William and Albert Pincock

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Voices from the Past
Sugar City
By William and Albert Pincock
July 14, 1971
Tape # 43
Oral interview conducted by Harold Forbush
Transcribed by Kurt Hunsaker & Theophilus E. Tandoh
February 26, 2005
Brigham Young University- Idaho
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( Through the facilities of the Upper Snake River Valley Historical Society headquartered
on North Center, Rexburg, Idaho, the interview of two brothers that follow, first recorded
on reel- to- reel tape is now placed on a C- 90 cassette this tenth day of April, 1984)
Forbush: It is July 14, 1971. And it is my privilege this afternoon to have come to my
office here in Rexburg, Idaho, two fine brothers from Sugar City, the Pincock boys, I
suppose we could say. I am going to ask you Doug if you will state your full name first
and the date and place where you were born?
Pincock, Doug: I am Douglas Pincock of Sugar City. I was born on the old homestead,
160 acres northeast of Sugar City. At the time I was born we were living in the Wilford
Ward on the north side of the Teton River. We later moved south of the river when our
new home was built and that put us from then on into the Sugar City Ward.
HF: Now would you state the date when you were born?
DP: I was born September 27, 1900, on the old homestead at Willford Ward.
HF: And at that time they had a post office at Willford.
DP: They had a post office at Wilford. They received their mail from out of St. Anthony.
The railroad went through there and the mail was dropped off in St. Anthony and
delivered to the post office in Wilford.
HF: Now Albert would you state your full name and the date and place where you were
born?
Pincock, Albert: I am William Albert Pincock, born the 21st of February, 1896, at
Riverdale, Utah. I would like to explain why I was the only child born outside of the old
homestead. Father, at that time, prior to my birth, went on a mission to the Southern
States. This took place in November, 1895. I was born in 21st of February, 1896. This left
mother with five small children to take care of. They moved back to Riverdale, Utah, and
stayed with her father and mother during this period of time. Father was gone about two
and a half years. And he never boarded a train from the time that he got off in his mission
field until he got on to come back home. He never paid for a bed or a meal in all that
time. In many cases he traveled some three hundred miles to a missionary conference.
HF: This was literally a case of traveling and doing all these missionary labors and
services without purse or scrip in other words without money in his pocket.
AP: That’s right. He spent very little money doing this missionary work.
HF: Now Albert, would you present for us some background information and data in
rather a brief way, about the Pincock family name and how do you spell that name for the
record?
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AP: We spell it P- I- N- C- O- C- K. To begin with I’d like to give you a little bit about the
name that I didn’t figure out would give me a… few years back we run onto a branch of
the Pincock name that went up into Canada. We run onto a woman by the name of Mrs.
Gillette but her maiden name was Pincock. She lived in Salt Lake City. And she said, in
England they called the name of Pincoe and when she came to Canada they changed the
name and changed the spelling to P- I- N- C- O- E. They spelled it like they had said it in
England. She told me when I visited her in Salt Lake that she wished that they hadn’t of
changed the spelling of the name. Now I might go on a little farther with the Pincock
name. We haven’t found very much regarding the origin of the Pincock name. They came
from Acton, Lancaster, England. But in my research I have found that the name
originated in Germany. My great grandfather, John Pincock, his wife, Mary Morgan, they
were married the 13th of August, 1815, and the family left England in February, 1841, on
the ship, Sheffield, under the leadership of Hyrum Clark; this being the third company of
Mormon emigrants, to leave England for America. There were 235 Saints in this
company. To this couple was born nine children. My grandfather, John Pincock, being
the eighth child, he married Isabelle Douglas the 3rd of February, 1851. They had 14
children. My father, George Albert Pincock, also being the eighth child, married Lucinda
Elizabeth Bingham, the 20th of October, 1886. They had eleven children, myself being
the fifth child. Now I’ll leave the Pincocks there and go to the Bingham side of the
family.
HF: Alright and that would be your mother’s side of the family?
AP: That is right, my mother’s maiden name being Lucinda Elizabeth Bingham.
HF: And that is spelled B- I- N- G- H- A- M?
AP: That’s right. The Bingham name appears prominent in English history from the
Norman Conquest of 1066 till the present time. Our first American ancestors came from
Sheffield, England, to America in 1642. Thomas Bingham, # 1 in the Bingham Family
history, emigrated to America with his mother and settled in Windham, Connecticut,
where he was known as a leader and a devout man. His tombstone in the old church yard
in Connecticut bears the inscription, “ Here lies the body of that holy man of God, Deacon
Thomas Bingham.” He was a man eminent for his piety, love, and charity. He died in the
88th year of his life leaving a large posterity, and we find the Bingham family entrenched
in America, the land of Promise. Research revealed that the Church played a prominent
part in their lives. I’d like to insert a little more here. In this Riverdale Ward, where my
grandfather, Sanford Bingham lived, he and his son were Bishop of that ward for a period
of fifty years continuously. They never had any other Bishop only by the name of
Bingham for fifty years.
HF: Is Riverdale in the Salt Lake area?
AP: No it is just south of Ogden, just about three or four miles South of Ogden.
HF: It would be in Weber County then?
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AP: Yes.
HF: And in passing, I realized that our first counselor in the First Presidency of the LDS
Church is Harold Bingham Lee. Is he a relative?
AP: Yes, he is a relative. I can’t give you his genealogy so to know, but I think the
common ancestor would go back to Erastus Bingham. But I can’t give you the genealogy
on that.
HF: Very interesting.
AP: Now to go on, and among the Bingham’s were many Church dignitaries and
missionaries. From this stock descended Erastus Bingham, my great grand father. He
married Lucinda Gates the 21st of March, 1820. He had nine children. My grandfather,
Sanford Bingham, being the 2nd child, married Martha Ann Lewis the 18th of July, 1847.
They had twelve children. My mother, Lucinda Elizabeth Bingham, being the youngest
child, married George Albert Pincock, the 20th October, 1886.
HF: And would this have been solemnized in the Endowment House or perhaps in one of
the other temples?
AP: No this was done in the Logan Temple. It had been dedicated by that time. I can give
you the dedication date.
HF: Well it was in 1884. That is just a couple of years before, I think. Well, now Brother
Pincock did you have some more that you wanted to add on the Bingham or Pincock
family?
AP: No that is all I give on the names.
HF: Can either one of you, now, explain why your father and mother moved into the
Upper Snake River Valley? What were the circumstances that encouraged them to come
up here?
DP: I figure to treat that question next. George Albert Pincock already had two brothers
and one sister who came to the Snake River Valley in 1883.
HF: What were their names?
DP: John Pincock and James Pincock and Aunt Laudie Pincock or Garner. She married
Johnny Garner. These were the names of these three brothers and sisters. Well they didn’t
come to wane; she didn’t come at all as a pioneer. In 1818, he also wanted to use his
homestead right and become independent. So he wouldn’t have to depend on working
for wages all of his life. He first came and saw the country in 1884 and then went back to
Ogden and was married the 20th of October, 1886. In the spring of 1887, they came to
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Idaho to stay. They homesteaded on 160 acres located one mile east and one mile north
of the northeast corner of the Sugar Town Site; and that location was the south half of
section 4, township 6. That is all on that particular question.
HF: That’s very good. Now let’s see, that place where he homesteaded was just north of
your uncles?
DP: Just north of Uncle John’s homestead.
HF: John Pincock’s ranch? Let’s see, did the north branch of the Teton River pass
through the homestead?
DP: Yes, right through the old homestead.
HF: Now as I understand the first home on the 160 was on the north side of the river.
DP: It was on the north side. It was a log cabin did a two room log cabin and a bed room.
We had a board floor in it but we Pincocks, most of us are just little fellows. I remember
swinging on across logged cared roof. This was quite a home. There were nine of the
children born in the old log cabin, other than myself.
HF: Isn’t that amazing.
DP: Let me say just one thing. In connection with this home, those days of course, there
was no electricity, no refrigeration. My father built a nice cellar on the west or on the
east- west side of the home, it was a two roomed home. There was a stairway that led
down into this cellar from the room. And there they were able to keep their milk, their
butter, and their homemade cheese, and a lot of their food stuff was kept in this cellar.
The walls were wide enough and heavily enough insulated that it stayed cool all through
the hot summer and never did freeze in the winter.
HF: Now was the log made of ah…?
DP: Native pine logs.
