BRIDGES (taken from the book THIS IS BENSON)
In 1878 a permanent type bridge was built across the Bear River just below the Cash Smith residence. This bridge was later moved to span the Bear River just below the farm operated by Landell Ballard. This occurred in the year 1924. This bridge was later replaced by a two-lane cement bridge. At about the same time, 1878, a bridge was constructed across Bear River at the place where W. D. Johnson Used to live. In 1901 that bridge collapsed while a family in a surrey was crossing over it. Fortunately, no one was harmed. The bridge was immediately repaired and re-set across the river. In 1976 this bridge was also replaced with a two-lane cement bridge. A bridge was constructed across the Bear River on the line between Amalga and Benson. The Amalga-Benson bridge was also replaced with a two-lane cement bridge in 1980. Still another bridge spans the Logan River in West Benson. A marina was developed near this bridge by the Cache County Recreation Board in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Recreation and the Utah State Department of Natural Resources. Facilities at the Benson Area Marina included boat docks, boat ramps, fireplace, picnic areas, parking areas, picnic shelters, sanitary facilities sand beach, and running water for washing of boats and other purposes. Ephraim Falslev built the picnic tables and shelter. The rock for the fireplace came from Park Valley, Utah, and was donated by Cecil Archibald, who later became bishop of Benson Ward. Dedication ceremonies were held in 1969, at the Benson Area Boat Marina. This work of building bridges across the rivers did much to bring the people closer together, and also facilitated greatly in the marketing of the agricultural and dairy products that were produced in the area.
RAILROAD
All of the grain that was sold at first had to be hauled by horses and wagons over to Corrine where the railroad was, in order to get it to market. In 1910-11 Brothers W. W. Roundy, H. W. Ballard, Sr. and others met with the officials of the Oregon Shortline Railroad Company to see if there was any possibility of getting a railroad line through Benson to Logan, to facilitate the hauling of agricultural products. They were told that if they could get the right of way the company would build the railroad. After several months of negotiation, the right of way was obtained and the line was built through west Benson. It was a branch of the Cache Junction line, beginning near the Ray Partington farm in Petersboro and going in a straight line across Benson towards Logan. The Company built a new depot in Benson. A new store was built near the depot, through the efforts of John G. Ricks, and was managed by his brother, Thomas E. Ricks. This was a grocery store. The depot and store was located Leigh and Alice Cowley lives. The line was soon changed to the Union Pacific line, and for a time, there was even passed service from Benson via the trains. However, the lack of sufficient business forced the depot to be abandoned and the building was moved to Logan in 1928 The last passenger train to come through Benson was in August of 1918. Similar the store was abandoned and later moved, and the buildings used for other purposes However, the railroad line was still maintained for the moving of sugar beets to the Lewiston factory and was in use until 1954 when the line was taken up. The sugar beets were later hauled to either North Logan, or Smithfield or Trenton.
Also in 1916, a line was built by the Utah Idaho Central Railroad through Trenton and Amalga to Benson to take care of the beets on the north side of the river. The beet dump was up a lane just east of John E. Allen’s present home. This line was also taken out when the amount of business obtained failed to make a profit for the Company. In 1980, it was announced that there would be no more contracts signed for sugar beets in Cache County.
After the first store was abandoned, the community was without a store until an enterprising young couple began another store in about 1936, erected just across the street from the Benson church house by R. LeRoy Rees. A short time later he added service station facilities to the business. Soon it was felt that the space was inadequate and he built a fine brick addition to his home and used this for his store. This store was discontinued in the fall of 1972.
ROADS
During the early years of the settlement of Benson, roads were practically impassable during the winter and spring of the year . It was not uncommon to have snow three to five feet deep – over the tops of the fences . And with no snow plows like we have now, quite often people were snowed in . With no improved or even graveled roads , when the snow finally did melt, it must have been like trying to drive out through the wet fields, until the weather became warm enough to dry out the roads. The only direct route to Benson was from Smithfield, or straight west from Logan on what is now known as the Valley View Highway. The present main road past the airport and which is sometimes called the “cut-off” was not constructed until the year 1907. This made the trip to Logan considerably shorter. At the present time, all of the county roads in Benson are hard-surfaced, and also many of the lanes or access roads to individual farms and homes.
HORSES
Because of the demand for horses to perform the farm work in the early days, the people of Benson expended considerable time and money in the development and raising of excellent horses, particularly of the draft type. Of worthy mention in this regard are the names of Andrew Reese, William and James Baugh, the Smith family, the Thains, and others. It has been reported that at one time there were entered in the pulling matches at the Cache County Fair as many as 12 teams from Benson.
