Sister Lewis, Tonita and Paul are at the right of the picture with some folks from Ottowa, Canada. The Canadians came to the park at the same time as we did. They had been her before, so we adopted them as our guides to visit the falls on Thursday, May 22nd on our day off.
Tonita is holding her white sweater just before walking behind a waterfall and then cross a bridge. These falls have cut down a gorge from an elevation of about 430 feet down to the highway below about a quarter mile away. There were about a dozen or more larger falls and many small falls. Scientists estimated that these falls began cutting their way through the rock about 12,000 years ago.
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Last Monday, the site missionaries and temple missionaries were asked to move one of the split rail fences (pictured in foreground) between the log cabin and frame home on the Smith Farm. These were about 100 yards long. The fences zig zag back and forth with logs alternating one on top of another. It took about 45 minutes to to dismantle the fence (no nails or fasteners to hold it together). There were about 30 men plus a few sisters who did the work. A leader explained how it was to be accomplished and we went to work like a swarm of ants. First, flat stones were lined up from one end of the fence to the other so that each stone would support the point where the logs criss-crossed. The first two men placed the first log on top of the first two stones. They then move to the second stone placing the next log in line. They continued this to the end of the fence. The next two men started in the same place and placed the next layer of logs and continued to the end. They had to make sure that the crossed logs lined up vertically over the rocks. After five tiers of poles were in place, then the two upright shorter posts were positioned on either side of the point were the logs crossed above each stone. Paul and another man on the other side of the fence, had the job of measuring out from each crossing point three feet from the stone. They used a shovel and dug a hole to the depth of the shovel blade. The men coming behind them placed one end of the upright posts in the hole and the other end of the post against the top rail at the crossing point. Someone came along and filled in the dirt around the base of the post. Two more men followed and positioned the top pole over the two posts making the fence six poles high. This top pole locked the fence in place. This whole process took about one hour to complete from the time the fence had been dismantled.
Notice the fence in the background is a little different. The Smith's cleared a lot of stones from their fields. They created walls under their fences with these stones.
Activity. Outside or inside your house. Gather about two dozen sticks about the thickness of a pencil and about a foot long. You will need about six shorter sticks about four inches long. Select about four flat stones about one inch in diameter. See if you can build a fence. Note that you will need a small hole in the ground on either side of the rock holding the crossed poles. This is necessary to keep the fence from falling down. Deep carpet in the house or soil outside will do the trick. Now, discuss why you think that Joseph Smith's father would use this type of fence. Remember, they were clearing trees from the land so that they could plant crops. Also, nails and wire to hold fences were expensive in those days. Why do you suppose that they used split rails? (They could get about three from each tree pole by splitting it lengthwise).
After the fence project, we all went to the Cumorah Visitor Center and had a sumptous dinner prepared by the sisters. We then had a Family Home Evening that focused on the importance of "mending fences" of all kinds.
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