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FISH-THE LAST OF THE BIG ONES Hugh Brady Downey, Idaho Senior Citizen Division Third Place Short Story During the 18?0's very little water of the Sanpitch fliver, Cottonwood and Oak Greek canyon streams was used for irrigation. These streams were alive with large native trout, and some of the early settlers used fish traps to catch them for food. My father, Lindsey, a young lad at Fairview, loved to fish and take home a nice string to help feed the family of thirteen. To illustrate the circumstances of many pioneers of that time, T -find the -Following quotes from my father's Life Story vt»ry Interesting: "As a boy, I endured many hardships. When I was seven (1873) until about eleven or twelve, I had to help herd cows on the hills west of Fairview. A horse was hardly known. So I had to chase cows all over those hills in bare feet. My feet became so calloused a sliver could hardly run in them. At times I had such big cracks in my heels they would bleed something terrible. " "It was nothing to see bare-footed children at the children's dance on the 2lfth of July. I have danced many times in my bare feet. Many children were bare-footed in the winter time, I remember some of my cousins going bare-footed .^T1 winter long. Leather was so high most people could not afford to buy shoes." "I never knew what it was to have underwear. My clothing consisted of one thin shirt and a pair of Idnsey pants which had been woven on a home loom from wool spun on a home-spinning wheel." "These days of hardship and trial were not without their pleasures and happiness. When I Has still a small boy, I spent a lot of my time fishing when not herding cows. Cottonwood Creek was a favorite stream. From my home, I would fish up-stream three blocks and back to a point one block west of our home. That was as far as I dared go because of Indians. " "A little later, President Brigham Young made a treaty with the Indians. After that, I spent many happy hours fishing up and down these beautiful streams." On one of these days when two cousins were with him, a great big one took the bait. When the second one hooked on, he broke his pole in the landing process. It was with real pride that he raced home to show these beauties to his parents. But his anticipated joy cooled when he saw the displeasure and questioning look on his |