MILK HAULING by Glen Hobbs
The first I remember was my father, Samuel Hobbs, and Joseph Barney gathering up the milk on a high wheel wagon pulled by a team of horses, then taking it to the Borden Milk Factory at Logan, Utah. My father would haul the milk for one week, then Mr. Barney would haul the next week. It would take most all of the day. Sometimes in the spring of the year it would take four head of horses to pull the wagon through the mud, because most of the roads had not been graveled or improved. In 1924, Mr. Barney decided to discontinue his milk hauling career. From that time on, my father went every day with the wagon. The wagon held 36 ten-gallon milk cans. They were covered with a burlap tarp to keep the milk from freezing in the winter. Then in the summer time, Father would soak the tarp with water to keep the milk from going sour. In the winter time, my father would use a sleigh to deliver the milk to the factory. Lots of mornings the temperature would drop to 30 degrees below zero. Some mornings Dad would hook his sleigh and horses to the school bus to help it through the snow.
In 1928, Father purchased a 1925 Reo truck to haul the milk. It worked quite well in the summer, but in the winter and spring he would go back to the team and wagon on account of the mud and snow.
My father continued to haul milk until December 10, 1938, when he had a heart attack. He had hauled milk for twenty years. I took over the milk route from my father the day before my eighteenth birthday. At that time, there were five loads of milk going from Benson to the Borden Factory at Logan, and part of a load hauled by Joseph Astle, going to the Morning Milk Plant in Wellsville. The haulers consisted of Glen Hobbs, Joseph Anderson, George Thain, Don and Bert Reese, and Reynold Reese. In later years some of the larger dairy farms switched to sending A-Grade milk to Ardens Plant in Ogden. This milk was hauled in a covered van truck, driven by Landell Ballard. This took a lot of milk from the Borden haulers. As a result, one by one I started purchasing the other routes. Soon I was the only one hauling from Benson to the Borden Plant. In 1960, the Borden Plant in Logan closed down. I then took my load of milk to the Sego Milk Plant at Richmond, Utah. The Sanitation Board decided to improve the condition of milk hauling, so in 1961 I purchased a covered van for my truck to haul milk. This van would hold 98 ten-gallon milk cans. In the spring of the year, at the peak of production, my van would be double-decked, which consisted of 196 cans of milk. Then there was a new step in milk hauling. On September 17,1964, I started hauling tank milk. The farmers were discontinuing the use of milk cans and were switching over to tank milk. My first day of hauling tank milk consisted of four patrons; two in Benson, one in Hyrum and one in Mink Creek, Idaho; but it grew very rapidly. In March 1971, the Sego Plant closed its doors. I then took my load of milk to Cache Valley Dairy Association. I have been there almost eleven years. Some days I haul as high as 85,000 pounds of milk. Of this 85,000 pounds, 52,000 comes from Benson. The current total daily milk production in Benson is about 92,000 pounds. (Glen hauled milk for over fifty years.
IRRIGATION by J. Cash Smith It was soon realized that if the settlers were to survive, water must be provided for the thirsty soil to increase the yield of the crops that were grown and to introduce new crops to the area. There was plenty of water in Bear River, right next to their fields, but it flowed b~ too low down in its channel to run out onto their land.
