[If I could get you to] tell me, some of the things, the ...



Ralph: [If I could get you to] tell me, some of the things, the activities, which your daddy, my daddy, did with you kids before I came along. The way he showed his love. Tell me just some things about my father that I would enjoy hearing.

Merla: Well, my dad just loved me, I know that, being the oldest child. He just loved me, and he gave me a lot of attention. And when we lived out on the farm, Jenny and Mark and I were little. Why [he'd play it], he'd grab the [] and play it on top. We were just keeping this all in a pile as fast as he could, and we were screamin' and laughin' and having fun. And [his] horse and buggy ran away. They came right down. And the buggy went over my ankle, and it was very painful, but it was [a wonderful thing it did not] get on all of us.

Ralph: Well, whose horse and buggy was that?

Merla: That was daddy's buggy.

Ralph: He was just standing nearby [and outside and it] ran?

Merla: Ran, yes, that's right. It was a one seated buggy, and maybe you'll want to hear this?

Ralph: I do.

Merla: It was a one seated buggy. And when we went to see [granny], he would be driving, and I'd be in the middle, and mother would be on the seat holding Jenny. And Mark would be on the outside, and the twins would be on the rubble seat. (laugh) And then when a- every mile my mother had to stop to go see if the twins were alright. But we made it to Grandma's and back in a day. It took whole day to go there and to have dinner and to come back. From, that was from Delta to []; six miles. But it took all day to go there and have dinner and come back.

Ralph: Uh, tell me about, uh, our father's work, when he ran away as a young man at work on a ranch. What do you know about that?

Merla: I don't know too much about that, except that uh, well he uh-but they owned a farm and daddy was the second son, the big one. And the first son was small, and they said he wasn't very healthy. And so daddy felt that he had to do all the farm work himself. And they worked him pretty hard [I guess], and then he got sick [of it]. So he ran away as I understand, and was gone for quite awhile. I don't know just exactly how long. But he was gone for no more than six months. I mean, he told about going to the mine in [Eadley], Nevada, and those mining places around there. And I said to him "Well how did you work? Make a living?" And he said "I told them I was a cook." And he said "I helped the Chinese cook." And he said "I learned quite a few things. And I helped the Chinese cook." And he said "Anyway when the miners came"- they were great drinkers "When they came to eat", he said, "They didn't know what they were eating. They were so darn drunk, so didn't [ask]" (laughs). Then he visited all those mining towns, worked as a cook. And then he came home and they grabbed him, and they said "We've got to send Ed on a mission to reform him." That's what they [used] in those days. And so he went on a mission to Denver, Colorado.

Ralph: Was he smoking yet?

Merla: I have no idea, but I imagine. But I don't know. [He] never brought that up, you know.

Ralph: (laugh) That was sort of the unspoken, as a skeleton in the closet. ("Ya") [We] didn't talk about it.

Merla: But mother would go white every time one of the boys said, "I saw daddy down town, and he had a smoke." Oh, she'd just go pale.

Ralph: One day at school, when I was about the 8th or 9th grade, [Ben High] said "Your dad and my dad were out behind the barn smokin' last night." And I said, "[Did you see my dad smokin'], my dad doesn't smoke. He told me he doesn't smoke." And [Ben High] said, "I saw two cigarettes [flaming up…]" And I said, "You're lying, my dad doesn't smoke." And he said, "I'm not lying, your dad smoked with my dad." So I poked him in the face. (woman giggles) We had a fight. ("oh dear") So I came home, and I said [], "Dad, [Ben High] said he saw you smoking with Mr. [High] back behind the barn, and we had a fight over that. Do you smoke?" And [there was suddenly silence]. He says, "Well, on occasion, to not be rude to people, when they offer me a cigarette." (Woman giggles "That sounds like dad") "Mr. [High] had offered me a cigarette, and I took one just to not be rude." (laugh) And I'm, "I'm glad you don't smoke all the time because I sure had a hard fight with [Ben High] over [that] today." (laughter) And later on of course I found out he did smoke all the time.

