LIFE HISTORY OF EPHRIAM JOSEPH FOREMASTER
For several months the older members of the Frederick Foremaster family had been expecting a change in the number of their household, therefore, Eph's arrival October 7th, 1865 was not entirely unexpected. The younger members of the family were hustled off by themselves over in the sod house, but Eph arrived in the new adobe building. This building stood just west of the present red rock house. Attached to this building was the pig pen and the chicken coop. Frederick had patterened his house after the Dutch fashion, therefore, the pig pen was on the ground and the chicken coop was above it. It is reported by some authorities that the pigs and chickens kicked up more noise upon his arrival than did some members of the community.
During the first two or three years of his life Eph was treated as are most people of that age. He had his ups and downs and was quite a trial to the older brothers and sisters, who had the responsibility of caring for him at that time. He was shown to the public and many people accused him of being exactly like his dad while others swore that he looked exactly like his mother. They finally decided to let him grow up and see who he really did look like. He must have started working when he was yet very young. His own boys remember in their younger days, when it was hard to get them to milk and do other chores that Eph would say, "Of course you're not too young to do that, why I was milking cows when I was three years old." Eph might have been doing that, but cows must be harder to milk now days than they were then.
Eph's two older brothers showed him the many things that he must do. It was plain that there was reason in their teachings as he soon would be take care of the drudgery that was upon their shoulders at that time. Al was twelve when Eph arrived so he was rapidly breaking away from home and taking on the responsibility of making his own way in life. Dave was about two years older so he was learning much that Al had learned earlier.
Frederick had taken up a homestead in the lower part of town, so he controlled quite an acreage of land. Eph remembers that they had plenty of land to romp about on. The grape vines were of much interest to him as he grew older. This vineyard took most of the lot east and south of the present red rock building. There was a fence south of the house, made up of willows, which had grown up to quite a height. Eph remembers a time when the grasshoppers were bad in the fields and were moving into town. They had arrived as far as the lot south of the Foremaster place and were climbing on the willow fence. Frederick went down to the fence and started It on fire to kill the grasshoppers. This kept the creatures from getting the garden, but it also destroyed the fence, which had been quite an attraction to Eph.
Frederick did a lot of work on the Tabernacle and later on the building of the Temple. He was a mason by trade and many buildings standing at this time, were built by him. Christie Schant, reports that when Foremaster was building the old wine building over to Toquerville, he, Christie was fifteen years of age and had to carry the mud to Frederick. He said he never worked as hard before or since as he did then.
It was while Frederick was busy at the Tabernacle that he started the present red rock house, the work being done when he was not on the Tabernacle job. Those interested should visit the old red rock building and see for themselves the time and effort he must have put forth to cut the rock and place it as he did. And while there keep in mind that this work, or most of it at least was done after Frederick had put in a full day on the Tabernacle. Eph does not remember a lot about the early part of the red house, but he does remember when it got to the square and that Dave was the one, who had to do most of the carrying of the mud.
He remembers that there was a big celebration when the whole house was finally completed. A number of people were invited in and they had a dance. Mc Allister, president of the temple was present to swing about. Eph says Joe Worthen was there to play and that Joe could play as well while asleep as when awake. A basement was never put under the house, although Frederick had left a space there sufficient to store wine that he made. He was able to produce some of the best wine in the district as he had an old German (by the name of Staheli an expert at wine making) make his wine for him.
Frederick Foremaster's homestead entry was bordered on the east by city property. It so happened that in building the red house Frederick must have got over on the city property some, and now if you go down to the old house with Eph, he will show you that the dividing line came through the front door, and split the back bedroom where Dave and Eph used to sleep. This line, however, didn't bother the boys much and keep them from wrestling at night or from sleeping.
Frederick had some farm property over in the Clara field. The boys had to go over there often to take care of things. Shoes at that time were scarce and the boys were short of them most of the time. Therefore, on hot days they used to gather a bunch of hay, either at home or in the field, and carry it with them across the old black hill. They would make a dash for a while knocking the black rocks right and left with their bare toes, then when the heat got too severe to endure, they would throw down their armfull of weeds or alfalfa and stand on it until their feet had cooled off. Many times Eph's sisters also had to make these trips and they too had their armsfull of needs.
