Recently, my 89 year old Grandmother Hofheins passed away and with her passing I have been flooded with memories. My favorite ones surround an old ice cream freezer. As a family, we would gather in grandma’s kitchen and participate in the ritual of freezing the cream. It was fun as cousins by the dozens flocked to lend a helping hand knowing that there would be a big payoff.
The event of freezing the cream was not reserved for any traditional occasion just when ever there was a number of family members present to do the churning. I know the ice cream was incredibly delicious, but it is not so much the taste that has stayed with me, but more the making of the memory. Our taste buds have a way of creating the best memories. So with the awakening of summer comes the salute to ice cream. My grandfather Weaver always served us up an ice cream cone following lunch or dinner. He said it was perfect for sliding between the cracks.
For my son’s first birthday each guest was invited to shake their own cream in a Ziploc bag until the ice cream was formed. What fun it was to watch young ones and old ones create this rhythm as they salivated over what would soon be the tasty product.
Summer is fun and the ice cream shops are endless so go ahead and scream for ice cream. Perhaps, if you’re lucky your hands will find their way to an old fashioned freezer and with each turn the anticipation will grow and result will be absolutely delicious.
Ziploc Bag Ice Cream
recipe from Kaboose.com
What you’ll need:
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup milk or half & half
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 tablespoons rock salt
• 1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
• 1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
• Ice cubes
How to make it:
1. Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
2. Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
3. Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.
4. Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.
5. Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!
Tips:
A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don’t increase the proportions more that that — a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.
See the slideshow below for some of our favorite homemade icecream recipes including Grandma’s Old Fashioned Vanilla, Nutella Ice Cream and Banana Split Ice Cream.
Summer is fun and the ice cream shops are endless so go ahead and scream for ice cream. Perhaps, if you’re lucky your hands will find their way to an old fashioned freezer and with each turn the anticipation will grow and result will be absolutely delicious
Just in case you need immediate satisfaction make a trip to one of these treateries for a cold treat

RECIPES

Grandma’s Homemade Ice Cream

Scald 2 ½ quarts of milk (Scald means to put it in a large pan and almost bring it to a boil).
Mix 3 cups of sugar, 8 tablespoons flour and ¼ tsp of salt and stir in gradually into the scalded milk.
Add 4 slightly beaten eggs.
Turn heat to lowest setting and stir constantly until mixture is smooth and thickening slightly.
Turn off heat and let cool until ready to freeze.

When ready to freeze, pour above mixture into 1 gallon freezing container and add whipping cream (a quart and a pint) as well as a little vanilla for flavor. You might want to taste it to determine how much vanilla.

Note:  This is my grandmother's ice cream freezer.  She says it is mine.... when she is done using it....

Hot, Hot summer week.  In fact it has been a sno cone every day week.  We decided to stay in doors with the A/C  until Maleck came rushing upstairs to where we were working and said in his cutest 4 year old voice,  "Mommy you have got to come see this beautiful storm."  How could I refuse...

Another busy and a whole lot of crazy week but so super happy fun week!  I organized my family histories and found some great info on my Great Grandfather Jacob Hofheins.  Jacob joined the church in Germany (Rigby says that is where my stubborn nature comes from.   He was only 18.  He went on to be a body guard for the prophet Joseph,  a stone mason for the Nauvoo temple and a Captain in the Mormon Batallion..  What great faith!

On of my favorite things about Southern Utah is the rich history which the red rocks hills are engulfed in... If only they could talk.  My meanderings in Escalante a few summer ago left me wanting more.

Escalante, Utah for most is not a destination, but part of a journey- a journey which traverses thousands and thousands of acres of the most beautiful undiscovered country in the western United States. This scenic landscape is a place where a camera is in demand around every bend and turn in the road.

