Daniel Bertoch - Railroad Incident

I have already documented different accounts of the eye incident Fred received while working on the railroad, which Eda claimed included a back injury. I've wanted to investigate the incident more fully somehow, and the frequency and common types of railroad injuries.

Interestingly enough, I found an article where another family member was injured. This was Daniel Bertoch, Fred's son-in-law, who had married (and later divorced) his eldest daughter Marie. The marriage had only occurred 1.5 months prior, and no doubt Daniel being immediately out of work would have caused a strain on the relationship. The injury here appears to have been less devastating than Fred's, but I am sure was quite difficult. I do not know much about the wheel press, and how Daniel would have had to handle the wheels.

Document Type: Newspaper Article
Written by: Newspaper editor?
Written on: June 14, 1905
Periodical: Deseret Evening News
Originals: Yes
In Possession by: Multiple Venues

Content:

Pocatello, Idaho.

Injured in Car Shops.

Daniel H. Bertoch Has a Leg Broken by Falling Wheel

Special Correspondence.

Pocatello, Ida., June 22.--Daniel H. Bertoch, 37 years of age, an employe[e] of the Oregon Short Line shops here, was seriously injured this afternoon about 3:30 o'clock. He was engaged in rolling a car wheel away from the wheel press, a new work for him, when the wheel fell on him, breaking one leg. He was given medical attention at once.

Mr. Bertock was born in Salt Lake City, but came here from Magrath, Canada, last winter, and recently married Miss Marie Kohlhepp of this city.

Dry Farmer, Creative Problem Solver

Mary Ella wrote a series of reflective articles on her and Fred's past in America Falls, Neeley, and Pocatello in the Spring of 1915 in the local American Falls Press. They've been quite the pleasure to find, and help flesh out some of the gaps in Mary Ella's life prior to meeting Fred, her mother Minerva Wade's activities, as well as Fred's own activities up until his mission in 1905. As always, they suggest further areas for research. I'll start with the April 22, 1915 article, "First Dry Farm Started in 1899" on the front page.

"First Dry Farm Started in 1889

Trials of a Pioneer in Harvesting Wheat with Scythe and Threshing by Hand – No Machinery to Harvest his Crops.
Mrs. Fred J. Kohlhepp Tells of Early Dry Farming Experiences Near American Falls – Inability to Procure Machinery Resulted in Developing Inventive Genius of Mr. Kohlhepp.

On April 7^th, 1889, Mr. Fred J. Kohlhepp went on his dry farm situated about five miles south of American Falls. He succeeded in getting in a few acres of grain and proved to his own satisfaction that dry land grain could be raised there.

He could get no machinery to harvest his crop and had to cut it with a scythe and thresh it by hand. This did not pay, so after spending all the money he had on hand, building and fencing, he returned to Pocatello on December 12^th and went to work again in the car shops. The next two years he spent in Pocatello trying to get money to buy machinery to improve his homestead, going on it only every six months to comply with the law, which was not as strict as the present time.

On June 16, 1893 he met with an accident from which he never entirely recovered. Being unable to work for wages he determined to make a success of his dry farm and hired help to break about fifty acres of land.

For several years he raised good crops of wheat but could get no machinery to cut or thresh it. Once he persuaded a man with a binder to come and bind his grain and he was filled with hope, when the team came with the machine, but when the man got on the grain field he decided the soil was too soft. It would ruin his binder, he said, so he drove away, leaving Mr. Kohlhepp in despair. But necessity is the mother of invention. He got an old mowing machine and rigged a table behind to catch the grain which was raked off by hand when enough was cut to make a bundle, thus saving several stacks.

Being unable to get it threshed he constructed a merry-go-round, using the horses to tramp the grain and thresh it with their feet. He raised good wheat and corn in 1897 when there was no rain from April to October.

In 1900 he decided to raise rye and feed it to cattle so he might have success even if the threshers failed him, so he put in about fifty acres, which yielded an excellent crop, the whole field averaging six feet in height. This drew the attention of all who came near. Many made special trips to see the wonderful dry land crop and said: “Why cannot we do likewise?” Some of them did and from that time dry land farming has grown until American Falls is one of the largest grain shipping points in the United States.

Mr. Kohlhepp had been laughed and jeered at and told his land was not worth five cents per acre, and asked if he could raise enough to feed the rabbits, which indeed were a great pest, but he persisted and proved his principle, not only in raising grain, but potatoes, peas and other products.

Had machinery been available Mr. Kohlhepp would have proved his theory twenty-three years ago, that wherever grass will grow, grain will grow, but pioneers must have patience and it sometimes take a life time to prove a principle."

Several items of interest:

(a) 1889 and Neeley property -- I assume this is the Neeley land, which I believe BLM has land grant records of. I'll need to corroborate this.

(b) Railroad work -- Notice how the article states he "went to work again in the car shops," implying that he'd worked in the car shops in Pocatello prior to 1889. I also believe his autobiography describes him doing railroad work in the West during his travels in the early 80's.

