George Osmer Ward, Jr

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LFCD-RT7
• Initiatory (LDS): 16 Jan 1952, SLAKE

Notes:

One of my fondest memories of Grandpa Ward was that every time my fami l y came to visit he always asked me to play piano for him. His favorit e hy mn was Sweet Hour of Prayer. He loved to pull out his harmonicas an d pla y as I played. We would play over and over again. It was somethin g tha t I knew he enjoyed and I looked forward to it every time we came o ver .

Rian Carrol Naef



Memories Written by George Osmer Ward, Jr

First memories written about September 1, 2010

My life could fill a book and probably will. I was born the second of F e bruary, 1927. Can’t remember how the winter was, and nobody has mentio ne d it. Born at home at Connor Creek, Idaho on the west side of the int ers ection. Dr. Satter was our doctor. He was a country doctor for man y yea rs.

Got to jump forward more because I can’t remember anything. Dad had bui l t chicken coops on the east side of the road. I remember following hi m f rom the east side to the west side and had to run to keep up with hi m . I was really small.
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Moved house M
To here a Dad’s drawing @ Conner Creek
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Next thing I remember was a little later. Dad and mother were to tow n . Eloise, my sister and I went to gather the eggs, when we came bac k w e looked out the window and all the coops had blown away. Layer hen s wer e out in the rain; baby chicks and other sizes were out in the rain . I c an’t remember one word Dad and Mother said about it. I do remembe r the n eighbors coming to help put things back together .

I can remember getting a spanking for breaking a window in the house.

The next thing, I remember is when they moved the store and home from t h e west side to the east side. I forgot to mention that dad had a stor e a ll this time. Uncle Lew Wickel moved the store and home with his hor ses .

I guess I will return to my history. We got our home moved to the eas t s ide, which made things more handy, Dad closer to his chores and mor e park ing by the store. We had water from the spring, so mother had wat er fo r her garden and fruit trees.

I don’t remember what year it is or was, I wasn’t very big, less than t e n years old, I would assume. Then I kept growing up. Every summer pla yi ng with my toys; trucks, road graders, etc. I would build roads and b rid ges. Started school when I was seven, fall of 1934. Went to Elba fi rst . Second year went to Burley, stayed with Grandmother Wickel Ward . I di d not like it down there, but I did like Gramma! (Dad, still tal ks abou t that experience and wonders why his parents sent him to Burle y to liv e with his grandmother and go to school. He mentioned how homes ick he wo uld get and wanted to go home so bad.) Then, I went to schoo l in Malta . Winters were hard, no school busses. First year on a rubbe r tired wag on, then county got a school bus for us. I guess we were tou gh in thos e days. Before the school bus Dad drove us to Malta one yea r or more.

About 1935, or 1936, Grandpa Ward died. He was not very kind. He nev e r spoke to me, or held my hand. They said he was sick a lot. Well , I lo ve him anyway.

Well, I kept growing up getting interested in this and that. I trappe d f or furs a lot, mostly muskrats, some mink, rabbits. Got a badger , a racc oon and duck.

Then, I got interested in the gasoline engine. Had an old Fair Bank Mor s e engine on the place. Spent hours trying to get it to run. Had som e pa rts missing. Henry Ottley had one. I loved to hear it run. It wou ld hi t one to three times to pick up speed then it would coast, then hi t agai n two or three times, then coast (Fascinating) it drove a water pu mp, ha d a pump jack. It had to heavy fly wheels which helped keeping i t going.

Well, I kept trapping and tinkering with cars. Started helping the ranc h ers putting up hay and such. One time I drove Wallace Ward to Oakley . G ot on a horse and spent two days on the range, bringing in sheep t o the r ailroad. That was fun. I rode horses quite a bit at this time.

I bought my first car at this time, a 1927 Model A. Paid $65 for it. ( A bout 1943). Bucked snow, hauled hay, helped the neighbors. About thi s t ime something happened, I never noticed before. I noticed there wer e gir ls around, wondered where they came from. We (friends) started cha sing g irls. What a waste of time!

I worked on this ranch and that farm trying to make a dollar. Worked a l l day for .50. Then Dad and I bought Cain Springs. Eighty acres an d 1 6 head range on the forest. We would plow the ground and plow up bab y ra ttle snakes. I loved that place, worked all summer for Gene Gierisc h t o help pay for the farm, it cost $600. About this time, Franklin D . Roos evelt started the CCC camps and WPA to put local people to work . Camp a t Malta constructed canals. Roosevelt started these camps t o put peopl e back to work. People don’t know how tough it was. Hard ti mes then . I didn’t notice it though. I had warm home, food to eat, wor k to do , but it was hard times.

They say it is hard times now. People need to get out of debt, know bef o re hard times really come. Our government is way over center; I don’ t be lieve it can ever go back with out a lot of hard ships .

We all need to listen to our prophet’s voice and do what he says.



Fall of 1947:

Well, about this time, I read in an add that Western Electric needed he l p installing telephone equipment in Central offices. So, I went to Sa l t Lake City, spent a night or two with my sister Isabel and Fred and to o k some tests, passed and they hired me.

They sent me straight to Boise. They had a large job up there and on e a t MK, which was a hugh construction company. It was here that I sa w th is pretty girl. She was pushing cords into round holes. (The stor y is t old that he saw her legs first and really thought they looked nice , so th en he had to figure out which girl belongs to which pair of legs . When h e figured it out, he decided that he would ask her out on a dat e the nex t day, but she did not come to work the next day and he was a l ittle conc erned. He didn’t even know her name. So, it is said he acte d quickly th e next day, when she came back to work )

The prettiest girl, I ever did see. I asked her for a date, she said ye s . We were married 2 ½ weeks later. I heard her tell the girl by her , sh e wasn’t going to get married. Today we have been married almost 6 3 year s. It has been a good life.

Let’s go back awhile. While working at Malta, Dorothy Thompson and Nor m a Sanders, both return missionaries taught Mom the lessons and she wa s ba ptized. Karen was about 1 year old.