Frederick was an industrious man and therefore got along about as well as most of the early pioneers. Being a mason he was able to get a lot of work in the growing community. There was not big pay for his work, but he was able to take a lot of produce etc., which helped to care for the family's needs. Frederick early acquired a pair of fine bay horses, which as Eph remembers were always fat. Frederick always allowed these horses to be used by the community when there were Indian troubles or any scouting to do and always the family knew there were Indian troubles when these horses would disappear for a few days.
He later disposed of the horses and got a team of mules. The boys used to have a lot of fun riding these mules. There were times when things did not go right with the animals and then they found little difficulty in unseating the boys, although these boys later became very good riders and it was hard for an animal, to unseat them.
The boys in the south end of town used to get together on Sundays and at times other days and romp on the side of the Black Hill and on top of it. Eph and the other boys had as friends, the Gublers, Mathises, Blairs, Bryners, Wiltbanks, Smiths and Sturzeneggers. Most of the families in that end of town were of German origin. Their best games were steal sticks, hiding coop and run sheep run. They did most of their running about in the daytime as their parents usually demanded that they be at home in the evenings.
The family went to church in the second ward building. Waiter Granger was the bishop. Issac Hunt and Saint George Wells were the councilors. Church was the recreation center at that time and it was not so hard to get the boys to attend, although many times, and especially in the summer time, the services used to get very tiresome.
Eph also got a few months of school in this same building. His mother, a small woman weighing a little more than one hundred pounds was sick with stomach trouble a great deal of the time. Dave and Albert were affected with this trouble later in life and especially did Albert suffer a great deal from it. Eph remembers that many times the boys, later in life, would be out gathering cattle and Albert would suffer an attack with his stomach and would have to lie out for hours at the side of his horse before he would be able to go on. Sophia Lindau, Eph's mother spend a great deal of her time working in the temple after it was completed.
Eph remembers that Frederick was a large man weighing some one hundred and eighty pounds. He always wore a beard until after his mission, when he was about sixty years of age. It was then that he started trimming his beard, not allowing it to grow long as before.
Frederick turned his farms and mules and outfits into the (United) order at the time it was organized. Finally when the order borke up he was able to get a little bit of his property back. The mules were returned, but Jim, the name of one was crippled, John, the other mule could be used.
Eph made three trips to Trumbull for lumber, the year after the order broke up. This lumber was for the temple. Albert, by this time, was on his own. He had an outfit of his own and was also driving a set of four mules for the Pymm family. He got Eph to drive his own team and go with him to get this lumber. Eph was small and had to stand on the tongue to put the harness on. They were coming down the “temple” road off of the Hurricane hill and it was very steep. Eph got frightened so asked Tut Larson who was coming in from the sawmill with them, to drive down the hill. Tut managed pretty well for a while and then failed to negotiate a turn and cramped the wagon on top of the mules. Albert came back and straightened things out and then gave Eph the lines and told him to keep them and not let anyone else do the driving. Many times after this Eph's hair stood on ends as the team made the turns, but he remembered Albert's orders and handled the lines. It was necessary for then to haul water for their abimals. A trip usually required seven days.
The next year Albert had some hauling to do from the railroad at Juab. Eph went with him, still driving Albert's team, it took them two weeks to make the trip.
The Cannan herd, owned by members of the Southern Utah communities, running at this time, 1879 at Parashaunt. In the fall of 1879 Albert went out to brand the calves, he took Ed Hendricks, Tom Pearce and Eph with him. Albert and Eph started to town with a bunch of cattle and arrived at Quail hill, they turned them loose that night and couldn't pick them up the next morning. Albert sent Eph on into town for food and he continued to hunt for them. He laid out the first night, but the next night Eph located him and some of the cattle and these animals were brought into town and killed out to the people.
Albert became foreman of the Cannan herd in the spring of 1880 and Eph went out to Parashaunt to work for him, they milked about twenty-five head of cows and butter was made and hauled to St. George.
