WILLIAM WARREN CAMPBELL history

17 April 1900 is the day more than a century ago that, according to family records, my mother's grandparents were married.  Marriage records for Idaho indicate that they were married April 18, 1900 in Marion, Cassia, Idaho.
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A very old fashioned song that I learned many years ago, titled 'Lavender Blue', comes to mind when I think of that time

Phoebe Alice Tolman and William Warren Campbell

Maybe it comes to mind because the first line starts with, "Great Grandfather met Great Grandmother when she was a shy young miss ..."
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The words to the song may not be entirely accurate in this case because she had been married, had a baby girl 18 June 1897, Ila Vera Clark, [that died 17 Feb 1899 at Marion,Cassia,Idaho] and was divorced [from Peter Clark] when Great Grandfather met her.
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William Warren Campbell
Phoebe Alice Tolman
Married: 17 April 1900
Sealed: 11 Jul 1900 Manti, Utah Temple
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My Grandfather, William David Campbell, wrote, "In 1897 [my father] got a job with a sheepman, William Tolman, whose daughter became my mother, Phoebe Alice Tolman.  My father was with him during the sheep and cattleman war in Idaho. It was during this time that he met my mother. 
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"He went to Idaho in 1898 to work for William Tolman. It was at this time that the [sheep and cattleman] war went on and he told me how they would change their bed every night to a different position so that the head of the bed would be in a different direction for the cattlemen would shoot at the head of the beds. 
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"One cattleman told my Grandfather [William Tolman] he would shoot him on sight the next time he saw him. One day he was riding in a strange part of the range when he saw a cabin and when he knocked on the door a man opened it, reached up, up above it for a rifle and shot him. The bullet went through him, and then through the neck of the horse, killing the horse. Another horseman found him and took him home. It was six months before he could ride again. 
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"My father started to court my mother, Phebe Alice Tolman and they were married in the Spring of April 17, 1900. They decided to take the sheep camp wagon and started for Cardston, Alberta, Canada."
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The 1900 US Census for Marion, Cassia, Idaho shows
William Warren Campbell with his wife Alice (heavy black
arrow) living near his father and family. (lighter arrow)

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Howard K Campbell, son of Warren Earl Campbell, and grandson to William Warren Campbell tells some memories in a short family history published on the internet 13 October 2010. He writes, "In 1873 a report was made to the Dominion Government describing the west as being 'without law, order, or security for life or property'. As a result the North West Mounted Police was formed. In the year 1874 a force left Dufferin on the Red River travelling west looking for suitable locations for detachments. All Canada west of the Great Lakes was opened up by traders and settlers under the wing of the mounted police. Under this influence peace and security were the rule. 
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"Settlers moved into the Hill Spring District. In 1880 the Cochrane Ranch was founded by Senator Mathew Mullins. It was a going concern when the Mormon pioneers under President Charles Ora Card founded Cardston in 1887. 
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"In 1906 the mormon church purchased the Cochrane Ranch. In 1908 President Wood started dividing this land for settlement. Seymour Smith was hired to survey the land and locate two townsites. One where Hill Spring now stands. A few people took the land in 1908 namely Drapers(built the first home in the district), Bill Wynder and William Tolman. In 1909 a few more families came, Alex Leishman and William Warren Campbell. Carl Tanner built the first home in the townsite in 1909-10. In June of 1910 President Wood came to Hillspring from Cardston. The people came from near and far. Among those present were F.P. Fisher family, Thomas Davies family, Carl Tanner family, Sid Tanner family, Allred family, Garner family, Alex Leishman family, W.C. Smith family, Hendrickson family, Richardson family, William Warren Campbell family and the Albert Tolman family.
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"My father Earl Warren Campbell was born June 02 1910 in a one room house which his father later turned into a granery. He was the first baby boy to be born in Hillspring Alberta. On the 12th of June 1910 the ward was organized .The first school house was built in 1911. In 1914 the telephone was brought into the district. The sports were sponsored by the Mormon Church. Scout trips to Waterton Lakes. Badger holes his horse use to step in. His mother Phoebe Alice Tolman(Campbell) graduated from nursing school in 1917. Baseball and Track champions in 1930. Held the M.M. team cup in the Mormon Church till 1937. HillSpring was such a pretty place. He left Hill Spring in the fall of 1942. He was in the army services in World War 2. Trained boxer. Came to Vancouver British Columbia. Married my mother Eileen Mary Crandell(Campbell). Had five children(three boys and two girls)."
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William David Campbell continues,"In 1900 they were in Cardston for a short time, then decided to go further north to Lacombe, Alberta. Here they homesteaded at Bentley in the same area as the Tolmans that were already there. In September they built a sod house and broke some land. I, William David [Campbell], was born in the spring of 1901 one year later and my brother [Laurence] Edward [Ted Campbell]was born in 1902" [at Lacombe.  Records on new.familysearch.org show, inaccurately, Uncle Ted was born in Idaho in 1899.]
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A 1906 Canadian census locates Phoebe's father 

William Augustus Tolman  (midway down right side marked 

with black arrow) with his wife and 4 youngest children in the 

Province of Alberta, Stathcona District 37 B, section 24, 

township 42, range 2, meridian 5 with a post office address 

of Rimby. He arrived in Canada in 1900 and owns

10 horses, 8 milk cows, and 4 'other horned or meat' cattle.  

