In Canada, Tom Irvine (brother of Susan) met John Wesley Shirts and the two became friends. Tom was showing John some pictures of his brothers and sisters. John said, "How old is that one?" pointing to Susan. When Tom told him how old she was, John said, "If you bring her over, I will marry her." In those days, one had to have a sponsor to move into Canada. Susan and John spent some time writing back and forth and sending each other pictures. Then Tom brought his sister over to Canada. She eventually married her pen pal on June 6, 1905 in Tabor, Alberta, Canada
John, Wes and Susan
Home Sweet Home
In Canada, the small family lived in a white framed house with a porch on one side and a hand pump for water in front. From the home at night, the family could see the big light of the train coming across prairie land that John was home steading. Wes does not remember what happened to that land.
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| John and Susan (nursing Joe) |
When standing on the porch, the Opera House that John and Susan owned could be seen. It was about three or four blocks away. They used to have traveling troops come there to put on shows and stage plays. He also had bands play for dancing. Certain nights of the week, they had roller skating. John held roller skating and dancing contests on roller skates. John and Susan won so many competitions that the judges didn't allowed them to compete after awhile. On the other nights when there wasn't skating, they had dancing or something else going on except Sundays.
Early one Christmas morning, Susan got Wes up so he could see the Opera House burn down. It was a big fire. The night before, there had been a big party and everything seemed to be all right when the clean up was done. John didn't believe in insurance at first. He didn't insure the Opera House. However, Susan in her wisdom had taken an insurance policy out on the property without John's knowledge. After the fire, John was surprised when Susan pulled out the policy. John was so grateful for his wife. They used that insurance money and left Canada to go to Mountain Home, Utah. They traveled by train with their oldest three children (Wes, Margaret and Joe). While the train stopped in Billings, Montana, Wes got lost in the railroad station. Wes was frightened but all right. When he saw his father, it was then he started to cry.
As the family left Heber City to go to Mountain Home, they basically followed the same route that the modern road goes now. Wes doesn't remember how long they were on the road. After they left Fruitland, they went down a canyon that was called Golden Stairs. It was red sand rock. John had to cross lock the wagon. It was very steep and was just like stairs. Susan (probably carrying Joe), Margaret and Wes walked behind the wagon because it was so steep. No one was allowed to ride in the wagon for safety reasons. When they got to the river, they stayed there that night.
After arriving in Mountain Home, John's brothers (William and James Ellias) were already there. They had moved there earlier and made arrangements for John to homestead his property. The ranch in Mountain Home took years to build with a lot of hard work from John, Susan and the children who were old enough to walk.
The frame for the first tent that they used was made out of 2 x 4's and black paper and plain lumber. It was about 12 feet wide and 15 to 18 feet long and about five feet high. The boards were filled in between with sawdust (insulation purposes) and banked with dirt on the outside so water couldn't come in on the dirt floor. That was the first tent. The second tent was put in so that the doors of the tents faced each other, about four feet apart. There was a shelter built between with a door on each side. There was a (Monarch range) cook stove in one tent and the pot bellied stove in the other. Sleeping was done in the second tent for over a year. While all the building was going on, sleeping was done in the wagon. It was a double bed wagon with a white wagon cover.
The siding inside and out was made out of rough lumber. The rafters were covered with black paper and wood shingles. The ceiling was also from rough wood. The floor was made out of a rough pine wood. It was cleaned by scrubbing. Everyone helped with cleaning the floor by getting down on the knees with a scrub brush and some of Susan's homemade lye soap.
In the home, there was a living room, a kitchen, and one big bedroom. John and Susan slept in the living room and all the kids slept in the one bedroom. It wasn't like today when everyone has their own bed. There were two beds in the children's room. All the girls slept in one bed and all the boys in another. The mattresses were filled with oat straw. Susan made the mattress covers from ticking. In the morning, one would straighten out the straw and try to make it as even as you could without too many lumps. If someone had wet the bed, then clean straw would be used. Cotton blankets and homemade quilts were used to sleep on. The Relief Society had quilting bees at night. The ladies would all work on a quilt for one family and then for another. They could finish the quilting in two or three nights.
