i|:ili|i|flilf|;|;!:!|if • c«?W._».*- o :- '-^^0^ r -'U.o^ .'. -^^0^ r • *»;■ ^ v'^f-'o'' V'^\'*^ ^o.^^r-''*^ V^^'v*"^ 'o*.*'^'"''ao'' V -.. 4c> ^o bV ^°-v.. - ^o^ :iM^r^\ '"^^S «^ , "t "-.^^^ 0^ .•••. •'b. ^«> .. C" .'lii^^^', "'O .^■*' ,Wi5!,:v '^. 0" %,^^ ;a^a^ V.^^"^ - 'bV ^^-n^,. -o..- 0^ "^O ♦-'XT*- A (^ »•••» '*b A*^ ..' •. -^^ ,0^ .Ll*. ''b j>^ .•'■ • -ov^' /^sa^^^ ""-^^o^' o«^iia'- ''^r.'^^ ^'^i^^\ -^..^^ -'-^ > .>V.'.'. •^<.. .4.* .^ffiife,'. ^^^^^^ ,;^5;|^., -^^^^^Z /Jl^-, «.^^^^. ,'. O p .OV r.'^ ..... -^i. *6 ^^. *'TrT*' <^ .~ . . • • ♦>> .» Pi oneer ^p j r i "t The Pioneer Spirit that mastt-rcd things And Broke the virgin sod. That conquered savages and kings. And only bowed to God, The Strength of mind and strength of soul - The will to do or die, ^^^ That sets its heart upon a goal. % high- Clarence Hawkes- B2)Si?H: B^o^n^siilc^AiL ^METCM m- (I5)aVI5u&.E" ^c - cos^ - uw wn 1 L>]i ,1^,1 ^sn .Mi Cot] A^^ • vo- • c\ ORVILLE SOUTHERLAIJD COX Biographical sketch of Orville Southerland Cox, Pion- eer of I8I47, prjT^tly from a sketch written by Adelia B. Cox Sidwell for the "Daughters of the Pioneers", Manti7 Utah, 1913. • ..' ', '■ Orville S. Cox, was born in Plymouth, N.Y, November 25, l8lh. He 'was, one of a family of ,12 children, ten of whom reached maturity. His \father died when he M&s about fifteen years old. And he was then "bound out 'J; apprenticed to learn the trade of a blacksirdth imder a dea- con Jones," who was considered an excellent man as he xjas a pillar of ihe church. The agreement was that he was to work obedient- ly until twentv one and that Jones was to give him board and clothes'; three months of school each vriinter, and teach him the trade of blacksmi thing. No schooling was given or allowed, and one pair of jer^ns p,ints was all the clothing he received during the first three years of his apprenticeship, and his food was rather limited too. The women folks ran a dairy, but the boy ^^^as never allow- ed a drink of milk, of which he .was very fond because the lirs., said "it made too big a hole ■ in the, cheese." He was indeed a poor little- bondsman, receiving plenty of abusive treatment. As to teaching' him the trade, he vras kept blow- ing the bellows and using the tongs and heavy sledge. But the deacon sometimes w6nt to dist- ant places and then the boy secretly used the tools and practiced doihg the things his keen eyes had watched his master do. During some of these hours of freedom, he, made himself a pair of skates from pieces of broken n-^i? s he gathered carefully and saved. ^^.^^ Also, he straightened a discarded f.ain barrel and made a hammer, trig- ger, sights, etc, to it, so that he had an effective weapon,' These things he had to keep hidden, from the eyes of his master ?nd associates, but se-' cr-tly he had great joy in his nosessions and once in a while found a lit-' ,tle trie to use them^ Occasionally the monotony at the bellovjs ■ 'and with the tongs and sledge — was broken in other ways; -for example-at one time oxen were brought to shop to, be shod that had extrer. ely hard hoofs, callj "glassy hoofs". Whenever Deacon undertook to d'ri^)g' a nail" inj it bent. Cox straightened nails over and over, a^ nails v/ere precious articles in those days 'and must not be discarded because they \-iere bent. After a while, the boy said "let me". And he shod ti^e oxen t-athout bendine a single nail; And thereafter Cox shod the oxen, one and' all that c?me to the sb6p. Ovorville Southerland Cox - Cont 'd Page two One other pleasant duty was his: that of bur-;ing ch rcoal, as coal was then loncliscovered. He learned much of the trade of the woodman while attend*, ing to the pits in the depth of the mighty New York Forests, as well as having an opportrnity to j&f use his^^^ .