to be mixed with just so much Gipson that gives it its clinging power. The chemists have always been working since they first started. We had a wonderful chemist up there for a long time named Dolbird, a Danish man from Denmark, one of the experts. I guess he was one of the foremost we've ever had in them early days. JC: How did they get the lime off the hills in the early days? BD: They'd make what they called holes. They would dig a big hole in there, maybe go back fifty feet right under that big mountain and put powder there. They would go a hundred feet and then they'd branch; they go off this way and that way. They'd put a big hole of powder here, another over on this end and another there. Then they would fill the holes back up with rock what they'd dug. They would run there wires out and when they got it all done they would get off on a point of a hill, put it in the battery and blow it all out. I tell you, it was quite a sight to see that mountain come down and to see what it could do. One of those shots shot a rock right down through the library and it went right through the chemist’s bed. It went through the building, everything. Once when they exploded it moved the coal house about two hundred feet straight up. You could see the first a going. We didn't know if it was going to stop for a minute or two. When it settled back 14 there was no one hurt. Made quite a bit of damage around. They fixed the old coal house up and still went back to work. They used to grind that coal up to burn that rock to make the cement. That was part of the process. The lime rock was crushed by machinery and converted into drying bins where it was dried with coal fire furnaces. The clinkers were then ground into a fine powder.18 The powder material was burned at a high temperature and then sent to the final grinding department. The lab men then determined the correct amount of Gipson or other additives required, and the final grinding reduced it to a powder called cement. JC: How did they sack the cement? BD: They used to do it by hand when I first went up there. They had them japs and they'd just tied it by hand?19 They had a little spout there, they'd run it in the sack. When they got there hundred pounds, they would tie it. Then later, when Lew Wright and they came along, years later about the 30's I guess. They had a machine that made a snub hole right in the sack and the sack was all tied. They would just push that over a thing and the cement would blow in that. When the right weight came it would quit. It would come off on a belt and go on. They don't do that so much now. Most of the cement is handled in bulk. They hauled it loose. They get these big trucks and blow it in and load them up. They would fill one truck and then another all day long.20 JC: Recently I drove up to the community of Devil's Slide and saw a few homes and a doctor's office. What was it like when you lived there?21 BD: When I lived there we had every home filled. We had a town built called the Jap camp. A new one was built in 1935.22 The new one was full and people were living in tents. At that time every home had plumbing. I was the bishop up there for twenty-six years. I got 15 to know everyone when they'd come in. I was a plumber and had to go in their homes and I got well acquainted with the people. We had a hotel that would hold about a hundred and thirty-nine men. In 1926, when they doubled tracked the railroad, we had that just as full as it could be. We had an auxiliary building right to the side of it. It wasn't fastened on to it. That's where they used to hold their church; it wasn't much of a church though. They held Sunday school there on a Sunday when the others weren't using it. It was a nice clean building but it was used as a saloon at one time. There was no saloon there then, just a dance floor big enough to play basketball in. Later years they fixed it up and made living quarters. That's where the school teachers used to stay. Another thing I would like to tell you about is the school. The company built a schoolhouse and furnished the teachers and paid for all the books for the kids until at least 1930. We got a franchise on the building when the company gave it to the church for $1.50. It almost broke my heart. I hated to put this in there but I feel that I must. After the town dissolved and the old church was torn down, they made the company pay a thousand dollars to get their property back. It was 149' x 147' right in the middle of the town. They gave that to us and all the time I was bishop they furnished the electricity free and the coal free. I thought it was just an outrage when they charged them for something that we've had the benefit of for all them years. It hurt me. There is just something about it that wasn't right in my own heart I felt, but I guess the church is looking out for money. JC: You mentioned the Jap Camp, did they stay to themselves? BD: The old Japanese camp was built right close to the works of the cement plant. One thing about them Japs they were clean. They worked in a dirty place, but you never saw them an hour after they came home from work when they was dirty. They had plenty of 16 water and they bathed together, a lot of them men and women. They took care of themselves. I believe they were moral