The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-25
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CHRISTMAS At OGDEN :
N THE PAST. 4!
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

the same things that their fathers
have done, and this is perhaps true
in a sense. but they are doing them
today on a much larger scale ana IN
much different ways. People In Ogueh
today are in a general way striving
for the same things that their 1ore-
fathers were striving for 90 CHRIST
masses ago. Then as now the people
were striving to overcome the forces
of nature and make them do the every
day work of the world. They were get
ting the waters to turn their mlll
wheels and making the elements OF the
soil change into wheat, corn or other
food products. They were earning ana
spending, paying taxes and executing
mortgages; going to dances and go
ing to law; they were discussing poll
tics, philosophy and theology as well
as performing the routine work OF the
world.
But nowadays there are in Weber
county many more people doing these
things, and they are doing them on
larger scale and in greatly diversi-
fed manners. A good way to have
that fact brought out prominent is to
examine some of the public documents
of early days.
In the county clerks office are records
almost from the beginning of the
county. Among these are the assess
ment books of the county. The first
ones are mere pocket books and the
assessed valuation of the entire county
was but a few thousand dollars. The
assessment book for even as late as
1863 is but a meagre pocketbook, such
as one can carrv in a modern vest
pocket and which costs but a dime. 1t
was ruled carefully by hand and every
entry made by the assessor, Sanford
T. Bingham. But from the beginning
the assessment books grow steadily
larger until 1896, four big volumes are
required to keep the final accounts of
the taxpayers, to say nothing of count
less other volumes incidental to the
work.
In 1863 one man, working but a
month or two in the year, could trans
act the business of assessor and col
lector. but help has had to be added
year after wear until now, with all
modern conveniences. a large force of
skilled clerks are needed to attend to
that one department. The records of the
probate court OF Weber county for
1856 show that lawsuits were IN vogue
then as now, though they were on a
somewhat smaller scale than now
adays. On December %, 1855. before
Probate Judge Chauncey w. West, a
HAL WAS COHNlCl6Q Ol rSltdlluS Wucdl
from a neighbor and was fined 50,
though given week in whicn-to raise
the amount or furnish acceptable Sc
curity therefor.
One of the witnesses testified that
certain things happened the night of
the theater held in the school house."
and another one told of something
which transpired the night of the big
wind. Even in those days it seems
Yfoir ants
we'll as big winds. Another man testi-
fed to something which happened
on his way to work on the city wall"
The majority of people in Ogden have
forgotten that Ogden ever was a walled
city, if, indeed they ever knew it, but
such was the case. The Ogdenites
of As years ago spent their Christmas
within a high walled city put UP as a
protection against Indians and wild
beasts.
Charles F. Middleton, who came to
Ogden in 1870 and has resided here
almost constantly ever since, remem-
bers the building of this wall, and
many other interesting events of those
early times. The wall was built of
kind of clay mingled with cobble stones
and gravel. The clay and stones were
mingled in kind of frame which was
allowed to remain around the mixture
until the latter was dry enough to hold
its shape. Then the frame was raised
and narrowed slightly and a fresh
supply of concrete mixture put in.
Each man was assessed so much to
build the wall. He was assigned
certain portion to construct and must
either do the work himself or hire it
done. Wall avenue of today takes it's
name from the old wall of that time,
which extended along the line of what
is now that thoroughfare. To the east
the wall extended to East street, which
is at present Monroe avenue, and on
the north First street-or, as it is now
called, Twenty-first Street-was the
limit. Twenty-eighth street of today
marks the limit of the south end of
the wall Mr.. Middleton's first Christ
mas, that of 1850, was spent in q camp
off about where West Weber is now.
He was there to look after cattle for
his father.
Timber was thick in that region and
so were wolves and bears. The cattle
were protected at night from wolves in
a large corral, built for the very pur-
pose. Mr.. Middleton has no special
recollection Of how Christmas was OBJ
served that winter, nor does he recall
much about the holiday for r year or
two succeeding. 1t was then as now
the custom to have a dance and gen.
eral social gatherings. In those DAYS
many OF the dances were held in a
building built for a store-the old
adobe house which until a year ago
stood just north of the tabernacle In
the western portion of the city timber
was plentiful. Somewhere about where
West Ogden is now located were groves
of large cedar trees, while down in the
bottoms were forests Of big cotton
woods.
All through the SOS and part of the
COS it was customary to Kill bears
by setting a gun in these forests with
string attached to the trigger in such
a way. that the piece would be dis
charged at the beast when he walked
against the string
There were about 200 inhabitants of
Ogden in 1850 or about 40 families. At
that time there were hardly any other
settlements in Weber county. Ogden
valley was still an unexplored region,
and there were no roads up Ogden to
vex county commissioners and cause
legal wrangles.
That boys would be boys in those
days is recalled by several old set
tiers and an incident pointed out which
happened on Christmas Eve; 1854. A
number of the young men-as was the
custom-loaded up their guns with pa
per bullets and went about the neigh
borhood discharging their firearms in
close proximity to windows and doors.
If the occupants of the r sc would
come out and give the DC a pleas
ant greeting all was well. In arnost
cases the lads were invited in or at
least shown some bit of hospitality.
On the occasion of this Christmas
Eve the boys began TO raise sociable
-