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"At that time it was so wet for two years. The grain that was planted didn't ripen so they [his parents] decided to move back to Cardston. In 1905 they stated back in the same covered Wagon. On the way we camped by a bridge. I wanted to play on the bridge. Mother said, 'If you go on that bridge it will go up with you, that stopped me.'
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"On the way it seemed like there were a thousand Indians. Sometimes my father was away from the camp to get the horses. That was when the Indians would come into camp to bother mother. She had my brother Edward in a baby carriage. The squaws wanted to take him out of the carriage. Mother always carried a six shooter. She got it out from under the pillow and started shooting in the air."

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[Family records indicate Alberta Pearl Campbell was born 16 February 1905 at Rimbey Alberta. She lived most of her life in Idaho.] 

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"We arrived in Cardston in the fall of 1906 and my father started to work as operator of the Card Estate in Cardston until 1907. Then the Tolmans moved back to Cardston and built a new home there in 1907 and also a home on Belly River 3 miles south of where Hillspring is now." 

[Parley Merlin Campbell was born 20 October 1907
at Cardston Alberta.]

"My father left the Cardston job and went to work for Grandfather Tolman freighting lumber from the Henery Hansen Saw Mill at Waterton Lakes. In 1909 my father bought 1/4 section of land on the East shore of Strawberry Lake south of Hillspring.

"We lost this farm and got another 1/2 section west of Hillspring on the Waterton River [abt 1918] ... In 1918 [my father] bought the Walter Caldwell place; 1/2 section North side of the lake.and lived there for 6 years.
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Phoebe Alice Tolman Campbell

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"In 1917 my mother, Phebe Alice Tolman Campbell, took a nursing course under Dr. Ellis R Shipley, a lady doctor. Mother was a wonderful person and served in her nursing night and day bringing a great number of babies into the world - while raising a family of 9 children, 2 girls and 7 boys."

Warren Earl Campbell was born June 2, 1910 - "the first baby boy to be born in Hillspring [Alberta] in 1910 ...",
 Lowell Tolman Campbell was born  December 5, 1912 
at Hill Spring Alberta, 
George Albert Campbell was born March 17, 1916 
at Hill Spring Alberta, 
Ray Everett Campbell was born July18, 1918 
at Hill Spring Alberta.
Elsie May Campbell was born May 3, 1921
at Hill Spring Alberta .
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 Except for Parley who died at age 20 (1926) and Pearl who died at age 44 they all lived long lives.
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"In 1919 the great drought began. [Bill is about 18 years of age.] We planted 200 acres of wheat and got 300 bu of wheat off the Stawberry Lake bed. That fall Dad bought a new double bedded wagon box. In June we took a load of wheat to Cardston…

"In 1919 and 1920 there was no feed in the country. Father and Marion Brooks each took a team of horses and went north to Cold Lake. All the rest of our animals died. We had 18 head of horses die. Cattle and pigs also. Marion Brooks had one cow. His son Willard Brooks and I butchered her.
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My mother knew her grandparents and aunts and uncles, both the Campbells and the Tolmans. She says the Tolmans lived in Hill Spring on the next block. Mona Tolman, the daughter of George and Emily (Emma) Tolman (Phoebe's brother) was a cousin mom felt especially close to and spent a lot of time with.
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Her Grandfather, Warren Campbell, built the log cabin mom's family later moved into at Hill Spring. It was added to many times over the course of many years.
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Mom (Elna Jean Campbell Forsyth) says, "There was a dugout under the house. You went in from the outside. We kept fruit and vegetables and crocks of pickles in there. 
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Of her grandparents she reminisced, "Phoebe Alice was around awhile. I knew her very little. I remember her more by picture than in person. He lived for quite a while after [she passed away.]... They always celebrated on the 1st of July. [He] owned the ice house. My dad had a 10 quart freezer and it stood about 2' high and about 15" across. They sold ice-cream at the ball games and they borrowed my dad's freezer. 
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"Something else interesting; my dad knew dynamite. He blew up wood for firewood. He would go out on the hills west above Hill Spring. He always blew up dynamite and everyone expected it of him every year. My dad's brothers sold salted peanuts out of old whiskey barrels everywhere, all over town ..."
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We knew Uncle Ted and Aunt Jenny's kids really well. They lived up the Waterton river South West of my dad at Hill Spring. My aunts and uncles every once in awhile would have a reunion up on the Waterton River. That was while we still lived out on the farm till I was 5 or 6. [About 1935 or 1936.] Uncle Lowell lived 3 or 4 miles North West on a 1/4 section. 
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"When I was a teen I would get on a train [in Hill Spring] and go to Raymond to Uncle Ted and Aunt Jenny's. I went a lot and they put up with me. By then they were in Raymond. One of those kids married a Paxman ... 
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"In Hill Spring we had a town square all the families would walk there and just sit and visit. The Tolmans, Campbells, Davis', Fishers, Andrews or anyone else - would all get together and play ball, skip rope, Run Sheep Run. Uncle George and Aunt Emma were real singers and we sang all the way. We'd leave the church singing and sing 3 blocks home, whoever was walking home together.
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"In Hill Spring there were trees around every block. The pioneers brought a piece of cottonwood and when you put it in the moist soil it would send up a shoot and grow. It could be almost any kind of tree - apple, whatever - a piece cut from a green tree and when there is lots of water it will grow. I don't know how they brought them. Look out there at Hill Spring. There are lots of trees - Merrills brought and dad helped plant them." 
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I often visited with Aunt Elsie Campbell Goy and I met many of her siblings - my mother's aunts and uncles. Elsie and I both lived in Lethbridge Alberta.  Sometimes I took notes as she told me family history and stories. I now quote from bits of her memories, "When I was 4 or 5 I went on a train with my mother to her family and I started school when I visited there. When I came back [to Canada] I had to go back [in school]. 
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1929 border crossing card for Alice Campbell and her 

