Ross Edwin Roper History

By Oather Ross Roper

Ross Edwin Roper Third son of William Roper and Maria Elizabeth Wimmer was born November 17, 1890, at Mountain Dell a little settlement about 20 miles north and west of Vernal, Utah.

The Beginning

Both of Ross’ parents, the Henry Roper and William Wimmer families, were living at Huntington, Utah when William and Maria were married. How long William and Maria had known each other before marriage is not known. At the time of their marriage William was 25 and Maria 18.

About the time they were married the Wimmer family moved to Vernal, Utah. William and Maria soon moved to the Vernal area also, and while they were in Vernal and Dry Fork their three sons, William, Argyle and Ross were born. When Ross was about 18 months old his parents divorced. Maria moved in with her parents and William found employment as a sheepherder and cowhand in Wyoming and Montana. Many years passed before anyone heard from William, and some supposed him to have died…

By Oather Ross Roper

Ross Edwin Roper Third son of William Roper and Maria Elizabeth Wimmer was born November 17, 1890, at Mountain Dell a little settlement about 20 miles north and west of Vernal, Utah.

The Beginning

Both of Ross’ parents, the Henry Roper and William Wimmer families, were living at Huntington, Utah when William and Maria were married. How long William and Maria had known each other before marriage is not known. At the time of their marriage William was 25 and Maria 18.

About the time they were married the Wimmer family moved to Vernal, Utah. William and Maria soon moved to the Vernal area also, and while they were in Vernal and Dry Fork their three sons, William, Argyle and Ross were born. When Ross was about 18 months old his parents divorced. Maria moved in with her parents and William found employment as a sheepherder and cowhand in Wyoming and Montana. Many years passed before anyone heard from William, and some supposed him to have died.

Although the details are no longer clear, apparently shortly after Ross was born the Wimmer family and William and Maria moved into the Big Horn Basin area of Wyoming where they lived for a short time. It is thought that while living in Wyoming, William Wimmer learned of the availability of some United States mail contracts at For Duchesne, Utah so the Wimmer family returned to Utah. He acquired the mail contracts and the family settled in Fort Duchesne.

Not long after the Wimmers’ left Wyoming Maria wanted to move to Fort Duchesne also so she and William and their three little boys began the journey. While they were camped near Lander, Wyoming a family argument erupted and grew to such magnitude that William packed his few belongings and left the family. It was years before he was heard from again and he later reported that he had wandered through Idaho, Montana and Wyoming working at various jobs.

Some friendly Lander residents took in Maria and the boys and she sent word to her family in For Duchesne of her plight. One of her brothers was sent to Lander to help Maria move to Fort Duchesne. It was probably while Maria was stranded in Lander that she met a man by the name of Orsin or Orin Oather Sheets.

William Roper, later in his life, reported to family members that Maria never was able to be separated from her family. She was the only daughter of the family and during those early years of her marriage she was never able to live long away from them. Wherever the Wimmer family moved she had to go too. Maria lived with her parents until she married a Wyoming rancher by the name of Orsin Oather Sheets. They moved to the Big Horn Basin in Wyoming.

Mr. Sheets was a big, strong, burley man with a hot temper. He didn’t prove to be a very good stepfather to the three boys. One time he threatened to stand Ross’ older brother, Argyle, on the hot stove on his bare feet, to punish him. The oldest brother, William, although only eight years of age, drew a loaded pistol from a chest of drawers and threatened to shoot Mr. Sheets. Another time Ross was riding in a wagon with Mr. Sheets when they saw several horses trying to break through a gate. Sheets got out of the wagon and threw a large club at the horses, hitting one. The club glanced as it hit the horse and hit Ross in the face. It broke his nose and made a large gash in his forehead. His nose was always a bit crooked and the scar always showed. Sheets refused to take the boy to the doctor to have his nose set and his wounds cared for, someone else had to take him.

