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39 s o we c o u ld have o u r home l i v a b l e b e f o r e w i n t e r s e t i n . . . . My g i r l s c a r r i e d t h e adobes t o me and I l a i d them u p. When t h r e e l a y e r s had been l a i d , . . . I would d r i v e a s p i k e n a i l i n t h e tw o -b y - fo u r on e a c h s i d e th e n bend them down s o t h e ado bes would be h e l d i n p la c e good and s o l i d . . . . We k e p t warm t h a t w i n t e r . (C a rte r, 1958, 141) The f i r e p r o o f q u a l i t i e s o f th e adobe w a l l s were con­ s i d e r e d a f u r t h e r a d v a n ta g e of adobe o v e r l o g . R eferences t o h o u s e s c a t c h i n g f i r e a r e r a r e i n Utah p i o n e e r l i t e r a t u r e , th o u g h f a m i l i e s l i v i n g i n lo g o r frame ho uses c e r t a i n l y had t h i s added w orry (Young , Vol. 8, 7 9 ), e s p e c i a l l y i n w i n t e r when t h e h e a r t h s were a b l a z e . An e sc a p e d f i r e i n an adobe home m ight r e s u l t i n c o n s i d e r a b l e damage t o t h e i n s i d e t r i m ­ mings and th e r o o f b u t would n o t c o m p le te ly d e s t r o y t h e w a l l s . But adobe i s by no means e n t i r e l y f r e e o f p ro b le m s t o th e p i o n e e r . The most o b v io u s o f i t s draw backs i s i t s t e n ­ dency t o w e a th e r when ex po sed t o r a i n . The r a t e o f w e a th e r ­ in g on u n p r o t e c t e d adobe w a l l s i s a b o u t 1 in c h p e r 20 y e a r s (E y re , 7 ) . T h is r a t e d i f f e r s on each w a ll of any s p e c i f i c h o u se; w a l l s f a c i n g windward d e t e r i o r a t e much more r a p i d l y th a n th o s e i n t h e l e e . N a tu ra lly , th e d e t e r i o r a t i o n of th e w a lls i s g r e a tly r e t a r d e d i f g iv e n a c o a t o f p l a s t e r o r c o v e r e d w i t h t i l e . In t h e e a r l y p e r i o d s o f Mormon adobe, however, t i l e was n o t a v a i l a b l e and p l a s t e r i n g was a t f i r s t l i m i t e d b e c a u s e no s u c c e s s f u l way c o u ld be found t o bond th e p l a s t e r t o th e w a l l ( F i g s . 6 and 7 ) . Crude l a t h s of s m a ll w illo w s t i c k s were som etim es n a i l e d t o th e w a l l s when n a i l s became a v a i l ­ a b l e , b u t t h a t p ro v e d o n ly m a r g i n a l l y s u c c e s s f u l ; t h e p l a s t e r Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.