Story Time From Neil

Back in the good old days when we were very young and lived in Altonah our home was what mother referred to as the John Ashby home. It was a two room house with one room serving as the kitchen and dinning area and the other room serving also as multi purpose room. It was our bedroom and our living room. It was years later that I found out that there were such things as a couch and a big chair etc. The furnishings in this room consisted of a bed which we referred to as the day bed. That is in the daytime it folded up so that it served as a couch. At night it folded down so that it was a bed. I remember in those days that LaVora and I slept on camp cots. Then, too, we did not know that a clothes closet was a part of the bedroom. But we did know about wardrobes. It seemed that in that day Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Ward made and sold about everything. The wardrobe was one of those items. It was merely a portable clothes closet. As I recall along with the daybed we had this wardrobe. Then, too, it really was not very big.
In that day we also lived on the Ute Indian Reservation. Most of the Indians lived to the south and east in what was known as White Rocks and Myton areas. There were this two Indians that lived up to the north of us, From time to time we would see them riding by on their way from or to town. Their names were Two Horn and Tu Rouse. I use to listen to the adults tell about when the Altonah Pioneers (Grandfather James B. Murray and others) were building the Farmers Canal from the Yellow Stone River to their farms that from time to time Two Horne or Tu Rouse would take a few shots in their direction. These kind of stories put just a little bit of fear in a child’s mind. I recall this one day when LaVora and I were home alone and we saw these Indians riding up the road. We became quite frightened for we were sure they would come in and scalp us. We looked for a place to hide. It was the wardrobe. Like I say it was not very big but it was big enough for two frightened children to hide in. We were quite relieved when they rode on by without stopping.