Maria didn’t live long with Mr. Sheets. When she left him, she returned to her parents, who were still living at Fort Duchesne, Utah. This was during the time when the Fort was being established. The government sent 600 Negro soldiers to the reservation to maintain peace between the Indians and the white people. The environment at the Fort was very bad. There was a great deal of drinking, gambling, and wickedness in general. Several people were killed during quarrels. Ross often told stories of his experiences while living at the fort, along with incidents about the Fort and the Indians.

Mail Routes

William Wimmer, Ross’ grandfather, secured several mail delivery contracts from the government. One was to Whiterocks and another to the Ouray Agency on the Green River. In those days the mail was carried by horse and buggy. Ross started to drive one of the mail routes when he was nine years old. The pay was ten dollars a month and his route was from Fort Duchesne to the Ouray Agency, a distance of about twenty miles. The Government had erected several log cabin type buildings at Ouray, which were partitioned into rooms. Each of these buildings housed several families of Indians during the winter months. Ross had one small room at the end of one of these buildings where he stayed during the night. The next day he would drive the twenty miles back to Fort Duchesne.

In that area the weather gets very cold during the winter months, sometimes reaching thirty to forty degrees below zero. It was a lonely job for a nine-year-old to drive a team of horses all day. When he reach his destination he would feed and care for his horses, build a fire in an old wood stove, prepare his own evening meal, then spend the night alone. The next morning he would cook breakfast, harness his team, pick up the mail sack, and drive back to Fort Duchesne. In the winter he would heat a rock in the oven of his stove, wrap it in a sack, and place it in the buggy to help keep his feet warm.

In the summer the work was also distasteful, for that area also becomes very hot, the roads were dry and dusty. The only people he would meet anytime of year would be an occasional freighter or someone on horseback. Ross did occasionally have something happen to relieve the dullness of the trips. One day he had as a passenger a Drummer (now known as a traveling salesman). Ross was driving a team of mules, and one mule was extremely slow. Finally the drummer asked Ross if he would like to see the mule move faster. Ross said he would. The drummer got out of the buggy and poured some turpentine on the mule. Almost before he could get back in the buggy the mule began to run. For several miles it was all both of them could do to keep the mules and buggy on the road.

One night in Ouray, just as Ross was about to retire for the night a big buck Indian came into his room and grabbed Ross by the wrists. The Indian had great strength and he would squeeze on his wrists until he would make the tears come into Ross’ eyes, then he would ease for a moment, then squeeze again. This lasted for about an hour. Finally the Indian let go and Ross grabbed a large iron poker from the side of the stove and beat the Indian over the head and back until he left.

The Indians were a constant trial to the white families. They made a practice of begging food at the white homes. They especially seemed to have a weakness for liquor and whenever they were able to get any, they would become mean. However, the white people learned that the Indians were fearful of the soldiers, so when the Indians became too obnoxious they would shout, “Call the Soldiers” and the Indians would leave immediately.

This type of life for so young a boy not only was hard physically, but lead to acquiring bad habits. Ross’ grandfather and all his uncles smoked, so at a very early age Ross, too, began to smoke. Some of his uncles were also known to indulge heavily in the use of liquor. There was no opportunity for him to attend school and religious instruction was not provided in the home for the children. His formal education was very short; hence his preparation for life was meager.

Somehow a fine colt came into Ross’ possession, but he had no way to care for it and provide feed. He was forced to sell the animal to one of his uncles (his Mother’s brother). The horse was a fine racing animal and won many races and brought a great deal of money to his uncle. This was a great disappointment for Ross.

For about four years Ross drove the mail route, then his Mother moved with the Wimmer family to Vernal and they settled in the Maeser Ward, in the northwest part of the valley. The home which the Wimmer’s had purchased was about one half mile east of the Mill corner. (The old waterpower mill ground wheat for flour for years until burned down in the 1930’s). Not long after they moved to Maeser, William Fuller began courting Ross’ mother. Soon they were married and Fuller purchased a farm just across the street from the Wimmer home. The Fuller’s had three sons and two daughters born to them.

One winter after the family moved to Maeser, both William and Ross got the mumps. While mumps were usually considered to be a rather mild childhood disease, the boys were older and became extremely ill for several days. Ross suffered for several years from the effects of this sickness.

