USU Blanding Campus Offers Varied Classes While Saving Local History

By Janet Wilcox 

     Walter C. Lyman’s vision of Blanding becoming a lighthouse for education evolved and has proven true over the past 100 years. Today satellite classes are taught in Blanding but are also broadcast to Monument Valley, Cortez and Monticello. There are 30 campuses statewide. Thousands of students have benefited from this long-distance instruction. Several have also earned their Master’s degree in Blanding via long-distance from the USU campus in Logan.

          Nearly half of Blanding’s students are the first in their families to attend college. In addition to regular in class instruction, USU offers instruction in construction, welding, engineering, health and heavy equipment skills. Kumen Jones was the first superintendent of San Juan County schools in 1880-82, but there were only classes taught at Bluff fort. The first high school classes in Blanding were taught in the old Relief Society building which was close to where the Burtenshaw home is on Main Street. 

    In 1846 Albert R. Lyman built a one room school and furnished it with handmade desks in his effort to provide an education for Navajo students. (Issue 9 of Blue Mountain Shadows contains multiple articles related to education.) Education has changed dramatically since then in San Juan County. The USU Blanding campus library provides not onlybooks and classrooms but their staff has worked diligently with the San Juan County Historical Society to make interviews and historic photographs accessible to families. 

      There are over 20,000 photos in the USU collection! Several years ago, Ron McDonald and Corrine Royer each copied 5000 historical photos which have been converted to tifs and jpg files. The Mable and Phil Hurst collection includes 860 photos with more needing to be done. Whenever possible the history related to the photo is also provided as well as maiden names of women. All of this requires attention to details. Carol Brown also helped by providinginformation from “Family Search” related to the individuals in the photos.

      Besides photographs, the USU staff has also copied audio interviews and transcripts done by San Juan High students over 40 years ago. After students completed the interviews and typed them, they also got permission from those interviewed to share the information. Nearly 1100 of these interviews have been converted to pdf files. The San Juan County Historical Commission also provided 376 articles written by Walter C. Lyman. One rare tape in the collection is of Fred. W. Keller singing the Blue Mountain song. Heather Raisor and Ellen Kyles are key experts in this project which was begun 3 years ago. For 2 years they have also been copying audio tapes and including background information about those interviewed. The project will take at least 3 more years and then hopefully a website will be created with links to files that will be available online.

Local Artist Paints the History of Blanding

By Janet Wilcox Many have heard of “painting the town red” but local artist Kelly Pugh is painting to preserve the history of Blanding in multiple colors! In the beginning of this journey, Lisa Carr wrote a grant requesting funds from Energy Fuels which would be used to showcase visually the story of “Grayson’s” history. In addition, the Larry H. Miller Foundation added their financial support which was a great help, as the cost of labor and materials to repair the walls and smooth the walls was a major expense.

Murals showcasing the history of Blanding can be seen on the north and west side of the movie theater building. It is a 3-dimensional work in progress. Another historic scene Kelly painted is of the original gas station in Blanding, which is on the on the south side of Canyonlands Tire. Kelly’s interest in art began in elementary school and continued at San Juan High. Teachers Betsy McPherson and Tony Wojcik were two of the teachers who inspired him. Eventually he earned his Bachelors of Fine Arts and has used his energy in painting rather than teaching.

In addition to the current project, Kelly has done paintings for the Parade of Home in the Provo area and even illustrated a book on the Sockeye Salmon as well as doing a painting for Kevin Costner. Dozens of local families have had Kelly paint pictures of their ancestors and family events. His painting of taking the wagons down Hole in the Rock was used on David Miller’s book on the pioneers. He has also painted scenes for covers of several books written by Finn Bayles and Bob McPherson.

Several years ago, Kelly also painted many scenes of historical significance in the Cliff Palace Motel. This included handcart scenes in winter, Navajo scenes. The Albert R. Lyman School also features one of his murals as does the Blue Mountain Hospital.