-i2^s>«^=- " skates and gun a little. He acquired the cognoman ~^ ' of "Desk" among his associates^ and when he had worked for something over three years, he care to the conclusion that was all he ever would acquire, along xijith harsh treatment; so during ^ , one of the Deacon's visits to a distant parisli, ho gathered to- ■^' . gt'-.her his few belonpinps and a lunch, between two days, shouldered his '-■-•me made gun and "hit the trail for the tall timber" c thit being the route on which he was least apt to be discovered. He made his xray tow-^rd the Sus- cuehannah river. First he reached the Tioga River, vihich was a branch of the Suscuehannah , He began- reconnoitcring lor a means of crossing or floating doTm the river and scon discovered a log canoe, "dug-out" as it was c.''?led, frozen in the mud. He decided to confiscate it as "contraband of war" and pried it up, launched it, and was soon floating and paddling in it doxm to- ward the junction of the Tioga and the Susquehannah, Sl'.ortly he felt his tired feet being submerged in cold watey. Stooping to investigate, he found that the log was leak7/' and rapidly fil'lan^ with water. He also found an old woolen firkin, a small baj^rel, that he aji^jice bepan mak- ing use of, bailing the water, alternately paddelin^, " steering 4nd bailing^ He ccn' inued doim stream, keeping near the shore as ipoSiSiblejij in case the old dug-out should get. the best of him. The second day 'he 'heard "Hello, there, x-AW vo^i take a Passenger?" from a man on shore, / Yes, if you'll help bail, steer, and ro"." "Barkis is willin", came the --;^:'''r€rply, iso (there were two in the log canoe, "^ [ v-\ '^hen they made better time. Hearing the they ^-aw a boat preparing to leave the dock Susauehannah, a priritive stern wheel packet \)ft (1831), He and his passenr'er applied themselves t--eir paddling,, bailing and steering, signalling wait; just as s'^e started he drew near enough to the cug-out to her deck. A f r ^e boyj For noxif he was sure pursuit xrould v. \> na' over+'!:e him. His passenger called "What shall J- ' dc '-dth this canoe?" "Keep her or let her float" shout|(±^ Cox^ (If the ovmcr of that dug-out vdll send in \\\.s /^^y^"^ bill for damages, 0,S, Cox's c'-dldi^en vdll cheerfullf settle.) As for food on this trip vdth the canoe, was plentiful and he was a good shot. While on this*^ i' ' 1 gfcme While on this* boat, he must have worked his passage, for he had no money, J Q. boTd that boat Viith a Cargo of Southern PrO|duce, hey/' / first time in his life, saw an ora-ge. He remained on tfiislj' '-(\ little river packet some distance up the river, tho't)- lartdcd \ rative employment at lumbering and logging, and soufctimes at ) for the'^ ^ found lucV' the black- \ Orville Southcrland Cox - Cont'd - p-ge three smith's forge. Soon he had the good luck to find his two brothers, Walter Cold Aug! stus, rafting logs down the river. He was an expert at this himself. Now he learned th?t his mother, and her younger children, Amos, Harriet, Mary and Jonathan had gone to Ohio under the care of his older brother, vai- liam U., via the. great world fpmous Erie Canal; (at that time the largest canal in the world.) So by slow degrees and hard work he began to work his way towrd Ohio. Usually he worked for lumber companies. His two brothers did likexd-se. >^^ They literally walked all the x^ay through the forests, tl-e whole m/=^ length of the st.-te of New York, Finally they were un- ited as a jX/d y family in Nelson, Portage Co. Ohio, the former home of his f"- ture ^--■'VV ^ '^'^^s, Elvira, although she was at that time an emigrant The eight Cox boys continued their westward some of them re-^chcd California during- the gold Charles B. Cox was elected Senator from Santa Company for a number of terms, William U, had his property in a concern called the Phalanx defrauded by the officers of every cent and debt !l,?3000.00, an enourmous sum for those days, mother Lucinda, ^xid her f.qm.ily went to Mssouri hnd received the gospel in Ohio pre-viously. heard terrible stories of the outlawry of those Mormons"; but he became personally acquainted some (Among them a Sylvester Hulet) He they wore sinned against. He lived in Jack- County for a time, and ever aJter Jackson Missouri x-ras the goal of his ambition; He f) lieved to his. dying day that he should one put and was left in Orville 's Walter Orvij.le "awful with decided son Cornty I retxjrn to that favored spot. f\ llr//n ' ^!J Orville met and loved Elvira in Far ■Jest, but was not baptized. He