AP: I don’t know but what they were just cottonwood. They were awful rough. I believe
they were just the old cottonwood. You know there are many of them that grow very
straight. It was a pretty rough cabin.
DP: And to start with, they didn’t have a ceiling in it. But later they put a factory cloth
ceiling to kind of keep the dirt from sifting through. Course there was times when we had
heavy storms, real heavy rains, that we had pans placed around here and there to catch the
rainwater that made its way through occasionally.
HF: Now as you understand it, was there quite a lot of foliage in the way of willows and
brush and so forth on the property, particularly adjacent to the river banks?
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AP: Oh, yes. We had quite a lot of willow growth on the river.
HF: And that had to be cleared away pretty much?
AP: Well, we used that pretty much for pasture land and not until later years did they ever
do much with the brush. Father had plenty to farm without besides monkeying the bed to
begin with.
DP: I recall later Harold that father hired men, Mexicans, to come in. Remember old
brother Kidd, he used to spend hours up there during the summer time. He’d have him
chop brush down in the river bottoms to make more pasture room and have better pasture
for a nice herd of cows that father always had.
HF: What type of foliage in the way of vegetation grew? Name the types. There would
be of course, the willows and how about the haw bushes; much in the way of haw bushes
along the river there?
DP: Well, we didn’t have too many haws in our area. In some sections, however, in that
upper country, we found quite a lot of haws. I don’t remember very many haw bushes on
our old hundred and sixty.
HF: How about chokecherries?
DP: No chokecherries either, they were higher up in the mountains.
HF: How about quaken aspen you know regular aspen?
DP: We didn’t have any aspen down that low. We had the native cottonwood but no
aspen.
HF: I see.
DP: The natural willows, the natural brush that grew along the river banks was really…
HF: Now about further from the river did you have sagebrush?
DP: It was all sagebrush.
AP: Heavy sage, a lot of it. They had to grub that and work it out with their plows and
their harrows and their discs what they had they didn’t have a disc to start with; they
came up with just a hand plow. They had a little slip scraper. He made those ditches up
through there up to the main river east of the homestead, to get his water down.
HF: He diverted water from the river?
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DP: Right.
HF: This was before the Teton Island Canal was constructed?
AP: Yes and that ditch still brings water to the old homestead; on the north side.
DP: That reminds me of the name of the two ditches. He had a private ditch in
connection with some of the other neighbors. He had the one on the north side I think
was called Pincock and Barntoo Ditch. The one on the south side of the river was the
Pincock- Garner Ditch.
HF: In other words, two families, two homesteaders were served by the one on the north
and the two homesteaders on the south, Pincocks and Garners?
DP: That’s right. Our immediate neighbors were the Garners. I was going to comment
about them next. That is the next question I think.
HF: Incidentally, did they have to rip- rap the river someway to, I guess, you know in
order to get that, for the diversion to get the water up?
DP: No, I don’t think they made anything to amount to at that time. The river flow was a
lot better then than it is at some years now. Some years now it gets pretty low, the river
does. But at that time the river carried quite a stream of water most of the time and they
didn’t have much trouble getting all of the water they wanted where they located these
two particular heads.
AP: They were far enough east from the homestead to get plenty of fall; a natural fall in
that area is southwest and pretty near west. The ditch runs straight west along the section
line, and they were fallen up they went high enough, went far enough east to come out of
the river so that there were far enough to take it from the bottom of the river without
having to.
HF: About how far down on the North Fork was your homestead located from the place
where the river forks? The main channel of the Teton? Two miles, four miles?
DP: It is in the neighborhood about two miles or two miles and a half. It is above the
Teton- St. Anthony oiled strip, is where the river divides, out there north of Teton.
HF: So you were around two and a half miles west of that site?
DP: That’s right.
HF: Can you recall back fellows, anything about the animal life in the area where the
homestead was located? Starting out with rabbits, was there quite an abundance of
rabbits?
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DP: There was quite in abundance of rabbits. There was quite a lot of big game in the
area. Father, I think a number of the times shot a deer within a half mile of the old
homestead. They used to have plenty of wild meat in the winter time.
AP: Deer and elk, and antelope were plentiful in the area.
HF: Antelope? And rabbit.
DP: There were plenty of rabbits.
HF: You boys, I imagine, would go out hunting, cottontails those big white hairs?
DP: We snared lots [ of] rabbits when we were kids, where they come in to the hay stack
into the hay yard and have a trail where they come and we hanged the snare, wire snare
on the pool fence father around the bare wire fence, get rabbits who were snared. They
were good for eating. In the winter time they were delicious.
AP: In the winter time, they were delicious meat.
HF: How about wild chicken?
DP: Lots of wild chicken, grouse, various types of grouse, didn’t have too many fessons
that time this seems to be a bird that has been transplanted in here.
HF: They used the foliage around the river bank for shelter quite a bit?
DP: Oh yes, they used [ it] as [ a] refuge.
HF: Now how about fish life in the river?
DP: Good fishing, not kidding. We used to go fishing quite however, our neighbors were
the champion fishers. I didn’t mention that here I mentioned few things next time about
the Garner boys but I didn’t mention their fishing.
HF: I believe these would have been your cousins.
DP: These weren’t related to us at all.
HF: Okay.
DP: I don’t think them as hardly a day, but what one of them Will Garner’s boys went
fishing, one of them will go everyday and they always come back with a nice mess of fish
the old folks were real fishermen.
HF: Now would they go along the Teton River?
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DP: Well, they went along the Teton as well as the big canal after it was built, the big
feeder canal. These boys were good fishermen. I went fishing quite a lot; we got quite a
lot [ of] fish out of the old river when I was a kid. It was good fishing in the river, at that
time.
HF: Did you notice any so called trash fish, if you recall?
DP: Well, not very much.
HF: Suckers or white fish?
DP: All we had, we had quite a lot of suckers, but not like we got them now. Not near so
many. Navy trout was more prevalent than trash fish.
HF: Now in those days you pretty well had to implement your own equipment?
DP: Oh yes, a willow pole or a big long cane pole was all that we ever used to fish with. I
remember the last fish I caught in the old river, I was a youngster before I went on my
mission especially that I had an old willow pole and went down below the yard a ways
and threw in where the current come around close to the bank, there was quite a deep
hole, and I can remember well as it was yesterday and I threw out in there and nice trout
got on and oh, I imagine he was eight or ten inches long and instead of dragging him into
the side and lifting him out I swung him out over my head and landed him out in the
alfalfa field. I had him captured.
HF: ( Laughing) Very interesting. Now let’s consider some of the early neighbors that had
settled on the south side of the river I suppose as well as on the north.
DP: That is right. The immediate neighbor that we had close to where we lived the
closest one was Uncle H. Garner. Well in the neighborhood we were friendly enough so
that we called the parents in this family, aunt and uncle just as like they are related to us.
These people however we aren’t related to. H. Garner and Frederick our grandfather
Garner, he lived on the south side of the, on the river, they were brothers. And Will was
the son of Frederick, Liz Garner, well, I might say here too, these were the immediate
neighbors and then, of course, just about a half mile away was Uncle John and Uncle
James Pincock and Uncle John A. Garner. He was happily married to my father’s sister
Shoda Ladling Pincock.
AP: That is where he fits in with the Garner family that lived over by our place.
DP: Well, this man Garner was a brother, wait a minute, he was a brother to grandfather
or Frederick Garner that I name here.
AP: John A. Garner was a brother of Frederick Garner.
DP: He was a generation further back than Will Garner.
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HF: Now I’ve recently chatted, visited with and interviewed Earl Garner.
AP: He is John A. Garner’s son, and Earl is a full cousin of ours, because his mother was
a full sister of our father, George J. Pincock.
HF: I see.
AP: They all come out of Ogden.
HF: And they all came out of Ogden. And just a little before George, your father came
up.
DP: Well, father came up as early as they did to look the thing over and spot it his ground
but he went down after mother and then of course when he come stay in 1887 rather than
1884 but he came up in 1884 and ranged for his place. He got everything set up so when
he went back after mother and loaded all his belongings in a wagon and white team of
mules he left all they had and came up here to land on that piece of ground that he had
homesteaded.
HF: Now at this same time you had neighbors over on the north side of the river that were
in the Wilford area?
AP: We didn’t have any close neighbors on the north side, north of the east neighbors
that I spoke of.
HF: I see.