By the time Ross was sixteen years old, he had worked and traded until he had secured a team of horses, harnesses, and wagon. This was considered to be a good start for a young man in those days. During these years they were digging canals on the Indian reservation to put irrigation water onto the land. For several years Ross was able to secure work for himself and his team each spring and fall. The companies would pay some cash and the rest in land. By this method he was able to acquire forty acres of ground at Gusher, Utah. For several years he and his brother leased farmland at Vernal on a share crop basis. They would also help other farmers harvest some of their heavier crops.

Lacy Loviar Jones

When Ross was about eighteen years of age he and several other fellows were sitting on their horses at the Mill Corner, when Lacy Jones walked by on her way home from school. He had never seen her before but he remarked to the fellows that he thought she was pretty and he would like to make her acquaintance. Some months later his older brother, who was courting Lacy’s older sister, Jennie introduced Ross and Lacy. Lacy also worked for Ross’ mother in her home about the time they began going together.

The courted for about a year and were married at Vernal on May 9, 1911. Don B. Colton, President of Uintah Stake performed the marriage. Ross and Lacy left Vernal the following day for Gusher where they planned to live and farm the forty acres of ground which Ross had previously acquired. They traveled by team and wagon. Their home on that land was an 8′ x 10′ tent.

The summer in Gusher didn’t prove very profitable. The wind blows hard in that area and that summer was especially dry and windy. The soil was sandy and the hard winds would blow the topsoil off the high places and deposit it in low areas, as a result some crops would be practically left without topsoil while others would be buried. Several times the winds were so severe that the tent pegs were pulled up and the tent in which they lived collapsed. Before the summer was over irrigation water became scarce and what crops had survived the winds finally burned for lack of water. In the fall they decided to move back to Vernal for the winter. They sold the forty acres of ground in Gusher to Lacy’s uncle, Christopher Bodily, who used it for ranching sheep.

Ross and Lacy moved into a little log cabin situated about one-half mile east of the old Mill Corner. The cabin was set back about 100 yards to the north of the road and was in a grove of sliver lead cottonwood trees.

Oather Ross Roper

That winter was mild. During the beautiful weather their first child, a son, was born February 28, 1912. They named him Oather Ross. He was a chubby, healthy baby and a real joy to them.

Soon after the birth of their son, Ross left home to work for a few weeks and left instructions for Lacy to plant some of the early garden seeds in the ground which he had prepared. So about the middle of March she planted all of the garden seeds; beans, corn, squash, cucumbers — all the things usually planted later when all danger of frost is past. All the neighbors assured her that her plants would freeze, but the weather remained mild and Ross and Lacy had fresh vegetables week earlier than their neighbors and relatives.

Ross’ grandparents, the William Wimmers, lived only a short distance away and Ross and Lacy spent many happy evenings with them. They also visited Ross’ mother and husband William Fuller who lived nearby.

Vanola Roper

While the couple was still living in the log cabin a second child, a daughter was born on July 18, 1914. They named her Vanola.

About this time they bought one acre of ground from Orin Dan Allen. The ground was not far east of where they were living. Ross made a trade with his brother William for some logs to start building a new home on his ground. The logs were not of a uniform size so it took a lot of hewing and notching to make some of them fit. In those days the logs were notched on the corners, and laid horizontally and over lapped until they were built up to the height desired. Then a large ridge log was placed across the building in the center. This made the roof slope to the edge. Lumber was placed on the logs for the roof, then heavy clay dirt was shoveled onto the lumber. It took about eight inches of dirt to keep the roof from leaking, and even then when the rain fell for a prolonged time the roof would leak. Lacy often related how she helped nail the chinking blocks along the edges of the round logs to hold the mud dobbing. This dobbing was applied by pressing mud between the logs with a cement trowel. This filled up the cracks and made the house more weatherproof. Pine lumber was used for flooring. After a few years the boards would shrink and leave large cracks between boards in the floor.