s^id he didn't propose to turn Mormon to pro- cure a wife. When the Saints were driven from Missouri, he located near Lima Illinois, mth a group of Mormons and helped build the Morley settlement. Hearing his 2l4th birthday, he was a thorough frontiersman, forester, lumbtrman, a splendid blacksmith, a natural bom engineer; in short a genius and an all around good fellow. He was six feet in his socks and heavy prop- ortionately, ' '^Ihile here he won the heart of the orphan girl, Elvira P, Mills, who was living with her uncle, Sylv_Qster Hulet, But she hesitated about marrying a gentile, October 3, 1839, how'ever, she yielded, and they x-;ere married in Fatbei' Elisha 'Ihiting's home, r^t the I orley Settlement by Elder Lyman Wight, The two newly vreds, on October 6, 1839, drove into Nauvoo twenty miles away, -^nd Orville S. Cox was baptized by the Prophet Joseph Smith, He went a gentile and return d a full-fledged Mormon, so short a time it takes a woman to make a convert. He was a faithful L,D,S, ^ full of love 'Jid zeal. He w:"-S a. member of the famous brass band of the Nauvoo Legion. iJh^n the Prophet and his brother were killed, none mourned m.ore sincerely than he. He assisted those more helpless or destitute in the m.igration from Nauvoo, His stacks of grain were burned at the Morley settlement by the nobbers, and they fled to the City of Nauvoo, he -with his vafe nnd ti ., and many ^/ changed -(X>/^ Prophet's >^ V fl moment in the main- isist- , ^ shafts U^ 1 ial He attended the meeting v^ere Sidney Rigdon asked t to -^oDoint him as guardian, and where Bripham Young that the Twelve Apostles were the ordained leaders j times thereafter he testified that he saw Brigham Young to appe r like Joseph pjid heard his voice take on the tone, /md after that manifestation he never doubted fo that the rightful leadership of the Church was vested twelve, idth Prigham Yoiing nt their head. He re ed in Nauvoo till almost f-e last departed. He as- ed EroTSilig in transforming the old rusty steamer into cannons that were so effectually used by Dan H. 'fells at the Battle of N?uvoo. Leavinp Nauvoo T-ri.th the last of the Konnon iles, he crossed Iowa i,nd settled at Pisrah, he sei'ved as counselor to Lorenzo Snow, Fresid- ^ r" / ' at Mt. Pisgah, In his devoted attachment to Vj : J enzo Snow, he was an enthusiast; also to Father and h would follow their leadership anyiihere. and El-vira hnd their two children. Aimer and An incident th ^t illustrated the pioneer life 1815-6 is told in the story of the "Last Hatch." winter of l8li5-6 Orville S. Cox and two ijhiting coufins of Elvira, vrent from Pisgah xdth ox teams wagons down into Missouri mth a load of di lirs tol I'Jhitings had a shop in w ich they manufactured Being successful in disposing of their chairs, and loads of bacon and corn, they were almost home x%'hen blii z,ard, or hurricane, or cyclone, or all in one, them. Clouds and Egyptian d'-rkness settled suddenly them. T^^ey had no modem "tornado cellors" to flee into and no manner of shelter of any kind. The cold was intense; the mnd came from ever direct- ion; thf V were all skilled backwoodsmen and kncv; they were very close to ■ "u eir hc.aes; but they also knew that they were hopelessly lost in that swir- ling wind .-^nd those black clouds of snow. They and their oxen were freez- ing, and their only hope of life was in making a fire and camping where they were. Everything was wet and under the snow, and an arctic wind in the fierceness of unclaimed violence was raging around them. At first, they un- yoked the oxen that they rright find some sort of shelter for themselves. Then with frost-bitten fingers they sought in the darkness and storm for dry fuel. T>ie best they found was dam.p and poor enough — .-^nd now for a match. Only tTee in the crowd, and no such matches as we have in these days either. In- side a large vrooden bucket in i,jhich they fed grain, they carefully laid their kindl'.ng. Then turning another bucket over it to keep out the falling snow, and hufjging close over to keep the wind off, they lifted the top bucket a littlj and one of the VJhiting boys struck a precious match. It flickered, blaze.'