daughter Elsie M.on the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway)

shows that Alice was 5'9' tall, with medium complexion, 

graying hair, and hazel eyes and that they were going to 

her sister's Mrs. Geo Richardson in Pocatello, Idaho.

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"Pearl's boyfirend teased the life out of me because I bit my nails. I also went to Salt Lake and visited my mother's sister there [Emily Althea Tolman Smith] and Etta [Mae Tolman married George Richardson] in Idaho too. 
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"We had a reunion here [in Alberta] years ago. Mother's sister was in Claresholm - Aunt Clara [Clara Lovina Tolman Richardson] - her husband had died and she was by herself.  I was about 13 at that time. Another came out from Pocatello Idaho. She had a daughter my age. Your Grandma [Elna Campbell] probably has it. I have pictures of the kids. 
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" Uncle Joel Shurtz [Joseph Francis Shurtz husband of Annie Elizabeth Campbell] wrote in my autograph book. They were very popular then you know. Everyone had one. I think I had written them [Joel and Beth]. Uncle Lowell [Tolman Campbell] (his wife is on oxygen now) lives close to Bride's Veil - he gets really enthusiastic ... had 2 girls. All the family [came].
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" Another reason I remember those relatives [from the train trip] is they had a parrot. He sat on my knee and took a bite out of it. I can still remember the tabernacle from then.  
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"I remember my brother Merlin and he played the guitar and harmonica. I'd sit behind him and comb his hair." While researching this family on the internet I found a picture of a 'Campbell Family Band'. Great Grandpa and Grandma are in the picture and he appears to have a harmonica in his hand. It is taken in LeGrande Oregon prior to 1939.
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back row: Deward Winn,  _______, 

Rosetta Ann Campbell Schooler,  

Phoebe Alice Tolman Campbell,

Charles Wilbur Schooler, Susanna Campbell Winn Knapp, 

Warren Campbell

front row: Jospeh Lester Schooler, Joel Campbell, 

Johnny Grant Schooler

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"There's a lot of hills in Burley. Now Joe Shurtz, they lived in a tent at the bottom of this hill. A circus came at the top of that great long hill and my dad was working out of the sheep ranch. They moved to Caldwell. Did anyone look in Rupert [for this family]? I think she had her little Joanne in Rupert.-

with some siblings

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[Once] "A knock came at the door - 'Are you Pearl Jamison?[Are you related to Ray and George?'  Anyway they got caught sneaking over the line, [the US/Canada border] and ended up in custody and not allowed to come across again.  Pearl was there for years and years. When Pearl came back to momma's funeral then they wouldn't let them back across for about 3 months until she got a Visa. She was working. He was a printer.

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"Ted and Jenny [Laurence Edward Campbell and Jenny Adelaide Brown] came out to care for me when mother and dad went down there [to help Pearl with some difficulties]. He [Ted] had a sheep ranch way up the river. Then they moved to Raymond after that. 
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A US/Canada border crossing card from 1936 shows
Wm Warren Campbell, age 65, traveling by car with his
wife Alice and son Earl, (and 3 other men - Mr. Haycock,
Lowry and Gibbs) to Burley Idaho to visit his daughter
Mrs. Pearl Jamison. It also shows his occupation is a
farmer, that he is 5' 11" tall of medium complexion with
grey hair and eyes. 