On the ranch in Challis, Karen also liked riding the irrigating horse.

Now, lets go back to 1944. I was drafted and went to Camp Roberts, Cali f ornia to military camp. Then, to Ford Ord. The war was over. I cam e ho me. Went one year to school at the college in Albion. I took up fo restr y, and then I went to Boise.

Sometimes, I wish I had been educated before I met Mom. After I marri e d Mom, I worked as a mechanic or on farms or ranches. Went to Bridge , wo rked on two ranches. Worked in Malta on a ranch. Spent the 1947-19 48 wi nter in Burley, lived with Gramma and chopped hay, hauled straw t o unloa d and bedded cattle in Swifts Feed Yard. Gramma liked mom, the y got alon g real good. Gramma had her first Christmas tree for a long t ime.

I worked in a shop in Malta to make enough money to move to Challis, whe r e her folks were at that time. Worked at a mine, mile up the Salmo n . A ways then, West up Bay Horse Mine to the mine. Always scared of h ei ghts. Then we spent 1952 and some of 1953 on a ranch on Challis Cree k . A one room log cabin with a dirt roof. Karen, loved to go fishing w it h me. Then we got our name drawn to get land in the Columbia Basin . W e moved to Washington, fall of 1953 and started farming in 1954 . I regre t dragging, Mom all over the country. But she never complaine d. I kno w she was happy to settle down and raise a family. She loved t he Connel l Ward and all the people. That’s where I started back to chur ch and hav e been going ever sense.

In the summer of 1948 we rented a farm from Alma Clark. Karen was a bab y . This was another of my grat blunders. Lost my shirt and pants. Th i s place was south west of Burley. I had the flu that winter. The fir s t and last time I had the flu. When you get the flu you will know i t . I still milked the cows twice a day.


Danny was born 1954
Gayla was born 1957
Sandra was born 1959
David was born 1968


November 16, 2010

This weekend we celebrated Mom’s birthday – all three days. Had a goo d t ime, cold outside, wind blowing, some snow.

Life in Challis:

We lived in Challis about two years. Lived on Challis Creek. I irrigat e d and bailed hay mostly. Had lots of get-to-gather times, real fun. E ve n thought about settling there.

We got our names drawn for a place in the Columbia Basin. That change d o ur lives. We made one trip up their to pick out our farm and see th e cou ntry. What a disappointment! Sand, sagebrush and Russian Thistl e everyw here. Our disappointment ended with the thought of having somet hing of o ur own. We settled for Unit 51 in block eleven, west of Connel l. Mom wo rked the first year at the telephone office in Pasco. I staye d on the fa rm and drove school bus to Connell .

After our first trip to Connell, we returned to Challis, trying to figu r e out how we could get enough money to make the move. I went to the ba n k and told them I was moving to Washington and needed a thousand dolla r s to move. He said, you are leaving the state and you need to borro w a t housand dollars. I said that’s right and we will pay it back a hun dred d ollars a month for ten months. “It took us eleven months”. I lef t the b ank with the money.

I borrowed and old farm truck from Lynn Brady, hooked our hay wagon behi n d it and left for Connell on the old long highway. One flat tire and o n e stop by the police, we made it to the farm, then we had to take the t ru ck back to Challis.

The Lord must have been with us all the way. The truck was old, the wag o n was older. Thank Goodness there were no freeways. We did things ba c k then on a wing and a prayer. I would be really scared to do things l ik e that today.

When we arrived in Connell, I already had a job with Loen Baily, later k n own as the Boys Ranch. We lived in an old house in Basin City. I beli ev e the old house is still standing and the cistern for water. There w a s a large old red barn, gone now, I think.

I worked on land at the ranch, at Basin City and down the river below Ri n gold. I even overhauled a tractor for Loen . I think he was impresse d . They were Methodists, good people. I can’t remember dates, but we p u t in for a FHA loan of $18,000 to build our home, level the farm. Pu t i n the ditches. Then probably in 1953 we built a one room building o n th e farm and I lived there and Mom and Karen lived in Pasco and Mom wo rke d at the telephone office.

In Basin City it was lien pickings, but we were prepared. Mom had a l o t of canned goods we brought us from Idaho. That really helped. I thi n k my wages were $175 a month, minus $100 to the bank. We had a five ga ll on Butane tank and a butane range. Five gallons of butane lasted almo s t a month and it was cheap.

Bill Connel roped an old range cow, that didn’t have a calf. We put h e r in a corral by the barn. She was half wild, but she had a weakness f o r rolled oats. I got a halter on her and when she came in the barn I t ie d her up and hobbled her. This cow was a blessing to us.
We developed the farm spring of 1954. Then my helper showed up in Octob e r of 1954. We called him Danny. I always wanted a Danny boy. Well , w e developed the farm, built our home and got Danny in 1954. Mom, wa s o n the farm then. We had our own family in our own home, the bank i n Chal lis paid off and we were settled down for good. 1954 was a very g ood yea r.

In 1954 when we leveled the land the wind blew hard that spring, drift e d sand and got in the cabin. What a mess .

Well, we were settled down on the farm, went to Connell to church, I wor k ed in the garages in Connell and Othello. Made a lot of friends, goo d pe ople. Done business with local people, all good people.

The farm kept us busy. I worked out 40 hours a week, which made farmi n g a little harder. It seems like Mom worked in Othello some, then sh e go t this idea of going to school and becoming an RN. I hated that. F or fi ve years the kids and I had to be quiet while she studied, for fiv e years . Well, it passed and we’ve all been blessed by what she did .

I had back surgery in 1964. Was laid up for six months. When I recover e d I opened my own repair shop in the school bus garage. The district b ui lt it on our farm. I paid them for the garage. I worked on cars, tru cks , tractors and crawlers. It was a gift. The Elder’s planted my crop s th at spring for me, beets and hay.

