Genealogy Photobook

I have been busy with genealogy in spite of all the other activities.  I painstakingly completed a 55 page photobook based on a 1970 interview I did with my grandfather, Leonard Pearce.  I recorded it on a little reel-to-reel tape recorder back then, while waiting for Thanksgiving dinner.  Thank heavens I did that because listening to it now I have a wealth of information that I'd totally forgotten at the time of the interview.  I transcribed each word and printed it into the online book I created at www.shutterfly.com then added a variety of photos that I had on hand, and some from the internet, that illustrated what my grandfather was talking about.  I think it makes a terrific way to present the story of my grandfather's life.

   Then I just finished a 100-page photobook using my photos from my recent trip to Burma.  I fixed up about 439 photos to squeeze in the maximum size book I could create at Shutterfly.  It is a great relief to finish this, the last of three gift-certificate books that my daughter gave me two years ago for Christmas.  The gift cards expire Dec 18th, 2009 so I was in a hurry to complete them all.  The first one I finished just before Thanksgiving in 2008 and it was a photobook on my trip to Mongolia.

I intend to create, in the future, photobooks about the life stories of my parents and most recent ancestors.  It's a big challenge, but I think it is a project from the heart and will last, even if my CDs and digital images pass into technological oblivion.

7 Aug 2008 - Arizona

On my birthday, August 7th, I am back at the computer and find the time to describe my last two weeks in Arizona with my family. It took a GMC pickup and a Dodge Aspen to transport us all to the Sprucedale Guest Ranch, near Alpine, in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. I drove the pickup and Emily (age 14) rode with me, acting as navigator and photographer. Daughter, Alisa, son-in-law Scott, and grandkids Heather and Braden were in the Aspen. We left Sierra Vista, AZ once we got ourselves packed, and headed north to the I-10 east. Around Willcox (home of Rex Allen, cowboy star), we turned north to Safford. At this point the lunch bell rang, and we stopped at Arbys, then the real treat was a dessert stop at Dairy Queen for their July special flavor: Girl Scout Chocolate Thin Mint Blizzard. How double delicious!. Heading east we reached Hwy 191, the Coronado Trail, which took us to the old mining towns of Clifton, Morenci and Metcalf. We were amazed at how huge the Morenci copper mine was. They say it's the biggest in America, I believe the Phelps-Dodge Company owns it. Clifton reminded me of old Bisbee. The highway north, paralleling the New Mexico border, is famous for it's many twists and turns. I was expecting worse, but because the road surface was very good, it wasn't so bad, however Alisa opted to take another route home (via the New Mexico side). We saw a few stranded cattle along the road, and hundreds of acres of forest that had burned a couple years ago.

After 6 1/2 hours we arrived at Road 26, just north of Hannagan Meadows. For the next 12 miles, west, we were on a gravel/dirt road and past some beautiful ranch homes and exceptional mountain meadows. Just before the ranch we drove through the meadow where the Ranch horses were loose to graze. There were several foals that we would later meet. Sprucedale has been a guest ranch owned by the Wiltbank family since 1941. This week there would be 32 guests, and more than half were children. Every day we rode horses on outstanding mountain/meadow trails, able to get out of the "line" and enjoy an actual ride. Meals were home-cooked and delicious in the dining room. Activities included foal leading, cow milking, kittens & puppies, horseshoes, vollyball, football, rodeo events, dances, a cookout, a evening bonfire, and hay wagon ride. We knew this time of year is the "monsoon season" in Arizona, but we were caught off-guard a couple times with the suddenness and intensity of the storms. It even hailed one afternoon. But these rains passed quickly and except for the mud in the rodeo arena, quickly forgotten. One day I took an "historic drive" with "Big Emer" Wiltbank in his Suburban with three other guests, and we saw a great deal of the historic country/ mountains/ lakes and into the Apache Reservation. When we got to the site of the former logging camp "Maverick" it poured rain, but we got a good idea of where our guest cabins were originally built on the Apache Reservation, and later moved to Sprucedale when the logging contract ended many years ago. The last day included a gymkhana of pole-bending and keyhole racing. I competed in both, and did OK, with only minor stresses on my right wrist and shoulder (I'm not 14 anymore!).

