Tape recording interview of Bart Smith of Henrieville, Utah.
Recording made at Mr. Smith's home - January 14, 1964.
Interviewed by Vernon "A" Condie - Park Ranger at
Bryce Canyon National Park.

Bart Smith - This is the story of Allen Freeman Smith son, the first Bishop of Pahrear (Pahreah). Interviewers' Note - (Pahreah was an old Mormon settlement in southern Utah. It was located east of Kanab and south of Tropic and Cannonville on the edge of the Paria River or Paria (Pahreah) Creek as the old timers called it. The elderly folks in the vicinity of Bryce Canyon often pronounce it Pahrear or Pahree.)

My mother, the daughter of Alan Freeman Smithson, was one time called on to wash dishes. She and her brother (younger). And in their playing and the washing of the dishes they broke some plates, they broke a plate. They were chastised by their mother for breaking up the dishes or the one dish. And soon after this chastising was over-with they got together and had their good laugh. They said they had a plate each; then, because, the old plate broke half in two, and that made enough plates to go around. They were very happy with this because this made enough for each one in the family to have a plate. These and other stories have more or less interested me. I've followed these things up and the mysteries, and the way they did. Now my mother told me that they burnt the Cottonwood and saved the ashes and made their own lye from it, for their soap-their laundry they took care of all of that. They never knew what the taste of sugar was. They made sweeten and did all of their fruit canning with molasses. They raised their own cane and made their own molasses. And the few necessities that my grandfather would get would be in the line of baking powder, soda, matches, and what not like that.

I've heard my mother tell the stories about when they would get up in the morning at Pahrear and they would look all around to see who had a smoke, who had a fire, and where ever they had a fire they would all run to that place with their so-called fire shovels to get some coals to bring back from the fire circle. So short of matches, and flint rock and stuff like that. Now my mother told me the stories about my father having the old flintlock gun, and they made preparations for their fire and he fired the old flintlock gun to ignite the prepared paper, trash and bark and what ever they had in the stove, see. So far they had mostly fire-places at that time. It was too expensive to do that all the time, that's why when they'd wake up in the morning and look all around to see if somebody had a fire and then they'd go and get a shovel full of coals to start their fire.

Then, my grandfather, Thomas W. Smith was the second Bishop of Pahrear, and he, while at Pahrear was one of the cattle kings of Southern Utah. He came north up the Pahrear Creek to the place known as the old Smith ranch between, now, Henrieville and Escalante, and purchased or traded with the Indians for that territory or that ranch for a headquarters to summer his cattle. He made a trade of a Pinto horse for the ground. Then, my father, James Edward Smith, came through this place, traveled through here (Henrieville) back and forth. I can remember him telling us where he used to camp long before there was ever a town here. It is my opinion that the first settlers here were people by the name of Thompson. The second, were some of these Smiths that moved in here and then they began to form ranches.

These Thompsons then, came in here and started claiming some of this ground, taking out the water to use it; then these Smiths came along. So from that time on they added on, but most of those people were from the Pahrear section. We have the Kanarra Co-op people. Kanarra Co-op was brought in here by Pat Willis which would be our second Bishop in the Ward (Henrieville). He was the Forman (Kanarra Co-op).

Interviewer - Who was the first Bishop ?

Mr. Smith - Daniel Goulding. And then - Pat Willis, and Moroni Savage, I believe were his first counselors. Then after Daniel's death, Pat Willis became Bishop and he was Bishop here some thirty (30) years or more.

Interviewer - Tell us about your Grandfather going to Salt Lake for supplies, ect..

Mr. Smith - Well, I'll tell you a story of my Grandfather. Apparently the only means of store house that they had in Pahrear, was run by my Grandfather, Thomas Washington Smith, known in Southern Utah as Uncle Tommy. He had no means of getting that stuff in only by his small team, and in those days they didn't have such as even large saddle horses. They were small saddle ponies; That they called work horses. And he would put on his saddle ponies, on a buckboard, and go as far north as the Point of the Mountain (Salt Lake City) to get his little supply of groceries or merchandise. And it would take him some thirty (30) days to make the round trip, so he evidently wouldn't make more than two (2) per year. And he couldn't possibly handle more than a ton on each trip. One can readily see it would be but very little in the line of a supply for a community. And the community was a number of twenty three (23) families.

Now I have another story I'd like to tell you again, that he was supposed to have been the cattle king of Southern Utah. He took my father and his brother (my uncle) to drive the cattle, and he (grandfather) drove a buckboard, and they took a whole herd of cattle down to the little town of Washington where the cloth factory was. And they traded that whole herd of cattle for cloth. And he loaded the cloth in his buckboard and hauled it back, for a whole herd of cattle. They sold cows; fat, dry, cows for $12.00. And then that wasn't used as money, it was usually that-in those days they didn't have but very little money. No means of exchange only their produce, was what they had to use for exchange.

