APRIL 2018 LESSON, ARTIFACT, AND MUSIC APRIL 2018 DUP Lesson HISTORIC CHESTERFIELD, IDAHO Maryann Ruben Jensen The term ghost town evokes images of ramshackle buildings scattered in a sagebrush-strewn valley, a place that was once prosperous and promising but had drifted into decline until nothing remained but a lifeless town in decay. Chester Call was a man looking for land in the spring of 1878. Having recently purchased several hundred horses in Bountiful, Utah, he faced the difficult dilemma of finding grazing space for them. Traveling on horseback with his niece s husband, Christian Nelson, he rode through northern Utah and into Idaho, searching for a suitable location. He scouted several locations but was not satisfied. Finally he came upon an area along the Oregon Trail in southern Idaho with tall grass and abundant water. He learned that the previous summer the spot had been surveyed and opened for homesteading. The results of the survey showed that considerable land in the upper Portneuf Valley, which was formerly believed to have been on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, was in reality available for settlement. Convinced he had found the perfect place, and getting acquainted with the settlers already located there, he left the horses with a herdsman and returned to Bountiful. He spent the winter telling others about the wonderful country he had found along the Portneuf River, enticing them to dispose of their holdings in Bountiful solely on his recommendation and follow him to a land they had never seen. Chester Call (DUP Photo Collection) Chester Call cabin at Chesterfield the stereotypical ghost town of the American West populated by gunfighters, saloons, and jails, its abandoned pioneer buildings of a previous century are silent reminders of hardworking individuals who laid the foundation of America. Every deserted cabin holds a story of effort, honor, and courage-values at the heart of our civilization. Settlers continued to move into Chesterfield until, by the mid-1890s, fifty families had taken up residence within the town site. Living accommodations included log cabins, framed houses, dugouts, and a few brick homes. Settlers built a kiln east of town where brick was fired for use in building new houses, a store, tithing house, and the meetinghouse, which was the centerpiece of the community. Approximately 85,000 bricks were used in its construction. The meetinghouse overlooked the valley and could be seen from miles away. Brick homes were the showpieces of the settlement, representing the success and achievement of the owner. The once thriving town site of Chesterfield, settled by Mormon pioneers in the 1800s and sheltered at the base of the Portneuf Valley in Caribou County, Idaho, has been described as a ghost town. However, unlike Tithing house at Chesterfield
Barlow log store at Chesterfield Meetinghouse at Chesterfield Like the mythological phoenix, a magical bird that died and was reborn from the ashes of its predecessor, Chesterfield has obtained new life, restored by volunteers, patrons, and descendants of the original cabin owners. Working together, they have taken Chesterfield from a place of lifeless isolation to an American legacy of success. Visitors come from throughout the nation and around the world to step back in time and wander through this Mormon pioneer settlement. Our lesson will explore this historic site and the pioneers who settled it. The writer is deeply indebted to Town site Directors Jack and Penni Jensen and Chesterfield Board Member Pearl Mickelsen for their valuable assistance in supplying material and providing clarification for this lesson. The love they and other volunteers feel for Chesterfield is largely responsible for its success as an historical site today. HISTORIC CHESTERFIELD, IDAHO PART 2 The Decline and Renewal of Chesterfield Harsh winters, crop failures, the national depression of 1907-1908, and the flu epidemic of 1918-1919, all contributed to the demise of Chesterfield. Several of the original settlers lasted only a year or two and walked away from their claims. The first bishop, Parley Willey, returned to Bountiful within a few years along with his counselor, Truman Barlow. Education was another factor. Many children who were sent away to receive an education did not return, choosing to live and work in cities. Aging parents then moved away to be near their children. World War I took men and boys from the valley. Amusement Hall at Chesterfield More left to find work during the Great Depression of the 1930s. World War II and the industrialization that resulted from it drew residents to defense plants in California and nearby cities such as Ogden and Pocatello. Blacksmith shop at Chesterfield Changes in agriculture necessitated that farms had to be combined, and the land that several owners had farmed before was now in the hands of one. People walked away from their homes and homesteads, relocating to start over again. The once thriving settlement that boasted a population of nearly five hundred at the turn of the nineteenth century had been reduced to a ghost town by the 1950s. Questions arise as to why a dilapidated town site littered with crumbling buildings was worth saving and how did such a transformation take place? Historians agree on the important role Chesterfield played in American s frontier history.