Coal oil lamps were used for lighting. The kids kept the chimneys cleaned and the lamps filled. Later, gasoline lanterns were used that had isen glass all around the outside and also used mantles.
An outhouse was also built. A hole five or six feet deep was dug in the ground. Over the hole, a 4 x 5 foot frame building was built over it. The door had to swing in so that if someone came you could put your foot against it. The toilet had two sizes of holes, one for kids and one for adults. After it was finished, a lot of cedar bark was gathered and piled in a corner to be used as needed until the Sears and Roebuck catalog came. That usually took about six to eight weeks. Ashes would be put into the hole to keep the scent down and the flies away. During the winter, few trips as possible were made especially when the snow was deep and cold. Those necessary trips were always very fast. The family didn't stop to read the catalog!!!
A cistern (for water storage) was dug north of the house and cemented in. A top was put over it with a hole in the middle that had a frame around it so the kids couldn't fall in. It had a rope pulley and a bucket. Mice would get in there and drown so the water had to be boiled all the time. In the summer, they had running water--they would get a bucket and run out to the ditch and get a bucketful. There was nearly always a big copper boiler on the back of the stove full of hot water.
Everyone took a bath on Saturday whether or not it was needed. There was a big wash tub that was just used to bathe in. When in use, it would sit in the middle of the kitchen floor.
While the land was being cleared, John had two teams and two saddle horses. John had gotten railroad rails somewhere to help clear his land. The rail had two logs fastened to it with chains and about three or four logs across. He had some big rocks on them for weight. The two teams were hooked to the rail. The rail then would be pulled over the sagebrush. The brush would be pulled up. Susan and the children (that could walk) would pile the brush in piles. It was very enjoyable, however, at night to have a big bon fire with the pulled sagebrush.
Susan would sit on a plow, mower or a rake or whatever had to be done except to milk a cow. That she said she would not do!!! However, she did do it only in extreme cases. She rode a horse some but not much. They would work from six in the morning till about eleven a.m.. Margaret would then put a white towel on the corner of the kitchen that told the family that she had lunch ready. At that time, she was about ten or twelve years old. When lunch was over in about two hours, it would be time to go back to work, sometimes until dark.
Times were tough for the John and Susan Shirts family. It was very difficult to keep ten children in clothes. They had plenty to eat from what they raised on their farm. In the fall, about eight hogs were killed. Hams and bacon loins were cured and kept frozen as long as possible.
Whenever any reading or writing had to be done, Susan did it since her husband had limited education.
John got what they called in those days a white swelling on his right shin bone. He suffered a lot with it. He had to hire his brother's boys to help with the work. He worked when he could hardly walk. He suffered greatly when he worked. The only thing on the farm that seemed to help stop the pain was when Susan took burlap bags and cut them up and made small ones about a foot square with a flap on one end.
About 9:00 p.m., Wes would go to the corral and make the cows get up. He tried to get the manure (that they just did) in one of the bags that Susan made. It would be put on John's legs while it was warm. Sometimes this was done two or three times a night. He had been in the hospital several times but it didn't seem to do any good. He got so bad that he could hardly get out of bed.
In August of 1914, the John and Will Shirts families went to Salt Lake City to go to the Salt Lake temple in a wagon. Each family had a wagon. John was in the bed of his wagon. Wes, Susan, Joe, Bonnie and Clifford were sealed to their parents for time and all eternity. The children that were born after this, were born under the covenant. While John was there, he was given a blessing for his health. After getting back to Mountain Home, John started to feel much better. He was soon walking around and working. He didn't have any more trouble with that leg after that.