My banker, either Sheldon Law or Bob Hague said to me one day, “George d i d you ever consider, that maybe you wasn’t cut out to be a farmer?” Th e n we rented out the ground. Kept back the pasture for cows and live d i n our home and paid of the FHA and another debt. This is when I real ly s tarted to manage my money better. I was always bad at managing mone y . I believe it was Sheldon Law who helped me budget my money and star t p aying off debts. He is a great guy .

Well, time went farming, working in town and Mom being a nurse. Enjoyi n g things like Christmas every year, going to church fulfilling calling s . Gayla was born fall of 1957. She was fun. I called her my baby dol l . Then in 1959, Sandra came along. She was always happy and fun. Sh e m ad us all laugh. I called her a buffoon, because she made very on e laug h. By the way, I was ordained an Elder in Challis .

Then one day it seemed to me that Sandra couldn’t hear to good. Mom h a d the RH factor in her blood. Sandra has worn a hearing aid every sinc e . I remember one time I could hear a noise in the piano, after investi ga ting, I found her hearing aids back in the piano. She hid them becaus e s he didn’t like them. Hearing aids are much better today .

Well time went on. Christmas and Holidays as usual, birthdays and kid s g rowing up. I wish I could do that time over again, really too short . W e took a few trips. Had a lot of snow so we built an igloo one wint er . I always would clean Mom’s car off so she could go to work safely a n d warmed it up. Kids went to Primary and Seminary. Karen would driv e he r car and pick up kids to go to seminary.

Then about 1968 another stranger showed up just looking for a home, mo r e like board and room. We called him David. He also had trouble wit h Mo m’s blood but did fine. He was a good boy. We needed that becaus e we we re getting older, after about a year or so old I built a bed an d toys i n the garage by the heater. He would sleep and play there an d I watche d him until he started school. Seems like a short time with h im .

Here is a poem Dad wrote about David on a trip we took to Idaho:

The Stork flew light and high
No heavy load that trip to fly
When asked how come by a passing bee
He just smiled and said it’s a preemie.

Because of its state of being
Speed was needed and could be
To reach the helping hands
Who would care for our preemie

Importance comes they say
With any size
Though small as a flee he may be
Precious is our preemie.


(I remember Dad telling us one time with tears in his eyes, that he alwa y s was very thrilled when he found out Mom was in the Mothering way.)


Mom, started talking about moving to a town close to a college. I hat e d that idea. In about 1976, I got a job in Burley doing something I hat e d but told myself I could do it until I retired. (You just can’t foo l yo urself.) We moved to Burley and as usual I went from job to job. M om wo rked as an RN in Burley and Rupert.

Then about 1979, I borrowed some money and opened a NAPA store in Burle y . This was the grandlady of all my blunders. Lost more than my shir t an d pants. Before this blunder I worked in a shop in Paul where the y mad e snow plows and blowers to ship all over the world. I mostly mad e wirin g harnesses, some welding. Never contented, we then opened the N APA stor e. Lost $75,000. Borrowed $5000 dollars to pay my last debt . Took nin e years paying interest then I got enough money to pay off th e $5,000. W hat a relief. I paid the debt off in nine years .



Memories of my father by Karen Rose Ward Ferguson

I have very fond memories of growing up on the farm and working with m y f ather out in the field. Because I was the oldest, he needed the hel p o n the farm. Dad worked very hard to provide a living for his family . H e also worked for a couple of years at the Moses Lake beet factory . I ca n remember being so excited when he would bring home little ball s from th e factory that we could bounce around and play with. It was a n hour driv e to Moses Lake, so it would be long days for him. He also w orked in Con nell for a while as a mechanic. Life was very busy on the f arm, trying t o make a living and support a family. He would work long h ours and the n come home and work. We had milk cows for many years and w ould have t o milk them both morning and night. He also drove a school b us for sever al years. I don’t think that was his favorite, as he someti mes would mak e the older boys walk home, if they were acting up on the b us .

My sister, Gayla and I both have fond memories of helping Dad outside a n d working alongside of him. We grew up enjoy the fresh air and smell s o f working the soil, fresh turned earth. We always had animals around , do gs, cats, pigs, chickens, a couple of horses and a few turkeys. I t wa s a fun childhood.

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWC8-Y85
• Initiatory (LDS): 1 Jun 1960, LOGAN

Notes:

History of George Osmer Ward (original copy the property of George War d J r.):

I was born at Elba, Idaho on the 24th day of April, 1895 to Hyrum Hankin s on Ward and Margaret Jane Wickel Ward.

At the age of six I went to school at Elba in a log school house for t w o months and there being so many we were moved to the Elba Church hous e w here we had two more months of school.

The next year my folks leased our ranch to Lonzo Parrish and along wit h F rank Hall and his family went to Billess, Boise, Coldwell & Nampa.

We traveled in two sheep camp wagons. It took us about two weeks to ma k e the trip one way. After arriving there, Dad and Mr. Hall got a job un lo ading cement from rail cars to store room, I believe it was at Emmett , Id aho.

I went to school at Emmett also at the Lincoln school at Boise. I can re m ember the Prisoners going by our place to work on the road, they woul d ca ll them the Ball & Chain Crew. We boys, my brother Lester and the tw o Hal l boys, Dewey & Afton Hall, would go out to the Boise dump ground s and fi nd lots of play thing to play with.

After about two years Mr. Hall bought a ranch, believe it was at Nampa , s o dad decided to come back. As we were camped for the night at Store s Fer ry dad was told about the Burley project that was going to be surve yed an d the ground open up for settlers of eighty acres each farm.

Dad then decided to bring us back to Elba and he would go to the New pro j ect which was later named Burley. Dad took the camp and camped down o n th e River close to where the railroad bridge is now as there was no wa ter a ny other place and feed for the horses.

After the town was laid out dad and Uncle Dave Ward bought a lot togeth e r where Kings variety store is now.

Dad built a building on the back part of the lot for a livery born and t h en him & Uncle Dave build a store building on the front of the lot. Da d t ook half of it for his grain & feed business & Uncle Dave put in a bu tche r shop in his half.

