Chapter 4 MANY THINGS CALLED FOR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION Naturally those of us who have given thought to the matter of home steading and building up a new secton of country are better qualified to understand worries and problems that confronted Pioneers in their efforts to colonize throughout these valleys. Everything necessary to their well being called for immediate attention. The early Pioneers of Slaterville were no different in many respects from those who colonized other places. They had no roofs to shelter them from burning heat or downpour of rain in summer or from severe cold of winter and but little food to tide them over to the first harvest. Land had to be cleared, tilled, and crops raised and harvested if they were to survive through another winter. Claims to water of nearby streams had been secured, but the matter of getting it to various farms posed a problem of no little concern. The process of constructing an irrigation system with the old-time spade and plow, facilitated by the use of the old-time slush scrapper, if they were fortunate enough to possess one, was very slow and inefficient which blighted hopes of an early completion of an adequate water distribution system. In the midst of these hectic times of toil and worry, these devoted people were disturbed by growing unsettled conditions in surrounding Indian villages which threatened an uprising against the settlers. The cause of which possibly stemmed from the sudden influx of white settlers who commenced colonies here and there over the entire region. The natural instinct of these native Americans no doubt impressed them with the understanding that invasion of these frontiers, the abiding place for centuries of hermit nature, and happy hunting grounds traditionally handed down from generation to generation to them by their Lamanite Father, they too would soon be a driven people in search of a promised land. We who are living today on land that Indian tribes originally possessed have witnessed, as the white population increased, these native inhabitants driven onto tracts of land or reservations, forced under the strong arm of the law to foresake native customs and traditions which were near and dear to them. To avoid unnecessary shedding of blood and loss of lives in the event of Indian hostilities, settlers in our locality, as in many small colonies in the vicintiy of Ogden, left their homes in the late summer of 1853 and gathered at a fort erected about a mile west of what is now known as "Five Points." This fort erected for protection of settlers in the surrounding area in anticipation of Indian uprisings, was built under supervision of Erastus Bingham, one of the first settlers and a prominent civic and church leader of Ogden City. This hastily built protection for the people was known then as it is referred to today as "Bingham's Fort." Indian uprising failed to materialize to the extent anticipated, however, reports were received from some colonies of petty thefts by Indians, but the extent of their depredations was not considered too serious. Many people, some of whom had been at the fort only a short time, returned to -48- their homes in respective colonies. The natives, after some contacts with the settlers, soon learned that their white brother was more disposed in his desire to help, rather than fight them. This understanding, we assume, did much to end antagonistic feelings toward the settlers and stimulated a fellowship among the two peoples that lasted until the Indians left to take up habitations on their reservations. BINGHAM'S FORT In considering the many aspects of Pioneer life during the colonization and development of Slaterville, it would be deemed only natural that location, of homes and kind of living quarters provided for families should receive due attention. Only the older members of our community who have been concerned enough in the history of their settlement have any degree of knowledge of location of homes and kind of houses in which our pioneers lived. Unless some discription or history of them is perserved in writing, future generations will be deprived of a valuable part of a heritage to which they will be joint heirs with us. The Pioneers in the matter of home building were unavoidably governed by -49-