AP: To the north and west of us was open park, no fence; man I remember herding cows
in this area. I mentioned this down here, let me go on and tell a little more about this
Garner Goop and the immediate neighbors.
HF: Alright.
AP: Will Garner and my father’s family were born during the same period of time. So
they helped each other in time of sickness and exchanged work on many projects. Some
of the unusual things, with due respect, Uncle [ Lee] always had [ a] fat horse and a poor
cow. In the yard where he stacked his hay he would keep swept, cleaned swept the floor.
Never a leaf of hay could be lost. His stack yard was always the best place for us kids to
play marbles in the early spring before the snow was gone. The Will Garner boys were
real marble players especially Fred and Jeff. We used to play keeps. They always had a
sack full of marble and I was always broke. I couldn’t hardly afford to play marbles with
them. ( HF: Laughing) I got a “ ha ha” here too. ( Laughing) The Will Garner children were
natural musicians. They played principally the stringed instruments and the mouth organ.
We used to have lots of fun because of their music. And another thing I think was
unusual that happened in the neighborhood, my father broke some steers to work. He
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broke six heads or three yokes of oxen, which was short of horse power. Horses and
horns were expensive, and he had cattle and there was man in the neighborhood that
could carve out an ox yoke. His name was Joe Garner. So for just a little expense, he
broke three yokes, he used them mostly to plough with, and continued to use them for a
number of years. My brother Sanford and I learned to drive them; he drove them a lot
more than I did.
DP: Albert mentioned about them, the last yoke being sold to a timber man. This was Mr.
Beard over in Teton Basin. He kept those old Red and Rowdy for many years, he used
them at the saw mill site. I remember driving Red and Rowdy myself on the harrow and I
remember rolling a piece of ground that father had rented from Nick Nelson down across
from where the old highway now crosses the Union Pacific Railroad just north of Sugar
City. Nick Nelson had a farm in there and father had a piece of ground rented from him
and he had a patch of peas there and he sent me down will old Red and Rowdy to roll this
piece of ground. And I used to drive a young team on a harrow in a piece of ground that
we had just north of this Nelson place. I recall one time as [ I] was driving this team, I was
hardly big enough to struggle the back of the near rocks. But I was armed and near rocks
and harrowing and there was a slough near by. And there it was getting nearly noon and
the old team was getting tired and I am sure thirsty because they just walked off and I
couldn’t do anything about stopping them or turning them or do anything with them.
They headed for this pond of water and I was badly near rocks back and they went right
out into this slough up to where my feet touched the water. They got cooled off and a
good drink and then we come out, back out onto the ground where we continued my
harrowing. It was quite an experience that I had and I well remember that. 35: 00
HF: Did you find that the oxen were a little more gentle to handle maybe than the team of
horse?
AP: Well they were in the way, but we had some of them that were pretty wild. Sanford
had an experience with a team that got scared of the disc as if he was disking with and
they ran away.
HF: Now this was a team, a team of oxen.
AP: Yeah, a team of oxen, a yoke of oxen and they ran away and before they got rid of
that disc they had it tore all to pieces. They went through brush and crossed ditches and
they went through enough through their backs and they were balling and running, I will
tell you they were scared to death; that after, they tore all the pieces when got through it.
They were slow moving animal, it was all full of slow work, harrowing or plowing or
whatever with the ox team was extremely slow. And while we were on this ox team
business, we laid – we experienced that father had, he worked for the sugar company for
quite a lot. Father was a field man for many years. And they had a slicer over to Egym
Bench just on top of the Parker Hill. And father contracted the Hall Le Cole and Lion
Rock over there where they slice these beets and then their juice was put into a pipe line
and run over to the sugar factory.
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HF: How long would that pipe have had to be?
AP: Oh, I imagine that pipe was five miles long.
HF: Was it buried?
DP: Well in some areas they buried them and some places they crossed streams and
ditches.
HF: It would have had to cross the north fork, wouldn’t it?
DP: Yes, and they run it while the juice was warm so that it didn’t freeze. It was always,
they were able to run it across over to the sugar factory without any trouble or freezing.
And this coal and lime was hauled, father had usually three yoke of oxen and they had a
trail of wagon so that he hauled a pretty heavy load. Sanford drove many a load over
there and then we had another man hired by the name of Tom McFallen that was a good
hand with oxen and he drove. In driving those oxen and on the road everyday, they got so
sore footed that it was pretty impossible for them to travel and they had to device [ a] new
shoe to nail on those oxen’s feet so that they can travel on the road and not get tender
footed. And father implemented an outfit to raise, with the belt on, to raise these oxen off
of their feet, while he stretched the laid back the hind legs particularly and fastened it
with a rope so that he could nail these shoes on. And old Joe Nielson was a man that
made those shoes for him, that had the first, one of the first blacksmith in Sugar City.
HF: What route would they follow?
DP: They went down through Salem down to the Salem road and then straight north right
over to the Parker slicer that is just on top of the hill a little ways.
HF: I see, that will be about seven miles or so wasn’t it?
DP: Yes, it was a good seven miles, it was a big days trip to go over and back with an
empty wagon, over with a load unload and then come back to empty.
AP: Unload and cart or two, Harold, a man had to shovel his own load off by a hand and
this took quite a while.
HF: You bet.
DP: Lots of time it was well after dark when they got back with their team and then get
ready to go again the next day. They run into a big contract, a big job, very tiresome job.
AP: My say is that the ox team wasn’t too successful on the road, on this type of a job.
We used a horse team more than we did the ox team but we did drive them a summer or
two part of the time.
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HF: But now let us turn attention to trail and existing roads in the early days. Now for
example, we are all acquainted with the Highway 33 as the junction where it takes off
and going east up to Teton City. Was there, when you fellows were young a greater door
improved road along that way, same route?
AP: I can remember the road being graded in my life time and especially the road that
leads over to our homestead from this Highway 33. I remember helping grade this and
helping haul the gravel on this road. So a lot of this didn’t take place until quite a while
after the early settlers came to the Snake River Valley.
HF: But I mean to say that, Albert, the road now designated Highway 33 at that time; was
there was a road there at that time years ago?
AP: Oh yes, there was never another road that went east. It was pretty well laid off on
section line and the road followed the section line.
HF: And what they have done in more recent times, of course, is grade it and then gravel
it and now oil it.
AP: That is right.
HF: But it was the same dead road then.
AP: That is right.
DP: And Harold may I say here that during the first years before they got any gravel on I
recall in the spring of the year that road will get so terrible that they can hardly get
through the team and wagon. It will be so soft and muddy and heavy that they can hardly
get through with all these. Father had a big leveler and we put four herds of horses of six,
if we needed, on and go over and over and level that road trying to make it passable. But
in the spring of the year before they graded it up and put any gravel on, it was terrible.
HF: Now was there a road going from Teton City to St. Anthony, the forerunner to the
highway that now exists?
AP: I think so.
HF: And it was in the same place?
AP: Same place.
HF: Okay, now in order to get from Teton City to St. Anthony, you at least had to cross
the two branches of the Teton River?
AP: Right, from Highway 33.
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HF: From Highway 33 now. You fellows remember the bridges that were built here, the
very early ones. Who built them; can you tell me something about those two bridges?
DP: I don’t know if I can say who built those two bridges.
AP: I can’t either Harold, I can’t tell you who built those bridges, but in my life time I
just remember the bridge had been there but I can’t tell you anything about those. I know
Man Row; the Row family built the bridges down by our homestead.
HF: Now that is the one over the north fork of the Teton River.
AP: That is right.
HF: Which river separated the two parts of the homestead?
AP: That is right.
HF: And was there a road, I mean, who would use that? Was that a public roadway and a
public bridge, or was that mainly there to benefit just two or three families?
AP: Oh, no that was a public road and that went right on through north that was the
Wilson and then on up to St. Anthony. It was a well fabled road.
HF: And is that road still existing today?
AP: Yes.
HF: And you recall the first bridge over there Albert at your homestead?
AP: Well I don’t know I think likely I do recall the first bridge it being a partial swing
bridge. I remember two distinct bridges being built there. I know I broke one of them
down that had to be repaired. Maybe I ought to tell you about that incident, this is quite
an interesting incident.
HF: Alright go ahead.
AP: I happened to be hauling beets.
HF: Now these were beets that were produced on your dad’s place on the north side of
the river?