Eph started working for James Andrus in 1881. Andrus had drawn his cattle out of thle Cannan herd and taken them to Scootum. The snow fell very deep in the winter time in the Scootum country and it was necessary to drift the cattle off of the red points in the fall of the year, because of danger from heavy snows in the winter. Snow fell early one fall and the cattle were trapped on the points. The following spring Eph counted three hundred head of dead ones on one point. Eph and the other riders were almost snow blind during this bad winter. It was in the spring after this bad winter that Upper and Lower Kanab were washed out. This same spring Dave had been over to Flagstaff, he was on his way home and crossed the old wooden bridge across the Virgin south of St. George, it was ten o'clock at night when he crossed and at that time the water was lapping the sides of the bridge. It went out during the night and as near as could be told Dave was the last one to cross it and it might have gone out soon after his crossing.
Eph went to Fillmore in 1886 and worked there a year for Frank Weber. Martha and Sam Bennett were living at Holden then and he often visited them. Josephine spent part of the year there, helping Martha, at the time one of the Bennett children was born.
Eph returned to Cannan ranch in 1887 working for James Andrus, he stayed with them for two years and during this time made three trips to Evanston, Wyoming with horses and cattle. He remembers one trip when he and James Andrus were returning on the train from Wyoming. Andrus had sold several hundred head of cattle and his pay was in currency and sixty pounds of gold, They placed the sixty pounds of gold in Eph's suit case and all went well until they were getting off the train in Ogden, the handle of Eph's suit case couldn't stand the extra weight in gold and broke. Gold and clothes in the suitcase rolled in the dirt, Andrus yelled, " Get that damned quick". Eph made a pretty dive for it and came up with the sixty pounds entact. They went on to Salt Lake City where Andrus deposited the money in the bank, he then went up into Idaho to see his wife and left Eph to paint the city. Eph ran upon some friends from Cedar City and reports that nothing out of the ordinary took place. Andrus returned and they took the train to Milford and stage from there to St. George.
Eph and Mode Andrus moved some cattle from Cannan to Desert Springs in the early spring of 1889. Andrus and Will Lund Judd had a contract building a portion of the railroad west of Modena. Dave was the horse wrangler for their outfit. It was his job to take the work horses out at night and herd them and bring them in in time for work in the morning.
Albert was foreman for Anthony W. Ivlns and Heber J. Grant out at Parashaunt at this time. In the late spring of 1889 Eph went out to work for Albert. Previous to this time he and Albert had acquired Ivanpatch Spring and were working on New Spring, they were also getting some cattle together of their own. Dave was in the horse business. Albert was also getting some brood mares. Albert's family was out at Oak Grove during these years. They had a bunch of men building fence at Green Springs. He directed this work and Eph stayed around Oak Grove to help with the cattle and the milking. Much of the butter they made was used by the men on the fence and the rest, hauled to St.George. It was this same year that they killed a pig out at the ranch and found to their surprise that upon weighing it in St. George it weighed 800 pounds. The pig was along in years and Eph often wondered whether those people, who got it out of the Tithing Office, were ever able to eat it.
Albert quit Ivins in 1891 and started taking care of his own cattle and horses, also taking care of Eph's animals as he went on as foreman for Ivins.
In the year 1941, if a boy's in love, it requires most of his time to take care of the girl and keep the other boys from getting the start of him. But not so in the good old days. Take for example the case of Albert. He had been hanging out at the ranch, there was no mail service, but in the year of 1880 he reported that he had to go to town on business of importance. What was the surprise of those at Oak Grove, when upon Albert's return they saw that his business trip had been a success and Ida (Stratton) had returned as his wife.
Later in the years 1890 and 91 Eph was able to pull about the same business deal without having to spend much time in town. Of course he made a few extra trips and it was on one of these trips into town that he called upon Ida (Lang) to take a walk with him. Ida was not quite ready for the walk so told him to sit down while she changed her dress. Little Margie Stratton was running around the house at that time and Eph wanted to be useful while waiting for Ida, so he coaxed Margie into his lap and she cooed and settled down comfortably. Ida came into the room a few minutes later and there was Eph standing at the door, holding Margie at arms length. Poor little Margie didn't realize she had done anything wrong. Ida felt underneath and said, "Oh never mind Eph, it was only water, you might have to get used to that someday." Poor Eph blushed and hung his head, but it was only a short time after that April 15th, 1891 that Eph closed his business deal and took another Ida out to Oak Grove.