It's interesting to see for what purpose he did the railroad work -- it was for the end goal of making a success of his farm, and getting help for his land. It was ambitious, and as noted, tragic.

(c) The incident referenced feels like it means the eye incident that left him blind in one eye. A devastating injury for a 31 year old, at least according to the time that this article noted. It no doubt changed the course of Fred's life and financial prospects.

(d) The creativity Fred had here to solve his problems is impressive, and something I've wanted to understand further. I can only vaguely understand and visualize how the mower and the cattle merry go round worked. I'm curious how the animal hoof threshing didn't destroy the grain. But to be honest, I know very little about farming, so I've got a lot to learn here.

(e) Other little details: rabbit issues, public ridicule to public admiration

It's rather sad that Fred didn't have more success, in proving out a theory that others in the community then profited far more from.

Mary Ella Hickman Autobiography 1:

In 1977, Glendy Baddley donated to the LDS Church Historicial department a document by Mary Ella Kohlhepp Martineau that described her family history in her matriarchal line from the American colonial days down to her own life. With each of the historical personages, she writes as if she were them, but stays close to her actual family history. The document was written likely somewhere between 1933-1938 when she was living at 270 Vine Street in Salt Lake City, Utah. It can still be seen in the Church Archives in Salt Lake City as MS 5739 under the title "Story of the lives of her great-grandmother Mary Thayer Bundy, her mother, Minerva Wade Hickman, and herself." In her account, Mary Ella mentions some information about Fred and their family arrangements during their marriage. This comes from pages 6-7 of the account. I will share the other half of the account in the next post:

When I married in 1886, we went on a homestead in Idaho. There were great expenses building fencing, clearing the sagebrush off the land, and everything that goes with building a new country. Often the two of us lived on less than a dollar a week. We could buy one hundred pounds of potatoes for fifty cents. Jackrabbits were plentiful and my husband was a good shot. Our meat diet was cottontail or bunny fried in butter.

When we had exhausted all our means on the homestead, my husband got his job back in Pocatello. Every six months, however, it was necessary to return to the ranch in order to hold it. Before we proved upon it my husband met with an accident and lost the sight of one eye. He thought if I had to take the living I could do better in some town where he could help raise a garden. We got a little home ten miles from Ogden. I made coats into capes as capes were then the fashion, and did dress-making and sewing of all sorts.

When our six months were up my husband again returned to the homestead to look after things. He wrote to me to follow [him to Idaho] as a man had decided to jump our claim if we did not return. We had two mares with colts, and I rigged up a white top buggy, filled the box with food and clothing, and a bed on top of everything, put in my five little children and on the fifteenth of September 1884 we started out.

p.7

When we reached Curlew Valley it snowed so we stayed three days at my brother's. After leaving my brother's we camped at night. I gave the children their supper then told them stories until they went to sleep.

My oldest daughter asked me recently if I remembered how the wolves howled around our camp when we were going back to Idaho to save our homestead. She said, "I think they were trying to get the colts." It was such a dreary lonely place and she was afraid of their mournful howl, but when she would mention that I would only say, "It's nothing but coyotes," and go on with the story. She thought that if I was not afraid it was all right. She says I taught her the greatest psychology in her childhood she has ever learned. "If it is anything bad the Lord won't let it hurt you. If it is anything good it won't hurt you, so don't be afraid of anything."

NOTES:

1. It is interesting how Mary Ella only refers to Fred as "my husband." Other accounts in the story mention Moses Wade her grandfather, but she never mentions her father (Wild Bill Hickman) or Fred directly. Since many names of men, besides these, are neglected, it may not have been a specific choice to omit Fred's name alone. Perhaps her new marriage also influenced this.

2. Mary Ella mentions a lot about their trying to "prove up" a homestead in Idaho. She mentions the hard toil in clearing out the land for their work. She also explains how poverty stricken they both were out there. Fred's shooting skills are noted, and how he kept shooting Cottontail to put meat into their diet.

3. It looks like the life on the homestead grew too hard with tthe lack of finances. Fred had to work in Pocatello (over at the railroad, which this account does not mention), but then had that terrible eye incident as I mentioned in prior posts. With his inability to see out of one eye, Mary Ella implies here that Fred couldn't find other manual labor as he had done throughout his life. People apparently didn't want to hire someone with poor vision, and who didn't have the healthiest build to boot. Mary Ella claims that it was Fred's suggestion that she should become the primary bread winner after this point, and that he would supplement the family's income/provisions by creating a garden. Ella did a lot of seamstress work, and she was quite excellent. My grandmother still has many nice lace tablecloths that Ella made. They moved near Ogden, UT, which is where Mary Ella's mother, Minerva Wade Hickman lived. However, they still wanted to keep their land in Idaho, and they couldn't leave the land too long or they would lose their right to possess it. The Ogden moved was out of desperation; they still wanted their Idaho home. Fred took the effort to head back and check on the land. But this was no easy for them to juggle, especially when someone else had wanted to jump their claim. Imagine being a mother throwing 5 young kids into a buggy and riding across rugged country to Idaho! The howling of those wolves certainly would have been frightening. Mary Ella mentioned staying three nights at her brother's. She had many brothers, so I am not sure which one she is referring to here.