“John would go to the farm every day with a bob sled or saddle horse. When he came from the farm one day, he pulled in back of the place where we had for the cows. He had a load of hay and a .22 rifle. Wes offered to take the .22 rifle in the house. It was just about dark. John said, “No, just leave it where it is.” Joe was at this time milking a cow in the coral. Wes said, “I’ll take it into the house.” John then said, “No, just leave it alone!” Again, Wes said “I’ll take it, and I’ll be careful with it.” Finally John said, “O.K., but don’t touch it, just leave it like it is.” Wes went around the corner from where John was, and put the gun up to his shoulder and aimed just like he was shooting. And he pulled the trigger, the gun went off! The bullet went through a crack in the slab fence, hit a spike that didn’t have a head on it, and it followed that spike right around and hit Joe in the right shoulder as he was milking the cow. It just pierced his lung and went out right by his back bone. Then it went over and stuck in a board back of where he was. John heard the shot and said, “Why did you shoot that?” I told you not to!” Wes then said, “I hit Joe!” Joe was lying down on the ground in the coral. John opened the gate and run into where he was, and picked him up. He carried Joe into the house which was probably 100 yards away. Wes did stay. He just laid the gun down there and left! It was real cold weather because there was about 3 feet of snow. John went into the house and he didn’t know what to do. He covered up Joe. He was bleeding so bad. It was either Susan or John who went over to Brig Stevenson’s store to call Dr. Whitmore in Roosevelt. The snow was so deep. The doctor had four head of horses. He went first to Mt. Emonds or Blue Bell with 4 head of horses. He changed horses there, and bucked the snow from there to Mountain Home. It was about in the neighborhood of 60 miles that he had to go. This happened about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, and he never got there until about 11:00 the next day after traveling all that night in the deep snow, and changing horses. When he got there Joe was just about dead. Susan said the doctor took a long stick and he cleaned the wound all out. Joe was bleeding so bad. The doctor stayed for about 3 or 4 days. He stayed right there and worked with him until the danger was all over. But in the meantime, Wes had gone to John’s brother “s (Will) place. He didn’t dare go home. He was afraid that John would beat him so bad. Will kept Wes informed about what was happening Wes couldn’t stand it. He felt real bad about it because Joe was hurt and John had been disobeyed. After the doctor was gone and Joe was out of danger, he went back home. John put his arm around Wes and said, “See, I told you not to do that.”
Wes had gone down to a dance in Yapalco. It was 20 miles away. Wes and whoever was with him left about noon and got to the dance about 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. There was a manger where the horses could be tied up and they would be fed. The dance music consisted of a fiddle, a banjo and a piano. It was not an orchestra but a good time was for all who attended. Wes had danced a lot with this one girl and asked to take her home. He thought she lived in Yupalco. However, she didn’t live there. She lived in Sand Point which was six miles in the opposite direction. He took her home and did not get home until 9:00 the next morning. John informed him that they couldn’t find the cows the previous night. He told Wes that he needed to change horses and hunt for them. Wes wanted to sleep awhile before he went looking for the cows. John said “If you’re gonna dance, ya gotta pay the fiddler.”
Susan and John had a four room house in town where the family lived in the winter. There were a couple of winters when the snow was real deep. They had a place where the hay was kept but also a corral where he kept three or four cows in and a team of horses. He went to the farm everyday either with a team of horses or on horseback. If he needed hay, he took the sleigh.
The next year, the house in town was being cleaned to get ready to move in for the winter. When the family left to go home to the ranch, there was a fire in the cook stove. They left thinking that it would be all right but later one of Uncle Jim's boys came and reported that the house had burned down so the family stayed out on the farm.
It was on May 10, 1926, that Susan received word that John had an accident while working at the Jessie Knight Ranch. By then, the family had a Studebaker car and Wes went with his mother to the accident site. Upon arriving at the ranch, Susan was horrified at how severe her husband's injuries were. She found out that a team of horses had been spooked. As a result, they ran over John and the hitch of the manure spreader broke his back in seven places. His body was growing cold, so the local doctor put hot water bottles around him. It was poorly done and as a result, he had blisters all around his body.
