Joseph Barker and Mary Ann Doidge Barker Dunton
(Continued)

In May of 1881, when Dora was eight and Ella was ten, they again loaded their belongings into the wagon and started for an unknown destination. They moved north of Durango, Colorado, where James Dunton hauled lumber from a sawmill to Durango. Here, Mary Ann found work doing laundry for others. The first house they lived in there was a dugout and the children helped clear and then plant and harvest crops. Dora says "We helped Mother make tallow candles which we used for light, and soap for our laundry. We helped with the laundry and gleaned in the fields to get money to buy our school clothes. Mother, through it all, never looked on work as a drudgery, but was always glad to do anything she could to help make our way, and we learned to do the same. Always, it seemed she was able to look on the bright side of life."

In the fall of 1882, they moved to Mancos, Colorado and took up a farm on land that they homesteaded, living in a tent until they could build a dugout home for them and then later a log house. It was remembered that, "The girls were unable to attend school at first because of a lack of clothes to wear. They had received some schooling in Parowan and also had instruction from their mother. The school in Mancos was two miles away and it was necessary to cross a river on a plank." Dora remembered that the second spring, their mother "told Ella and me that we might go to school if we could go to town and get some rose bushes and other things we had sent for by mail, without falling in the river. The bridge had been washed out by high water and there was only a narrow foot bridge without a railing, across the stream. We went in high hopes of having the privilege of going to school. So far we had not been able to get much education. We went across bravely enough and obtained the things we were to bring home, but on our return journey, I got dizzy and called to Ella, who had already made it across, to come and help me. She came back for me, but she fell into the rushing torrent. A woman and her son, who lived close by, had been watching us and when they saw her fall, the young man ran to the stream and rescued Ellen, who was able to grasp a willow on the bank. I dropped to my knees and crawled on across the bridge, which I should have had sense enough to do in the first place. No school for us that year."

They were finally allowed to go to school after Mary Ann again began taking in washings and was able to get suitable clothes for school for them. It was cold in winter with deep snow. Their mother would wrap their feet in burlap to keep them warm.

Dora writes, "At our new location, everyone worked. Brother Dunton grubbed the brush to clear the land with a common grub hoe, and we girls piled it in big piles for burning in the evening. The colorful flames leaping into the dusk which had fallen over the valley were a source of enjoyment for all family members as they ran from one pile of brush to another igniting the dry wood.

"That was one of our few sources of recreation in those days. When the grain matured, Brother Dunton would cut it with a cradle, an implement consisting of a long knife and several wooden fingers. The fallen grain would be tossed into a clump by the cradle fingers and my sister, Ella, and I would bind it by making a band of the greener stems to wrap the sheaf, the ends of which were twisted to tie the bundle.

"Mother planted a garden including fruit bushes as well as vegetables. She soon had a lovely flower garden, also, in our front yard.

"She took in washings from town folk to help support the family. The clothes had to be brought out to the farm on an old yellow mare, which would often mire down in the swamps which dotted the road between our home and the community. Mother was always glad to get the work."

About Ellen, it was remembered that "she loved to dance and take part in sports. Many times after dancing nearly all night, she would go home and put on her house dress and help her mother in doing washing. She and her sister would ride horseback to gather and deliver the clothes which they washed for others."

Dora said, "From the home, we children walked to school in town part of the time and rode a horse when the roads were bad. We had a cow and chickens to help provide the living, and with the extra money Mother brought in, we faired pretty well."

In 1882, two years after Mary Ann had left Parowan, the four older girls went to Colorado. They were taken as passengers with a group that was going to Colorado. Progress was so slow that they covered most of the distance on foot, keeping behind the advance guard of horsemen and ahead of the slow-moving wagons. Mary considered this trip the adventure of her life. She never tired of telling about it and of the thrill of crossing the Colorado River on a ferry boat. They crossed the river at Lee’s Ferry and it was said they enjoyed the crossing so much that they went back on the empty ferry and crossed a second time. Kate said of the trip, "Emma and I rode with Marius Dunton, Mr. Dunton’s second son. Sade and Mary paid $20.00 each to ride with a family named Rolly. I had an easy trip, because I got to sleep in the wagon nights with Mrs. Rolly and her baby. It was my job to keep him in bed mornings, while Mrs. Rolly prepared breakfast. He was a cute baby. The entire trip took us about a month." They arrived in Mancos shortly before Christmas.

Kate said, "Mr. Dunton met our wagon train at Bluff City. When we got close to home, Mr. Dunton told me of a turn-off ahead and said to follow it till I came to a big gate and that was where we were to live. I ran on ahead, found the gate, went through and ran to find Mother. The first side of the house had a chimney on it. I ran to another side and there was a window level with the ground. I could look through and there was Mother with the three younger children. She had the table set with some lovely china with gold bands around the edges. Everything was so clean and comfortable, it looked like heaven to me. I ran back around the house the way I had come, to the other end. There was another window, but no door in sight. I could wait no longer. "I can see my mother," I called, "but where is the door?" It did not take long to find the door then. Mother and the children ran toward it from the inside and I ran around to meet them. I was never so happy in my life." The girls had to sleep in a wagon box as there was no room in the house for them.

The girls soon obtained work to make their own way and to help their mother. Kate said, "The next three years were happy years. We attended many dances, magic lantern shows, amateur plays, and many kinds of parties. In this small town, girls were scarce and we were very popular."

The girls stayed in the Mancos area until they married. Emma was first to wed, on May 19, 1884 to Joseph Willden. Kate married Charles Pinkerton in June 1885. Sarah was married to William McDonald Devenport on December 15, 1885. Ellen married William Halls on June 11, 1888, and Mary married Roy Weston on January 1, 1889. Dora was married to Lewis Burnham on May 16, 1897. Mary Ann’s son, John Dunton, stayed with his mother as long as she lived, and never married. Dora stated that his not marrying "was sad for him, as he was alone and went from place to place, like a lost sheep."

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