Teachers and Their Impact Part I

By Janet Wilcox and friends San Juan County has been blessed with hundreds of dedicated well trained and caring teachers since 1880. Issue 8 of Blue Mountain Shadows gives a detailed coverage of both superintendents and teachers who came to this isolated part of the state and made a difference in the lives of hundreds of people. A few you may recognize: Joseph Bond Harris, George A. Hurst Jr., Lucretia Lyman Ranney, Elizabeth Park Guymon and Gladys and Albert R. Lyman. The Lymans not only daily walked out past Westwater to teach children but they also brought food for the native people they were teaching. By 1911 there were 60 families living in (Grayson) Blanding. Albert and Glady’s students in town included: Herman Steiner, Warner Hardy, Dee Bayles, Paul Black, Roy Johnson, Ezra Lyman, Laura Brown, Annie Shumway, Seth Young, Adelaide Oliver, Isabell Carroll and Ellen Palmer. Joseph Bond Harris and his wife Lucy arrived in Grayson in September of 1912 in a two-seated buggy. He had signed a contract to teach in Bluff for 3 years and later became the principal and taught the first 5 grades in Grayson. Classes were held in the Relief Society Hall, a small frame building. That building was also used for church, recreation, politics and dramatics. When winter weather arrived, students had to wear their coats and overshoes to keep from freezing. Joseph helped Ed Thompson make a partition in the big room so there could be more classrooms. Often new school teachers were sent to outlying one room school house such as East Summit, Ucolo, Torb, Lockerby, Fry Canyon. There were nearly 30 such isolated schools in San Juan County. The teachers usually lived with a nearby family and besides teaching they were expected to keep a fire going to heat the building and attend to any medical issues that might occur. Since there were no telephones, this required initiative and common sense. Such experiences occurred in surrounding states as well and there are many common themes. The main one being a teacher’s dedication, creativity and efforts made to provide the best education possible for their students. Walter C. Lyman had a vision of the educational mecca that Grayson would eventually become. He mapped out the town and surveyed it. At that time, he owned 1/3 of all the city lots as well as 1/3 of the water stock in the canal. When a good respectable family moved to Blanding, he would give them 1,000 shares of water and a city lot for free. When he died in 1943, he didn’t own a home or a foot of ground. He had given everything away for the building of the town and the tunnel through the mountain which was completed after his death. Truman and Ada Rigby were two well educated and kind people who taught for many years. They were dedicated and thorough in their instruction and very patient. Ada is also remembered for her beautiful paper cuttings. Many of our school principals here in Blanding started as teachers and later became principals. Their wisdom and patience dealing with contrary students was much appreciated. Some of them are Jim Harris, Don Jack and Bob Bowring. (More stories will be included in part 2 on education.) Though a whole state away, our family lived on an isolated farm 22 miles from Ririe, Idaho and the closest school. To get there on we had to get up early and one of our parents would drive us 2 miles out to the road to meet the bus (both morning and after school). The bus rides were long and often we’d sing crazy songs together, tell knock-knock jokes, or count how many ducks or antelope we saw. School was our main social life and we were blessed to have wonderful teachers. There was no kindergarten in those days, so 1st grade was our introduction to new friends and the wonders of Dick and Jane Books. Our 1st grade teacher was Rhoda Harris. She was a very engaging teacher and I especially remember the rhythm band she organized. Everyone was taught how to play an instrument of some kind: drum, bells, mini xylophone, triangle with piano accompaniment. It was a fun wonderful learning experience. Our 8th grade teacher Mr. Hanson made music important in Ririe and organized a school choir where we learned to sing parts. He was a strict disciplinarian and several times noisy boys would be sent through the “swatting” machine! Another teacher who impacted my life was Thyrza Barrett our English teacher at Ririe High. She expected quality work, rewrites, and involved us in evaluating each other’s papers so we learned to edit and make suggestions. She also was our advisor for The Rattler (the school newspaper.) If she felt our work was good enough, she would find a way for it to be published in other places and encouraged us to enter writing contests. There was no computer technology in those days; everything for the Rattler had to be typed on a typewriter into columns onto a filmlike paper that could be used on the copy machine. Thankfully there were many excellent typists in the class but still errors crept in. Every issue took hours to type, edit, and lay out. We would work late into the night and if the school doors were locked by then, we’d exit through a window! I’m sure most of my classmates remember Mr. Helm because he had a ping pong table in the back of the classroom and we came to school very early so we could rotate into the lineup for games. Everyone in the class became excellent Ping-Pong players. However, if a student was not paying attention or too noisy once class started, he’d throw an eraser at them! Mr. Nield was our patient algebra teacher and both my brother Doug and I met with him at times to clarify the process for solving problems. He must have been a lot like Richard Pincock, who also spent after hours helping students understand algebra. Tamara Boyle: I so loved my first-grade teacher, but we all love our first teacher! She was Josie Bird. she lived in the Palisades area (in Idaho). One day many years later, I was coming home from the 4h camp in Alpine and decided to stop to see if she was home. She remembered me almost before I told her who I was! She was happy to see me again after 50 years! My other favorite teacher was Mrs. Tew from Leslie, Idaho! She was so kind and seemed to just bring out the best behavior of everyone in her class.

