This history was written by Albin Winston Mower in his own handwriting. He was getting on in years, but had a crystal clear memory of his life and could often remember dates from years ago when things took place. He was educated through the 8th grade and the original spelling was preserved. Parenthesis are added for clarification.
I was borned Sept. 30, 1896 at Oak Creek Sanpete Co. My Parents Were John L and Amelia Anderson Mower My father and Mother home steded on hundred and Sixty acres of land in Oak Creek, the home sted house was built in a very beautiful place it stood Between to mountains Stone Quarry on the West and the Manti Mountain East (Wasatch Plateau) the house was not more than two hundred feet from Sanpitch River the stream at that time was full of Native Trout My father would weave a Willow Trap on a ripple it was built so all the small fish could go through the trap and all the large fish would be snared father then would bring the fish home and would have them staked (stacked) on his arm like stove wood that was one of the Meat Supply This house where I was borned was built out of pine logs it was one big room With a large fireplace and a lean (to) on back Which was a place to keep flour and meat and all supplys in Winter it took a load of Wood every other day to keep Warm it served as kitchen dining room and Bedroom some time it was Seperet By curtains for some privecy My father planted a nice orchard between the road and house the road from the house was right through the middle of the orchard to the Main Road When the rail Road to the Valley in Nineteen Hundred it went right through the farm it left the house on the West side of the track and Barn on the East side the barn was very (close to the track) Pa had to move the Barn he moved it East of the road this road Ran up to the end of the Valley in Moving the Barn and getting it all fixed up he then built to large corales and to big Straw Sheds With a Straw yard in the Center to Stack the Straw in, What fun we Boy(s) had in that Barn in summer We had a big Swing on one of the Cross Poles and all the kids in Oak Would be there swinging and having alot of fun playing games Such as Pomp Pomp Pull Away and Run Sheep Run in late summer When the Barn Was full of hay We boys get up in the top and Wate for the boys from Milburn to come along the road then we would Rotten egg them they Would be off to a dance or a party all dressed up in the Peg Top (trousers) We had them so scared they would go West of the Stone Quarry to go three miles farther to keep from passing the old Barn In the early years on the farm my Pa was collecting a nice bunch of Cattle any Nieghbor that had a calf for sale Would come and Sell it to Pa he always had some money for such a deal He would go Whuth out a new coat or any such clothing to buy one more calf and he built up one of the best and largest heard of short horns in the North End of the Valley in the early years on the home stead all work was done with oxen Pa had to yoke of cattle he cleaned all his first land With these oxen the Names of them were, Ton, Guy, Bill and Brin as time moved along the men began to get more harse (horses) father then bot his first team of mares they were called Sis and Mollie Sis was a Bay Mollie Chesnut sorrel then they bought a fine Stallion his name Was Coke and they began to Breed and Raise Better harses this stallion Was kept at Uncle Andrew Lasson Place and my father had the care of him for many years he finally died of old age as they put more land in crops and water more on the farm above the lower land began to go to medow down Where the house was getting smaller to father and Mother thag (thought) it was time to build a new house they had been saving Money for years as it took a long time with raising their family and Money hard to come by With price of cattle in them days they kept the steers to be three and four years old and the price for these cattle was seventeen and eighteen per head so it took a lot of cattle to build a home But finally the spot was chosen for the house it Was East of the road and a little south of the Barn. then in Eighteen and Ninety Eight the contract Was let to Build the new house The price to build that fine big Brick house Was one Thousand dollars the Contractor Was William Tripplet of Fairview and Peter Fredckrison of Ft. Green The Family moved in the new house in november Eighteen Ninety Eight I was two years old that fall. Then the Government had more land you could file on it Was called the Desert and you could have farty (forty) cers (shares) if you Would improve it and could get water on it My father took forty acres then the Work he had to do off clearing and farming it But the grain crops that he Raised soon Paid for all the hard labor I have seen the grain Bundles so thick on the ground that you could step from one Bundle to a nother all over the field as the years went by the farm was getting larger as Father had Purchased the more forty acres of land so as the farm grew so did the Cattle heard and he Was Breeding bigger and better harses all these years then there got to be a good market for horses in the cities and the coal mines the Buyers would come from Salt Lake City and Buy those fine horses for the Fire darpent and for drag horses in