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Kate, Mary Jane, Cordelia
Dan, John, and Naomi Perkins
Mary Jane Perkins
Mary Jane & Heber James Wilson
–Adapted 2015 by David Walton from a 1946 sketch, author unknown
Born: 6 Nov 1870 in Cedar City, Iron County, Utah
Parents: Benjamin Perkins and Mary Ann Williams
Married: Heber James Wilson, 17 September 1888 at Manti, Sanpete County, Utah
Died: 7 March 1956, Monticello, San Juan County, Utah
... Thus it happened, here in Cedar City, in a cellar or dugout, where the family
lived for the first several years, until such time as Benjamin could build an adobe
house, Mary Jane Perkins was born November 6, 1870.
After the building of the adobe house, Mary Jane’s mother, Mary Ann, sold eggs, also
made butter to sell, in exchange for furnishing, such as feather beds, stoves, and
so on. This adobe house, the very first to be built in Cedar City, was Mary Ann's
pride and joy.
Quilting parties and rag bees were some of the principal amusements at Cedar City.
At the rag bees, the rags were sewed for carpets, thus covering the floor.
When it came time for Mary Jane and her sister to attend school, they knew very
little English, since Welsh had always been spoken in the home. On the way home
from school, the other children would catch them and hold them, making them talk Welsh.
Mary Jane was always a rather delicate child.
In October 1879, at age nine, her family was called by the church authorities to
settle Bluff, and journeyed into the Escalante Desert, there joining the rest of
those called for this mission, at Forty Mile Spring.
For several years, the Indians at Bluff had been making raids on white settlements,
stealing horses and causing endless trouble. With the hope of making peace and
friendship with these Indians, the Mormon Church decided on this new settlement.
The instructions received were to travel along the southern boundary, arrive near
the eastern line of the state, and there build the new homes.
Some eighty wagons made up the expedition, the party being composed of ninety grown
people, plus one hundred and fifty children. At the present time (1946) only one man,
though many widows, are alive to tell of the perilous journey.
Since water and grass were extremely scarce, the party divided, a portion going on to
Fifty Mile Spring to camp; the balance proceeding to the Hole-in-the-Rock, where
six week’s time was occupied in the making of the road. At the Hole, a scarcity of
food for the cattle, made it necessary to take them ten miles to graze.
The Hole-in-the-Rock consisted of a formation of cliffs pierced by a very narrow
crack, far too narrow to accommodate a horse. The cliff then dropped forty feet
to a slanting shelf-like place, from which there was a steep descent to the canyon
below. Somehow a road must be made through this place. To accomplish this, it
would be necessary to blast the rock, widening the small crack, fill in the crevices,
thus making a passable road to the shelf below. “The picture of the disheartened men,
when we reached the Hole is still vivid in my mind,” remarked Mary Jane.
“Gazing at the seemingly impossible task, we stood appalled.”
Benjamin Perkins had been a miner in Wales, consequently the job of overseer and
powder man was assigned to him at the Hole. The party dubbed him, “the blower and
blaster from Wales. Here, too, eleven year-old Charles Walton played his part. Since he
was slight of build and light of weight, a rope was tied about his waist and he was
lowered over the cliffs to place the powder in the crevices, thus preparing for the
explosion.
Because of the weight, few tents were transported on this journey. As a result,
the party lived in their wagon boxes, doing the cooking out in the open. Mary Jane’s
family had a rag carpet, which they first put over the wagon bows, then added the regular
covering, thus making the pioneer apartment warmer than it otherwise would have been,
an very grateful they were for this little extra warmth, for while camped at he Hole,
the coldest Friday in history descended upon them.
Through the ingenuity of Mrs. Perkins, this rag carpet had pockets sewn onto it,
one of which contained comb and brush, another towels and wash rags, and every
morning the children had their faces washed and hair combed, as if going to school.
No pocket was needed for tooth brushes, as they were unknown in that day. Another
pocket contained medicines, bandages, and so on. These pockets proved of great value
as the party journeyed along.