Escalante is home to the Grand Staircase- Escalante National Monument museum. With such a monument as its backdrop, Escalante lies on somewhat of a frontier where the rugged landscape consists of plateaus and multi hued cliffs run for distances on end. No doubt that is why this region was the last of the Continental United States to be mapped. It is also why Escalante’s neighboring town of Boulder was the last to receive its mail by mule train.

This journey via scenic Byway Utah Route 12 takes the traveler to Hell’s backbone, Powell Point, Boyonton Overlook, and The Hogback. This place is paradise for the artist, geologist, and outdoor enthusiast.

However, for those who are generational residents of Escalante this austere landscape is home. It is a place where solitude and beauty play a duet and the product is a tune which has echoed throughout the ages. It was Silvestre Velez de Escalante who first explored this region in 1776 with his superior Francisco Atansio Dominguez. They had left Santa Fe, New Mexico attempting to reach Monterey, California. Their Journey marked the first entrance of Utah by white men. This journey became known as the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition.

It wasn’t until the mid 1860′s that feet were once again recorded passing through this land as members of the Southern Utah Militia under Captain James Andrus during the Black Hawk Indian War. In 1872, members of the John Wesley Powell expedition met a group of settlers from Panguitch exploring the area. It was he that recommended to the settlers that the place be named Escalante in honor of the 1776 expedition led by Escalante himself. It wasn’t until 1875 that the area was finally settled.

Quiet and solitude are the words best used to describe the 2010 settlement of Escalante. On a Sunday morning the main drag of Escalante is without patrons. Passers- by may pump gas, but the convenience store is closed. However, the beauty which surrounds the community hums its own Sabbath Song. Set on exploration, I roamed the hushed streets, and learned of its history.

On a side street there is a beautiful little park which houses a memorial to all of the men from Escalante who have served their country. This little town boasts its fair share of veterans.

Perhaps, in the humming of its historical tune you may hear the Desert Mystery of the young Everett Ruess. The twenty-two-year- old artist-poet-explorer from California left Escalante with his two burros and melted into the desert and canyons of the Escalante River never to return. He loved the open air and the adventure of the wild country embedded in the mountains and canyons of this frontier land.

In one of his last letters written from Escalante he wrote: ” Dear Father and Mother: After a truly delightful trip over the mountains, finding my way without any trails, I have reached the Mormon town of Escalante. I am going south toward the river now through some rather wild country… The water is very low this year. I may even come back through Boulder. So I may not have a post office for a couple of months. I am taking an ample supply of food with me.”

“I have had plenty of fun with the boys of this town riding horses, hunting for arrowheads, and the like. I took a couple of the boys to the show last night-”Death Takes a Holiday.” I liked it well as the play, enjoying the music especially.

“I promised you some picture and am sending a few of them now, as it will lighten the load and they are getting travel-stained…”

“Tonight I have been sitting by the fire with two of my friends (Norman Christensen and Merrill Porter), eating roast venison and baked potatoes. The burrow bell is tinkling merrily nearby Chocolatero crops alfalfa. He is a good burro now…

“So tomorrow I take the trail again and the canyon south.

Love, from Everett

The mysterious disappearance of Everett Reuss, today still goes unsolved. The people of Escalante searched for him like he was their very own son. His expedition was given daily coverage by the Salt Lake Tribune, and the Los Angeles Evening Herald gave an account of his disappearance on Feb 14. His parents embarked upon the 2400- mile trip that included Escalante and all the places he had been. Reuss was a likable and gifted boy. His trail simply went cold at what was presumed to be his last camp. An inscription on the wall of the cave read NEMO 1934.

There are many theories that chart this mystery, but perhaps its ending is best said by the pen of the man himself… Everett Reuss

I only live to see again

To mix and match

My colors to the visioned splendors

I’ve failed to catch.

