I was privileged to come to this world on the second day of the year, 1852, in the town of Uitenhage, Cape Colony, South Africa, the eighth child of a family of ten children. My parents were English colonists who came to Africa in the year 1847. My father's name was William Francom, born at Bristol, England in the year 1815, December 4th. My mother's name was Amy Harding, born at Marla, England in the year 18ll, August 25th. Before arriving in Africa, six children had blest my parents' union, three of whom died in England prior to coming to Africa.

The town of my birth was founded by DeMist in 1804, on the Zwartkops river about twenty miles from Port Elizabeth. Recent information advises me that along the sides of the streets of Uitenhage, which are lined with trees, flow water courses and on the banks of the river are two large wool-washing establishments.

Port Elizabeth, which was our nearest town, is today the third largest port of South Africa and is situated on the shores of Algoa Bay east of Cape Recife. History tells us that Algoa Bay was discovered by Bartholomew Diaz in 1488, also that in 1754 the Dutch settlements at the cape were extended eastward to Port Elizabeth. In 1799 Col. Vandeleur built a small fort on the Hill, west of Bookens River. By 1820, Just 27 years before my parents' arrival, it had a population of 35, plus the troops stationed there.

My father was a blacksmith and worked at his trade during my early years. I can remember as a little tot, he would stand me on a box and help me blow the bellows; how it would give me a thrill to hear the roar and see the fire blaze up. About the year 1856, he started his merchandise business. Up until this time our family had lived in a row of three-room cottages. However, his new business thrived to such an extent that we moved to a new home: a six-room brick house with a slate roof. The kitchen was one long room, with the fireplace, or brick stove as it was then called, at one side of the room. All of the cooking was done over an open fire and in this brick oven. Stoves - as we know them, were not known in Africa at that time. What a good cook my mother was! The big plum puddings, the roasts of meat and the vegetables she used to cook seemed to me the best I have ever tasted.

We had about two acres of garden with a hedge of white and yellow quince on one side, while pomegranate hedges grew on the other side. We had an orchard of figs: blue, white and yellow; also there were grapes pears and apples, in addition to vegetables of all kinds We had three crops a year, since our garden was irrigated from the water in the ditches along the streets. This water came from a reservoir in the hills above the city.

Our store was built near our residence. I remember the sign painted on the store, "Francom Mercantile & Grocery - Prince of Wales Feathers”, together with a picture of a bunch of feathers. One of the big days of my boyhood in Africa was the visit of the Prince of Wales, who later reigned England as King George V. All the school children went out to see our Prince and pay him homage. He drove by our home and made us all feel very proud when he acknowledged our sign by pointing at it.

Across the street from our store was the market square where gardeners and farmers brought their produce to be sold at auction. Merchants and housewives and anyone who wanted to buy were there. They sold all kinds of fruits, vegetables, cheese, butter and eggs. On this square they also sold horses and goats at auction. Most people had goats, since that was the source of our milk supply. The square was also used as a place of punishment. The smaller offenses were punished by whippings, while the murderers were hung on the gallows in the square. I have witnessed these hangings as well as the whippings.

My father soon made further successes in his retail dry goods and groceries by adding wholesale meats and liquors to the business.

I was always an active child and helped father by running errands. We bought our goods at Port Elizabeth, freighting the merchandise into Uitenhage by ox team, there being no railroads in the country at that time. I have since learned from good authority, that the main industry of the Uitenhage of today (1920 - 1940) is railway workshops.

My mother's Sister, Aunt Tabby Croucher, lived about five miles from. Uitenhage on a farm. Aunt Tabby's husband was a great trapper and hunter He shipped many lions and tigers to England. He had two or three Negroes working his farm for him, paying them $1.00 or $1.50 per annum in addition to their food and what clothes they wore. Nearly everyone had, at the least, two or three Negroes working for them.

I made many visits to my aunt and uncle. I remember, my uncle would say, “Sammy, let us get some honey." He would whistle and the "Honey-Guide", a bird so called from its habit of pointing out to man the nests of bees, the produce of which it then hopes to share, came fluttering overhead to guide us to the bees’ nest, either in the ground or sometimes high up on a cleft of rocks. By their noisy cries and antics, the birds would tell us they had found a nest or nests, and sometimes the men would carry away as much as forty barrels of honey at one time. The Honey Guides are small birds of plain plumage with a sparrow-lime bill.

One of our sports was to roast turtles, hooking them out of the water and burying them in a bed of coals; they would get too hot and crawl out two or three times before getting cooked. Another sport was finding the giant tortoise in the hills, mount his back and take a ride – very slow, but still a ride.

My uncle also had fields of squash and melons. We would often make small holes in the squash, so the monkeys would put their hands in these holes to get a fist full of seeds, After doubling up their fists they could not get them out and in their struggle could be captured. My uncle once found a little baby monkey and gave it to me, telling me it was a baby Negro. As a baby Monkey has no hair, it did indeed look like a black baby and when it cried, it sounded like one too.

It was great going out into the interior where I have often seen hundreds of wild goats traveling in bands.

One day in particular I went with my uncle to see his traps, We saw his traps with the fresh meat hanging in them as bait but no tiger or lion had visited them, the meat still being intact. So uncle said, "We will take a little ramble before going home". Soon it started to get dark, we could hear the baboons and monkeys chattering, hyenas screaming & screeching, and lions roaring in the distance. Did my hair stand up! Uncle was a great tease and knew I was scared. He would dodge me, which was no trick, as the jungle was so dense and what a relief when he would show up again!

My father had two Negroes working for him who helped with the oxen. Five teams composed a load, with one man leading and another man walking in their rear with a long whip. Many a trip have I gone on to Port Elizabeth. Twenty miles through jungle and not a single habitation between the two towns. Port Elizabeth was built on the side hill overlooking the harbor They were building a breakwater at that time, hauling the rocks with ox team. Seventy-five years later, I understand that they are still building the same breakwater.

Another journey of by childhood was a visit my father and I made to my cousins. We had to cross two large rivers enroute, one of them I remember was called the Gamtoos River. Before we reached this river, we had to travel two days and nights, sleeping out in the open at night, during which time we could see the lions on the cliffs of rock above. The floors of our cousins’ house were literally covered with skins of lions and tigers After crossing the river on the ferry, we journeyed 100 miles further into the interior with horse and cart. My father and I went alone on this trip, but I cannot recollect the specific reason for the journey.

One particular journey that I made to Port Elizabeth with my brother, Joe, is well remembered. Before we reached town, we made camp on the edge of the jungle sleeping on the ground in the open. The next morning Joe got up telling me it was time to be getting on our way. At the same time he pulled the blanket off. There coiled up by my side was a large poisonous snake as big around as a man's wrist and some five or six feet long. My brother grabbed me by my leg pulling me away from the snake which uncoiled and crawled off into the jungle, so the danger was over before I realized there was any.

The boys of our town used to go down to the river and swim, It was some little distance from town and near the “pest house” or hospital. We had been having quite an epidemic of black smallpox and most people were greatly alarmed; the government had forced everybody to be vaccinated.

One day some of us boys were returning from our swim and a hearse passed us by returning from hauling patients who had succumbed to the epidemic of smallpox; so we climbed on behind, got inside and rode into town being careful to jump off before anyone saw us. I can well imagine today what my parents would have done to me had they ever found out about this escapade!

My twelfth birthday had passed when the Mormon Elders came to Uitenhage preaching the gospel to us. My parents seemed to be very much interested in what they preached. Although it was a vary unpopular religion, they partook of the spirit of it and said that it harmonized with their feelings, and the bible as they understood it. They embraced this new religion and thus came the turning point in my life as well as the lives of my family. The spirit of gathering in the Land of Zion came upon us. Even though we knew at this time that the Church was persecuted by their people being driven from Kirkland, Missouri to Nauvoo, Illinois, and thence to the Rocky Mountains.

In the year 1862 My eldest brother, William, came to America, The following year Joseph, my third eldest brother followed. In the year 1865, my father gave mother his consent to leave Africa with the children to go to America, At this time my father’s business was thriving to such an extent that my second eldest brother, George, had to stay in Africa with father to help him wind up his affairs in anticipation of following the rest of us to this new country.

It was very trying for my mother, to break away from her old home and leave her husband and sister behind; but her faith was so strong that she was willing to leave everything behind to cast her lot with the Mormon people. She proved herself true and faithful to her covenant. I never knew her to murmur about the trials she passed through, or the hardships she had to endure.

Due to the persecutions of the Latter Day Saints, and indifference to my father’s business, mother left in secret. No one knew of her contemplated Journey except father.

Early one spring morning before dawn, father loaded us in the wagons. With five teams of oxen we started for Port Elizabeth, with one Negro leading the oxen, another one walking in the rear driving them. Upon arriving that evening in Port Elizabeth, our baggage was loaded directly on the ship. We stayed the night in a hotel, boarding the vessel the next morning.

There were 35 families, all converts to the Mormon Church, besides the Captain and crew on board. In addition to the passengers, there was a cargo of hides, tallow and wool, all bound for America. Most of the day was spent in loading the ship and getting settled for the journey. Father came aboard with us and it was a sad farewell when he went to leave, for we felt that there was indeed a chance we would never see each other again, although his intentions were to follow as soon as possible.

Sometime during the night our little sailing vessel, the Brig Mexicanna set sail. The next morning when we awoke and went on deck we could see the shore line in the distance, It was then we all gathered together, most hearts full to a breaking point. All joined in singing;

"Oh my Native Land, I love thee
All the scenes, I love them well
Friends, connections, happy country
Can I, can I say farewell?

Can I leave thee? Can I leave thee?
Far in distant lands to dwell

Can I, Can I say farewell?"

After this we settled down to the routine of our life aboard ship, all things going well, except everyone taking turns at seasickness. I remember being about the last one to get sick and had a great time laughing at the rest of the youngsters, but finally I had my turn, and to me I seemed the sickest of all. We all recovered from our seasickness and were feeling fine when we reached the equator. The air was very hot and sultry, with everyone complaining of the intense heat. The ocean was so calm and smooth with not a ripple -- we could look down into the water and see the sea weeds, schools of dolphin moving along also flying fish which would fly up out of the water, some landing on deck. There was absolutely no breeze and our ship just floated along; every sail was up but we could make no progress.

Sometime that night a little breeze came up and in the morning I heard the Captain and his mates throw out the life buoy to measure the speed of the vessel which they said was going about ten knots per hour, They seemed quite pleased with this headway. That next morning the watchman hollered out that there was a whale in the path of the boat. The Captain gave orders to turn the boat so we would pass the whale. He was spurting water like a fountain, and to me he looked like a mountain in the ocean, After that we passed several whales and many schools of flying fish.