Another instance of foresight on the part of Mrs. Perkins is shown by her preparation,
before leaving on this hazardous journey, of a lot of Potawatomi plum plum preserves.
This preserve being peculiar to the pioneers deserves brief mention. After gathering
and cooking the plums, they were run through a colander to remove the stones and
skins. The substance was then poured like a pancake upon plates, and put in the sun
to harden and dry. The pancake like substance could then be stacked up in piles and
wrapped in paper or cloth. When wanted for use, the cakes were broken into small
pieces, water and sugar added, and with a little further cooking a delicious jam
obtained. “Ours was the only family to have this wonderful treat,” announced Mary Jane.
Often after supper, while camped here, the men put oxen yokes around their necks,
marched around the fire and sang, ‘Come, Come Ye Saints,’ written by William Clayton.
All of Benjamin’s family, also his brother Hyrum had fine voices, and though weary
from the day’s work sang hymns and songs, or did anything to make fun and relieve the monotony.
All during the day, the children gathered brush, in order to have a camp fire at the
end of the day, by which to dance. Charles Walton, Sr., furnished the music on his
fiddle. By this time many pairs of shoes had been completely worn out, and these
unfortunates danced barefoot on the rocks. Although the evenings were gay, nothing
was ever allowed to interfere with Sunday services.
Mr. Walton also had a cornet, on which after the dance, he used to call everyone
together for prayer, and then the party was off to bed. In some instances, the family
would be too large to get into the wagon, in which cases, beds were made underneath.
On the 17th of December, George B Hobbs, Lemuel H Redd, George Sevy and George Morrill
were selected to scout from the Colorado to Montezuma, in an endeavor to locate a
route suitable for the wagons to follow. These four left with provisions sufficient
for an eight day trip, the distance being estimated as about sixty miles. The second
day after leaving the Colorado River, the four reached a barrier known later in
history as Slick Rocks, densely compacted sand rock, so smooth that only at great
distances did even a crevice appear in the slippery surface. It was impossible to go
around it; if they were to reach Montezuma the only way lay down the slick rocks.
After much scouting, they reached the bottom of the slope. From here they could
see the deep canyon leading north. Their trail then led them to a range of mountains,
known as Clay Hills, into a tangled net-work of canyons, which forced them to travel
one canyon after another in their search for a path a wagon could follow.
They now realized their provisions would be exhausted long before they reached
Montezuma. Christmas Day they found themselves far up in the slopes of Elk Mountains,
the existence of which they had not known. Here they cooked their last food, a
Christmas dinner, which consisted of a flapjack of flour and water. Surrounded by
the timbered foothills of the unknown mountains, they realized they were lost.
Hobbs knelt among the stones and prayed. Guided by the prayer, he climbed to the
summit of the small knoll south of the camp. From here he recognized the familiar
contour of Blue Mountains, which were northwest from Montezuma. For four more days,
they trudged through sand and snow over the roughest country imaginable. As they
staggered out of Cottonwood Wash, and crossed the treeless flat toward a cabin of
a man named Harris (a Mormon from Colorado). They were so near starvation that it
seemed no torture could be greater than the wait for the meat to be fried for their
supper. One night only they rested, then moved up the San Juan, remained overnight,
and promised to return with provisions in sixty days, if possible. The only food
they could obtain for the return trip was a fifty pound sack of flour purchased
for $20, after much persuasion, from a wandering trapper.
On the return trip, they were faced with the necessity of finding a more practical
route for the wagons than the one which been followed by them. They struck north.
All their provisions were gone and they arrived at the Hole-in-the-Rock in an almost
starving condition. Their animals could hardly stagger down the trail to the river.
One of the horses used at the beginning as a pack horse, had worn its hoofs to
the quick, leaving a circle of blood at every step. They reached the camp January
10th, 25 days having been required to make the trip, instead of eight as first estimated.
