Must Haves For The Untamed West

I have pioneer ancestors that settled in the Utah and Arizona

. My Dad's family is from Utah and my Mothers is from Arizona. I often think about those poor people and difficult life was for them. After walking from the East to the West in handcarts they then had nowhere to go and nothing to do it with. My Mothers family immediately left for what is now Arizona and my Fathers family stayed and helped build up the Salt Lake Valley. Arizona was a dry, hot, arid, desolate place to be in the 1800 in the summer. I can't imagine doing that without lighter clothing, transportation, heavy machinery and air conditioning in Phoenix.

Heavy machinery, or one simple backhoe loader would have saved years of tree felling, uprooting to clear the land for planting. Heavy machinery can clear an acre of land in probably a couple of days or less, where those poor people with their ox, horses and donkeys worked tirelessly for years before they could even plant their property. Back breaking labor day in and day out in all weather.

The second thing I always think the pioneers needed was air conditioning. Can you imagine no air conditioning and heating in Phoenix in the clothing that they wore. Now, no heating would have been doable, better than Utah, but no air conditioning in Phoenix in the middle of July when they were canning the fruits of their labor and doing all the difficult tasks of running a farm and family. No where for the men to cool off at the end of the day. Maybe an irrigation ditch. Life was certainly difficult and labor intensive for our forefathers.

The last thing I think would be hardest to live without is a quick mode of transportation. We drive to St. George from Salt Lake in about 3 1/2 hours. It would take them several days by horse, all day, sitting on a horse or in a carriage, being bumped around and jostled almost to death. Can you imagine doing that with small children or a baby? If you left your family back east and moved with your husband west, you would probably never see them again. Our daughter got married and moved to California recently, it about killed me, but she is a text, e-mail, phone call or hour and half by plane away. I have already seen her twice in 5 months. Times were very different. Things were more permanent. Travel distances were huge.

Well, we have a lot of modern conveniences living where we do, when we do. Our lives are relatively easy when compared to our pioneer ancestries. We have backhoe loaders and a host of other heavy machinery, we have cars, airplanes and trains, and we have air conditioning in Phoenix, Utah and everywhere else to make our lives comfortable and pleasant.

by: Art Gib

POST COMMENT

Understanding Itronix Leasing Options Convert Mod To Avi Free Conserving The Most Precious Resource Which Peace Do You Want? Great Deer Hunting Advice Dreamweaver Extensions Php Kinds of Claims Processed by a BP Claims Office Fun Get-Well Gift Baskets - 3 Gift Basket Ideas Gerber Knives: Legendary for a reason Evologics underwater acoustic modems demonstrated 5 mm positioning accuracy at baikal neutrino telescope Bible Lessons Inside The Side By Side Refrigerator Горные Лыжи – Это Здорово!