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Silas Morrell was dying. His family was still young, way too young to be fatherless in the Wild West of Frontier Utah in 1891. His beloved wife Luzernia was now pregnant with their sixth child. There final desperate attempt at saving his life was to move to a better climate where his emphysema would be better. They packed up their 29 head of dairy cows Silas Springs on top of Fish Lake Mountain, their 5.75 children and everything they could take with them in their wagon and headed to Old Mexico and the Mormon Colonies where they had relatives. They traveled with the Pierce and Taylor families.
Trouble soon began and a whole series of tragedies stringed together and changed the Morrell Family forever. At Farmington, New Mexico they turned around due to Silas's health continuing to deteriorate and the promises of a new home in the promised land vanished once again. They knew hardship having been born of parents who had been run out of Missouri with an extermination order in the dead of winter across the ice of the frozen Mississippi River watching their beloved Nauvoo burn as they fled. Establish their freedom in the Utah Territory which was a Wild Untamed Frontier with many challenges, dangers and opportunities along the way.
The whole question of polygamy caused a war with the United States which spanned over 50 years causing much heartache and many deprivations for my ancestors. Luzerni'a parents were among those persecuted for their religious beliefs. Much more can be said about these times including that important fact that the US government shut down the silver mines in Colorado and caused a deep financial depression. Money was already scarce and then it got more difficult to survive.
Silas Morrell was disintegrating, Luzernia was very pregnant, the dairy cows were sold and/or traded for other cattle on the LaSal's but the new cattle were wild and the circumstances dictated that Luzernia couldn't recover their dairy cows. On their way home to Wayne County in the spring of 1891 they attempted to cross the Grand River (Colorado) at Moab. The flooding and raging currents caused quick sand and William Wilson Morrell hurt his back so bad it took him 5 months recovery time in Moab before he could travel again.
Luzernia needed to feed her family now they couldn't get across the Grand River in the wild floods of 1891 so they traveled on over to Dove Creek, Colorado and the Durango area. The two oldest girls, Chloe and Mary got work cleaning and cooking. There was a lot of work around at that time because the N guage railroad down the Delores River Canyon was being put in. Rico said you put it in now or never.
The significance of this establishes the actual place of birth for Ernest Morrell. Before the railroad came through just below Rico the Delores River was in a narrow part of the canyon and the freight wagons would make a messy, muddy bog each summer and they called it "The Muddy Dubb". This is according to Grandpa Butler of Dove Creek, Colorado. After that summer, 1891, the railroad carried the freight and the river no longer got muddy and the name "The Muddy Dubb" disappeared from history.
During the Grand Adventures in Colorado on May 9, 1891, bouncing baby Ernest Morrell was born in the buckboard of the wagon on the Muddy Dubb. Luzernia and Ernest were great, healthy and happy. When they moved the buckboard, there were rattle snakes underneath!
It was while my Great-Great-Grandmother Luzernia was traveling in Colorado with her family when a wounded man approached their camp asking for help saying there were outlaws out there. The man had a life threatening bullet wound in his leg and was bleeding to death. Luzernia used his black kerchief and stopped the bleeding, saving his life. He introduced himself as Bill Long (William Henry Long). Luzernia Morrell and her husband Silas invited Bill to travel with them in the wagon and nursed him back to health for 5 weeks.
One of our favorite stories about Bill Long happened in Wayne County, Utah just after Great Grandmother Luzernia was widowed by her first husband Silas. It seems that a banker had given Luzernia a foreclosure deadline on the Fremont homestead. The best homestead on the East side of Rabbit Valley. Right about the same time Bill Long stopped by for a visit. Upon hearing of grandmother Luzernia's plight, Bill provided her with enough cash to pay off the mortgage. After all, they had saved his life in Colorado so it's the least he could do. Bill instructed Luzernia to be sure and get the signed deed from the banker before he left the house with the money. Oddly enough the banker got robbed of the mortgage money on his way back to his bank according to the local lore.