Two or three days later the first mate said to the Captain, "Captain, I believe we are going to have a storm”. The Captain looked up in the heavens made some remark and went down into his cabin. In a few minutes he was back again. He ordered all the passengers below, at the same time ordering the men to take down the sails. While the sailors were still up in the masts starting on the last sail, the storm struck with such force that it broke one of the yard arms throwing it, together with one of the men on the deck. Part of the yard arm was hanging overboard so the Captain ordered it cut loose and sent adrift as it was pulling the vessel to one side.

Immediately after hearing the Captains orders, I ran to a life boat and hid underneath it for I wanted to see what was going on. Well, I saw most of it but I certainly wished before it was over that I had obeyed the Captain's orders. During the storm, it was necessary for me to hang on to the ropes for dear life to keep from being washed overboard. The Captain had lashed himself to the helm endeavoring to steer the boat. After the storm he told his mate that the vessel had been driven 150 miles out off course. The hurricane had lasted two hours.

The next day the crew repaired the broken yard arm, unrolled the sails and we were again sailing at a nice clip. All hands were on board enjoying the sunshine, after the wetting of the previous night, when the watchman shouted, "Something ahead!” The Captain got his glasses and told the man at the helm to steer to the leeward. All at once we spied a vessel turned bottom side up. The Captain told us that it was no doubt a vessel that had swamped the previous night in the storm. As it drifted by, the watchman said there was something else adrift in the sea. The Captain grave orders to steer to the object. He put out a boat and discovered that the object was the deck of the wrecked vessel which the men towed in, hoisted on our vessel to be taken to New York City and reported. We also saw barrels and one corpse floating in the water.

One of our brethren of the company, Curshaw by name, took sick; at the same time one the ship's crew took sick, they both lay within life and death for a long time. Finally our brother died and was buried at sea. With sad memories of our brother we sailed on, sometimes with the wind in our favor and sometimes against us.

After a long tedious journey we reached New York. When we were about three days sailing time from New York we were met by a tug boat. our Captain made arrangements for the boat to tug us into the harbor which took from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. The Captain threw anchor that night and the next morning went ashore making arrangements to move his cargo and passengers. It took us all day Monday to pass through the inspection office or customs house, as all our goods had to be examined. Some of our people went to the hotel that night and some spent the night in Castle Garden. Castle Garden was at this time, where Ellis Island is today.

Just at this time the Civil War was ended and we saw soldiers everywhere returning to their homes. I remember one vessel in particular that was lying at anchor in the harbor, The Marines were on board playing their band every night and morning. After so many months at sea the band music was a cheering sound to us all.

We were all very tired and weary from our long journey and would have enjoyed a rest but Tuesday we had to take a train starting for the West. The train was full of soldiers returning home. It was a well remembered sight at the different stations when the soldiers would get off the train to meet their loved ones, some in laughter and some in tears, mourning for their boys who would never return.

At St. Louis we took a steamboat up the Mississippi. We were on this boat for about twenty-four hours and after landing camped for a day or two. At this camp a little accident happened which I remember caused much excitement among our people. One of the girls in our party about sixteen years old, Miss Pressley by name, went down to the river to get a pail of water. Her feet slipped Causing her to fall into the water, She would have drowned had some man standing near by not jumped in and rescued her.

From this camp we took another train in order to continue our journey westward. After some 24 hours traveling, we came to the Missouri River. We had another steamboat ride on the Missouri, disembarking at a small town in Nebraska called Wymore. When we landed we found a large camp of English and Scandinavian immigrants waiting for teams to core from Utah to carry the pilgrims to Zion, since most of these people were too poor to outfit themselves for the journey.

The families that had come with us from Africa were all fairly well to do and were able to buy their own outfits. My brother John. who was then 15 years old, left us here, hiring out to man by the name of Ramsey for the purpose of driving a mule team to Salt Lake City. He arrived there before the rest of us.

I remember that among these poor immigrants who had been waiting here for several weeks, cholera broke out in their midst and quite a number of them died from it.

Meantime, my mother and her four children were baptized in the Missouri River and ordained members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

As no teams had yet arrived from Utah, the agent of the church in New York deemed it wise and proper to run the church into debt, buying up a band of oxen, yokes, chains and wagons enough to fit out a suitable conveyance for the pilgrims.

There is one incident which happened at this camp that is quite fresh in my memory. My younger brother Jim, then about ten years old, fell in the old River Missouri. The whirling of the current carried him down stream. However, luck of providence came his way in the shape of an old log about 8 or 10 feet long, the remains of an old steamboat landing which was sticking out in the water. On his way past this log he grabbed hold of it, holding on until I ran out on the log and helped him out of the water.

Since the agent of the church had decided to outfit the pilgrims who could not afford their own conveyance, oxen were bought up wherever we could get them. They were for the most part unbroken steers; with this our fun began! These people absolutely unfamiliar with cattle, especially the Scandinavians. It was probably the hardest experience of their lives since they did not know one thing about handling oxen. Most of them had never seen an animal of this kind.

As for myself, I was familiar with handling cattle father having always used oxen for freighting at home. When my three yoke of oxen were allotted to me, I could very well handle them myself. I could throw a rope on them and it didn't take long to learn to yoke them and handle them with satisfaction. We had three days to practice handling the animals before starting on our journey further West.

Well do I remember the morning we started out. Who was to take the lead in this 1000 mile journey? Every teamster with his whip, outfit already hooked to his wagon, was waiting for the captain’s order to march. A Scandinavian took the lead the first day and with the help of the men on foot on either side of the cattle, to keep them on the road, we started. We had between 150 and 200 wagons and made 10 of our 1000 miles that first day.

The first night out, some of us unyoked our cattle and others turned them. out with the yokes on, afraid to unyoke them for fear they couldn't yoke them. again. A group of men were assigned to heard the cattle that night so they wouldn't run off. A guard was also put around the camp I must say, most of us slept pretty well that night.

In the morning the cattle were brought in and with breakfast over we all started off quite cheerful. It was a very trying day. The oxen began to tire early which made it necessary to make an early camp.

Minor G.. Atwood, the captain of our company, said, "You people who have fiddles, get them out". 'When they began to fiddle most of the people began to dance, so we held a dance on the prairie under the stars. When folks got a little weary of dancing the captain called us together. He said, “We want to start our journey right and we want to live so as to evoke the blessings of the Lord in the camp. If we do this and keep up good courage; we will be able to accomplish our journey and be happy". Then he asked us to pick out some hymns and we sang the songs of Zion that night. After singing, he asked one of the brethren to offer a prayer asking the Lord's blessings on us during our journey. Then he spoke to us, telling us what we might expect on the journey. Before we reached our goal he said there would be disappointments and hardships and no doubt some would have to lay down their lives as there was some cholera still in our midst.

Shortly before we started on this 1000 mile journey we met a widow, Mrs. Gibbet and her young daughter. As they had no means of transportation, mother took them with us in our Wagon. However they furnished their own grub. During the trip westward the captain sparked the girl, later marrying her in Salt Lake City.

Things went moderately well, although our oxen as well as the pilgrims would get weary and tired. We would make about twelve miles each day, sometimes fifteen when we had to go a little further in order to get to water.

Through Nebraska we struck the Platt River which we crossed. Several times, sometimes we encountered quick sands which made it very difficult to get our train across. The mosquitoes were so bad that it seemed that neither man nor beast could exist. They would bite the cattle until they should stampede. It would take us several hours to round them up.

Our people were dying every day, but the train would go on. Since my team was lively and I could travel faster, often times the captain would tell me to stay behind with a guard of men to bury our dead -- one, two, three, four and five a day --we would sew them up in sheets burying them in the same grave. Always some of the brethren would dedicate the grave, then we would pursue our journey.

About this time my brother Jim took with mountain fever and we were approaching the mountains. He was sick for many days, At times we despaired of his life but mother had faith and confidence that she would take him to Zion. She had the Elders administer to him often. Just as we were about to give up hope of his recovery, he began to improve. He eventually got well and is alive today, eighty years of age.

We encountered a few Indians on the way, not many; also some buffalo at a distance. We saw many herds of antelope. At times they got to be burdensome because they ate up all the grass causing a shortage of feed for our cattle. After getting through the swampy country where we found all the mosquitoes, all went along pretty well, for a time. We were making twelve to fifteen miles per day since the oxen were getting accustomed to the steady traveling. We lost a few of our cattle from the bloody murrain which was caused by drinking alkali water.

All the pilgrims who depended on the church for a conveyance walked, even the teamsters. However, mother had her own team, which I drove, and the children and mother rode. I walked most of the time beside our team of oxen.

One day we were traveling at ease when all at once our cattle stampeded, wagons and all. One young woman about 16 or 18 years of age, who was walking behind a wagon, got run over and was killed. No one ever knew what caused the stampede. Another time when misfortune struck us was when we were camped at night. One of the girls was frying meat, the grease caught fire, she jerked the blazing pan from she fire igniting her clothing. She ran until someone caught her but by that time she was so badly burned that she died the following morning after much suffering.

Shortly before we reached Fort Laramie, we camped at noon for our meal. We corralled our wagons as usual, unyoked our cattle and made ready to drive them across the Platt River to better feeding ground. While we were driving them to the river we were attacked by Indians coming out of a cottonwood grove near by. They came upon us unawares, whooping and yelling, shooting both guns and arrows. As we had had no Indian trouble up to this time, we were not prepared. Most of the men had left their guns in their wagons. Boy-like, I felt very proud of my revolver which I had on me at the time. I emptied the six shots that were in it at the Indians but do not know whether or not any of them hit their mark.

The cattle became quite excited but some of the party got ahead of the cattle driving them back into the corral which thwarted the plans of the Indians. However, they circled around the camp twice after we had the cattle back into the corral. Nine of our men were left wounded, As usual, our immigrants were slow in coming to camp, many trailed along behind. The Indians seized this opportunity and lassoed one of the women escaping with her on their horse.

At that time we did not know what to do, the woman was gone, her husband was one of the wounded. The captain called some of the strong men together and held a conference. They decided it would be unwise to follow the Indians, as it would probably avail us nothing, in doing so we would have to leave the camp with our women and children unprotected.

The captain then ordered us to yoke up, hitch our wagons, and pull out for the hilly country which we reached late that evening and camped. We formed a corral with our wagons, unyoked our cattle, keeping them in the corral that night with a heavy guard around our camp. The captain gave orders, "No fires". If we had no food already prepared, we would have to go without, As there was very little prepared ahead, the most of us went without. In the morning, early, the Captain aroused us and we found three head of our cattle dead from hunger and thirst, We got to water about the middle of the forenoon, the cattle fatigued, the people tired, and hungry.

We camped there for the day giving our oxen a rest and a chance to pick up strength for the next day's journey. Of course, we put out a big guard that night around our camp with most of the men herding cattle. We saw signs of Indians and expected an attack. We were fairly well prepared for them but happy when we had no further attacks.

We made quite an early start the next morning after our needed rest We knew Fort Laramie was ahead of us a short distance and we were anxious to report the missing woman to the authorities at the Fort.

