Life History of Ivy Price: Experiences in North Salem. Tape #90

Voices from the Past Life History of Ivy Price: Experiences in North Salem Interviewee: Ivy Price November 12, 1983 Tape #90 Oral Interview conducted by Harold Forbush Transcribed by: Jasmine Scholes November 2006 Edited by: Lisa Thurber January 2009 Brigham Young University- Idaho

This tape is an interview with Mrs. Ivy Price and we are at her home at 766 I Street, across from the Temple, Idaho Falls on this Saturday, the 12 th day of November 1983. It s rather a dreary day there s a lot of storm going on yesterday and today. But it s great to be in the home of this cheery lady who lives alone. Her son, Kenneth, is with me today and provided the transportation down here. Now Sister Price, will you state your full name and where you were born? Ivy Price: Ivy Josephine Judy Price. Born in Salem, ninth of May, 1890. Harold Forbush: Where was the homestead located? IP: In North Salem. HF: In North Salem. Now would that have been somewhat west of the school house there in North Salem? IP: Straight north, north, one mile from the school house. HF: One mile KP: Half-mile grandma, half mile, schools on the same section. HF: Now that s were you were born? HF: Uh huh. And who was your father? IP: William L. Judy. HF: And your mother s maiden name? IP: Elsie Judy. HF: What was her maiden name? IP: Smith. HF: Alice? Or Elsie? IP: Elsie Smith HF: Elsie Smith Judy. They apparently they came to the valley came to the area, real early. 2

They were pioneers. There were only six people in Salem; they all came bout the same time; the Morteson brothers and my father, Elington Smith, my mother s brother. HF: Any other persons that came about the same time? What year would you say that would be? IP: I don t know KP: 87. HF: You understand it was in 87? KP: You bet. HF: now, your father homesteaded what, 160 acres? HF: Uh, who else homesteaded on that, 640 acres? KP: Lars Larson HF: Lars Larson? IP: Larson s HF: Now that was Elmie s father was it? HF: Now that would have been further to the west, would it not? HF: And who else? KP: James Mortenson. HF: Morteson? IP: Morteson. HF: M-o-r-t or M-a-r-t? KP: M-o-r-t-e-n-s-o-n. 3

HF: Mortenson. I see. IP: Jim Mortenson, and Chris, Pete, they didn t have land on that square. HF: I see. KP: Pretty close. HF: Now do you recall an August, Augustus Belnap? HF: Now he would have lived a little bit south and to the east? HF: Can you tell me something about when you first met your husband? First of all, whom did you marry? IP: Wilford James Price. HF: And under what circumstances did you meet him? IP: He came from Wood River Valley, he was born in Salt Lake City, and he was the second wife s son, his father was John Price and when he was 18 years old he went to Wood River, to work for his brother. His brother was a sheep man and he herded sheep for his brother for four years. And then he earned a thousand dollars and he decided invest it in land and he bought a farm in Wood River. And he d found out he couldn t get water on it so, he wouldn t be able to sell it and he got two thousand for it. And at that time they ran an advertisement in the paper and Webster Woodmancy wanted help on their dry farm, so he decided to come to Rexburg, get a job and look for a farm. He worked for Webster Woodmancy that summer and the same time he found out that Ed Ward had a farm to sell and he visited the farm and it was close to a canal. The canal ran right around one side of it and it made him happy. He thought that it was fine and he bought 80 acres. And he wanted to get acquainted with his neighbors so, he came our place in the winter. HF: About what year was that, Sister Price? IP: Well, it was about 1906. KP: She s right. HF: About 1906. I see. And you would have been about 16? 4