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"Earl had a car and he took mom and dad down to Pearl's. After mom and dad died we all split up and haven't come back together... I think of [my siblings]all the time. I've been here since 1949. In 52 when I was expecting, Will and Lowell came to see me in Raymond. 
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unknown couple may be Warren's brother Joel and spouse

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"I lived in Saskatchewan. My husband's folks lived there when he was discharged. I went up to visit Earl and his wife Eileen [Warren Earl Campbell and Mary EileenCrandall]. Uncle George married Emma Cheney [George David Tolman and Emily Louise Cheney].  I met her niece in Vancouver.  ... Margie Hugh Bates had 2 little boys and she said come and babysit for me. I'll pay you 4 $ a week - I couldn't make ends meet. I believe Bates would be a shirt tail relative. Eileen and I went down and I got a job at a cannery. She helped me. Then I was on my own. 
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"I have my grade one diploman. I even have my birth certificate. I wasn't baptized until 1921 in Hill Spring. Your grandpa and Ted were born at the same place. Earl tried to write all that down. I have a photo stat. It's faded but you can make it out.
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William Warren Campbell's sons - Ted Campbell 2nd from right
and William David Campbell far right

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"I've got a picture Ruth gave me of my family. When Aunt Jenny died they took a picture of all of us. I went walking in and stood at the end of this group and all the sudden they took the picture. I decided,  'I'm not going to stand at the end. I ran around and stood in the middle. They've all got a grin trying not to laugh because I did that.
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William Warren Campbell's sons - Elsie Campbell Goy, centre
Ted Campbell 2nd from R and William David Campbell far R

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"Will was as straight as he could be. When he laughs his head goes way back and then out it comes, so loud! My dad laughed like that too. Will standing there trying to keep it in with a big grin. Ray named a boy Warren. 
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"Pearl lived in Burley. My dad and I went to Burley with the Rasmussens after mom died. I was 17. He went to the sheep ranch to visit his brother. I didn't go. I stayed with relatives. They were 7th Day Adventist and lived in a trailer. When we'd sit down for prayer at this relatives we visited, I stayed with them and even started school, I was crying and they was crying and I guess they was trying to convert me. They don't believe in TV and Christmas." Aunt Elsie thought these were the relatives that had the parrot.

I found a border crossing card for both Elsie and her father in 1939. They traveled with friends Thomas T. Mendenhall, his wife Nita and Emily Lee and Iona Mendenhall to Pearl's in Burley Idaho by car. Elsie is 5' 6 1/2" tall at age 17 with light brown hair and brown eyes. She can read and write and has been in the United States before.
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note that this card has his signature at the lower left

He has 40 dollars cash and intends to remain 6 months. This card also documents that he arrived in Canada at Whiskey Gap, Alberta about 1900.
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The back of the card notes under the heading 'Medical Certificate', "wife died 2 months ago and desires to make a visit to get away from surroundings at home." 

Although it appears he perhaps had some difficulty crossing the border it is clear he was surrounded by loving family and friends at a difficult time. This family did much more than laugh and sing together. They loved one another.

DRESS AND GROOMING

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It has been more than a week since I walked the yard and garden or weeded. I've been intensely 'into' several different enthralling projects. I did run out now and again to turn on water so things didn't die but it was perfunctory.

Last night I came up for air! I actually strolled around the yard today. I had noticed a huge weed about ready to seed out along the north flower bed (when I was watering) so I went there first and pulled it. Soon I was sweating and had an arm load of grass in bloom, sow thistles, and more overgrown weeds to throw into the compost pit. Where did that all come from? In a few days??

Periodically some 'weed' in my life catches my attention and I slow down a little and reflect on where and what I really want to be, how I will get there, and if I am on track. I have been thinking about starting an educational program that, someday, will let me say I have been to college and obtained a degree of one sort or another.

I went to the registration page for a few classes and clicked around a bit. The school has an honor code and a dress and grooming code. To register I will need to read those and agree, voluntarily, to abide by them. It is a good review.

After reading this stuff I recommitted myself to look for any small 'personal' weeds that might sprout into monstrosities suddenly - and to get rid of them. Do I truly, sincerely live these standards?
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The HONOR CODE states: "As a matter of personal commitment, … students … seek to demonstrate in daily living on and off campus those moral virtues encompassed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and will:
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"Be honest.
Live a chaste and virtuous life.
Obey the law and all campus policies.
Use clean language.
Respect others.
Abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, and substance abuse.
Participate regularly in church services.
Observe dress and grooming standards.
Encourage others in their commitment to comply ..."

DRESS AND GROOMING STANDARDS:

"...dress and grooming ... should always be modest, neat, and clean, consistent with the dignity adherent to representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and any of its institutions ...

"Modesty and cleanliness are important values which reflect personal dignity and integrity, through which students, staff, and faculty represent the principles and standards of the Church. Members ... commit themselves to observe these standards, which reflect the direction given by the Board of Trustees and the Church publication For the Strength of Youth.

"These guiding principles apply at all CES institutions of higher education.

"The Dress and Grooming Standards are as follows:

"Men: A clean and well-cared-for appearance should be maintained. Hairstyles should be clean and neat, avoiding extreme styles or colors and trimmed above the collar leaving the ear uncovered. Sideburns should not extend below the earlobe or onto the cheek. If worn, mustaches should be neatly trimmed and may not extend beyond or below the corners of the mouth. Men are expected to be clean shaven; beards are not acceptable. Earrings and other body piercing are not acceptable. Shoes should be worn in all public campus areas.