We reached the fort that night. Instead of relieving our troubles, our troubles increased as the officer of the fort came with his soldiers to our camp. He demanded the release of some women that they claimed were forced to go to Salt Lake against their will. They informed us they had received a telegram from the East ordering them to search our camp.

Our captain said, "Gentlemen, we are willing that you shall search the camp, that is, the officer and two of his men, the rest must stay on the outside. We will do still better than that, I will call our congregation together". So our captain had the bugler call the people together. Here they came --men, women and children --the captain telling them the message this officer brought about his claim of women in our camp being forced to go to Utah against their will. He said, "is there are any among you who are forced to go to Utah against your will, or are tired of traveling with us and want to stay behind, manifest it by raising your right hand".

Not a single hand was raised, Our captain then said to the officer, “Are you satisfied?" The officer replied, ”No, I am not, as I believe you have some women secreted in your camp and we want to make a search". "All right," said our captain, "you and two of your men can search the camp, go into every wagon but your soldiers must stay on the outside". Our captain appointed a guard to see that the soldiers were kept out.

These men inspected the wagons and after finding no ones they questioned many among the women but found they all wanted to remain with us. Owing to the hostility of the soldiers our captain deemed it unwise to tell them anything about our trouble with the Indians and the capture of the woman, so the next morning we started out again? all feeling happy that things were as well as they were with us.

We were now passing through hilly country. Tedious traveling and hard pulling made it necessary to take it slow. We had encountered quite a little rain, but when we got into the hilly country we struck the Platt River again --what is called “The Three Crossings". Here we struck our first snow storm. It was the first snow I had ever seen and to me seemed very beautiful. Later on I began to dread the snow as the cold was almost more than we could stand, especially those of us who had come from the hot countries, Later the snow cleared off and we had sunshine during the day, although it was still quite cold at night.

When we reached Green River, we had to ford it during a snow storm. We got across in time to camp for the night. It had taken the entire day to cross the river. Upon arriving at Devil's Slide, our journey started down hill. It was here that our brother Joe, who had been in Utah for two years, joined us.

Joe advised Mother to leave the train as they were traveling so slow that he figured it would be late in November before their could possibly arrive at their destination. Our captain was against the idea and advised us to stay with the train but brother Joe influenced Mother to start ahead, regardless of our captain’s advice.

So we bid our captain good by and all our friends whom we had been with so many months. We started out alone with our one wagon and three teams of oxen. The widow and her daughter who had been traveling in our wagon stayed with the train, leaving mother, my brothers Joe and Jim, my sister Mary Ann and myself to complete the balance of the journey alone. We made very good headway but only beat the camp by two days.

One evening is fresh in my memory. At dusk when we drove out of Emigration Canyon onto the beach and there before our eyes were the lights of Salt Lake City. What a glorious sight! The street lights, the lights shining from the windows of homes were the first lights we had seen for nearly four months. We drove to a dear friend’s home that had been a neighbor to us in Africa. They made us comfortable and rather encouraged us to stay in Salt Lake. We felt that this was impossible since brother Joe had his place in Glenwood, further South, and was anxious to go on again the next morning.

With our Cattle padded, tired and partly sick, it was impossible to travel more than a few miles each day. It took us about four days to get to Payson, about sixty miles south of Salt Lake. There was another wagon that had joined us at Salt Lake enroute to Glenwood. When we reached Payson we stopped one night with another friend from Africa and he tried to prevail on us to locate in Payson but we continued on.

When we left Payson, one of our oxen gave out entirely so we traded him off for a gun. A few days later another of our oxen died.

Our next stop was Santiquin. As we were coming into Santiquin the remaining Oxen were getting so tired that they would swing off the road wanting to make camp. I was endeavoring to get them back on the road when all of a sudden there appeared a woman, what seemed to me right out of the ground, waving at me and frantically shouting, "What are you doing on top of my house?". And thus, I was introduced to my first dugout, The knowledge that people would live in a hole in the ground gave me a great shock, but before the winter was over, I became very well acquainted with dugouts.

After leaving Santiquin, our next stop was Nephi. From Nephi on, the population was very scarce. After Nephi, came a camp at Fayette and thence to Salina. After leaving Salina we had to cross the Severe River at a place called Rocky Ford. A few days previous a man had been killed at Rocky Ford by Indians and we were advised to not go on until a larger party could join us; but we were so anxious to reach our destination that we pushed on.

We were very weary but we kept a watchful eye. When we reached the middle of the stream our oxen balked until it was necessary for one of us to get out into the water to drive them over. I was chosen to get into the water which was not very deep, although it was intensely cold and thus drove the oxen across the ford.

We were afraid it might be that the oxen had sensed the danger of the Indians that made them balk but we crossed safely and continued on to Glenwood. My oldest brother William met us about two miles out of Glenwood. I remember William getting into the wagon to greet Mother and the tears of joy in her eyes to be reunited with her oldest sons and the fact that she was so near her journey's end. We finally reached our destination near midnight and William's wife had a good meal prepared for us. We rested some four or five days in his home then brother said if she was going to make her home here, she had better look around and get a place of her own.

We found a lot in the little town of Glenwood, near Richfield, consisting of about an acre of ground with a one room dugout on it. The acre was fenced and we thought it would make a nice place to build a home so Mother bought it and moved into the dugout.

We bought 25 bushels of wheat and William and I put it in our wagon and took the wheat to Manti. The weather was very cold as it was now December, still there was no snow on the ground. We unloaded the wheat in the mill and camped there while the miller ground the wheat. This was the only mill in the county at that time, the inhabitants coming from as far as one hundred miles to have their wheat ground at this mill.

That evening as we were sitting around the fireplace cooking our suppers there was quite a crowd of men there with their bowie knives and revolvers in their belts talking of the Indian troubles. One of the men who was cooking meat let the grease catch fire. He grabbed the pan from the fire to lift it off and it burnt his hands so bad that he dropped it on the floor. I was sitting near by and when the pan struck the floor the hot meat and grease flew up in the air striking me full force in the face. Every one was anxious to assist me and was very sorry that it happened but no one knew what to do. I was in considerable agony and the miller suggested that we put flour on my face to allay the burning and he said it would draw out the fire. They covered my face with flour and wrapped a flour sack around my face. I suffered considerably that night but I believe that the flour helped cool my face and soothe the pain. Next morning the grist was ready. My brother loaded it in the wagon, loaded me in also and we started for home. It was very cold and we had some difficulty in crossing the rocky ford owing to the ice, but arrived home the second day after leaving the mill.

Upon arriving home, my mother took the plaster off my face, revealing a bad burn. My face was swollen and almost raw in places, it was then I discovered I could not see. Since there was no doctor in the community it was up to Mother to do what she could, We despaired of my sight but in a few days I was able to see a little out of one eye and later I regained my sight in both eyes. I had to remain indoors the better part of the winter due to my face. When spring came I was able to get out, chop a little wood and do a little gardening around home. That January, 1866, I celebrated my 13th birthday in a dugout but I had a birthday cake which Mother made for me.

The spring of 1866 we started preparations for gardening and building a new house. In the latter part of March we went into the mountains to get a load of wood. I wasn't more than a mile out of town when we heard the base drum beating which was a signal that the Indians were in our neighborhood. There were six of us out in the hills with four teams and we knew at once there was something wrong when we heard the drums. It wasn’t long before an expressman came by on horseback notifying us that the Indians had been seen and urged us to return home as quickly as possible.

It didn't take us long when we got in our wagons and our oxen went down into town like they were frightened. One man’s team was a short way off and he said he would take a chance and go after his team but he never came back. Some of the men went back the next day and found him killed and scalped.

After this, the Indians were very troublesome, attacking ranchers and travelers on the roads until it became necessary for our little settlement to abandon their homes and move to Richfield where there was a larger settlement.

So in April l866, we abandoned our dugout and moved to Richfield. As Richfield was only three miles away, some of the men would return to Glenwood to continue their farming, In the fall of the year at harvest time most of the people began to more back to their homes. The raiding or the Indians had ceased for the winter. It was during this time that Mother decided to move to Cache Valley in a little settlement near Logan, We got there in the fall early enough to mow hay on the prairie with a scythe and stack it on a lot where we also camped out of our wagon until we got enough logs to build a one room log house, 14 by 16 feet. Then we felt happy that we had a house and were away from the Indians, as they did not bother the people in this locality.

After our home was built, a corral was made and fixed up, we received a letter from our brother William saying he would like to move near us. So brother John and myself went back to Glenwood to help William move. While we were there, in March 1867, Joseph went out in the meadow looking for a heifer which was expecting to calf. He sat down to rest and saw two men coming over the mountain from Richfield and thought he would wait for them. As they drew near he saw they were Indians, at which time he started to run. The Indians squatted down, firing at him, but he reached town having missed the bullets that whizzed by him. He at once notified the people and the drums started beating once more.

Meantime, there was a band of Indians that came over the ridge and who also were gathering up the cattle in the meadow driving them off into King's Meadow Canyon. By this time, the men had rotten together with their guns. My brother Joe was appointed to carry the message of the raid to Richfield. On his way, at the crossing of the Severe River, be found the bodies of two men and a woman. The Indians had murdered them leaving their bodies on the side of the road. He rushed on to Richfield notifying the people of the raids.

The men started up the mountain over the ridge to intercept and try to head off the Indians but the red men beat them to it as they were lying in ambush under the brow of the hill waiting for us. Just as we made our appearance on top of the hill they began to shoot at us, One of the shots eventually hit my brother John. He was shot through the arm with the bullet going on into his right side and coming out of his back. Our captain ordered us all to get behind rocks and trees, then we began to pour the lead into the Indians.

During this skirmish John began to feel faint and weak and discovered blood trickling down his side. The captain then ordered an elderly man by the name of "Susie" and myself to take him back to town. although he lost considerable blood, he was able to walk the distance. With the help of some of the good sisters, we dressed and bound up his wounds. He improved and eventually recovered.

Our men refused to follow the Indians into the canyon but my brother William and another man volunteered to go after our cattle. Of course they were told it was foolish but they were determined to make an attempt to recover the cattle if possible. After being gone two days and nights they returned with about half of them.

The Territorial Government sent a group from the North to help protect the settlers in the South that might be raided by the Indians. When they reached Glenwood, a council meeting was called and a resolution passed that it would be unsafe for anyone to penetrate into the canyons since the Indians would lay ambush and slaughter our boys, so they returned North.

It was two weeks before brother John was able to be moved, at which time we all left Glenwood for Cache Valley. After reaching Cache Valley I spent most of my next four months logging and did fairly well in this business. We rented a little farm and put in a small crop of corn, potatoes and wheat. We raised a fair harvest and during this time my brother Joe wrote to us from Payson advising us that a new field had been opened and an eight mile canal started. We resolved to move down there. After we gathered most of our crops that fall, disposing of some, Mother, John, Jim and my sister went to Payson, leaving me behind to finish harvesting our crop.