My Great Grandmother Luzernia eventually married Bill Long and moved to Duchesne, Utah. Whoever Bill Long really was, there are two things that remain clear; first, there is evidence of an ongoing cover-up to protect Bill Long's identity and second, the stories associated with Great-Grandpa Bill Long are way too interesting to be those of a humble law abiding citizen of the community. Despite his best efforts, Bill has not been able to rest in peace… I would go covert myself if I knew my bones would be dug up three times!
Trouble soon began and a whole series of tragedies stringed together and changed the Morrell Family forever. At Farmington, New Mexico they turned around due to Silas's health continuing to deteriorate and the promises of a new home in the promised land vanished once again. They knew hardship having been born of parents who had been run out of Missouri with an extermination order in the dead of winter across the ice of the frozen Mississippi River watching their beloved Nauvoo burn as they fled. Establish their freedom in the Utah Territory which was a Wild Untamed Frontier with many challenges, dangers and opportunities along the way.
The whole question of polygamy caused a war with the United States which spanned over 50 years causing much heartache and many deprivations for my ancestors. Luzerni'a parents were among those persecuted for their religious beliefs. Much more can be said about these times including that important fact that the US government shut down the silver mines in Colorado and caused a deep financial depression. Money was already scarce and then it got more difficult to survive.
Silas Morrell was disintegrating, Luzernia was very pregnant, the dairy cows were sold and/or traded for other cattle on the LaSal's but the new cattle were wild and the circumstances dictated that Luzernia couldn't recover their dairy cows. On their way home to Wayne County in the spring of 1891 they attempted to cross the Grand River (Colorado) at Moab. The flooding and raging currents caused quick sand and William Wilson Morrell hurt his back so bad it took him 5 months recovery time in Moab before he could travel again.
Luzernia needed to feed her family now they couldn't get across the Grand River in the wild floods of 1891 so they traveled on over to Dove Creek, Colorado and the Durango area. The two oldest girls, Chloe and Mary got work cleaning and cooking. There was a lot of work around at that time because the N guage railroad down the Delores River Canyon was being put in. Rico said you put it in now or never.
The significance of this establishes the actual place of birth for Ernest Morrell. Before the railroad came through just below Rico the Delores River was in a narrow part of the canyon and the freight wagons would make a messy, muddy bog each summer and they called it "The Muddy Dubb". This is according to Grandpa Butler of Dove Creek, Colorado. After that summer, 1891, the railroad carried the freight and the river no longer got muddy and the name "The Muddy Dubb" disappeared from history.
During the Grand Adventures in Colorado on May 9, 1891, bouncing baby Ernest Morrell was born in the buckboard of the wagon on the Muddy Dubb. Luzernia and Ernest were great, healthy and happy. When they moved the buckboard, there were rattle snakes underneath!
It was while my Great-Great-Grandmother Luzernia was traveling in Colorado with her family when a wounded man approached their camp asking for help saying there were outlaws out there. The man had a life threatening bullet wound in his leg and was bleeding to death. Luzernia used his black kerchief and stopped the bleeding, saving his life. He introduced himself as Bill Long (William Henry Long). Luzernia Morrell and her husband Silas invited Bill to travel with them in the wagon and nursed him back to health for 5 weeks.
One of our favorite stories about Bill Long happened in Wayne County, Utah just after Great Grandmother Luzernia was widowed by her first husband Silas. It seems that a banker had given Luzernia a foreclosure deadline on the Fremont homestead. The best homestead on the East side of Rabbit Valley. Right about the same time Bill Long stopped by for a visit. Upon hearing of grandmother Luzernia's plight, Bill provided her with enough cash to pay off the mortgage. After all, they had saved his life in Colorado so it's the least he could do. Bill instructed Luzernia to be sure and get the signed deed from the banker before he left the house with the money. Oddly enough the banker got robbed of the mortgage money on his way back to his bank according to the local lore.
My Great Grandmother Luzernia eventually married Bill Long and moved to Duchesne, Utah. Whoever Bill Long really was, there are two things that remain clear; first, there is evidence of an ongoing cover-up to protect Bill Long's identity and second, the stories associated with Great-Grandpa Bill Long are way too interesting to be those of a humble law abiding citizen of the community. Despite his best efforts, Bill has not been able to rest in peace… I would go covert myself if I knew my bones would be dug up three times!
There are OUTLAWS OUT THERE!e