Idaho Memories

Autumn in Almo, Idaho is a beautiful time of  the year. Warm days, cool nights and  on a clear night, the moon and stars all shined like diamonds. No city lights out there. In this beautiful setting, I made my entrance into the world. Mother delivered all her babies at home with the exception of her last child, and she was born in a hospital. My birth was attended by my Grandmother Alice Rice and some of my aunts. I am the eighth child out of ten and with the exception of two little sisters who died as infants, we have all lived to be young seniors.

We lived on a ranch nestled in the mountains where there was a large rock formation called the Castle Rocks not too far from Grandmother's ranch. She lived just west of us and we spent many happy hours there as well as at home. There were several apple trees near the Rocks and Mother would send us there to gather some apples.We did so with some trepidation as the Rocks were home to large cats, Cougars or sometimes called Mountain Lions. One of us kept a look out for a big cat but don't know how we thought we could escape, they could run faster and climb a tree faster. We were never confronted by one thankfully, but we did run into a Bobcat now and then.

Grandmother Alice Rice

Grandmother Rice lived a life of hardship but one of great faith in her Heavenly Father and her beloved Savior Jesus Christ. She was blessed with the gift of tongues and would sometimes speak in them when she bore her testimony. I would ask Mom why she was talking that way and Mom always expressed reverence for her and told us she was given a gift. She had many awe inspiring experiences. The homes at that time were mostly log cabins and the windows didn't have screens on  them. One afternoon one of her babies was sleeping in the bedroom when Grandmother heard a noise coming from the room. She rushed in to find a Cougar half way through the window. She beat it back out of the room with a shoe. 

Grandmother, like many Pioneer women learned how to shoot a rifle to protect their families. She was a crack shot. Her daughter Ida was a beautiful little girl with long dark hair and dark eyes and white skin.  The Indians were intrigued with her and  believed she was a special spirit because of her coloring. She was in danger of being kidnapped. Early one evening an Indian crept into the yard where the children were playing with the intent of kidnapping her. He tried to grab her but she started kicking and screaming and her siblings tried to pull her away.  Grandmother grabbed her rifle and ran out to where the children were. All she had to do was raise the rifle and take aim, and the Indian was gone. They knew from experience what she aimed at, she hit. She had many amazing life experiences and was truly a remarkable woman.