Reuss captured the colors of Escalante and its surrounding frontier in his poems and sketches. He, like so many others who pass by this wondrous land are drawn to and captured by its breathtaking beauty. It is a land of mystery a land to which Reuss himself lost his life in exploration. Perhaps the theory many would like to believe concerning his whereabouts is that he is still out there roaming the hills and reaching another peak. After all this was his pledge:

“Here in utter stillness,

High on the lonely cliff-edge,

Where the air is trembling with lightning,

I have given the wind my pledge.”

Source: The Escalante Story 1875-1964 by Nethella Griffin Woolsey

I see the moon in full view tonight as the echo of the click clack of the keyboard leads my fingers to create these words and then the words become sentences.  It's funny how the moon can make you feel so small and insignificant but then in another sense so close to God.  There is only a slight breeze out tonight and the hum of the sprinklers fills my ears. I miss the lullaby of the crickets as they so often sang me to sleep in my little pink bedroom on second east. I remember lots of things....

Today the kids worked hard at the car wash and the office catching up on their missed chores from a busy week of ball playing.  Then this afternoon Rigby and I took them for ice cream and then swimming-- simple treasures of summer.  We even took a moment for a drive up the canyon in our '71 Chevy.   He found the perfect spot by a makeshift waterfall.  We put down the tailgate and enjoyed dinner that we had picked up at the latest BBQ restaurant in town.   We listened to the sound of the rushing water and were happy for a quiet moment together... another summer treasure.

The bright moon reminded me of a piece I wrote years ago.  In fact, it was February 22, 1995- the Day Rigby then Elder Rigby returned home from serving an LDS mission in Denmark

Sunset

I feel closest to Him at this time of day.

When the sun has dipped behind the distant hills

leaving only its echo- a memory painted in brilliant colors.

Another day has tiptoed from our lives,

Its ending is marked by the sun's exit

Leaving me reminiscent of those I've met,

lands I've crossed; thing I've done,

They all now are my shadows which voyage with me each day,

Giving light to my soul.

Our lives are constantly stretching for another horizon,

in which we can produce minute masterpieces.

We have become our experiences.

He, our creator designed it as such.

Each day is a yesterday; each tomorrow, a today.

And with our faith before us,

and the strength of the Almighty behind us,

We reach for the sunset in hopes to 

RETURN WITH HONOR! 

Sunday my nephew Easton spoke in church.  He leaves for England on the 29th to serve a mission for our church.  Yep, I am a mormon... a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (And I love it)!   Easton is going to share his testimony of Christ with those in England.

Easton is returning to the land of his ancestral heritage.  Infact, Heber C. Kimball his great, great great... (you get the picture)  was the first missionary on English soil.  When his boat was about to dock, he leaped to shore so as to be the first mssionary from his company to set foot in England.

Also, from England is Thomas X. Smith.  Thomas X Smith was a hat maker in England.  When he joined the church, his family disowned him.  He later returned to England to serve as a missionary and then returned to the United States.  He is buried in Logan, Utah where he served as bishop for over 40 years.

He married Annie Masters Howe also from England. ( She married Thomas X. Smith) At the age of 14 Annie worked at a lace factory.  Annie would walk to this lace factory 3 miles each way.  Annie's family was introduced to the gospel  by a Moses Thatcher who urged them to join the saints in Utah.  Annie's Family came to America with John Mcgraw and Fredrick C. Anderson.  They left England on June 4, 1865 aboard John Bright's ship with 722 Saints.

This is just a sampling of my English heritage.  I have the life today because my ancestors heard the message of Christ and embraced the gospel.  I am so excited for Easton to return to his ancestral land.  This time he will have a chance to "give back" for all of us here who were blessed by the lives of missionaries who were courageous and obedient and determined to share the word of the Lord.  God Speed, Easton.

Note:  This is another piece I wrote for Alive Utah.  I found today, Father's Day to be a fitting day to repeat this story.  Happy Father's Day dad... I love you!