- a moment against the kindling and was puffed out by a draft of wind, imothcr mrtch was taken, and it died almost before it flared. Only one match remainad to save three men from certain de^th. Their fingers were so numb they could mt feel, and every minute increased the numbness, "Let Orville Try; he is st :vdier than we", they said. So Orville, keenly sensing his re- Orville Sovtherland Cox - Cont 'd - Page f ivfe sponsibility, took the tiny splinter of wood, and struck the spark; it caught, it blazed and the fire lived and grew. Now they were in the woods ;^nd the fuel was plentiful and soon a roaring blaze was swirling upvrnrd* The cattle came ne.-^r, and although their noses and feet were frozen, their feet grew new hoofs ''Jid their noses healed of frosted cracks. ■.Ihen the storm broke and light appeared, they found them- selves only a few rods from their home fences. For a good repson, Orville was not in the Battalion draft. The »\lhiting boys, Silvester Hulet, and Amos Cox were. But Orville was very busy manufac- turiv'f: vragons. It was told of him that he found a linch pin and said, "I'll just aake a war^on to fit that pin". He prepared as good and serviceable an outfit as his 'limited means would allow for the long dreary journey to the mountains. Two home m?de wagons, ijithout brakes--brakes vjere not needed on the eastern end of the journey — tx«70 yoke of oxen, three yoke of cows, a box of chickens on the back of a wagon, a iirife and ti.'o children, with bedding and food, wa? the outfit that started across +he plains the last of Jvine 18^7, singing he song "In the spring ^^ '11 take our journey. All to cross the grassy plains." He travelled in the hundred of Ch:'.rles C. Rich, known as the Artillery Company, Cox was captain of one of the tens. Oh,' the seemingly endless level nrairiej The monotony wzS terribly wearing, ii/hen Independence Rock was sirhted, and again when Chimney Rock was sighted, it was a wonderful relief. Gre^t land marks they were, in that unsettled country. Now they were sure they were approaching the Rocky iiountains, especially the children longed for that goal. One evening at camping time, U;00 P.M., a heard of buffalo were sighted about two miles away. The people were very hungry for a piece of fresh beef, so Fati-er and one companion shouldered their guns, snatched their percussion caps and powder >^cms, and started to "try a hunter's luck," About sunset they pot their steak, a generous load of the best cuts from the Buffalo, and started for camp. On 3-nd on they went, i/hat they thought was a two mile stretch lenpt.hened .and lengthened, and their loads of meat grew heavier and heavier. They began to think ilag^lJSxelllSst ; 'But^tijje'^amp^ 'fires and stars told them they were ^--^^ ^ going in^the right d\rectic i. Finally they A^' /.y/y v^' decided to fire their guns. This they did, and it filled 'the cdj^ with alarm, least the hunters vjere in danger. Two or three men rushed a^^rd.v in the d.-^rkness to give aid, and they fired their guns to locate the hunters. Several shots brought them together. "Help us vjith this rrub pile", they said. Help was given. They reached the c.amp at 11:00 o'clock. It must have been six riles or perhaps ten to the herd of buffalo. They were novj in the clear air of the up-lands and could see much farther than thery had been able to set in the I'assissip^i valley. Oivillc Southcrland Cox - Cont 'd - Page six The next morning all in the camp had a feast of fresh meat. After leaving the Platte River, idiile travelling along the sweet Water River, the company met General Kearney and his company of Battalion scouts with their illustrious prisoner, the great path-finder Freemont, (Vi/hen California x^ras freed from Mexican rule, Freenont and his little band, who had helped to free it, were gre?tly rejoiced; and in their enthusiasm his yolloxixers proclsimed Freemont governor. General Keam- j arrived ^r-nd expected to be governor by right of his generalship. He was very angry and had Freemont ,xrrosted and sait to Washington, i'/ith Freemont 's guards were Sylvester Hulet, Elvira's IMcle, and Amos