The Restoration of Chesterfield Craig Call, a descendent of Ira Call, was a driving force in organizing the Chesterfield Foundation in 1979, with other descendants as members, whose purpose was to restore the town site. Money was raised, a master plan for the area s preservation and use was developed, and Brigham Young University s Department of Anthropology conducted an archaeological survey. The deteriorating structures were studied for stabilization. The restoration process began, with family members being primarily responsible for the reconstruction of an ancestor s building. In the words of Pearl Mickelsen, a Chesterfield Board member, It [the town] has come back to existence with the help of family donations, other donations, grants, etc. We had special service couples missionaries called by the LDS Church and couple volunteers in the 1990s and early 2000s. Many of these retired couples had skills in carpentry, electricity, and plumbing as well as just handy men and jacks-ofall-trades. Their wives conducted tours, cleaned, and helped restore and stain furniture, etc. that was on the site. As the LDS Church quit calling the service missionaries as they do not own the town site, the Chesterfield Foundation does.... We now rely on volunteers to keep the town site up and running. We are constantly looking for help at the town site. Approximately 20 of the 25 structures on the 162 acre site have been restored and are open to the public from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Having been a ghost town is not the compelling attraction of Chesterfield. Ghost towns can be found throughout the western United States as testaments to the history of a specific region or area. F. Ross Peterson remarked: There is a strange beauty and compelling fascination about Chesterfield. Although it became a ghost town, it was not a failure. In the words of Craig M. Call, It was built out of a dream for economic betterment. While its people struggled with that particular dream and were defeated, it was doing its real work building families and shaping their values. Those children and grandchildren return by the hundreds on Memorial Day, their flowers in the cemetery a colorful, temporary sign of the hunger for home that brings them back. Visitors to Chesterfield remark about its beauty and the special feelings generating by it. In the words of town site Director Jack Jensen, I feel an overwhelming connection to those who lived here before and an appreciation for the labor of love reflected in the beautifully restored homes. We call it the spirit of Chesterfield. Of the visitors who have seen the transformation, many have been heard to say they feel something special here. Some even call it a Tithing granary at Chesterfield healing place. We smile and nod our heads. Are the old pioneers still here? We don t see them with our eyes, only in our minds and hearts. Is Chesterfield a ghost town? Perhaps it is. Ruger dugout at Chesterfield Higginson-Holbrook house at Chesterfield (Photo courtesy Ross and Linda Walker)
Barlow house at Chesterfield Ruth and James Davids house at Chesterfield Chesterfield Town site
APRIL 2018 DUP Artifact TOP HAT BELONGING TO JOHN EASTHAM Where: Grantsville DUP Museum 378 West Clark Street Grantsville, UT 84029 In the early to mid-19 th century, top hats became popular with all social classes, with even workmen wearing them. This hat belonged to John Eastham. John Eastham was born 2 February 1820, in Ribchester, Lancashire, England, and married Jane Huntington on 24 February 1841, in Preston, Lancashire, England. To this union was born 10 daughters and one son. They moved to Rotherham, Yorkshire, England where John worked as an engine man at the Rotherham Railroad Center for about 18 years. The English government offered John a job on the recently completed railroad line in the West Indies. John had to sign a four-year contract and so he moved his family to Leeds where the Mormon Church had established a branch. John and Jane had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prior to that time. In Leeds, John and Jane owned a furniture store, and Jane and the girls took care of the store while John was away. Their two oldest daughters, Emma Eastham Ratcliffe and Louisa Eastham Millward traveled with their husbands to America in 1862. These two young couples settled in Grantsville, Utah. John and Jane sailed to America in 1865 with their four youngest daughters and eventually made their journey by wagon train to Grantsville. John probably wore this tall beaver hat as part of his rank as a railroad engineer. John returned to England after his wife Jane died. This hat would have made that journey back again to England. However, John did not stay long in England, stating that it had all changed in the 25 years he had been gone. Donated by Rebecca Lawrence Kimber. APRIL 2018 DUP Song Echo Canyon Pioneer Songs Music Book #197 Sung by Kyle Jensen on the 2017-2018 Music CD In 1868 work began near Devil s Gate in Echo Canyon for the last link of the transcontinental railroad. This song was composed and sung by the men working on the final stretch of the Union Pacific, coming from the west. The completion of the work and subsequent golden-spike ceremonies took place at Promontory Point on May 10, 1869. Echo Canyon is an optimistic and jubilant song. It reflects something of the way of life of men who worked ten hours daily and their industrious attitude towards the work. Within the test is recognition of the end of one era and the beginning of a new. The railroad marked the final opening of the West.
LeeAnn Nelson, Music Chairperson, ISDUP Dr. Morris F. Lee, Instrumental Accompaniment Front cover: The painting of pioneer women huddled near the handcart is by artist Julie Rogers. She has said, I paint the stories for people to enjoy. I especially love the women of the trail. Her permission was graciously given to use this picture. Songs include: Oh! Willie We Have Missed You; Rosy Neil; The Vacant Chair; I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day; Oh Dear! What Can The Matter Be?; Grandpapa; The Way We Crossed The Plains; Echo Canyon; Grandmother s Old Arm Chair; Salute To Our Utah Pioneers. Pioneer Songs music book: compiled by Daughters of Utah Pioneers and arranged by Alfred M. Durham, was first published in 1932. Music for the pioneers served as a source of enjoyment as well as inspiration. The songs have a legacy, each one with a story that could be told about life s trials, hardship, and joy. Pioneer Song Contest Collection: To commemorate Pioneer Day of July 24, 2013, ISDUP had a song writing contest of modern-day composers and lyricists. They wrote in honor of a rich pioneer legacy of faith, fortitude, courage, freedom and industry. Eighty-nine entries, representing over eleven-hundred DUP Camps, were divided into six categories for assessment. The songs of all the winners and twenty "close contenders" entries are published in this collection. This volume represents the first modern-day song collection ever printed in the history of DUP other than the original book of Pioneer Songs published in 1932. The CD, Pioneer Song Contest Collection, and hardbound Pioneer Songs music book, are available for purchase at the Pioneer Memorial Museum in Salt Lake City or from our online shop at isdup.org.