Saturday, July 26, we went separate ways, with Braden, age 11, and I driving north on Hwy 191, and the rest of the family heading back home. Braden and I were going to Flagstaff to participate in the Elderhostel Intergenerational Program: Rails, Ropes and Rafts. But we had one day to kill, so I decided that a detour to Canyon de Chelly National Monument would be interesting. Leaving Sprucedale we encountered horses crossing the Highway at the first town, Alpine. Of course I stopped an took photos... we were the only vehicle heading north at the time. Then we passed Nutrioso (means beaver & bear in Spanish), Eager, Springerville and St. Johns. We got caught up in the Rodeo parade at St. Johns as we ventured into the old Mormon ranching town to get gas. Finally we reached Sanders at I-40 and I was able to get a brief cell-phone signal on Verizon. We called Alisa and they were just about to Morenci on the way home. We continued north on Hwy 191 to Ganado and the Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. It was a great surprise to visit this original trading post now on the Navajo Reservation. It was a step-back in time to enter the trading post built in 1883 and J. L. Hubbell's home. President Teddy Roosevelt was once a guest there. I spied an oil painting on the wall of the home, by Louis Akin, and ever seeking genealogical connections, I looked him up where I got home. Alas, he stems from a completely different Akin family than mine, as near as I can figure out. Just north about 30 minutes we reached Chinle, AZ and the entrance to Canyon de Chelly National Monument. We checked into the Thunderbird Lodge and with directions from the National Park Service visitor's center, we drove along the 19-mile south rim of the canyon and stopped at the beautiful overlooks. before sundown.

Sunday, July 27, 2008 Braden and I were up early to get breakfast at the lodge and take the Thunderbird morning truck tour into the Canyon floor. One must have a Navajo with you to enter the Canyon except at one particular trail to White House ruins. The canyon walls are up to 1,000 feet high and includes 2,000 prehistoric sites and 12 major Anasazi ruins. We enjoyed the open truck ride, especially when it criss-crossed through the river going up the canyon. But our schedule was tight, and after the tour we headed for a fast lunch and were off towards Flagstaff. I decided to try local Navajo Reservation Road 15 as the fastest route to Flagstaff. It turned out fine, and very scenic, but the Navajo Nation doesn't seem to post many roadsigns, so I relied on my map. We drove through Burnside, Cornfield, Sunrise Springs, Greasewood, Indian Wells, and Dilkon before returning to I-40 and a fast track to Flagstaff, and our La Quinta Hotel. Remarkably we arrived just exactly on time, at 3 pm, Arizona time (the Navajo Nation goes on federal time (day-light savings)). Just in time to check into our room and attend the Elderhostel registration. There were 37 of us, and mostly grandchildren, who would be here this week, and we all walked to dinner at the nearby Sizzler Restaurant.

This week was filled with so many wonderful and adventurous events and happenings, that I'd best just list them: Mon: Ropes Challenge Course (more later), Forest survival workshop, and Raptor presentation at the Flagstaff Arboretum. Tue: Bus to the Glen Canyon Dam; 3/4 mile walk to the Horseshoe Bend overlook; drive down 2-mile tunnel to the Colorado River to take rafts for floating down 25 miles to Lee's Ferry; dinner at Cameron Trading Post. Wed: Geology presentation at the University of Northern Arizona and freetime which Braden and I filled with a visit to the Pioneer Museum, and the Museum of Northern Arizona, finishing at the University of Northern Arizona Library - to search the Special Collections for my Ferrell/Blanding family neighbors when they lived in the Cliffs district northeast of Flagstaff (more later). Thur: Bus to Williams, AZ, then old train to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. We hiked down Bright Angel Trail a for a ways and visited the historic buildings and sights on the rim. A great treat was double scoops of ice cream. There was a horseback train robbery on the train ride back to Williams, and singing cowboys. A great trip. Fri: our last day was the morning a Walnut Canyon National Monument just east of Flagstaff. There are more Anasazi cliff dwelling ruins in this beautiful canyon. All too soon our time ended and we headed back to Sierra Vista. Unfortunately, I would later learn that I'd forgotten to take the clothes hanging in the closet at La Quinta. When I later called them, they had put it all in a bag at the lost and found and we arranged to have it sent UPS to my home in Hawaii. Pheww!