"Women: A clean and well-cared-for appearance should be maintained. Clothing is inappropriate when it is sleeveless, strapless, backless, or revealing; has slits above the knee; or is form fitting. Dresses and skirts must be knee length or longer. Hairstyles should be clean and neat, avoiding extreme styles and colors. Excessive ear piercing (more than one per ear) and all other body piercing are not acceptable. Shoes should be worn in all public campus areas."

DEAR MIKKEL

Do you remember climbing the big hill at my mom and dad's house and picking flowers?

You were small enough to ride on Papa-pa's shoulders. Your loved to wear his hat. (He has to wear it so that his head does not get a sunburn ... this year you have so much hair it would be impossible for your head to get a sunburn. You were 5 years old back then. Does that seem like a long time ago?

This year we are having another reunion. You can climb the hill again. It will not seem quite as big as it did when you were little. It has stayed the same size but you are twice as big as you were then. I think we love you twice as much. In 5 more years you will be 15. Will you be twice as tall as you are now? Will you be twice as kind? Being twice as kind would make you twice as smart too! I don't know, however,  how I could love you twice as much as now.

We are excited to see you all at the reunion. AND we hope you have a very Happy Birthday!!

Love Grandma and Papa-pa

DON'T FENCE ME IN ...

Journal Junction in June suggests writing about my father.
See the Friend magazine June 2012

One of the first things that comes to mind is Dad singing, "I want to ride to the ridge where the west commences, gaze at the moon until I lose my senses, ..." We did a lot of riding at the Community Pasture where he managed the cattle, horses and 7 sections of grasslands from May to October each year. A picture gallery, on the web, from the nearby McIntyre Ranch showcases the scenery, and creatures of the land and sky that we saw and heard regularly.

Dad usually took a bunch of kids with him. We often stayed at the two room 'shack' near the main gate for several days at a time. There was a wood burning cook stove in the kitchen, no electricity, an outdoor privy, lots of corrals nearby and the only 'running' water was from a spring a mile or two away. There was a well and if you primed it, usually with water you got by jumping on a horse and riding down to the spring, you could pump out some usable water - eventually.

Basic staple food supplies were brought with us, usually some canned non perishable goods and pancake mix (supplemented by a few berries in season). By the time I was 8ish I knew how to lay and light a fire in the stove and how to adjust the dampers and bank the coals and even how to 'flip flapjacks' baked directly on the round lids of the firebox. One of the few times I remember getting in trouble was when several of us opened and ate most of the cans of fruit, and ALL of the cans of pork and beans - in one sitting. He had ridden out to check on a cow just before we left for the day and had taken longer than planned.

One of my most treasured feelings is the tranquility and peace I felt, no where else ever so greatly as when seated on one of those 'ridges' in the warm sun cooled by an occasional breeze or while astraddle a horse, headed 'to the ridge' where expanses of changeable sky and rolling hills formed a distant horizon. It was a great emptiness free of all other considerations and concerns.

We rode all day, most days, dawn to dusk - sometimes alone, sometimes in groups that dissolved and reformed casually. We all knew our way 'home' to the shack and main gate and if we didn't our horse did. We rode to see the land, grass, water, stock, wildlife, and fences.

That song is titled, 'Don't Fence Me In'. It is an old cowboy song that may epitomize many things about dad. He was a cowboy at heart. He said once that rather than walk a block he would catch a horse. He did many other jobs to support the family but he loved horses and cattle.

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above

Don't fence me in

Let me ride through the wide open country that I love

Don't fence me in

Let me be by myself in the evening breeze

Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees

Send me off forever but I ask you please

Don't fence me in

Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle

Underneath the Western skies

On my Cayuse, let me wander over yonder

Till I see the mountains rise

I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences

Gaze at the moon till I lose my senses

Can't look at hobbles and I can't stand fences

Don't fence me in

 He often sang in snatches and phrases. The lyrics and melodies from the last refrain were voiced or hummed often enough that they pop to mind whenever I stand on an expanse of prairie. I seldom saw him hobble a horse. He said a good horse would come when called and a hobbled horse couldn't protect itself or be useful in a hurry. Besides a 'good' horse would not run away when dismounted and didn't need hobbles. If reins were dropped good horses stood still. He rode and trained many horses for many people.

Once of my earliest memories is being scooped up under my arm and swung onto the saddle in front of my father. My head was at about the same level as his boot in the stirrup. We learned to adjust stirrups and girths, bridles and saddles as soon as we were tall enough to reach them.

Dad knew fences. One of his responsibilities was to ensure Pasture fences were in good repair. Stock management depended on it: horses in the horse pasture, bulls in the bull pasture (about the only place we were NOT allowed to ride - ever), cows and calves in the calf pastures and steers most everywhere else. And stock had to be moved to protect the range or if water was scarce. Cows with calves needed almost twice the water of other stock. We also placed salt blocks at the licks. Salt encourages the cattle to consume a variety of native grasses and is fortified with specific nutrients.