the city they really got a good price for them from five to Six hundred dollars a team at their time they had the best horses in the state these horses was all from Coke and they all were Dapple gray With Spats (spots) as large as a dollar or just straight gray as Coke got to be a old harse finally died Father and other men in Oak decided they needed a nother Stallion and they bought him from McClocklin Brothers of St. Louis Massura the price paid for him was five thousand dollars the horse won the gold Medal at the Wold fair in New York City and the World Fair San Francisco Calif My father was the largest Stockholder in Flambert that was his Name he was a Coal Black With a white Pat (spot) in forehead his Weight was twenty one hundred and sixty lbs I believe that he was the largest harse that was in Sanpete Valley My first schooling was in a one Room brick school house in Oak Creek all grades was sat in the Same Room the first grade would be called up to the front Bench first and take their lesson then the next all grades had their lessons up to the Eight grade as near as I can remember their was forty or forty five kids in class in Oak Creek for one teacher to handle Whitch took some doing My first teacher Was my cousin Selma Lasson She tat (taught) two or three years then we had a teacher by name of Eli Day he was there til I was in the sixth grade What good times we had While he Was there We would get him so interested he would forget to start school on time We would have a thirty Minute recess and more than a hour Noon Eli Day Walked From Fairview to Oak Creek every day rain snow or Sun Shine it Was a three mile hike His Lunch Was hole Wheat Bread With Butter and Sugar on it that Would be a poor lunch for Most people I seen some of the Boys at School Who would have a Small Lard Bucket With Bread and Milk in it fore thier Lunch Yummy that was the last year in Oak Creek the kids all had to go to Fairview to School We Were hauled in a Wagon that was Built like a Praire Schooner it had a long Seat on each Side and a Bench in the Middle a door in Back and a Small Window in front for the driver to look out of to little Slots for the lines So the Window could be closed it Was always loaded to Capesity it shere Was a Slow trip When the Roads Was Bad it took an hour travel those three miles in the Winter and Early Spring We just about froze the little kids would be crying cause they were nearly froze as we plodded through the Snow and Mud the first hack driver Was William Chinny he drove for a year But the kids was Pretty Rough on the driver some time he Would have his son Jessie drive But he did not last long as the Boys Would thaw him out and drive the team them self So that was the end of the Chinnys they had all they could take of the Oak Creek kids, then my Uncle George Mower took the hack and we sure did deal him a lot of trouble his horses was Small as he operated a levery Stable and hotel When the Road was bad and it was about all he could do to Wallow along the Clay hill as it Was called us kids would get out and take a Pole of the fence and Put it in the Wheel Between the Spokes and he would be stuck in Mud out of the hack he would come like he Was going to eat us up But we were long gone So all he could do was get the Poles out of the Wheels and Say dogun you dirty Pictures! So uncle George had all the hack driving that he could take in one year the girls was right along With us boys in all our Meanness especially My Cousin Cleon Lasson then in Nineteen hundred and ten When halys comet was supposed to hit the earth So many people was really scared one family was really scared (in Oak Creek) they thought the world was coming to and End So the Nite it was Coming through the sky Some of us Boys Went up to Charly Johnsons Place We had a stick of powder and a cap out by his gate Was some big Ruckus We Put the powder Between the Rocks and touched it off and hollared look out Charley just then the powder Went Boom it nearly scared them to death We ran to our horses they Were down the Road a little and We sure did take off We went down the road to the Oak Creek Bridge and down the lane a little left the harses there and Walked Back to the Road We could hear Charly coming hell bent for leather on Billy his saddle harse Billy was a little Stiff in his front legs But he sure was making time he sure was excited and Mad he come up to us and said Which way did those dirty Bastards go We said they Went to fairview he said I'll catch them dirty Bastards he was chasing us on to Fairview and We were there in the Road Watching the Chase the way he Went for town he was gone about an hour and We were waiting to see if he caught them when he came back We said did you find them he said them dirty Bastards got clean away I don't Believe that Charly ever did know who did that Peter Hartly was the leader that night later on Charly daughter Was in Salt Lake and She was sick it Was april first So we decided to fool him I and my cousin George Mower We went to the Barn to get a Saddle horse as it had rained all day and was a Black and Storming Night the Road was all Mud and Water as We got to Charly gate he just came out of the house With a lantern We spurd the horses to a run and Went in front of the house and Said there is a Phone