When Mother arrived in Payson, she bought her a lot with a log house on it consisting of two rooms. They seemed to be quite happy and contented and wrote me to dispose of our place in Cache Valley and come to Payson. I was fortunate to trade it off for a yoke of oxen and a wagon.

With that I gathered up what grain I hadn't disposed of and loaded it into the wagon, together with what household goods were left and bid farewell to Cache Valley. This was quite late in the fall of l867. I started out early in the morning expecting to make a good drive that day and reach a little town called Copenhagen in Wellsville Canyon. I was high up in the mountains and it was getting quite late in the afternoon. The roads were all up hill and I was loaded heavy so that the oxen could only pull the wagon a few feet at a time and then would have to rest. Upon nearly reaching the summit of the hill the chain broke and the wagon started back down the hill backwards. I grabbed the brake swinging on it, sent probably 100 feet down the hill when the tongue pointing down the hill and in this cramped condition, the wagon came to a stop. When I got the oxen to the wagon, I saw the chain had broken so I "toggled" the chain by using a piece of sage brush Then I had my trip up the hill again, the second time with success.

From then on it was down hill through the canyon. When I reached Copenhagen I made camp on the edge of town and unyoked the oxen for the night. In the morning after a good nights rest I found my oxen a little way off. I drove them into camp, ate breakfast and started down the canyon which was easy goings finally arriving in Box Elder shortly before noon. The next night I stopped at a little settlement this side of Farmington where I stayed the night with a friend of my sister and where my sister had been stopping a short time. Here my sister joined me so the following day my sister and I continued our journey reaching Salt Lake before noon. In order to lighten my load, I exchanged my grain at the tithing office for an order, so upon reaching Payson I could present the order at the tithing yard in exchange for what I wanted. Then I hunted up our old friend Henry Dixon stopping the night with him. Henry had made his home at my father’s house in Africa when on a mission there At the time Henry was converted, his father had disinherited him. Although there was a large inheritance due him as an only son, he was so convinced to the truth of the Mormon faith he was willing to sacrifice it all for his belief. He was more than kind to my sister and me, doing all in his power to entertain us that night. In the morning after breakfast, we started for Payson making good headway as our load was much lighter. After three days from Salt Lake, we reached Payson.

Upon arriving, the first person I saw was a young man by the name of Staheli, who directed me to my mother's home. A few years later Staheli and I married sisters and became good friends

I was glad to arrive home which proved to be a permanent one as Mother lived out her days in Payson.

The winter of 1867 we spent most of our time hauling wood out of the canyon, making fences and beautifying our home.

In the spring of 1868 we rented a little farm in what is now known as Benjamin District and which was about six miles distance. We camped there, went to work putting in a crop of seven acres, consisting of wheat, barley and potatoes. It all came up and made a promising showing for a good harvest, when the crickets came upon it, destroying everything. The crickets stayed until there was nothing produced that summer.

During the next winter we worked on what is known as the Salem Irrigation Canal. The canal of eight miles in length was being dug by pick and shovel and surveyed by a "spirit level" in order to get the fall. after working for two winters in the ice and snow, living on bread and molasses most of the time, there were those that tried to discourage us by saying that when the canal was finished the water would never run as the water would have to run up hill.

There was an organization formed by the ANME of The Salem Irrigation Canal Company. The members of this Organization, consisted of the settlers around Payson and Salem, conceived the idea of drawing lots for their lands. Each man according to his draw selected the land of his choice which consisted of five or ten acres. My brother Joseph, being of age and married drew five acres. My brother John drew ten acres for himself and I drew ten acres for my Mother.

We went to work plowing and preparing the sow grain for the summer crop. I got in two and a half acres of wheat and about the same amount of corn, near a quarter of potatoes and a little squash This was all I planted that season as we were not sure that the dam would be completed in time to turn in the water. However, the dam was completed some time the first part of June. The water turned in the canal just in time to save our crops and we had a moderately good harvest. Our wheat went from fifteen to twenty bushels per acre. We harvested our grain by hand, using a “cradle” or a scythe. We were pleased with the outcome of our labors that summer. Part of our time that summer was spent in fencing our land, as the company fenced the land conjointly, everyone doing his share.

It was in the fall of 1869 that my father came to Utah with the first immigrants to come on the railroad from the East. My mother and brother John drove a yoke of oxen to Ogden to meet him as that was as close as the railroad came at that time. This same fall after father arrived in Payson, he went to Salt Lake City to visit Brigham Young and pay his tithing. At the same tithe he and mother went through the Endowment House, being sealed for time and all eternity.

Father stayed with us that winter and we all enjoyed having him with us but he didn't like the wildness of the country. Early the next spring he took the train for New York and sailed for England, where he lived with my brother George, who had gone in business in London on Whitechapel road.

It was about this time that I joined one of the four wards of Payson and became quite an active member of the church by attending meetings and Sunday School which I enjoyed very much. John B. Fairbanks was Bishop over the four wards, while William Whitehead was presiding Elder over the ward I joined.

Every week there was a meeting of the Elders Quorum and was granted the privilege. I now felt the responsibility of the priesthood that I held, and the realization of this responsibility drew me closer to the church. I was about eighteen years old when I was sent out in our ward as a teacher.

The young people would take strolls up the canyon and instead of taking our girls to the ice cream parlors and candy shops, or beer parlors, we would dig the bulbs of the sego lily to eat. They were considered quite a treat as they were sweet and refreshing to the taste. We also gathered squaw berries, a small berry no larger than an apple seed. A favorite game with the young men and women was "Copenhagen". As this game was something like “Post office" of later days, it gave me an opportunity to get better acquainted with the girls.

One girl in particular attracted my attention at this time. Her name was Sarah Eleanor Sabin. We went together several months. Our main diversion was to gather a crowd of young people, hitch up an ox team and go to Utah Lake to fish. As the months passed, I saw more and more of Sarah Eleanor and at every opportunity would take her to choir practice and church meetings.

After several months of courtship I asked her to be my wife, she consented. Now the next step was to get her parents consent So one Sunday after Ella and I had taken a little stroll, I told her that I thought now was a good time to ask her father and mother to give their consent I said, "Ella, you had better go in with me to make me brave" She said, "No, I would rather not", so I had to raise the courage to go alone. I knocked at the door, her mother said, "come in" I went in and she thought I was looking for Ella, saying "weren't you out with Ella?" I replied, "Yes, she is not far off," I began to swallow the lump in my throat. Her father was a quiet man never having much to say I sat there a few minutes when I finally mustered courage to say, "Brother Sabin, I came to ask you if you had any objections to my marrying your daughter?"

He hesitated then asked if I thought I could make a living for her. I told him, "I think I can if work will do it". "Well", he said "ask mother". so I had to do it all over again. Mrs. Sabin told me, "If Ella is willing to risk you, I will give my consent". The relief was great, the lump had gone down and I felt better. I went out in the garden, found my girl and told her the good news.

Then we started making plans, setting the time and date when we would get married which was in April, 1870. Her mother made a nice wedding supper for us and invited a few close friends He father was engaged in mining at that time and was not at home very much so her mother said we might live with them for awhile.

We accepted the invitation, but I immediately prepared to build us a log house on a lot that I had previously bought. About three months after our marriage we moved in our own home We were very happy and contented. Our house consisted of one room, 14 by 16 feet, with a loft suitable for storage. Our furniture consisted of a step stove, table, bedstead, two or three chairs and a bench or two. Ella had her own bedding so we thought we were indeed well fixed. However, when winter came, we were pretty hard up, and were expecting a young visitor before spring. My wife went to live with her mother for a few months during the winter while I went into North Tintic to burn charcoal for the smelters at Salt Lake. My wife's brother, Parley, went with me to North Tintic and after we were there about two months Parley got sick We were on our road to Salt Lake with a load of charcoal, this being our second trip. He kept getting worse and after selling our charcoal, he was so sick I had to take him to his home in Payson. He was in no condition to drive, so I had to hitch both our teams to one wagon and trail the other wagon, in this way, I was able to handle both outfits.

When I arrived home, I found a little daughter. She weighed eight pounds on arrival, we named our little girl after my mother. Amy came to bless our home February 5, 1871.

My wife's brother was a very sick man and continued to grow worse so that we had to abandon our coal camp.

Spring was approaching and necessitated the starting of farming activities. We moved back into our own log house. My brother Joe had moved to Lavan and I purchased his five acres of ground so that I now had a small farm of my own. In addition to my farming, I took a contract to build a ditch a mile long for the Payson Cooperative Cattle Co., which gave me a little start as I did pretty well with this contract.

It was about this time that the Union Pacific began to build a railroad through the valley so that it afforded a little work for the men with the teams. I took advantage to this work during my spare time. It was about this time that I traded off my oxen for horses which made farming and traveling easier and faster.

In the spring of 1872, I added another five acres to my farm which gave me a larger scope, making me feel pretty rich and a man among men. It was this year that I engaged in mining in Tintic District but as I had little success, concluded that I would rather be a farmer than a miner. I gathered together a few cows. My wife worked with me, selling butter and a little milk so that we managed to get a little more furniture in our house By the fall of 1872, I had a chance to buy an adobe house not far from where I was living. It consisted of three rooms, a buttery and cellar. I sold the log house and moved my little family into the adobe house. I dug a well close to the door of our new home drawing the water with buckets, Previous to this, we carried all our water from the creek.

As I had never gone to school, since I was a small boy in Africa, and as I had an opportunity to go to night school I took advantage of the opportunity and went to school during the winter season. It was about this time that I was appointed to teach a class in Sunday School which helped broaden my views on religion and was very much interested in it. I have always been interested in the Bible classes ever since this time and believe that it is an excellent training for any young man or woman as it was the training and teaching that I received in Sunday School that kept me from forbidden paths.

My second child, Samuel, was born in 1873 after which by wife and I deemed it necessary to go to the house of the Lord in Salt Lake and be sealed together by the authority of God for time and all eternity and to have our children sealed to us. It was some time in the fall of 1873 that I hitched up my team of horses to my wagon in preparation for our journey to Salt Lake, with the horses we made the trip in two days. My wife’s sister and her husband, John Staheli, went with us for the same purpose.

After arriving in Salt Lake and resting for the night at a friend's home, it took us all the next day to go through the ordinance of the endowment house, The following day we started for home when a terrific rain storm came up that forced us to stay over another day.

Up to this time we had no machinery to aid in our farming with the exception of the scythe and plow. It was about the spring of 1874 that I got my first reaper and mowing machine. It was also about this time that alfalfa was introduced in the state and I planted some of my land to alfalfa. It acted as a good fertilizer as well as being an excellent food for our livestock, so that we found it to be very profitable. After harvesting the first crop we could leave the second cutting go to seed and would harvest eight to ten hundred pound sacks per acre which we could sell at from 15 cents to 20 cents per pound.

