Reason number 72 to keep a journal...

In our morning devotionals, we've been reading about an ancestor - Lucy Hanna White Flake. She married William Jordan Flake, founder of Snowflake, Arizona. (I think she did just as much work to found Snowflake as William did ;D) It has been very interesting to hear her tell of the pioneer lifestyle. She got married at around 16, William was only a few years older. Then he took a second wife after he and Lucy had already been married for 10 years (or was it 13? I can't remember). She explains how hard that was for both of them, but so far in the book has not ever been angry at God, William, or the second wife, Prudence for the decision. Of course, she had to consent to begin with. Wow. They had 4 children die - (so far) which I can only imagine seemed impossible to bear. They were asked by Brigham Young to colonize Arizona, so they went. Lucy talks about how this was much harder than moving from Nauvoo to Utah. At that point, they HAD to go. They were being forced out. But to move to Arizona! She said they could have made excuses... lots of other people did. She describes this move as the hardest thing that could have been asked of them. When they started to AZ, she had a 3 month old. Same age as Jubilee! :) The journey took 3 months. 2 months into it, she became a grandmother, as her oldest son had recently married and his wife had her baby prematurely. It was the coldest day of the season thus far (January) and in the middle of the night. She said she removed her breast from her 5 month old's mouth and went to help with the new baby. She didn't know what she was doing, but it had to be done. During the middle of a major move, with a 5 month old plus other kids, plus trying to feed everyone, she also had to take care of a newborn and new mother. She said after they were out of danger she nearly died herself because of all the stress. They had been living in Beaver, Utah. They first went to somewhere near what is now Brigham City and had a rough time for several months. The water was basically too muddy to be of any use to them. The people in this community were trying to live the United Order, and William had some trouble with that because of a situation where he was trying to help a traveler and he traded some communal property without the consent of the board. He decided to leave that place, and Lucy was sooooo glad - she couldn't wait to get out of there. They bought a farm in a place called Silver Lake and Lucy was thrilled to death to have the clean water! This is now Snowflake. I'm enjoying this book very much and would love to someday meet Lucy. She seems to me to be an amazing woman.