To go back to the bit of genealogy research I was able to do. My great Aunt Fern Blanding married Lee R. Ferrell around 1914, but he died about three years later, so then she married his brother, Carl E. Ferrell, around 1917 and moved to a ranch near Flagstaff. They are located on the 1920 US Census at Cliffs Precinct, Coconino County, Arizona. My mom said that Uncle Carl was a big lumberman who, together with my grandfather, Leonard Pearce, and Aunt Fern, bought some property to raise potatoes and probably hay, etc. Looking at Carl's WWI Draft Registration card he shows he was at "Black Bill Park" a meadow area originally purchased by Black Bill ( H.Conrad West) when the land was a possible railroad track site to get to Grand Canyon. Braden and I visited the UNA Library to look up their neighbors that were there when my mom visited them in about 1920. Using the UNA computers I printed out the census pages and found the neighbors, the Harlow Jaeger family, Floyd & Daisy Copeland, and the Bert Doyle family. Braden searched the photo archives card cataloge and found an 1894 original photo of Bert Doyle standing on the steps of the Flagstaff city hall. We had to have white gloves, etc. to view the photos of him and also author, Zane Grey. I think Bert Doyle may have help guide Zane Grey around Flagstaff (Al Doyle was noted as the guide). Anyway I ordered a copy of that photo for $15 and should get it in the mail.

The long trip back south to Sierra Vista was a bit eventful. North of Phoenix there was a two-motorcycle accident which blocked Interstate-10. We sat at a standstill for 10 or 15 minutes then went about 5 mph merging into one-lane for the next five miles until we passed the scene. While stopped the digital thermometer readout on the truck rear-view mirror showed 122 degrees F. It was very hot and we were wondering how interesting it would be to have raw eggs and see them fry on the pavement. Between Phoenix and Tucson we narrowly avoided a terrific thunderstorm and sandstorm that passed across the highway just before us. We came upon two wrecks on either side of the highway who had been blown off. One car was totally upside down. At last we arrived back in Sierra Vista at sundown and had a nice reunion with the rest of the family.

Sep 22, 2007

I've been very busy these last three week since I've been back home in Hawaii, after being on the mainland for two months. What I've HAD to do is organize and pack efficiently for my month-long trip to China/Tibet and Cambodia - I leave tomorrow, Sunday, Sept 23, 2007. But what I try to do whenever I can sneak it in, is to work on genealogy and especially compile, sort, annotate and look at, all the family photos and research I did while I was in Indiana and Iowa. It is so great to see the pieces of the genealogy puzzle fall into place. Also I am trying to get promised pictures back to the family members I met while I was in Iowa. It's quite a job. Here is a photo of Hague descendants: Mary, OralMay Wilson; me; Jim (& Gladys) Wilson; Bill Wilson in Des Moines.

I took probably 3,000 digital photos of my time in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Indiana and Iowa. Many were of the scenery in Arizona and Utah, and many were of my daughter's family and brother's family in the West. But when I arrived at Allen Co. Library in Indiana, I began taking digital photos of the books, pictures and microfilm available for research there - and later at the various libraries and historical societies in Iowa. Then there were the photos of my extended Hague family from Des Moines, farm sites of my Hague, Wallace and Pearce homesteads and especially the big family reunion there. I'm grateful for the hospitality of my Hague cousins, Don and Dorothy Wilson in West Des Moines, and of course, my daughter and family in Sierra Vista, AZ.

I've been going to the 24hr Fitness gym every day for 1.5 hours in an effort to take off some of the extra pounds I gained while living-it-up with family. Last Saturday I was at the gym, upstairs where the weights and machines are. I was happy to see a local celebrity working out - "Dog, The Bounty Hunter" Duane Chapman and his son Duane Lee. They live in the area and are on their third season on TV station A & E with the show. I like it because of all the local shots they do of Hawaii. He and his wife, Beth, are real characters, but I think they do good work. I said "Hi, Dog" to him when he walked by, and he stopped to say thanks, so I told him to "Keep up the good work."