It was about 1875 that I had become so prosperous that I purchased an additional ten acres of ground. It Was about this time that we lost our little son, Samuel, from Scarlet Fever, Shortly after this our third child was born, a girl, who we called Estella, 12th of September 1875.

During my farming I raised some sugar cane and made considerable molasses. This became quite an industry as there was practically no sugar in the country. Molasses would sell at $1.00 per gallon, there being a ready sale for it at this price .

It was about this time that I joined the United Order which had just been organized. All the members pooled their resources, worked together and what was produced was all in common and distributed among the members, but dissatisfaction arose and the order was of short duration.

In the year 1878, David was born, our fourth baby.

Railroads had only reached as far as Nephi so there was a great deal of freighting to be done by team and wagon. I did a little freighting, hauling groceries, dry goods, gunpowder and liquor.

I had been married about nine years and had four children when I met Emma Erlandson. Celestial marriage was being taught by our church as one of our saving principals and being of a religious nature, I wanted to live up to the rights and privileges in order that I might enjoy the blessings of the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. After meeting Emma and getting acquainted with her, I fell deeply in love with her. she was a beautiful and attractive girl and I decided I wanted to make her my wife.

At this time there was some anxiety in our church as to what step the government would take with regard to polygamist marriage. It caused me to pray for guidance and if it was the Lord's will to direct me aright. When it came to me that my prayers were answered, I asked her to be my wife I shall never forget the time and place!

It was understood and agreeable with my first wife that I take this step, as she believed in the principal the same as I did and was willing for me to take a second wife.

Regardless of the rumors we heard, Emma and I decided to be married. We went to Salt Lake City where we had the marriage ceremony performed in the old Endowment House, February 27, 1879. Our journey to Salt Lake was made by wagon. Early in the morning we loaded our bedding, food and what apparel we would need for the trip in our wagon. Emma, her Father, Elias Erlandson and myself started out.

To me it was a wonderfully exciting trip. The roads were dry and dusty and the sun was warm. Our first lunch we had on the banks of the Provo River, after resting an hour we started over Prover Bench. It was a very dry and rocky country and at that time there wasn't a tree or house in sight for twelve long miles. we camped that night at the point of the mountain, had a good supper by the light of the bonfire and enjoyed the evening. Emma slept in the wagon that night and Father Erlandson and I slept underneath it.

At the break of dawn we had breakfast and after hitching the horses, continued on our way reaching Salt Lake early in the afternoon. We drove into two tithing yard to camp, as was the custom in those days, the tithing yard being the place prepared for campers.

It was then my duty to find the President of the Church. He had his office in the Gardo House, a building built by the church for offices and the home of its President. John Taylor was President of the Church and it was necessary for him to sign my recommendation to take a second wife. He willingly signed the recommendation after which Emma and I strolled around Salt Lake.

It was Emma's first trip there and how thrilled she was to see the beauty and wonders of the city. The street cars were pulled by mules and the streets were lit by gas lights. Emma became fatigued from walking around, so we went back to camp to get our rest for the morrow. In the morning we made preparations for the occasion and as soon as the gates of the Temple Square were opened, we went in The Temple was then in course of construction and was built up to the first story window. There were a good many stone cutters working and it was a very busy place.

We went in the Endowment house for ordinance work. We had to give our ages and our Fathers' and Mothers' names. Then we were ready for our marriage and were sealed for time and all eternity.

After the ceremony it was still early in the day so we did some shopping and got ready to start back home. The first night out we reached the point of the mountain and camped for the night. I had a very good team and we made good time so that we reached home early the next day. Emma’s mother had a nice family supper prepared for all of us, as Ella and the children were there.

The weather was so nice that I went right to getting my land ready for sowing and had most of my grain in by the last of February. On the first of March we had a terrible snow storm which did considerable damage to the trees after which we had a very cold winter

The following summer was spent in fixing up my home and having my family all together and farming my land. When fall came, I did a great deal of work in the canyon, getting our wood for the winter as that was the only fuel we had. Then the plowing to get ready for another year and the corn to shuck and shell as we used that for feed for our stock as well as for sale. There were so few things that we could turn into money in those early times.

The next spring of the year 1880, I built a new log house on the farm about two miles distance from where we were living. I dug a well, built corrals and then I moved Emma into the new home.

That spring was very late as we had a very hard winter and I was late getting the wheat sowed. However, we had a very flood crop that season.

Emma had only lived in her new home two or three months when the persecution began to get a little severe as the government began to arrest some of the Brothers for having plural families so it was necessary to send Emma away for a short time. She went up to Ogden Valley and there she lived with some friends and while there her son George was born November 11, 1880.

In the meantime I remodeled my home by building on two rooms, a pantry and basement. As usual I did my harvesting, got in my wood and made general preparations for the winter.

A few days before Christmas, Emma returned home with her baby and we were happy to have her with us again.

That winter Congress was very busy trying to have a law passed to prohibit plural marriage. Then the Edmonds Tucker law was passed. After that the deputized and spotters got very busy and the Saints were harassed. Through all this excitement I always kept my horse saddles so I could get away quickly, though I was busy farming and raising stock. I also attended to my church duties and never neglected my family prayers, always paid my tithing and attended to my church obligations, which I considered was a safeguard to me in times of trouble.

Emma continued to live in the old home until she had four children, George, Elias, Joseph and Sarah but the persecution got so bad that finally I was compelled to move Emma and her family South.

The fall of October 1897, we packed up our provisions and started out. We didn't have any special destination but we went South. The first night we stopped in Levan. My brother Joseph was living there and advised me to go to Escalante. The next day we drove as far as Gunnison where strangers gave us lodging for the night. We were very thankful as it was a very cold night. Early the next morning we paid our bill and were on our way driving to Salina for lunch. We were told there was a short cut on the east so we wouldn't have to cross the Sevier River. On our way we had to go through a meadow, the ground was soft and we mired down having to receive help before we could get out.

There was a farmhouse near by where we tried to obtain help but were refused. Finally we met a man working "Pole Tax" and after asking him for the use of his team he readily consented and helped us out of the mire. He was a farmer living at the mouth of Clear Creek Canyon where he invited us to spend the night. We spent an enjoyable evening with him and he advised us to go up Clear Creek Canyon as he thought it would he a better road than around by King’s Meadow.

We followed his advice and had quite a hard trip as it was up hill and down dale through groves of pinion pine and cedars. We enjoyed the scenery as it was wild and fantastic. Toward noon we overtook three men in a wagon. They were some help to us as they directed us to the road that would take us into Grass Valley.

After talking to them, I learned they were also evading the officers. The day was pretty well spent when we reached the head of Grass Valley but the roads were better and we traveled down the east side of the valley to a ranch house. The man seemed to be a prosperous rancher, there was a large house and barn, also many cattle in the meadow. We stopped opposite his place and asked him if we could camp there for the night. He said he was glad to have us, invited us into his home where there was a nice warm fire and also gave us shelter for our horses. He was a bachelor and very well educated He told us he was there for his health. After conversing with him I changed my idea about going to Escalante to make my house and decided to go to Rabbit Valley instead.

That morning we bid our host goodbye and started over the Fish Lake Mountains for Rabbit Valley. It was a hard climb as the roads were poor with dugways, hills and hollows. We reached the summit of the hill where we stopped for lunch. From the summit we could look down into the valley below which looked inviting. After starting down we found the road very steep in places with long dugways to go over before reaching the bottom. The day was nearly spent when we finally got down into the valley. Shortly before we reached the settlement of Loa, we met a man on horse track and as we knew nothing about the locality, we stopped him to make inquiry. He was very friendly and invited us to his place at Fremont. We accepted his invitation and as he rode alone with us he said they were in need of a school teacher and could give me employment if I could teach school.

It was quite late when we arrived at his home but his wife made us welcome and we spent the evening talking about the country thereabouts. I asked him if Franklin Young wasn't living near there. He advised me that he lived in Teasdale, some eighteen miles away. He said Teasdale was a nice little place so I concluded to go there, as Franklin Young was my brother-in-law. We thanked these good people for their kindness and started toward Teasdale, the length-ways of the Valley.

That night we stopped in Thurber, it being a very disagreeable day we didn't travel far. We stopped that night with a young couple named Forsythe who had just completed their new home. I remember we had for supper good rich cold milk and new salt rising bread. Haw good it was as we hadn't had milk since we left Payson. The next day after settling for our lodging, we resumed our journey toward Teasdale some five miles distance.

Our relatives were surprised and glad to see us and we were happy to see them. They took us in and made us welcome. After a few days looking around, I decided to take Teasdale our home.

After getting Emma and the children settled for a time, I returned to Payson as I had interests to take care of there. There were bees to care for, hogs to kill and cows to milk and cattle to round up for the winter All my children were small and it left me all the work to do as Ella was more than busy caring for her children. She now had five youngsters to care for. After David's birth, William, Frankie and Emma had arrived, but Frankie had passed on in his early infancy, joining our little son Samuel, who had not stayed with us but a short time.

I was very busy after I care back to Payson with my church duties, ward teaching and administering to the sick.

The time had arrived for me to take some provisions and furniture down to Teasdale and make arrangements to buy a horse. The trip back wasn't so eventful as I knew the route and was alone so I camped in my wagon whenever night came. I encountered quite a bit of snow on the divide but arrived in Teasdale February 14, l888.

The man I had bought a place from had just moved and Emma had it all ready to move in when I arrived with the furniture. After we were settled in there we felt quite comfortable and Emma was so happy as it was the first home of her own she had had. My intention was to remain with her that year. The Bishop took us right into the Ward and made us useful. We attended to our duties there and were happy.

The persecution of the Saints grew more bitter and President Taylor advised the people to be calm and not to retaliate with violence but to put their houses in order and pray for deliverance.

That summer I worked at the sawmill and traded about among the people to make a living. We hadn't lived here very long until I traded with a man named Rob Adams, for another place in town with eight acres of land. I planted the land to corn, alfalfa and garden. I was the first one that made a success raising alfalfa and also in planting corn. I planted trees and raspberry bushes and they did fine. The house on this property was in very poor shape and that fall we remodeled it but winter came before we were finished so it was necessary to live in it partially finished. That winter, December 22, 1888, Viola was born.

In January 1889, Bishop Taylor of Fremont, came alone with his plural wife fleeing from the deputies. He was going down to Old Mexico and I went with him to see if I couldn't locate in Mexico myself. It was a very cold January when we started out. We went down through the Junction to San Creek where one fork went to Blue Valley and another to Hall's Crossing Road, There appeared to be an old abandoned route where some of the early settlers had gone to settle San Juan County. It was hardly more than a trail and was a hard matter to find our way. Once we took a cattle trail and got lost. We were in a quandary what to do, no food nor water. I was prompted to call upon the Lord to tell us what to do, I went over a little ridge and kneeled down with my face toward the East. I kneeled down in humility, believing the Lord would hear me. I asked Him to show me the way and to overlook our shortcomings and deliver us from our enemies. I had my eyes shut and all at once a vision opened to my view. I was a man riding on a white mule going toward the South and I was told that he would tell se where to go. When I was through I got up and was grateful for the assurance that I would receive an answer to my prayer.

