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GRANDMA AND THE INDIAN Mrs. John S. McAllister Mt. Pleasant, Utah Second Honorable Mention Short Story This is one of those tales handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation and treasured by a family as much for the personal connection as anything else. It is based on an incident in my great grandmother's life and no doubt has gathered a little color and was altered to suit each story teller's imaginative interpre tation. Grandma was a perky little soul and at eighty poss- essed plenty of that spirit which no amount of hardship had been able to subdue. It snapped from her eyes and her quick movements as she flitted about giving evidence that during the early years of her life she wouldn't be the person whose path you'd want to cross. Fortunately, she possessed a fund of good judgement and right down practical ability along with, what in those days, was a pretty good education for a mere girl. About 1850 her family joined the L.D.S. Church. Early missionaries became acquainted with her father and while he was not easily impressed with new ideas and fancies, an open mind, prayer, study, and the zeal of those bringing the message had their effect and another family consisting of parents and four children were ready to begin the long journey to the land of the mountains. Being a man of fairly substantial means, the journey west was acconplished with a minimum of trials. Undoubt- tedly their difficulties were mush the same as most of the pioneers encountered - hardships, discomfort, but there were no actual tragic experiences that some had. Grandma was at that time a young girl, attractive, not at all self-conscious, and probably somewhat pampered because she was the only girl in the family. Two older brothers and one younger had always more or less done her bidding. The company with whom they traveled soon come to know - 35 - |
