Day #105 - Plain History

Today I left work early to go meet my Mother-in-Law at the Daughter's of Utah Pioneers Museum. I vaguely remember visiting the museum when I was much younger, but do not remember how big it is. There are four levels plus a carriage house with two more levels just chuck full of items carried across the plains to Utah. Some favorite items for me were:

The wooden foot one man made for himself to walk with after his leg was amputated due to a rogue cow kick. I am sure the cow didn't mean it, but that was one tough dude who walked around with an old fashioned wooden leg for the rest of his life and it sounds like he walked from Alpine, UT to SLC, UT to help build the Salt Lake Temple - what is that like 40 miles of what was sure to be rough road back then?

The button strings - there was a much cooler name for them, but now it escapes me - but the girls had a tradition of collecting buttons on a string from their friends. The idea was to collect 1,000 buttons from friends, neighbors, family, etc. and when the 1,000 button appeared, so would your one true love. It was like a charm necklace the way they turned out.

The Quilts - There were so many displayed and some with the most detailed, decorative stitching. I joked with Joleen that people seemed to be much more productive and creative with their time before TV was available. I can't even seem to find the time to machine sew some squares together...

The clothes - there were many different fashions displayed that represent the years gone by. The one thing that was pretty clear is how much bigger people are today then they were back then. Everything was so tiny, even the furniture was tiny. It is hard to believe these items weren't just built as miniature replicas for display.

The pianos - There were SEVERAL pianos displayed throughout the museum. These things were HUGE - I am wondering why I didn't take a photo to share. There was one story of a family that took their piano across the plains, but there was a problem, so they buried the piano on the trail, protecting it with buffalo skins, and came back later to dig it up. I couldn't stop thinking about how valuable those pieces would have to be to their owners for them to haul them so far in such a difficult situation. 

These are just a few things that stuck out for me. I also took a photo of a beautiful stain glass window -
It was so pretty with the sun shining through:

After the museum Joleen and I went to dinner. I think we both had a lovely time and I am glad I took the time to visit something that is such a large part of her life these days.

It sounds like my Mother, my sisters and I are all daughter's of Utah pioneers as well. I called Mom last night to see if she could give me any names to check out from our family history - well, I actually called to see if I should call my Aunt Darla, but Mom truly had the information at her fingertips. I found out tonight that she had actually been on the phone with Darla just the hour before to chat about some of the family line as well...weird.

Anyway, the qualification is to have an ancestor who came to live in UT before the railroad arrived. I will have to get the exact dates, but Hyrum came to Utah when he was 4 years old and he was born in 1845...so he qualifies. We looked to see if there was an existing history on him and there is not, so I think I will try to write one up based on the information compiled by Mom's family several years ago.

I also have vague memories of Grandma Dana telling us stories of an ancestor that lived in a literal Mountain Home cut out of the hillside...I will have to look her up as well.

One thing I truly do appreciate when it gets right down to it is...THANK GOODNESS I was not expected to haul myself through the plains to a new world. Those people worked sooooo hard. If I am smart, I will NEVER complain about doing the laundry again!!

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "Even the smallest person can change the course of the future." Lord of the Rings