IP: 16. HF: Yeah, okay and that s when you first met him? IP: I didn t meet him. He met my father that day and about a year after that Brother Price was working his farm, he plowed with a hand plow and he had three head of horses. Anyway, he had a ten gallon hat and people around was quite curious who this odd fellow was. And of course I was too. Mother needed a churn and Ed Ward was the agent for the insurance, so mother and I went down to Ed Ward s one evening and she ordered a churn and I had Wilford that night. He was just getting ready to eat supper and I remember what he had for supper. (Laughs) It was a cup of tea, some buttermilk biscuits, and some fried potatoes. And I thought he was wonderful and he took the Ward girl to dances and meetings and she was an old maid and I was very happy for her and I had a beau but HF: Do you remember his name? What was his name? IP: I rather not talk about that. HF: Okay (laughs) IP: And he wasn t Mormon. HF: I see IP: Anyway, I was sociable with Wilford and Rosie, because I wanted him to know that Rosie had it for him. Rosie was a sister to my brother s wife. And it turned out that he started watching me and that s when we got together. HF: How long did you court? IP: 15 months HF: 15 months. So you must have been, well, how old were you then at the marriage? IP: I was a few days short of 19. HF: What date were you married? IP: April 9 th, 1909. HF: And where? IP: Salt Lake Temple. We went to Salt Lake on train and I recall what our tickets was six dollars a piece. 5

HF: From Rexburg? IP: From Sugar City HF: From Sugar City to Salt Lake? IP: Uh huh. Conference time, and it cost us 25 dollars for the return ticket and HF: Who married you? IP: You know? KP: I don t remember? HF: One of the apostle s I suppose? IP: Yeah. HF: There in the Salt Lake Temple. Did you spend a little honeymoon? IP: There was 15 marriages that day and we went in the temple at nine o clock and we never got out til three, and we were the first ones to marry. And we had a family gathering, Wilford s people, at his sister s house. HF: At Salt Lake? IP: Yeah. HF: Do you remember the address? IP: No. It was Frank Hamilton s residence. HF: And then shortly you returned? HF: He had a home for you to go to; move into? IP: We had he built a house out of sod logs and plastered it on the inside and put rustic on the outside, and it looked real good lookin, had an attic, a big double window on one side. Mother gave me homemade carpet that covered the full floor and beautiful white curtains and Wilford painted the walls pale green. And it was a really beautiful home. HF: Was this prepared before your marriage? 6

HF: So you could move into a nice home at the time of the marriage? HF: Now, where was the home located? Where was it from your home? IP: Half a mile. KP: It was a mile and a half northeast. HF: Half a mile north and then a mile east, maybe? KP: Half mile east. IP: Did you mean my mother s home? HF: Yes. IP: Half mile north and one mile east and up on a hill our house was built upon that hill that goes round. HF: Now, that would be east of the present Salem Parker, Highway? KP: Yes. HF: And how far south of the river? IP: Bout a mile out. HF: Who were your neighbors? IP: Charlie Fullmer. HF: He was the nearest neighbor? HF: What other neighbors? IP: Well, Alfred Ward lived on the Ward plantation, and after we had lived on this place for, I guess, we lived there a year and eight months, and Wilford was called on a mission. And he went to Portland, Oregon that was the headquarters and he stayed with Melvin 7

Ballard and his wife, you know that Ballard was the mission president, and I was left to take care of my baby and I lived with mother and father. HF: With your mother and father? And Wilford took up a dry farm just before he left. I had to live on the dry farm two weeks out of every month for two years. HF: While he was gone. IP: While he was gone. HF: He had built a small cabin or something? IP: No, his brother-in-laws built the cabin and my sister and her husband lived close by so that was my main mission while he was away. HF: Okay, now, where was the farm located? IP: Nine miles west of Idaho Falls. HF: Oh, he had a dry farm clear down here. IP: Yeah. HF: I see. Now KP: It s called Osgood now. HF: It s in the Osgood area? Was it a 160 acre farm? IP: 360 acres. HF: 360. KP: It could have been 320, I think. HF: I see, now, he apparently filed it in your name and his name? HF: Maybe just his name? IP: Maybe. HF: As a desert entry or something like this. I m not sure. 8

KP: There was up for grabs, that s how Osgood country got sold in the first place, Sagebrush. HF: Now, you continued to live on the 80 acre farm he had bought; where he had built your home? IP: What? When he came back? HF: uh huh. IP: We lived at the dry farm part of the time and in summer time and in our new home in Salem in the winter time. HF: Was that suited for grazing and cattle rising, the 80 acres? IP: No, that was farming land. HF: It was farming land IP: Sub-irrigated. HF: I see. Tell me who your first child was and is? IP: Kenneth. HF: Kenneth was your first child? KP: I was eight months when he went on a mission. IP: Kenneth. HF: I see. Well isn t that great. So Kenneth was born, I m guessing, 1910? IP: Yes, exactly. KP: 25 th of March. HF: Now, your husband was gone two years IP: Yeah. HF: Then when he got back he was real busy taking care of this dry farm and the property in Salem. 9