Merla: Oh dear.

Ralph: See they had a little- we had a little war going on over cigarettes. He would keep a package in the barn. After supper he'd go out after dark, and sit there and smoke. Sometimes when the bathroom was busy, which it often was with all the kids, he'd go to the bathroom out there. He kept a roll of toilet paper out there. So I found the cigarettes, so I tore them all up and stamped them in the mud, you know. (laugh) Cow manure. So he asked me one day, he said, "Have you seen any of my cigarettes around the barn?" And I said "No." He said, "Well, somebody has taken them and destroyed them." And I said, "Well I don't know about that." [Then I found his []] over in the chicken coup. (laugh) Above the door of the chicken coup he hid them. So I pulled them out from there and tore them all to pieces. He didn't say a word about that. But he took them out of the barn and [out of] the chicken coup, and I don't know where [he hid them]. Maybe in the pig pen. I thought that was so funny.

Merla: You know I never discussed smoking with him. Never did. I knew that he did it and I know how badly mother felt about it. []

Ralph: Ya She felt [] about it.-

Merla: -She felt awful about it. Ya.

Ralph: Well of course he-

Merla: [] never did say anything to him about it.

Ralph: What about his relationship with his father. I don't know anything about my grandfather.

Merla: Oh, well I don't know much, except for what I had heard, and that is that Edwin was so much bigger than his father, quite a bit bigger than his father. And when he got-and about 15 he was too. And I think he did a lot of things, sometimes [wouldn't always] obey his father. Then this is the story they told me. Daddy would act up in school and of course he was such a [] school. And the teacher would take a horse whip to him, and give him a good whipping.

Ralph: Is that true?

Merla: Well that's what they told me. I know that's what they told me.-

Ralph: -Horse whip []?

Merla: Yes. And then he'd go home, and his father would find out about it. And his father would take a whip to him [].

Ralph: It's no wonder he ran away.

Merla: That is the- that is really what was told to me. I don't remember [by whom maybe] mother I guess. But that's really what I heard.

Ralph: [Now] I believe that could happen. He probably smiled and laughed about that. So the teacher wouldn't [] like [he] got the rest of them.

Merla: So I guess he had, was kind of a-

Ralph: Well what do you know about him being a marshal in Delta?

Merla: Oh, ("Or a sheriff []") yes I remember he was a marshal. And he had a marshals uniform, and he looked so handsome. I was so proud of him, and the gun at the side, you know. And oh, he was a good marshal. And would you like to hear about what happened Saturday nights?

Ralph: Yes.

Merla: Well, Saturday nights, they had- down at Delta, they had a dance, so they built a board floor, [so they could dance on the] board floor. And they'd go down there, and oh they'd have a good time [with the dances]. And oh, daddy had to overlook those dances and see that nobody shimmied. The shimmy was in at that time. But they could do anything they want, but they couldn't shimmy. (laugh) And I know how it went because sometimes he took me down there with him. And oh, all those people were just going on that board floor, and it was "wham, wham, wham, wham!" And one night this little girl came up to- young woman came up to dad, and she said, "Mr. Bishop, what does it mean to shimmy." And he looked at her and said "Honey, that means that everything moves but your []" (laughter) That's what he told her.

Ralph: I could see him saying that.

Merla: And I'm telling you they had a wild time there. [] dancing. I saw him do it.

Ralph: Did you actually see him with his uniform on?

Merla: Oh yes! he looked handsome. He was a handsome [young man].

Ralph: Now Jenny tells me that they can't find any [] records at Delta that he had been appointed marshal. But you did actually see him [].-

Merla: Yes, but I think he wasn't exactly sheriff. You mean sheriff don't you.

Ralph: Well [].-

Merla: They called him sheriff. He was deputy sheriff. He wasn't the sheriff, he was the deputy sheriff. That much I know. Oh but yes I saw him, and he looked handsome. He was a fine looking man. You don't [see] them any bigger or any better in athletics. Do you want to know what [happened at that 4th and] 24th of July?