Cox, They had traveled many x^reary months in .an unknoim, lonely country; and C. C. RJ.chc's company were also travel we-^ry. To thus rvaet relatives and friends so unexpectedly was a joy unspeakable to both parties. ' . . Now the Battalion men heard from their families left in Iowa, for the first time in more than a year. And tears of joy and sorrovx were freely mingled. A daughter of Amos h^d died. Sylvester's vdfe had gone to Kevj York where the iiSiitrnt and her father and so he decided to return to the Rocky liountains with the pioneers, and Kearney gave him his discharge. Amos c ntinu2 d x«;ith the prisoner to Fort avenvxorth, where he received his honorable dishcarge, and then wen his iirearj' v;aiting family in Iowa, The pioneering company con? tinued on westward. At Green River, near Bridcer's St-^tion, they net ^ pion-.er's who had reached Great Salt Lake Valley and made a start towar3~3. .now home;- and were nov; returning to thcT camps - , . in lovra, with more definite knowledge and. instructions ' to impart to those i>iho vrere to. come to the mountains next year. They told Rich's company man:9' things regarding the iray that lay before them, and it was a great relief to know th-^t they were nearing t eir destin- ation. From now on the m_ountains wei-e on every side; frovming cliffs looked ready to fall on and crush the poor foot-sore travelers; for Deople raised on the Plains are apt to have a shuddcrinp. of such sights. C. G. Riche 's ?rtillcry company rolled into the valley of the great Salt Lake. They were only two or three days behind Judediah M, Grajit.'s company of one hundred wagons. Being exn^rt in hcjidling limber, Cox vras riiir--.ediately. sent into the canyon for logs. Houses must novr be built. Among other timbers, [_ he brought down a miugnificent specimen of a pine for M "liberty Pole", which he assisted in r.iising on Pioneer Squere, It was the first Orville Southcrland Cox - Cont 'd - page seven pole to carry the stars and stripes in t^e city. One had been raised on En- sign Peak before. They wintered in Salt Lake Valley. There another son, Or- ville H, , was bom November 29, l8U7-i Very early in the spring of 18U8 fathe^^aisve^ from the Adobe Fort with his wife and three chy^ren,- "Oo, and began farming in ScssionsvilJpy^/T vU\^ He arrived at the future site of J-ferft^^ " November 19, 18U9. The journey from Salt Lake City to thu Sanpete Valley occupied one month, breaking new roads, fixing fords, and building dug-xrays. The forty families worked in- dustriously, sometimes only movin' forward two or three miles. One six mile stretch in Salt Creek Canyon occupied them a whole week. The only settlement between Salt Lake and Hanti was Provo, ccnsjLsting of a little fort of green Cottonwood logs, j\fter^V getting throu worked to// their upmost -jTO weeks, \\ "* gan -^ V Salt ftc^ockCanyon in t-jTO weeks en^tS^ f orifr b^gan ^^ Orville Southerland Cox - Cont'd - page eight. snowiag on them there; , tor 's he nc. "ith rr.c- thei» the> and it was far from being a desirable win- ^.^^ f^ ijinter w§s one of the hardest JlJrv^/rlf heaviest snow fall for many nC^.-W'^'^v^ ceeding years. Arriving at ^ "'' " ' destination, camp was made by Morley's company on the south Temple Hill which was a shelt- do their upmost in canyons. Ni /■/•' side of ' ■ c^J& sijT'b, Now they, must "^^^C^ ^^ rais-'.ng In^ cabins; sawing lumber^pr^^Jjble saw pit, which was the most primitive o: savj mills. Ori.-illc v:as an expert at hcTTing and squaring the logs with his ax, and mi-kif everything as comfortable as possible in their new home. All winter long 'j-'rey had to help the cattle find feed by shovelling snow in the meadows, as thw snow lay four feet deep. It was liay before the snow was gone so that the men could begin. to clear the ground and begin their f.