HF: Where did you people go to church? IP: Salem,Vern Terrs was the bishop. HF: And that was the big rock building? HF: Did your husband hold any church positions during those years? IP: Yes, he was 70. HF: And that meant IP: And he taught Sunday School class. HF: Sister Price, do you recall when you were growing up, where you attended school? IP: Sure. HF: Share that with me. IP: It was a log cabin, one mile east of our place up on a hill. And we had eight grades in that school room. HF: Was that near where your husband had bought his 80 acres? IP: Well, it s a mile farther along the hill. KP: Be bout a mile south. IP: I went to that school for seven grades and one grade in the new school house. HF: Now that would be down on the highway. IP: Yes, after they built their new schoolhouse. HF: They abandoned the old school house? HF: Up east. Who taught school during those years? 10

IP: Witisen. Will Witisen. HF: Did he have charge of all eight grades? HF: And was he your teacher during those seven years? IP: No. We had J.J. Anderson for two years, and my first teacher was a lady, her name was Josie Fog. We had several teachers; I don t remember all their names. HF: That was quite a ways to walk, from your home up there, was it not? IP: No, one mile. HF: And that wasn t too far? IP: No. HF: And you had other brothers? IP: I had a sister. HF: A sister another brother? IP: And a brother. HF: And a brother that went. IP: Little brother. HF: How many were there in the school? Can you recall about how many 15 or 20 boys and girls? IP: No, it was 10 in 7 th grade and the 8 th grade. HF: Now, they built the new school there on that corner. IP: They built a new school on the highway that goes straight through to Salem on the right hand side. HF: And that was located but it was located in Fremont County, was it not? HF: Just across the street would ve been into Madison County. 11

KP: It s about a quarter of a mile. HF: Is it about a quarter of a mile? KP: Down the road. HF: Oh, I see. Was that a brick building? IP: Yes, four rooms. HF: Four rooms. Who was the principal of the school, as you recall? IP: Witisen was the last teacher. HF: And he took over in that new school as the principal? KP: Four rooms that school HF: And that was a big improvement over where you d been going. It had a good stove and a nice cool room. HF: Was there a store in that vicinity in those early days? IP: Just a Harsip HF: Not out at north Salem? IP: No. HF: Did they refer to that community Sister Price, as north Salem community? HF: It was referred to in those days when you were growing up as North Salem? HF: Did you as a family go into Rexburg to do your shopping? Or would you go to St. Anthony? IP: We went both places. And sometimes we would go in to Idaho Falls. It took us one day, all day to come to Idaho Falls. When it went to the dry farm we would start out at 12

eight o clock, eat our dinner at Mud Lake and the rest of the afternoon we get to the dry farm. HF: Would you cross the river, the Snake River? HF: Where? Below Rexburg or where would you, how would you get to Mud Lake? IP: They had bridges then. HF: Would you come to Rexburg and then HF: Then go west over the bridge HF: On west to Mud Lake? IP: Uh huh. HF: Then go on down south to your dry farm? HF: Was this done by buggy? IP: Wagon. HF: A wagon? IP: A double bed wagon with a spring seat. HF: What would that distance be, 40 miles or so? KP: 30. IP: Yes, about 40 miles. HF: About 30? KP: I think so. 13

IP: It was 30 miles from Rexburg to Idaho Falls then it was ten miles out west of Idaho Falls to the dry farm. KP: She s right. HF: That would take a day wouldn t it? IP: Yeah. HF: Did you often go with your husband on to negotiate these trips? IP: I always went with him when we went to the dry farm. HF: How bout you going alone, where there times? IP: No. HF: With courage with perseverance you had to do this alone? IP: No. Oh, I went with my brother-in-law while my husband was on a mission; my brother-in-law and his wife, my sister. I rode with them; we all lived out on the dry farm at the same time. Their house was bout quarter mile from my house so I lived alone. Harold Forbush who is the interviewer continues the tape recorded interview onto side two, by continuing questioning Ivy Price. HF: Sister Price, did you have good health? IP: Very good. HF: During those early years of your marriage, you seemed to have good health. IP: Very good. HF: Now, no surgery, no seeing doctors IP: No HF: Or anything of this nature, you just had good health? IP: I had good health. HF: Did your husband have good health? 14

