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Show EPILOGUE Since the creation of Daggett County, we have seen prosperity to a certain extent, we have seen drought and depression to its full extent, we have seen people and families come and go, but the sturdy, never give ups, are still here. - MARIUS N. LARSEN A here was almost no snow at all in Daggett County during the winter of 1976- 77. A warm, dry fall had been followed by a very dry winter- the driest since the terrible drought year of 1934. But, unlike 1934, this winter brought strong southeast winds that tore at the soil and ripped the grass. On Daggett County's ranches, it was becoming clear that there would be very little feed in the spring. One elderly rancher began a desperate search for pasture in order to save his cattle. He found that his neighbors had also suffered, and there simply was no pasture available. The options were not good. The cattle could be sold in a depressed market, but that would not provide enough income to meet expenses. With nothing left to do, the rancher and his wife telephoned their children, explaining the situation and asking for their 275 276 HISTORY OF DAGGETT COUNTY This 1997 aerial view of Dutch John shows the outline of the temporary housing area in the fore ground. ( Edward Lennon- United States Bureau of Reclamation) prayers. The family pulled together with offers of money and support. Still, it was hard to keep up the fight. Even before the drought, the ranch had been losing money and the family had been borrowing on their assets. If they sold out, they would at least get something for the place, and the constant worries about weather, markets, and cattle would no longer trouble them. There were feelings of defeat. EPILOGUE 277 An abandoned house near Birch Creek on the Jon Wilde Ranch. ( Daggett County) Yet there was also the barn that had been built in 1934 with logs hauled down from the mountains. It was as solid as ever. There were some thirty miles of six- wire fences in good repair, and one could still look out over the hayfields and stackyards that had been there for generations. The house that the old rancher and his father had built long ago, the house where eight children had been raised, still stood straight and proud. A few years previously, the ranch had been made into a family corporation, and the regular annual meeting was held that July. Selling the ranch became the primary topic of business. Though the prospects were grim, nobody was ready to make a decision- there were too many memories and emotions tied up in the land. When another meeting was held the following month, the family members made a firm choice: the ranch would not be sold. Somehow they got through the year, but the ranch was still in danger, and there was no real solution on the horizon. Christmas was 278 HISTORY OF DAGGETT COUNTY As the twentieth century draws to a close, ranching and western traditions remain an important part of life in Daggett County. ( Frank Jensen) EPILOGUE 279 coming. Children and grandchildren came home to visit, and the old rancher was once again asked to sing " O Holy Night" at the family Christmas program. His heart was not in it, but he agreed anyhow. The singing improved his spirits. He looked back at a year that had been filled with so many frustrations, and he counted his blessings: It certainly would be a sin not to be happy. Many of the numerous things I possessed to make me happy, the Lord blessed me with, and had come my way, and I had received unwittingly, not knowing the Lord's way was better than mine. I could not have planned it that good. 1 Such faith and optimism, with a good measure of courage and a great amount of hard work, enabled early settlers of Daggett County to establish a h u m a n hold on the land. Though times and situations are changing, altering the relation of humans to much of the land in Daggett County, Utah, and throughout the West, it is that mixture of faith and determined hard work that will allow residents of the count ry to continue to live in this land that they have come to love. ENDNOTE 1. J. Kent Olson, Never Marry a Rancher, 127- 32. |