Pete Henderson was a teacher and newcomer to San Juan County but he had a great impact when it came to enriching and promoting local talent. He started The Canyonlanders, a large chorus who performed several times a year. There were between 80-100+ people who sang in the group. He was tireless and practiced with the group until it was perfect. He also helped start the annual performance of The Messiah, which continues to this day. However, because he was born in another country, he didn’t always understand what locals were talking about. His first assignment was teaching at Montezuma Creek and on his first day there he was given a glass vial and told to fill it. He thought it was a little strange they wanted a urine sample and was on his way to the bathroom, when the secretary clarified, “Be sure you let it run for 5-6 minutes.” Then he knew it was “water” she was talking about.

Issue 46 of Blue Mountain Shadows shows how Walter C. Lyman’s vision of education was realized. No one but a visionary would have believed this tiny town would eventually have a college! USU Eastern Blanding Campus (as it is known today) offers live instruction as well as long distance video classes in multiple sites in the Four Corners area. Those who helped initiate this educational blessing include Cleal Bradford, Bob McPherson, Don Smith, Merry Palmer, Garth Wilson, Kay Shumway, Stan Byrd, Karolyn Romero, Terri Winder, Tom Austin, Gloria Barfuss, Silvia Stubbs, Van Potter, Dennis Bradford, Lynn Lee, Susan Raisor Young, Brian Stubbs, LaPriel Begay, Jenae Herrera and many others.

Ivins Cattle Ranching: Survival and Success in San Juan

Livestock and ranching have been central to survival in San Juan County since 1880 when pioneers first arrived through the Hole in the Rock. Keith and Deann Ivins are descendants of early pioneers in both Nevada and San Juan County, Utah. Deann’s ancestors include William Adams and May Boland who were San Juan settlers. Her great grandfather John Adams had 4 sons: Ernest, Joe, Lloyd and Melvin who were lifelong ranchers. Upon arriving in San Juan territory, they split up the available range land into 4 areas for each of the brothers. Keith grew up in a Mormon settlement in Lund, Nevada population 200. It was composed of miners, ranchers and Native Americans. Droughts were a problem there as well. They ran a dairy farm, milking between 40-50 cows. He remembers driving to school when he was 6 years old! There were only 20 enrolled in their little school. Kids grew up quickly in those days with chores at home plus work at school. Today the BLM as well as the U.S. Forest Service require permits to graze animals anywhere in the west; however, in 1880 it was open range for anyone ambitious enough to ranch. Usually, the Adams brothers ran sheep and had as many as 15,000 for many years. Ben Sanchez and other local Mexican workers were excellent sheepmen and cared for herds in the mountains in the summer. However, it became increasingly harder to find the help they neededso they transitioned to cattle which don’t need constant herding like sheep do. Another problem with sheep were the wolves and coyotes who roamed the area. However, in the late 1950’s the government started paying trappers for hides which helped control the wolf population in San Juan. (See issue 5 of Blue Mountain Shadows)