Then after a half hour upstairs I went down to do my 2 miles on the elliptical trainer. Who should come out to work out on the treadmill in front of me, but Daniel Dae Kim (left), the Korean husband character "Jin" on the popular TV series "Lost" which is filmed in Hawaii. He certainly is in good shape! He ran on the treadmill for 20 minutes and while I was at the drinking fountain he came up to take a drink beside me. I didn't talk to him. He lives around here, as does the Josh Holloway (right), the guy who plays "Sawyer" on "Lost." It seems that was THE day to be at the gym.

NOW - I am all packed for China. I managed to get everything in a medium sized roller suitcase, and a wheeled backpack. The luggage limitation for internal China flights are very small - 11 pounds for a carry-on and 44 pounds for one checked suitcase. Lucille James is going to be my travel companion and I'll be very happy to have a friend to travel with. We'll meet at Honolulu Airport tomorrow at about 6:30 a.m. and fly out to Shanghai via Japan tomorrow. Thank heavens the Typhoon Wipha that passed by Shanghai a couple days ago has gone and I guess I'll hear what damage was done to the area west of that Chinese city. We'll be in Shanghai four days on the pre-trip extension and Cambodia for the post-trip extension. If anyone wants to see the itinerary for my trip you can go to www.oattravel.com and click on Imperial China, Tibet & the Yangtze River then "View & Print Itinerary."

So, until next month --- aloha!

Sep 5, 07

Hello! I'm back home in Honolulu after being on the mainland for two months.


So much happened during the time I was in Indiana and Iowa
(Aug 11-Sept 4). It was all about family and genealogy. I'll put a few photos here and maybe write more later. One is of the 40 family members that came to the big "Hague/Rynearson/Wilson" family Reunion in Des Moines. Another is of Dorothy Rynearson and I with Sharon Carlisle Moore and her son Kirby Moore. I hadn't seen Sharon since I was 7 years old at my grandfather, Alfred G. Hague's house in Des Moines. Her brother, Chester, taught me to open my eyes underwater that summer.

The drawing is a photo of an original sketch my grandfather, Alfred G. Hague made for his niece, Grace Wilson many years ago. It is his idea of the Hague homestead of 1885. It shows the original house and barn. The barn burned and another was built to the left of the corn crib. But now all the buildings you see are gone. The place is just cornfields, an interchange to I-35 from Des Moines to Minneapolis, and part of the Ankeny, Iowa Airport. Gladys Keeling, a descendant lives on the remaining acres in a small house built about in the 1920's. I really prize seeing this sketch as I'm fascinated with the Hague Homestead, and the fact that my grandfather drew it. My father, Alfred Vincent Hague, spent many summers in his youth at this Hague Homestead which was established about 1861 near Berwick, Iowa - just north of Des Moines in Polk county. Wilson for allowing me to get pictures of this sketch and many Thanks to Grace's daughters, Mary and OralMayother old family photos.

I borrowed my cousin, Don's, pick-up truck (thanks Don!!) and drove up to Boone, Iowa for three days. There I met up with my Pearce cousin, Jeanie Ewing McDougall from LeMars, Iowa. We went to the Boone Co. Courthouse and found the deed books that recorded our great-grandparents purchase and later sale of two town lots in Angus, Iowa. (see picture) John and Jane Pearce, newly immigrated from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, built a house and raised six kids in this coal-mining boomtown. The left in 1900 when the boom was over to continue coal mining in Colorado Springs. The property records clerk at the Court House was amazingly helpful and we were very happy to know John Pearce had saved enough money to pay $200 for the lots. We drove to where Angus once was, and located the exact property where they had lived. It was a real step back in time.

I was especially happy to find a picture of the school where our grandparents, Leonard and Margaret Pearce must have attended in Angus before 1900. Like everything else in the town, the school is long gone. See Picture. It was a two-story, four room school for all ages. We visited the Boone County Historical Society and an evening meeting of the Boone County Genealogical Society. While at the society a blaring horn went off - an alarm meaning a tornado had been spotted. It was very dark outside, but hadn't started raining. With lightening and thunder all around we sped back to our motel. They told us where the "shelter" was and gave us bottled water. Just as we got inside the sky opened up and a very heavy rainy downfall engulfed the area. The front moved on west, without much incident, but the thunder, lightening, rains and winds provided enough excitement for the trip.