Meanwhile, at the Hole, on December 28th there had been a terrific storm. While this
storm put out camp fires and soaked the bedding, it was the cause of much rejoicing,
since it filled the pot holes (called tanks by the pioneers) making it unnecessary
to travel the long distance over sheep trails to the river for water. In emptying
one good sized pot hole, a dead animal was finally brought to view, and
experience not so pleasant to those with delicate stomachs.
With only the wagon wheels, upon which children could hang their stockings, an
attempt was made to welcome the Christmas holidays. Nevertheless good old St. Nicholas
visited them with parched corn and cookies, the latter having been baked in the Dutch
ovens. Everyone displayed a thankful and happy spirit, especially the children, who
spent the day gathering sage brush to be used for a fire by which to dance.
By this time, the food supplies were very low, and a scout was sent back to Escalante,
a distance of about sixty miles, for a wagon load of supplies. This journey took
almost three weeks. “I can yet remember,” exclaimed Mary Jane, “the happy smiles
of the shivering boys and girls when cheese and pork arrived, and they were also
handed, some, a roll of butter, or a jar of honey, or perhaps a pair of shoes for
their cold and bleeding feet.”
Powder with which to blow up the rock ran out, and a runner was sent to Salt Lake
City to obtain sufficient to finish the work.
While the road was being built at the Hole, Mr Hall came from Escalante and built a
flat ferry boat to take the party across ther river, when the road should be completed.
On January 28th, the road through the Hole was completed, and the wagons, with chains
and ropes attached, and seven or eight men pulling back on these to prevent too fast
a descent, began their downward journey. As a tribute to Benjamin Perkins for being
“blower and blaster.],” his wagon was the first to make the descent, although
driven by Kumen Jones.
Some of the cattle and horses were too poor to swim the icy waters, and had to be
ferried across like the people. As this was their first experience on or near the
water, they did not take kindly to it, but all went well until an angry cow pushed a
boy (Al Barney) into the freezing water. This boy was helped back on the ferry, after which
the crossing proceeded uneventfully.
From here to Bluff, the pioneers experienced a hard and difficult trip. When the
party reached Clay Hills, many wagons tipped over, including that of the Perkins
family, and (years later) Mary Jane related that her son-in-law, Wilford Christensen,
working on the road during the winter of 1945-46, picked up many pieces of the broken
vehicles.
This road upon which Mr. Christensen worked can now be traversed from Blanding to
the Colorado River in four hours. Beyond the river, Wayne County will take up
road building, upon completion of which, the road will go through to Los Angeles,
California. Mary Jane remarked that she had the promise from her friend, Dick Johnson,
of traveling in the first car journey to Los Angeles.
One morning when hitched and ready to start, one of the teams got too close to the
fire, and the horses plunged into it, getting badly burned. At Red Lake, someone
killed a calf, over which all were jubilant, and a grand feast was held. Before the
end of the journey in the spring, the animals became very tired and poor.
While a child was born on the journey, Lena Deseret Decker, on January 3rd, it is
noteworthy that on this perilous trip in the dead of winter, no life had been lost.
Only one man is known to ever later have attempted a journey through the Hole-in-
the-Rock by wagon, although some made the attempt on horseback. Numerous cattle
following the wagons on their descent made the road extremely dangerous for wagon
travel, but Henry Rose acting as a guide to a party of miners, not only drove his
wagon down but up again over the perilous pathway.
Everyone rejoiced so much over the arrival at Bluff, that the men fired a few shots
by way of celebration. This quickly brought the Navajo and Ute Indians from the
opposite of the river, bedecked in war paint and feathers. They believed the cowboys
from the Blue Mountains had come to attack them, with whom they had fought many a
bloody battle previous to the coming of the Mormon pioneers. But after seeing the
women and children, and friendly greetings being given, their fears quieted. Putting
up their guns, they smoked the pipe of peace, assuring the party if the cowboys
ever molested them, they would render assistance in the battles.