As the Ivins/ Adams family transitioned to cattle, they invested mostly in black Angus, as they produced better beef. Shawn and Tyler Ivins bought Lynn Patterson’s land for their summer range; however they move cattle to the mountains in hot months. Rico, Colorado is another area used by the Ivins family in the summer, as the grass is more abundant there. Trucker Dennis Cosby has trucked cattle for the Ivins family for nearly 40 years, transporting them back and forth between Utah and Colorado. Over 64,000 acres of BLM land is also available; however, permits are required. The BLM determines the number of animals approved based on AUM (animal units for 3 months) 1 cow = 1 AUM. Besides complying with BLM requirements and making sure there is adequate water for animals, ranchers also care for hundreds of animals. making sure they are branded, given vaccinations for grubs, pneumonia, and are ear tagged. Recently they have added technology to help them track cattle. A collar with a battery is attached to all cattle and is on all time so that each animal can be quickly located. The Ivins grandchildren are also involved in this process and sometimes their family teams up with the Grovers or other ranchers at branding time which makes it a social event! Water is also a major concern for animals and alfalfa fields. Wells, dams and reservoirs are key ingredients to success. To have enough water, some ranchers have drilled wells. That is the case with rancher Sandy Johnson and others living on Black Mesa, Mustang, Valley of the Gods, or the Butler Wash area. Many are turning to solar collectors to generate electricity to run solar pumps which pull water into troughs for cattle.

Like a good poker player, ranchers also need to know when to "hold ‘em" or when to sell or move animals to a new range. There are many pluses for ranchers and farm families: children learn to work hard, get up early, and make decisions for the good of the family, livestock and the land. Sons David, Justin, Shawn, and Tyler have their own animal related jobs and are also competent ranchers, ropers and businessmen.

Christmas memories and celebrations

Families throughout the world have unique ways of celebrating Christmas. Because of its significance in our lives and the diversity of our traditions, Christmas memories are different for each family and person. Though the central focus is on Christ’s birth, our remembrance of him and our experiences are different, as well as how we celebrate. Here are some of those memories that others have of this holiday. Gayle Shumway: When I was a Senior in High School, our Seminary teacher, Mitch Kalauli planned an experience for us that I will never forget. Our class started raising money in the fall of that year for Christmas gifts to deliver to selected homes on the Navajo reservation. We prayed to be guided in the gifts that we purchased; we bought mostly toys, wrapped them, and some of our class drove deep into the reservation. Larry Lee was dressed as Santa Claus, and he waited outside the hogans and houses until we had been inside for a few minutes. Those little hogans were sparsely furnished with the bare necessities, a cooking stove, bedrolls against the walls, table, chairs, a few shelves built into the walls sometimes a weaving loom. They were bigger than they looked, and we all fit inside. I remember especially one hogan with wide-eyed, excited little children and a toothless grandma more excited than the children who loudly laughed with glee! We sang Christmas carols and then pretended that we heard Santa's Reindeer and Larry would make his entrance and present gifts. As we watched, tears filled our eyes, and joy filled our hearts. We learned the spirit of giving; we also learned to appreciate the abundance that we were blessed with. I will always remember the love that I felt in those homes on the Navajo reservation. Rosalie Payne: Christmas and the winter season were one of the best parts of growing up in Idaho. One of my fondest memories is that my dad would hook up our horses (Lady and Taffy) to the sleigh and we would ride around our little town taking friends and neighbors some kind of special treat my mom had made. Of course, any holiday has favorite foods. At some point in the holidays, we would get Yorkshire pudding and huckleberry pie. Sylvia Shumway: Ever wonder where the term “Christmas givet” came from? I think my brother Craig introduced it to friends and neighbors after he learned it. The origin came from a man, not sure if he was Navajo or Ute. But my father had hired him to work in the uranium mine dad owned. Every Christmas Eve my family would wait for his knock on the door. He would say “Christmas givet” to us. We would give him what he needed for his family if we had anything extra and usually, we would include food and snacks as mom always made extra just for him. That is when I learned the joy of giving and sharing. Janet Wilcox:

One Christmas I’ll never forget is when six of my friends rode the school bus home with me to our farm which was 22 miles from Ririe where we attended school. The weather was perfect for sleigh riding and we anticipated a couple of fun days, before my father would take us home in his army truck. Unfortunately, there was a terrible blizzard that blew in that night, and we were officially snowed in for several days longer. There were no phones on the farm so we couldn’t call their families. Fortunately, my mother was a great cook and she had chili and donuts and several things already prepared. We had a large basement with multiple beds, a pool table and ping pong table so there were lots of things to do. We played fox and geese, had snow ball fights, and sledded down the hill, jumped on the beds, sang silly songs and talked late into the night. After a few days the blizzard subsided and we bundled up and rode in the back of truck back to Ririe! One tradition we did for years when we were raising our own children was to a secretly deliver something which corresponded with the each of the 12 days of Christmas. I believe it was the Eberhard family who first delivered 12 consecutive gifts to us when our children were younger. As they got older, they helped prepare and deliver the items such as “golden rings” = donuts; partridge in pear tree became a “dove” soap or a pear; 8 maids a milking= milk duds; drummers drumming = small decorative drum. The trick was to quietly come to the door, place the gift, ring the bell then run quickly or hide where they couldn’t be seen. They also did a lot of snow shoveling (and sometimes snowball throwing!) in the neighborhood. Another thing we did when our children were young was to go to the nursing home with the Stubbs family. The children would dress up as wise men or angels and they would sing 4-5 Christmas songs. Afterward they would deliver a simple gift to each of the residents there. The home we lived in at that time, didn’t have any insulation so gigantic icicles would form. This was the memorable icicle!

