Vincent Pugmire and Nancy Emeline Rich Pugmire (Parents of Landon Rich Pugmire)

Vincent and Nancy Emeline Rich Pugmire

(Parents of Landon Rich Pugmire)

Pioneers of 1864

I was asked to write a few words on the activities of the Pioneers of 1864, and as I happen to be one of them, I think I know something about them.

The activities in those days were quite different to what they are at the present time. To be sure we had some amusements, but the greater part of the time for men, women, and children was spent working to gain a livelihood. We took the wool as it came from the sheep’s back, Women’s dresses and all kinds of cloth for children’s wear, besides blankets and mattresses for our beds as well as yarn to knit stockings for the whole family, which kept our fingers busy when we sat down to rest. Another one of our activities was the milk cows, the milk of which we converted into butter and cheese for the family use, and sometimes we would sell a little when we could spare it. Eight cows was the number that I had to milk.

            Everybody had to make their own clothes in those days, no ready made clothes even for men. I well remember when I was sweet sixteen, my Xmas dress was a grey linsey that I had spun the yarn for, and my Mother wove and made it. I really believe I was as well dresses as any other girl in the room that night, for I caught a beau.

            Another activity was cooking small potatoes, to make a mash to fatten the pigs in the fall.

            We had to cure our own beef and pork for winter use and it was no unusual sight to see the rafters on the inside of our log houses literally covered with dried meat, which served instead of candy, when the young folks came into spend the evening. That is one of the activities we would enjoy at the present time.

            We could not run to the store and get a package of dye in those days; we had to gather blossoms from the hillside and resort to other ways of providing the colors we desired.

            In the fall of the year when the beeves were killed and the tallow rendered it was a general time of making candles for the long winter evening. I well remember the first lamp that came into Paris, and oh! What a wonder it was. It was owned by old Brother Collings.

            The people worked hard, but they were never so busy but what they could have their big suppers occasionally, with plumb puddings where service barriers took the place of plums.

People were very sociable in those days, not so much “Class Distinction” as we see today. During the evening, it was games that were played by the parents such as “Hunt the Whistle,” “Messmerism,” “Family Coach,” “Queen Dodo’s Dead,” and many others. There were no such things in the early days as organs and pianos, the violin and accordion furnished most of the music.

One great event in the life of the pioneers was when President Brigham Young and party made a visit to Bear Lake. What a pretty sight it was to see all the little children, dressed in their best clothes, lined up on either side of the road all with wild flowers in their hands which they waved as the party passed. Oh, those were red latter days, especially in the lives of the children. Then how we all gathered under the bowery, with wind blowing and dust flying so we could hardly see the speaker. I will remember when George A. Smith was trying to pray at the close of the meeting and holding on to his wig, he said, “Oh, Lord, inspire the hearts of these people to build a meeting house where we can be shielded from the wind and dust.” I think it was ready for them the next time they came; a long low log house with a dirt floor.

A few things more that I could mention

If you will kindly give your attention,

We should sing praises o’er and o’er

For those pioneers of sixty-four.

‘Twas them that made the roads and bridges

Hauled timber from the lofty ridges,

Made fences round their quarter section

Which they all did for their protection.

They killed the snaked and make the ditches,

While the wife at home took may stitches,

For machines were not in fashion then,

Neither was machinery here for men.

But with scythes they cut the hay and grain

They worked with all their might and main,

They built their cabins out of logs

To protect them from the snow and fogs.

The snow came so early and so steep

That they hardly took the time to sleep.

Then the summer when the rains came down

How all the women folks did frown.

For the houses leaked, the beds got wet,

Under the table we had to get,

Umbrellas came in very good,

For we had to sit on the kindling wood.

And thus keep it dry for future use

For in those days they kept nothing loose

The snow was deep the winters long

But the folks were happy and full of song

The girls were modest as they could be

No dresses worn above their knee,

And Mothers taught their little misses

To allow men no off-hand kisses.

But to make their lives so pure instead

And give unto the man they’d wed

True love that never would grow cold

No, not even when both were old.

Those old Pioneers of sixty-four

Will soon be gone, they will speak no more

For they are passing, one by one,

Their work on earth is nearly done.

But when of them we are bereft,

Many good people will still be left

Whose lifes, no doubt, will be as true,

As those now lived by me and you.

Of course they will not be the same

The times have changed, no one to blame,

But they’ll join hands with one accord

And work united for the Lord.        

N.E.P.

Reminiscent of the Past

A paper prepared for a Ward Social Jan. 22, 1930

            Fifty-six years ago I came to this place as a young bride to make a home with my husband. There have been many changes since then, along almost every line that can be mentioned; our mode of travel is different, our way of living and out style of clothes.

Very few of the people who were living her fifty-six years ago can be found here today, yet the changes came so gradually that we hardly realized them at the time. Those faithful old pioneers have dropped away, one by one, and their places were soon filled by younger people.

Improvements have come along many lines, but when it comes to the work of the Lord, and the love and faith that was in the hearts of those old pioneers, I do not believe there has been the same improvements that there has been in temporal things.

During those fifty-six years we have had six bishops all good men, and so doubt as many changes in counselors and other church officers, but so far as I am able to remember, I do not see any greater faith in the work of the Lord, than there was at that time and it seems to me that there is not the same love and sociability among the people today that there was fifty-six years ago.

            We can not help but call to mind those old time Socials, the big dinners where old friends and neighbors were invited, and games were played by the old as well as the young. The mother and father were the main ones there, and they all went to dances, and it is no flattery to say that they were the best dancers.

They did not wear short dresses, nor bob their hair, but there was a native modesty among the people at the time that we do not see today.

In those days we manufactured many of our own clothes, and children were taught to work and be useful. Had it been otherwise the people today would not be enjoying the comforts and in many instanced the luxuries they have at the present time. How well do I remember while moving into this Valley in the Spring of 1864, that my sister, Mrs. Woolly and myself walked bare-foot every step of the way and drove the first band of sheep that ever came into this Valley. Shoes were a luxury in those days and they were only used on special occasions.

I remember when I was sixteen years of age, my Christmas party dress was one that I had spun the yarn for and Mother spun and made it. I have now, in my possession, a nice bunch of pretty card that I received in the first Sunday Schools held in Paris: in those days we would rather go without a meal than miss our Sunday School, and I believe my faith in the goodness of God was even stronger then than it is today. I well remember when I studied telegraphy, I was afraid I was not getting on as fast as I should when I was returning home one night from my class, I knelt down by an old pole fence and asked God to help me that I might not fail, and he did, so I succeeded and was on of the first telegraph operators in Bear Lake Valley. Today my heart is full of gratitude to God for all that I have passed through and as I near the end of the journey I thank him for his many blessings in the past and with the Spirit of Love and resignation that fills my heart today for I know that he doeth all things for the best.

Nancy E. Pugmire