HF: During all these years? IP: He had headaches once in a while, not to bad. HF: And in the course of years? IP: I was blessed with good health I didn t even have morning sickness. Year after my husband came home, we had a baby girl and they came along every two years from then on. (chuckles) HF: Okay. Starting with the baby girl you gave her what name? IP: Elsie. HF: Elsie? Okay and the next one? IP: Austin. HF: Austin. And the next one? IP: May. HF: May. And she is the one who married IP: Elmo Davenport. HF: Elmo Davenport and the next child? IP: Was Golda, she married Arthur Hope. HF: Oh yes, I remember her very well and the next one? IP: We moved to Sugar City when Golda was a year old. HF: Why was that? IP: Well, Wilford sold the farm. HF: the 80 acres? And after that we took home on payment, part payment, on the farm that this brother owned in Rexburg and he couldn t pay for the farm, so Wilford had to take it back. And we sold that place that we took on the farm for payment and bought a home in Sugar City, right across from the school house. And we traveled back and forth and took care of the farm and lived in Sugar. 15

HF: How many years? IP: 20 years. HF: 20 years? IP: Uh huh. HF: And you had other children born at Sugar? IP: Our last five were born in Sugar City. HF: And their names are? IP: Loretta Johnson, Chris Johnson s son Lee, and Anthon Ray, Milo, and Neva. HF: And Neva was your IP: Baby. HF: Was your baby girl. IP: Uh huh. HF: And that makes a total of? IP: Ten. HF: Ten children. Now I know that Sister Davenport has passed away, May. HF: But have you had any other children pass away? IP: Elsie passed away when she was 30 years old she was livin in California with her husband. She married Dr. Howard Bodily and so that s two girls I got. HF: Did she leave a family? IP: She left three. HF: Three children. KP: Two girls living HF: How many grandchildren do you have? 16

IP: I had 58 grandchildren, 210 great-grand children and eight-fifth generation. HF: Isn t that marvelous? Now, I d like to ask you a few questions about some old history questions. IP: Yeah. HF: For example, when you were growing up as a youngster, there in North Salem, did you know where the site or the location was of Fort Henry? It was right, the farm right by our farm in Salem. I ve been there several times. HF: What do you recall about the place where the fort was? Can you describe it? Just a dug out like a big cellar that was all it was there. HF: There were no buildings? IP: No. HF: Did people seem to be interested in learning about the location of Fort Henry? IP: Yes, quite a bit. HF: People would come and as you were it s located? Or the community would go there; the people would go there to visit the place? IP: Well, I don t know, wasn t too popular. HF: Do you remember when, well for example, do you remember a man by the name of Frank Miller? He was an attorney from St. Anthony. HF: Do you remember a man by the name of Merrill D. Beal? Or Sam Beal? IP: I remember Miller but not the others? HF: Do you remember any of them Ken? KP: I ve heard of em. They re young folks. HF: They went out there in the early 30 s and did some digging at the site and they found some rock that had some names chiseled into it. Do you remember anything about this? 17

IP: No? KP: Yes, Billy MacMinn owned the ground and he lived in about that area. And then he moved down to the main road later, in that old log house was there in my day. HF: Where his where he had moved to? KP: Yeah, there was a road that went up through there, along the river, on the high ground. IP: Heb Roylance raised his family up there. HF: Heb Roylance did? HF: And that was Heb Roylance had a house on the east side of the road, of the highway. IP: He built that after. Don t know how long, after children all came. HF: Oh. Well, Heb Roylance was one of your neighbors then? HF: Now that place today, as I understand it is in the hands of Blair. IP: Calloway. HF: Callowa, and he got it from his father I take it? KP: From his grandfather. HF: From his grandfather. KP: Yeah. HF: And what was his name? KP: His mother was a Roylance, that s how come HF: Blair s KP: Mother HF: mother was a Roylance? She was a Roylance. Ken do you recall going to the site of ol Fort Henry. 18

