The History of the Johnson Ranch, pt 4

Sunday dinners

Another way that ranch women supplemented the family income was to keep paying guests or have Sunday dinners. This was particularly true of those living on the river.

Wes told about the famous Sunday dinners on the Big Laramie. "There were two ranches on the river where the women, in order to supplement income, kept paying guests through the summer months. The Oscar Sodergreen place was the best equipped for this purpose. The Lund ranch also made a practice of having summer guests. The two families were great rivals in this respect."

NOTE: The Lund ranch bordered the Johnson ranch on the west while the Sodergreen bordered on the east. Mrs. Lund and Mrs. Sodergreen even had similar houses -- large, log, two-story structures, and were very competitive with each other.

"The fishing on the Big Laramie was very good and Mrs. Sodergreen had many folks, as did the Lunds, some who came from as far away as Denver. Most of these people came by horse and buggy from Laramie, as the auto was just coming in to use. After the autos got more popular and folks could go further afield, most of the summer resort business resolved into Sunday dinners.

"Mrs. Lund and Mrs. Sodergreen used to have dinner for as many as 75 people. And when I talk about dinners, they were really out of this world! These folks had large gardens so that there were a lot of fresh vegetables. Fish was the main dish. There was also lots of home-grown chicken, beef and pork; homemade ice cream and pies of all kinds. All of this feast for seventyfive cents. No wonder the bankers, lawyers, merchants, doctors and many others came out for Sunday dinner!

"Well, my mother having built a new house, thought that she could make a little pin money also. So she started to serve the bankers and lawyers also. It was my job to see that there were always plenty of fresh fish for Sunday. Now Mr. Edward Ivinson, who was the owner of the First National Bank, used to like to come to our place because we didn't have such a crowd. He had a large, enclosed Winston car driven by a chauffeur and that was some style in those days."

It is assumed that, during this time, the "summer kitchen" was constructed. When Everett and Margaret moved to the ranch in 1952, a delapidated, part log, part wood frame building stood right in front of the living room window and only a few steps from the kitchen door of the main house. A milk room and ice house had been in the log portion and the room with the stove was the summer kitchen and it was of frame construction. Because everything had to be prepared "from scratch" the ranch woman who was preparing for a crowd had to rise early to bake her bread, pies, etc. in/on a wood stove as well as do the preparation of other items for the meal. (Such as killing and dressing chickens if they were on the menu.)

In the summertime, by cooking in the summer kitchen, the house stayed cool and guests were served in there. Water from the hand pump in the well was near by. Water to do the dishes and laundry had to be heated on the stove and many stoves also had a chamber on the side called a "reservoir" in which water also heated.

Children, especially the girls, had to work hard too, and when the dinner was finished, everything had to be cleaned up. Everett's Aunt Bada used to recall that one of her jobs was to scrub the rough wood floor on her hands and knees, a job which she hated.

Wes related that religion was an important part of their lives, also. "Religious worship was not neglected and some of the folks had a minister come out from town and an outdoor meeting would be held on one of the places where there were trees and lots of shade. Refreshments were always served... Here at home we also kept up with weekly Sunday services. My folks, being Swedish, on some occasions had the Swedish minister out for the weekend. On one of these occasions, a very funny thing happened.

"The old log house we lived in had one large room, 18' by 20'. This room had an outside door to the north. Now it so happened that on this Sunday morning the family was called in at ten o'clock for Bible reading and prayers. The day being warm, the door was open. After the Scripture was read, all present got down on their knees for a session of prayer. Now it so happened that Eva and I had a large pet cat that loved to be petted. The minister at this moment was earnestly exhorting the Lord to save our souls. His eyes were closed, and his head was lowered to the level of the chair.

"Now arrived a dramatic moment. The cat walked in the door, his tail on high. He took one look, and walked under the face of the preacher where that tail of his brushed the face of the man of God. Startled beyond description, the poor man broke off his prayer and made some remark not intended for the ears of the heavenly hosts. Eva and I, also being greatly startled, took off for the door on our hands and knees." Wes recalled they were trying to hold their laughter until they escaped because they knew they'd be punished if they laughed during the prayer.

