The Ogden's and their traveling trunk arrive in Santaquin Utah

As mentioned earlier, the William and Mary Ogden family settled down in Santaquin Utah and began to learn the new lifestyle of the western high desert country.  Even today Santaquin remains a rather small rural community about 20 miles south of Provo Utah.  It is a crossroads and gateway of sorts where the roads divide and travelers must make a decision.  The trail to the west and south leads to the arid west desert, sparse in vegetation, but rich in minerals and precious metals.  And like any mining area it also hosted wild mining towns such as Eureka, Tintic, and numerous other camps. However a southbound traveler would find the Wasatch and Manti LaSalle mountains and the rich agricultural valleys of Sanpete and Sevier Counties.  And then in the very south there was Dixie, with its warm weather climate  and the town of St. George that hosted the beginnings of the first temple in the west.

The Ogden family had a mind to settle in Santaquin, mostly because they had family and friends there who had come earlier from the Bolton and Manchester areas of England.  Names like Openshaw and Greenhaugh appear in several family history's as some who helped the Ogden’s in one way or another and those names can also be found in Mary Vickers extended family genealogy.  Inasmuch as it was late in the season they immediately set about to prepare for winter by using their most abundant strengths: the ability to work hard and also to work together.  They cut and hauled wood from surrounding canyons and by winter had one of the largest woodpiles in Santaquin.  From then on it was a matter of trade, barter, and work on "shares" which meant receiving  a percentage of production.

When spring came they rented some land and learned to be farmers and planted wheat, corn, potatoes, and sugar cane.  William Jr. and John went to work in a shingle mill and were paid in shingles which were used on the home they were building.  They took the remainder to Salt Lake City and traded for supplies including a subscription to the Deseret News.

It was religion that compelled these immigrants to gather in Utah, at least for the most part.  But the added dividend was the ability to own their land.  Most of those who had come from Great Britain had spent their entire lives as tenants and share croppers for the wealthy aristocracy of the country; with never a dream of owning their own land.  When 5 acre parcels were put up for drawing north of Santaquin, the Ogden's were awarded four of them as a family. They immediately began to improve and fence and prepare for spring planting.  But after two years of work it became apparent that the land was marginal and also the water was scarce.  They had invested 3 years in this place and now they needed to make a decision on whether to pull up stakes and look for something better, or stay put and hope for improvement.  So with that decision looming we will close and wait for another entry...  soon to come.