Many More Adventures

Hey You!  Are you still there?!  Well listen up, we’ve been doing a lot more than what my mom has posted, she’s just very slowly getting around to everything.  So stay tuned for more!…………………………………….

p.p.s

On the way home from our Richard’s Gap trip, we stopped at the Flaming Gorge Dam to look at it up close. It’s been a long time since I drove (okay, I technically rode) over that thing AT LEAST twice a day!  It was still pretty cool.  And we loved the bridge.  I taught the boys to hold their breath while we went over it.

 

It was raining in Indian Canyon when we went through later that day and I made Carlos stop at the summit.  It was so pretty!

 

p.s.

Ava was way super cute!  She was just learning to walk and I caught her going down!

 

   

 

Richard’s Gap, part 4

Scroll down for Part 3.

 

Does anyone remember this?

Anyone who went to visit us for any length of time probably at least heard about Bill Pidgeon.  Let’s just say that I was always positive that while riding my bike- with my back to the road leading to his grave, that there would be a headless horseman coming after me.  A little dramatic, yes.  Typical of me, yes.  We all loaded up into the cabs of the two trucks and went on a little adventure.  The roads were washed out really bad and on several occasions we (mom and I) were screaming and panicking because we were sure the truck was about to tumble into certain destruction.  But the drivers were much more confident in their own and the trucks’ abilities.  And they checked out the bad spots before deciding to continue.  I didn’t really get any good pictures of the washed out parts.  I was probably too worried and doubtful.  There were several spots, some much worse than this.  At least I think they were.  But then again, I’m a little dramatic and tend to exaggerate.

   

I don’t remember this little valley just before the grave being so beautiful.  I actually don’t remember it even being there.  But that’s probably because I was always so scared when we going there, usually to show cousins and have Dad tell “The Story.”

 

Afterwards, there were some antelope running along as we drove down the dirt path. 

While these trees still look small, they are actually quite large.  You can see them from where we lived and I always thought of them as bonsai trees.

 

I can never seem to get a good shot of the moon when I’m really trying, but I can get a decent one while bouncing along a rough path and randomly shooting. 

 

Another scary part on the way home.  We had to wait for a while for them to walk quite a bit and see if we could make it and go the full loop, or if we needed to turn around and go back the way we came.  Luckily, it wasn’t too bad and they did great!

 

So, what is the story of Bill Pidgeon, you ask?  This version is a little different than the one Dad’s always told, but essentially all of the facts are the same.  The main point being that he was headless.  Hence the terror filled bike rides.  Or over-imaginative-induced bike rides.  What’s funny is that when we went there, I had no fear this time.  I think I’ve grown, as has my understanding of a lot of things.

This history is taken from http://www.prospector-utah.com/brown.htm.   It actually has a lot of information about the area and is interesting (I didn’t read it all, partly because of the very distracting and annoying background.)  It also has some cool pictures of Brown’s Park…including….get ready….the Swinging Bridge!  You’ve got to check it out!  Just click on the pictures button at the top of the page.  Anyway, on to the story…

Site - 4 CHEROKEE BILL PIGEON'S GRAVE

Cherokee Bill Pigeon was a Cherokee Indian from Oklahoma, and a one-time member of the Dalton Gang, who had fled to Brown's Park after killing a man in a gunfight in the Nations. For a time he lived at Little Hole with the Tom Crowley Gang, where they distilled whiskey to sell to the Indians on the reservation at Fort Hall, Idaho, until driven out of Little Hole by Cleophas J. Dowd, who claimed it as his range.

Cherokee Bill was a some-time member of several local gangs thereafter, notably the Bassett Gang, led by impetuous young Ebb "Kid" Bassett. He was a friend of John "Judge" Bennett, until that erstwhile companion was hanged from the gatepost of the Bassett Ranch by an irate mob for assisting Harry Tracy, Dave Lant, and Pat Johnson, after the murder of Brown's Park rancher Valentine Hoy in 1898.

Pigeon had a falling-out with young Ebb Bassett and moved into the sheep-wagon of another friend in a little valley northwest of Clay Basin, which has since been known as Pigeon Basin in his memory. He got into an argument with the sheepherder, who summarily shot him to death, his body falling out of the sheep-wagon and over the wagon-tongue. After an inquest, the body was buried on a nearby knoll.