At one time while they were living in this home their neighborhood was filled with stray cats. In the winter the cats dug some dirt from the end of the house and gathered under the floor to keep warm. They would fight and meow until the noise was unbearable, so the family heated water in the teakettle and poured the boiling water through the cracks in the floor on to the cats. Later on of the cats died under the floor and the stench became so bad that Ross had to take up a section of the floor and get it out. This made him so angry that he got one of his brothers-in-law to accompany him and they climbed onto the roof of an old shed some distance from the house. Whenever they saw a cat they shot it. During a period of about three hours they killed about two dozen cats.

Morris LeRoy

On July 13, 1916 a second son was born. He was named Morris LeRoy. The one room log house, although fairly large, soon became a bit crowded for the family, so Ross built a room on one end of the cabin and this became the kitchen. Soon after Morris was born, Ross was sitting by the fire smoking cigarette. He noted how intently his little children watched what what he was doing. Finally he took the sack of tobacco from his pocket and threw it into the fire. His wife commented that he had been foolish and that within a couple of hours he would have to ride his horse to the store for a new supply of tobacco. Ross assured her that he would never smoke again. He kept this promise throughout the remainder of his life. His family felt that his example of not smoking was instrumental in keeping them from taking up the habit.

Ross and Lacy worked hard every summer, raised a good garden, and stored vegetables, flour, wood, clothing, and other items for winters. There wasn’t much work in Vernal during the winter so Ross was often obliged to take his team and help dig canals or work in the gilsonite mines to provide for his family.

In 1914 World War I started in Europe. Ross was on standing call but was never drafted. Following the war the great flu epidemic swept over the nation. During the fall of 1919, Ross went to the Black Dragon Gilsonite Mine and secured employment for the winter. A few weeks later his brother Argyle joined him at the mine and they both worked digging gilsonite. A few days after Argyle arrived at the mine he became ill with the flu. The doctors were so afraid of the epidemic that they would not go into the homes but would advise people from outside what they should do to care for the sick. The doctor came and looked in their window and told Ross that his brother looked very bad and he felt sure he would not live. Ross cared for Argyle until he too became ill with the disease. Some of the men at the mine brought food and wood for their fire and left it on the doorstep but dared not go into the house. It was several weeks before they were again strong enough to return to their homes in Vernal. The long illness left Ross with a terrible cough. After returning home it took him several weeks before he could develop enough strength to work again.

Early that spring Ross secured a job helping dig the High Line canal located a few miles from where he lived. After a few days of work, drilling with hand steel for dynamite blasting, a sore spot formed on his right hand, which soon turned into blood poison. For days his hand swelled. The doctor lanced the hand in several places trying to find the core, but could not. Finally, the core came out between the small finder and the one next to it. The core had pushed the small finger almost straight out. As he was recovering from this illness bronchitis developed in his lungs and the doctor prescribed that he sleep outside in a tent. He was so slow in improving that the doctor finally told the family that Ross should go to Arizona. This frightened Ross Lacy because they had experienced so much illness and had very to Arizona. This frightened Ross and Lacy because they had experienced so much illness and had very little money. Eventually he did recover his health without having to go to Arizona.

Von Stanley & Voit James

During this time two more sons were born to Ross and Lacy. Von Stanley was born May 10, 1918 and Voit James was born December 9, 1919.

Emmett Idaho

Early in 1919 Ross’ mother and stepfather moved their family to Emmett, Idaho. They corresponded often with Ross and told him what great opportunities there were in Emmett and urged him to bring his family and join them. There was not much employment in Vernal for Ross so he sold his little home to a Mr. Pace and late in August started with his family on the long journey to Idaho. An uncle of Ross, Roy Wimmer, offered to drive the family to Price in his new Chevrolet. The car had a cloth top with open sides.

They began their long journey early one morning. The roads in those days were single lane, unpaved, rocky and extremely dusty. Roy had put reliners in his tires to give them added strength, then put 60 lbs. of air pressure in each one. They had not traveled many hours until the sun became hot and expanded the air in the tubes, which caused the tires to blow out. After several flat tires, which had to be hand pumped up again, the men wore blisters on their hands. Roy was a small man and could only pump the tires about 40 pounds pressure, then Ross had to put the last 20 pounds of air into the tubes. Finally Ross refused to put so much air into the tires because he felt this was the cause of so many blowouts. Roy was unhappy with him, but since he was unable to pump more himself he had to continue their journey with less air and they had not more flats. It took them about 12 hours to drive from Vernal to Price, arriving there in the evening.