KP: Yes, when I went up there it looked like several dugouts. HF: Did it appear that persons have been in there digging, trying to excavate or anything like that? KP: No, that s before that time, it was just caved in ground, lumber, and trees or the poles, whatever they used to hold the dirt up it was all caved in and just kind of a low place where each one of them places were. HF: But the location was kind of on a knoll. KP: It s on the bank of the river. HF: Well, now, just one or two more questions of ol Fort Henry. I want to establish that the location of the fort was on high ground. KP: That old bank of the river. HF: The old bank. KP: And the river was about a quarter of a mile north from there; the real river. HF: I see. Now in the vicinity of the fort were there some good sized trees still standing? KP: Quite a few, quite a wooded area. HF: Was it? KP: Yeah. HF: Now, in the spring run-off when the river would be high, would water inundate in that area but not at the fort. KP: It would come close to the fort. HF: But it would come high enough, it was kind of an island then, kinda? KP: Well, the fort was on the high ground on the edge of the main river, but in the summer time the river was out quite a ways only high water got over that close. HF: Oh that close, but it wouldn t submerge the high ground? KP: It would submerge the diggings. 19

HF: No. KP: They were on the side hill. HF: I see. That river has meandered quite a bit moved back and forth has it not? KP: Before the reservoir put in, it traveled the whole valley, back and forth and kept moving to the north, up against the hill and that s where it stayed when the reservoirs were put in. HF: Sister Price, did you ever hear of a phrase called the Eagle Nest Ford? HF: What do you recall about the Eagle Nest Ford? IP: Well, I didn t recall very much; I never went with my folks. HF: Now, the early pioneers had that as a place that they came across the Snake River, the North Fork, to get over on the south side. I guess you wouldn t know specifically where that ford was in the Snake River. IP: Where did they go on the south side? HF: See, that s where they crossed. This is before the day of bridges. They were on their way to Idaho Falls. HF: Well, they were on their way to IP: Rexburg. HF: To get to Rexburg. KP: I know where that place is. HF: It s down from the present day bridge. KP: St. Anthony. HF: From Parker over to St. Anthony maybe a mile or half a mile? 20

KP: It s below the St. Anthony Cemetery and there are several islands. The river divides, makes it a good place to cross. IP: It was right by the head of the canal. KP: Yeah, consolidated canal, just below it. HF: Just below. IP: I remember my folks going to St. Anthony and fording that river with the wagon. HF: And that s probably where at that point where they forded it then. IP: Yeah. HF: Uh huh. Do you recall some early bridges across the Snake River? IP: They didn t have any bridges. (Laughs) Forded the river until they built that the bridges HF: The bridge on the north fork along Salem Parker road. IP: Yeah. HF: I imagine I m just guessing that they had an original bridge there, and there d been two three bridges built in the same generally down through the years. Would that be so? HF: Is that as you recall Kenneth? KP: That s right. The first one was built out of wood. Now we got one of cement. That was built in my day. HF: The wooden one? KP: No, it was there when I was a little boy. HF: I see. Now what can you you mentioned that you re husband was attracted to purchase this 80 acres because there was a canal. IP: Yeah. HF: That went by. 21

KP: He always said that he wanted to be on the head of the canal so he wouldn t be out of water. HF: And what canal was this? KP: Consolidated canal. HF: Now do you recall about when that was diverted and started? I don t know any dates, but my father worked on that canal when they built the consolidated canal. HF: And so that could have been excavated and built when you still quite a young girl. HF: Do you have any added comment? IP: Well, Elmie Larson s history tells us about that. And I was very small. They lived here eight years before I came along. HF: Elmie Larson, the Larsons. HF: Now there were a number of canals that were constructed in the north Salem area. These proved to be very helpful for agricultural purposes, did they not? HF: Did your husband ever become involved in the regulating and the administering of those canals? IP: No. HF: Water master and things of this nature? IP: No. HF: He wasn t involved that way. KP: He was president of Salem Union two or three times. HF: I see. Your husband was a pretty busy man with all that ground though, to operate wasn t he? 22