In the winter of 1904 dad bought a place a mile south of town from a fel l ow who got cold feet and decided he had had enough, so dad refilled o n it . At this time people were coming from all over, there were tents ev erywh ere.

In the fall of 1905, I and Lester went to the first small school. Ther e w ere two teachers, the Trourt sisters, Minnie & Emma. Their Father’s h omes tead was one half mile of dad’s place. That same year the first trai n cam e to Burley and we all had to be there to see it. Dad later went i n to th e hay business along with the Livery barn & Ranch.

Page 2

The first year or so at school there were a lot of tuff kids and they we r e always picking on other kids. We were going home one evening when on e o f the bullies jumped on me out side of the school house, so I figure d I w as a goner for sure, but I gave him all I had and it was enough; h e lef t me alone after that. Later others had to try doing it with Leste r and I , but we held our own & finally were not bothered any more.

Burley was a pretty ruff town for a few years as the saloons were goin g f ull blast and got all the money the canal builders made, that drank . I sa w enough of that stuff to do me & I never wanted no part of it a t any tim e.

Mother baked bread in a little sheep stove and sold to the men for fiv e c ents a load. For the first years we burned sage brush and later coal . Aft er school we would chop sage brush to burn til dark and the next ni ght i t would be gone.

We also had lots of horses to take care of at the barn as they started t h e Oakley Dam and there were lots of freighters hauling.

I also had to hall hay from Oakley & Albion to Burley for the Livery Bar n .

I never did care much about Burley, there were lots of wind storms, flyi n g ants, lizards & scorpions there in the sand.

During one summer about 1908 I had to stay in the front of dads feed & g r ain room so I used a large box for a counter and sold candy, cracker ja ck s & gum and I sure felt that I was in business; from then on I wante d t o be a store keeper.

In 1913 I had a few head of sheep & was offered thirty dollars a mon t h & my sheep could run in the same heard so I went to work that summ e r & they sold out so Uncle (we called him Javis Law) bought a bunch o f la mbs and wanted me to heard them, so I did till snow came & he sold o ut t o a banker & he wanted me to help at the feed yards over the other s ide o f Paul, Idaho, so I stayed till the fall of 1915 & then came back t o Conn er Creek. I bought some lumber and had Heber Jacobson hall it up o n my lo t of ground I had bought from Uncle Gene Bigler. I sold my sheep , horse s & camp & paid for the building & part of the stock. So on Sept . 12th 19 15 I was in business but I had a lot to learn having quit schoo l in the f ifth grade and had quite a time, also I thought every one’s wo rk was good , but to my sorrow it wasn’t. I hauled some freight from Kelt on, Utah an d later on from Declo.

In April 1917, I was in class A for the draft so I knew I would have t o g o so I sold what I could and boarded up the windows and left and ente re d the army. I wanted to get in the aviation, or thought I did, so I wa s t old to go to Salt Lake.



Page 3

As I had a 1915 Ford car I left for there and was told they had just clo s ed it on aviation, but if I would go to Denver, Colorado I could get i n , so I left for there and by the time I got there I had to sell my ca r an d take the train only to find they had to close; too many wanted i n aviat ion, so I went to Goodland, Kansas and from there Pratt, Kansas a nd I cou ld not get in aviation, but the officer in charge wanted me to s tay wit h him there till some thing opened up that I might like.

He gave me an examination and I was three lbs under weight, but he sai d h e would soon have me up to the right weight. I did odd jobs, worke d a fe w days in the round house for the railroad and finally one mornin g the of ficer told me there were no chance for aviation, I had better tr y somethi ng else. So a few days he got word they needed some engineers . I though t hat would be a good job, but it turned out to be as dangerou s a job a s I could have gotten into.

I met another boy and had become good friends and we told the office r w e would go, so he told us to come to his office for another check u p an d as luck would have it the other boy could not pass, he was too lig ht, s o I decided to go alone.

That night the sergeant gave me a ticket along with a big sack of lunc h a nd put me on the train. I put my lunch up over head and went to sleep , wh en I woke up my lunch was gone/ there I was: no money, no lunch an d woul d have to wait till we reached Fort Logan, Colorado. About one o’c loc k I arrive there, too late for any lunch and had to take my final tes t th at lasted till five o’clock. We had supper at six o’clock, the firs t I ha d for 24 hours, but later on I went longer than that on a cup of c offee a nd hard tack.

A few days later I was sent to Vancouver, Washington to be assigned to t h e 4 Engineer 4 Reg. Division of which there were only fifty four of u s bo ys that were in the company when it was first started.

Vancouver was the wettest place I had ever been, rained every day, the c h ange of climate gave me the sore eyes, they just ran all the time, bu t af ter a while were ok.

While there at Portland, Oregon, I met at Council Crest a girl by the na m e of Viola Mae Furgeson and just before I left a short while we were ma rr ied. Her father was a preacher, she also had three step sisters and st e p mother, her real mother was dead.

I left Vancouver, Washington about November first, spent thirteen days a n d nights on a slow train going to Charlotte, North Carolina. The camp w a s called Camp Green.

All around us was pine trees and in the center where we were camped wa s c otton farms. The ground was red clay and it sure stuck to your feet . We s tayed here just about a month and then were sent to Hoboken, New Y ork t o be ready for shipment to New York harbor, then to France and Engl and, w e did not know which.

Page 4

While at New York we paraded one day in New York City, then went bac k t o camp and was ordered to be ready for inspection when orders came t o sai l.

The orders came that night late and we went aboard ship, some forty thou s and of us boys, all ages from 20 to 45 years old.

We left before day light and instead of going straight across, we went d o wn coast to Rio De Janeiro and could see the city of Rio in the distanc e . The reason for this we later found out was to miss the submarines th a t were pretty thick.

We were on the ocean thirteen days and fourteen nights, there were six l a rge boat loads of solders and one boat of nurses.

When we were close to the end of our journey I was out on deck and saw s o mething come out of the water a quarter mile from us and I also notice d t he sailors uncover their large guns and start shooting and about tha t tim e the sub was shooting at us. They got four shots at us. One shot h it ou r railing on our boat, but did not explode until it hit the water.

