Here is an excerpt of an interesting time in Utah history by Davis Britton in Meridian Magazine. We think its bad if we have a few spiders or flies in our houses...
It was January 1849. The Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley had survived their first winter and were now in their second one. Thanks to the gulls, they had avoided a complete crop failure, but it cannot be said that their crops in the fall harvest had been overly abundant. They were grateful for what they had.But the pressure was still on. Incoming wagon trains had boosted the population of Saints in Utah to perhaps four or five thousand, which of course meant many mouths to feed. They would have to be frugal to make their limited supplies last until the next summer.
As for lodging, you were lucky if you had a cabin. Many were still housed in cramped quarters in the fort, and of those who arrived in the fall many decided to make do by living in a dugout or in their reinforced wagon box until spring. Without good insulation, all of these habitations were often drafty, wet, and cold.
It was in this context that the community leaders organized a community pest hunt. It was not kindness-to-wild-animals time but a struggle for existence, and certain animals, identified as "noxious vermin," posed a threat. The more of these that could be eliminated, they thought, the more food would be available for the struggling humans.
To add to the enthusiasm, the leaders organized a competition between two teams, one led by John D. Lee and the other by John Pack. These two team leaders ended up by quarreling over the numbers. The hunt stretched over the month of January 1849.
And we have the total animal victims: 2 bears, 783 wolves, 409 foxes, 2 wildcats, 2 wolverines, 331 minks, 9 eagles, 530 magpies, owls and hawks, and 1026 crows.
I wonder if they had a ward dinner after this...
It was January 1849. The Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley had survived their first winter and were now in their second one. Thanks to the gulls, they had avoided a complete crop failure, but it cannot be said that their crops in the fall harvest had been overly abundant. They were grateful for what they had.But the pressure was still on. Incoming wagon trains had boosted the population of Saints in Utah to perhaps four or five thousand, which of course meant many mouths to feed. They would have to be frugal to make their limited supplies last until the next summer.
As for lodging, you were lucky if you had a cabin. Many were still housed in cramped quarters in the fort, and of those who arrived in the fall many decided to make do by living in a dugout or in their reinforced wagon box until spring. Without good insulation, all of these habitations were often drafty, wet, and cold.
It was in this context that the community leaders organized a community pest hunt. It was not kindness-to-wild-animals time but a struggle for existence, and certain animals, identified as "noxious vermin," posed a threat. The more of these that could be eliminated, they thought, the more food would be available for the struggling humans.
To add to the enthusiasm, the leaders organized a competition between two teams, one led by John D. Lee and the other by John Pack. These two team leaders ended up by quarreling over the numbers. The hunt stretched over the month of January 1849.
And we have the total animal victims: 2 bears, 783 wolves, 409 foxes, 2 wildcats, 2 wolverines, 331 minks, 9 eagles, 530 magpies, owls and hawks, and 1026 crows.
I wonder if they had a ward dinner after this...
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