When I returned to camp, Brother Taylor asked me what I had found. I told him to come on and we would find water and some one to show us the way out. As we were riding down the slope I was telling him about my vision when a man on a white animal flashed to our view going South. Just then the man saw us and no doubt wondering what a covered wagon was doing there, he stopped and then came toward us. We met at the creek and while the horses were drinking he said, “where are you going?"

Upon telling him that we were trying to find Hall's Crossing, he advised me that it was a good many miles South of us. He also said that the only reason he was there was due to the fact that he had to go to a mine to get his tire welded. We were indeed very happy to have found him. He offered to help us locate Hall's Crossing. While he and brother Tailor rode ahead horseback to find the trail, I followed driving the two span of horses as best I could over hills and hollows, along the creek until finally we all reached Hall's Crossing which was made up of a few placer miners panning for gold. The miners made about $2.50 - $5.00 per day, when they worked.

Little did we know that our hard times had just begun. Getting down to the level of the river we had to cross-lock our wagons to keep them from crowding over the cliff into the river. When we got down on the sand bar, the next thing was to find a way to cross the Colorado River, no bridges, no ferry, no Boulder Dam, the mad turbulent waters of the surly river roaring their way on to the rapids.

There was a flat boat down below the rapids which the miners used We got one of the miners to help us. After attaching a long heavy rope to the boat, it took two men to get the boat upstream over the rapids. It was impossible to hire anyone, as it was a bitter cold day with mush ice which we had to wallow through. I told the miner that he and I would have to do it by ourselves. He had to stay in the boat to keep it off shore while I pulled it up stream, walking or wallowing through the mush ice as I went.

In the meantime, Brother Taylor was upstream unloading the wagon and taking it apart preparing to take it across when we arrived with the boat.

We were getting along nicely with the boat when it struck a rock. I gave it a yank and broke the rope. When the rope broke, it let me fall back into the water and shifted the boat off the rock. It went back down stream at a terrific speed. Then we had to do it all over again.

I was exhausted, wet and nearly frozen and incidentally hadn't had anything to eat that day. I went to a nearby tent where there were some miners camped offering to pay them well if they would come and help us. One of them said he wouldn't go if I offered him $20.00 a day. So I went back to my task. My clothes were frozen and I was tired but I finally got that boat up the stream to the wagons.

Everything was in readiness to load on. We had to make three trips to take our load across. It was getting late and the miner who had helped us was tired but we prevailed on him to help us finish, then we paid him what he asked. We still had our horses to swim across, after putting a long rope on one horse, Taylor and his wife got into the small boat and I drove the other horses in after so that they would follow the one that was beings led by the rope. After the horses were all across, Taylor returned in the small boat for me. By this time it was quite dark and we gathered wood to make a fire, dried our clothes and had our supper. That night we thought it would be safer to tie our horses and feed them grain. In the morning we turned them loose to graze until after breakfast We had worked the night before and got our wagons together and loaded again.

We were about ready to start in the morning when we heard loud talking and discovered two men on the opposite side of the river. They proved to be deputies who had lost their way, They ordered us back! We told them to stay where they were and shot off a gun which echoed in the canyon making a great reverberation. Our only intention in shooting off the gun was to bluff them, at least we heard no more of them.

The mountains were high, so Taylor started out on scout duty. We finally found our way out but it was just one cliff after another. Unloading and loading up to get over the high ground, we made slow time, There wasn't much to show where the road was, just tire scratches on the rocks here and there to tell us where other wagons had gone before. The country was deep and rolling sloping towards the east. Our main interest was where to find water as our supply was now exhausted. Taylor got on his horse traveling ahead. I followed the road with the wagon the best I could. On going down one little hill, there below me was water, I drove down to the meadow to get a drink. It was only rain water settled in the hollow of a rock. I blew the insects and scum from the water and found it good, so we filled our cans and drank what we wanted, Then we brought the horses to drink.

After continuing our way for awhile, we decided to camp for the night. A very bleak cold wind was blowing. The night was lonely and the howling of the coyotes made it seem more so. We hobbled our horses and turned them out to eat the bunch grass that was growing there.

The next day was a repetition of the previous days, hard traveling, hunting water which we had learned to find in the hollowed rocks which had been made by the people who had traveled before us and where the water was stored. Sometimes we were forced to make roads.

It was sometime the last of January when we struck the San Juan River, this was in New Mexico. The first people we met after traveling up the San Juan River was at a Navajo Indian trading post. I went into the post where there were several men and I caught the glimpse of a woman. After asking them it they had any provisions they would sell they told me they had some beef and sent me around to the back of the place to help myself, I was suspicious but went around to help myself when a man came out of the back door and gave me a piece of meat. I thanked him and went back to the wagon.

We continued on up the river and that night drove into Bluff City It was a Mormon settlement built on the banks of the San Juan between red bluffs. It was a very warm and fruitful place. We were there two days resting and writing letters. The Bluff people told us that the Post where we got our meat was the place where a man had been murdered by the Indians. We got acquainted with some of the Bluff people. The Indians would come over there to trade and play cards. There was a shooting affray. One night when I was in bed I heard some one running, an Indian came to where I was sleeping, but when he saw me he ran away. There had been trouble with the Indians gambling.

The following mornings we started east up the San Juan River. It was a very cold and windy day. We saw some abandoned ranches and presumed that the ranchers had to abandon their homes on account of the Indian trouble. It was hard going as the sand was drifted so deep.

We camped that night out on the desert on the boundary line of the new four States, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. It was a very clear night and the howling of the Coyotes was especially menacing. I guess they could smell our bacon frying for they were always hungry. Next morning we continued our journey, sometimes in the valley and then over bluffs.

We finally came to a place called Oleo, later on it was called Fruita, a nice little village built by the Mormons on the banks of the San Juan River. We camped and got acquainted with some of the folks and learned through them that Apostle Brigham Young was there under the alias of Dr. Hogan. He was in hiding to keep out of the hands of the deputies.

As we were anxious to see him we made inquiries but no one seemed to know him or didn't want to tell us as they did not know who we were. We finally went to a Brother’s home named Stevens, met a young man at the door inquired of him if Brigham Young was there. He was hesitant in answering but told us "No" We thought our journey was in vain but when leaving the house a voice called to us. It was the Apostle himself. He said, "I saw you boys through the window and was impressed that we might be useful to each other Now what can I do for you?".

We went in and held a council. The council was not very favorable, for our continued journey, as we were headed for Old Mexico. Elder Taylor thought it best to stay there that season. He located on the LePlat River and planted some grain there. I remained at the Stevens home as they wanted me to stay and help them with some work. I made a well for them and flailed out a hundred bushels of wheat as there was no machinery in those days.

There were several families of Saints there and I enjoyed myself going to church and choir practice. The Apostle had a mission for the church to perform which took him to Durango and he asked me to go with him as he needed me. Our route led us up the San Juan River to Farmington. We left Farmington and went up Animas River. On our way we camped at a ruined Indian Village called Aztec.

While traveling with Apostle Young he asked me why I was going to Mexico. I told him it was either prison or Mexico He said “let me advise you,” so I took up a counsel with him, He told me not to go to Mexico. That didn't seem to satisfy me so I said, "If I go back it will mean imprisonment.” Then he said, "Brother Francom, if you will go back home and take care of your families, I promise you that you won't have to go to prison." It gave me new courage and I resolved to return. I got to know and respect the apostle Brigham Young well on this journey.

When we arrived at Durango, I found it to be a rough frontier town but it was a beautiful town situated in the mountains. We stopped at a hotel that night where I attended my secret prayers. Apostle Young said it would be unwise to exhibit any display of religion here but we could pray in secret. We soon round it was a very rough place, liquor free and plenty of rough talk. We were offered work, the wages were good but they expected the money to be spent there. Next morning Apostle Young had to take the train for Fort Wingate, Arizona. I went back down the river by wagon alone.

The second night out, I camped quite late and was preparing something to eat when I heard some wagons coming. They came down the road and stopped, One of the men came over to my fire and said, "are you alone?" then asked to camp with me. There were four wagons and two families in the party. They said they had been advised not to travel that country alone as the Indians were very hostile. These people were Gentiles and they told me there was a little settlement of Mormons below who were in league with the Indians. They said they were going to stick together so I left them in the morning.

The next night I drove in a cottonwood grove as the wind was blowing hard and I thought it would be shelter for the horses and myself. I went to bed quite early and during the night I had a dream in which I was told to get up and move my camp, I woke up and was thinking on it when the time President Woodruff had a warning came to my mind so I got up and hitched up the horses and moved my camp to the bluff. The wind blew harder and it was a good thing I moved camp as the next morning where I had camped first, the trees were all blown down.

The next day I got down the San Juan River in the settlement, Some Navajo Indians came and were in distress. They seemed to come to ask for help as some one had told them I was a doctor. One of the Indians was suffering from a toothache and wanted me to pull it. I wasn't sure I could do the job and was afraid of the success of my venture or how they would take it if I failed. I had been pulling some teeth and told them the tooth would have to come out.

I laid the Indian on the grass with all the rest of the Indians gathered around me. I prayed I would do a good job and was hoping the tooth wouldn't break. I worked very carefully and finally removed the tooth. They were quite grateful.

I went to work with Mr. Stevens in a coal mine as he had an order for some coal and wanted to make a little money. I was staying with him at this time and we returned to his home every night. One particular night, Mrs. Stevens called me and sent me to her son's home where his wife had been in labor for three days. They were glad to see me come as they wanted me to administer to her. I was alone to do it as the others didn't hold the Priesthood. I anointed her and put my hands on her head to seal the anointing I asked the Lord to help her through the ordeal. She was lying down and I was kneeling by her side. She put her hands around my neck and began drawing down, and just at that time, the baby was born. I felt that the Lord had indeed answered my prayer and after that there wasn't anything they wouldn't do for me. The woman and child both got along all right.

It was now March and Apostle Young had returned. He asked me what I had decided to do. I told him I was going back home and as he was going back to Salt Lake for April Conference, we traveled back together. Brother Taylor also returned with us.

Our route was about the same, only we visited different settlements and always found the people looking forward to these visits as it was customary for the Apostle to make them.

Our journey was uneventful until we got to the Colorado River, It was raining and the river was swollen. I murmured about being wet, but the Apostle said that was a blessing, as he had a warning we would have trouble there. Owing to the bad weather, no one was around with the exception of two men who agreed to take us across at Dandy Crossing. We rolled our wagons on the boat first, the next thing was to get our horses across. Brother Young and Taylor went in the boat and left me with the men. They led the horses into the water. They had a gray horse that made for the boat and they had to let him loose for he would have tipped over the boat. He went down the river but the rest of the horses got across on a sand bar.

