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Show In the course of human events, men and women in all levels of life have been compelled one time or another ot exert what energy and ingenuity they possessed to satisfy human needs. At times these needs were secured after but little effort, but frequently, conditions arose under which their resources were taxed to capacity to achieve them. The Pioneers in their struggle to get established demonstrated through toil and suffering how wants were satisfied. Their burdens were made lighter, however, by hints passed onto them by Church leaders who frequently visited and counseled with them in matters pertaining to their welfare. There were no civil laws regulating health conditions, but being an enlightened people they understood and observed hygienic laws which were conducive in promoting health. In the matter of sanitation, walls and ceilings of homes were washed periodically with a solution of water to which a quantity of red clay was added and stirred to proper thickness. A heavy coat was applied on walls with a cloth or better put on with a brush if they were fortunate enough to possess one. The process, as many of us know, was much the same as that employed in whitewashing with lime water rooms, even in relatively modern mansions until wallpaper and paint came into use. After the thick covering of clay solution dried on the ceiling and log walls, interiors of cabins were a light tan color which radiated cleanliness and an aroma of freshness. Through observation and a meager knowledge of incidents recorded in history, an understanding is acquired, of things of most concern momentarily and of far-reaching importance to those who pioneer a new section of country, especially when attempted under conditions similar to those encountered in colonizing Slaterville and like sections of these valleys at a time a thousand miles of wilderness laid between here and civilization. Fortunately, the territory in which our settlement is included was rich in material needs provided by Mother Nature for those who chose to abide here. Water and fuel were everywhere plentiful. A luxurious growth of sagebrush covered the vast expanse of desert as far as the eye could see, and a thrifty growth of willows and trees covered the banks of streams. Sage brush, a plant detested by modern homesteaders, played an important role in sustaining our Pioneers during the arduous task of getting established. As land was cleared, loads of sage were stacked near houses and used as fuel to produce quick heat for preparing meals during the hot days of summer, and heat from large willows and heavy lengths of trunks of trees burning in the fineplace, cheered and brightened homes during short days and long nights of winter. Many of the Pioneers carried water from streams and springs for culinany purposes, while others less favorably located were compelled to haul it, in instances, for some distance. To alleviate a situation which consumed both time and labor, those so affected dug cisterns or wells near their houses. Cisterns, as a rule, were made sufficiently large to hold several hundred gallon and had to be filled only three or four times during the year. During the filling process, water was filtered through a deep thickness of sand to purify it. Time and labor required to fill a cistern were eliminated by the -52- use of wells, which if dug to a reasonable depth, were constantly supplied with an inexhaustible flow of pure cold water, through underground seepage. To contrive many things the Pioneers needed did not require qualification of a genius to achieve and construct them, but merely a simple understanding of how to make use of resources at hand. Tallow rendered from fats of animals was used in making candles for lighting purposes and soap for scrubbing and washing. Nearly every family had a set of candle molds which consisted of pipes about an inch in diameter, and a foot long reach attached to a pedestal. The pipes equipped with a heavy cord which served as a wick, were filled with boiling fat and allowed to stand until cool. The contents when perfectly solid was removed from molds, a finished product ready for use. The process employed im making soap consisted in adding a quantity of wood-ashes to the boiling grease, which took the place of lye and tender to neutralize the fat and gave to it cleansing properties. Some families that came to Slaterville fortunately brought with them spinning wheels and small grinders, the kinds used by the Saints quite extensively back in the states during early years of the Church. These machines, as antiquated as they were, compared with modern inventions, facilitated materially efforts to provide bread to sustain life and needed clothing to protect against extreme heat of summer and piercing cold of winter. Each family spun yarn from wool sheared from small individual flocks and wove enough cloth for its own use. Suits and dresses made of this material which was somewhat coarse like burlap, would lack much in meeting fashion demands today. Some women, it is reported, wore their dresses right side out on Sunday and inside out week days. Work of those noble Pioneer women, guardians of the home, pillars of strength, and encouragement many times to discouraged husbands, will never be completely told. Besides preparing meals, spinning, weaving, mending, knitting, patching, and making shirts and jeans for husbands and sons and dresses for themselves and daughters, they spent what time they could laboring with the family in the fields to assure, if possible, a much needed harvest. Harvest time to these devoted people was a season for rejoicing and thanksgiving. Crops they planted and nurtured to maturity were carefully gathered and stored for winter. Hand-tied bundles of grain, reaped with a cradle, were hauled to the farmyard where members of a family, armed with flails, separated the precious golden kernels from the straw and schaff and stored them safely in a clean, dry bin. With hay crops neatly stacked and covered with a thickness of wet-repellant meadow grass, grain in the bin, and potatoes in the pit, harvest was completed. Of all the things necessary in the preparation of these fruits of the harvest for use, the problem of converting wheat into flour was probably the most vexing. There were no flour mills in any outlaying colonies outside of Ogden, but a few grain grinders located here and there were available to do piece -53- |