Our common progenitors, William David Childs and his wife, Mary Howard Childs, with many others, left their homes, families, and friends, and buckling on the armor of endurance, fortitude, and courage made their way willingly and joyfully over ocean, prarie, high mountain passes, through rugged defile, enduring the hardships of pioneer life, that they might come to the "Land of Promise".

William David Childs was born in Kidderminster, Worcester, England on July 6, 1819. He was the first son and fourth child of a family of six children of William Childs and his wife, Ann. Little is known of his early life in England, except that he was a distiller by trade. He married Sarah Harrison in England and together they heard the message of the Restored Gospel and joined the church. He was baptized in 1832. They then emigrated to America to join the Saints here.

They came to Nauvoo and there they were personally acquainted with the Prophet, Joseph Smith. William was ordained a member of the Quorum of Seventies in Nauvoo in 1844.

While living in Nauvoo, two babies were born to their union; Caroline Amelia, a daughter, born July 1841 and died September 1841, age two months; Ephraim William, a son, born August 28, 1844 and died September 9, 1844, age 13 days.

William and Sarah emigrated to the Salt Lake Valley in 1848. They no doubt encountered all the hardships those early pioneers endured. A few years later, in February 1853, Sarah Harrison Childs died.

Mary Howard was born in Bakewell, Derbyshire, England, September 9, 1818, a daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Bramwell Howard. She married named Chris Austin Travis September 22, 1845 in Sheffield, York, England. To this union were born two daughters, Lavina, born July1, 1846. at Sheffield Eccles, York, England, and Mary C., born October 4, 1850, at sea, enroute to America. This family emigrated to America by way of New Orleans and the Missippi River to St. Louis, Missouri. Chris Austin Travis died of cholera at St. Louis, Missouri, and was buried there. His widow, Mary, and her two daughters joined with other Saints to cross the plains.

William Childs and Mary Howard Travis married on November 23 1851 at Salt Lake City, Utah. three sons were born to them while they lived in Salt Lake city; William David, Edward Brigham, and Hyrum Moroni.

When the Johnson Army threatened Salt Lake City they, with other Saints, left their homes,took what belongings they could, and left the city. They went to Brigham City, and then started to move Southward. As they were travelling, they camped one spring night in Kays Ward (Kaysville) where on May 1, 1858, Lorenzo Howard was born in an abandoned house. Next morning, Mother and new baby were placed in the wagon and they continued on their way. They went to Springville and made a home for a time there and Parley Pratt, their fifth son was born.

In 1860 a call came to William and his family to go help settle new communities. So, once again, they packed their belongings, two daughters, five sons, and made their way South again.

The journey was made with a pair of white Texas oxen. There were no roads but they made their own as they went along, following the trail of those who had gone before. Much of the way was narrow dugway and they were obliged to walk by the side of the wagon and hold on to prevent sliding over the embankment. William later recalled that one man had a flock of chickens boxed on top of his wagon and, as the wagon began to slip sideways on an embankment, the box tipped over and chickens were scattered in all directions. A halt was called while the entire company helped catch the squawking hens. The journey from Springville to Gunnison took them two weeks.

They first settled on the West side of the Rocky Point which was known as the Hog Wallow Camp. At the time they crossed the creek, it was very high. As they reached the other side there were about thirty Indians who swam across wearing nothing but breech cloths.

They made their first home of willows and sagebrush and plastered it with mud. It was a very crude home but it offered protection from the elements.

One of the first tasks they had to do was make irrigation ditches to divert the water from the creek to the farm lands. After that they were able to plant and irrigate their first crops. Soon after they arrived, they were called to send men and oxen back to Omaha to bring out more of the Saints who had no way of coming. Three Gunnison men took their ox teams and left in the Spring and did not return until late Fall.

Their children were poor and scantily dressed, as were most of the settlers. Mother Childs made all her boys trousers from seamless sacks with the stripe outside for trim and they were proud of the pants she made. She made their straw hats by picking out the finest straw and, after soaking it, would braid and sew it, then trim it with a band of calico around the crown. The children never wore shoes in the Summer and their feet became very tough. Mother Childs made her own shoes from any coarse cloth she could find and would sometimes put a wooden or leather sole on them. Often when she washed the children's clothes and mended them, they would have to stay in bed, covered up until they were ready to wear again because they would be the only clothes they had. She made all the clothes they wore and they were mended patch upon patch.

In the early 1860's they were called to help in the settlement of Salina. they lived there for a time but the Indians were very troublesome at this time. In 1865 was the beginning of the Blackhawk War. It was said to have begun with a quarrel between John Lowry at the Manti mill and some Indians who were giving him trouble. He put them out of the mill and it wasn't very long until the Indians were all on the warpath. This war lasted until 1870.

One Sunday the Indians came and took all their livestock. One of the herders, Chris Olsen, was killed and his brother, Niel, was wounded. After being hurt, he jumped in the river and was never found again. Sometime later, Will Childs found a shoe with a foot in it, buried in the sand by the Sevier River Bridge, West of Gunnison. It was supposed that it belonged to the wounded herder.

At one time, some of Mother Childs sons were in the foothills, hunting for stray cattle. They were gone such a long time, she was almost franti with worry, fearing they had been killed by Indians. It was said her hair turned white, overnight.

During this time, the Indians were making raids upon the settlements and, as they leftfor the hills, they found two fellows named Barney Ward and James Rasmussen. The Indians had scalped them and Rasmussen ran for more than three-quarters of a mile after being scalped.

The Indians gave them much trouble and cause for alarm. When they were obliged to go away from the fort, they went in companies and traveled mostly at night. They had to go to Manti to the mill for flour and it was a long, tedious, trip, fearing all the way that they might meet unfriendly Indians. It was also a long trip to the South, seven or eight miles to get salt from the salt hills. These trips would take them a day or more in their wagons.

