Emily Ellen Wood

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Emily Ellen Wood - my great-grandmother

EMILY ELLEN WOOD SCOW

“A Riding Skirt and a Pair of Indian Moccasins”

Submitted by Itha Workman to the book : Honoring our Ancestors - Hurricane, Utah Stake

Written by Cheryl Cooper

Emily Ellen Wood Scow, known to all as Ella, wasn’t exactly typical of the women of her day. Oh, yes, she cooked and sewed and kept house. She crocheted, tatted, did embroidery. She was wife, mother and church worker. She and Mae Bliss were popular singers at dances and programs. Sounds as if she were an average busy woman.
But Ella had been raised in a family where everyone loved horses. Her father and brothers rode very well, and so did she. In those days, ladies did not wear pants did they show their legs George to be or ankles. So she made a special skirt, divided like p but full enough to cover her “lower limbs.” This tan riding skirt kept her modest, but let her be active, and she wore it to win, often, at tilting.

What’s tilting? A series of rings, attached to poles in a row, were to be caught on a wooden spear, as the rider galloped by on horseback... It doesn’t sound easy, wasn’t. It took a good rider with a quick eye and a certain amount of dash and daring. And Ella was very good at this sport! Other ladies enjoyed this activity, and the skirt was often borrowed. One friend, Maud Hartley, wore it to ride to St. George to be married.

Ella died at an early age, leaving a young daughter, Itha, and two sons, Clinton and Milden. But she also left a rich heritage--a love of the outdoors and good horseman a keen appreciation for beauty, a sense of pride at work accomplished, and the desire to enrich life by fully using all that God has given us.

Her grandchildren and their children honor her and take pride in talking about Ella and her riding skirt.

It was, no doubt, the mutual interest in horses that brought together Ella and Joe. Joseph Andrew Scow could have been born on a horse, for his love for good horses was life-long. He was a real-life cowboy, much more real than those seen on television today He took part in cattle drives to take herds to the railroads to be shipped to the east. He branded and roped cattle; he tended them at calving time. But mainly he took ‘and cared for horses. Sir Galahad and Old Red are just two of the special ones he trained and loved.

Joe was a skilled horseman, but he was also a popular figure with the children in town. When this young cowboy came courting, he would fill his pockets with coins and n, standing on his head in the saddle, he’d ride at a gallop down the street. ambling, shouting children always announced to Ella that Joe was in town. They were married at St. George and had their wedding dance at the Grafton rock church. They were among the first few families to move into the Hurricane Valley when the new town was founded.

Joe was not just good with “good” horses. He was also adept at dealing with the wild ones.
People tell how he could place a twenty-five cent piece under each boot, as he slipped into the stirrups, and then ride a bucking horse to a standstill with the coins firmly in place.

There are many tales, tall and short, told about Joe and Ella when the Scow family gathers at family reunions. One of the favorite stories concerns a pair of baby-sized an moccasins. On a cattle-driving trip to Billings, Montana, Joe bought these little moccasins. Beautifully beaded, this soft leather footwear was intended for his baby boy, ton. And Clinton wore them, then Itha, then Milden. But the story doesn’t end there. After Ella’s death, Joe married Wilma Johnson and their children, Kendel, Delbert, Thain and Twain, took turns wearing the little moccasins. Itha has the moccasins today and four generations of babies have worn them. At last count twenty pair of baby feet have wiggled in them. No longer light tan, beaded and shapely, these seventy-eight year old scraps of leather are creased, worn, scuffed and stained. The bead design long ago pulled off by inquisitive baby fingers. There is even a patch to cover a hole worn a granddaughter who was an early walker.

Although they are old and not too pretty any more, they are still of use and still beloved and treasured by the family.

Joe lived through many changes in the world - - from horse-drawn wagon to the jet airplane - - and the stories he told to two granddaughters, Cheryl and Diane, are filled with the history and drama of life in those years -- the time when pioneers were real, just people in a book.

A riding skirt, a pair of faded little shoes and many remembrances of times long past... There is also a horse, wiser than its rider, a crew of would-be thieves, scared away by bullets thrown into a fire, and a run-away pig with a man riding it backwards - - but that’s all another story, for another time.

Click Here to read about my husband Joseph Andrew Scow.

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