August 8, 2007

Sierra Vista, Arizona - Bisbee

August 4th we were back at my daughter, Alisa's, house and with access to a computer and the internet, I was able to read all my e-mail and happily jump back in doing some genealogy. My Blanding cousin, Howard, in Florida asked me to look up his wife's family, and although the names of Thurn and Bettcher are not the easiest because of the possibilities in misspelling, I think I came up with a lot of new information for him after those families immigrated from Germany about 1884. Also I was jolted into reality of passing time with an e-mail from my Pearce cousin, Jeanie, in LeMars, Iowa... we are going to meet in Boone, Iowa and I finally came up with a decision on a date to meet her in Boone and get a motel. As of now we'll meet Aug 27th and 28th. I want to look up land and tax records on our gg-grandfather, John Pearce, of Wales, in Angus, Iowa from 1881 to 1900. While doing a Google search of Boone, I found out that is the birthplace of Mamie Eisenhower, and that there is a scenic tourist train ride that I'd like to take. So much to do, so little time.

To the right is a "Diaper Cake" Alisa made from disposable diapers for a baby shower she attended recently.

The monsoon rains continue in Arizona - every day the sky turns black. On Monday was the first time we have actually seen the "fabled" waterfall on the Huachuca Mountains to the west. I am amazed it is so tall - reminds me of Bridlevail Falls in Yosemite (only shorter). It's quite the sight in this high desert. A road not far from here was totally washed out at a bridge, and now the people can't get out of their country neighborhoods. There have been plenty of flooded streets/washes in Tucson and Phoenix lately.

August 6th Emily and I took a drive to famous old western mining town, Bisbee, where Alisa works at the Copper Queen Hospital. We drove the southern route Hwy 92 paralleling the Mexican border. Six miles from Bisbee we passed Naco, a U.S. port of entry that sees lots of Border Patrol activity from Mexico. It was also a battle site of the Mexican Revolution in 1911.

Since it was my birthday Aug 7th we went out to lunch at the Lawman & Outlaw Cafe. Quite the rustic, old artifact decorated place. We all ate the "Road runner Sandwich." Bisbee was founded in 1880 as a center of copper, gold and silver mining. It became the Cochise County seat in 1929 when it was relocated from Tombstone to Bisbee. The huge "Lavender Copper Pit" (see pic on right), an open pit mine, is in the center of Bisbee and ceased operations in 1975. Bisbee claims the oldest Baseball Park still in operation (since 1909) and is used by the the professional and semiprofessional teams called the Bisbee Kings. The TV series I remember, called "Sheriff of Cochise" a 1957 contemporary/western police drama, was filmed in and around Bisbee.

On the return trip we traveled the north Route 90 back to Sierra Vista - and past the road to Tombstone. It was raining in Bisbee but after going through the Mule Mountain tunnel it cleared up. In the distances above Sierra Vista a very big storm front and monsoon rain was directly over Sierra Vista and heading into the Huachuca Mountains. I had to take a photo of it (at left) as it still amazes me to see such a sight. By the time we arrived home there was no more rain, but we really could see the mountain waterfall again. We ate out again to celebrate - this time to La Casita Mexican Restaurant. Such good food, and so much of it! Ole!

School started for the kids here in Sierra Vista on Aug 8th and things are quiet. The monsoon rains may subside, and the waterfall in the Huachuca Mountains from the kitchen window is getting smaller.