call for you down home he hollared Jennie get me Billy Which was his Saddle horse Dropped the lantern I said you don't need Billy you can take my horse I legged him up on the horse and down the Road he went as fast as he could go he Rushed in the house Without noching and to the Phone grabbed the Phone said hello But got no answer he turned to Pa and said is there a phone call for me Pa said not that I know of then Charly caught on what had happened he said them dirty little Devils has done it again if you ever seen a Mad Man it was Charly We walked down the Rail Road tracks on the ties to stay out of the Mud we met Charly By the old Barn did we ever take a cussing he said you will have to walk back to my home to get your horse I said just turn her loose and She will come home Which he did We Walked on down the Road to uncle Sidney Mower Place he was out in the Barn Milking his cow We could see his lantern light so we went up to his Barn to talk to him he was setting there Milking a cow he had a full Bucket of Milk we told him What we had done to Charly he haw haw and said O good hell and Spat his leg Just then the cow kicked him clean back to the Wall Milk and Manure all over him he was so Mad He sure did give that cow a Beating That was enough excitment for one night--- In the Early ninteen hundreds We had to think up our own entertainment and We sure did have alot of fun But the older people didnt see it that way and some of them sure did get sore But Most of them took it Pretty good Naturedand would laugh it off One night we were at diff Terry home and they were always late with there Milking When the cores was done they would have their supper When he sat down to eat us Boys went out to the Barn and hammered on the boards and the other Boys ran to the house and told uncle diff that his harses was fighting he said them dam Mares is the meanest harses I have ever seen to fight up from the table he jumped and out to the Barn he tore Picked up a club on the way and he sure did Beat hell out of them Poor Mares after a While We were talking and laughing he finally caught on What we had done he said I should have known you dam Boys was up to some trick the People of Oak Creek was a friendly lot of people What fun we had at parties in just about all the homes one home I'll always Remember Was the home of France E. Nelson his wife had died he was left With nine children the older Three Was close to My age us Boys and girls would go to their home and What good times we had the children were all talinted in Music they could play the Banjo Violin accordian the organ piano My friend Sam and his sister Elizabeth Would sing they had Plenty of honey we would make honey candy grease our hands with butter and pull honey candy We would Pull it till it was White or fluffy it sure was good We didn't get much store candy in those days then Mr Nelson would play the Banjo and us Boys and girls would square dance and some of us would be on the Whirly Gig this was on a tree that had been sawed off about four feet high it have a Steel Peg driven in the center of the tree and a hole bored in the Plank in the Center the Plank was put on the Stump and greased and Boy around and around we would go With four or six kids to or three on each that gig sure would Travel Nelsons also had a large Swing in a tree We sure had a lot of good times at there home there was about twenty five families in Oak Creek at that time Some of those family had from nine to twelve children. One thing that has been on my mind Many Times through the y ears is a Tragedy That happened on My sister Lorna Birthday August Eleven Nineteen hundred and Eleven She was having her Birthday Party a Bunch of us kids was Playing out By the orchard as we had a Swing and the gate pale This pale was from the top of the gate post these posts was Eighteen to twenty feet high We could drive a load of hay under the pale it was just about dark But we Saw this team and Wagon go By and Saw who was in the Wagon Setting in the Spring Seat it was Frank Stewart from Milburn it was not long after he passed that a Train came by from the South this was a Malitia Train it had taken the Boys home from thier Two weeks training My Brother Arthur always walked over to this Rail Road Crossing to see the Trains go By But this Night he walked down Through the orchard to the Rail Road Track he walked back up where the Party was Not knowing that Frank Stewart had been killed on the Rail Road Crossing the Team was going By on a good trot the left Wheels of the Wagon had missed the End of the Culvert and he Must of fallen out of the Wagon on the Rails the Team went to Milburn to Edward Stewart place CL Stewart Saw the team with out the driver so they got some lantern and came down the Road looking for Frank they got to the Rail Road Crossing they found him the train had Ran over him his head had Been Severed and Rolled up the Tracks for a hundred feet or More from the Rest of his body that sure was an awful thing to See I had a lot of Creepy feelings at Night when I had to Cross that Track after dark the Engineer on that Train Name was George Wideman We always milked a Big heard of Cows Pa didn't let us feed the calfs in a bucket in them days We would Milk half the Milk from the cows and then turn the calfs