"Once outside, we ran for the woods to escape what might be the wrath of God or Mother."

Wes related, "In 1905, the people of the community started a project to build a church... There being more Lutherans active in the project, they took the lead. Jonas Berglund and Nate Johnson were the leaders in cutting and hauling the logs from the mountains."

Others also helped build the church but actual log work was done by workers experienced in building with logs. The church was named the "Harmony Church" and by one account it received the name "Harmony" from a man who made a sizeable donation towards the construction in return for their using that name.

"Everybody used the church - preachers, farm organizations, politicians and many others. A barn was built west of the church because many folks came to the meetings by horse and buggy. When more cars came in to use, it was the common thing for someone during a meeting to always be going out to warm up the car to keep the engine from freezing. The cowhide robes used to keep the passengers warm on the way were then thrown over the radiator and motor to help keep them warm longer. There was no antifreeze in those days. The women of the community had an organization called the 'Kensington' which was the backbone of church activities.

Everett has memories of going to Christmas programs at the church. A freshly cut Christmas tree was put up and decorated with lighted candles during Christmas services and programs. Many fires occurred because of this custom because, although the trees were fresh and green when they were cut, the needles dried very rapidly.

In about 1960, this church, which was no longer used, was moved to West Laramie where it became "Grace Chapel". Wes's grand-daughter Joyce remembers the day they moved the church and she watched it going down the road.

Church services are still held in the community from time to time at the Harmony school, and women in the community prepare the annual Easter breakfast served following Easter sunrise services. However, with the advent of surfaced roads and faster cars, most people go to Laramie to attend services of the denomination of their choice.

About the first automobile in the community, Wes wrote: "The first car to drive our roads was owned by Mr. Emmonds who owned the Riverside ranch at that time, the year being about 1907. The car he drove was a Franklin. It was air cooled and the hood was round like a five-gallon oil drum. When you went to town and saw in the distance this car coming, you unhooked your team and held them until this monster had gone by. Horses were deathly afraid of cars at first and many a runaway was caused by them. But as much as people thought that cars were no good, you could not stop progress. With the coming of the auto, we got better roads and in time, with good transportation, life on the ranches was much easier... By 1914, many of the folks were driving cars and the buggy horse was on his way out."

Now, back to the history of the ranch. After Alex's death in 1888, his brother, Jacob, took over the ranch, leasing it out while he worked at the school in the winter time.

In the 1890's when the Union Pacific Railroad needed money and decided to sell some of the sections of land which they held, it was discovered that the Johnson ranch was on a Union Pacific Section. On October 29, 1890, the Union Pacific deeded section thirty-one (31) and other lands to the Wyoming Central Land and Improvement Company.

In a warranty deed dated November 7, 1894, the Wyoming Central Land and Improvement Company deeded to Jacob E. Johnson lots one and two and the NE 1/4 of Section 31, Township 14 North, Range 76 West for a consideration of $1,030.68. So the Johnson family after having operated the ranch as their own for over thirteen years, acquired a deed for the property. In 1908, Jacob also got a 160 acre Homestead tract which bordered his land on the north. Later, he also acquired a right to run cattle on the Medicine Bow Forest.

Jacob and Sophia raised six children: Nate, Bada, Carl, Oscar, Eva and the youngest Wesley,who was born in 1892. All of the children attended grade and high school in Laramie. Nate and Carl both married and ranched in the Harmony community. Oscar, also married, was a mail carrier in Laramie for many years.

Bada married Herbert Jonte'who became a chemistry professor at the University of California at Stockton. Eva married a young mining engineer named Howard Gray and they also moved to California. Wes married Geil Bovee, local school teacher from Shawnee, Oklahoma, but more about that later. All had children excepting Carl and his wife Edna (Gabrielson, aunt of local ranchwoman, Ialene Engen).