Susan wanted to call another doctor but was told that if she did, she would have to pay Dr. Whitmore out of her own pocket. She said that was okay. She just wanted her husband to have the best care. She never did have to pay for the second doctor. Dr. Whitmore was horrified at the blisters and wanted Susan to sue the local doctor. She never pursued legal action.
John was basically comatose from the time of the accident to the time that he died. He was taken by wagon to Price, Utah. From there, he was transported to Salt Lake City by train. He was in the L.D.S. hospital when he died on May 12. The doctors told Susan that if he lived, John would be a vegetable.
John's funeral was held at the church house that he attended services in. From there, John's body was laid to rest in the Bonita-Mountain Home Cemetery.
The ranch had an insurance policy which covered every expense. It even paid Susan every month (which wasn't much) until her last child turned 18.
The family traveled on to Salt Lake City to see Mary White. She was a sister to Susan. The Shirts family continued on to Heber, Utah. They visited Mary Ellen and John Hansen along with other relatives. Mary Ellen was John's sister. While in Heber, they bought what they took to Mountain Home to start their new life. They bought a wagon, big army tent, a team of horses and a small black male colt that they named Dock.
As the family left Heber City to go to Mountain Home, they basically followed the same route that the modern road goes now. Wes doesn't remember how long they were on the road. After they left Fruitland, they went down a canyon that was called Golden Stairs. It was red sand rock. John had to cross lock the wagon. It was very steep and was just like stairs. Susan (probably carrying Joe), Margaret and Wes walked behind the wagon because it was so steep. No one was allowed to ride in the wagon for safety reasons. When they got to the river, they stayed there that night.
After arriving in Mountain Home, John's brothers (William and James Ellias) were already there. They had moved there earlier and made arrangements for John to homestead his property. The ranch in Mountain Home took years to build with a lot of hard work from John, Susan and the children who were old enough to walk.
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Back: Joseph
Front: Susan (holding Bonnie), Margaret, Wesley, John, Clifford
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The houses were worked on after their other work was done. First, the framework was put up. Then it was covered with tar paper and the siding. The kids had the job of filling in the spaces with sawdust and tapping it down for insulation purposes.
The siding inside and out was made out of rough lumber. The rafters were covered with black paper and wood shingles. The ceiling was also from rough wood. The floor was made out of a rough pine wood. It was cleaned by scrubbing. Everyone helped with cleaning the floor by getting down on the knees with a scrub brush and some of Susan's homemade lye soap.
In the home, there was a living room, a kitchen, and one big bedroom. John and Susan slept in the living room and all the kids slept in the one bedroom. It wasn't like today when everyone has their own bed. There were two beds in the children's room. All the girls slept in one bed and all the boys in another. The mattresses were filled with oat straw. Susan made the mattress covers from ticking. In the morning, one would straighten out the straw and try to make it as even as you could without too many lumps. If someone had wet the bed, then clean straw would be used. Cotton blankets and homemade quilts were used to sleep on. The Relief Society had quilting bees at night. The ladies would all work on a quilt for one family and then for another. They could finish the quilting in two or three nights.
Coal oil lamps were used for lighting. The kids kept the chimneys cleaned and the lamps filled. Later, gasoline lanterns were used that had isen glass all around the outside and also used mantles.
An outhouse was also built. A hole five or six feet deep was dug in the ground. Over the hole, a 4 x 5 foot frame building was built over it. The door had to swing in so that if someone came you could put your foot against it. The toilet had two sizes of holes, one for kids and one for adults. After it was finished, a lot of cedar bark was gathered and piled in a corner to be used as needed until the Sears and Roebuck catalog came. That usually took about six to eight weeks. Ashes would be put into the hole to keep the scent down and the flies away. During the winter, few trips as possible were made especially when the snow was deep and cold. Those necessary trips were always very fast. The family didn't stop to read the catalog!!!