out of the calf corral to the cows to suck When they were through sucking we would grab them by the Ear and the Tail Rasal them around the corral and Put in the pen then one of us would have to take them to the pasture for the night Most of the time it would be dark and Frank Steward having been killed We had to Cross the Rail road thair and it was Plenty Spooky the lighting Bug would be flying over the Meadow and the Night hocks swooping down Making all that Noise I would get that Bunch of calfs in the pasture Shut the gate and take off I sure would Pick them feet up and lay them down for them to or three Blocks I come in the house all out of breath and Mother would say you sure must of Been running were you scared I say no Pa would be Setting by the table in his Easy chair with a Big grin on his face and a twinkle in his eyes he sure new that I had Been traveling at a high Rate of Speed from the pasture to the house
On May day when I was not more than ten or eleven years old the people in Oak Creek was celebrating they was at the Old Red School house all the people was there they had a program and braded the May Pole Then there was a dance a Night During the day a Big Thunder and lighting Storm came out of the Southwest the Rain and hail sure did come down the lighting flashed one streak after another and the thunder Roared During the Storm there was three young men chasing Some Harses trying to catch them in a Corral of fence By the Charly Rigby Farm They were just getting close up to the harses When a lighting flash came out of those Black Clouds and killed to of the horses and knocked the other down The fellow that was with those horses was Urban Hartley he later became My Brother in law Married My sister Maud the others was George Vance and Charlie Bills WE called Chewing Charley he always had a chew of tabacco in his mouth After the Storm had passed over us kids went down to see the dead horses that the lighting had killed In those days good days harses was the Pride of everyone as I got a little older about fourteen or fifteen years old I thought I Should have a harse of my own So I started to Pester Pa for that I had seen the harse that I wanted and I sure would do most anything to win him This harse was in the Indianoloa Valley and owned by an Indian By the Name of Charlie Toke he was a good friend to my uncle Albin Anderson he never married and Toke would come to fairview and stay at his home for several days at a time the Indians didn't like to sell their harses but Toke finally Said he would sell the harse for fifteen dollars Pa said he would buy him for me In a few days We Went over to get him Pa and My Brother John saddled up two horses I got up on the Saddle behind Pa and We Were off to get the harse When we arrived at the Indian Village it was Just North and West of the depot in Indianola the Indians rounded up the herd of harses and drove them in the corral. Toke Went in the corral and Roped that Wild harse he had only been Roaped one time to be branded He was a four year old and was Real Spookie The Indians was all at the Corral to watch the fun they Put a halter and a Rope around his Neck down through the halter Ring So he could not break the halter they siddeled him up to the fence so as to get him Broke to be tied and then to lead after about to hours they had him so he would lead a little We Started home with Cream as that was his color Johnie tied the lead rope to the horn of his Saddle as the horse he was Riding was a real Cow horse Pa and I Rode along back to help him along Every little way he would hang back You would think he would move again then in the air he would go Striking With his front feet But he never caught old Charlie off Gard as he had been with a Big Cattle Ranch. this harsse we bought from Toke we named him Cream as that was his color he was Branded With an eleven on the left Thigh We finally got home with the harse then was the big Job of getting him broke to ride We Spent days With him Saddling him up and leading him up and down the Road always Snubbed to the horn of old Charlie Saddle We were lucky With him We Broke him with out ever letting him Buck What a proud kid I was of him I kept him for a year or to But Pa thought he was to Much harse for a kid Some harse Buyers came along and Pa Sold him and I thought that was the end of Everything But I Recovered from the blow as we had to or three other Saddle harses so I always had a harse to Ride till I could get me one of my own again Just a little more about this old Charlie horse he was a gray with little specks all over him he was the kind of horse that all boys talked about When driving Cattle with him as the saying goes He could turn on a dime and give you a Nickle in Change
