HARNESS, SADDLE AND WHIP MAKING Harness and saddle making was another important industry in early days in Morgan County. A man by the name of Thomas Poulson operated the first harness and saddle shop in the valley He was an expert workman and not only made new equipment, but mended and replaced worn parts in old harnesses and saddles. He also made whips of various sizes and kinds. William Smith, a native pioneer, tells how Mr. Poulson made a bull whip. First he made a very soft leather sack about fourteen inches long, one end of it being about the size of a man's finger and gradually tapering off to a point at the other end. This bag was filled with small shot within about six inches of the top, then into the top space was slipped a four or five inch piece of metal pipe. This formed a hand hold. Then all around this leather bag was braided ten or twelve narrow strips of buckskin, dropping out a strand or two now and then, as the bag grew smaller. The braided buckskin continues on beyond the bag until the desired length was reached. The length of the whip depended on the use it was in¬tended for,. For driving a four horse team the ship was usually ten or twelve feet long, sometimes longer. For single teams seven or eight feet was long enough. The large end of the whip was finished with a buckskin loop to pass around the wrist. The other with a single strand of buckskin six or eight inches long, to be used as a popper. HORSE SHOE NAILS The first horse shoe nails that were used in Morgan County were made in the late "60's by a Porterville man named Aaron Smithurst. The ore used for this purpose was taken from the mountains in Hardscrabble Canyon, Mr. Smithurst built a small crude smelter to separate the ore from the rock. Just how it was done we do not know, but he had taken a large, soft, white rock and chiseled out a bowl to catch the melted ore as it ran from the smelter. When the ore colled it was hand hammered into nails, which were used quite extensively on the farms. BLACKSMITH SHOP The first blacksmith shop in Morgan Valley was owned and operated by William Tonks a young Englishman who joined the Mormon Church at the age of eighteen and came to Utah a few years later with his wife and family arriving in Salt Lake in October 1 1859. William had learned the metal trade with his father and two brothers in a lock factory in England. After living four or five years in Salt Lake City where he set up and operated a nail factory, they moved up to the Weber Valley(Morgan) and he established the first blacksmith shop in 1866. Mr. Tonks was an efficient workman and tutored other men in his line of work. He was also a skilled wheelright and set many wagon tires. His first shop was on the land where the Morgan High School now stands (1952) Marie Tonks.