AP: That is right. And I was driving a four horse team hauling beets and this was all in
the evening all, about four o’clock and I had a big load of beets, possibly five ton net
weight of beets. My dad had a lot of good horses and we usually haul the good load. So I
come on to the bridge and actually a section of the bridge broke down as the hind wheels
had come over. And it just picked, it tipped that load over so quick. I happened to be
15
standing up on the wagon. It picked it up so quick that it just picked the bed and all right
up; wagon in all and turned it bottom side up. And throwed me about twenty- five or
thirty feet up the river. And I landed on my feet standing up in the water. The water was
only about four of five feet deep just pretty up to my armpit where I landed in the water.
And it pushed one horse right through the railing and the time went out over the spiel of
the – put there to catch the drift wood in front of the bridge, and she hanged down there
just about down to the water in the harness. And my ledger swung around on the bridge
and still were standing and was holding the rest of them, the other wheeler was laid
down, just slide over the edge of the bridge. And everything was tied, I couldn’t unhook a
thing neither tie nor anything on that team or wheel, I couldn’t get that horse loose that
was swinging down there on the side of the bridge in midair, she was over swimming
water where she was and there was nothing for me to do only throw out pocket knife and
start to cutting leather and I cut the tugs into, all the four tugs on my wheelers and cut the
brass strap, and cut the lines into that fastened the wheelers together and dropped her into
the water and I just hoped that she will be able to swim out and she did, she swam out.
And I hollered, “ Whoa!” and I went off into the water and the leaders stopped they didn’t
get scared. They just stood there and I went round and Uncle Will Garner see it, and he
hollered to mother to get hold of father that I had gone into the river with a load beets,
they figured I was gone, but when Uncle Will got there I got [ the] team unhooked. And I
didn’t think I was scared to cut loose not unhooked, they were cut loosed. ( Laughing) I
didn’t think I was scared but when I sit down for a second or I shook like a beet and I
didn’t get over that all fall.
[ The tape will be continued on Side 2]
AP: I was married and before I went to war… it was unusual. … and when one stream
had broken down they picked up those beads over.
HF: Now Albert you mentioned that Mr. Row was very active in the very early days.
AP: R. H. Row.
HF: Row?
AP: Row.
HF: R. H. Row was very active in building bridges and bridge construction. Did he
perhaps build this bridge that you are talking about?
AP: Well I don’t think so, I think he had at least driven the pile that they set this; well,
and this exactly broke down. I know he built the bridge complete. And the previous
bridge, the first bridge I think he likely, Joseph have for the swinging section the rest of
them. The one next to the bank and I think one section out on each side and the rest of it
was a swinging bridge between. I think he built above of that.
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HF: Now can you either of you tell me anything about, say the bridge that first span the
river down stream from your range, and would that be the bridge which is located on
191?
AP: That is right, that will be next one.
HF: And what can you tell me about that bridge and do you have any particular
knowledge and recollections about that bridge?
AP: I don’t, I don’t recall those bridges being built.
DP: Then the next one on farther down the stream is the one that is at the Darling Farm
that goes north up to the Mars Pink Yard.
HF: Do you remember anything about that?
DP: I don’t. I remember when they were built I remember going across, but I couldn’t tell
you who built it.
HF: Those were wooden bridges aren’t they?
DP: Yes.
HF: What you call the foundation or…
DP: The pile.
HF: The pile.
DP: Yes, that holds the bridge up. Right, they were wooden decks.
HF: Bridges.
DP: They were all wooden decks. No cement at that time.
HF: And this would be true with the bridge that is further down on the Parker Salem
Highway.
DP: Same thing.
HF: Same thing.
DP: On that same street, the north park of the Teton.
HF: Now with reference to bridges on the south park, up the Teton, who would we have
bridges?
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DP: Well, I will say the first one out of Teton was the one on that road 33 just out of
Teton, then on west of Teton. Then the next one was on the road a mile farther south on
the Row road. We always call it the Row road or the one that goes up by Aaron Ricks till
today. Then there was a bridge there and also one because it forked in that area and then
came back together further down. And the other one was about a half a mile farther west
than the first one crossing this down off of the hill from Aaron Ricks’ or where Aaron is
today.
HF: Now this will be commonly known as the muddy area.
DP: The muddy road. That was in the muddy, well it was. This Row road wouldn’t be no.
The one part of the west or farther south, a mile farther south was on the muddy road.
HF: I see, let’s see then the next bridge on the south park going south westerly would be
the one on one ninety- one?
DP: Yes, as Rexburg.
HF: You fellows remember anything about any of these bridges we are talking about?
About who built them and if they’ve been replaced?
DP: Well, I’m still, I know the over to on the road on the muddy road was by Mr. Row,
he built that himself and I will rather think that he built the one over on the north of his
farm which is just a… Is that a mile or just a half a mile north? It’s a mile north isn’t it
from the Row over to the other road? They had Richard Ogler…
AP: Just a half a mile through there.
DP: There is a bridge there. In fact there are two bridges. One that crosses like I said.
HF: Which one crosses the river there?
DP: Well, that slough or that flock that comes around soon as …
HF: That is over on the muddy road Douglas.
DP: Well no, down there by the old farm that is Bill Hard built. There are two bridges
there, you see you cross one where the old slaughter house was.
AP: Yes there is a bridge there now. You drive up there; there is a bridge and the one up
by, if you come down of the hill by Aaron Ricks’…
DP: You see they changed that river course too and they, coming down on the south side
of the road and it goes up past down Aaron Ricks’. And they brought it down where the
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old slaughter house yard was and Clark, Bob Ricks made that himself in order to keep the
river from meandering off down through Misfiled.
HF: I see. Robert Ricks you said did [ that]?
DP: Yes, Robert Ricks did that.
HF: Well now, we’ve talked about the bridges pretty much in the area where you will be
most familiar I suppose on the north park of the Teton and the south park of the Teton.
DP: Yes.
HF: Now were there any bridges that span the creek, muddy creek flowing into the south
park?
DP: It was going on the south of this wooden oil strip just about a quarter of a mile. Then
it went a little farther west that crosses, where it crosses this oil strip across muddy creek.
HF: I see.
DP: And there is another bridge it crosses the street, it goes over there in Ricks’, and
there are two bridges out there close together. One we’ve been talking about. And it goes
over there in Ricks’ to the north and it is right on the corner where there [ are] coalition
men. There are three bridges out there within about half a mile across Root creek.
HF: Now in the early days apparently, there were roads then going through these same
areas. Roads which have now been improved with gravel and some instances I suppose
oil we are talking about.
DP: Nearly all the roads that we’ve mentioned that were on section lines are in the Pru
section. There were all straight, north and south, east and west. And I remember of a road
with you Albert which didn’t stay on the section line; pretty much straight.
HF: Now of course in Sugar City, when Sugar City was laid out, the road went through
Sugar city on an east west direction. Didn’t it?
DP: Well, when the town circle was set up, there was no road through the same root of
this section. It was on the north side of the town side.
HF: But that was the center of the section.
DP: Yes.
HF: And there was county right straight down west of Salem
DP: Right.
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HF: Now the road coming from Rexburg as I understand it, when it got into Sugar City, it
went east to the church.
DP: Right.
HF: And then made a direct quarter north to reach over to the center section by the sugar
factory, then went east to the corner of the factory then went on over to the St. Anthony.
DP: North, that is right, that is the road.
HF: And it was possibly in the thirties, would you say that they revised that road and
went up through the park, the Sugar City Park?
DP: Oh, I think it was already at that.
HF: You think it was early in the thirties.
DP: Yes, it was only in the thirties. They had made this highway through the park there,
when World War Two was over with, because we had a big celebration there in town for
Tom Niber, Tom Niber day. And as that road came past the Sugar City merchant to the
corner that turned north by the church house, there was a gate way into the city park. That
was a ten acre piece of ground. This ten acre piece of ground was made into an ice park
with a grand stand on the south side and race track around this ten acre which made a half
a mile track. And on the little of the north of the grand stand, far enough to be away from
any balls that might hit it, was a band stand was built in there. And every summer, where
they would have band concert and quite a program was carried on, recreation I will
mention that in my report after Albert gets through it.
HF: Well, actually then this road now they honored Tom Niber and this was about July of
1919. And at that time that road hadn’t been changed.
DP: The highway hadn’t been put through the park of the highway.
HF: So it probably was in the twenties or something like this when it was changed.