After I Sold the cream harse I went along for a year or two with out a harse of My own I Rode the Saddle harses that Pa had at that time in the spring of the year the gipsys would come through the Valley Trading harses they would camp along the Road they always camped north of the Rail Road crossing in Oak Creek as there Some Meadow fore harse feed they would stay a few days before moving on they would stop all the farmers and travelers and want to trade harses they always wanted Boot as that is how they made thier living they also did a little stealing on the Side My brother in law Urban Hartley Traded With the Gypsys for a little Sorrel Mare She Sure was a beautiful ponnie I Sure did Want that Mare I told him that I would give him a two year Bollie hefier for Mollie as that was her name So we made the trade She Sure was quite a Race horse you could put her at the starting line get off take her Bridle off She would not leave the Road and it Sure took a good harse to out Run her My friend Ernest Pitman had a cute ponnie to We Would Ride them ponnies to Mt Pleasant and Spring City that was quite a Ride at the time for boys of our age I Remember on Sunday afternoon we were on our way to Spring City on the Ponnies it was in the year of Nineteen hundered and twelve anyway it was when there was only a few cars in town the fellows sure thought it was something to take the girls out for a Ride in one this day there was two couples in a Model T Ford they had the top down and they Sure thought they were putting on the Dog they caught up with us and was going Right on By We Spurred those ponnies up and Sure did feed them dust for a mile or two that ford could Not out Run them harses in that short of a Run Them people did have thair Sunday Clothes filled with dust We sure did take some of the wind out of there sails one of our other modes of travel was on a Rail Road hand car one of those that you had to pump by hand it had to sets of handle Bars six or eight would be pumping up and down us Boys in Oak Creek would pump that car to Mt Pleasant and back in a night When we would get to Charles Rigby Place We would holler vinegar Bluff and out he would come Madder than a hornet We would have to reach speed going down hill So he would lay for us to come back we would get our second wind Before we got to his place and then would give everything we had to get past his place we holler vinegar Bluff and Boy he be there and try to snap us But he never quite made it that sure was a lot of work to pump that hand car from Mt Pleasant Back to Oak Creek Just for a night out
Us boys were kept Pretty busy in the summer months When we were in the hay field in the hot sun Many a day I said Boy I wish it would rain so we could go down to the creek for a swim or go fishing as we had two or three swimming holes In Sanpitch we would stay in that cold water as long as we could stand it then lay in the sun and get a real sunburn I had my back burnt so bad I could hardly have a shirt on but mother would put cows cream on it and it would Be ok in a day or to one other thing when the fields was open in the fall on sunday when people was to church in the afternoon us Boys would Round up six or eight bulls and drive them down in the South fields and have Bull fights we fight those bulls all afternoon I Will never forget one Bull fight we had down Where Oak Creek and Sanpitch joines Uncle Andrew Lasson had this big Bollie Bull in the North end of Oak Creek and Fowles had a Bollie Just as Big in the South end of Oak Creek they both had Big large horns We decided they would make a real fight us Boys go t the Bull from the North slipped him down the Rail Road Track to the south field A Bull has his own cow talk Boo Boo Boo Baw then he lets out a Big Bello and he got a challenge Bellow from South of the Creek they would Be getting mader at every step then the Bull from the South came through the Brush along the Creek out in the open field they both stopped short distant apart eyed one another up and still Boo Boo getting closer up to gether they came up side ways to one another they got to within a few feet of each other With thier neck Bowed Waiting for the (other) to make the first move They try to catch one another off balance But the other Bull head is Right their to meet him and the fight is on one Bull will have the best of it for a few minutes and then the other will have the best of it each trying to throw the other off Balance so he can gore him in the side those Bulls fought fore and hour or more they would stop and rest with thier heads still together then one would slap the other to the side of the head with a horn and the fight was on again they had that field pretty badly toren up then the fight ended alot faster than it started the bull from the South let all halts go and did he Run with the other bull chasing him across the field and through the brush When a Bull is whipped and it trying to get away he will not stop for anything any one who has not seen to of these Big Powerful animals fight has sure missed seeing a battle people seeing those Bulls just walking around would think they are just Big slow animals but when fighting they sure can move like lighting us boys had a ring side seat we were up in some Big Cotton Woods Trees those trees was on a piece of land that Pa owned I will tell a little about a Big Roan Bull that Pa owned he was Sure a pest We would put him in the corral in the eveing and we did not know where he would be come morning Most of the time he would be in the hay yard or down along the Rail Road he would fight anything that walked or was on wheels I saw him stop a train it was coming from the south he was in the Middle of the track with his Neck all bowed the Rail Road Men could see him for some distant away they started to slow the train down and Whistle and