Provo Fourth Ward Band P.1

18312 Front Row: Franklin Y. Gates, alto, Wm. E. Bassett, trombone, Vivian Snow, cornet, Irving Snow, cornet, and leader, Jesse Fields, cornet, Harold Smoot, cornet. Back Row: Calvin Beebe, alto, Leonard Cluff, bass, B. Cecil Gates, trombone, Karl Keeler, baritone, Ray Warner, clarinet, Jesse Haws, drum-major, Harvey H. Gates, Snare-drum, Elwood Beebe, cymbals, Wilford Smoot, bass drum, (Picture taken in 1902, at Provo Utah). In the spring of 1900 a few of the youngsters living in the Provo Fourth Ward met on the lawn in front of Uncle Jacob Gates' home to make plans for the coming summer. After much talk and arguing we decided to have a circus. We thought a tent or a fence of some kind would be needed, so for several weeks we spent our free time going about the neighborhood gathering up burlap sacks. We would open up the sacks and then sew them together. Our progress was very slow, so when someone said, "If we are going to have a cirus we should have a band," this suggestion took fire immediately and the sewing together of burlap sacks was dropped. A few of the boys had instruments, and we were able to recruit thirteen who either had instruments or who would buy them. Irving Snow was made leader of the band, but we had professional instruction until we were able to play three marches. The first theacher was Prof. Alber Miller, band and orchestra director at the Brigham Young Academy, then later, William Holdway, trombone player with the Provo City band. The band was invited to play at a Fourth of July celebration in the Provo Tabernacle. We were seated on the north side of the choir seats, and the Brigham Young Academy band was on the south side. We thought we recieved as much applause as did the B.Y.A. band. The band was together until the latter part of 1903 when the Gates family moved to Salt Lake City. This took three members from the band. Harold Smoot moved to Washington, his father, Reed Smoot, having been elected to the U.S. Senate. With four of our memebers leaving us, the band just faded away. Franklin Y. Gates and I are, to my knowledge, the only ones left. I think we were the two youngest boys in the band. August 1978. Vivian Snow 1933 Princeton Avenue Salt Lake City, Utah 84108.