people. I never heard of any trouble they ever had. I was pretty close to them for I was in their houses plumbing, and repairing. They were a fine people. JC: What become of the Jap Camp? BD: They pushed them out of there in one night and sent them over to Topaz where they run them together as aliens, but they were citizens! Some of them had their citizenship. This was when the war broke out. They shouldn't have been treated that way, they were fine people.23 I put the fire plugs in the new bathing house that we built for them. Then we built a great big bath tub about 12 x 15 feet square and the men also had one separate from the women. They said they would like it that way when we explained it to them, so we put it that way. They were a good moral people as far as I could see. JC: How did you spend some of your holidays? For instance, Christmas? BD: We always had a great big party and everyone come. The church would take charge of the program and the company would take charge of the gifts. Every kid would get a gift of some kind rather a Jap, Dago, or who. We had some of those people there and they were good people. We had some that wasn't so good. Mr. Oorland somehow had just the way of getting rid of the bad. JC: What about the 4th of July? BD: We always celebrated it. Mostly down here in Morgan. All of Devil's Slide would be down. There would be a big baseball game. I ran that team up there for several years. We had a fine team; one of the better ones. We played ball when I started out up there. 17 I believe I had better tell it just as it is. I played ball up there and I played on Sunday. I had to work on Sunday. I could lay off on Sunday and make just as much money playing ball as I could working. They had a conference down here in Morgan and Joseph Fielding Smith was there and they called on me to speak on the Sabbath day and keeping it holy. I got up before that conference; I had a mission back of me. I told them straight out that I didn't feel just right about it, but the money came out just the same. I got paid for playing, and I got paid for working on Sunday. It didn't rest just right on me. I made a full confession to that conference and my gosh, they put me in as bishop. I went to the company and told them I didn't want to work anymore on Sunday, would they please arrange the schedule, and they done it. Only on a bad break down was the only time I went back. I went back to oversee that work if it was in my department. This was very few times in all them years. I quit baseball. I quit everything right when I thought I was the best player. JC: What about transportation? BD: When I courted my wife, I rode the train up to Henefer and back. Can you imagine that? Yes Sir. The train would take you anywhere in them days. I missed it after it went. JC: What did you think of the first car? BD: Well, I like it. Levi Waldron was the first car I saw and John Heiner’s and Jim Carrigan’s. I thought they were wonderful. On the 4th of July, Levi drove his car and made up to forty miles and boy they thought he was a flying. Now, that would just be a walking gait. I know one thing, all the horses were scared to death of these cars for a while. They soon got use to them. A horse is like a man it'll get used to anything. 18 JC: You've mentioned the telephone and some of the other things on communication. Was there a newspaper in Morgan County? BD: Yes there's always been a newspaper as long as I can remember, I can't remember all the editors.24 JC: How often was it distributed? BD: Once a week. There wasn't always too much news sometimes. I can remember a boy from Henefer run it for quite a while. JC: What about the radio? BD: That was the biggest marvel of all, when that comes. The guy that lived next to me was Roy Wilde. He had to have it?25 I guess he had enough wires strung to cover Morgan County, through his attic everywhere. He was just testing everything. I tell you, he died not long ago, but he became an authority on that wiring. He was an electrician and one of the best. I’ll tell you, he was always digging. I guess he repaired more televisions, and radios than anyone else. JC: Can you remember any bootlegging in Morgan? BD: Oh yes. Heaven yes they had it. They had it when I was first put in as bishop. They had it buried around Devil's Slide down under the railroad tracks in big barrels. I was digging a pipeline and run into two of them in one day. I never learned who's they was. I had the old sheriff come and he wanted me to take care of them. I said, "Okay." So I knocked the plug out and poured it out and he just about cried. I gave him the barrels. I didn't want anything to do with that. Yes, it was practiced. They had a still up there 19 somewhere between here and Morgan. Oh, it wasn't too extensive but people who liked to drink, still could get it. I believe they do to this day. JC: Is there anything you would like to mention that we haven't talked about concerning the early days of Morgan County? BD: Well, there's one thing I should mention. This comes from the bottom of my heart. If there was ever a man that I admire, he never did anything to me personally one way or the other. He was President of Morgan Stake, Daniel Heiner. I never heard him speak more than five or ten minutes in my life at conference. He