5

As a boy, I loved horses and was proud of my first riding pony. I took a great deal of pride in riding Old Deck– a splendid cow horse. We needed good horses and saddles for driving our stock to and from Georgetown. It used to take about twelve days to take a heard of cattle to Georgetown, via Soda Springs. Now we make the trip by automobile in about four hours.

I spent most of my early life on the farm or on the ranch handling cattle or raising hay to feed them, I did a great deal of marketing of hay in Salt Lake City.

At one time I purchased a very fine cutter from my cousin Will Stevenson. I took considerable pride in driving it. On one occasion while driving just north of Hot Springs, we had a spill. I was sitting on the high front seat alone. Wealthy, President Robinson and his wife were sitting in the back seat when we capsized. I held to the lines until President Robinson could right the sleigh. Then I jumped in and got the team under control. No one was hurt. Sleigh riding used to be quite a sport. I remember taking a load of young people in a bobsled. Wanting a little fun, I purposefully drove over a slanting place, and tipped the sled over. Again no one was hurt.

Skating was another of our boyhood sports. We frequently went down to Ivins Pond in South Farmington. Here I won many races and contests. The pond was named after the father of President Anthony W. Ivins, who lived near there.

As I think over my young days, I recall that I had many and varied interesting experiences. As a boy, I was quite an expert at playing marbles. This was especially true of "knuckle Boston". I had a strong thumb and could shoot very swiftly. I used to win the boy's marbles, trade and sell them back and then win them again. I accumulated many marbles.

I never cared much for dancing, especially was this true of the waltz, as it made me dizzy.