Fences kept order, and were kept in good order. We always kept a few multipurpose tools with us and fixed minor problems as we rode. Some days were devoted exclusively to fencing. Dad could drive a pickup load of posts and wire over the prairie hills to almost anywhere. When the summer sun blazed down we were grateful for the shade of the truck or even the dark line from a post.

We dug post holes into the rocky soil by hand, set the posts solidly plumb by returning and tamping in the gravely soil with all but the biggest rocks, ran the wires a strand at a time on foot between gates, corners or braces, half stapled each wire to the posts (by hand) and then snugged up the slack with a 'stretcher bar' before pounding the staples completely in. It was quite an assembly line when we all worked together.

Dad sang that song and many other songs. He often sang: while he worked, drove the truck, pounded nails, rode a horse, milked a cow, baled hay, fed lambs or piglets or calves, cleaned the barn, carried water and when he was swimming or skating - really just about anytime and anywhere. He was, and is, a hard worker of good cheer and attitudes. He was seldom still for long. There was too much to do and he was busily engaged in getting it done as efficiently as possible.

One of the first songs I ever learned to sing was
                      'Home On the Range'.
             Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam

And the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the light from the glittering stars
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours

Dad had keen eyesight and could read cattle brands from a long ways off. He could discern deer from calves and horses from cows when I could only see specks and blobs. He taught me to look and really see things - it was mostly observation and comparison.

Dad showed us the moon and the stars and shared his love of such things with us. He loved the land and the sky, day or night, winter or summer. He loved most animals and birds, he loved us and he loved God. There were in fact few things he didn't love. And he made sure we knew about the things he loved.

When I see the sweep of foothills and prairie, herds of horse or cattle, and even sometimes the moon and stars at night emotion chokes me. I remember ...

AND A LITTLE CHILD ...

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This morning I picked up a children's magazine, 'The Friend', published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We still subscribe even though our own children are adults.

I am often lifted, enlightened and taught how to be a happier and kinder person when I read the Friend.  Today I learned the definition of being 'saved'.  

In a sidebar on page 14, June's magazine states, "Being saved means being resurrected ..." How simple. How profound. How wonderful!! The statement continues, "... and because of the Atonement not having to be punished for our sins." THAT is more than wonderful. It is humbling - and it came from a children's magazine.

A phrase from the Old Testament comes to mind,
'..and a little child shall lead them...'

To where I wondered? to what?
I couldn't remember so I looked it up.

Little children shall lead in peace and holiness.
In kindness and happiness ...

Isaiah 11:6-9

6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.

9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

I love Isaiah.

We have always existed.
We will continue to exist - always.
We are God's children.
Our existence here is just part of a great whole -
A plan that He has for our happiness.

I have been born.
(My spirit enters a body of the elements of this earth.)

I live.
(Jesus Christ showed me an example of how.
He taught how to be happy, and live with God.
My spirit learns how to use my body.
I can act kindly, as Jesus taught, or not.)

I die.
(My spirit and body are separated.)

I am resurrected.
(The atonement of Jesus Christ gives me Eternal life.
My spirit and body are joined again.
My body lives again, never to die.)

I can be happy.
We all can.

I can have joy.
We all can.

That is God's plan.

How much happiness and joy can we have?
As much as we want.
As much as we choose.

God gave us instructions.
He explained how - in his commandments.

When I choose to obey, I choose more happiness.

Jesus Christ and prophets like Isaiah explain how.

They lived as examples to us.

They talked with God. 

He talked with them.

They tell me that I can talk to God too.

That is called prayer. 

They tell me God will hear me pray.

They tell me he will answer me.

I believe them.

Their words have been written for me to read.

Their words are called scripture.
I love reading scriptures.

I love how I feel when I read scriptures.
I feel happier.
Maybe I should do it every day ...

How much happiness is enough?
How much do we want?
How many ways can I follow the example of Jesus?
Can I obey more commandments?

Hmmm?
Am I saved?

Do I follow the example of Christ?

DEAR DAMAIN

You have lived one year.

I remember when your dad had his first birthday.
We celebrated - we were so glad he was still alive.
He was VERY sick when he was a baby.

Daddy is the 2 month old baby with siblings and cousins February 1983

Every day he lived was another day of gratitude.
Every day he survived was a day of joy.

It still is.
We love him.
We want him to be well and happy.

Spring 1983 with cousin Faline and Papa

We love you too.
You are too little to read this letter now.
Someday you will be able to read.

You are learning to do many things.
We remember when your father learned how to climb.
There was no stopping him!
He did it over and over and over.

Grandpa would nap while your daddy and his cousin, Faline, practiced climbing

over him – around and around on a typical Sunday afternoon, spring 1983

It is very fun to watch you walk.
And hear you try to talk.
Someday you will know such joy.
Right now you do not understand such things.