DP: I think so, don’t you, Albert?
AP: Yes, I rather think so.
HF: Do you fellows remember that celebration when they had Tom Niber there?
DP: You bet I would say. There were more vehicles in town that day than Sugar has ever
seen since or before. They estimated there were ten thousand people there that day. Every
road that I can remember in town had automobile or teams of horses and buggies that
were in there to honor Tom Niber when he got off of the train on the west end of Sugar
20
City, the home depot. When he come in there that is where he was received and was
brought up through town and they came into the park. The gate they entered into the park
was all banners and flowers and everything they dropped bouquet of flowers onto him as
he was driven through the gateway in to the park. It was great day honoring Tom Niber.
HF: Now did Tom Niber leave posterity, children?
DP: Not, yes he had a family, he had a family but I can’t remember just how many he
had. Do you Albert?
HF: Do you know any of his children who they had today? Does he have any around
here today?
DP: No, not that we know of.
HF: Was he related to the Nibers that were up in Newdale?
DP: Yes, bro. Niber was relative of the Nibers up there. I think he was an uncle to Irene
and those boys up at Newdale. But he left Sugar not too long after this happened to gain
employment in other areas and the families moved away they were small.
AP: This was Tom.
DP: This was Tom. And they moved away and of course we never knew much about
them after they left Sugar City.
HF: But he was a tremendous Hero wasn’t he?
DP: Yes, the… he performed the service was tremendous. He took captive a number of
prisoners and they carried his bag and marched these soldiers ahead of [ him] into camp.
HF: I have the article which appeared in the improvement era in 1919. And it tells all
about it. It is very…
DP: I constantly reviewed this in our ward not too long ago.
HF: We might interject a little bit of Upper Valley humor if we go along; and some of the
Garners and also some of the Pincocks. Now if either one of you have any little comment
about the early day humor, you might share with us.
DP: I remember father telling about his early days bathing a horse. And the river was
high in the spring of the year. He got on this horse on the north side of the Teton and he
bucks it hard and kept bucking until they got clear down to the river which was being
about quarter of a mile from a home where he got on to this horse. And he said this horse
jumped off right into that big stream of water. And he said we both went clear under head
over hills. That the horse comes up pounding and he stayed with him and he finally got
21
him back onto the right side of the river. And then another experience that father told
about, he and mother got so lonesome in the spring because the water stayed so high and
they were unable to cross. That was before the bridge was even built. And they had a
crossing that crossed over to the south side to go see Uncle Johnny and Uncle James. And
Uncle Johnny Garner the one that lives on the south side of the river. And they decided
when one weekend that they had improvised a raft and finally make it across the river and
go spend a little time at the… they haven’t seen him for quite some time. They got this
raft nailed together and fixed together and so figured they can make it. Father had a stick
at that time that rolled with and guided it by putting it into the water. The water was quite
high and got rough and maybe even got into a current and they couldn’t make it. They
finally got close enough to the bank, mother got hold of some brash and pulled them back
onto the side that they got into but they were well down the stream. And they were
mighty glad to get out of the river and go back home. And not having seen folks, they
were ready to go back. They were glad they were safe.
HF: I can just imagine that they were some really problem to us now there is certain
amount of humor and to them there was certain amount of humor and they just passed
these things down to you know to the youngsters. But I imagine that they encountered
some real real problems. Albert do you have any experiences like that you recall or…?
AP: I don’t think I’ve got any in mind. I haven’t thought in this line at all.
HF: I see. One of my questions to was of the earliest grain that was grown in the Sugar
City area. Now do you think that grain was produced almost immediately when they
came up?
DP: They had grain that they planted. I remember father and I saw him and sowing this
grain from the rear end of his wagon and didn’t have a grill. But to start with he put a pan
or holds a buck and as he hold that bucket and walk through the field he’d take a hand
full out and throw it and spread it
HF: Broadcast it.
DP: Broadcast it, and that got to be quite slow and he figure a new way a better way that
he could do it and much faster and so he put a team on a wagon and he would sit in the
back with the tub filled with grain, and then he would broadcast with both hands, whilst
someone drove the team down through the field. Before the children were large enough
to drive the team, he had mother do it. But he drilled that way for many years before he
was able to buy a drill to drill with. But they brought grain as I recall father telling about
it, they brought seed and every seed growing here when he came. And as far as knowing
who got the first grain into the valley, I don’t know who to find it.
AP: I think Natty Garner and Johnny Garner, you see they come in the spring of ’ 83, and
there might have been others too, Dayn Browning and Hyrum Jacobs and I guess maybe
John Bailey a number of them were early settlers there and this was one of the first things
they planted was the fruit kind of grain. I wonder if there was any plant before eighty-
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three. I read in one history regarding Sugar City, the city of this area, there were a few
settlers of the waters, Limon town. It was a … the grouping of Sugar City, so they may
have brought grain into the Snake River Valley ahead of this group. But I imagine Uncle
John and Uncle James planted grain in 1883.
DP: And at that time just as Albert said earlier there was no fences and the cattle and the
stock when they went through out of there in the spring of the year after the harvesting
when the planting was done and the cows were put out into the area, they could just
browse as far as they wanted to go there was no farms, no fences and their horses could
be turned out and they were right out in the open area.
HF: Do you remember now, you were born at I mentioned about eighteen hundred, had
your father erected fences around any of this property by then?
DP: Yes, he had.
HF: It was pretty well being fenced then in the 1900s.
DP: Father finally had a real good wild fence clear around his property. It was two barbed
wild wires over the top; he had a very nice fence made.
HF: I think you mentioned that your father was quite a leader in bringing good cattle life
stock into the area.
DP: Yes.
HF: Would you go into that a little bit and indicate how he did this, what brought this
about?
DP: Father of course was an industrious man, he was a man that wanted better everything
that he had and he was desirous to making it better. And he had a few cows, first he
thought he’d like to go into the… business and he went down into the Utah State in
Logan and there he purchased… and brought it up here. And there he raised some pretty
fine… stalk. But they were a tender animal and he figured for our country up here where
it was cold, long winters that the host team animals would weather better than those
jerseys and so he got rid of the … and went in to the …
HF: About what year would this be when he had begun the jerseys?
DP: I think it was around anywhere from 1912 maybe ’ 16, from then on he got into the
whole skiing business would you say that is about right Albert? And then he sold out his
Jersey stalk and purchased a few host teams. He went out to Boise valley and bought one
cow that held the Idaho State championship in 1916. He had a butter half record of 21
pounds of butter in seven days. And that was the foundation cow his host team herds, she
was a pure breed I had papers. And many bought another one out there that was
extremely good cow. And he joined the host team free gym association and registered his
23
cow as fast as he could get them. And with this herd of cows he can see the need of good
sires and so got some of the men in the valley together and said, let’s form a bull
association and so they formed a bull association with the neighbors through the area
even down to Herbert, brother Hendricks down to Herbert was the one that joined and
Tom Gender was the one that joined, John Darling was the one that was anxious to get
good stock and Joe Jensen, and who were some of the other and…
AP: Charlie Myers.
DP: Yes, Brother Myers, Charlie Myers the father Wane and Marvin Myers.
HF: Charles Henry?
DP: Charles Henry Myers. And they bought young calves to start with, young bulls that
had a good record a good background and they placed these bulls in these different areas
so that they can service the calves within the area. And then they would rotate them every
three to four years, oh every two years. They rotated those bulls so they could breed the
heifers from those bulls to the one of the other bulls.
HF: What was the name of this association that they formed?
DP: Madison County Host Team Bull Association is what they called it. Father was the
president of that association and he started it and encouraged the men to organize.
HF: Now does this association still exist?
DP: No they discontinued it a few years, oh they kept it in operation for many years,
didn’t they Albert?
AP: Oh, yes, ten, fifteen, twenty years until artificial insemination came in.
HF: Oh, I see.
DP: And they were able to purchase some good size and of course we could see it in our
herds and many other herds and then father could see the need of some good heifers. And
Wisconsin and Iowa were some of the best host steam cattle were raised in those states
and so these men asked father, if he wouldn’t go back there and purchase heifers and
bring them out here and so he did. He went back in; in 1918 and ’ 19 and ’ 20 different
times to get heifers bring them out. And he would bring the record them and then the man
who is interested of course, he would have them come and he would have them all
numbered and they would draw off there for their heifers.