A cistern (for water storage) was dug north of the house and cemented in. A top was put over it with a hole in the middle that had a frame around it so the kids couldn't fall in. It had a rope pulley and a bucket. Mice would get in there and drown so the water had to be boiled all the time. In the summer, they had running water--they would get a bucket and run out to the ditch and get a bucketful. There was nearly always a big copper boiler on the back of the stove full of hot water.
Everyone took a bath on Saturday whether or not it was needed. There was a big wash tub that was just used to bathe in. When in use, it would sit in the middle of the kitchen floor.
While the land was being cleared, John had two teams and two saddle horses. John had gotten railroad rails somewhere to help clear his land. The rail had two logs fastened to it with chains and about three or four logs across. He had some big rocks on them for weight. The two teams were hooked to the rail. The rail then would be pulled over the sagebrush. The brush would be pulled up. Susan and the children (that could walk) would pile the brush in piles. It was very enjoyable, however, at night to have a big bon fire with the pulled sagebrush.
Susan would sit on a plow, mower or a rake or whatever had to be done except to milk a cow. That she said she would not do!!! However, she did do it only in extreme cases. She rode a horse some but not much. They would work from six in the morning till about eleven a.m.. Margaret would then put a white towel on the corner of the kitchen that told the family that she had lunch ready. At that time, she was about ten or twelve years old. When lunch was over in about two hours, it would be time to go back to work, sometimes until dark.
Times were tough for the John and Susan Shirts family. It was very difficult to keep ten children in clothes. They had plenty to eat from what they raised on their farm. In the fall, about eight hogs were killed. Hams and bacon loins were cured and kept frozen as long as possible.
Whenever any reading or writing had to be done, Susan did it since her husband had limited education.
John got what they called in those days a white swelling on his right shin bone. He suffered a lot with it. He had to hire his brother's boys to help with the work. He worked when he could hardly walk. He suffered greatly when he worked. The only thing on the farm that seemed to help stop the pain was when Susan took burlap bags and cut them up and made small ones about a foot square with a flap on one end.
About 9:00 p.m., Wes would go to the corral and make the cows get up. He tried to get the manure (that they just did) in one of the bags that Susan made. It would be put on John's legs while it was warm. Sometimes this was done two or three times a night. He had been in the hospital several times but it didn't seem to do any good. He got so bad that he could hardly get out of bed.
In August of 1914, the John and Will Shirts families went to Salt Lake City to go to the Salt Lake temple in a wagon. Each family had a wagon. John was in the bed of his wagon. Wes, Susan, Joe, Bonnie and Clifford were sealed to their parents for time and all eternity. The children that were born after this, were born under the covenant. While John was there, he was given a blessing for his health. After getting back to Mountain Home, John started to feel much better. He was soon walking around and working. He didn't have any more trouble with that leg after that.