July 16, 2007

Flagstaff AZ - Sierra Vista AZ
The Super 8 Motel has a continental breakfast of sorts and the mouse to their internet computer was broken, but we managed, and rolled out of the motel to begin another day of travel and discovery. First was a drive of about 10 miles north, to Copeland Lane. It is here that my great-Aunt Fern (Blanding) Ferrell with the help of her mother, Edith (Akin) Blanding, bought some land with her husband Carl Ferrell and tried to make a go of it in the early 1920's. According to deed/mortgage records I found at the court house in Flagstaff in 2002, they raised hay and potatoes. My grandfather, Leonard Pearce, was also an investor in the farm. It is here that my mother, Nadine Pearce was sent on the train by herself as a child (about age 6) to stay with Aunt Fern. She tells the story of her little girl friend, Daisy Copeland, who lived across the road. And she told of another family about a mile down the road whose little girl had a pony (her father (maybe Doyle) was said to have been a guide for western author, Zane Grey). One day Nadine had ridden down to that house with the little girl on her pony when some of the neighbor's cows came wandering back to their property. The family was wondering how the little "pock" marks had gotten on the rear of some of their cattle. That is when little Nadine said "Oh, my Aunt Fern did that" -- Aunt Fern had taken her BB gun out in frustration with the cattle damaging her garden and shot at the cattle to get them out of the garden. This upset the neighbors so they developed a plan to get get even. When Aunt Fern and Uncle Carl came in their big Studebaker car to pick up Nadine later in the day, they wouldn't let Nadine out of the basement where she was playing, until they got some sort of satisfaction for the BB gun episode. Heated words were exchanged and when the man looked like he was going to slap Aunt Fern, Uncle Carl pulled out his big pistol and demanded they produce Nadine. Nadine was summoned up from the basement, and that was the end of Nadine's rides on her friend's pony to her house where the swings were. My mom says she figures that was the time she was kidnapped. Well, about 80 years later, Aunt Fern's great-great-great grandchildren were driving along Copeland Lane taking photographs, and imagining the pony walking down that lane, and trying to figure where Aunt Fern's house might have been. This lane is just east of the largest San Francisco Peaks.

Next we continued up Hwy 89, north about 5 miles to the Sunset Volcano Crater National Monument. This cinder cone that rose quickly and blew it's top 900 years ago. The eruption killed all plants within a 5 mile radius. Sunset Volcano is the youngest of the 600 volcanoes that make up the San Francisco Peaks (see picture at right) area of Flagstaff. At a top peak of 12,633 ft, there is skiing offered in the snowy winter here. We got a National Parks passport stamp and enjoyed the visitor's center activities, then drove a little more to a overview lookout site to see steam coming up from a volcanic vent. The surrounding lava fields surround the road and the two types of sharp and smooth lava are called the same as in Hawaii - a'a and pahoehoe. We didn't have time to drive around the loop and visit the Wupatki National Monument and see the pueblo ruins of 800 years ago of the various cultures of the Wupatki people.

I noticed what looked like an archaeological dig going on as we drove south on Hwy 89 (one mile north of Flagstaff Mall). It is an ongoing excavation and restoration of the Elden Pueblo Archaeological Project and an interesting place for a short walk. It is a 65 room pueblo of the prehistoric Sinagua culture from about 1200 AD and Hopi ancestral pueblo site. Excavation began here in 1926, so I guess Aunt Fern had left the area by that time and returned to Los Angeles.

Ever since Braden found a brochure for "Meteor Crater," he'd been wanting to see it. So we headed east on Interstate 40, to the road leading to the crater, 35 miles east of Flagstaff. We could see storm clouds off in the distance. We arrived at the privately owned National Landmark where 50,000 years ago a piece of asteroid, 150 ft across, crashed into the earth. The site was originally 700 ft deep and over 4000 ft across, it has eroded little here because of the arid climate. It was an amazing site. We listened to a guide talk about the crater's history, we saw a movie, and visited the impressive museum. A raven, called " Charlie" glided around us outside in the winds, which got to be very, very strong. The winds were the front of an approaching thunder storm. There was a Subway sandwich shop in the gift shop area, and we ate before leaving, still hoping to visit Walnut Canyon pueblo ruins back towards Flagstaff. But Scott telephoned about that time and calculated we wouldn't be home in Sierra Vista until 9:30 pm if we left Meteor Crater and drove directly home. So I decided to make a bee-line home rather than ending up sleepily driving in the middle of the night home.

As it turned out the drive south was long, as we left Meteor Crater a hail storm hit us with a temperature of 60 degrees. We left Flagstaff on I-17 at 4:30pm, and Phoenix at 6:30 pm, As we drove through Phoenix the temperature rose to 116 degrees!!! Continuing on I-10 as we drove south of Tucson, a large series of dust storms blanketed the landscape and caused decreased visibility, but a great sunset. We stopped at exit 208, a favorite Pilot Gasoline stop, and also filled up with Dairy Queen blizzards. Turning off onto Arizona-90 we finally arrived at Sierra Vista, and home sweet home at 10:20 pm. We traveled over 800 miles from St. George, Utah.