HF: Now as a result of this effort, did your father acquire quite a dairy?
DP: Yes, he had a very fine dairy head, it wasn’t a big dairy head, and it had run up as
high I guess twenty five, wouldn’t it Albert at the most? Generally we were milking
24
twenty to twenty- two and three of course we had a lot of others because there were some
dry up and they had to replace them. But generally speaking we had about thirty herds of
fine host team cows and heifers and father built one of the nicest barns in the valley.
HF: And this is, was on…?
DP: It was on the old homestead but not on the south side of the Teton, as he built his
new home on the south side.
HF: I see.
DP: And there we had one side where [ we] took care of the cows which would house, and
take care eighteen to twenty herd of cows and on the other side of the barn we had the
horses. So that we could have them in stalk, we have them up in there for how many
teams, six or eighteen.
HF: Now at this time did you have to separate your milk?
DP: We separated a lot of milk at that time before the Nelson and Ricks came into the
valley. And when the Nelson and Ricks came to the valley and they bought a lot of milk
and he could see the need of another dairy organization and he was a promoter in the
Snake River Dairyman’s Association.
HF: The Upper Snake River?
DP: The Upper Snake River Valley Dairyman’s Association. And he was pushed heavy
for that and was a stock holder.
HF: Now at that time, the Nelson Ricks people had established a factory, I guess in Sugar
City hadn’t they?
DP: They had a small factory in Sugar City where they made cheese and received milk
there. And they also had one in Rexburg. And they felt they needed another and so they
got men together and formed this Upper Snake River Valley Dairyman’s Association.
HF: Commonly referred to as the Cooperative Challenge.
DP: Challenge. And father was a great promoter of good stock, not only in cattle but also
horses. He had the first … purchased stallion that was brought into the valley.
HF: And where did he bring him from? Back east somewhere?
AP: I am not sure.
HF: Now your only uncle John Garner was quite a man for horses too, was he not?
25
DP: He had horses he never did run a dairy that I recall of because he had quite a few
cows but never did go into the dairy business. He had horses of course and that run and
operated his farm. But I don’t recall him having any outstanding horses. I remember …
had a very fine … one time later on. But father brought in the first purchased stallion and
they had…
HF: Those were the big horses.
DP: They were big of course and they were very fine animals. We had some wonderful
horses on the farm from those purchased stallions that he brought. He sold one of the
stallions after he used it a while and rent the horses to the Ogden Fire Department and
they said he is the finest horse that they’ve ever had on this Fire Department when they
used horses at that time.
HF: Turning our attention now to somewhat different subject, you fellows remember
where you first came to school. Describe where it was and something about the school
building.
DP: Let me start here by saying that first we attended church at Wilford where my father
was bishop for many years.
HF: We want to talk about church first before talk about....
DP: Sure enough. It was just one room, rough building and the curtain was drawn to
separate the classes. And by the way father helped to build that church.
AP: He was a bishop when they built the rock church.
DP: Yes, and he used the same hall of rock to build that lovely church they, that they
built in Wilford.
HF: Alright, now let’s see the church would have been located quite a ways east of your
present church.
DP: It was a mile north and two miles east and then back north again a half a mile. It was
on the road that led from Teton to St. Anthony, as far as this church was built, just north
of the present church house in Wilford about a quarter of a mile or little more.
HF: I see, I don’t suppose that building remained.
DP: It still standing since last year, they thought about taking it down and the windows
are all gone, you can see through it, but the walls are still standing.
HF: Now where were they chipping the rock?
26
DP: Do you remember where we quarried that rock?
AP: A little hog hall area, except from north part of the Teton, possibly six or seven miles
east. I think they went into the little hog hall there to get the rock.
DP: Straight east of Wilford a little north upon the north side of the Teton.
HF: I see, well now back to schooling, where did you go to school?
DP: I will mention it in here, later on we moved into our new home south of… river and
we attended the Sugar Ward and still do. It was also a big rock building with a bell seal
on top and we had to use the old bricks school house for classrooms which was located
just south of the church house on the same park lot, ten acre lot that was thought for a
parking lot. After a few years the ward built several classrooms unto the rock building
and also put a cold furnace in it. Before this the old pot belly stove was used. Now this I
was reading the other day where this church was built in eight months over the time they
started until it was dedicated. It took them eight months, and it cost them nine thousand
dollars to build that. And just opposite or south of this where they built the old school;
they built that about the same year for a cost of ten thousand dollars which was four big
large classrooms, two upstairs and two downstairs. I attended school in Sugar City and so
did Albert, first in the old brick school house located on City Park as I mention before.
Then one year when room back in the back of the old bank building, which still stands, I
attended there one year. They didn’t have room in the old brick building and so they put
one room in the old bank building on the north end and I attended one year there. Then
for the rest of the grade I attended the rock building, west of the depot, which is now torn
down and they had a fire and this was destroyed and they tore it completely down. I went
to high school in the same old building, still being used by the high school. I graduated in
1919; Albert and the other boys and girls all attended this same building right, Albert? I
also attended one winter in Ricks College before going on a three year mission for the
LDS church to Mexico. Some of the teachers I remember was Miss Moldy, Miss Wed,
Miss Cole, Miss Lowala Garner.
HF: Ah, would this be a relative?
DP: Lowala Garner? No she was a wife of William Garner that was a cousin to John A
Garner that was a father of Earl Garner. He was no relation of ours. J. W. Philips and
Archer Williams, those were some of the teachers that I recall and now there is no doubt
to remember several of these teachers.
HF I remember some earlier a little bit, was superintendent in the Sugar district, one of
the first, Wilton?
AP: Yes, I remember Jason Wilton, when he was principal of the district school before
we had a high school. I remember him, and my sister Martha taught under him. And he
taught the younger girls too. He was a very fine teacher Jason Wilton was. And then after
27
the high school came, I remember a man by the name of Williams, that was one of the
first ones, I think there was one other, I don’t remember his name.
HF: Do you remember Mr. Ford?
AP: I don’t remember Mr. Ford, at least he was the first one, a man by the name of Ford,
and William was next. And then Bill Oden was next that lived in Hilbert and he is still
alive and goes to California and Rid Oveil his son lives on the Bill’s property now.
HF: Do you mean Mr. French? He was a principal down the rock building when I was
young.
AP: I remember Hill, but J. W. Philips taught under Bill Oden, he was our manual
training man and he was a good one.
AD: And under Archer Willey after the olden times.
HF: He was the Archer, oh Archer, A- R- C- H- E- R?
AP: Right.
HF: Willie? W- I- L- L- I- E?
AP: E- Y, W- I- L- L- E- Y. And I think Robert Biokman, followed Willey, oh I think I am
wrong on that I think this man Session, E. B. Session followed Archer Willey and then
this man Robert Dragman followed Ibey Session. This is high school after we got to
school.
HF: What year did you graduate from high school?
AP: Well, I was five years graduating. I come over to Ricks for two years and I graduated
in 1916 from Ricks.
HF: So actually you didn’t graduate from the Sugar High.
AP: From the Sugar School, no I didn’t.
HF: Makes you graduate in 1919.
AP: Yes. Right.
HF: And you graduated from the school where you are now graduating?
AP: Right.
28
HF: Which used in and was the former building of the town site building used for the
Opera.
AP: Where the Opera houses were located.
HF: And now going back just little bit in the very earlier days when the family were on
the homestead and so on and before actually Sugar City came into existence where did
the family go to do its shopping, acquire its supplies?
AP: Most of our shopping was done in Rexburg and St. Anthony and in Salem. There
were two small stores in Salem. The Harris brothers had stores. They were across the
road from each other and they both had small stores there.
HF: Could you acquire some hardware as well as maybe some clothing as well as food?
AP: Yes, there were hardware and mercantile stores where you could buy food, you could
buy clothing, you could buy hardware items and leaf vegetables, canned goods, and those
stores handled all that.
HF: They might have been pretty nice stores then.
AP: They were pretty good stores. They furnished most everything that was necessary for
the families throughout the area.
DP: I think before Sugar City came I think they did maybe even more in Salem than they
did even in Rexburg and St. Anthony. I don’t remember ever going to St. Anthony much.
The Garner used to go to St. Anthony when I was a kid quite a bit, but father never did
travel that way, he went into either Salem or Rexburg as I remember.
HF: St. Anthony was quite a gentile town wasn’t it?