would get up there and tell you what to plant. I was working for a fellow that wasn't a Mormon. He was a farmer. He said, "You go to conference and don't you miss a thing, I want you go get what President Heiner says." He told them that year to grow sugar beets, he said, "Sugar beets will be your money crops some of your others will fail." I don't know where he got his inspiration. I went back and told this old fellow. He changed all his plans and planted sugar befits. He said, "Now the Mormons don't like him enough to believe him. He's never give a false statement as long as I can remember," What he said I believe because he was just that sincere. He wasn't what you would call a brilliant man on discourse or anything like that, but in judgment he couldn't be beat. I'm just as sure as I live that the Lord was on his side. That he had inspiration or things wouldn't have happened, what he said would happen. If they minded him, they came out fine, but if they didn't—I've heard good men call him bull-headed, bad names and I just about cried over it. There was something about him that went to my heart. He never done me any real favors or disfavors I just lived under him. 20 JC: Mr. Dickson, I sure appreciate the time that you've spent. I know that I've learned a lot. Thank you. 21 Tribute to the Japanese People Who Worked at Devil's Slide By Bert Dickson I was employed at the Union Portland Cement Company about 1913, hired to play baseball at shortstop for most of the games played in 1913 and 1914. Later I became the regular catcher for the team and played in that position for many years. My first job was to run errands for the foremen, one of my duties being to carry beer from the Jap Camp to the bosses and workers; also to work in the basement of the Lab making clinker bricks. On the day we had a ballgame; it was my responsibility to be on the playing diamond early for a good workout. Oft times I had occasion to go to the Jap Camp, which was located about 200 yards from the old repair and machine shops, which stood side by side. The Cement Plant mill was close by. In those days getting beer from the Jap Camp was a common practice and could be consumed at any time, any place, without any restriction. (Of course, we had more accidents then than we do now.) The Japanese were a very fine people, honest and very good workmen. To find a decent place for them to live was a problem in those days, so they build an entire village out of cardboard, west lumber, grain doors from railroad cars, pieces of tin or anything they could find. Everything was used somewhere on their shacks. A most important thing to them was a place to wash their bodies. They were very particular about the cleanliness of their bodies and their homes. Even though their homes were nothing more than makeshift shacks, the inside of their homes was very clean and tidy. For their bath house they built a place about twelve or fifteen feet square, about like our 22 swimming pools of today. It was filled up with water to a depth of three or four feet. After their day's work was done, they came here to clean up. This pool was located out in the clearing between their homes. The men and women came out clothed in the prettiest kimonos and shawls, carrying towels, soap and brushed. They would lay these things to the side and step down into the water. Men and women bather together, the wives scrubbing their husbands, a custom which was practiced in their native country* When finished, they modestly wrapped the kimonos around their bodies and went into their rooms to complete the dressing. Japanese women arose with the daylight and sang at their work as they washed their clothes and prepared the meals. I never saw a dirty boy or girl. Their children were always nicely dressed and taught to be polite and mannerly. The white children of Devil's Slide welcomed the Japanese children into their school, and before long they were speaking the English language fluently. This little Jap Camp was in operation for about twelve or thirteen years. In about 1918 or 1919 the Company built what was called the New Jap Camp. It consisted of two or three long apartment buildings. Each building would accommodate seven families, all had full basements, a kitchen, living room and two bedrooms with one big bathroom about twelve by eight feet with modern facilities to take care of their native custom of bathing. These homes had modern plumbing throughout, so these kind people who had been deprived of even the necessities were now living in luxury. They all worked for the Cement Company and were very appreciative of this great improvement. 