In the spring of 1847 a party of people left the city of Boston, Mass., to try their luck and fortune in the West. At that time, as we all know, a venture of that kind was no small undertaking. Ox-drawn vehicles and roads that would be termed cow trails at this date (1934) were all that existed. Besides these things supply stations were far apart, and there was always danger of Indians. There was not much to be apprehended, however until they got west of the Mississippi River.
Of this trip across the plains I know very little, since it has to do with my grandfather, and, never having the pleasure of meeting him, I can only jot down a few incidents that transpired during that eventful trip. Those related here were told to me by my father to whom this short sketch pertains.
On June 15, 1847, in a narrow gauge wagon - one of the wagons of this expedition - a baby was born. This event, I suppose, was just as important at that time as at the present. However it is safe to say that he received none of the luxuries and attentions bestowed upon a baby now. I do not know if there was any delay as a result of his eventful day, but (let us say) a few days elapsed before the westward trek was resumed. The baby was given the name of his father - Jacob Flynn Hutchinson - which, you will agree, is plenty of name. But in years to come, as is generally the case, he was called "Jake" for short.
Jake was several months old when his parents arrived at their destination at Salt Lake City, (having had only one skirmish with the Indians, in which one man was lost and several wounded). (There had been deaths from other causes during the trip, however). We shall have to skip a few years of his life until we get Jake old enough to chronicle some of his actions. Meanwhile his parents foraged around making a living, perhaps of somewhat scanty nature, for things were hard to get, and most of them were made by hand and produced from raw material. There was much to do, and they were kept busy from early dawn until sunset.
Our "Wagon-Box" Jake was not the ooly member of the family. There was an elder brother, Nathanial, and an elder sister, Katherine, at the time. Later a younger sister, Ruth, and a brother, David, were born.
We find Jake in the year 1855 a bare-foot boy of eight in a calico shirt and a pair of patched pants, which were very baggy at the knees and seat, patched in several places with various kinds of cloth, his hair long and slightly curly, eyes blue and well apart, a rather large mouth and a short, stocky build. Just a boy - no beauty: he took no blue ribbons as a baby, nor as an adult later. However, he was considered a little above average in intelligence, was good-natured, full of fun, and was more-or-less a favorite at the old swimming hole or on the ball ground. He told me that, when a child, swimming and playing ball ("rounders" as it was called), leap frog and mumble peg were his favorite sports.
Schooling faculties at the time were meagre. However, he had a very slight introduction to the three rules: reading, writing and arithmetic. He learned quickly, and later on (as have many others) figured things out for himself.
Until he was twelve school occupied most of Jake's time. All that was left he devoted to herding cows (known as "The Town Herd") doing other jobs that could be had at the time. Salt Lake City was not much of a city in 1855 and 1860. It was a village of adobe and log cabins pretty well scattered and a few stores and, of course a community church and dance hall. The Town Herd was collected in the early morning, driven out o town to graze during the day, and distributed again at night. There were usually two boys assigned to the herding of the cows (hence the efficiency in leap frog and mumble peg). The compensation, I assure you, was small for the time required, and if offered to a lad of this day and age, even during this so-called depression, would be a bare-faced insult.
At the age of thirteen Jake rented a span of oxen on shares and proceeded to haul wood form the hills. I do not know what percent went to the owner of the team, but after enough wood was accumulated for domestic purposes the balance was sold for other necessities.
The following spring found Jake bordering on the age of fourteen: a boy of nervous disposition and industrial nature. An opportunity was presented to drive a team of horses in a freight outfit into Montana. He accepted the position and left the home fireside with many misgivings to those left behind as to whether he would ever return.
I wish to call your attention for a moment to the condition of the country. You can picture in your mind's eye no railroads. True, there was a stage coach that ran into Montana to the mines that were being opened: a few rich discoveries having been made in Alder Gulch, Virginia City and other places. These discoveries caused plenty of excitement and lured people on and on, finally resulting in the development of the valleys.
I seems that this trip was very successful and that good luck was with this outfit. Nothing of moment happened and, with the help of the elder members of the expedition, Jake was returned to the home fireside as good and sound as when he left, albeit he was more or less a hero to have filled a man's boots and taken a man's chances at so tender an age. But, as he related to me, he was considered a full-fledged man and more or less on his own from that time hence.
Another trip was made in the same year, later in the season. Outside of getting mired down in several places and losing their horses once this trip seems to have been much the same as the previous one. Of course, every day he was getting older and gaining experience.
In the spring of 1861, he accepted a position on the same freight outfit for another trip. On this one they were taking a herd of cattle along for delivery at some point in Montana, probably Twin Bridges. All went well until they struck Snake River between what is now called Blackfoot and Idaho Falls, Idaho. Here part of the cattle took to water and swam to the other side. The boss of the outfit was in quandary how to get them back. It is well to remind you that the Snake at that time was a good-sized river, as no water was being diverted into canals or otherwise used. Its force and strong undercurrents made it very dangerous for swimming. However, Jake had put in quite a bit of time at the old swimming hole and was ready to accept the challenge. After much persuasion the boss consented to let him go. Jake wriggled out of his clothes and swam across, landing on the opposite shore among the sagebrush and cactus, a fair example of a nudist. He informed me that it was some job getting those bovines to come back across. He finally got them to take to water, and as the last steer entered he jumped on its back and was ferried back in fine shape. The whole outfit made much ado about the exploit.
It seems that nothing more of importance happened until the return trip. A circle camp was made near the location of Dubois. Preparations were being made for the night when all at once the horses headed for camp on the run. A horse can smell Indians a mile away and is plenty afraid of them. An Indian war whoop filled the air, and it was every man to his gun. It so happened that the body of Indians was small. They evidently thought the whites too strong for them. At any rate they left without doing any damage or stealing any of the horses, (which was probably their intent). Jake told me that a war whoop is worse than the howl of a panther at night to make one's hair stand on end, and that is no tame sound! They finally arrived in Salt Lake with a whole skin and were glad to be back.
The talk of gold that was rampant in Montana grew, and in the spring Jake, his older brother, Nat, and some others headed for Montana to wash out or dig out a fortune. They arrived at Virginia City and finally located a claim in Alder Gulch. After driving a tunnel for a hundred feet, looking for pay dirt and not finding it, they gave up and went to work for a placer outfit. They returned to Salt Lake a year later. Just to show how things to in mining: some miners relocated Jake and Nat's claim a year or so later, drove their tunnels fourteen feet further, and took out many thousands of dollars in gold. In fact, the mine turned out to be one of the richest in Alder Gulch.
In the year of 1865, we find Jake, at the age of 18, an apprentice in a carpenter shop. In those days a carpenter had to saw and hue everything he wished to make form a rough board or square piece of timber. It was a much more difficult and arduous job to build a house, or set of household furniture, than it would be at this time. As I have stated before Jake was quick to learn and, being naturally mechanically inclined, was soon very efficient in building table, chairs, cupboards, etc. In the spring of 1868 he took a job of building and furnishing a house, with the addition of a barn and other out buildings. This work was done for the then well-known Lot Smith at Farmington, Utah. It took him more than a year to finish this work. Near the time of its completion he courted and married the Smith's eldest daughter.
Jake continued to live in Farmington as a carpenter until 1879. From that year until 1886, his life was a succession of moves. He operated a sawmill, worked on the railroad, helped to construct bridges and to dig canals in various parts of the country.
Last Updated 27 April 2011