-^rming. Then there C£jnc irrigating ditches to dig and the usual labor of clearing, plowing, ann'. ijjtfcitj,' g^ Between their individual duties, they found time to build log school, and a bowery, and then a meeting house. They felt th-^t it was quite commod- ious. Here in the long evenings of the idnter of l85C-5l Go:: taught a sing- ing and dancing school, Sarah Petty was the first school I^'ia 'am. In the winter of 1850-^1, school was tau^t by Jesse W, Fox, In 1850 he was elected Alderman, 0. S, Cox married Mary Allen about I851i; he served many years as the . first counselor to Bishop Lowry; and he was captain of the Militia, He was very energetic in the performance of his duties ,, specially through the pro- tracted Txriod of the V/alker war. He "i^rricd^^^^^::::^^^^^^^^^ Miza Lcoee about 1857-59, He served under I-.jor Hi '-^' ins, an old Battalion veteran. To be sure, nobody appreciated more he did a liberty pole, and all that it typified, so he was comrlssioned to findi one at the earliest convenient moment' for lianti; this he did in 1850, Ten' years he labored faithfully for the \ upbuilding of Manti, and then like Boon -^nd Crockett, "he wanted more ^Ibow room" and moved to Fair- view, Sanpete County. He also moved par-fr' c:^*^'^'^ ^ '^V'^ of his family to Gunnison (Hog Vfelloxj, ii^^p^C? ^'^ was c'lled then) ^-^nd r-ised two crops there, n-^y^ ^ /^ In February l86h, he moved pgrt of his family ^^^-^ ^ to denwood, built a cabin there and raised a*"^ c;^ ^ crop. He sold out .and moved elsewhere to engineer ditchus, I^J engineered over forty ditches in Utah and Nevada, as near as his children can remember in 1919, as well as doing all other kinds of pioneer iiiork. ^^ In 1865 he was advised by Lorenzo Snow to move to the mddy, a branch of the Rio Virgin, a stream running through Hoappa Valley, to assist in suirvey- ing and making irrigation ditches there, Th<. soil was vury rich, but there vfas 30 much quick sand that it mcide it almost impossible to build a dam 1h at Orvillo Southcrland Cox - Cont 'd - page Nine hold or to irrigtte without washing away the soil. So he went south into southeastern Nevada. He thought that w-s the route the saints would travel going back to Jackson County, so he was that much' nearer the final home. He lab- ored here for six years, and engineered a numbel* of dams th-t would hold against the floods and treachery of quicksand. They htid only poor home made plows and a few other tools to work mth, and no cement or modern building m?.terial. He also built cabJns and cleared and tilled the land there. In clearing the land, the "Mes quite ' brush root was the hardest dig- ging they encountered, St. Thomas, St, Joseph -'nd Ovurton,tfefe- 3 -townsai-the-^all^. ^cre p-i.rtly of his building. The first trip, he took with him his third wife, jiliza, and hv^r one child, a little two year old girl; and VJalter,. a ll; voir old son of the first wife, Elvira, The following year, after .^ — -~-\ crops were in ind the spring work ^^^-iionc^ he returned to Fairviuw after 3>-^*Cj~\) Ti r\ another section of his fam- ily — Maiy, the second id.fe, and her five children. From that time on 0, S, Cox's life is a volume of tragedy and hard- ship. The life in the burning desert is alvjays more or less unpleasant, and pionei^ring is excessively hard. And he was past fifty years old. l^on a jolting wagon seit she rode Across the tr.-ickless prarie to the west, Or trudged behind the oxen Tjith a goad, A slL._^'ing child cl-^.sp-d tightly to her breast, ■ Frail flesh rebelling, but spirit nev(.jr- Vjhit tiles the d'lrk coula tell of woman's During his absense, Eliza's little girl Lucinda, took her little pail to the creek to get some waterj the quicksand caused h>-r to slip and she xjas drowned. They took her out not very far down the stream, but could not resusitate hur. The tears ,'i— Her br'^vcry incentive to endeavor; Her Inirhter spurring strong men past their feirs, to her valor and her comeliness •_ A comraonvjealth today owes its whitd domes ■ ' ' . '• Of St- to, its fields, its hi^ways, and (iid not come to get him to sleep and its homes — t?at. They told Eliz a of their fears Its cities wrested from the wilderness, for him, and so the disconsolite It ben^: s in memory above the h-'.nd mother tried to hide, her own grief Tiat ge-.;tled, womrji-wise, a savage land, ^d comfort him. It is said it was the saddest thing the woman there Ethel Romig Fuller- ever saw, to see the brave mother and poor raother, among