Father and Mother Childs were among the settlers who helped build a fort around the settlements to protect themselves from Indian raids. It covered four city blocks and the houses were built side by side which formed the walls of the fort, except at the corners, a round place was made with look-out holes so they were able to see Indians before they could make a sneak attack upon the fort. Men were also stationed at all times in these look-outs. These men and boys also had to take turns standing guard at the East and West of the Rocky Point. There they had piles of straw to set fire to the settlement and then were to run for the fort.

At this time, Father Childs' farm was about Four South of the settlement. They would turn their oxen out each night to graze and in the morning would have to find them. It seemed as if they always followed the river Northward toward Warm Springs (Fayette), and had to be herded back South to begin the days work.

It was interesting to recall how they built their fires. They used small sticks dipped in sulpher, a scorched rag, a flint rock, and a piece of steel. They hit the rock on the steel until sparks flew onto the rag and set it afire. Sometimes it took a long time until the rag caught fire. When it did, they would light sticks from the burning rag.

At one time the family went to gather hops. They camped at Sugar Loaf the first night and the next morning they started for Maple Grove, arriving there in the late afternoon. It was hailing hard and Father Childs was having a hard time starting a fire. He tried and tried, to no avail. He gave up and started to walk back where they had camped the night before to see if there were any embers left from their campfire. After he had gone, the boys got a quilt and held it around them and started the fire. The fire was a welcome thing and they recalled this incident many times in later years. They also made torches and carried fire. These were made of cedar bark strapped tight and would hold a fire for a long, long, time. They gathered hops at Maple Grove and if they had more than they could use, they would trade them for something they needed.

They had to use their imaginations and their ingenuity to survive. In those days they had neither grease nor thimbles for their wagons, but instead, had a wooden axle with a piece of iron looped over and a pin to hold the wheel in place. They greased this axle with tar which they had made themselves. They made tar by building a kiln and putting pitch (pine wood) in it then setting fire to it. They left this covered to smother the fire. Then some spouts wre put in for the tar to run out and it was put into containers and was ready to use. This was put on their axles to keep them from wearing out.

When the grain was ripe and ready to harvest, it was cut with a cradle and bound into sheaves by hand. It was then threshed by laying a bundle on the ground and driving the oxen over it until the grain was threshed out. Then it was shoveled toward the wind and this blew the chaff away from the grain which could then be gathered up and sacked.

Hamilton Kearns tried tanning hides first. He tanned cowhide but it wasn't too successful because all he was able to do was get the hair off the hides. However, they made shoes from this. If they got wet, they stretched out of shape, and when they dried, they would shrink until they had to work to get them on. they would fill their shoes with something at night to keep their shape.

The first canal made at Gunnison was made with ox teams. First a big "V" was made of slabs and a heavy weight was put on it and hitched to three yoke of oxen. This weight would push the soil. Father Childs helped build these first canals as well as helping on any other community projects of his time.

The only cooking utensils Mother Childs had were a frying pan and a skillet. She used these to prepare the meals over an open fireplace. Candles were made to furnish light. They were made at home by melting tallow (mutton fat) and puring it into molds which had string placed in them. They were then cooled and ready to use. Often a rag was put into a can of grease and ignited, furnishing light. This was called a "bitch".

The first man who died in Hog Wallow was Sam Williams. He was buried across the valley in the foot of the East hills. Why he was taken so far away was a mystery to those who later recalled it. The trip was made by ox teams. The first house built outside the fort was Hamilton Garrick's. It is believed the first person buried in the present site of the Gunnison Cemetery was Robert Gribble's boy. He was taken from Hog Wallow by an ox team. The team was driven by Will Childs.

The first store was owned by Bishop Madsen, who also interested the people in raising sugar cane. He made the first pound of sugar from this crop. They also made molasses from the stalks in Willow Bend (Axtell).

When the Childs family moved from the fort, they built a house on the corner of Main and First North Streets. Later they built a long house in front of the cellar and there Father Childs died, August 19, 1872. He is buried in the Gunnison Cemetery. He was remembered by his family as a kindly man. He suffered from an asthmatic condition and wasn't very strong. Some remember him telling of a forbidden swimming outing as a boy. He lay in his wet clothes all night, afraid to come home, and was never well after that time. He also said he caught a cold while crossing the ocean and suffered constantly from a cough. He was 53 years old at the time of his death.

After he died, Mary Howard Childs continued to live in the family home. Some time after the death of their Father, the brothers built a two room home for the family. They hauled rockfrom the West of town and made the laths by sawing them from lumber with a hand saw. This made a comfortable home for their Mother.

As young men, the Childs brothers freighted from Gunnison to Pioche, Nevada, driving mules, sometimes three span to two wagons. In Summers, it was so hot the sand would almost blister their bare feet. In Winter, it would be so cold it would feeze their shoes to their feet. They would often build a fire to thaw the shoes to take them off. They had to take the shoes to bed with them to keep them from shrinking at night. They hauled salt, eggs, oats, and other commodities from Gunnison to Pioche.

Mother Childs died at the home of her daughter Lavina on February 5, 1897, at age 79.

In spite of the hardships they were called to endure, the pioneer people were a happy people. They created their own entertainments, picnicing in the Summer and dancing in the Winter. Often they would bring the whole family to the dance, the younger members sleeping on the benches while their parents danced to the fiddler. The fiddler was often paid in foodstuffs.

We pay our respects to the memory of these pioneer parents who had the courage to leave home and family to come so far under such trying conditions, to join a new Church and live with others of their Faith. We, their descendants, have a great heritage and challenge to live the Gospel and know and understand it as they did.

Submitted by Patricia L. Childs , third great-granddaughter. pchilds@cris.com