We hope you will learn all good things.
We hope you learn every needful thing for happiness.
We hope someday you will understand.
  
We don't know what you will learn or when.
We want you to know now and always, that we love you.

We hope you bring joy to everyone around you.
We hope you have life and joy.

Daddy and Uncle Clarence with their Grandpa Forsyth

We love to watch you grow and learn.
Love Papa and Grandma Ames

WILLIAM DAVID CAMPBELL death

Died:  13 July 1990 Cardston, Alberta, Canada

Buried: 17 July 1990 Hill Spring, Alberta, Canada

Before my maternal grandfather passed away a few circumstances that were a bit unusual occurred. My grandmother had an appointment with a heart specialist. Grandpa, was to all appearances a very healthy 89 year old.  One of my first cousins had driven them to that appointment. Grandpa had a massive heart attack there at the hospital in the waiting room and was quickly attended to and eventually resuscitated.

Grandpa was not expected to live and visitors were limited to his wife and 10 living children. They were permitted to visit with him for a very short minutes each, one or two at a time, for those first few days. He was a man of strong mind and body. He continued to live for several weeks despite minute by minute medical predictions of demise. 

I paraphrase here an interesting story from shortly after he awoke, as I heard it from several sources. It seems that he was ascending a long stairway and at the top of it were his mother and father with their arms reaching out to him. He said that Parley Merlin and Pearl, his deceased brother and sister, were also there and so was Uncle Ted, a brother he was very close to, and many others he knew and loved. I heard several family members say that he kept saying how good Uncle Ted looked, and that he was still wearing 'that same brown suit'. They were all crowding forward in excitement to see him and greet him but he realized the Grandma Elna was not at his side. He wanted her to share that reunion with him but she was not with him. Finally he noticed her at the foot of the stair and motioned repeatedly for her to come and join him. He was very cross with her, and kept asking her why she would not come, because he felt he could not go without her by his side. 

Elna and Bill [William David] Campell

What a wonderful thing to know how deeply he loved and cherished his wife. How wonderful to know loved ones wait there for us with longing and excitement at the prospect of our coming. I think of excitement in our family at the arrival of a new baby. We bring and send gifts and greetings and are delighted to see pictures or hold them in our arms. Our family, that we miss so much now they are gone, surely watch for us to join them there.

During those last few weeks of life his many, many grandchildren were permitted to begin to visit him in ones and twos, oldest to youngest. I am somewhere in the middle. My turn never came and I never felt like I got to say good bye. At his funeral, I lingered at the chapel after the family left the viewing to go next door to Uncle Allen's for supper. Eventually I was alone with him and the potted plants and other flower arrangements. I needed that time there. 

My grandfather was a big man. Years in the timber, and of hard physical labor, made him rugged and strong but he looked slim. He was so tall that you never noticed how broad he was. He filled his coffin end to end and side to side; his white hair touched the top of the casket and his shoulders grazed each side. Someone later told me that a larger custom build casket would have taken weeks to order and been very expensive. I was glad his last moments showed what a big man he was. 

William David Campbell in camp at Westcastle

Grandpa Campbell, to me, was big in every way: he was kind and gentle and soft spoken, except when he threw back his head and laughed. His laugh just boomed out of that man as grand as he was. His sister Elsie told me once that their father laughed the same exact way. 

He had a wonderful sense of humor. As I stood there by his casket, at a loss of how to say good bye, I suddenly heard a sound like water running. Startled I looked around trying to see what I was hearing. It sounded very near. Just then my cousin, Barry, came in. We espied a single stream of yellow water shooting out from the bottom of a potted plant, onto the floor from about waist high. It looked like the plant was relieving itself. We laughed and laughed and laughed.  It was the kind of joke Grandpa might have thrown back his head and laughed about. I felt like we had said good bye but were still connected by the threads of family that can never be broken. 

Funeral Program of William David Campbell

- I came to know because of these things that happened at the time of my grandfather's passing, of the reality of life beyond here and now. I look forward to the day when I leave behind the pains and cares of this world to be greeted by loved ones there. Maybe he will greet me. I can just imagine that: his eyes would light up and a smile would tug the corners of his lips wide. As I think on it I can almost feel his strong arm pulling me close to his side as he sometimes did - and I would need to reach up and up to put my arm around his waist. 

I know, because of Grandpa Campbell, that we do not cease to exist when we meet death and we will live in happiness in that place, 'at the top of the stairway' with those that we love. They wait there for me.

DEAR ERIN

We are so proud that you graduated (not to mention some of your courageous choices and actions). 

We are even more proud of your kindness to your siblings and parents and all of us oldsters. 

You are gorgeous!

Inside and out!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Beautiful

Love Papa and Grandma FarFarAway

DEAR CODY and BENSON

 My youngest sister arrived soon after this picture was taken.
This picture was taken not long after I had my 7th birthday. 

I have 6 brothers -
well 7 actually if you count my foster brother.
He came to live at our house when I was 11.
He was 10.