One the way over on the boat the nurses were on, stayed in the cente r o f the other six boats so as to have some protections.

A day or so later we were sailing up the English Channel, about twenty t w o miles wide and you could see the shore lines quite plain. It was sur e p retty and had not been damaged too much by the three years of war the y ha d before the Americans arrived.

During the night we got orders to come back down the channel and lan d a t Bordeaux, France, it could have been Berck, I don’t remember which , al l I know we landed at one place and left France from the other place . Fra nce and England are beautiful countries, lots of rain on the coast.

We had heard before we left the United States it was called sunny Franc e , but it was a long time before we say any sunshine. After we got ther e o ur rain coats were beginning to get moldy. It seemed like we were nev er d ry, sleeping in our dog tents on tall wet grass.

After we were there a day or so, we began to head for the front line s & j ust before we were under fire we were ordered to turn all our cloth es i n & such and only take one blanket, our gun 7 shells, 7 ration kits , 7 fi rst aid kits with us.

Before we did this our pack weighed eighty pounds with rifle and shell s . We were unloaded and we marched the rest of the way from then on.


Page 5

After we hit the front we saw our first dead French man, but some of t h e boys said it was a Negro, he was so black, but he wasn’t, he had bloa te d up till his pant legs were about to burst and he had turned black. W e l earned this later in our experience with war, we were to see thousand s o f dead boys, some were blown to pieces, some were buried by the big s hell s and there were lots killed by the poison gas.

I can recall the last time we were gassed, our gas masts only were goo d f or two hours left, when the all clear signal came. We were glad as ou r fa ces were blue from wearing the masks.

After we arrived in France I was asked by the Captain if I would lik e m y old job back with the horses as that was my job before we left th e stat es. I told him I sure would although I knew it to be a very danger ous job .

They gave me the rank of Wagoner which draws some pay as a corporal. I w a s also given 5 head of partly broke horses and 1 private soldier to hel p . There were also three other boys given outfits like mine, some hauli n g tools and some grain for horses and tools and shells for guns, bu t I wa s to haul the grub or rations as it was called then.

My hauling was done mostly at night as the enemy would rather blow a gr u b wagon up than to kill a dozen men.

During my time which was till the end of my time over there, I lost thir t een head of horses, killed and wounded more than all the rest of the bo y s together.

There was one night I was coming in to camp with the grub when a machi n e gunner opened up, but he only hit the wagon, missed the horses, bu t I s ure got out of there.

I delivered the grub to our Company and was just going to lay down and g e t some sleep when the Captain came and said Wagoner Ward, the other bo y s have not arrived yet, will you get another load. He wanted me to lea v e at once, so I went. That next night we were held up by heavy gun fir e s o I tied my horses in the shelter of the wagon and my helper and I la y o n the ground waiting for it to quit which it did after day light. The re w ere dead boys everywhere.

My helper and myself finely made it back to our company and was thanke d b y the Captain for what he said was a fine job well done.

A few days later we were in a tight pinch as we had advanced too fast a n d were afraid the Germans might close in on us, so we were ordered to s ta y put till further orders came.

While we were camped here, I was asked to go back for more rations and w a s told to pick three or four extra helpers for we might find troubl e s o I asked for the Mess Sergeant and two other good boys I knew quit e well .
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In going back we were driving down a narrow and deep stretch of road wh e n a half dozen men in American uniforms came up the bank and asked me w h y I didn’t get out of the road for them, and I told them I did not se e th em till all at once. I also told them with my job, I didn’t have t o get o ut of the road for any body, then the lead reached for the gun h e had, bu t I had my rifle across my knees and I told him he had better c hange hi s mind and I guess he did for I found out all my helpers had the m covere d with their rifles.

While we were talking I noticed only the first one did any talking so wh e n we arrived back to camp, the first thing the boys told us, they had j us t captured six Germans in American uniforms and their six American hor se s and then Sergeant Rodes told them about our meeting them on our wa y ou t after grub.

We were lousy all over and had been from the first week after landin g i n France; every place was lousy. After we arrived in France we were g ive n a hair cut right close to our heads so as we would not get the hea d lic e.

We hadn’t had a bath for almost a year and no under garments and socks.

A short while before the war stopped we were ordered to pull back a fe w m iles and that the first Division would take our place so we could ta k e a bath and change clothes, but the next morning we saw hundreds of 5 t h division boys coming back from the front lines, some holding on t o a lo ng rope pulled by one horse, they had been gassed by mustard gas a nd coul d not see, so we were ordered back to the front lines again and w ere ther e till it ended.

HOW I EVER LIVED THROUGH THAT WAR WAS ONLY THE LORD BEING WITH ME.

I had lots of close calls of which I cannot recall at the present time.

On the morning of November 11th, 1918, we were headed for the final bi g d rive and to cross the Metz River and the City of Metz, our next stop , bu t at about 11:30 we saw a bunch of French solders coming toward us i n a t ruck hollering the war was finished!

We were sure glad and began (begun) to figure how soon we could go bac k t o the states, but nothing like that for us old solders, we were march ed t o Metz River and Metz City which was full of allied war prisoners o f al l Nations.

When the German solders quit fighting they threw their guns away and hol l ered COMRAD and asked for American tobacco and headed for home and we s ol diers followed them to the Rhine River and our Company was stationed a t D ungham, Germany and we were all given houses to stay in and we allowe d n o Germans to have any guns or weapons of any kind.

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It sure was a cold old winter, for Thanksgiving we had beans and coffe e a nd the same for Christmas.

After a few days I and several boys got gassed by mustard gas and it ga v e us the scowers (diarrhea) very bad. When I was shown the house, I an d m y helper was to take charge. The old lady said to Mr. American soldie r, “ Veal sick”, but I did not know what she said, but a few days later s he ke pt trying to make me understand. All this time, I was getting weake r an d was down to a hundred and 10 lbs, finally she got me to understan d wha t she wanted me to get which was some lard and flour and with wha t else s he had, she mixed up a jar and told me through a boy who could t alk the G erman language, how often to take it and I did. A few days late r I bega n to feel better and I told the other boys about it and I tell y ou they m ade a raid on the company kitchen for lard and flour.