   

It was a beautiful summer day and the flowers were in full blossom while the sun shone happily. Driving down historic Cedar City Main Street, I was a little taken back when I saw her on her four wheeler with her high tech watering mechanisms. Perhaps, to many she went without notice. However, not to me. The sight took me back many years when my two sisters and I were the main street watering girls.

My dear father proudly came marching into our home on 2nd East one evening and announced that he had found a summer job for my sisters and I. I, of course, was eager because in those days I was what you might call an entrepreneur — a new job could become a step above my door to door selling antics of rocks, flowers, and “I like Ike” pins, and I knew that money meant shopping, cute clothes, and summer candy at Cowley Drug. However, I am not sure I was quite ready for this responsibility.

My father, or “Jake” as we affectionately called him, described to us in simple details our job and our wages. We were to arise every morning at six, except on Sundays and water the flowers and trees on Main Street. Now in those days Main Street was not of the artistic nature that it is today, but nonetheless there were still many flowers and trees that needed to be watered. And we were to do it all by hand. By hand, meaning bucket style. Our payment would be $75 each for the entire summer.

I recall bits and pieces of this “experience.” I remember my father rummaging around for the buckets. My favorite one was a simple tin bucket; some of the others were missing handles. And I can still see the pliers in my father’s hand. The pliers were a key tool for our watering job. Dad would access the water at the faucet of each business residence and then we would carry the water from the faucet to the trees and flowers in front of each business. Now when you are ten a bucket in each hand is quite a feat. A balancing act actually. But I did it. My favorite flowers to water were in front of Bulloch and Cowley Drug. Each drug store had a beautiful planter with a built in bench. I remember using the bench once or twice. I also loved the one in front of Cowley Drug because the old rock fountain used to sit there. The water was welcoming on a hot summer morning.

We would start on Main Street at the Old Post Office and go all the way down the east side and then cross over to the west side all the way back to what was then JC Penny and then walk home. Simple right? Every morning at 6 o’clock?

I don’t remember staying up late many nights that summer enjoying the traditional night games. I don’t remember fighting with my sisters or complaining much. Maybe dad could tell a different story. But I do remember dad always being the first one up and I remember how careful I was with those $75.

This past Saturday, we spent the entire day from sun up to sun down with our “fabulous five” working in our yard and at our family’s little car wash. For the most part, it was a pleasant day, but it is work to teach your children to work. However, they do have their impersonations of me down to a “T” as they mimic my instruction process. I laugh with them because they do a great job impersonating me. We accomplished a lot. I tried not lose my patience partly because I remembered my dad never complaining about our summer Main Street watering experience. Growing up, my father never had money in his wallet. I am sure he did not take any “cut” from our summer watering adventure.

When the next summer rolled around after my water girl experience, Dad said he had been approached about watering the flowers on Main Street again. I remember the three of us in unison saying we would rather not. So today the picture of “her” watering the Main Street flowers makes me smile as I drive by remembering my own summer adventure as a “Main Street water girl.” While she may have all the right equipment and she does look “cooler” on her four wheeler than I did with my buckets, I feel a little sorry for the little girl out there who doesn’t get the “moment” with her dad, her tin bucket, and a pair of pliers.

Side note:.   I wrote this piece for Alive Utah, but thought it fitting to put in my family history blog.   Presently,  my six siblings and I are trying to plan out our parents' 50th wedding anniversary--- it's a coming.  So here is to summer time and families.... the best way to create family history!!

Summer time in Southern Utah means a time to gather. Family reunions provide a great opportunity for families to do so. However, if you happen to be the individual chairing the event, it may seem quite burdensome. Remember with careful and timely planning your family reunion will become an event to remember.