One of the men said he was sick. I had taken the cover off the wagon so the boat wouldn't tip over; then I sent the sick man to take my place in order to balance the boat and I helped row. It was raining hard and we floated down with the rolling current and got on another sand bar, there we got the horses and wagons across to the mainland.

We hadn't had anything to eat since morning. I found a sheltered place from the wind and wanted to stop for the night, but the Apostle would not listen. He said we should get up on the bluff and it was a good thing we did as the water came down that ravine in the night.

We continued our journey to the Graves Valley followings the dirty Devil River, The Apostle told me that he wanted me to go up in the Teton Valley with him and that he would send for me when he was ready. Instead, Apostle Young was called to England on a Mission.

I remained in Teasdale and worked for the Utah Nursery Co. I finished our home and planted an orchard. I gathered cattle for the Nursery Co. and drove them up to Salt lake City. That fall I took my family up to Payson and we stayed six weeks with Emma’s mother. It was at this time that we all went to the Manti Temple to have our children adopted to us. Ella, together with Emma's parents, returned to Payson while Emma and I went back to Teasdale. I remember one night when we camped it snowed hard and I was sick George, who was only nine years old, had to drive. The road was steep, the horses would slip back almost as fast as they would step ahead .

December of that year I returned to Payson, Before I left the valley, a friend named Archie Young and I thought we would try to get a deer or two in the Fish Lake Mountains. We had a light wagon and team with provisions. We drove in some pine woods so we would have plenty of fuel It was snowing pretty hard but it was late in the afternoon and we were near Fish Lake where we thought we could find a deer. We came to a little flat where we decided to separate and make a wide circle and meet again. I went left and he went right but the storm became worse. Big flakes of snow and wind blowing so I decided to go to camp. It began to get dark and I finally decided that I was lost, so I fired my rifle but no response. I then decided to make a fire. I had a hard time getting dry stuff but finally got a fire started between two balsam trees. I got more wood and piled it up so I would have wood to keep me from freezing. I kept moving to keep myself warm as I had only a little coat and was very wet.

I got sleepy so I piled up wood and made a scaffold and lay down to sleep with the fire under me to keep warm. During the night one of the big pine trees caught fire, burned and fell across the scaffold on which I was sleeping. So I kept my fire and no more sleeping for me that night. When morning came I made preparations to get back to where we had left the wagon as I didn't know if my companion had returned but was hoping he had. I started out and found the snow up to my hips. I traveled in a southern direction as I could tell by the moon I had hard going and didn't find camp but towards evening I managed get down into the valley, tired and hungry.

There I found a farm house and told the woman I had been lost in the mountains all night. She gave we food and told me my companion had already cone down and was organizing a party to search for me. I asked her if there was any way she could get word to them to stop the search as I was safe. she sent her young son horseback a short distance to Freemont where the searching party was organized.

I then went to Archie Young's home which was nearby. He said he suffered as much as I did wondering about how he would deliver a sad message to my family but was glad that he did not have to, The next morning I left my friend and started over the mountains for Payson. My trip to Payson was uneventful and I found Ella and family all well.

I gathered a few cattle up that I had around the field and took care of them. I labored in the Church and visited the Saints as a teacher. That winter and summer I stayed in Payson farming and fencing my farm, also raised a good crop of wheat, corn and potatoes.

After the harvesting, the hogs killed, I took a trip south to care for the wants of my other family and while there Aretta was born, March 27, 1891. After Emma was well again and able to care for the children, I went back to Payson and took care of my farming.

It was shortly after this that I bought and started raising blooded horses. I also worked on the D.R.&G. Railroad. I hauled timber to Tintic to build the trestle work up the Hommersville Canyon and I brought some iron ore down to the railroad.

In the early spring I brought Emma from Teasdale and took Ella from Payson talking them to Salt Lake City for April Conference and the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple, April 1893. After which I took my wives back to their separate homes. The following June, 1893, Ella had a son who we called Harding and on August 29th, l893, Samuel was born to Emma.

Then the persecution began to be quite active again and it was necessary for me to go into hiding so I returned to Teasdale and did some work at the sawmill in the canyon. I also herded sheep for awhile, which was out of my line, but I did anything to keep out of the way. That fall I went back to Payson, spending my time on my farm and hauling wood from the canyon for the winter.

The next Summer, I cultivated my farm and the fall of 1894 I was surprised by the deputies surrounding my house one morning. They read an indictment to me and took me to Provo to give bonds for my appearance in court in Beaver the next November. My wife, Emma, had appeared before the grand jury the previous spring. My brothers John and James were my bondsmen. It was at this time that Utah was granted statehood and politics were running high. I had made arrangements to go to Beaver to court and after election, boarded the train for Milford arriving there about nine O’clock at night. I was tired and hungry, got something to eat and a bed but before going to bed I asked the proprietor of the hotel what time the stage left in the morning for Beaver.

It was a surprise to me to learn that the stage left for Beaver immediately after the train came in. I had missed the stage and was in a quandary as I had to be in Beaver the next morning, the day set for me to appear in court. Upon inquiry I found there was no one going to Beaver. Then I inquired about a trail or short cut and found that there was a trail that the soldiers traveled when they were stationed in Milford. The hotel proprietor said Beaver was about twenty-five miles distance, via this trail. I told him not to be surprised if he heard me around early in the morning as I intended walking over the mountain.

The day was hot and dry and after reaching the Surrey I found it easier going until I started across the long dry level stretch, nothing but sage brush. I reached Beaver about dark and immediately got me a hotel room and took a bath. Before going to supper I went in the lounging room and was surprised to meet Judges Barch and McCarty and several prominent attorneys, after supper our conversation turned to politics and as I had just come from the north, they all asked me just how the election was going.

When Judge McCarty heard that I was from the north he asked me my name. After telling him, he was surprised, as my name had been called in court and my bonds were declared forfeited because I was not there to answer. I told him that I could explain why through Sam Thurman, the Prosecuting attorney, who would be down the next day. He told me to be in court the next morning and he would explain to the Judge and call my name.

After a good night's rest and a good breakfast I was in court on time. The court in session asked if Mr. Francom was present. When I answered to my name, the clerk was told to read the indictment which charged me with adultery. When asked my plea I plead "not guilty". I told the Judge that I was ready for trial, the prosecution was not ready on account of not being able to get their main witness. So the Judge postponed my case until the May term of court and said he would hold my bonds the way they were.

It was then I went to Attorney Thurman's Office. I found both attorneys in and told them my business was a little complicated and would like to straighten it out if they had time to listen to me. I told them the indictment that I was charged with was so indecent that I plead "not guilty”. I told them that if they would work upon an indictment that was decent, I would plead guilty to an unlawful cohabitation.

They advised me to go before the Grand Jury myself and state my case. Judge McCarty went with me to the Grand Jury. Upon arriving in the room. I saw three men who I was well acquainted with. Judge McCarty told the Grand Jury that I was there to make a statement to them for their consideration.

They called the court to order. Judge McCarty then began questioning me. He asked me my name, age, where I lived, my relationship with Mrs. Emma Francom, when married, how many children, the age of the oldest and the age of the youngest, if I was living with her at present. I told him I hadn't seen her for eighteen months, and when he asked me where she lived, I told him we live 200 miles apart. He dismissed me then told me that he should see me in the morning. I was uneasy all day wondering what had been done.

That night I went to see the boys at their camp, I talked to Heber Wilson and he told me they couldn't find any indictment against me. I had a talk with Judge McCarty, Assistant Prosecutor. He told me they would have to hold me on the old indictment, so I went to see Mr. Wilson again advising him what McCarty had said. I asked him to do me a favor and try to get them to reconsider when we went to the Grand Jury room and to endeavor to get an indictment of unlawful cohabitation. That evening Judge McCarty told me they had succeeded in getting the indictment of unlawful cohabitation, and that he would endeavor to bring my case up in the present term of court. So I was kept waiting for about ten days. I spent a great deal of time listening to different cases.

At the end of that time, it was the winding up of the court, my case was the last one. The Judge seemed very anxious to dismiss the court as he had been there about fifteen days. When McCarty informed him that they had the Francom case all fixed up and that I was there ready to plea to the indictment, the Judge spoke rather sharp and said that he had disposed of that and that I was to appear in the May term. When Mr. Thurman pleaded for the Judge to dispose of the case while the defendant is here, the Judge said, "Very well, let the clerk read the indictment”. "I plead guilty.” Many things went through my mind and one of them was the promise that Apostle Brigham Young made to me.

The Judge began to question me. He asked me how many children I had, their ages, when I last saw the woman and if she had a home. Then he told me what my rights were, that I was to visit my children and take some one with me. That I was supposed to support and school my children. Then he asked Mr. Thurman if he knew me and what kind of a citizen I was. Mr. Thurman told him I was a good citizen, Then the Judge turned to me saying; “I will have to make an example of you. We fine you one dollar and cost of court." When I went to pay the fine, the clerk told me to keep the money and that I was the luckiest man he had ever seen.

I rode with some of the boys who were on the jury as far as Richfield, a distance of some forty miles. It was late when we arrived in Richfield. From there I took the stage to Salina to make connections with the train. My trip was quite pleasant but cold. After boarding the train, it took us north through the canyon. The first stop was Thistle Junction where I ordered a lunch and just had time to swallow it before the train left. I arrived in Springville about four p.m. and waited about two hours for a train to take me to Payson. When I arrived home they were all surprised to see me as some never thought I would get free.

After my absences I had plenty of farm work to do, digging potatoes, fall plowing, hauling wood for winter, etc. In December I went back to Teasdale and disposed of my property there and moved Emma and family hack to Payson where they could be better cared for and where schooling opportunities were better for the children.

My brother Jim came along to help me make the move. In disposing of my property in Teasdale, I had to take a herd of cattle in payment. We left Teasdale April 1, l885, with all our household belongings and cattle for Payson. Going was slow, we camped at Loa the first night. The second night we camped on the divide between Grass Valley and Rabbit Valley. The snow was four feet deep and beginning to melt which made very hard traveling. We hired a man to haul a load of hay for our cattle, the hay lasted about three days. The third night out we camped in Grass Valley. From there on we had to graze the cattle. The weather was some warmer as we were now traveling along the Sevier River Valley. The fourth night we camped on the Sevier River on the west of Salina. At this point brother Jim and the family with one of our teams went on ahead. That left me and the boys to bring in the cattle.

The next night we camped at Fayette. The cattle were beginning to get tired and we had to leave some behind. The next stop was at Levan where my brother Joseph lived. After spending the night with him we left Levan and arrived in Payson the next morning.