Four brothers are older than me.
The others are younger.

I also have 3 sisters.
They are all younger than I am.

I like having lots of brothers and sisters.
They are my very best friends -
even if we get mad sometimes.
We still love each other.
We still help each other.
We still watch out for our siblings.

Now we are grown up we live far apart.
I miss them a lot.

Giggles! I think my Uncle Duane had trouble getting a nice picture of all of us.
But I like this one. I am almost 10 years old in this picture. 

My brother Tim is one year older than me.
I am 1 year and 3 days younger than he is.
Sometimes we got to celebrate our birthday together.

When we were little he was very sick.
When he got better it was very hard for him to do lots of things.
He had to work harder than everybody else.
Sometimes it took him a long time to do things.
We were in the same grade at school.
He is very special to me. I love him very much.
He is a good example to me.
He is always very kind to others.

I hope you love sharing your birthday with each other.
I hope you are always kind too.
Having a brother to share things with is very nice.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
I miss you too.
Love Grandma

WITHOUT COUNTRY

Happy 4th.

Outside in the neighborhood there are fireworks everywhere. 

Family.

Home.

Country.

If these were denied, could you still be?

David has been searching for a movie, he saw in the past, titled 'The Man Without A Country'. He would like to watch it again. I haven't seen it.  He found an audio recording of the book of the same title by Edward Everett Hale.

This complete and unabridged version from Hale's 1868 story collection includes many incidents cut from textbooks, as well as an illuminating introduction by the author which reveals unknown facts about the tale. 

We listened to it Monday night for Family Home Evening. 

It is less than an hour and a half long, and riveting.

I recommend it highly.

An American Army officer curses his country during a court martial and wishes to never hear of it again. That becomes his punishment. He spends the rest of his life on board a ship at sea. He is basically a 'free' prisoner but in that one way - all references to the United States are kept from him.

Some streets here have a flag at every house! 

IMAGINE!

What would it be like to have no home?

No Country?

BITS OF CANADA

Having been born in Canada,
and having lived there much of my life,
I notice Canadian 'trivia'.

Near the end of May while hiking in Washington state with my husband and son we came across these. Unless you are Canadian you may not even know these screws are common there.

They were screwed into a 'stretching bar' about half way up a steep trail. We had a good laugh - how does a Canadian screw find its way into this simple project a mile up a mountain? Perhaps sensible people everywhere are learning what a good thing they can be (see details below).

My son NEEDED that stretching bar - he hiked that hill backwards!

Robertson screws are common in Canada. Screwdrivers there with interchangeable bits ALWAYS have a selection of Robertson's in various common sizes.
-
Silly I know, but such things often make me somewhat homesick. I suppose Canada, even in little 'bits' will always be 'home'.

A Robertson, also known as a square, or Scrulox screw drive has a square-shaped socket in the screw head and a square protrusion on the tool. Both the tool and the socket have a taper, which makes inserting the tool easier, and also tends to help keep the screw on the tool tip without the user needing to hold it there. (The taper's earliest reason for being was to make the manufacture of the screws practical using cold forming of the heads, but its other advantages helped popularize the drive.) Robertson screws are commonplace in Canada, though they have been used elsewhere and have become much more common in other countries in recent decades.

Robertson screwdrivers are easy to use one-handed, because the tapered socket tends to retain the screw, even if it is shaken. They also allow for the use of angled screw drivers and trim head screws. The socket-headed Robertson screws are self-centering, reduce cam out, stop a power tool when set, and can be removed if painted-over or old and rusty. In industry, they speed up production and reduce product damage.

CANADA CELEBRATIONS

Signs are posted in multiple languages - 

all announcements are in French and English

We visited Canada last week.

We flew 'Air Canada' Jazz/Express. 

The planes have a large maple leaf on the tail.
There are several styles and colors.

Some are red, some orange, some green. 

We flew on a red and a green. 

Much better than driving 27 hours north. 

Special thanks to our daughter for sharing her air miles!

We had the privilege of hearing 'O Canada' sung by Chris Baumeister at our granddaughter's high school graduation ceremony. He has a superb voice and is bilingual English/French.  He was also graduating. He sang parts of the anthem in both languages. Congratulations to all the grads and especially to Erin. 

Canada is unique in many ways. 

It is always a pleasure to visit.

Mountie and me 

Royal Canadian Mounted Police escorted graduates attending prom into the hotel used for the party. It is easier to screen out alcohol, drugs and weapons that way. I love RCMP formal 'dress' uniforms. I requested a picture with one of the officers flanking the entrance. (My daughter was one of the super mom's that helped arrange Prom, decorate and supervise (with her husband).  

On our way home we happened upon another fun RCMP officer in the Vancouver airport. A kind 'Canadian' offered to take a picture of us together. 

Surprisingly similar ... carved, painted Mountie figure

Happy Canada Day to my native land. 

Set off lots of fireworks for us this week.

We got to sing the anthem but now we are 'home'. 

You will have to celebrate without us!