Life is SEW fun for local Seamstress

It may seem that life at the Four Corners Regional Care Center might be so-so, but for Becca Ivy, it's SEW, SEW! Becca has been happily residing there for seeral months and uses her sewing talents to make pillow cases for othr residents. She began sewing in 2007 when she lived at the Grayson apartments in Blanding A friend taught her how to make pillow cases and gave her tips on sewing. She has made at least 100 of them since. "I enjoy making things for others and giving them away," she explained.

She lived in Arizona for some time and sewed there as well, making dozens of strip quilts for family and friends. She has owned several sewing machines, but Brother is her preferred brand. To keep this seamstress happy and busy helping others, she would appreciate donations of fabric. If any local quilters have stashes of fabric they would be willing to donate, please take them to the care center earmarked for Becca. She as well as future recipients will appreciate any donations.

2,500 mile journey to the temple in Brazil

With LDS temples dotting the earth in these latter days, it’s hard to imagine the sacrifice that early members in foreign countries had as they traveled to a temple in the 1990’s. Blanding dentist, Andrea Twitchell, recalls the distance, time and expense that her family and early members in Manaus, Brazil had as they set out into middle of the Amazon rain forest to go to a temple for the first time. Her parents were converts to the church. Her mother was from South America and immigrated to escape the dictatorship that existed in Chile. She found a job in Manaus about the same time her future husband arrived from southern Brazil in the 1980’s. Members of the church in Manaus yearned to be sealed as families in the temple but there were no good roads for much of the 2,500-mile journey to the nearest temple in São Paulo. The trip was expensive and often dangerous. For most members going to the temple was outside of their reality. Despite these challenges, mission president Claudio R. M. Costa worked with local members, including Pedro Acosta, to organize a caravan to the temple. Many families made financial sacrifices as they saved for the trip. Air fare was too expensive to consider and even bus and boat were still very expensive. Many saved for months to afford the trip. Some sold their worldly belongings or took extra work to afford passage. Finally, on November 25, 1992, 102 Latter-day Saints embarked on the treacherous, weeklong journey, traveling first in 3 boats and then in 3 busses. They ran out of water during the first leg of their voyage and the river water was too polluted to drink. Their solution was to gather on the deck of the boat and pray. Leonardo Arevalo remembered that “heavy clouds gathered, the sky grew dark, and it began to pour.” They collected the water in pans and buckets, the passing storm miraculously providing enough fresh water to last until they reached the next city. At various cities along the route, members of local branches provided meals for the travelers. The branch in Ji-Paraná welcomed them with a sign that read “Sacrifice Brings Blessings.” Those in the caravan gratefully recognized that these members had sacrificed to help them reach the temple. Through these experiences, members of the caravan sensed they were an integral part of a larger community of Saints in Brazil. On the sixth day, the travelers erupted with cheers when they reached São Paulo. After spending an entire week at the temple performing ordinances for themselves and for their ancestors, they could testify that “sacrifice brings blessings.” Twenty years and many caravans later, the Church dedicated a temple in Manaus (a city of 2 ½ million people) in 2012. That first caravan will forever symbolize the sacrifices that Saints in Brazil are willing to make to claim their temple blessings. There are now 10 temples in Brazil and 14 more under construction or in the planning stage. Currently there are 1,525,436 members in Brazil. This makes Brazil the country with the third-largest Church membership worldwide, behind the United States and Mexico. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/imgs/7fdc77a9f807b48221b504097ab15c9089446db3/full/!1600%2C/0/default