strangers and homesick, was unconsolable in her sorrow. Halter seeing his little pet companion stricken in all her robust beauty and health, was indld with grief, and coiiid not be comfcr ted, .If ter a time tl e neighbors concluded that Walter vrould die if soirc change Orvillc Southerl-ind Cox- Cont'd - Page Ten the boy trying to comfort each other in their lonliness. Fifty years later, it was a hightin-^xe to Walt, AJjner, lawn, and Walt all went to the Muddy in 1867, the year Mary was moved, nh 1868 Philmon, fifth son of Elvira, a vury promising lad of thir- teen, died of appendicitis, at that time called inflaraation of the bowels, "Then ilary lost a little daughter, Lucy for whom she grieved many years. Financially the prospects were more promising than ever before. They had pl-uted a large orchard, and a vineyard th-^t was just coming into bear- ing. Then a new line was run between the states of Utah and Nevada, which gave this section to Nevada, and Nevada demanded back taxes; .and they am- o\mted to more than their farms and houses were worth. So Brigham Young said, "Come home to Utah." They came, Elvira, with Orville a grown son, Walter 17, Tryphcna, Amasa and Eu- phrasia, returned to the old home in Fairvicw, leaving all of their beaut- iful peach orchards and vineyards, fields of cotton, cane, wheat and the comfortable houses in the most fertile of lands, vhich thoy had subdued and made to "Blossom as the Rose" by seven long years of toil and privation. They rendered absolute obedience to their great leader; and so they hitched up their teams, took their most choice belongings, and wended their way back to Utah, leaving their settlemant and farms to pay Nevada the back taxes it had demanded. One company vfhich had thoroughly learned the trick of btiilding a dam in qiiick sand of the desert, stopped at an abondoncd settlement in Long Valley, Kane County, 0, S, Cox and sons began the engineering of irrigation canals and dpins, and so on, as they had cleaned and repaired the deserted cabins, so th t they offered p-'Ttial shelter from the February storms. The people n-'med this town Mt, Carmel, When the former settlers learned th^t they had builded dams that would stand, they came back and said "Get Out, this is ours," So the weary pion- eers moved again, this time only a few miles farther up the valley into a nleasart narrpx s,,^^^_v _ ^^ . cove, -md went to aa, work to build more dams, more ditches &f and more cabins. In one place the water had to be carried across a gulley, nnd it gave more trouble than all the rest of the canal, .\fter a while Cox, with- Orville Southerland Cox - Cont 'd - Page Eleven out comment or any consultation, went into the timber and found a very large log and felled it, made of it a huge trough, placed it across the gully and it reached far enough to secure a solid bed above the quicksand. Thirty years later, this "Cox" Trough" was still doing successful service as a flume , In 1875, when Brigham strongly taught the principle- of Cooperation, this company of saints were orgr.nized by unan-^-^^^ imous consent into the vmitcd order of Enoch, and named their toi- little property, r.iostly cattle, horses and jointly. Twelve years father labored joy- in t:-j3 "Order", The town gre\7 and thrived; trades were remarkably well represented by peilty and a measure of plenty was there, fact that there vjerc more inf rm pepple any ward in the church. Orderville, Their wagons, were owned ousiy and unselfishly arts, schools and the young, Pros- inspite of the in l^hat ward than /. Then dissatisfaction and disunion v^^^ "Order" broke up. There was not a greaty / ty to divide, although some people came ^^T '^(ij_\\^\ v\ z? ) prOj-crty than others, according to the aKouivD \ V-^ crated in. Ilary and Elizo., father's second I ■^ ,tS)i, '\^^q wives, each received a team and wagon, Maryi" 1 / '. family located in Huntington, Emery County, family in Tropic, Garfield County, Father '■rell along in years, and broken in health, could do little more than advice his sons. Eliza was dying of cancer. In I886 Orville S. Cox cr'jne to F■^.irvicx^r to the best-providtd] for branch of his fainily. One year he re- mained an inv?,lid, and on July U, 1868 he laid his exhausted body down to rest. The passing was quiet and peaceful. His two \Av^ Elvira, and Mary and. many of his descendentsK' at the last, — — ./ y came, an3" the deal of proper- out with more they conse- and third and her Eliza oTid her ^jas then ^^ were with hi-n The follomng are some of the thriving towns 0, Ci»^. Cox assisted in founding: Lima, 111.; Pisg.