AP: That is right.
HF: I think it didn’t have the closeness of the church over there as much.
DP: Right, you are sure right, I remember father going up there to Folsom Jacob, they
had quite a big store up there, but like Albert said, the majority of purchasing was the
necessities were bought, either in Salem or Rexburg.
HF: Now did they have quite a few stores in Rexburg at this time? I imagine they would.
DP: Well not too many, Flamm was one of the first ones that were there and I don’t recall
any of the grocery stores. Do you, Albert, happen to know those grocery stores?
AP: I don’t remember any other grocery stores. The Ballack Shabby clothing store. But I
don’t recall any other grocery store.
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HF: Now in getting some of your machinery was it C. W and M?
AP: C. W. M was a standby as far as machinery goes.
DP: That is why they bought their baggage and their wagons and their harnesses and their
implements, their necessities were bought, but most all of them were bought at the C. W
and M.
HF: Now at the same time and prior to the establishment of Sugar City, wasn’t there a
store over at Teton?
DP: I don’t recall a store at Teton.
AP: No, most of them were never in St. Anthony. And I don’t ever remember a store till
later on in my life in Teton.
HF: But there were a few homes over there.
DP: Oh yes.
AP: And the ward in Teton like Garner and Bishop Dipper there for a number of years.
HF: Your Uncle John Pincock?
DP: Uncle John was bishop of that ward for several years.
AP: But I don’t remember the store at all.
HF: Now you people, though, went down to Salem, I mean after you moved across.
AP: We really were in the Salem School District to begin with. We went to school down
there before they organized this independent school district in Sugar City.
HF: And still went together
DP: Went together.
HF: But that referred to after they organized the school district forty at Fork.
DP: That I can’t tell you.
AP: Oh, I read that the other day too.
HF: I think there was one forty, but there after the high school was organized in the
district and so forth; I think they called it Independence Fork.
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AP: It might have been but I can’t put it straight on that.
HF: But you don’t recall of any store that existed in that city.
DP: I don’t remember, I remember the mercantile that is there now, was there, but in my
day I don’t remember father and them ever going to Teton beside anything up at the
Teton.
AP: I was sent to Salem more than once to get grocery, but I never set the other way. But
it keeps.
DP: And they will be closer to go up to Teton from my home than to go to Salem. So I
rather think there wasn’t store there at Salem. Now the Sugar City tax store later became
the Sugar City Mercantile and it has retained that name all through the years, 1906. We
also had a hardware and Lumber company operated by John and Fred Suanaman. And
later L. A. Bean took over the hardware. We had a drug store where Jack and Harry Dean
were the druggist and they were in part of this building where there opera house was.
They were in the south east corner of that building with the drug store. A butcher shop
operated by Mr. Skeleton to start with, George Ricks was also owner of that butcher shop
and then it was sold to J. W. West and his son in law, J. W. Harrison, which it after by the
West passed away for many years. A black smith shop was operated by Bill Shoup and
Joe Nilsson and Joe’s father.
HF: When you say George Shoup…
AP: Bill Shoup, Bill S- H- O- U- P. That is the way they spell that.
HF: I see. Now there was a doctor by the same name.
DP: Yes, there was a doctor Shoup that built, I guess he built the hospital there. And this
had several rooms in it, upstairs and down.
AP: And that was the first cost a little Madison County and it was a good one. About
Shoup, I never knew what his missions were. He was one of the finest surgeons that had
ever come in to the Snake River Valley; they traveled to him from Pocatello north to be
operated on.
HF: Interesting enough.
Tape 3
DP: He drove fine team of horses that father sold to making his way around the county
and the area.
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AP: This is before the automobile days he kept a man night and day, taking care of the
team. He had a team ready to go, hooked on no buggy, ready to go all the time
HF: Any hour.
AP: And I will tell you, when he got in that baggage he was the best in town. He was
really good.
HF: He knew that he was racing to beat the storm, or some other emergency was going
on ha.
DP: He was a good doctor. And he was a good diagnoser and he could step into a sick
room and tell what was going on right now. He was a doctor. Well, going on from there
now, we also had a liberal stable area in Sugar City, before there was any automobiles
around and there was a need for transportation and a man by the name of C. R. White was
the first man that set up this lever stable and then it was forward later to Charles Myers
when he came up here into this valley. And then after he left and went to farming, Jim
Harris bought it and operated it for a while until there was need of a liberal stable. We
had a bowling alley and a skating rink operated by Welder Hide and B. R. Walden. Now
when they built Sugar City and organized Sugar City, they put in there by large that there
will be no saloons and no gambling joints in the city at all. And they held to that line all
through the years. A printing office where the Sugar City Times was printed, operated by
Lloyd Avinge. A bank Freemont County bank was first ran and operated by a man by the
name of A. I. Comstock then F. L. Davis was the cashier after Mr. Comstock left until the
bank was moved away. A telephone office was also in Sugar City and post office
operated by J. W. Williams was the first post office, post master. Then D. Roller Harris
took it over and then Chris Wernaman and then Heziekel Holman and now it is operated
and ran by Lloyd Luke. A hotel was built in town operated by Fred J. Heil. And a garage
who operated there was J. R. Cathy.
AP: I will say the hotel was operated a number of years by the Moles in Sugar City.
HF: Where was that hotel located?
AP: It is across the road from this city building just across the road and I believe I can
give the name of the man who built that. I had a hold of that the other but I hadn’t worked
all just random. So I haven’t got that.
DP: Just across the road from the Opera house from the big city building where the
training office was and towards… Just across the road south, across main street. They
called that center street. We had a real fine city park we mentioned that before was many
baseball games were played and race tracks where they ground stand on the south end,
and they if I understand as I mentioned before was on the north side. Well many band
concerts were held in the summer that was later moved and then open air dance hall
called the Freeman Ida dance hall and that served both counties. And the church is up and
down the valley pattern after the two stakes especially. Some of the men who operated
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the stores were then R. Furman and then the oldest Van Tassel had a building there and
worked until the next. And then Alter Briggs bought and operated the mercantile. They
will have stock holders. Many of the farmers in the area and business men there held
stocks and they finally sold their stocks back to Alpha Ricks and then Henry Thomas
bought it from Alpha Ricks his father in law later. Fred J Heal also run a little store and
B. O. Waltom had a store in town, and E. Ricks also run the mercantile or had an interest
in it. He helped operate to a man named Emory Thomas. And after Emory Thomas sold
out Scollfield had a store there too in town and Glen Nuevo operated the Sugar City
mercantile society and he sold out now to Billy Scollfield and he is operating that. The
base ball was the most important of the town activities and the sports and Lynn Taylor
was the one that was the help Lynn Taylor and Datch Skelly and those men both worked
at the Sugar factory but they were great influences yet and had a very fine baseball team
and Vick Coleman was one of their first men on their team which was a very fine thing.
AP: Last month he played ball didn’t he?
DP: He played all through the years and one of the last, played base ball in Sugar City.
Some of the men who participated, and then dances were held in the old opera house and
Frinbiniger. Many plays were put in the old opera house by both local and traveling
troops. Every week, there would be either a traveling troop or a local troop put forth on a
play and it was very well organized. They put a big canvas on the big floor out there to
protect it from being scalp so that it could to be used for a dance, after the opera was
over. And there were many dances played in there.
DP: For many years this was the most popular dance place there was in the whole valley.
HF: You fellows remember taking the girls there?
DP: Oh, you bet. This was one of the main events in my life. This is my main recreation;
I had to go to a dance once a week. I remember we had all of the high school dances were
in there. I remember our junior prom when I was a junior was held there. I had a broken
foot at that time or leg, I rode a cab up the range and was thrown off and I broke my
ankle. And I couldn’t dance that night and my sweet heart felt pretty bad, she thought I
wasn’t able to dance.
HF: Well now the high school apparently in those days only used the down stairs.
DP: Yes, after they’d discontinued using it for a store and drug store and what not then
they turned it in to high school building.
HF: But the upstairs was still used as the opera house for the dance.
DP: Yes, they retained after some years and they played basketball down there.
AP: They used it for a gym.
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DP: Yes, for a gym, that is where they played a lot of the basketball. We were state
championship, high school state championship.
HF: You played basketball then?