Whistle as they did when live stock was on the track But old Ben didn't seem to hear the train the engine came Right up to him but he did not move just stood with his neck Bowed if they had tried to Push him off he would of fought that train the fire man walked out on the side of the engine to drive him off but he would not move he went back in the cab and the enginereer turned the steam on him and that Bull sure did move fast that was something that he could not fight one more thing that I never Will forget about that Bull it was one Winter Morning Pa was up on the hay stack putting down hay here come the Bull around the stack pushing and throwing hay Just Raising hell with the Stack Pa stepped to the edge of the stack and Ramed the Pitch fork in that bull's back Old Ben let out a bawl took off on the Run Jumping and Bucking and twisting Jumped the Stack Yard fence and headed for Sanpitch Creek With the fork Sticking straight up in his Back and Pa following the Bull to get his fork the fork stayed with the Bull all the way to the Creek before he lost the fork When you grow up on a farm like I did in the early Nineteen hundreds there sure was a lot of work to do as it was all done By hand or team work We did all the plowing with hand plows the Plows had handles that you held to Walked Between to guide it and you led the lines from the harses tied around your Back I and Pa would Plow on the same piece of ground some of the time as we had to Plows and of those Plows one was a Blue Bird and the other was a oliver I would Plow with the Blue Bird as it was lighter for me to handle I was not very big at that time about fourteen or fifteen It sure did take a lot of Rounds to Plow a acre of ground as you would only cut a farrow of fourteen inches We would stop and Rest the horses a couple of times in a hole day and have a drink of water Pa had a Water keg it sure did keep the water cool it hung in the shade While we were Resting Pa would tell me all about his early life on the farm and working in the mountains getting out timber and ties for the Rail Road One year I Plowed that field alone at that time there sure was a lot of Sego lillies they would be out in blossom they sure was Pretty as it was always in June when we Plowed that field I would pick them bulbs up as I walked a long and When I stoped to Rest would eat them they Sure was good that field was eighty Rods long When I would come to the house for dinner Pa would say how many Rounds did you get this fore noon I would say Twelve as that was all I could Plow in a half a day Pa would say that Sure is a good Piece to get over My Boy that Sure was a lot of Walkin as that would be one hundred and sixty Rods each Round It sure was a lot of Work but I sure did enjoy it as I sure did like to drive a good team of harses the team that I drove at that time was a Pair of blue Blaze face harses by the name of Prince and Blaze When it came that time in the Spring to get the ground ready for planting I did the harrowing We had a harrow that was called a Swedish harrow it was a three corner it had the cross Beams on the first on there was four teeth the next was seven and on the back thier was nine as it only cut a swath of about eight feet Pa would Say I want that harrow laped half so as that ment where I went across the field and turned around I had to Put half of the harrow on What I had just went over as doing it that way sure took a lot of time where the ground was ready far Planting I would Ride the grain drill and Pa would do the marking I will tell about those old time markers they was a Piece of timber about four foot long and to feet wide they would be holes drilled up in the big back Piece of wood bolted in for the marker thier would be pieces of metal bolted on them to make the furrow there was no seat so you had to stand up on it they were called go devels a hole was cut in the center of the bloke and the tounge was put there the tounge was then braced with strips of Iron that was made of old wagon tires they were bolted to the back and then up along the tounge I thin that pictures the old marker Pretty wel as it was time to water the grain that was a big job up on the hill as it was called it was in two pieces and we would have the water on all of it at the same time that sure was a lot of furrows to take care of the field was Eighty Rods long and we had all the furrow numbered We would go to the bottom and see how many was not through the one that was not we would foller it up and see that it was broke or clogged then we would have to work the water to the bottom as every one had to get through Pa and his to sons Arthur and I would water it When we had all of the grain and hay watered it would be time for a fishing trip to fish creek there would be six or eight or ten of us that would meet thier each year for three or four days fishing and what a good time we would have and talk about the fish we would catch the season always opened the 15th of june there would always be Big Snow Banks at that time of the year so that we could bury the fish in the Snow Banks till we were ready to go home then we would pack them in the pack bag on the harses as that was the way we had to go in to that part of the country I will tell a little about those pack saddles there was a wood frame it was forked in the front and the rear then there was to Big Canvas Bags on that was hung on each side We would Put all of the food and camping stuf in the Bays with our boots and other such clothing that we would need then we would Put all the bedding on top of all the other stuff the harse that carried all this was called the Pack harse then we was all set for fish creek We would mount our Saddle harses and head for dry creek as that was the way we went up dry creek then around the head of oak creek in to the head of Coben hollow around the head of silver creek down the See Canyon Ridge in to fish creek then we would be thier for the eveing fishing and What a Ball we would have We knew haying was right around the corner