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| Back row: Joseph Front row: :Susan (holding Bonnie), Margaret, Wes, John, Clifford |
“John would go to the farm every day with a bob sled or saddle horse. When he came from the farm one day, he pulled in back of the place where we had for the cows. He had a load of hay and a .22 rifle. Wes offered to take the .22 rifle in the house. It was just about dark. John said, “No, just leave it where it is.” Joe was at this time milking a cow in the coral. Wes said, “I’ll take it into the house.” John then said, “No, just leave it alone!” Again, Wes said “I’ll take it, and I’ll be careful with it.” Finally John said, “O.K., but don’t touch it, just leave it like it is.” Wes went around the corner from where John was, and put the gun up to his shoulder and aimed just like he was shooting. And he pulled the trigger, the gun went off! The bullet went through a crack in the slab fence, hit a spike that didn’t have a head on it, and it followed that spike right around and hit Joe in the right shoulder as he was milking the cow. It just pierced his lung and went out right by his back bone. Then it went over and stuck in a board back of where he was. John heard the shot and said, “Why did you shoot that?” I told you not to!” Wes then said, “I hit Joe!” Joe was lying down on the ground in the coral. John opened the gate and run into where he was, and picked him up. He carried Joe into the house which was probably 100 yards away. Wes did stay. He just laid the gun down there and left! It was real cold weather because there was about 3 feet of snow. John went into the house and he didn’t know what to do. He covered up Joe. He was bleeding so bad. It was either Susan or John who went over to Brig Stevenson’s store to call Dr. Whitmore in Roosevelt. The snow was so deep. The doctor had four head of horses. He went first to Mt. Emonds or Blue Bell with 4 head of horses. He changed horses there, and bucked the snow from there to Mountain Home. It was about in the neighborhood of 60 miles that he had to go. This happened about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, and he never got there until about 11:00 the next day after traveling all that night in the deep snow, and changing horses. When he got there Joe was just about dead. Susan said the doctor took a long stick and he cleaned the wound all out. Joe was bleeding so bad. The doctor stayed for about 3 or 4 days. He stayed right there and worked with him until the danger was all over. But in the meantime, Wes had gone to John’s brother “s (Will) place. He didn’t dare go home. He was afraid that John would beat him so bad. Will kept Wes informed about what was happening Wes couldn’t stand it. He felt real bad about it because Joe was hurt and John had been disobeyed. After the doctor was gone and Joe was out of danger, he went back home. John put his arm around Wes and said, “See, I told you not to do that.”
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| John (Last row, 5th from the right) his son Wes (2nd row, 2nd person kneeling from left) |
Wes had gone down to a dance in Yapalco. It was 20 miles away. Wes and whoever was with him left about noon and got to the dance about 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. There was a manger where the horses could be tied up and they would be fed. The dance music consisted of a fiddle, a banjo and a piano. It was not an orchestra but a good time was for all who attended. Wes had danced a lot with this one girl and asked to take her home. He thought she lived in Yupalco. However, she didn’t live there. She lived in Sand Point which was six miles in the opposite direction. He took her home and did not get home until 9:00 the next morning. John informed him that they couldn’t find the cows the previous night. He told Wes that he needed to change horses and hunt for them. Wes wanted to sleep awhile before he went looking for the cows. John said “If you’re gonna dance, ya gotta pay the fiddler.”
Susan and John had a four room house in town where the family lived in the winter. There were a couple of winters when the snow was real deep. They had a place where the hay was kept but also a corral where he kept three or four cows in and a team of horses. He went to the farm everyday either with a team of horses or on horseback. If he needed hay, he took the sleigh.
The next year, the house in town was being cleaned to get ready to move in for the winter. When the family left to go home to the ranch, there was a fire in the cook stove. They left thinking that it would be all right but later one of Uncle Jim's boys came and reported that the house had burned down so the family stayed out on the farm.
It was on May 10, 1926, that Susan received word that John had an accident while working at the Jessie Knight Ranch. By then, the family had a Studebaker car and Wes went with his mother to the accident site. Upon arriving at the ranch, Susan was horrified at how severe her husband's injuries were. She found out that a team of horses had been spooked. As a result, they ran over John and the hitch of the manure spreader broke his back in seven places. His body was growing cold, so the local doctor put hot water bottles around him. It was poorly done and as a result, he had blisters all around his body.
Susan wanted to call another doctor but was told that if she did, she would have to pay Dr. Whitmore out of her own pocket. She said that was okay. She just wanted her husband to have the best care. She never did have to pay for the second doctor. Dr. Whitmore was horrified at the blisters and wanted Susan to sue the local doctor. She never pursued legal action.
John was basically comatose from the time of the accident to the time that he died. He was taken by wagon to Price, Utah. From there, he was transported to Salt Lake City by train. He was in the L.D.S. hospital when he died on May 12. The doctors told Susan that if he lived, John would be a vegetable.
The ranch had an insurance policy which covered every expense. It even paid Susan every month (which wasn't much) until her last child turned 18.
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