The old lady neither had lard or soap, but had rye flour, so I went to t h e kitchen and got her some of both, she was sure glad.

All this time till I left Germany, I still hauled the rations for our co m pany which was built back up to two hundred and fifty men.

The Germans treated us Americans real good and told us the Kaizer shou l d not of started it (World War I), in the first place.

Just a few days the Kaizer and his family left Germany and went to Holla n d to get away from the allies. He later married the queen, I believe i t w as of Holland and nothing was ever done to him about starting the war .

Along in early spring 1919 we were sent to Coblence, Germany and the n t o Trier River which is a very large one. We could see Hamburg, German y ea sy from our side.

Along in July or August we were ordered to make ready to cross the Rhi n e River if the Germans did not sign the final peach treaty of which th e y did in a hurry.

While it is on my mind I will go back to the City of Mitz, Germany. Wh e n we entered the City, people came running to meet us and show their gl ad ness for the ending of the war.

The Germans had a big prison camp there and we had to turn them loose a n d send lots of them back to their country: Canada, American, Belgian, F ra nce and England.

Just about a year before the war ended lots and lots of the BIG SHELLS W O ULD NOT EXPLODE after hitting the ground or the object fired at.

A lot of prisoners were working in the ammunition factories at Metz an d t hey told us they would put paper in lots of shells and leave a cap ou t!
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I will go back again to what happened to me as I was unloading the suppl i es while on the front.

I had driven the wagon close to the kitchen stove or rather a cook sto v e on wheels with two on the front axle and two on the rear. They were l ar ge cans about the size of a thirty gal. Gas can and the fire was buil t un derneath the cans.

While I was handing down the cases and sacks. We had been hearing lot s o f shells falling pretty close to us and noticed some did not explode , the n all at once one hit our wagon and went through the side of the bo x an d cut off the beach between the kitchen stove front and rear, missin g bot h of us. I tell you we were two pretty scared soldiers.

I will tell later in this article about what General Pershing told m e t o do about that hole in the wagon box.

It would go for weeks at a time that we would receive no mail or get a c h ance to send a letter out. I was on the front seven months before I rec ei ved any mail from the states.

Finely after we were in Germany and everything was quieting down, we we r e told to turn our horses over to the Germans as they had bought ever y on e of them and that we would be going home in a short time, as soon a s som e new soldiers arrived from the states to take our place in the arm y of o ccupation.

The day finely arrived and we were told to be ready to leave. About th e f irst of August, but we did not get to the states until the last of Au gus t 1919.

We landed in New York harbor and was marched through buildings after bui l ding and all were filled with government food and clothing for over se a s shipment, but now the war is over, I suppose there will be a lot tha t w on’t be sent across.

We were marched from there to solders quarters and separated out to be d i scharged to all parts of the United States & Alaska.

A large number of our boys were from the east so they were discharged th e re at New York City; we were sent to Cheyenne, Wyoming to be discharged .

The next morning after we arrived and had breakfast, we were ordered t o t he medical building and told to take off all our clothes and get i n a lin e so as soon as we were all ready, they had us walk before a doct or, bu t he just looked at us and said nothing. We supposed we would ge t a goo d examination and were sure surprised when we were ordered in th e next ro om and there told to get our clothes on. Everything was taken f rom us exc ept our personal little belongings.


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After getting dressed we went to another part of the building and ther e w ere several officers at desks. The first officer asked us what our na me s were and where we lived, the next one gave us our back pay and a bon u s of sixty dollars. The next officer gave us our ticket to the place cl os et to home and asked us to sign a paper. I don’t know what it was for , bu t supposed it was to show we were not sick or anything else, but w e wer e so glad to get out of the Army we would sign anything.

The last officer gave us the discharge, the paper we had all been looki n g for, for several months.

I arrived the next day in Burley about four o’clock and was sure turne d a round as Burley was on the wrong side of the tracks, but I finally go t my self turned around and headed up town.

There was no one to meet me as they were not sure when I would be home.

As I was about to the house where my folks lived I met my sister, Essi e , going to work at Pixtons, so she went back to the house with me. Th e fo lks were glad to see me, but wanted to know where I got all the gra y hai r as when I left my hair was black, so I told them if they had bee n wher e I had, they would probably have gray hair too.

I did not know just what I wanted to do yet, and as my first wife had n o t gotten here, but would soon be here. It was while I was waiting, I m e t Miss Florence Lillian Winders who two years later was to be my secon d w ife.

I had decided if my old store was all there, I would go and start it u p a gain, but I had been told by my cousins who was staying with my folk s (wh ile she was associated with Cassia County), that my store buildin g was u p for sale for the taxes.

So I went to the sheriff who was named Pratt and asked him about i t a s I was told when I left for the Army we did not have to worry abou t ou r taxes.

He said yes, there were a lot of boys who were delinquent with their tax e s and he had told them we were in the army over seas.

My wife came the next day so we made plans to come up and see what I h a d left. I bought an old model T-Car and we headed out to Connor Creek.

When I arrived at Malta, a party told me, I and several other boys wer e s upposed to be deserters and he also said my Uncle Bob Wake told the m we w ere all in the Army and was at the front.

That sure made me mad so I went back to the sheriff’s office and told h i m what I had been told. Yes, he said, he knew about it, but thought i t ha d all been cleared up and all us
Page 10

boys had an apology coming to them and he went on to say the reason fo r t hat was because the county seat was moved to Burley and a lot of reco rd s were lost or misplaced right after we left. I have talked to some o f th e boys and they felt quite bad about it.

