Earl & Eliza Halls

Earl plowed and planted his first twenty acres, and I tried to keep the dirt down in the tent. Glenn liked it. He could live out-of-doors. There was a wheel, or something he could turn and the first word he said was “wheel.”

When it rained the tent leaked, and when the wind blew it flapped, and when the sun shone it was hot, but all-in-all it was not so bad. Wind and storms were few and we were under some tall trees. We cleared and planted a small garden just over the fence close by. But it was too late so it didn’t do well.

Earl and Mr. Cox, a neighbor, took a contract to clear some sage land that fall. They took the tent, and I stayed with Mrs. Cox so neither of us would be alone. They had a girl and twin baby boys. I did a bit of sewing for her by making things over as they were no richer than we were. And evenings I would get out of the house by hunting down the cow out in the sage and bring her in, but I did not offer to milk her. I could watch the kids that long.

(Earl) Later that summer, I hauled lumber forty miles to Monticello for seven dollars per thousand feet, to pay for lumber to build one room for a home. That built, we made a lumber floor and put the tent over it for a bedroom on one end.

(Eliza) The men were gone three or four weeks, then we moved to the house that Earl was building. There was one quite large room, with the studding on the inside, and cracks between the boards, but before cold weather set in, he had them all covered. He had built a floor and a four-foot siding to set the tent over. Here again I remember that we had carpet on the floor. A heating stove was set up and we were comfortable. It was not as cold in San Juan as in Huntsville.

As we were expecting a new baby, Earl’s mother came down to stay with us for awhile and to help out, as the baby was expected before Christmas. She stayed longer than expected. Lyle was born December 27, 1916. He was a beautiful, dark-haired little boy. Midwife Nielsen officiated. When all was well, Earl took his mother to visit with her sisters for awhile in Mancos, Colorado.

(Earl) On December 27, 1916, Lyle was born in the tent, with the aid of Mrs. Nielsen, a midwife. It was a nasty, stormy night. I had to drive three miles to her home after her. It was a regular blizzard. It cost ten dollars for her services. Oh well, I guess he was worth it! Our neighbors had a daughter whose husband was in World War I, and while he was gone, she had given birth to twins. That was about the time Lyle was just a youngster being born, and Glenn had seen the twins. When Glenn came to look at Lyle for the first time, he looked all around the bed and said, “Momma, where’s the ‘nudder one?”