That was not the end of Cherokee Bill Pigeon's story, however. Ebb Bassett, who was feeling irate about being cheated out of his revenge upon Pigeon, for real or imagined wrongs, found a posthumous vengeance. A Rock Springs doctor had offered a reward for a human skull to complete a skeleton he was constructing for display purposes. Kid Bassett saw his opportunity. He rode to Pigeon Basin, dug up Cherokee Bill's body, and cut off the head.

Carrying the severed head in a gunny-sack, Bassett stopped at Jesse Ewing's old abandoned cabin and put the grisly relic into a pot on the stove, to boil away the skin. While waiting, Bassett took a blanket outside and spread it beneath a cedar tree and lay down in the warm sunshine to take a nap.

Meanwhile, four or five of Bassett's friends rode up Jesse Ewing Canyon from Brown's Park, looking for him. Seeing the smoke coming from the cabin, the men stopped and went inside, waiting for Bassett to return. After a while, Ebb Bassett awoke from his nap and sleepily ambled back into the cabin, where his friends awaited, seated at the little wooden table.

"Well, hello, Ebb," said Joe Davenport, one of the men. "We helped ourselves to some of your soup; hope you don't mind!"

 

I couldn’t really find any other information online about it but I just want to say again, how much I enjoyed being there in the wide, open spaces.  It was great!

We had some Smore’s  later that night after some yummy burgers and hot dogs. 

  

The next morning, we got packed up and some of us caught the Dutch John Ward on our way home.  Good times!

Richard’s Gap, part 3

So, like I mentioned, there was a lot of shooting going on.  We had a lot of fun, and extreme safety precautions are always used.  The kids really enjoyed shooting the little rifle that Grandpa had.  I actually liked it best, too. 

The girls all had a competition with the shotguns.  Man, do they have a kick.  Especially if you pull both triggers at the same time, shooting out of both barrels.  I didn’t do it, but others did.  And you don’t have a chance at hitting the disk thing (um, what’s it called?…) with Kelly in the line. She’s good.  Really good.  At least we tried!   

 

The guys all shot too, and did well.  Wait, I think that’s Kelly shooting with them in this picture too.  And she probably hit a lot of the disks there.  She’s really good.

These are the targets dad had set up for shooting with the rifles they were flat when we started…  I didn’t do too bad myself, if I do say so.  And Austin just liked wearing the earplugs, even when he didn’t need to.  Zach did too.  I found some a couple of weeks ago and they each went around with one in one ear for a while.  I thought it was pretty cute.

 

Richard’s Gap, part 2

After the rocks, we stopped at another favorite hang-out spot.  Red Creek.  Or Crick.  It rarely has more water in it than what you see and it’s mostly mud.  The kids had a blast and so, I must say, did the adults.  You stand on the mud and it wiggles like Jello and you slowly start to sink until you hit solid ground.  It’s usually only a few inches, but I remember as a kid finding spots where I could get almost up to my knees.  The fact that I was even shorter then is irrelevant.  Oh, the mud.  Oh, the glory!

 

 

Everyone is actually sunk down in here.  It’s so cool!

 

 

 

And then it’s time for a nap!

This is what I feel like doing too, and I hope to be in bed sooner than later tonight!

More tomorrow…I know that the suspense is too much to bear!

Richard’s Gap Reunion, part 1

Back in August we all went up to Richard’s Gap to spend time with my dad and each other and relive some good times.  There was also a lot of shooting, we all had turns and had a good time.  Here are some pictures, I know that I always put tons of pictures, but that’s what tells a story for me and I can never narrow it down enough!  Those of you that wonder why I have a hard time living in populated areas, this is why.  Even though I do enjoy a lot of the perks of populated living, sometimes I just yearn for the peace and openness.  While there, I just feel that I can breath better. 

We used to play up on these rocks all the time.  The different holes and ledges were the rooms of our house.  I was more afraid of it this time, especially with the little kids climbing up on some of those places.  This room with the hole, where Amy is, was our “kitchen". 

 

More to come on our adventures!