DP: I didn’t play much, no. I was too small to be a basketball player. The stadium ring
drew large crowd. Some of them and who helped with the community affairs was Mac
Austin, Greg J. Heal, J. B. Garthy, Lynn Taylor, Douglas Skele, Jack Peterson, Frank
Jacobs, Fred Swanaman, Chris Swanaman, Bill Walden and Vickin Holdman those were
some of the most active men in our community at that time.
HF: I would appreciate a little comment, personal comments from each of you men,
about Bishop Aphid Ricks who was so, for many years what should we say, a wheel in
the city government there in Sugar was enterprising business man and church man as a
bishop and a sheep man. So would you Albert make your comment first?
AP: I think Bishop Aphid Ricks served first under Mark Austin as one of his counselors.
And then he followed Mark Austin as the next bishop. And he was a bishop when the
Pincocks joined Sugar ward and he was the bishop for many years, very successful
bishop when it was well liked. He was Ricked finance here. I don’t think the ward ever
was red. The bishop Ricks was in charge of the ward. And I remember doing business
even after I was married at the Sugar City Mercantile and doing business with bishop
Ricks. I bought my dress clothes there. B. L. Walden used to be a clerk in the Sugar City
Mercantile and they sold Roy Taylor and I think one other company suites. Tailor made
suites. Because I was a little man, I always liked to wear a tailor made suit, I couldn’t get
a hand me down suit to fit very good. Now we did no business to service the mercantile.
And found that bishoprics were very individuals to do business with.
HF: Very good. Do you have any comments?
DP: Yes, I remember father and mother mentioning many times how nice it was to go to
the Sugar City mercantile and met Bishop Aphid Ricks. And in most days they usually
did a lot of charge account. They had a lot of charge account because their only income
generally was from the Harvest in the fall. And so bishop Ricks was the courtiest to most
of these farmers in the area until they lay harvest to their crops and then they will come in
and pay their summer bills.
HF: And in that connection it seems to me like I have read where it was actster when it
commence in operation. Or another one where they went strictly on a cash bases. Did you
know which store that was in Sugar?
DP: It wasn’t the Sugar City Mercantile, I am sure of that. Van Darcel, he may have done
that, but I know the Sugar City Mercantile as long as I can remember and had a charge
account. And they were raised successful most of the farmers leased in the early days
were very punctual as soon as their crops were harvested they received their money from
grain and beads and their, whatever they raised, they go in pay that account.
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AP: There is one more thing I might tell about the Ricks. E Ricks was a father in this
mercantile.
HF: Now this is a brother to Alfred.
AP: Yes a brother to Alfred. And they were partners in the sheep business too. And the
Ricks were industrious people. They put in a whole new alternative. E. Ricks got up in
the morning. Uncle John Hamilton he taught he would see how early Uncle Lee gets up.
And so he said I will call him up one morning at five o’clock, and his wife answered the
phone and he asked if Uncle Lee was there. And she said, no he has been around here all
morning but he is gone with the sheep now.
HF: Well now this is interesting, I didn’t know that, actually was Hamilton an Uncle?
AP: No, this is what we call him.
HF: Okay, I just wanted to know.
DP: Friendly family way of respecting the elders.
HF: The Hamilton’s in the early days in Sugar City were a very prominent family though.
AP: Oh yes, the Hamilton brothers were prominent people.
DP: They were big sheep operators too.
HF: Now you say the brothers, who would these be?
AP: That was Rob Hamilton and John Hamilton and Charles Hamilton and Parley
Hamilton. There were four brothers that came here and down in Utah and they went into
the sheep business. And they had this farm just at the outskirt of Sugar City, east of the
town side, cutting across Sugar factory. And they all build homes right there on that road.
HF: Been to the road now.
AP: They are still there now.
HF: Well, I think as we close, we would like to have each of you comment about your
personal families. Albert if you want to, first this will be fine. Your personal family,
whom did you marry, when and where, and something about your children.
AP: Well, I married the girl that came into the Sugar City district teaching school. Her
name was Ruby Rushforth. She was born and raised in Kaysville, Utah.
HF: Now spell her last name.
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AP: R- U- S- H- F- O- R- T- H and we were married in 1922. We were married in the Salt
Lake Temple. We went into the temple at 7: 00 in the morning and didn’t get out till 7: 00
at night. There were seventy- five couples married this particular day. I think it was an
unusual day. We had four children, two boys and two girls. They were all married in the
temple. All good church members, we have a very fine family members here I think.
HF: Are your boys and girls pretty much in the area today?
AP: Yes. We have three of them living quite close to us. One girl that married Clair
Robinson. Clair is first counselor in the north Rexburg Stake. Our second child is
William K. He lives in the Wilford Ward over near the Stard Mail close to St. Anthony
but he is in Wilford Ward. And then our next son Merrill, he operates our regional farm
and lives in the old home that my wife and I established and operates some other
properties besides that I acquired. And then our youngest daughter lives down Bunkroth,
Idaho. She married a man by the name Toleman. Gerald Toleman. He is a bishop of the
ward they live in, the Bunkroth Ward at the present time.
HF: Very wonderful, and your wife is still living and she is quite a successful and
wonderful genealogist isn’t she.
AP: Yes, she spent a lot of time in the branch belonging to the library. Here is her calling
now.
HF: But I understand she is a very lovely lady. Alright now Douglas, if you will make
comments about your personal family.
DP: Well [ we] were married in 1924, I married Rea Darling the youngest daughter of
John Darling of the family of eleven. She was the baby girl and we have had six children.
One passed away when she was just two weeks old that was our last child. Lorna, is
living in Mary, Utah, she has four children and she is teaching school there and her
husband. Vern has nine children, he is living out near Mountain Home, he has been
farming out there. George is living in Territon, he’s been the bishop of the third ward for
nine years, he has just been recently released, he is working for General Electric as a
electrical engineer at the site out there. H has six children. And Max has three children
and he farms our there, a hundred and sixty acres of ground and milking about forty head
of cows. And Blair is the teaching school here at Ricks College. He is a drafts man, he is
one of the teaching draftsmen there, and he has three children. All together we have
twenty- four grandchildren, twelve boys and twelve girls. You can’t beat that Harold.
HF: Sure I can.
DP: And three great grand daughters were born to us this year. Now these boys and girls,
my girls graduated from Sugar Salem High School all of them. George happened to be
the Valedictorian in the year that he graduated there and also a Valedictorian at Ricks
College when he graduated from Ricks that year. And Lorna and George went to the BY
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out there and Blair from Utah State the other boys went to Ricks College some of them
didn’t complete there.
HF: Now what are you doing at the present time?
DP: At the present time I am supervising the field house at the Ricks College up here.
HF: And that is pretty much [ a] full time job?
DP: Right now it is I go to work at the quarter of the day and come home about 5: 30.
During the school year I go on at four o’clock in the afternoon and stay until 10: 00. I
supervise the area and see that there is whatever stayed on there is in order and assisting,
escorting people through to come to go through the building and look at all room at night.
I am busy from 4: 00 until 10: 00 at night.
HF: And that is very very nice, your health is good.
DP: It’s been well, I’ve had a little problem this year, I had an accident on the first of
December, where I fell on from slick ice and it broke some couple of vertebrae at my
back and then I got back onto my feet and going pretty well, and one of the boys out there
kicked a football in I think, the dirt floor at the gym and keep me in the back where, close
to where the one vertebrae was broken and cracked couple of ribs and I had a pretty hard
time from getting around from that. But did fine and then two months ago I went in for a
cataract operation and it was very successful and I am getting along real fine now. My
health is good.
HF: That is real real fun.
DP: And I am enjoying my work at the Ricks College.
HF: That’s real real wonderful. Albert how is your health then?
AP: I get along pretty good.
HF: For a young man ha.
AP: Yes, I must say I am [ a] retired farmer; I farmed all my life never done anything else.
And I retired quite a number of years ago. In fact about ten years ago. But I am just tired,
now I have retired. My kids and the work around home a lot and so on, keep me busy. I
work quite a lot on the farm; usually guys come to assist me in the spring of the year.
They plant crops and help us. I still hold a contract on two pieces of property that I
accumulated whilst I was farming and one of them I signed hold and another is at the
Mud Lake on a piece of property that I acquired out there.
HF: Well, gentlemen and brethren I want to tell you sincerely, that I have really enjoyed
this interview this afternoon, I have learnt a lot from you men about the Sugar City area
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and I hope that it has been some what of enjoyment to you. And I want to thank you so
much.