23 In this new location there was plenty of ground for gardening, and before long the finest of truck gardens were in full production. They raised all the vegetables their families could use, then the surplus was brought to the village and proudly given to the townsfolk. It was my responsibility to take care of all the plumbing in the apartments as well as in the village. We installed fire plugs for fire protection. Kenneth Sommers, then just a lad, helped me install this fire protection, and we became very close to these Japanese families. One young fellow, George Fujiki, became interested in the Christian religion; and even though he did not join the Church, he did go along with me as I kept speaking appointments in every ward in the Morgan Stake and soon became an interesting speaker. George went into the army of his adopted country and distinguished himself in the service of the United States. When Pearl Harbor was nearly destroyed by the Japanese and war was declared against Japan, these people, though true to our country, were rushed out to concentration camps and, in my opinion, treated very badly. I was glad to see a few of my Japanese friends accepted in the Army of the United States. They were loyal citizens and proved themselves great Americans. After the war was over, these fine people never did come back to work at Devil's Slide. I am sure that most of the residents of Devil's Slide were good friends of the Japanese people. 24 BIBLIOGRAPHY Bergman, Thomas W. "Portervi1le Church in Porterville." Oral History Interview: Weber State College. Chadwick, Mrs. William (comp.). Pioneering Morgan County. Morgan County, Utah; Mr. and Mrs. Albert W. Epperson, Published, 1947. Chadwick, Mrs. William. "History of the Early Settlement and Later Development of Morgan County, Utah." Compiled by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, South Morgan Camp, October, 1930. (Typewritten.) Fine Arts Study Group, the (comp.). Mountain Conquered. Morgan County, Utah: Morgan County News Publishers. 1959. Fry, Richard T. "Two Early Settlements of Morgan County." Oral History Interview: Weber State College. Gregory, Ruth West. Those Good Peas. Vol. 36, No. 2 Smithfield, Utah: Spring 1968. Heiner, Camie. "Mr. and Mrs. Fred Florence Note 68th Wedding Date." Morgan County News, 16 November 1973, p. 1, cols. 5-6. Larson, Raymond P. "Public Schools in Morgan County." Oral History Interview: Weber State College. Stuart, Charles W. "Bailiff Dick Fry, at 83, Decides It's Time to Retire." Morgan County News, 24 September 1971, p. 1, cols. 1-4. 25 Taggart, George Theron. "Morgan County, Utah." Oral History Interview: Weber State College. Thatcher, Isabelle. "Morgan County, Utah; the Early years." Oral History Interview: Weber State College. Utah State Association of County Officials. The Counties of Utah. 1963. Kaysville, Utah: Inland Printing Company, 1963. Warrum, Noble. Utah in the World War. Salt Lake City, Utah: Arrow Press, 1924. Wiscombe, Raymond. "One Hundred Years of Education in the Morgan County School District." Thesis University of Utah. 1966. Wright, Maxine R. Remember Devil's Slide? Salt Lake City, Utah: Clyde N. Hatch Company, 1975. 26 NOTES 1. The need for an advanced school was felt In Morgan County. It was under the leadership of the church officials that an academy was opened for those who wanted to further their schooling beyond the eighth grade. The Morgan Stake Academy opened December 3, 1888. Albert N. Tollestrup was the first principal. The school was housed in the upper room of the County Court House. See- "One Hundred Years of Education in the Morgan County School District," p. 60. 2. The first telephone system in Morgan was in 1903, through the efforts of Dr. C. F. Osgood, a local physician, who had difficulty in getting calls when someone was ill. He interested a group of ten men in forming a "Cooperative Stock Company Phone." See- Mountains Conquered, p. 154. 3. In 1892 the Randall Brothers and John Wool ley purchased the Kingston property of East Canyon Creek in Morgan and established the IXL Creamery Company. There were two cheese presses and a large square butter churn, and a revolving table on which the butter was worked, printed, and wrapped by hand. The large size cheese, 18 inches around and six inches through, sold for $1.25. The small size was 75 cents. Butter sold for 15 cents per pound. See- Mountains Conquered, p. 145. 4. Richville Pipeline Company- Date of priority April 20, 1912- tank and pipe diverted from Taggart Hollow Spring. Date of priority February 18, 1919- pipeline and concrete reservoir diverted from Taggart Hollow Springs, See- "Tabulation of Water RightsSubdivision Weber River and Small Tributaries," P. 39. 27 5. East Richville Irrigation Company- priority 1862. Diverted from East Canyon Creek. West Richville Irrigation Company- priority 1861. Diverted from East Canyon Creek. See- "Tabulation of Water Rights Subdivision Weber River and Small Tributaries," p. 35. 6. The ice use to freeze two and three feet deep so there was no danger of breaking through. Skaters could start at the creek bridge in Morgan and skate through to Richville. See- Mountains Conquered, p. 55. 7. In East Canyon, about seven miles south of Porterville, an ideal location was found for a dam, to store irrigation water. The canyon gorge was narrow, with rocky canyon walls on each side. See- Mountains Conquered, p. 28. 