Eph worked for Ivins until 1895. It was at this time that B.F. Saunders purchased the holdings Ivins had around Parashaunt and Eph started working for Saunders. A serious drought occurred during 1895. Saunders gathered what cattle he could and shipped them out, selling his holdings to Preston Nutter. Saunders had purchased Cannan and Eph went on Cannan to work. Albert cared for Eph's stock until 1897 when Eph quit Saunders and started taking care of his own cattle, working with Albert and Dave.
In early September of 1898 Dave and Eph started out to Ivanpatch by way of Hurricane Valley, The summer rains were on, and they had the horses they were riding and a pack outfit. Dave was riding a sorrel “2F” horse that was blind in one eye. They saw a band of horses a short distance away. Eph was leading the pack horse so Dave started to head the horses, his horse stepped in a hole and rolled over on top of Dave. He was very sick when Eph got to him and he complained of a great deal of pain in his side. They laid around for most of the day and he seemed to get easier so that they went on to Ivanpatch and stayed there and rode for sometime, although Dave could ride but very little. He kept suffering from his fall and finally they went home. Dave developed an abscess and passed away in January 1899.
Eph and Albert started moving their cattle from Ivanpatch to Antelope in 1903. It was about this time that Preston Nutter placed his scrip on Ivanpatch and also New Spring. He slipped into camp during the day and placed his scrip and then thought it wise to leave the country and stayed away for two years. The boys were plenty sore at the trick played on them, but at the end of two years things had cooled off somewhat and upon Nutter's return he and Albert got together and made a trade, the boys getting Antelope and Nutter taking Ivanpatch and New Spring. Eph and Albert continued to run their cattle together until Albert sold out. Eph stayed in the business, finally retiring to let his boys take care of them.
During these years, however, Eph and Ida had raised quite a family, nine children in all having been born to them. Eph was always pretty strict on discipline and took over a little of the experience of taming wild horses into the training of his family. He early used what the family has known since as the “Joe Hold”. This hold was first used for the training of the family in the calf pen and it was at this same time that the Rumba dance first seen by members of the family. Eph was building a calf pen and had all of the family down at the corral. Ida was there with the kids and all went well until Ida asked Joe to go to the house to get some water. Joe (their son) was getting near the independent age at that time and refused to go. Eph was not too busy setting a post to hear what had occurred so he dropped his shovel, went over to Joe and placed the “Joe Hold” on him, that is he grabbed Joe by the ear, gave a special jerk, which only Eph himself knows how to give and for several minutes Joe danced the Rumba there in the calf pen as the family looked on. Eph dropped the ear after a time and Joe hit for the house and we soon had water. It was a sad thing for Joe, but it was an inspiration for the rest of the family as the kids saw to it that there was little back talk when Eph was around.
The report got around that Ivy Stratton said he could tell when Eph was coming in from the ranch and getting near to town, because he could smell Eph's pipe. Ivy's ability is in question, but the family does remember the old pipe, which served for twenty-seven years, as did the piece of wire which was used to clean it out. The boys remember that one day Eph left his pipe in the window. It was quite a curiosity, so they walked around it for a few minutes, one daring the other to take it up and take a draw, Lindau finally proved to be the daring one and took a few puffs, recovering from his illness the following day.
Although Eph was, away from home a lot of the time, he was always good to his kids when home and the family wonders often, now that they have grown older, just how he was able to take care of them after Ida passed away March 27, 1915. Much of the credit however, for this must go to the aunts and the cousins of the family as they nursed the kids when they were sick, sewed and cooked for them and in a thousand ways helped them while they were growing up.
Eph has seven children living and seventeen grandchildren. He should have had more grandchildren, but Tone (Anthony) has been neglectful. Eph is offering a bounty on his first great grandchild and there are possibilities that this might be collected before the next reunion.
History of Ida Emma Pugsley not available.