Mr. Smith - Well, yes we have the story. Its in the life of Jacob Hamblin, were my father was one, and my mother's brother, were two men that went over with Jacob Hamblin to secure or bring back the stock (all the domestic stock) they (Indians) stole from Pahrear. The Indians came in there and seemed to be - the Rabbit Valley situation. Some of them, the Chiefs' son crawled back and he swam that river (Colorado), shot through. And he told the story about this killing up here and those Navaho Indians, were very hostile. They did come across to Pahrear and took - rounded up everything. Their milk cows, their work horses and everything. And took them and hiked them back. Well, Jacob Hamblin was notified and he came over and got some help. This help was my father and Nephi Smithson. My mother was a Smithson, see, when she got married she didn't have to change her name altogether, she just dropped the "son".

Interviewer - I've read that story, but in there it mentioned two smith brothers, but it said they were not members of the Church ( Latter-Day Saints - Mormon).

Mr. Smith - Yes, yes; well now; my brother that did this writing here has talked with the Hamblin boys at Kanab. Sons of Jacob Hamblin, about this here, this particular story. And he wrote up for histories' sake our version of the correction there. And those fellows (Hamblin boys) said it would be fine and dandy to add that in. So that if somebody wanted to get -- we didn't mean hurt, any part of us, and he did add on this correction. But, they was four (4) men chosen to go down there. First was my father, James Edward Smith and Nephi Smithson. Now those two started with Jacob Hamblin, but on their way out they met up with two (2) men that were Smiths. And it happened to be that one of them was a Jim Smith like my father went by the name of Jim, and one of these fellows that were apparently trappers. They weren't members of the church. But they went along with them. And on their way over there they had quite a time. But they did secure the stock and bring them back. My father has told me these stories and its been so interesting to me that I hope I never will forget them. Then my mother and out Tom were a little bit talented on the writing line, and my mother would tell these stories. And she knew these, and they made this from those stories. While we didn't say that Jacob Hamblin was wrong but we can record that he was an old man and he thought back years and years back in telling these stories. And this was only one of his missions. And he had many of them. So there's a chance that he could be wrong. And the place that he was wrong was on these Smiths. My father wasn't hardly mentioned in there and I don't believe Nephi Smithson, and they were his first two choices. But they got these men (other Smiths) to go because they said they had some fat horses. They had good horses. These fellows that was out here by the name of Smith. Now where they originated from or who they were, why we just don't know. Well they had some great experiences there, in that time.

Interviewer - Can you tell us something about Johnny Kitchen, that had a lot of Cattle down there?

Mr. Smith - He was the King after my Grandfather was beginning to go down in the cattle business, then this man (Johnny Kitchen) became the cattle king in all Southern Utah. And this man I was telling you about was his son, Johnny Kitchen; That was at Pahrear working at the time and he said he lived in that town when the town of Pahrear when they was twenty-three (23) families there. Then there's the old "Kitchen" Ranch just above Pahrear that seemed to be their headquarters and the nearest town in would be Pahrear so I suppose they would pull into Pahrear for school time.

Interviewer - Do you remember any stories about Adairville or Rockhouse ?

Mr. Smith - They were in just below there but I don't know of anything that I might add to those.

Interviewer - Asked of any noticeable improvements.

Mr. Smith - Mom - What was the date that the water was put in here, '42 (1942). Up to that date they hauled water in barrels.

Interviewer - From the Creek ?

Mr. Smith - Hauled it up in barrels from the creek. They made a little sleigh and they'd have to hook a horse on to this sleigh. That would be wide enough to set a barrel on top of it; Then you'd build a frame right around the little sleigh to hold the barrel and they dragged that barrel down to the creek, filled it, and brought it back. Now we had it pretty well figured out that they could get by here with three (3) barrels per week, per family. Then our lights (electric) came into town in what ? -30- nineteen and thirty-nine (1939). We got our power and a - well, I don't know, we people, we felt like we had just crawled out of a hole. I don't know, as we think back of just how we did it. We have reared quite a family. We have nine children, eight of them married. We have one left - our baby girl. She just returned home from a mission down among the Indians.

Interviewer - Oh ! Down in the Southwest Indian Mission ?

Mrs. Smith - Yes.

Mr. Smith - And she's in Logan now going to school.

Note - Some more about coming again in the evening.

Interview given on January 14, 1964, at Bart Smith's home.