The family members were all excited at the prospects of seeing a train for the first time and especially to be able to ride on the one to Idaho. It was nearly dark when the train, with the Roper family aboard, moved out of the station. They had not traveled many miles until the train started the climb over Soldier Summit. The old steam, coal-fired engines had to work real hard to pull the passenger cars over the top of the mountain. All the windows had to be closed to keep out as much smoke and cinders as possible, but soon the cards were full of train smoke and cigarette smoke. The passengers nearly suffocated before reaching the summit. After traveling nearly two full days the family arrived in Emmett and was met by the Fuller family.

They lived with the Fullers until Ross could build a small house for his family. First he purchased a building lot in the city limits, not far from the Fuller home. This lot was only about a mile from a large sawmill so he purchased lumber from the mill and built a two-room home. Living in the city was a new experience for the entire family. They soon found that the climate in Emmett was different than in Vernal. The first winter it rained most of the time and they had been used to a lot of snow in vernal.

Ross worked at the sawmill for several months that winter. Later he worked for a butcher at a slaughterhouse. Finally Ross and the Fuller’s rented the Plaza Ranch, which was located several miles up the Payette River from Emmett. The ranch was about 400 acres of hay and grain. They worked hard to cultivate and water that ground, but irrigation water ran short before some of the crops matured, so they did not realize the financial success they had anticipated. However, the ranch was a good experience for the families. They enjoyed fishing and swimming in a river, which ran by the ranch. A farm, which joined the Plaza ranch, produced watermelons, which were shipped, all over the United States and the Plaza Ranch families were given permission to have all they could eat.

That fall, before they could sell their crops, the families were in need of money so the men and boys picked prunes in a large 80 acre orchard. Ross and Oather (Oather was about 11 years old) picked more fruit every day than William and Ray Fuller and they were both grown men.

That same fall the families moved back to Emmett. Work was scarce and Ross worked at the sawmill again and did some butchering at the slaughterhouse. The next spring he secured employment as a section worker on the railroad that ran up into the Cascade Mountains where the logs were obtained for the large saw mill. This was hard work but it offered steady employment for several months. During this time he learned the train signals. Because of this, next spring, when the construction started on the Black Canyon dam, Ross was able to get a job as a brakeman on one of the little trains that hauled sand and gravel for the cement.

Ornal Varden & Amy

During these years in Emmett two more children were born. On April 21, 1921 a son Ornal Varden was born while the family was living on the Plaza Ranch. A daughter, Amy, was born **** **, 19**.

REturn home to Vernal

Ross had begun to be active in the church. The branch was small in Emmett and it was easy for Ross and Lacy to see the difference between L.D.S. people and those of other faiths. He decided that he did not want his large family growing up with the gentile environment and so he and Lacy made the decision to return to Vernal where all the family and friends were members of the Church.

Ross was still working so he put Lacy and the children on the train in August 1923. It was a long journey for her with seven little children, the oldest 12 and the baby just two months old. From Price she traveled by car to Vernal.

Ross worked in Emmett until late fall, then he and his half brother, Jess Fuller, left Emmett in a Model T Ford. They applied for work several places as they traveled and finally found work at the Columbia Geneva Steel coal mine at Price, Utah, which was just getting ready to open. Ross worked there for about a year. In the meantime the family had rented a home next to the Ashley Creek Bridge and with the help of Lacy’s parents, had gotten settled for the winter. Ross worked all the overtime he could get that winter at the coal mine, which provided good support for his family. The following summer he had earned enough money to purchase a Model T Ford, his first car, then he drove to Vernal to join his family. The arrival of their Father as well as a new car was a real thrill for the children.