After arrival, the first task became the building of shelter, and the party went to
the river to cut willows, with which to build shanties, and a big bowery for the
church. Finding themselves nearly out of food, some of the men went to Durango
to obtain this, also seed to plant, while others began to work on a ditch to get
irrigating water. The ditch finished, the men returned with the seed and everyone
put in a little crop, consisting of a little corn, a few vegetables, and sorghum
cane from which to make molasses in a big flat vat. When this boils, scum rises to
the top, which must be repeatedly taken off. A barrel was reserved for these
skimmings, used by the children to make candy. They also repeatedly skimmed it, and
in the bottom found a little molasses. Charles Walton, Jr, thought a quiet boy,
also some of the others, were mischievous, and would take the molasses candy from
the girls and wrap it around their necks and waists.
Gradually enough logs were obtained for a fort, with log houses, and a church, which
church served also as a school house. Before completion of the schoolhouse, Mrs.
Sarah Cox taught the school in her home. After completion, Mrs. David Edwards
acted as the first teacher; then later Miss Irene Haskell, daughter of Thales Haskell,
the noted Indian interpreter, and whose mother served the community as a mid-wife.
The benches of this church and school house were made by sawing a log in two, then
turning it over, boring four holes and putting in legs. Books were very scarce.
The Indians often came to town demanding food, causing a lot of trouble. With the men
away, the Indians would steal everything in sight, and sometimes became very ugly.
One day when Mary Jane was alone, an Indian stole the family’s short handled shovel,
which he hid under his blanket. Fortunately Mary Jane saw him, ran after him, pulled
his blanket and got the shovel returned. The Indians stole and killed cows, also
ran off the horses. Platte D. Lyman mentions many occasions in his diary of horses
being stolen, and the settlers being obliged to pursue the Indian bands, sometimes
recovering the horses, sometimes not, one particularly aggravating case being where
the pioneers were compelled to pay two dollars for each of the horses recovered,
after pursuing the Indians for six days.
The following is Mary Jane’s description of the first Fourth of July. “We had been
much enthused over this celebration, but it rained in the early morning to our great
disappointment. However, the sun soon came out. The men fired a sunrise salute. Again
the Indians thinking it cowboys came over the river. Finding it a celebration, they
remained to see the fun and to partake of the feast which had been prepared. One
night the Indians came in an ugly mood, and we were badly frightened, gathering at
the home of Bishop Nielson, but through his efforts they quieted down and went home.
We had an interesting life at Bluff and enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. A big swing
built down by the river proved our greatest luxury and pleasure. Everyone went there
Sunday afternoons and the one swinging the highest received much acclaim. Then there
was church service, Sunday School, Primary, Mutual Improvement Association and the
Relief Society, one of the best times being conference held every three months and
lasting three days. People came from surrounding towns, and it took a week to
prepare the food for this large gathering. We didn’t have much music.
The first Christmas, the young men got together with harmonica, jewsharp and accordion,
making a band, which proved very enjoyable.”
Sarah, sister of Mary Jane’s mother, had accompanied the family through the Hole-in-
the-Rock to help take care of the children [as did Mary Ann’s brother, Thomas],
afterward returning to Cedar City [escorted by Hyrum & family in October], and made
this sister his second wife. He visited at Cedar City about six weeks, then returned to Bluff.
The outrages of the Indians were not so discouraging as the trouble with the river,
which after fifty years of effort still remains unconquered. Again and again, the
stream was tapped for a portion of he water it carried from the Colorado
mountains, only to have it rise overnight to sweep away ditches, head gates and
everything in a mass of wreckage.
To get suitable timber for sluice gates and other construction work, axmen went to the distant Blue Mountains and Elk Ridge,
where the wood was of better quality than the cottonwood near at hand. The high water in the spring caused the destruction of
months of labor during the period of low water. In 1881, the ditch broke in a dozen places. Yet, in spite of these recurring
disasters, the people remained loyal to the mission to which they had been called.
Through the work of the pioneers, the town of Bluff rose from poverty to become one of the richest small towns in the country.
It sent more students to the Brigham Young University at Provo, also the University at Salt Lake City than any other place of
its size. Almost every family sent father and sons out as missionaries to all foreign parts of the world besides different
parts of the United States. No women missionaries were sent into the field until later.