Children of the families live primarily in California, Arizona and South Dakota. Their professions have included doctors, professors, engineers, teachers and others and of course, one rancher, Everett. (Without him, we wouldn't have written this account.)

Each generation has sought more education than the previous one and all have achieved good lives in this great country. Only Nate's youngest daughter, Bertha and her husband, Bill Harvey and Wes's son Everett and his wife, Margaret, have remained in the Laramie area.

Wes entered Laramie High School in 1907, one year after it had been built. Before that, anyone going beyond eighth grade went to prep school at the University of Wyoming. Laramie High School had about 120 students at this time and there were enough big boys to make up a football team. Wes wrote: "So we organized a team with the blessing of the school and the help of the businessmen of the town. The merchants of Laramie put up money for our uniforms and other equipment. As a football team, we were probably pretty green. Nevertheless, Laramie High School played nearly all the high school teams in Wyoming during the two years I played with the team, and we won most of our games. In 1911, we won the State championship... I played the tackle spot."

After finishing high school, Wesley helped his father on the ranch until he went to World War I. Before he left for the War, he had met and courted Geil Bovee, originally from Shawnee, Oklahoma. Geil had attended the University of Wyoming, receiving her "Normal Degree" in 1915. (This was a two-year teaching degree).

While teaching at the Harmony school, she received $60 a month. She boarded at the home of Wesley's brother, Nate and his wife, Anna and family and there, in 1916, she and Wes met. She wrote that on their first date, they drove a Dodge car with a top and side curtains to a football game behind Merica Hall. The game was held in an open field with no seating and they felt lucky to drive up a,-id watch from the comfort of the car!

In 1919, after Wes returned from WWI, he and Geil were married. While he was gone, Geil contracted the often fatal influenza that struck during the epidemic of WWI. She survived but never regained her full strength after that.

Wes and Geil moved to the ranch where Wes helped his father and together they borrowed money to purchase a bunch of cattle for $5,000. A recession hit and they sold the same cattle for $3,000, leaving them $2,000 in debt.

Then Wes and Geil moved to Wheatland where they spent a year with Geil's family on a farm. However, Geil's father was a carpenter by trade and his love was building barns, not farming. Geil's parents were named Sarah and James Massey Bovee. They also had come to Wyoming from Shawnee, Oklahoma because Geil's sister, Gladys, had tuberculosis (called "consumption" at that time) and she was in the sanitarium in Basin, Wyoming, hoping to recover. Her parents wanted to be closer to her. However, she died in Basin.

Everett Elge Johnson was born on July 5, 1921 while the family was in Wheatland. However, he was born in Cheyenne because Wheatland did not have any medical facilities. Wes and Geil also had a daughter, Carol Ann, born in 1933.

After Geil's mother died, her father moved to the ranch and lived with Wes and Geil. In 1936, at 74 years of age, he engineered and helped build the barn which still stands on the ranch. Well built and sturdy, the only repair work to date has been a new roof. The following year, James Bovee, master barn-builder, died.

Back to the ranch history: Jacob died in 1922 and Wesley and Geil moved back to the ranch from Wheatland. They bought the ranch from Wesley's mother taking on a $3,500 debt. They leased the ranch out and the family moved to Laramie where Wes worked at the Standard of Indiana Refinery for $6 a day. After working for five years, he was able to pay off the debt and had enough money left to buy a "model T" Ford car. The family moved out to the ranch permanently in 1927 when Everett was six years old.

Everett attended the rural Sodergreen school where he finished the eighth grade. He recalls walking 1 1/4 miles each way to the school house, a log cabin building heated by the old, wood-burning, pot-bellied stove. He would stop on the way at the neighboring ranch where he was joined by John Perry Sodergreen and they would walk in the shelter of the trees along the river when it was cold and play as they went on the warmer days. He and John Perry were best of friends and it was a sad day when, shortly after World War II, he learned that John Perry had perished when he failed to return in his plane to the aircraft carrier on which he was based. (The family had moved from the Harmony community some years previously.)

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