The first water for irrigation used in Benson was collected from the waste water from Hyde Park and the west fields of Logan. This was very limited. As early as 1876 a survey was made to see where water could be diverted from Bear River and used for irrigation purposes. In 1880, the Benson farmers reached an agreement with the Logan Canal Company, who had diverted water from Logan River several years before and built a canal west to where it intersected the Oregon Shortline Railroad. The Benson farmers agreed to widen the canal by two feet from the point of diversion to the railroad track for part of the water. They then extended the canal in a branch line into lower Benson, furnishing water for 428 acres. In 1887 another agreement was reached with the Canal Company. The Benson farmers widened the main canal another two feet, from point of diversion to the railroad track, to furnish water for another branch called the upper Benson branch. This also watered over 400 acres. Up to 1887 there had been no official organization to manage the Logan canal. In 1887, prior to building the upper Benson branch, a petition was filed with the County Court to form a water district for all the land that received water from the canal and the two branches. The petition was acted upon favorably. When the official organization was formed, two of the trustee on the board were appointed from Benson. The Board of Trustees administered the canal from its source to the railroad tracks. Although the Benson farmers paid stock in the canal, nothing was used to administer the maintenance or distribution on the Benson branches. There was no measurement used to distribute water to the users, making it very uncertain what water came to Benson. After a number of years under these conditions, in May of 1898, about thirty farmers from Benson, represented by Alma Harris, filed a court case in the district court to compel the canal company to file a map in the county court house of all the land listed under the canal, and administer it as a water district. They lost the case in the district court, but immediately filed an appeal in the state supreme court, which they won. This is significant because it was the first test in Utah courts of the very important question of the control of irrigation canals and their distribution of water by an irrigation district organization. The case set a precedent that has influenced water laws in Utah to the present time. As one comes north from Maughan’s corner in upper Benson, there were two separate ditches that brought water to the farms; the South ditch, and the Hammer canal. The South ditch covered from Andrew Munk’s on the north to the channel that separates the Charles Reese and Heber Reese farms. This was a secondary water right, or a surplus from the Smithfield rights. When you have no water, a little seems mighty good, and it was valued very highly in early days. The Hammer canal was filed on in 1872, and supplied water from the Toombs farm on the east along the south and east rim of the Bear River down to the Dee Reese farm, just west of the Riverside school. The South ditch had two branches; one going south to the Rees farms, the other one west to the Munk and Tarbet farms. At the Tarbet farm, the South ditch and the Hammer canal shared the same ditch on down to the Dave Reese farm.
Like the Logan-Benson Canal, there was no measuring device on any of the ditches, and equal distribution was difficult. Until the latter part of the 1880’s, most of the water in Utah was allotted and distributed on what was called the ecclesiastical system. The Bishop or Stake President had the leading role. There have been many stories and legends handed down from the early days of Utah water history. Many apostasies and excommunications from the church can be traced to early water disputes. Also, many amusing incidents. One is related about a Scandinavian Brother who spoke broken English. He had a dispute with his leader over water, and it became very heated. After he had called the leader everything he could think of, the leader said, “Brother Jones, that has been some pretty strong language you have been using.” The old fellow said, “I meant every word of it, and you are everything I said you vas, and if der is anything I forgot, you are dat also.”
The west side of the river had no source of water until about the turn of the century. The West Cache Canal, originating north of Preston and traveling thirty-five miles around the sides, of hills and sand mounds, has been a great success. But for the Benson farms at the end of the ditch, it was more dreams, hope, and hard work than practical results. Due to the natural of the terrain the canal traveles there were many breaks, and when they we repaired it took a long time to get the water to the end of the line. Also it was a slow-flowing canal, and in early days before there were chemicals to control weeds and moss in the ditches, very little water reached the end of the ditch. Much of the land through which the West Cache Canal passed was too high to use this water, so efforts were made at various times to pump from the river with gasoline engines. This, however, was too costly and slow to be of any real benefit.
In west Benson during the 1880’s, a canal was constructed and water was brought from Logan. This canal was originally surveyed by Bishop Alma Harris with only the use of a spirit level. It is still being used today by the farmers of that area.
ELECTRICITY by J. Cash Smith The big change in Benson came in 1916 and 1917. A sugar factory was built in what became Amalga, and with it came electricity. How much of Benson it covered at that time is not certain, but by 1917 there were irrigation pumps throughout most of Benson. It was 1920 before it was extended around the loop east to Funk’s corner, and 1931 across the Smithfield creek to the last house in east Benson. With the coming of electricity in May of 1917, many electric pumps were installed along the banks of Bear River and thousands of acres of land were placed under extensive cultivation. At first, the farmers placed the large percentage of their land into the production of sugar beets. It is recalled that at one time in addition to a receiving station that hauled beets away daily, there were five large piles of beets put up in one year. Some of the piles had as many as 8000 tons in them, and provided work in the winter months for farmers to haul them to the sugar factory at Amalga. That factory opened for as long as 180 days each year.
DAIRYING by Lois H. Ballard
It has been said that the dairy cow is the most efficient machine for changing grass, hay, grain, and cornstalks into human food. The cow will make a larger amount of human food out of these products than will any other animal. Cows also make use of the grasses that grow on the areas of the and that cannot be tilled. Thus, Benson was a likely place for dairy farmers to make their livelihood.