The following are a few basic tips and ideas to consider when planning a family reunion:
Set the date early.
Many families gather at the same time annually. This makes it easy for everyone to “mark their calendars.” While some families gather yearly as the family grows it may become more practical to gather a little less often. Don’t forget to send out email notifications well in advance and then follow up with a mailed invitation or a phone call. Remember mailing can be expensive. Be sure to plan this in the budget or make “family heads” in charge of notifying their children.
Consider the budget
It is always polite to consider the circumstances of those who will attend. Once the date is chosen, families can make the necessary financial plans so that they may attend the event. If your family gathering includes those outside your immediate family, make food assignments and/or find someone to cater the event. If family members are coming from great distances, find a hotel that can accommodate your group at a discount.
Choose a Venue
A great setting always creates great memories. Choose a location that has meaning. Perhaps, the birthplace of the grandparents, or where the main family lived for a period of time. This will create a bit of nostalgia and will be a springboard for conversation and activities.
Consider those who will be in attendance
Is the group young, old, or a mix? This will help in the planning of the event and the choosing of the activities. When planning the schedule for the reunion, be creative. What makes your family unique? What is it they enjoy doing collectively? If babysitters are needed for certain events then make the necessary arrangements with childcare services, or if special accommodations are necessary for older members of the family they can be made as well.
Make your reunion fun
Create an event that will provide for mingling. It is unproductive to hold a family reunion in which family groups do not associate. Create opportunities for natural conversation to occur and thereby strengthen the family unit. Wear t-shirts that identify different family units or pre-order t-shirts that are all the same to unify the group and serve as a souvenir.
If your family seems to be stuck in a rut, here are five innovative ideas to stir up some excitement for your next reunion.
Camping: Southern Utah provides a brilliant backdrop for such a reunion. Camping is a great way for families to gather. Be sure to choose different locations so the reunion does not seem like a “rerun” that just won’t end. This summer my husband’s aunt and uncle hosted our family reunion at their ranch near Hatch, Utah. While some families camped in tents, others made use of the trailer hook ups. This 1,000 plus acreage provided a venue with a host of activities including horseback riding, four wheeling, fishing, swimming, and a zip line. These activities created an informal way whereby cousins could renew acquaintances and the great grandchildren could play together. There was even a pavilion complete with an outdoor kitchen. Because it was my husband’s grandfather’s children and grandchildren, each “child” was teamed up with another “child” and the involved families were assigned a meal to prepare together.
If there is not a ranch like this in your family, choose a great campground close to a fun hike or look on line for a cabin or resort that is able to accommodate your group. The Zion Ponderosa Resort just outside of Zion National Park is a great venue for annual reunions or special occasion. My neighbors recently chose to bypass the traditional “50th wedding anniversary” and treated their entire family to the Ponderosa Resort.
Service reunion: See a need and serve it. Heather Harris, a local southern Utahn and her siblings recently chose to gather to paint the home of her parents who are now in their late seventies. While this was the first year they chose this type of reunion, she and her siblings had so much fun they decided they will definitely repeat it next year. She said it was great fun to work together and made communication more natural.
It was also a great use of time. Service reunions provide a great way for families to give to a member in need. If there is not a house needing painting, host a family car wash and give the money to a family member in need or a local charity. Another idea might be to clean up a park or a local historical marker. This would also create a great opportunity for a young man to host an eagle project.
Family History Reunion: Choose a location that is significant in your family’s history. This location could be close or far from the family depending on the budget. Perhaps your family helped settle a southern Utah town. Hold your event there and take a walking tour of the town, visit local graves, family homes, play family jeopardy, share family stories, or have a family “photo” scavenger hunt.
This type of reunion helps family members remember and honor their heritage while creating new memories. During a recent family reunion, a photo scavenger hunt was arranged. My father and siblings along with spouses were assigned to go to various destinations in Cedar City and take a picture of the locations. The hunt ended at a soda parlor complete with a jukebox. We cousins, enjoyed seeing our parents do the “boogey.”
Family Olympics: If your family is athletic and competitive then this may be the right reunion for you. Create teams that will be fair and that might avoid to much competition. Events for these Olympics might include a family 5K, a soccer and/or baseball game, 3 on 3 volleyball, a family obstacle course, and then for the grand finale- a family water fight.
This a great way for families to laugh together and join in activities that they enjoy collectively. During the events that older family members can’t join in they will have a great time being “cheerleaders.”
A Big Get Away: As families grow and their financial position improves, grandparents always need gift ideas. In lieu of birthday and Christmas gifts one year, my parents surprised grand kids with tickets to Disneyland and a motel stay. Because we parents knew well in advance, we were able to arrange schedules and make the necessary budget cuts. Family members spent time together while in various groupings.
Disneyland provided a great venue for memories that will indeed last a lift time. My older boys will never forget riding the Screamer with Grandpa Jake in California Adventure. There are a host of venues including water parks and theme parks which provide such memory making.
Plan ahead and the fun will find its way to your family reunion. While it is important to have a host of activities to enjoy it is equally as important to not over plan. Be spontaneous and flexible. The most important thing is that you as a family are together!