IP: He bought 280 acres farms joining ours and was it three? He bought the Fullmer place. And then he bought School sanction that was along the river. He was interested in sheep but before we moved to Sugar City, he had accumulated 300 head of sheep. And we went in the sheep business after we got in Sugar City, he bought Frank Jacobs s herd so that made us 1300 head of sheep. And we bought the land pasture land that come with the sheep out on the junipers and that would be Teton Basin country. HF: I see. KP: Summer Range HF: In the forest up there. IP: He ran sheep for ten years. And then he we bought them for nine dollars a head and sold them for eleven. HF: You were fortunate to sell for a profit. IP: We sold it to the Meyer s brothers. HF: Oh yeah. IP: But we kept the 300. They stayed out on the farm until we moved to Idaho Falls. HF: When did you move as a permanent basis? IP: 1960. HF: You d moved from Sugar City to Idaho Falls? HF: Was there a special reason why? IP: We wanted to be where we could go to the temple to do work in the temple. He was getting so he didn t wasn t able to work on the farm so he sold Austen the sheep and we came to Idaho Falls. HF: Had all the land in Salem been sold by then, your ranches in Salem, North Salem area? IP: We sold one to Ray, and who else? KP: One to Austin. IP: OH yes, one to Milo. 23

KP: Milo and Kenneth and Ray IP: And the boys took it over. You might say and that was the story. HF: Did the family ever run cattle on your ranches? IP: Well, we had a farm up in Teton Basin too and we had fifty head of dry cattle up there and we ve always had milk cows, bout six or eight. KP: We got up to 30 head one time. HF: Of milk cows? KP: Yep. HF: The boys did the milking KP: That s when the boys were all able to do it HF: Were you ever called upon, Sister Price, to milk? IP: I knew how to milk but I never had regularly. HF: Somebody commented that one wife said that if I knew my husband ever got an idea that I knew how to work or how to milk, the chore would be mine. So I didn t want to learn too much about milking. But you knew how to milk. IP: Yes I knew how. I milk a cow once in a while. HF: You have described that original home your husband provided when you were married; at a later date did you people build IP: We bought Alfred Ward s place that came out on the main road that you take to go to St. Anthony. HF: On the east side of the road? IP: yes. HF: where would that be from the Heber Rolland s home, to the south maybe? KP: South place. IP: Well, Heber s home was on that street that goes to Parker and then we take the street that goes up this way east which is where we lived. 24

KP: About one mile. HF: And you lived I see. Was it quite a nice home then? IP: Yes, it was a two room brick house and later on we remodeled it and made it modern and built an upstairs, kitchen, and bath on it and made it lovely. HF: And you lived in that home until you moved to Sugar City? We lived there part of the time. HF: You also had this dry farm out here, west of Rexburg Idaho Falls did you sell that? IP: We sold that. KP: We traded it to Klingler. IP: For 90 acres by the Teton River. HF: By the Teton River? KP: Yeah. HF: What, East of Sugar? IP: North side of the Teton. KP: North of Sugar. HF: North of Sugar? KP: Yeah. HF: And from your home in Sugar City, you re husband and the boys would operate that HF: 90 acres and then you still had some out in North Salem? KP: Another mile. HF: And then you had a ranch up in Teton Basin for your dry stock. 25

IP: We had 600 acres of farming land for several years. HF: well now once you and your husband moved here just across the temple Idaho Falls, have you been quite active in doing temple work? IP: Yes, he lived five year and we had 100 names each of us. And after he left HF: When did he pass away? IP: 1965, then I got 2,000 names and then I got troubles and I couldn t go anymore. HF: I see. That s really fine. IP: But, we almost had a bedroom for people to stay when they came to work in the temple. I ve had people from Star Valley and Colby Wyoming, Boise, Hailey, and long distant places. They sure appreciate having a place to come that they don t have to play 35 dollars for a night. HF: Now they occupy that room maybe a day or two or a week or two or whatever? HF: You have it advertised so that arrangements like that can be made? HF: Well isn t that lovely. That s the way of doing temple missionary work I guess. That s just wonderful. You have your family of sons and daughters and grandchildren so in the area so they can stop in and see you regularly. IP: They scattered out all over the United States. I have three boys in Rexburg or Salem, and <Tape Cuts off> 26