Marriott-Si atervi He's Carl Hodson August 2, 2011 4 NICHOLAS DRANEY/Standard-Examiner Ogden s Carl Hodson is a true pioneer By CHARLES F. TRENTELMAN Standard-Examiner staff ctrentelman@standard.net OGDEN — Carl Hodson's pioneer roots made him haul the last loads of sugar beets from his farm off of 12th Street in Ogden to the refinery with a horse and wagon. It was 1951, so tractors were all over, and he had a big load, too. But, still, "I hauled 350 tons of sugar beets with a team of horses and a wagon," he said last week. "I hauled them from right across the street from Gibson Avenue (down the street from his home on West 12th Street) to the factory," on 1900 West at the former "A farm teaches you to think for yourself. You've got to do it on your own and think things out.... Everything isn't easy' Amalgamated Sugar refinery. Why use horses? Horses were cheaper and more reliable than tractors. Horses were also what his family always used. So he and his horses harvested, loaded and hauled five loads a day, five and a half tons per load, of sugar beets. All by himself? Of course not. "There were two of us at the time," he said with a smile, his slightly clouded eyes sparkling. The other was his older brother, Grant. Still, two guys, 350 tons. But that's how it was for families whose ancestors walked across the plains to Utah. Hodson is turning 90 on Thursday. His time on the family farm looms large in the life he's pondering as his family gathers to celebrate. Hodson still lives in the 900 block of West 12th Street, one of the few remaining homes on that now-busy commercial thoroughfare. History and time have drastically changed everything else. Looking north outside his front window, he can see the original 233