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9 Charles H. Spencer ALTHOUGH THE EMETT INCUBUS NO LONGER TORMENTED THE BAR Z, THE cattle company was out of its element in operating the ferry and ranch at the mouth ofPahreah Canyon. Foreman Charlie Dimmick sent Dave Rider, a reliable straw boss, to Lee's Ferry before the Emetts departed. This smoothed the transition for both sides. Rider, a member of a pioneer Kanab family, knew Emett well and had testified for him at his trial, yet Rider was a trusted Bar Z hand. Rider ran the detested operation for a few days, then turned it over to his younger brother Rowland, who wasn't even on the Bar Z payroll, then returned to his range in southeastern House Rock Valley. Rowland Rider was the lone occupant of Lee's Ferry when Nathaniel T. Galloway, Julius F. Stone, Raymond A. Cogswell, and Seymour S. Dubendorff arrived at the original ferry landing at 12:35 P.M. on October 27, 1909. Stone had sent Emett a check for fifty dollars and asked him to have sufficient provisions on hand to resupply his river party for ten days. Emett had confirmed receipt of the money and said he would have the food or leave it in a cache at the east end of the fort. No cache or message from him was found, however, and the party shoved off the following day on reduced rations that they hoped would last until they reached the trail at the Rust tram.! Before the Stone expedition left, four prospectors from Searchlight, Nevada, arrived en route to the Wright Bar; news of George Wright's work with a spoon had spread farther than he ever imagined. The prospectors and the cowboy watched the party shove off, and Rider even galloped his horse along the river to the lower ferry as they ran Pahreah Riffle. At the end of the month, Dimmick sent Nate Petty and Johnny Evans to the ferry with some bulls to be ranged in Pahreah Canyon. The pair then took over the operation of ranch and ferry, allowing Rider's return to his brother's spread. The Bar Z men disliked working at Lee's Ferry, a fact well known to the foreman. Dave Rider passed along Jim Emett's recommendation that the Johnson boys be hired to take over the work. It sounded like the solution to a growing problem and Dimmick immediately wrote to Jeremiah Johnson, who was living in Wyoming. 215 216 Lee's Ferry The poverty-stricken Johnsons were little more than sharecroppers without crops. The twenty-one members of the family had normal needs but no income and few assets; other families were in the same situation. John J. Simmons, chaplain of the contingent from Morgan County, controlled the finances of the Mormon colony and operated the official store. He extended credit as he saw fit, charged whatever interest he pleased, and doubled as community banker. Common morality never appeared to hinder Simmons in his business dealings; Jerry and Frank Johnson worked under them all and, according to the latter, not only worked "for nothing" but concluded the relationship owing Simmons money.2 Most of the Mormons were polygamists or believed in the principles of plural marriage. Exceptions such as Frank and RhodaJohnson and Jerry's wife Annie were in the minority. In 1907 Jerry began thinking of taking a second wife, his eye having been caught by Pearly, Simmons' daughter. Annie didn't relish the idea at all; in fact, she opposed it violently. When it became apparent in the summer of 1907 that she had no voice in the matter, she went on a hunger strike and died a bitter death on October 4, allegedly of typhoid fever. She left four children, the youngest only two years old. Jerry and Pearly were married in Salt Lake City on October 8,1908, and only Annie's untimely death preventedJerry from committing bigamy.3 The Johnson boys managed to keep almost even financially but neither was getting ahead. When Jerry received Charlie Dimmick's letter in November 1910, it was as though Christmas has arrived early; there was no doubt he would accept. The Bar Z foreman wanted them there by February, but it was impossible for them both to make this date as Frank owed Simmons several hundred dollars and wanted to clear the debt before he left. Jerry was in the same position, but he had no such qualms and left in January 1910, taking...

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