Franklin DH Proctor - Part Two

In 1894, when Grandpa was 13 years old, the great reservoir from the Irrigation Project broke.  A terrible flood followed.  Great Grandpa Proctor was sent to warn the Railroad Officials of the flood. Grandpa was alone with Isadora and Mary when the flood hit their home.  The water came in one door and went out the other door.  Grandpa hitched up the horses to the wagon and helped Isadora and the tiny baby Mary into the wagon.  By the time the horses were ready to go the water was up to his knees.  He could see the people along the high banks waving their hands to him but he couldn't hear what they were saying for the roar of the water.  He was trying to take Isadora and Mary to high banks.  He finally reached the knoll on his father's land, when Grandpa Waite, Isadora's father who was 70 years old, had a wheelbarrow full of clothes taking them to the knoll.  He was trying to reach the knoll before the crest of the stream hit.  A large wave knocked his feet out from under him and washed the clothes to the spot where he was trying to put them.  He saved their clothes although they were all soaked.  After the flood had done its damage, it gradually began to subside.

Antlers, Colorado today

The flood washed three feet of top-soil away.  The trees were left standing were held by the roots that were in a hard panel below the soil level.  Great Grandfather's farm was completely washed away.

The family left Antlers, Colorado and came to Utah in 1894.  They came down through Spanish Fork Canyon.  They stopped at Robert McKell's home in Spanish Fork.  Here they found food for family and horses.  After 10 days, they pushed on to Eureka, Juab, Utah.  Here they made their home.

When Grandpa was 15 years old, he and his brother George went up Spanish Fork Canyon to get work.  They came to the P.V. Junction now know as Colton.  They couldn't get any work and had no place to go.  They stayed in a saloon until it closed.  They tried to get into a depot to sleep but it was locked.  Exhausted and tired, they crept under a water tank and fell asleep.  The next day they got work on the D and R G water service at Soldier Summit.  Shortly afterwards, they began to work at

Modern day view of Thistle, Utah

Thistle Rock Quarry where they worked for 90 days.  They left Thistle on Thanksgiving Day and walked to Eureka, a distance of 45 miles, to arrive home at 9:00 p.m.

Eureka, Utah in 1911

When Grandpa was 16 years old, he went to work in the mines at Eureka.  He worked up from a mucker in the Keystone Mine to the Revenue Mine at Beaver.  He narrowly escaped while working in the Region Valley Mine.  Two men were sinking a shaft by hand.  The shaft was 800 feet deep.  The men would muck the ore into a bucket and it would be pulled to the surface of the mine and emptied.  The men were lowered into the shaft in a bucket.  One day a slab or talk was loosened from the shaft.  It fell and hit Grandpa on the side of the head.  It took the skin off his face and knocked him unconscious.  He was put in the bucket by the men who thought he was dead.  As the bucket reached the top of the mine, Grandpa regained consciousness.

Silt, Colorado

Grandpa went to work at a ranch in Silt, Colorado.  The men all called him "Brigham" because he came from Utah.  There was a swarm of bees in a tree that the ranch owner wanted to catch and put in a hive.  He called Grandpa to climb the tree and saw off the limb.  He started to saw the limb, but the weight of the limb broke it part way in two causing the limb to swing down on him.  Hundreds of angry bees swarmed around him and hit him full in the face.  He jumped 15 feet to the ground and lit in the tall grass.  He wiped the bees off his face with the grass.  Some cow punchers pulled the stingers out of Grandpa's face.  No serious results came from the accident except his face was badly swollen and stiff.

Grandpa was called back to Utah because of the death of Isadora, his step-mother on 11 October 1899.