8. In I898 the East Canyon Dam was constructed of rock with a plate steel core, 95 feet above bedrock, giving a water depth of 53 feet, which amounted to 5,000 acre feet. The height of the dam was raised 25 feet in 1900, and two years later another 17 feet was added, making a storage capacity of 13,800 acre feet. Construction was begun in 1915 on an arched re-enforced concrete dam below the site of the first dam. Work was completed in 1916 on the structure, which was raised 140 feet above the outlet of the old dam and stored 28,000 acre feet of water. SeeMountains Conquered, pp. 28-29. Construction of the third and final dam to date, was finished in the fall of 1966. The height is 240 feet above bedrock. It will store 48,140 acre feet of water. When the third dam was constructed the gates were built in the air so the dam could never be 28 completely drained. The Utah Fish and Game purchased 3,090 acre feet of water with the understanding, it will never be drained. Eight cement posts have been placed around the dam. These are connected to the gate house reporting any shifting or movement of the mountains. Information received from Budell 0. Carter, observer of the East Canyon Dam. 9. During the winter of 1868, a shoe shop and tannery was established. The tannery failed because material could be imported cheaper than it could be produced at home. The shoe company was turned over to, and made part of the Z.C.M.I, store. See- Mountains Conquered, p. 131. 10. In 1868-69, with a capital of $1,300, the first Z.C.M.I. store was started. See- Mountains Conquered, p. 130. 11. Simmons Hall was built by George and William Simmons- a frame building approximately 40 feet wide and 60 feet long. A good size stage was located in the west end. Large lamps hung from the ceiling for lighting and it was heated by large stoves. See- Mountains Conquered, p. 54. 12. The Peoples Opera House Company of Morgan was incorporated March 26, 1906 and built through public donation. The value of the building was $10,000. It was a two-story stone building- a theatre and stage on the first floor and a dance hall upstairs. It was operated for some time and when found to be a liability instead of an asset, it was given to the church which finally sold it to Alva Dearden. 29 In 19^8 Mr. Dearden decided to remodel the old building. The upper story was removed and a modern up-to-date theater was constructed. On August 12, 1949, the opening night was held. It will seat 425 people. See- Mountains Conquered, pp. 58-59. 13. Lake Como, or Como Springs, is a beauty spot in Morgan County. It is located on a tract of ground containing forty acres. The springs are of volcanic origin and have been in existence for ages. During the early settlements of Weber Valley, along in the sixties, the river would over flow and wash around into the springs. In this way a gutter was washed out, forming a pool, or lake, which was the beginning of the present lake. See- "One Hundred Years of Education in the Morgan County School District," p. 33. 14. About 1863, George W. Taggart of Salt Lake City, and two brothers, Morgan and Henry Hinman of Farmington, Davis County, commenced the building of a grist mill in Richville. It was completed in 1866. It was the first grist mill to be built in Weber Valley. 15. In September, 1864, Thomas Brough moved to Porterville. Brough was a brick maker, mason and carpenter. He made the first bricks here. Numerous houses were built in the county from brick burned in the Porterville kiln. See- Mountains Conquered, p. 24. 16. Nine saw mills were operated in Hardscrabble Canyon in the early days. Some of these were run by steam, and some by water. There were also two shingle mills. The mill farthest up the canyon was Farrell's mill, which was located on the east fork of Hardscrabble. The timber was brought down the mountain side by oxen. The next was the Standish Mill. It was located on the west fork of Farrell Canyon. The work here was mostly sawing ties. The next was Holdman's water power mill, which sawed a great 30 many shingles and lumber. This was located at the mouth of Standish Fork. Then came Bill Dickson's mill. This furnished shingles and lumber of all kinds. It was situated about 200 yards down the main canyon from Farrell's Canyon. The water mills ran night and day because they could get more power in the night than in the day. Further down the canyon was Porter and Walton's mill, and at the mouth of Arthur's Canyon, was Jake Arthur's mill; Josh Williams also owned a mill in the same canyon. Lumber was hauled over the mountains from these mills to Bountiful. See- Mountains Conquered, p. 134. 17. In 1904 or possibly before, a mountain, rich in 1imerock was discovered by Mr. Aman Moore. Several prominent men recognized the value of the "find" and met together for the purpose of forming a company and to build a plant in which Portland Cement could be manufactured. Construction of the plant began in 1904 and was completed and ready to go into production in the fall of 1906. The capacity at that time was about 1500 bbl. See- Remember Devil's Slide? p. 2. 18. The clinker used to produce cement today was discarded in those early days (1760) because it was so hard to grind. In the mid-nineteenth century Joseph Aspdin experimented with the discarded clinker and found it produced a better cement. So the situation was reversed. See- Remember Devil's Slide? p. 9. 19. At one time about twenty men were employed in the pack house. Filling the cloth bags (those with the red devil on the front) with raw cement by hand was a dirty undesirable 31 job. White employees refused to work under such objectionable conditions, so it was delegated to the Japanese men. See- Remember Devil's Slide? p. 46. 