Genealogy / Anniversary trip

We just got back from Utah where we enjoyed a genealogy finding trip. We planned to meet Yvonne in Oxford, but their car overheated and they turned back - maybe another time. Meanwhile, dad and I turned off on the wrong road and were headed back to Oxford the long way. When we got the phone call from Yvonne, we were in Preston (south of Oxford) getting ready to head back North. After the disappointing news that they wouldn't be joining us, we decided to head to Richmond instead of going north to Oxford. We found the museum (which was closed, but they let us in anyway) and we found a beautiful table that Cornelius Traveller made. You can see the top of it in the picture above. It is in a pie shape. (Gene - it really needs to be refinished) We also met Lee Ann Traveller who took us around town and showed us the places that the Traveller's had lived. We tried to find the Olsen home, and took pictures of a few of them, but we aren't sure if they are the correct home. Guess we will have to do a bit more homework. Then we went to the cemetery and took pictures of headstones. Christopher John and Mildred Traveller Olsen (my grandparents), Christopher Marinus and Caroline Olsen, Cornelius Traveller and Francis Hobbs Traveller are all buried there.

Then we went on to Hyrum, Utah (originally Camp Hollow) where Cornelius Traveller and his family came with other settlers in 1860. They built dugouts in the hillside and then Ezra T. Benson (Pres. Benson's father) told them to move 1 mile west for better water and they built a fort to provide protection from the Indians. The fort was 2 1/2 city blocks long - had 38 cabins in it. The back wall of the houses were the fort wall. The creek ran through it to provice water for the gardens, and homes. The fort was on both sides of Main street in Hyrum (which runs East-West and I guess that is unusual as most Main Streets run North and South). We tried to find this monument by going to the museum. We had directions to the museum, but we were on the wrong side of the street and ended up in the City building. We went in to ask for directions and a very nice man told us the museum was across the street. I asked him if he knew where the Camp Hollow monument was and he said he did. He marked it on my map and then said they were going to move it to the original site of the dugouts. Then he said he was on his way that direction and he would show us the way. As we were leaving the building, someone said hello to this kind man "Hello Mayor". So, the Mayor showed us to the monument and then showed us the original site of the dugouts. Wow! what a great man. Then we came back and visited the museum and found out that the immigrants had planted 100 acres of crops for the winter and then dug a canal 21 miles long in 9 days. The interesting thing - the canal was built 4 feet deep, 4 feet wide at the bottom and 9 feet wide at the top. It has just the right amount of drop - meaning it will flow very well and all they had was a spirit level (the old levels with the bubble in them). When they turn the water out of the canal in the fall, it all drains and not even a puddle remains. They built the cabins and the fort at the same time and were ready for winter. The only problem was that the canal didn't provide the water in time to save the crops.

Then we spent the night in Logan and went to the temple on Friday morning. August 3 is our 37th anniversary and we were so close to that day that we felt it would be a great way to celebrate an early anniversary. When we got married in Logan, the sessions had live actors and you went up lots of stairs from room to room. It was remodeled in 1977 and now you stay in one room the whole time. After the session, we walked around the temple and took lots of pictures. This is my favorite. It is taken close to the spot that we took pictures on our wedding day. On our wedding day, I think we took 4 or 5 pictures. I wish we had taken more.