4. She mentioned leaving in September 1884, but this must either be a typo or an error. She wasn't married until 1886, so how can she have left for Idaho with 5 kids by then? 1894 might be more likely. I will have to go through my gedcom and see if she had 5 living children by then.

Idaho, Shakespeare and the German Police (Lisonbee Account 5)

I continue on with Eda’s account:

“They lived in North Ogden after their marriage with grandma, Minerva Wade Hickman. They bought a home later in Pocatello, Idaho, Fred and Eda were born here but father never was happy there. Then they moved to Plain City, their son Moses was born here. Father had a back injury and and eye blinded in a R.R. shop accident in Pocatello. They couldn’t make a living on their small fruit farm in Plain City, so they homesteaded land 6 miles south of American Falls, Idaho. It was the beloved home of the family. There we were raised. The house was big with a dirt roof. The roof leaked when the storms were too long. The long winters were spent father reading aloud to the family. One winter he read all of Shakespeares plays, and acted them out. He read them in such a way we could understand and love them. We all spent the winter quoting Skhakespear. He read the best leterature, histories. When we were in High School all his reading really helped us. Fathr was the first person to raise dry land wheat in Idaho, there was an article in the newspaper about this. He may have raised the best wheat in the whole West.

When my father was 45 years old he was called to Germany on a mission for the Church. He knew the language and being an older man did a lot of good. People listened to him and he made many converts. The German police finely got after him for preaching the Gospel, and encouraging the people to leave Germany and come to Zion. He had a hard time excaping from them.”

Commentary:

1. Eda is helpful in giving us some details about Fred’s life after his marriage and before his mission, of which there is little information. She does not mention how long they were in North Ogden before they moved to Pocatello, but the birth places of the children help. Marie Elizabeth was born almost exactly 9 months (plus 8 days) after their marriage, so she must have been a honeymoon baby (or so we hope). They must have been sealed right after they had Marie. It would be good to find the original temple sealing date from the Logan temple. Minerva was born also in North Ogden on August 28, 1888. However, by Fred’s birth in July 28, 1891, they were living in Pocatello, Idaho (Although my PAF states American Falls; might want to check the records here). Eda’s birth on January 25, 1893 does correspond with the Pocatello location, as does Moses Wade’s Plain City birth location on November 7, 1894. She doesn’t mention Sarah, so she likely was born in American Falls, but I will have to do the homework here.

2. I appreciate Eda mentioning that Fred didn’t like Pocatello, but she does not explain why. That is too bad.

3. Eda mentions the eye incident, but combines it with a back injury I was unaware of. Were they separate events? No record that I am aware of explains HOW Fred got the eye injury. But oral history and my family’s PAF has explained how Fred got blind in the one eye. I will bring up the PAF account later. It is interesting to note that Fred does not complain about his back or eye in his correspondence. That he has a fake/lame eye is easily observed from later photographs, which I will also begin to post soon.

4. Eda is the only person I know who mentions they tried to live off a small fruit farm in Plain City. I will have to look into this more.

5. Homesteading. I know that Fred and Mary Ella successfully homesteaded in American Falls, and I know that Minerva tried to do so as well, but failed. I would like to read up on what actually is required in this procedure to gain this land.

6. The beloved home. I am glad that Eda speaks warmly of the home here. I ordered scans of the home from the Minerva Teichert papers available at BYU and there are also some pictures available from the Hope Hilton papers at the University of Utah. I will post as I can. I would like to do some photo restoration work with Photoshop before I upload them, to get rid of damage, tears and splotches.

7. Literature. This is one of other accounts where I have heard Fred read Shakespeare to the children. He also had various history books in the home. My mother has some of the books that Fred once had, and I believe one was on the history of the punic wars. Again, I will have to check my information, but I will be at my mother’s home tomorrow to check to make sure.

8. Dry wheat farming. Eda is correct in stating Fred was the one he introduced the dry wheat farming according to the tradition and according to newspaper articles. Tom Dille, whose father lived next to Fred, wrote about how Fred brought in the dry wheat farming to Idaho. I will post those articles soon.

9. Called on a mission when 45 years old. This cannot be correct, Fred was 43 when he started his mission, based on his birthday, passport application, and mission correspondence. How did mission calls work back then? Did Fred apply for the call, or was he independently called?

10. Mission success. Eda claims Fred had a lot of success on his mission. He did baptise and confirm some people based on his journal account, but he wasn't the most explicate in spelling out how many converts he made. I have gone back to some of the branch records from Switzerland and gathered some information, but there is still more work to do here.

11. Towards the end of Fred's mission, his record gets sparce, but based on his correspondence you can tell that there is some problem going on. Eda more fully expounds the issue being with the German police. Some BYU Student wrote an excellent dissertation on the missionary effort in Germany right around this time that I will have to read more fully to understand the exact tensions.