During the fall months Ross found employment at various jobs. At this time the High Line Canal was being dug around the north end of the valley to carry water during periods of high water. Ross secured a contract to dig a tunnel through a hill near the old Feltch sawmill in Ashley Ward. It was shale rock formation and he used black powder to blast the rock away to form the tunnel. A fair amount of profit was realized from this contract. Then Ross, Samuel Grey and Earl Wamsley bid on another tunnel, which was to be much longer. Owen Jones also worked with them on this tunnel. They dug several hundred feet and received their pay, then the company began to pay irregularly and finally just before Christmas, with the company owing the men several hundred dollars they announced they had gone broke and there would be no more money. The men had put all their own surplus money into the digging operation so they were left in difficult financial circumstances. Ross and Lacy explained the problem to their children and they had a very meager Christmas that year.

The Colton Ranch

The family lived near a large ranch, which was owned by Don B. Colton. In the spring of 1925 Ross was hired by Mr. Colton to manage his ranch for the summer. Ross worked many long and hard hours that summer and his young sons helped. It proved to be a good situation because Ross could be with his sons during the day and teach them to work and he could be at home with the family in the evenings.

Because of Ross’ wise planning and hard work the ranch paid off real well that season for Mr. Colton so he decided to keep Ross in his employment during the winter. Mr. Colton purchased 300 head of cull ewes that fall and a few cows for Ross to care for. During the winter Ross built and repaired fences. He tore down an old sheep shed and built new sheds and a coral. He also acquired a few hogs. The next spring had a good crop of lambs. Mr. Colton was pleased with the results of the winter’s activities and decided to keep Ross as permanent manager of the ranch.

The cow herd increased to about 20 head which had to be milked night and morning and Mr. Colton purchased 80 acres of land in the southern end of the valley that Ross and the boys had to care for also. This acreage was in alfalfa so twice each summer they would have to drive the lower ranch for several days to harvest the hay crop, along with doing chores each morning and evening on the ranch at home. These were years of long hard work and the boys grew and were taught by their father how to enjoy work. In the hay season they were often up at 4:00 a.m. and did not finish until after dark at night. One year they raised twenty acres of great north beans. It took many hours of hard work planting, irrigating, cultivating, hand weeding, and harvesting the beans. Then as the beans were harvested the price dropped so drastically that no profit was realized from their summer work. For several years they raised fifty to sixty acres of field corn with was placed into a large pit silo to feed the stock in the winter.

Bernarr Glade & Marvel Dwain

On ***** **, 19** a sixth son was born and named Bernarr Glade. On ***** **, 19** Marvel Dwain was born.

Manti Temple Sealing

During these early years on the Colton ranch Ross became very active in the church, attending regularly and taking his family with him. In July of 1931, he took his wife and nine children to Manti to be sealed in the Temple. Because of the size of the family it was necessary to take two cars. The Ropers then had a 1927 Chevrolet and they made arrangements to use the Model T. Ford pickup truck, which Mr. Colton purchased for use of the farm. Two days before they were to leave for Manti the transmission gears went out of the car, and it took several hours to repair this.

Early on the morning of July 14, 1931 the family started for Manti. They drove to Duchesne, then over Indian Canyon, to Spanish Fork, Nephi and on to Manti. A few miles before reaching Spanish Fork a motor bearing went out in the truck. This was repaired at a garage, but just before reaching Nephi it went out again. It was getting late in the afternoon so Ross decided to take Lacy and the little children on into Manti and left the older boys to get the car repaired. The mechanic discovered that the oil line had plugged and that was the reason for the motor burning out. It was nearly midnight when the boys reached Manti.

They stayed in a home Isaac Jones maintained for people coming to the Temple. The next morning July 15, Ross and Lacy went through the temple for their endowments. The nine children were then taken in and sealed to their parents. This was one of the great accomplishments in the life of the family. The next day they drove back home.

Darson Wendall Roper

Ross was called to be a counselor in the ward MIA. He taught in the Aaronic Priesthood quorums, and helped in the ward activities according to his abilities. On Christmas morning, 19**, another son, Darson Wendall was born. This now made eight boys and two girls. Over the years Ross and sons worked in the various offices of the Priesthood. Two different times while they lived in the Maeser Ward the male members of the family held all the offices of the Priesthood at one time.