-Ji, Iowa; Salt L-kc City, Bountiful, lianti, Gun- nuson, Fairview, Glenwood of Ut-h; St. Thomas, St. Joseph, Overton of Nevada Mt. Carmei, Orderville and Tropic of Utah, If man ever earned his salvation, surely 0,S, Cox did. Always found in the v-^n vrhere the hardest work was to be done, and if he advanced the cause one iota, no matter at what loss, or cost to himself, he considered he had . been ..eminently successful. Never was there a murmur from him. To illustrate the ingmuity of 0, S. Cox's ditch making, here is the story of. the Pig KLow as told by an old settler of Fairview, Pappas Brady, "IThen the ditch was first laid out that was rfteriNTards called "City Ditch", every mm rnd boy was called on to come and work on it every day til it would carry water. This was in the spring, .and it had to be finished be- fore the fields were ready to be plowed and planted. The men turned out well with tk,?jns '"jid plows, picks and crow bars and shovels. There was a rocky Drvillo Southerlond Cox -Cont'd - Page TWclve - point at the head of the ditch to be cut through, and it was hard pan, about like cement. Couldn't be touched by plow, no sireej no- more than nothing. We was just prying the gravel loose with pick? and crowbars, and looked like it would take us weeks to do six rods. Yes, six weeks. Cox looked at us working and sweating, and never offered to lif a finger. No sir, never done a t-.pj just looked and then without saying a word, he turned around anJ walk- ed off,, Yes, sir, walked off J Well of all the mad bunch of men you ever saw I guess ire was about the maddest. Of course, we didn 't swearj we was Mormons 'Jid the Bishop was there, but we watched him go and one of the men says, "■/fell, I didn't think Cox was that kind of a feller". His going discouraged the rest of us, just took the heart out of us. But of course vje plugged away pretendin • to work the rest of the day, .and dragged back the next morning," "We wercn 't near all there when here came Cox, I don 't just remember whether it was four yoke of oxen or six or eight, for I was just a boy, but it was a long string and they was eveiy one a good, pulling ox, ^ind they was hitched on to a plow, a plumb, new kind, yes sir, a nev; kind of plow. It was a gre-^t big pitch pine log, about fouEt^en^f'eet longj and may ha.ve been eight een, >;ith a limb stickin ' dox-.m like /(s if rm arm and hand was the log and my thumb +hc linbj he h-^.d bored a hole(^;;______I_L through the log^ -'.nd put a crow b-r down in front of the kn^o^ji,..,-;----'''''""'""^ '^ _^ and cross ways along the log back of the limb he bored hoTSS'l^^^ Vv^Wy^l and puv stout oak sticks throu-h for spikes. They were the y^' jr y'^f^plow handles; and he had ei- ght r.vAi get ahold of them handles and he Icded a bunch of men along on^''^: spoke to his oxen," ' ' "Great Scott, ye otcr ye ot.r heard us fellj sir, he plowed five times and tfiat ditch made. All that the . '^was J'' to shovel out thr; looSc ~ more in half a day .^ rest of us could a done "I-r ;y didn 't- he'tell the fir; t thing, so wc_ so discouraged, and hate cause he knew itr-iTOinhii 't of good to talk, the Bishop; -^n d ey , en been, pl^ns like that wo^ld hooted at by half the No, sireej His way was Just shut up '^.nd dg^ vjhen a bunch of men a thing a workin ' they believe; yes, sir, seein ' is believin," md hold the plow level that log, -nd then he the gravel fly, and and holler,' Vfell, 1 ditch line four or \made, practically f us had to do was stuff; he done than all the six v/eeks, his plans wouldn 't be him so? iJhy, do a might He wasn 't if hr> had auro bs^ ellerf ,the bes and s« 31 9-9 '- (J- > ^o - c-^" • ^^ ^-f • • • « -^^ ^'«' c • " • . >?^ '^<- .<^