Listening in on our pioneer past

Pioneer Songs

By clicking on the link above you will be treated to several songs sung by the pioneers as they carved civilization out of the West, as sung by their descendants in 1947 when they were recorded for the Library of Congress's Archive of Folk Culture.  These examples were recorded in 1946 and 1947 by Austin Fife and his wife Alta as they gathered songs passed on in the folk tradition—either learned firsthand from the writer or passed down in families and communities.

Zemira loved poetry and to sing, and was often asked to sing at public events. He was singing at the picnic held in 1847 when Brigham Young was informed that the U.S. Army was on its way to the Salt Lake Valley.

Zemira and his step-brother, Gurnsey Brown, helped to bring survivors from the Willie and Martin Handcart companies to the Salt Lake Valley. It is possible he sang some of these songs himself.

The link takes you to a podcast, which you will have to click on to listen to.

Where we are from

The following map records where those of us are from who click on this site. It'll be fun to see how far flung we who are interested in the Palmer Family have become.

Eva Black Palmer and quilts

Click on the photo for the enlarged version.

"Eva Black Palmer was the daughter of William Morley Black. She married James William Palmer, and they had ten children. They were pioneers coming out of Old Mexico to San Juan County. Eva was a hard working woman. She kept things very clean, and nothing was thrown away. Every scrap of cloth was made into quilts for her big family. Quilting day was a wonderful social time for the women to visit and help one another finish a quilt for a wedding or other event."

Source: Blue Mountain Shadows Magazine, Volume 18: "One Hundred Years of Quilts and the People who Made Them," Spring 1997, p. 51. 

Rebecca Stevens quilts in Blue Mountain Shadows

Source: Blue Mountain Shadows Magazine, Volume 18: "One Hundred Years of Quilts and the People who Made Them," Spring 1997, p. 53. 

Lynn plays second on winning baseball team

Following is the text from an article that appeared in the San Juan Record on July 23, 1931.

MONTICELLO BOYS PROMISE TO 

RETURN THE "SQUEAL" TO 

BLANDING AND BRING

HOME THE BACON

THIS TIME

_____

    The great national game is reciving the attention of the young men of San Juan county these days. Blanding and Monticello have organized and put into the field two splendid teams who have played three games to date. The games are being sponsored by the American Legion. Guy Wasburn is coaching the Blanding team and Lawrence Black is coach for Monticello. So far Blanding has won each game but the Monticello boys are putting in some hours of practice and promise to bring home some victories for their home town. The next game will be played Thursday July 23 at 10:00 a.m. at Monticello.
   The line up is as follows: Blanding, Pitcher, Adam Gallegos; Catcher, Harry Laws, 1st base, Melvin Hines; 2nd base, Lynn Palmer; 3rd base, Ray Perkins; S. S., Kermit Redd; rt. field, Clayton Perkins; lft. field, Kline Black; ct. field Vincent Redd.
Monticello, Pitcher Edward Gallegos; Cathcer, Kieth Bailey; 1st base Page Allred, Paul Wood; 2nd base Bruce Frost; 3rd base, Jay Wilson; S. S. Dick Hrt; rt field, Donald Evans; lft field, Jed Bailey; ct. firld, Thernerl Christensen.
__________