MR. AND MRS. CHARLES H. BURGESS

Charles Henry Burgess, son of William Burgess Jr. and Catherine Chamberlain, born at Pine Valley, Utah, October 15, 1866, married Sarah Lena Hansen, daughter of Christian

Hansen and Karn Sophia Miller, born June 6, 1869 at American Fork, Utah. Was married October 11, 1890. They lived in American Fork, Utah, until in 1904 when they moved to Idaho where Mr. Burgess had filed on a homestead June 6, 1904.

When Mr. Burgess and his family came here, the railroad went only as far as Minidoka. They crossed the Snake River on a ferry boat at Howell’s Ferry. They went on to Albion, Idaho, where they lived until a log house could be built on their homestead. This was the first house built in View excepting the ones at Lunch Creek. As they had to live so much time on their homesteads, they alternated living in View and Albion until 1908. As there was no way to make a living on their farm with no water and also no school for the children, they spent a good share of the time in Albion for the children to go to school. Mr. Burgess worked on farms in Aibion, hauling wood to the Normal School and also worked some in Burley. It is said that he did the first plowing that was done in Burley. He did this to make a living, to get tools to farm with, and to educate his family.

In 1908 they moved onto their farm for the last time. The canals were being built at that time and he could stay at home and work on them. When the water was turned into the canals in 1909 and the people began to farm, the rabbits became so bad that it looked like they would drive the settlers out. But these pioneers did not come here to be driven out, so they banded together, built corrals of net wire and would have rabbit drives. The people--men, women and children--would form a large circle, two or three miles from these corrals and drive the rabbits with clubs. Often they would kill as many as 2,000 to 3,000 at one drive. 2500 were killed at one of the drives.

At night after these drives they would hold dances in View.

Mr. and Mrs. Burgess were active in religious and civic affairs. Mr. Burgess was very active in bringing the pipe line water to View.

He and his brother, Joseph C. Burgess, were partners with Alex and Frank Wrigley in a steam threshing Machine that did most of the threshing in the community for several years. This same engine was used in Lunch Creek Canyon as power to run a saw mill there to make lumber which was used to make houses, barns etc. Mr. Burgess, his brother-in-law, Oscar Hansen, Joe Burgess and others also tried out mining just south of the old Albion Dugway. They did quite a lot of digging on an incline shaft and tunnels at the bottom. They would use a horse and bucket to draw the dirt and rocks out of the shaft. The boys, Leslie and Oscar, would lead or ride the horse. They found a small

vein of lead and silver which assayed very high but did not find enough to make the mine pay. He also had a blacksmith shop on his farm that was freely used by the community.

Mrs. Burgess was very active in the Ward, holding positions as: Treasurer of the Relief Society when the Ward was organized in 1910; was counselor in Primary and later as President, Sunday School teacher, Secretary in the Genealogical Committee. She was one with Emma Woods that the Daughter of the Utah Pioneers named the Chapter in this Ward viz. Sarah Emma Camp. She was a life member of the Genealogical Society of Utah and has done quite a bit of temple work in Logan and Salt Lake Temples.

She was one of the women that did a lot of nursing in this community; also in

Albion, Oakley, Burley and some in California, when she lived there a short time.

She helped the following doctors: Minter, Patterson, Craner and Cutler. In 1914 the

Relief Society asked her to take a course in Red Cross Nursing which she did and

received her Certificate. She assisted in bringing 58 babies into this world.

Their oldest son, Leslie, served in the first World War, and their second son. Oscar, filled a mission in Canada.

As some of the first pioneers of the Minidoka project the Burgesses watched it grow from a struggling land of a few settlers to a growing, thriving place to one of the best farming communities of the U. S. A.

Of all the first homesteaders in 1904, Mr. Burgess is the only one who kept his homestead and lived on it until he died. Although he spent a few winters in California with his sans, Leslie and Oscar, and although Mrs. Burgess died there on June 10, 1929, at Los Angeles, California. This was always their home. Mr. Burgess died in the Cottage hospital in Burley following an operation, June 2, 1946 at the age of 79.

They were respected and honored in this community, were honest and good neighbors, truly pioneers.

Taken from the History of the View Ward 1904-1954