| Show given rooms and servedbanquet to honor many grass-root guests They went through the parade on the pick-up truck playing their wonderful tunes We were very proud of them TREES PIONEER LEGACY Mary Louise Seamons Non Professional First Place Historical Essay think thatshall never seepoem lovely astree wrote Joyce Kilmer many years ago Like Kilmer Mormon pioneers must have been inspired by the infinite beauty and utility of the trees they fought to nurture in the inhospitable areas of the West when they first arrived to carve homes and towns at selected sites One of the first things Brigham Young encouraged the newly baptized members of the Mormon church to take with them as they emigrated from their homelands were saplings seeds and slips from their native flora to be planted around their new homes in Zion Many followed Youngsage advice and tenderly cared for the living sprigs even when they faced great hardships Many early pioneers came from countries which were heavily forested or had abundant lush vegetation whether edible or not Their new environments were therefore made more home-like and the pioneers were able to grow plants that otherwise might not have been available for many years Some of these are still evident today as we travel through small Mormon settlements in several states Lombardy poplars were planted in many areas to provide wind breaks for homes and farms in desert-like territories My grandfather the son of Scandinavian emigrants planted some poplars along the highway between the Hagerman Valley and what is now Mountain Home when long beforewas born he and an associate traveled into Idaho to see Grandpabrother and 44 |