I was very busy getting Emma settled in her home and rustling Seed for the cattle. We had to buy some furniture, including a new stove.

About the first of May we were busy branding the cattle to turn in the canyons for in those days it was free range for all cattle, The cattle, together with my farming, I was very busy that summer. I had a chance to sell some cattle so I started out early one July morning to round up some of them, I found a bunch of my cattle on a steep slope of Lofer Mountains In going down, it was so steep that my horse began to slip. I swung out of the saddle and just freed myself as the horse went over a cliff and when I found her at the bottom she was dead. I removed the saddle and hid it in the brush until some time later when I could come after it. So I postponed gathering any Cattle until fall.

In the fall of 1895, I moved Emma to another home that was closer and much handier for school. It kept me quite busy hauling wood for the two families and gathering in my stock. When fall came, I sold most of my cattle. Part of them for beef and part to Jesse Niles, a stock man, that was quite a relief not to have the responsibility of such a large herd.

It was in December 1895, that my wife, Emma, gave me another daughter whom I called Ruth.

The next spring I bought a ranch from Hyrum Siler at Clinton in Spanish Fork Canyon. I moved Emma and her family on this ranch in May, 1896. We also moved the remainder of the stock that I hadn't sold onto the ranch as it was handier to the range. We planted the farming land to wheat and oats and with the help of my sons, I raised a good crop. Stacked about 100 tons of hay which I bailed in and sold at Thistle Junction. We also had a good crop of potatoes and I raised water melons there for a trial. We also improved the house by adding four rooms and pantry and closets which made a real nice home of six rooms.

Most of my time was spent in caring for the two farms but I also spent quite some time as Counselor to the Presiding Elder, Heber Johnson at Clinton. Our home was always open to the visiting members of the Church, also our home was the stopping place for political visitors and sport fishermen from Salt Lake City and other places.

At this time I was ordained a High Priest and devoted a great deal of my time in the Church activities.

It was in Clinton that Emma gave me my eighteenth and last child, December 19, 1897, a son who we named Stanley.

In 1902, my son George, who was then twenty-two years of age, was called on a mission to the Southeastern states. He was the first one out of my family to go on a mission.

It was in the spring of 1902 that I traded my farm and home at Clinton with John Spencer for a dry farm and his home in Payson. We moved to Payson in April, 1902. With the two farms it kept us busy. Horses became scarce and I went into the business of raising blooded Perchan horses.

In 1903 I built a new home of four rooms on the place I had traded with Spencer. We built it of adobe brick, making the brick ourselves by hand. The next spring of 1904, George came home from his mission. Soon after, my son William was called to the Southern States on a mission and spent over two years there.

It was about this time that I was called as the home missionary of Utah State and acted for a number of years. In 1914, I was called on a mission to California, and spent six months around Los Angeles and in Orange County. When I was released I visited my daughter, Estella Huber, who was living in Arizona.

After leaving my daughter's home in Arizona, I went to San Francisco to the World's Fair in 1915, spending several weeks there before returning to Salt Lake City. After reaching Salt Lake, I received a telegram that my oldest brother William, who was then 65 years of age, had passed on. He was living in Glenns Ferry, Idaho at that time. I went to the funeral and spent several days there, After leaving Glenns Ferry, I returned to Payson and continued my labor as a home missionary together with other church activities.

About this time the Government built the Strawberry Project and my dry farm came under its water system. Most of my children were married, so I divided up that part or my farm between five of my boys, David, William, George, Elias, and Joseph. These were hectic times as the United States was at war but as all my sons were married but Samuel, he was the only one that was called and after serving two years across the sea, returned hone to us safe. I began feeling age coming on me so I decided to sell my other farms as prices were exceptionally good for land at this time.

When I advertised my farm for sale, I soon had inquiries concerning the price. I also decided to sell farm implements, cattle, horses, intact everything but my household furniture. I soon had a buyer, we agreed on a price and after a few days closed the deal. The down payment was turned over to me, the papers drawn up and signed and the time was set for us to move. The 20th of September, 1918, we moved out of the place. For the time being we moved into our son George's house, as he had two rooms we could occupy. We lived there until we found a home suitable. We moved from there the 5th of February, 1919, into our present home, 149 North First East Street in Payson.

After leaving the farm, began to wonder if I should do something for my dead relatives. With this urge, I went to Salt Lake City to the Church Genealogy Library to learn how to go about doing this. While there, I got acquainted with Mrs. Edith Barrett who was doing work on the Harding side, my Mother's lineage, and also a little work on the Francom side. I employed her to hunt up some genealogy for me about the Francom side, as I was interested more on my Father's side at that time, I spent many days in the Temple doing work for our dead. I also had my Father's family, his brothers and sisters sealed to their parents, as none of my brothers had done anything in that line and, as most of-them had passed away, it fell to my lot to carry on. As often as an opportunity would afford, I would go down and work in the Temple and stay several days at a time.

I have always taken the Desert News and have been a continuous subscriber to all Church Magazines. During this time I continued on as a home missionary and ward teacher.

During the winter, 1927 and 1928, Emma and I spent several months in Los Angeles with our sons Samuel and Stanley. I remember the many trips I had with the boys in and around Los Angeles and will never forget the pleasure I enjoyed going from place to place of interest with them.

One special trip I had with Stanley comes to my mind. We went to San Bernardino and on up to Arrowhead Lake. I had always heard so much of the Arrowhead Trail and remembered what I had read and heard about the Mormon Battalion making their historical march half way across the continent from the parries of Iowa in 1847 and 1848, finally arriving in a place now called San Diego.

When they were discharged by the Government of the United States, they sent a message to Brigham Young inquiring what they should do. Brigham Young sent them the word to go North, to follow the range of mountains and when they came to Arrowhead in the mountains, they were to build a city. They followed these instructions, and that city today is called San Bernardino.

I remember Stanley showing me the Arrowhead in the mountains. We followed up that canyon to a camp where men were working, making roads. I found some people who had lived in that locality for a long time, They told me what the Mormon settlers had done and showed me a railroad made out of boards that were almost rotted away. It was used to skid timber down the steep mountain side. It showed the thrift and resourcefulness of those early settlers. We continued our journey to the top of the mountain where these people had cut their timber, and sawed and made lumber. One of the wagons was still there that they had used. On the stumps of the trees, we could see the burned marks of the rope where they had fastened it to let the wagons down the skids with the lumber.

We also had a good view of Arrowhead Lake which lies in a deep gorge of the Sierra Nevada fountains. The Battalion boys later were called home to Utah when Johnston's Army invaded the Mormon settlement in Utah so they abandoned the place they had built which was later taken up by other settlers.

Emma and I returned to Payson the spring of 1928 but the following winter 1928 and 1929, returned again to Los Angeles. It was during this vacation that we celebrated our Golden Wedding at an anniversary party at my son Sam's home. There were twenty-six, including Emma and me at the party. Three sons, Elias, Sam and Stanley, six grandchildren, Elias' six, three great grandchildren, two nieces, two grand-nephews and eight others related by marriage. We returned to Payson shortly afterwards.

In the year 1932, I was engaged in Temple work in Salt Lake when I took sick. It was necessary for me to send for a Doctor. I was at that time staying with my daughter Arreta, Mrs. John Smith, She suggested that I send for Dr. Root and when he came he found it necessary for me to go to the hospital for a prostrate gland operation. I was then in my 80th year. It was a serious operation at that age and the Doctor was doubtful as to my standing it. I was sent to the Holy Cross Hospital and had a special nurse to care for me. The old Sister that was in charge was very good and saw that I had very care that I needed. The Holy Cross was very favorable to the Mormon Elders coming to administer to their own people. The Church called a special group of Elders to administer to the sick in they desired them to.

Although I had good care I kept growing weaker. There was plenty of food but it didn't taste good to me. I had been there about sixteen days when me wife, daughter and Doctor had a consultation, The doctor said that I would have to eat, so Aretta suggested that they take me to her home. The doctor said, "Do you know what a job you are taking upon yourself?". She replied, I don't mind that part of it, just let us take him home".

After looking me over again, the doctor phoned Aretta that she could come and get me. The nurse came as usual and dressed my wound, The old Sister came in and asked me if I wanted to get up. I told her it would be nice, so she got my clothes. Just then Mother and Aretta came in and said, "We are going to take you home". So it was a duel between the old sister and the nurse who would wheel me to the car, the old Sister finally won out.

I remember it was a beautiful morning. The flowers in bloom, trees in leaf and everything seemed so beautiful. Aretta's home seemed like a little paradise after what I had been through. I immediately went to bed and the folks kept me clean and fresh. My appetite improved and I began to gain more strength every day. In the course of two weeks I could walk around a little. Then in another two weeks, they brought me home to Payson, I was happy to get back home once more.

In about a year and a half, I went through another operation for hemorrhoids. That proved to me it was best to have things of that kind taken care of in time, as both operations proved to be a benefit to my health.

On November 17, 1935, my wife Ella was called Home, after living to the age of 84 years. Ella was a good and faithful wife, a kind loving Mother and brought a good family of boys and girls into the world . She passed on in full fellowship and with the hope of a glorious resurrection.

In the early Spring of 1936, Aretta and her husband, John Smith, took mother and me in an automobile trip to California. We drove through Las Vegas, Nevada and went up to Boulder City to see the Boulder Dam. I was in my 84th year and the anticipation of going to see this sight was great and when we approached the Dam I was really thrilled to see that gorge filled with concrete, to hold back that mighty stream. When I walked across to the Arizona side on the top of the Dam, I then thought of the contrast of 1888, when I crossed the Colorado that year and the danger that was in our path when I made the crossing. I thought then of the wonders that man had wrought in the building of this Mighty Dam to control such a body of water, to make it man's slave, this most dangerous river in Arizona.

It made me appreciate more the wisdom of man that I ever did before and made me realize that God had poured out his Spirit on all flesh to bring about His mighty purposes on earth.

During my life I have kept faith with my Church and Government and have endeavored to set my family a good example by living a good moral life. My families have worked in harmony with me, My wives and my children have Cooperated with me and helped me and always acknowledged me as their head and took my counsel and advise. It makes me happy and proud to look around me and see my children, my grandchildren, and my fifty-three great grandchildren. I feel that I have fought a good fight and have kept faith and when my time comes after my long life of experience, I am willing to lay it down and trust my fate in the Hands of God.

END

Scanned and retyped by
James P. Francom on 1 Dec. 1996
francom@imicom.or.jp

This short autobiography came to me through my sister Shawna Francom. Shawna got it from the Dean Francom Family in Payson Utah. The original manuscript was prepared by an “unknown (to me) relative” of Samuel Francom, living in Payson Utah. All typographical errors are mine, or were part of the original manuscript. This document is provided “as is” to facilitate genealogical research of other members of the Francom family, and for it’s human interest content. No attempt has been made to validate or correlate statements made by Samuel Francom with any other historical events.

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