Beaver, Utah — Quiet Country, Rich History

Posted by: admin Posted date: August 13, 2012 In: Archives 2011, Small Town Tales

By: Amyanne Rigby

Photos by Amyanne Rigby

Preface

“Stand perfectly still and don’t worry they are just as afraid of you as you are of them, “ my grandfather instructed as I was given my spot on the pasture. The closer they came, the more afraid I was. But I stood my ground even as these massive animals came toe to toe with my five-year-old frame. I tried the stare down effect and as their eyes met mine their tongues fell from their mouths like long pieces of red licorice. Sure enough they turned into the corral when they approached the line marked by me and my siblings. Today was branding day at the Hofheins Farm. This is a long ago memory which is forever etched in my mind. I have few of my grandfather as a cowboy after this day. When I was five my grandfather was caught in a post hole digger, his neck broke, and he barely lived. In the 1980’s like many rural Utah farmers the farms was lost to “big dreams” and overextending one’s resources. That was a sad day for our family.

Thankfully, we still had grandfather in his recliner to recount story after story beginning with he and his brother’s desire to leave the family trade of masonry behind and become farmers. They were successful and their acreage grew. Grandpa told me endless stories of riding the range with grandma’s lipstick on to protect his lips, his cowboy hat a top his head, and his chaps protecting his legs. I could get lost in his stories.

I have come to Beaver since my birth to visit my grandparents. It was in their small white frame home with the scent of manure lingering that I discovered years before the nation ever knew that Beaver did indeed have the best drinking water. However, I had always thought it was because of Grandma’s tin cups that it tasted so good. Over the years, our family grew and decreased in number as time marched by us. Some of the stories are pleasant and some rather painful. But I had always thought that even after Grandpa passed that she would be there in that one frame home quilting behind the lace curtains. But Grandma passed away last year and I had not returned to Beaver’s quiet for a year.

One this day in June, I returned with my mom and my two youngest children. We ate curd from the famous Beaver Cache Valley Cheese, watched the horses out to pasture, heard the bell chime and stopped at the red light in the center of town (it has only been in existence for six months). I discovered Beaver from a different perspective. Perhaps, as one returning home. In my ramblings I hope you feel the quiet of this town. The quiet peace that has echoed in my heart for nearly four decades.

The bell of the county courthouse still chimes every hour on the hour here, peacocks are known to wander aimlessly down the busiest road in town, there is only one stop light, and it boasts the best drinking water in the nation. But more than that Beaver is quiet.

Beaver was settled in 1856, when the Mormon apostle, George A. Smith called 15 men and their families from Parowan to establish a settlement in Beaver. It was the lush valleys and rich soil which first drew the settlers to this haven. Today, the history of this town can be traced through the architecture of its buildings.

Beaver’s pink rock houses were made from adobe until the mid 1880’s when the first bricks were fired by the Patterson family along the South Creek where a rich clay deposit was found. In 1868 stone masons came to town led by Thomas Frazer. Frazer’s black rock structures were less expensive than the brick but superior in quality to the adobe. As late as 1999, sixteen of Frazer’ s stone houses still stood.