“No where could there be found,” commented Mary Jane, “a better or grander group of people than those valiant old pioneers.
At that time I saw only through a youngster’s eyes, but now in the sunset of life, the few that remain are finer and more
outstanding to me than ever. They were sturdy, ambitious, law abiding, extremely charitable to those in need, kind to all
neighbors, in fact, we lived like one big family, and they were loyal to church and leaders.”
It will thus be seen that the priceless heritage bequeathed by the pioneer to their descendants was fine, upright and noble
character, and one views with deep regret the dissipation of this priceless heritage like the dew before the noonday sun in
the present day. The Book of Mormon shows that down through the ages no people has been able to stand up under prosperity,
and succeeding generations from the valiant pioneers grow more and more prosperous. They lived in Bluff for about five years,
then Apostle Snow came with Joseph F. Smith and released any discouraged settlers from their mission with this promise,
“Those of you who go shall be blest, but those of you who stay shall be doubly blest.” Less than a dozen families took advantage
to the permission to depart.
Benjamin Perkins had already sold his cattle with the intention of leaving, and he and his family moved back to Cedar City,
remaining there two or three years, when they went to Grover, Wayne County. It was while at Cedar City that Mary Jane had the
first of her serious illnesses. She fell to the floor one day with rheumatic fever, and remain in bed for three months, unable
to move finger, and obliged to learn to walk over again like a baby. This left her a delicate child for a number of years.
A little later, her mother came down with the fever. Her father, a great believer in outdoor life, took her mother as soon as
she was able to be out of bed, put her in a wagon and went on a trip.
While attending school at Teasdale, Mary Jane met her husband, Heber James Wilson, born in a little town in Salt Lake County.
His mother was an American born Mormon, Mary Ann Baldwin; his father Robert Wilson, part English, part Welsh. The family were
called to settle St. George, going to Santa Clara. The mother and children, four boys and two girls remained at Santa Clara, the
father Robert Wilson building them a house after which he returned to Idaho to his other families, coming but rarely to Santa
Clara to visit.
Heber Wilson remained at St. George until his mother died, at which time the family broke up, he going to Escalante, where he
married Emma Jane Coleman and settled in Wayne County. She gave birth to two little girls and died, a grandmother bringing up
these children. The courtship of Mr. Wilson and Mary Jane was very short and uneventful.
They went to the temple at Manti to be married, necessitating a three day’s journey. When the wedding party reached Manti, for
the first time they heard of a marriage license. Mary Jane lacked only two months of being eighteen, but the authorities were
adamant, and wouldn’t issue the license. There being none of the modern means of communication in existence at that date, it
became necessary for a runner to be sent on horseback to get the consent of her father.
About this time the crusade against polygamy started, and many were imprisoned. Benjamin Perkins was arrested at Grover by
one of his young manhood chums, Mr. Armstrong. When he left for the penitentiary, Mr. Armstrong gave him a note to the warden,
telling the warden that Benjamin Perkins was a good man, and asking that the officials should be kind to him. This caused him
to be treated with great consideration.
Previous to his arrest, Benjamin Perkins purchased some cattle of which his brother Hyrum, in Bluff, had charge. It had been
agreed that Hyrum would send Benjamin’s wife some money after the spring sale had been made, but through the irregularity of
the mails, this money never reached her. Mrs. Perkins, in writing her husband, mentioned not receiving the money, and the next
letter from her husband contained a twenty dollar bill. Of course all incoming and outgoing mail was duly censored at the prison.
Mr. Perkins made no mention of this twenty dollar bill in his letter, in fact, never knew of it until he reached home, leading the
family to believe the warden must have performed this kind act.
The Wilsons remained at Teasdale, but after leaving the penitentiary, Benjamin Perkins and his family moved back to Bluff.