We then came on back to Connor to look the place over. Some one had tak e n one back room off the store part, but all the stock and fixtures wer e g one, so we cleaned the store part out and made a list of groceries an d su ch we would have to have and decided, for now, to live in the back , as w e did not know how things would go. We then went back to Burley an d sen t Scowcroft an order for goods and got Cont. Oil Co. to furnish ga s and o il for us, as I had bought from both parties before I left for th e army.

The goods soon arrived and in the meantime we fixed up the store roo m t o live in for awhile. The goods were hauled up by Bill Ward and we so on g ot to going and did pretty good.

We found we needed more room so in about two months I got lumber and p u t on one more room.

After a while I missed seeing certain people and began to ask about th e m and was told they had died with the flu, which I believe was cause d b y the gas used in the war which drifted over here and as it will fina ll y settle in the lowest places and were picked up by people not havin g a s hot to protect them.

After we were here several months, my wife wanted me to sell the store a n d go to Oregon where her folks were, but I couldn’t see it that way, y e t I knew after her living in the city as she had done all her life, i t wa s lonesome for her, so after about a year later we decided we shoul d sepa rate, which we did. I gave her half of everything except the build ing an d ground and she left and I got my divorce from her and went bac k to th e store after having it closed for a month and brought my new wif e with m e and again I was ready to try again.

We were married in Price, Utah, by the sheriff the last day of the yea r 1 920, Dec. 31st.

My wife’s father and mother are as fine a people that I have ever me t . I had known one of Florence’s sisters in Burley when I left there an d t hat is how I met my wife as they lived in the next house to my folks.

We got along good with the store until I let one of my Uncles talk me in t o the notion to take over the old Malta store.

So I did, which was the worst move I ever made. It was supposed to be fr e e of debts, except a few of which I agreed to pay and which I did afte r w e moved down there.


Page 11

About a month later, there were bills from wholesale houses, I never hea r d of coming in after about a year. I seen I couldn’t make it, so I deci de d to turn everything over to them.

They sent a man out to take over and put on a sale and while I told hi m a bout the deal, he said: “Osmer, I have known about you and you hav e a goo d name, so I will have to follow orders, but I want you to get ou t of th e store enough goods to start you back up at Connor Creek again. ” So I di d it, but we had put into the business, some eight thousand dol lars in ca sh and our Connor Creek store stock, when we went down there.

Mr. Frank Riblet said just before we left: “Osmer, how long were you i n t he army?” I told him how long and asked him why. He said he knew o f a pie ce of land I could file on and I could prove up on it in six mont hs an d I will help you get it now.

I had known Mr. Riblet almost all my life and his wife was one of my tea c hers when I went to school at Burley

So, I filed on it and decided to let the Connor store go and forget abo u t it. I sold the store building, but kept the ground and began to fi x u p the place so I could sell it, but it didn’t turn out that way. We s taye d there about three months and then it got hot, there were rattle sn ake s all over in the cellar and under the house. We decided to get out w hil e we could, before we got bit, so I sold Lot Udy the buildings and fe nc e wire and posts and bought enough lumber to fix a new store at Conno r Cr eek.

Mother inserted: Eloise was born in the back of the store April 18, 192 2 . When we moved up on the snake ranch we were to homestead, we had to m ov e. We went back to Connor and started all over again.

I built the store and house myself and was soon ready to start out i n a s mall way.

We to try sheep along with the store. That was another bad move as woo l w ent from forty cents to thirteen cents a lb. And good ewes from twent y do llars a head to three.

I had to quit, so I sold the sheep and was still behind several thousa n d dollars, but I stayed with the store and paid off every dollar I owe d t he bank and others.

I also later on helped Miss Essie Horn, who was postmaster at Sublet , i n the old Sublet store building, to handle a few groceries and such a nd s he was doing good until she took sick and finally passed away so tha t wa s the end of another adventure.

In 1926 I bought the forty acres where the new store now stands and mov e d the old store across the road. It took about six months to get goin g ag ain, but we did and did good and in 1939 we built our present stor e and h ave been there since. (Insert by Ona-dell: I was born Oct. 17, 19 25, I re member being a few years older (like hanging from the tree branc h when w e moved the old store and home across the highway.)
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During the second World War we could get very few goods for the store , s o Florence ran the store and I bought cattle, hogs and sheep and reso ld t hem again. Later that same year I bought from Roy Pointer, the Burle y Ban ker, the old Frank Hall place and pastured cattle I brought there a nd whe n the war ended, I sold it to Arther Jacobson and his wife who lat er sol d to Don Shaw and he later sold it to Dale Pierce who I believe st ill own s it.

In later, 1950 or 51, I bought the place which is known as Valley Café . M y son, Gale, was with me then, we had a good business in the Café an d I s tocked groceries in the other half.

After a while Gale decided to go up with his brother George, in Washingt o n, so I put the place up for sale.

In the mean time lots of my customers came to me and asked me to sta y i n Malta. If I didn’t like the restaurant to get me another place, s o I to ld them I would think about it a few days.

I begin to Figure, just where to find a place to locate.

So one morning I was talking to Harry Wight and he asked me if I was goi n g to stay and I told him I couldn’t find a place to start. He said: “Os me r, I have a lot and building down the street and was about to sell i t t o an Oregon Co., so come with me and look it over.” So I did, it look ed l ike it might be OK so I asked him what he wanted for it and it sound ed pr etty good. He also told me I could take my own time in paying for i t, s o we went to Albion Bank and had the papers made out and I took ove r an d remodeled. I put in cement floors and finished the roof and buil t a sto re room on back and also rest rooms. Florence cared for the stor e at Conn or.

Then I signed a contract for gas with Phillips 66 Co. which later didn ’ t work out so at the end of the year I went Conoco and Wescott.

We moved the groceries and equipment to our new place and as I hadn’t y e t sold the restaurant, I leased it, subject to sale to Mrs. Delvies? Ne wh old?.

A month later I resold it back to Mr. Linch and another man and it was l a te sold to Jan Willett who ran it for several years and sold to Mrs. Fr an ces Hutchison.