Soon after Ross started to work for Don Colton the family moved into the old Ed Colton home about one-fourth mile south of the home where they had been living. This home had electric lights, the first electric power the family had ever had. It was a real thrill to turn a button for lights, instead of lighting the old kerosene lamp. The lot had a large space for gardening and also a number of fruit trees. Ross rented this house and two acres of land for $5 a month. Ed Colton had owed his brother Don a sum of money and Don had taken the house and lot as payment. After a few years Don sold the place to Ross for $800, which was paid by Oather working on the ranch for $40.00 a month. Two more rooms were built on the back of the house and changes made in the corrals and other buildings. Some of the ground was planted into different types of berries. One year several rows of strawberries were planted. The plants grew well and the following spring they were covered with blossoms. One night a hard frost hit and Ross and the boys spent most of the night smudging to keep them from freezing. This night of work paid off because nearly a hundred crates of berries were picked from the strawberries that summer. Ross often told his boys “if we don’t grow it, we go without because we can’t afford to buy it.” The family raised a large garden every summer and the boys learned to love this work. They had fresh vegetables all summer and stored plenty for winter. Each fall a wagonload of wheat was taken to the flourmill in exchange for flour, whole wheat and germade cereal. Two or three pigs, a beef, and a few sheep were raised each year to supply meat for the family. Chickens were raised both for eggs and meat.

The Great Depression

The depression of the early thirties hit and the price of farm produce dropped to an all-time low. It was difficult to sell animals and crops raised on the ranch, so little profit was realized. Ross worked hard and managed well and got his family through the depression without accepting government help.

Rearing a large family is not possible without much sickness and many problems. When the childhood diseases were contracted at school they went through the entire family. Probably one of the hardest trials the family had was when four of the children had pneumonia at one time. About the only help they had for pneumonia was to apply mustard plasters every few hours, night and day for several days while waiting for the fever to break.

Voit fell off a gate one fall and broke his arm at the elbow. It was such a nasty fracture, that it couldn’t be set in a cast. He had to be taken into town every day for several weeks so the Doctor could work with the arm out of the cast. Later Voit and Vanola had rheumatic fever, which left them with damaged hearts. When Vanola was ill the doctors told Ross she would only live a few months. Because of the good care they were given, their health improved greatly and they both grew to adulthood.

Following the depression Ross leased the Colton ranch for several years. They had a good living which he and the boys were thus employed and several of the boys were old enough to do men’s work so very little outside help had to be hired. After a few years Mr. Colton’s younger brother, Hugh, took over the management of the ranch. Ross worked for him for couple of years but it became a difficult situation so Ross no longer leased the ranch.

Ross and his oldest son, Oather, leased a coal mine from Martin Fletcher which was in the coal mine basin west of Maeser. Digging coal was real hard work, but they were not afraid to work. They dug a new tunnel in the hill several hundred feet below and old mine tunnel, which had not been worked for years. They were doing real well until the mine caved in one night. Most all of the mine tools were lost back of the cave-in. After the cave-in they began work in the old mine tunnel and dug out the pillars of coal which had been left between the mine rooms to support the ceiling. They would go to the bottom and work up toward the main entrance of the tunnel. After taking large areas of coal out, the ceiling rock would get so heavy that it would finally cave in. It would certainly make a worried feeling when this reaction would start. Sometimes it would take two or three days of this constant shifting before the roof rock would cave all the way down to the floor. Many hundreds of tons of coal were dug from this mine, which the family operated for several winters.

Coal was sold for cash, but more often traded for produce and other items. Coal was also traded to acquire two pieces of land about a mile north of the home. They also traded coal to the Newton Brothers Leather Company for a new harness for the team.

With the team and wagon they took care of their land and also helped many of the farmers in their area with crop harvesting. One year they went to Lapoint and put up hay for Clair Hacking on his ranch.