The pioneers realized the value of cows – for meat purposes, milk, butter, and cheese. In the early days, dairy herds consisted of perhaps two or three cows, enough to supply the milk and butter needs of the family. The milking was done by hand, the milk set to cool, the cream separated, and the butter was made in small churns. If they had more butter than the family could use, they would sell it for a few cents a pound or trade it for other ccommodities. Evaporated milk plants and cheese processing plants were built in the valley about the turn of the century. Soon a great amount of interest was shown in the dairy business. These plants gave dairymen a ready market for their products. This encouraged them to enlarge their herds, to build sheds, stalls, mangers, silos, milk houses, etc. This caused a rapid growth in this line of agriculture. The financial profits are not always great for the dairyman, but the dairying business helps to provide plenty of good food. The children who live on a farm are particularly fortunate, in that they can help their fathers in farm work. They learn much by working as a family. Perhaps the most important thing is to persist in necessary work when they would rather not. While helping with the chores, they also help to increase the family income. Farming is a year-round job. The Benson dairymen consider the maintenance of soil fertility and the use of waste products to be as important as the direct profits from the cows. Through the regular application of fertilizer to the soil, farmers have been able to increase the production of such crops as alfalfa, grain, sugar beets, corn, and almost any other crop that they choose to grow. At first, milk was hauled in 10 gallon cans on wagons to the factories. In the winter, sleighs were sometimes used to haul the milk. Some of the early milk haulers were Richard O. Reese and his son Llwelyn; Jonathan Smith and his son Cash; James Thain and later his son George; Samuel Hobbs and his son Glen; Joseph Barney; Frank, Dean, Don, and Bert Reese; Joseph Anderson; Reynold Reese; Landell Ballard; Robert Munk; and perhaps others. As dairy herds increased in size, electricity and modern milking machines helped make Benson one of the outstanding dairy centers of Cache Valley and the entire state. At the present time (1980), some herds are as large as 150 milk cows. Most producers have modern pipe-line equipment, which pipes the milk directly from the cows to a huge tank, where the milk is chilled and stored until it is picked up by tank trucks and transported to a Some of the larger Holstein dairy herds in Benson at the present time belong to John E. Allen, Robert Hoffman, Paul Thain, MelRoy Ballard, Landell Ballard, LaRon Falslev, Harold Falslev, Larry Falslev, R. LeRoy Rees, Calvin Maughan, Tom Reese and sons, Lee Reese and sons, Duain Cowley and son Jay, Charles Reese, LaMar Munk, Wendell Munk, Robert Seamons, Darrell Kunzler, Glen Hobbs and son DelRay, Cecil Archibald, Roger Petersen and son John, Wayne and Kenneth Cardon, W. D. Johnson and sons, DeVar Fisher, William Lindley, Russell Seamons, and the LDS Church Stake Farm . Among the first to introduce purebred Holstein dairy cattle to Benson were Andrew Reese and the Thain Brothers. The Thains were known statewide for their excellent cattle, and gained a reputation for having some of the best dairy cattle in the state of Utah. For many years, they took top prizes at most of the dairy shows in the intermountain west.
BENSON MONSTER
There is a story told of the Benson Monster. The summer of 1975 it was discovered by Joseph (Jody) Seamons. He was by the bridge just below the church on his motorcycle. What is currently the boat dock area before that was made. He heard a growl sound that just startled him. He went and got Greg Miller who was living in the rental house of Laron Falslev. Took him back and they both heard the growl. Not knowing what it was and what it could be was frightening. So we drove by in the car rolled the windows down and sure enough there was the growl. After awhile nothing came after us so it was okay to stand up on the road and listen to the growl. Lots of speculation went on of what was making the sound from an unseen source. Some ideas that people came up with was wounded goose, wounded bear, moose or some other animal. Some even thought it was someone hiding playing a trick. This went on for days, then weeks as word spread about the Benson Monster. One day the sound moved from the north side of the road in the bull rush to the south side. It created quite the stir with the young folks. Every night the entire road from the bridge along the curve to the top was lined with parked cars on both sides. This leaving only one lane to drive. Yes it was probably a road hazard. It went on for weeks everyone trying to discover what was making that sound. Eventually brave souls went down into the bull rush and formed a line and walked to find the mysterious monster. People would stay up on the road and listen. “It is right in front of you”, they would say. Then “it is behind you” they would say. It almost took on a ghost characteristic. You could hear it but not find it. One Saturday afternoon Kyle West (who was dating Jodene Ricks) was down there and found what was making the sound. A great big bullfrog.
It is still found in the river bottoms to this day. In the right places you can hear the growl in the summer.