The following spring, the Wilsons also moved to Bluff. They left Teasdale a couple of days in advance of the company with which
they were to travel, in order to visit Mr. Wilson’s cousin in Giles, Utah, waiting there for the company to catch up. The Wilsons
had a four horse team and about thirty head of horses driven by a dog. When they came into the camp of the party located at Hanksville,
the Wilsons heard members of the party exclaim they would be a big nuisance with those loose horses, whereupon Mr. Wilson remarked
to his wife, “Come on, Molly, we won’t wait for these people, we’ll just go right on.”
On reaching the Colorado River at Dandy Crossing, they encountered a noted desperado, Cass Hite and his nephew, just about to cross
the river in a small boat. These desperadoes treated the Wilsons very kindly, helping to take the wagon apart and ferried it across
in their boat. The wagon was then put together again, and the Wilsons proceeded on their way.
As long as the road remained free from timber, the dog could drive the loose horses, but when they reached the cedars, it became
necessary for Mr. Wilson to drive these, leaving Mary Jane and her fifteen month’s old baby to drive the team over a contrail road,
untravelled by wagons for more than twenty years.
On reaching White Canyon, they got mired in the quick sand, but Mr. Wilson succeeded in digging the wagon out with his shovel.
With this exception, and having to hunt up the loose horses every morning, which had wandered away for feed, the trip was uneventful.
Although in the vicinity of Indians, none were encountered. One morning, as Mr. Wilson absented himself looking for the horses,
five Mexicans rode into camp, frightening Mary Jane, as these were the first Mexicans she had seen.
When the Wilsons reached Comb Wash, Joe Hammond and L.M. Redd, Sr., cowboys going to Bluff, rode into their camp and had dinner
with them. Mary Jane stated, “Never in my life was I so happy, as we had seen no white men since leaving Giles. We had been
about three weeks on the road, but succeeded in beating the party we had left behind, by two weeks, into Bluff.
By the time the Wilsons reached Bluff, Monticello was just being settled, and four Bluff families had moved there.
Benjamin Perkins had planned to go to Mexico, and the Wilsons expected to accompany the Perkins family, but Mary Jane’s father
changed his mind about Mexico and decided instead to settle in Monticello. However, they didn’t come directly there, remaining
at Dodge for the summer to milk cows and make cheese.
Mr. Perkins and Mr. Wilson worked for Mr. [Robert P.] Hott, while Mrs. Perkins and Mary Jane made butter and cheese, which the
cowboys and the store purchased.
The Wilsons were in Monticello on the fateful Pioneer Day (July 24, 1891) when Mrs. Walton was killed. Anticipating trouble with
the cowboys, they didn’t remain for the dance held at night. They returned home and later the sheriff rode through Dodge to obtain
fresh horses, in order to pursue the outlaw, who was not only responsible for Mrs. Walton’s death, but also one of his own companions.
Somewhere around October, the Wilsons started back to Wayne County. At Moab, they met Joe Bankhead, who accompanied them and drove
the horses. Through some accident, there was no bridge or ferry boat at Moab, consequently fording the river became the order of
the day, the water going over the double wagon box. The same thing happened again at Green River. Following this, they took off
via the San Raphael Desert, and with the exception of Mr. Bankhead, who drove, made the trip alone. They remained at Giles, and
two months later, Mary Jane’s daughter Katherine was born.
The mid-wife lived at Hanksville, 12 miles away. Mr. Wilson had to make this trip (24 miles there and return) to get the mid-wife,
after Marj Jane began to be in labor. Two years constituted their residence at Giles, during which Mr. Wilson became a bishop, and
Mary Jane served as president of the Relief Society. In order to attend the meetings, In order to attend the meetings, she had to
walk a mile, carrying the baby, the older child, of about two years, trudging by her side. The Dirty Devil River located here,
overflowed its banks, in a similar manner to that of the San Juan at Bluff, eventually causing the town of Giles to become deserted.
From Giles the Wilsons returned to Teasdale, making their home at this place for a number of years.
No other woman but Mary Jane has traveled so many miles all the way or nearly all the way from Cedar City to San Juan and return,
she having made the trip seventeen times.