One year, the State Road Commission built a large Asphalt melting plant by the vein of asphalt which had cropped out of the big hill west of Vernal. One summer Ross worked on this project for several months. They also supplied coal to operate the steam boilers that supplied steam to melt the asphalt. A couple of summers they worked on the mountain getting lumber sawed, and hauling it home to be used for their building purposes.

During the early months of 1940 Ross complained of feeling dizzy when he raised his head too high. As the months we on, he complained of a pain in his neck and shoulders, which kept getting worse, until it required a doctor’s care. The doctor first diagnosed the trouble as being arthritis. Ross through perhaps his system was being fed poison by a couple of bad teeth, so he had them extracted. However, the paid got steadily worse. The doctor then thought perhaps it was his tonsils giving off and excessive amount of poison, so his tonsils were removed which caused him a great deal of pain and suffering for a few days.

None of these things helped his over-all condition and the paid got steadily worse as the days went by. Finally another doctor was called into consultation and they determined that a tumor was growing on his brain. Nothing could be done in Vernal for this condition. Their doctor suggested that he go to Salt Lake to Consult with Dr. Harrow, a noted brain specialist. Late in the fall Oather and Lacy took Ross to Salt Lake, traveling by way of Provo where they spent the afternoon and night visiting with Vanola, Morris and Voit.

Dr. Harrow studied the case and determined. He could not remove the tumor; it was imbedded to deeply. Ross was sent home to die. After a short time Dr. Harrow contacted their Vernal doctor and told him to bring Ross to Salt Lake again, he would try to perform surgery. By this time Ross was in so much pain that it was necessary to hire an ambulance to make the trip. Lacy, Oather and Ornal followed the ambulance in the little Chevy coupe owned by the family. The ambulance traveled between 50-60 miles and hour, which was extremely fast for cars and road in those days. Ross was taken immediately to the L.D.S. hospital. Tests were taken and consultations made. He was now beginning to have sinking spells and had difficulty breathing. After a couple of days the doctors announced that their decision was to open the skull on the back of his head and attempt to remove the tumor which was on the base of the brain. Some of the tumor was removed, but it was so deep that it could not have been taken out.

By degrees he grew worse. Although he had a very strong will to live the family realized that was impossible. The pain was so intense that he had to have morphine shots every one and a half to two hours, which required hundred of shots during the last few months he lived. The doctors said he would completely lose his mind before the end came. To their great surprise he was rational most of the time. He did go partially paralyzed in his throat and it became difficult for him to talk. He had to be fed with a tube through his nose. His body got thin and weak. If he felt with his own heart that there was not a chance for his recovery, he didn’t indicate it to his family. Generally he would say, “I’m going to get better.”

As the weeks went by it became necessary for someone to stay almost constantly by the bedside. Lacy and Oather spent most of their days and nights caring for him. The pain was so severe that the muscles in one side of his face would draw up and give him a distorted look, until he didn’t want people to come visit him. Much prayer and fasting was exercised in his behalf, but it seemed that his mission was soon to be finished in this life.

The financial burdens became excessive because of the expenses of medical care and because they were so involved in his care that they could not work and earn money to pay the bills. It was a time of great worry and sorrow for members of the family. By this time Vanola, Morrie and Voit were all living in Provo and Von was married so the burden fell on Oather and Ornal for the care of the family.

Beyond the veil

On the morning of March 5, 1941, a change was detected coming over him. A different look was on his face. He seemed very near to a comma. He would rally for a few minutes, then lapse into deep sleep. About five p.m. Oather went into the room and Ross roused for a moment, and was asked how he felt. He replied that he was all right. Oather went into the kitchen with the rest of family. About fifteen minutes later he returned to his father’s room and found that he had passed away. As hard as it was to have him leave it was also good to have him relieved of his intense suffering.

The next day after his body was prepared; several of the family went to the mortuary to view him. The last few months of his suffering had set the muscles in the side of his face, to the extent that he didn’t have a relaxed peaceful look. Therefore it was decided not to have an open casket. The family felt it was better to have family and friends remember him as he had been in healthier days.

Many people were very kind in helping with so many of the details. The family was all home for the funeral which was held in the Maeser Ward Chapel. He was buried in the Rock Point Cemetery.