Virginia's memories of Diamond Mountain

The following is an excerpt from the document, "Memories of Asher" written by his daughter, Virginia, year unknown.  It highlights her memories of their time on the Diamond Mountain homestead.  Photos included by me from additional sources:

"...When I was nine or ten years old, our family along with Grandmother Merkley (Keturah) and the Sander family (Aunt Mary) went to Diamond Mountain to homestead some ground.  Each family lived in a one-room log cabin.  Aunt Mary was worried about rats, so she had her sleeping quarters encased in small net wire.  We all thought she was pretty fancy.  In our cabin, Mother packed the dirt floor by putting water on it ever few hours.  When it was almost dry, we would walk over it.  We had a small garden in our front yard.  We had to carry the water from a creek to keep it growing.  We raised peas, beets, radishes, lettuce.  These are the things I remember.

"Merkleys on Diamond Mountain"
Photo from the personal albums of David Ahrnsbrak

Dad had cattle, horses and sheep.  He was the first landowner on Diamond Mountain to fence his land.  It made the sheepmen very angry.  They were used to driving their herds across and taking the best of the feed for their animals, leaving nothing much for the owner.

"Buffie Sander, Ellen Merkley, Kathryn Sander, 1926
Diamond Mountain Homestead"
Photo from the personal albums of Ellen Fletcher

Dad taught me how to find my way home by looking at the mountains.  I would go out through the sagebrush and hunt pretty rocks.  I would fill the pockets in my jeans and a little salt sack, then I would have to come home.  Grandmother’s hill was about a mile away and every time I went to the east side I would find arrowheads and skinning knives left by the Indians.  I had a large collection.  I would get the two Sander cousins and we would walk to Grandmother’s (about two miles away).  Buffie and Katherine were afraid of animals and Indians.  They would cry and I would urge them on by telling them I knew where we were and they had no reason to be afraid.  To this day they feel I am very confident.  The big cousins would tell us to be careful when we climbed the mountains because there were hillside togglers everywhere.  The other cousins were really frightened, but I told them that I asked my dad and he said that there was no such animal, so I daringly led them up the mountains.

"Nile Murray and Ellen Merkley posing in center,
far left: Asher, Keturah, Kathryn Sander
far right: Aird Merkley, dog "Old Six"
on Diamond Mountain 1926"
Photo from the personal albums of Ellen Fletcher

Grandmother had a spring close by.  Dad built a house over it and we would put the milk and vegetables down in the cool water.  That was pure luxury.  I remember how wonderful it was on the Fourth of July to have our pop cool in the spring house..."