Malad Valley Pioneers

FRED THOMAS

(Written by L.D. Jones in 1922)

Our fellow townsman, Fred Thomas, now in his 78^th year, is a splendid specimen of the pioneers of this country, one of those rugged and fearless, strong characters.  In a short chat recently the writer obtained a few incidents and experiences in life of Mr. Thomas which may interest the readers.

Mr. Thomas is a Welshman, born at Lime Hill, South Wales in 1844, and is proud of his birth.  He is the son of Wm. H. and Ann Williams Thomas.  He does not remember much of his native land, having left there when 9 years of age.  Still he remembers some of the great fairs that he visited.

His father started him in school, which was much against his feelings, and he feigned lameness in order to remain at home.  His father made him a proposition that if he could beat him in a foot race to a certain point he would allow him to remain at home.  The race was run and the father was badly beaten but the boy had to go to school much to the wonder of the lad.

Fred had seven brothers and seven sisters.  Only four of his brothers came to America.  He came to America with his parents in 1853.  They crossed the ocean in a sailing vessel, being six weeks in transit, during which time some rough weather was encountered.  They landed at New Orleans and came up to St. Louis by steamer.  From that city the journey was made by team to Montrose where they camped for a season.  While stopping there, his father visited Nauvoo, Illinois and visited Lucy Smith, the mother of the Prophet Joseph Smith.  She urged him to go to Utah and settle with the Mormon people, and had great faith in Brigham Young, their leader.

Mr. Thomas and his folks came across the plains to Utah with ox teams, under the command of Joseph Young.  He remembers on one occasion of being surrounded by Indians who demanded tribute before allowing them to proceed.  Captain Young advised complying with their demands and they were allowed to proceed on their way, arriving in Salt Lake in October, 1853.  The family remained in Salt Lake that winter.

In February, 1854, his father came to Brigham and located a home and took up a farm.  All the houses in Brigham at that time were located inside a fort in what is now the northwestern part of that city.  He proceeded to build himself a house inside the fort, constructing it of willows, making two walls, plastering them with mud and filling up the space between the two walls with earth, and roofing the house over this a covering of thatched straw.  This earned for him the sobriquet of Wm. Thomas the Willows (Willow House), which served to distinguish the family from the other William Thomases, of which there were several, and the nickname clung to them for many years, even coming to Malad, where they came in the early sixties.

While residing in Brigham the family had some hard experiences with the grasshoppers, which took their crops until the food supply was exhausted.  The people resorted to digging segoes.  Fred says that they came up in large numbers as large as small onions and of a very good quality.  The people were able to subsist on them.  He has never seen them in such abundance since.

A very wonderful circumstance happened at this time relates Mr. Thomas.  He and his father were going to the field one morning to see what could be done to fight the grasshoppers.  His father remarked that he believed that he Lord was going to take a hand in the war, and that they would return home.  The gulls came in great numbers and gorged themselves with grasshoppers than would throw up in heaps, gorge themselves again and repeat the operation until the enemies were destroyed and the crops saved and the grasshopper war was over.

Mr. Thomas became a resident of Malad in 1865, building his first home on Main street, near where the old home of the Evans brothers’ mother now stands. That winter he married Ruth Price, daughter of John Price, one of the earliest settlers of Samaria.  She is the sister of Daniel E. Price of that place.  They have had eleven children, 5 boys and 6 girls, 9 of whom are living.  They have resided in a number of different places in Malad and at one time in Elkhorn. 

Mr. Thomas has served the public in many positions, from a constable to a deputy sheriff under Sheriff Homer.  He acted as chief of police for years.  He also has ventured into the business world, having engaged in the furniture business’ first alone, and then in partnership, the last being with T.M. Thomas and Jos. W. Dudley.  Fred is good company and enjoys a joke.  He has a robust constitution and bids fair to live many years.  His father was close to 97 years of age at his death.  He has a deep religious conviction and is always ready to defend it.  An interesting hour can be spent listening to Fred relating his experiences.

One of Fred’s characteristics is fearlessness.  He says that as he looks back upon his life now, he can see that he was often unwise in that regard.  It might have cost him his life.  I could relate much more, but this will suffice.

When Fed became a young man, he took to teaming and saw much of the intermountain country.  First Camp Floyd and Carson Valley, then driving 7 yokes of cattle at Fort Bridger in 1861, with his friend, Dave Thomas (Cotton Thomas).  In 1862 we find him teaming in Montana at the time of the discovery of gold.  Wm. H. Jones and he built the first house in Virginia City.  In 1864, he hauled freight to Boise.  Flour was the staple freight at that time.  He recalls some of the prices of those days.  Flour was $100 per 100 lbs., eggs $2 per dozen, salt $1 per pound, etc.

Freighting was rough work in those days.  Roads were new and bridges were crude and the toll master was in the land, and the assumption of them was a wonder.  He relates one occasion coming to a toll bridge that had just been burned, so that the only way to cross was to ford the stream, which they proceeded to do but the toll man demanded his $1 per wagon.  The boys demurred and controversy arose and the toll man brought out his double-barrel.  Mr. Thomas was in the lead and the boys said they would leave it up to him and they handed him a revolver, the only one in the crowd.  He proceeded to ford the stream, ordering the man with the shot gun not to venture too close.  So they got through without paying toll.  When they returned, the bridge was replaced.