Both the Beaver County Courthouse and the Beaver Opera House capture the culmination and craftsmanship of early architecture. But homes in both the pink rock and black rocks are still standing today.

The Sleepy Blue Lagoon on the south side of town beckoned wandering tourists until nearly a decade ago when it caught on fire. But before it came to town there were Beaver’s first two notable hotels which beckoned the weary traveler. The Thompson Hotel and the Low Hotel were the first hotel establishments in Beaver. However, these hotels served mostly as boarding homes to the miners and other workers. Fort Cameron also brought an influx of passersby to this thought to be sleepy town. Fort Cameron was a military base established in 1872 at the mouth of Beaver Canyon in efforts to squash Indian uprisings. An African American couple ran The Lee Boarding House above Charley’s Saloon. The Lees came to town because of the Fort and housed many of the workers from Fort Cameron. While Beaver was settled by the Mormons it has a colorful past shaped by its residents, some who stayed for short period while others stayed for generations.

Those adding to the color of Beaver’s “story” are its two most notable citizens who call Beaver their birthplace. The first was the infamous Butch Cassidy who lived in Beaver for a very brief time. The other was Philo T. Farnsworth who called the streets of Beaver home until age thirteen. Farnsworth is credited as the “father of the television” for his “image dissector” which he first drew for his high school teacher, Justin Tolman, at age 16. Today, a statue of Farnsworth stands on the grounds of the County Courthouse in Beaver.

Education in Beaver was an evolving process. In the 1860’s the Methodists opened schools with the initiative of providing a better quality education for Mormon children and perhaps convert them along the way. In 1886 the Mormon Church established their own school naming it Beaver Stake Academy. At the Academy, children were taught during the day while adults were educated in the evenings. This was the first church school south of Provo. In 1888 when the Utah Territorial Legislature tightened its belt, drastic organizational and financial changes were instituted in Beaver’s school. Unable to compete with this new free school system, the Academy closed its doors in 1890. In 1909 a two story red brick school house was constructed and educated children in eight divisions. Up to this point in time, following eighth grade there was no high school offered. However, the Beaver Branch of Brigham Young Academy was opened in September 1898 under the leadership of two Mormon general authorities. When Fort Cameron was abandoned, the church became owner of the land and it was here that the Academy was housed. Later the name was changed to the Murdock Academy and continued educating high school age children throughout the region until 1922 when the doors closed due to the creation of public high schools.

Recreation in Beaver’s early pioneer days was marked by parades and dances. The favored dances of the day were the quadrille, the waltz, the polka and scotch reel. The music was generated from fiddles, organs and accordions. During the winter months, dances were held in houses and churches but when the weather warmed dances were held in barns, under boweries, and even in candle lit fields. Besides the typical wedding dances and church dances, Beaver residents held wood dances (dances held to help the widows. Young men chopped wood in exchange for the price of an admission ticket) and basket dances ( the young women and girls decorated baskets and then filled them with delicious picnic lunches. The baskets were auctioned off to the highest bidder who won the basket and a lunch with its lady). In 1876 baseball came to town as the “Rough and Ready” and the “Resolutes” suited up to display their skills. Other sporting events were somewhat informal as the men gathered near the lake’s shore for a skipping rock competition. Parades likewise caused a reason for Beaver residents to gather and generated great enthusiasm. The Pioneer Day Parade and the 4th of July depicted events from early Utah and United States history. Even today, these parades have few peers amongst the neighboring communities.

Beaver’s history is anything but quiet. But along the banks of its water and amongst the rubble of past buildings there is an echo. The crickets sing of it in the twilight and farm animals hum its song during the day. The tune is simply called quiet. It’s a thoughtful town with a peacock, a chiming bell, delicious drinking water, and one stop light. It is Beaver with one large American Flag.