In August, 1893, Mr. Wilson was called on a mission to England, which left Mary Jane and four children alone at Teasdale. In November,
Mary Jane’s father, living in Monticello, sent Dilly Crouse, with a team and wagon to get them. They traveled over the same route,
about which Zane Grey wrote in his story entitled “The Robber’s Roost.” After supper one night, Mary Jane became very uneasy.
Dilly, seeing her condition, assured her with a motion of his that nothing should harm her, except over his dead body. With
this encouragement, she took the little girls and laid down to sleep in their none too comfortable bed. Dilly kept watch with
gun in hand until far into the night. Finally, he too slept. With the exception of the yelping coyotes, no sound was heard.
After about three week’s travel, they arrived at Monticello Thanksgiving Eve, thankful to be safe in the home of Mr. Perkins.
In addition to the parents, brothers and sisters, the whole town turned out in welcome. A two-foot snow storm came that night,
and Mary Jane felt fortunate to have reached Monticello before the storm, as otherwise they might never have arrived. With sleigh
rides, home dramatics, dancing and big dinners, Mary Jane spent a happy winter. She remained with her parents about two years,
returning to Teasdale about the time her husband reached home from England. While living at Teasdale, Mary Jane had and attack of
appendicitis, which caused her to become known as the miracle woman. She became very ill, and on calling the doctor, he pronounced
it appendicitis. It was winter, the hospital 75 miles away couldn’t be reached on account of bad roads and snow. Also it was
impossible for one doctor alone to perform an operation. Gradually, she grew worse and the appendix ruptured, causing peritonitis.
She broke out with large sores on the right side, both front and back. Her daughters, visiting in Montecello, were called home,
since she was expected to die. After several long weeks, through the faith and prayers of her family, and thought the administration
of the elders of the church, she recovered, a veritable miracle woman indeed.
Mary Jane’s mother, Mrs. Perkins, was one of the first gardeners in Monticello, to also raise beautiful flowers.
No one ever left her gate without a bouquet. In winter, her windows were the most attractive spot in Monticello.
Often passers by would stop in the middle of the road to gaze upon them.
She had a very loving and charitable disposition, and although she had a large family, and in addition an adopted daughter,
she always had time to give a meal to anyone going by, or a bed in which to sleep. When she died in 1912, at Kane Springs, a
young man whom she had befriended walked fifty miles to attend her funeral. Her passing was not only mourned by her friends,
but she was mourned by the whole community.
In the early twenties, the Indians near Blanding became ugly. Two young fellows, Joe Bishop’s boy and another, burned a bridge
in Montezuma Creek. The sheriff went after these two youngsters, bringing them to Blanding. A number of Indians followed,
surrounded the sheriff, and Blanding, and were going to take the two Indians away. The sheriff snapped his revolver, but it
failed to go off. The two prisoners, taking advantage of this, ran away. Then the sheriff obtained a posse and started after them.
The car in which he rode was shot full of holes. The posse followed down into Cottonwood Wash, where in the fight between the
posse and the Indians, Joe Bishop’s boy was killed and Posey wounded. The whites gathered up many Indians, brought them back to
Blanding, confining them in the stockade, They sent to Monticello for men and ammunition. Mary Jane’s son-in-law took guns down by car.
However, by the time they reached Blanding, the Indians were in the stockade and everything under control.
In 1927, Mary Jane’s daughter, Fern, became ill, necessitating a trip to California to care for Fern who died.
From 1896 to 1916, the Wilsons lived in Teasdale, where Mr. Wilson served twice as sheriff, as assessor, school trustee,
twice as bishop and twice as counselor. While sheriff, Marshall McGarry came from Beaver County; he and Mr. Wilson went down
to Robber’s Roost to arrest a man later sent to the penitentiary.
Right-click [Mac Control-click] to open full-size image:
Kate, Mary Jane, Cordelia
Dan, John, and Naomi Perkins
Mary Jane Perkins
Mary Jane & Heber James Wilson