At the time I moved I had eight girls working for me and as I had to ha v e help, I took one of the girls down there to help me, as she was ver y go od and had taken a course in business, her name was Mrs. Jula Ulrich , an d she stayed with me until I leased the store to Mr. Cecial and Rut h Will iam.

During my time in the store there, I had several girls work different ti m es, as we were open 10 to 14 hours. There were Mrs. Edna Miller, Mrs. J o y Wake, Mrs. Bob

Page 13

Hutchinson, Mrs. Marian Bortz. After being there about three years, I bu i lt more on to the store, living rooms, bathroom and clothes closets, wh ic h made it quite nice.

Don’t think I didn’t have a hard time at it, credit was hard, lots of co m e and go crooks who never paid a bill until made to do so, but all th e ol d timers there, were most of them very good.

After I was in Malta 11 years, I asked several boys why they didn’t ge t t he Connor Dam on Cassia Crew and finally they decided to try it. In 1 96 2 we believed it was sure going to go, so I leased the Malta Store t o Wil liams, the first day of 1963 for five years with privileges to bu y it, bu t to date nothing has been done.

I came back to the Connor store and thought about returning, but haven ’ t done so yet and have no hope in sight to do so.

As I am writing this, I will soon be 72 years old and think I should qui t , but we cannot do everything we should at present.

I always had hope of one of my boys or girls would like to take over, b u t I guess not and I wouldn’t want them to and go through the hard shi p s I have to make a go of it. Trying to do away with the small store, so m e day they may have to stand in line to buy what they want. They wil l d o as the large store says and will get no credit like they want to im pos e on their little merchants.

The big stores and farms will put the little fellow out of business, t h e big will take over, in fact the little farmer has to get a job and wo r k part of the time to make a go of it.

My mother died in Nov. 3, 1964, was past 89 years and father March 14, 1 9 34 at 64, They were good parents to us three kids.

I feel like at the age of almost 74 (April 24), I should quit and I ma y d o so soon.

This is the 6th day of Nov. 1968, the day after election and find we ha v e a Republican for the next four years. I am sorry about this as it w a s a Republican President that broke all the sheep men and I was one o f th em. It took me ten hard years to pay back what I lost on a Republica n Pre sident and they may find the same times if the war stops soon.

This is Armist Day. Fifty years ago today we boys were headed for the ne x t big drive which would find us near the City of Metz, Germany, just t h e other side of the Metz River. It was about twelve o’clock when solde r s begin to holler – THE WAR IS OVER, THE WAR IS OVER! We could not beli ev e it, all though the way we were driving the Germans back we knew it c oul d not be much longer before it would end.

It was quite cold and I was walking beside my wagon, me on one side an d m y helper on the other side, trying to keep warm. I was driving th e 4 hors es.

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We camped where we were at, then left the next morning. The German Sold i ers threw their guns away and wanted tobacco. We gathered them up in Co mp any formation and took them ahead of us to Metz, Germany where lots o f En glish and French and other solders were held prisoners and had bee n worki ng in Ammunition factories; they were a happy bunch of boys.

Our first stop was at Dungham, Germany for a month or so and from ther e t o the Rine River to such towns as Trier, Coblence and several others.

All this time we were waiting to go back to the states, but it was Augu s t or Sep. Before we left Germany for home.

George married Florence Lillian Winder on 31 Dec 1920 in Price, Carbon, Utah, United States. Florence (daughter of Charles Henry Winder and Ellen T Pilling) was born on 12 Sep 1898 in Desert Lake, Emery, Utah, United States; died on 4 Apr 1977 in Burley, Cassia, Idaho, United States; was buried on 7 Apr 1977 in Elba Grandview Cemetery, Cassia, Idaho, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWDM-35T
• Initiatory (LDS): 2 Apr 1937, SLAKE

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWJ7-J61
• Initiatory (LDS): 30 Nov 1893, SLAKE

Hyrum married Margaret Jane Wickel on 30 Nov 1893 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. Margaret (daughter of Henry Lemon Wickel and Elizabeth Jane Bigler) was born on 17 Sep 1876 in Farmington, Davis, Utah, United States; died on 30 Nov 1964 in Burley, Cassia, Idaho, United States; was buried on 3 Dec 1964 in Pleasant View Cemetery, Burley, Cassia, Idaho, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWJ7-JXM
• Initiatory (LDS): 30 Nov 1893, SLAKE

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: K2H1-76M
• Initiatory (LDS): 9 Feb 1928, SLAKE

Charles married Ellen T Pilling on 8 Oct 1882 in Joseph, Sevier, Utah, United States. Ellen was born on 29 Nov 1867 in Fillmore, Millard, Utah, United States; died on 30 Dec 1953 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States; was buried on 2 Jan 1953 in Cleveland, Emery, Utah, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KW8R-KH2
• Initiatory (LDS): 9 Feb 1928, SLAKE

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWJ2-NQ7
• Initiatory (LDS): 13 Jun 1856, EHOUS

George married Mary Hankinson on 25 Jan 1857 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States. Mary was born on 12 Jan 1840 in Didsbury, Lancashire, England; was christened on 12 Mar 1851 in Church of St. James, Didsbury, Lancashire, England; died on 1 Mar 1882 in Willard, Box Elder, Utah, United States; was buried on 1 Mar 1882 in Willard, Box Elder, Utah, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWJY-33S
• Initiatory (LDS): 20 Jun 1863, EHOUS

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: KWD9-G2J
• Initiatory (LDS): 4 Jan 1875, EHOUS

Henry married Elizabeth Jane Bigler on 23 Apr 1871 in Farmington, Davis, Utah, United States. Elizabeth (daughter of Henry William Bigler and Cynthia Jane Whipple) was born on 4 Oct 1856 in Farmington, Davis, Utah, United States; died on 24 Dec 1926 in Connor Creek, Cassia, Idaho, United States; was buried on 27 Dec 1926 in Elba, Cassia, Idaho, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LR72-4LX
• Initiatory (LDS): 4 Jan 1875, EHOUS