Death Valley in 49 | Page 3

swath
of grass my father cut with easy swings of the scythe, and when it was
dry and being loaded on the great ox-cart I followed closely with a rake
gathering every scattering spear. The barn was built so that every
animal was housed comfortably in winter, and the house was such as
all settlers built, not considered handsome, but capable of being made
very warm in winter and the great piles of hard wood in the yard
enough to last as fuel for a year, not only helped to clear the land, but
kept us comfortable. Mother and the girls washed, carded, spun, and
wove the wool from our own sheep into good strong cloth. Flax was
also raised, and I remember how they pulled it, rotted it by spreading
on the green meadow, then broke and dressed it, and then the women
made linen cloth of various degrees of fineness, quality, and beauty.
Thus, by the labor of both men and women, we were clothed. If an
extra fine Sunday dress was desired, part of the yarn was colored and
from this they managed to get up a very nice plaid goods for the
purpose.
In clearing the land the hemlock bark was peeled and traded off at the
tannery for leather, or used to pay for tanning and dressing the hide of
an ox or cow which they managed to fat and kill about every year.
Stores for the family were either made by a neighboring shoe-maker, or
by a traveling one who went from house to house, making up a supply

for the family--whipping the cat, they called it then. They paid him in
something or other produced upon the farm, and no money was asked
or expected.
Wood was one thing plenty, and the fireplace was made large enough
to take in sticks four feet long or more, for the more they could burn the
better, to get it out of the way. In an outhouse, also provided with a
fireplace and chimney, they made shingles during the long winter
evenings, the shavings making plenty of fire and light by which to
work. The shingles sold for about a dollar a thousand. Just beside the
fireplace in the house was a large brick oven where mother baked great
loaves of bread, big pots of pork and beans, mince pies and loaf cake, a
big turkey or a young pig on grand occasions. Many of the dishes used
were of tin or pewter; the milk pans were of earthenware, but most
things about the house in the line of furniture were of domestic
manufacture.
The store bills were very light. A little tea for father and mother, a few
spices and odd luxuries were about all, and they were paid for with
surplus eggs. My father and my uncle had a sawmill, and in winter they
hauled logs to it, and could sell timber for $8 per thousand feet.
The school was taught in winter by a man named Bowen, who
managed forty scholars and considered sixteen dollars a month,
boarding himself, was pretty fair pay. In summer some smart girl
would teach the small scholars and board round among the families.
When the proper time came the property holder would send off to the
collector an itemized list of all his property, and at another the taxes fell
due. A farmer who would value his property at two thousand or three
thousand dollars would find he had to pay about six or seven dollars.
All the money in use then seemed to be silver, and not very much of
that. The whole plan seemed to be to have every family and farm
self-supporting as far as possible. I have heard of a note being given
payable in a good cow to be delivered at a certain time, say October 1,
and on that day it would pass from house to house in payment of a debt,
and at night only the last man in the list would have a cow more than
his neighbor. Yet those were the days of real independence, after all.

Every man worked hard from early youth to a good old age. There were
no millionaires, no tramps, and the poorhouse had only a few inmates.
I have very pleasant recollections of the neighborhood cider mill. There
were two rollers formed of logs carefully rounded and four or five feet
long, set closely together in an upright position in a rough frame, a long
crooked sweep coming from one of them to which a horse was hitched
and pulled it round and round, One roller had mortices in it, and
projecting wooden teeth on the other fitted into these, so that, as they
both slowly turned together, the apples were crushed, A huge