20. In the mid 1960's a $2,000,000 project provided new storage and bulk- loading facilities at the Ideal Plant. The very newest in modern equipment and intricate electronic instruments help the 200 employees produce 7,000,000 pounds of cement in one year, valued at $6,000,000. Ideal now produces seven types of cement, including white masonry. With an unlimited supply of lime- rock on its back doorstep, the Devil's Slide mills could continue to produce a high-grade product for decades. See- Remember Devil's Slide? p. 26. 21. About two miles below Henefer, on the left side of the railroad, pushing out of the side of the mountain, is the Devil's Slide, one of the most singular formations to be seen on the entire route from ocean to ocean. It is composed of two parallel ledges of granite, turned up on their edges, serrated, and jutting out in places fifty feet from the mountainside, and about 14 feet apart. It is a rough place for anyone; height about 800 feet. No factual information is forthcoming as to who is credited for giving this novel carving of stone its name. It was just across the river that the limestone mountain was discovered, and the Utah Portland Company built the first cement plant where Red Devil Cement was manufactured; and subsequently, the Company town of Devil's Slide was built. 32 At one time upwards of 250 people lived in Devil's Slide. They enjoyed most every modern convenience available in large cities. Today, 1975, the little village is fast becoming only a ghost of what it was fifty or sixty years ago. See- Remember Devil's Slide? P. 46. 22. The Japanese people were employed at the Cement Plant very soon after the milling operations began. As soon as they arrived in the Devil's Slide area, they began to build their little village which was known as the "Jap Camp." Their homes were poorly constructed from surplus grain doors salvaged from railroad freight cars, used sheets of corrugated tin, poles, old boards, logs or even sheets of heavy cardboard. Some of the shacks had dirt roofs— others were of tin. After about twelve or thirteen years, the Company built some new apartment buildings. They were known as the "New Jap Camp." Each building accommodated seven families. Each had a basement, electricity and modern plumbing throughout. The Japanese people were moved into these new facilities which were beautiful and luxurious, far beyond their wildest dreams. And a very deserving group they were. See- Remember Devil's Slide? pp. 46-48. 23. The years 1941 and 1942 were a sad time for members of the Japanese community and Devil's Slide residents alike. The bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan, and consequently World War II, caused much distrust of the Japanese people in America. As a result, Mr. Colson from the Denver office made a visit to the Cement Plant, and soon afterward the Japanese people had all disappeared. Few residents knew of their whereabouts. It was said that they were moved out for their own protection. At any rate they did not return after the war ended, and an armistice signed. By that time modern 33 machinery for filling cement sacks had been installed, and regular employees took over the jobs. See- Remember Devil's Slide? p. 48. The following paragraphs are excerpts from an article written by Jane Cartwright, Tribune Staff Writer, under the title: TOPAZ, IN THE LIGHT, and featured in the February 2, 1975, issue of the Home Magazine of the Tribune. "Topaz has been forgotten. Once it drew headlines. Its vast apron of sage brush, greasewood and salt grass cradled a comp of 8,000 people shut in by barbed wire and armed guard. They were not enemy soldiers but families of Japanese descent, many of them American citizens. The December 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy shattered their lives. Their government distrusted them; their neighbors, shocked, were suspicious. The Military asked, 'Will these people aid the enemy from within?' and so by Presidential order, the Military branded as 'enemy aliens' more than 100,000 citizens and aliens of Japanese descent and swept them into Internment camps—for the duration of the War. Walled in and isolated, the evacuees struggled for dignity, their lives interrupted, and their future uncertain. At the end of the war they were freed. Most of them returned to their homes to try and resume their lives as before, but they experienced great difficulties in fitting into a society from which they had been so undeservedly wrenched." See- Remember Devil's Slide? p. 69. 24. The Morgan Mirror was the first newspaper, being established in 1896. The earliest description of the Morgan paper is in Ayer's Newspaper Annual for 1898. "Morgan Mirror, Friday, 8 pages, 15x22, $1.00, circulation 365, Matt Edsall, publisher," See- Mountains Conquered, p. 159. 34 25. LeRoy Wilde owned one of the first radio sets in town. It was a three- tube, ninety-volt battery set, which had to be taken to the Cement Plant for recharging. KSL was the only broadcasting station that could be tuned in and that only in the evening. See- Remember Devil's Slide? p. 72. 26. Bootleg: In the U. S., to sell intoxicating liquors in defiance of the law; to peddle such liquors unlawfully. Bootlegger: One who bootlegs, especially one who provides liquors for and sells to others in violation of the law. See- Webster's Dictionary, p. 109. 35