Any time after the Middle of June would be time to start the haying Job and that sure was a long hot Job for Many years all the hay that was on Pa's farm was Pitched by Byran Mower and I as my Brother Arthur would do the loading on the Wagon when we were into the barn on a stack Arthur and I would stack the hay and Byran would set the forks I say forks as we used to forks at that time My sister Audry would Ride the hay fork harse as it was called that harse pulled the hay in to that barn or on to the Stake we would by haying all Summer by the time we would have the first crop in it would be time to start on the secont crop before we would finish that crop we would have to stop and cut and stack the grain then go on and finish the haying When that Was over it was time to start to haul the grain and that sure was a big Job as Pa Raised more grain than any other farmer in Oak Creek before any grain was hauled we would have to clean the stak yard of that would have to be shoveled off till it was as clean as a floor there wasent a weed or a little Rock or any thing that could get in the Thrashing Machine as that was very dangers as that cylunder was travelling Seven hundred Revelutions a minute as ther was to Men working in front of the cylunder feeding grain to the thrasher When we started to haul grain Arthur and I would go into the field to load the grain he would stay on the wagon and place each bundle as I would Pitch them up to him When we were in to the grain stak Arthur would Pitch the Bundles off and I would throw the bundles across the stak to Pa he would be on his knees stacking as each bundle had to be layed Just Right as Arthur Pitched the load of grain he would cant (count) the bundles he would say Well that load had five hundred and fifty and maby the next would have five hundred and Eighty they would very a little as some of the grain was taller and you could stak more bundles on any way those was big loads of grain Some of those Staks would be so big that a load would not make a layer over the stack as the stack grew in hieght and it was getting harder to throw the Bundles up we would stack so as I could catch each Bundle as Arthur threw them up I would throw them to Pa on the out Side layer I would Place the Bundles along side of Pa I would Place the head of the Bundle ahead so there was no turning of the Bundles as the stack was Just about as high as we could throw the bundles When it was time to top the stack out every bundle had a slope they were not drowing left was toped with the slope of the bundle I never saw a man that could stack grain as good as Pa they were Perfect When those Stacks were finished they were so high that one could see over the high barn and down the Road
Camp Kearny Cal
Sep 14, 1918
Dear folks, recieved your welcome letter today and was glad to hear from you and sorry to hear that Kate Bills died I bet it sure was some shock on her husband She sure was a nice little woman I hope that mother is feeling better by now She musent try to do to much work espically milk all them cows and seperate because that is a mans Work has father and tom got the grain and hay up yet father musent work to hard either because he cant stand it Well this disipline is pretty hard work till you get a little aquainted with it We started to drill this morning at seven thirty and we drilled till twelve oclock it sure was some half days work but I am standing it fine I have gained three lbs since I landed here I have a little time to write this afternoon we have it off but we are not allowed to leave the camp this vactionation and Inocolations is sure some dose to have shot in your arms I have been shot twice in each arm and the one in my left arm hasent worked yet We get shot next saturday again most of the fellows Will only get it in one arm but I Will get it in both arms again they may have to shot me five are six times before it works and me because my blood is in such good order some of the fellow is just about killed then they took about thirty or forty to the hospitle one greek he said the first time makes you a little sick the next time makes you a hole lot sick and the next time kills you the poor fellow Was so sick that he said good by boys I am going to die he said god is touching me on the head and on the knees he said the next morning that he seen god and all his brothers guess I will close for this time it is supper time may god be with you at all times from your loving soilder boy Win M.
Rct. Win Mower
Recruiting Receiving Camp
Provisional Co 15
Camp Kearny
Calif.