Ralph: Yes. Yes.

Merla: Well mother had all these children. And when the 4th came, they just had- Jenny and I [there were] only girls, and they made a new dress for the 4th and a new dress for the 24th. Now that was never heard of, you know, to have two new dresses one summer. But we loved 'um, and then they had a big celebration there, and daddy of course was in the middle of everything. He was Slugger Bishop, he could hit the most home runs. And he'd have a horse; he drove a horse in the horse races.

Ralph: In the buggy?

Merla: No, they had a little one seated [cart]. I don't know what the-

Ralph: It was Sulky.

Merla: Is that what it was called?

Ralph: Sulky.

Merla: Sulky. And he'd get on there, and he could- he'd always have a horse in the horse races. And he [owned] racing on foot; he'd always be in the foot races. He couldn't help mother with all those children [], so she'd take [us all and] keep us on the blanket there, and we'd watch daddy perform [] (laughs) And she had to have us on there [and couldn't get any help] because daddy was too busy. (laughter. Ralph: "Oh wow")

Ralph: Now tell me a little bit about mother's life. As you remember it. On the farm, or- of course you were too young to see her when she was teaching down there. But tell me something about my mother there.

Merla: Mother was a lively, busy woman. She was very thin. Very thin. And I remember back, oh when I was four or five, but I don't remember much before then. But when she, uh- when I was four years old, she got pregnant with the twins. And she didn't know she was going to have twins. Nobody knew she was going to have twins. But those baby's would press on her heart. When they were born, they were six-and-a-half and seven pounds, and I'll never forget that weight. And before they were born, she was thin, and she would faint a lot because I guess [those] babies would be pressing on her heart. And daddy was- at that time, daddy was the water master. And he had to [ride] the ditches, and he'd be gone overnight sometimes. He had to see if there was a break in the ditches or if anyone was stealing water. And so we were about a mile from the nearest neighbor out there on the farm. So I was trained to bring mother- when mother fainted I had to bring mother back. And they told me, "When she faints [], why, you go get a little pillow and put it under her feet. You go get a washcloth and put cold water on her head." That was a stressful time for me. I was four-and-a-half years old, and I had to do that for mother. And she [did] come around every time. (gasps) And daddy wasn't there []. That was a stressing time for me. Well let's see, oh, what else did you want to know about?

Ralph: About her school teaching down there. Do you know anything about that?

Merla: I- Just what I've heard. She was a good school teacher. Good school teacher. She taught some of those farmer boys who were older than she was; they were in her class. And she was well liked as a school teacher. I remember she taught Uncle Clark and Uncle Layton [].

Ralph: She told me that the first time she went down to Delta or Fillmore, she- a friend went with her. And they got off the train at Delta. And Uncle Ray and daddy met them. And the other girl got in the buggy with Uncle Ray, and she got in with dad. And they started down the road. But as soon as they could, they [broke] out of the road and went down through the sagebrush, having a race. ("Ya") Scaring these poor city girls crazy. Mother said, "I wondered to myself: what in the world am I marrying?" You know. (woman laughs) And these two young men were whipping those horses and just bouncing over the sagebrush, and having a great time, just to show these city girls (laughs) [a good time].

Merla: Ya, I've heard that story too, and I think it happened.

Ralph: Ya, I'm sure it did.

Merla: And I think it was after that she decided to quit going with dad.

Ralph: Oh she did?

Merla: Uhuh. Ya, that was [when] mommy decided she wouldn't go with him anymore. But then when summer time came, his father died. His father died [at []] at 24th of July, 1910, a year before I was born. They told me that. And she felt so sorry for daddy when his father passed away, that she went up to give him her condolences. And they got back together again. (Ralph giggles) They were married the next September.

Ralph: What about delivering wagons and carriages. Tell me, do you remember that?-

Merla: -Oh, no I don't remember, I was just a baby []. They told me that daddy would get these carriages and wagons and he would- they'd come into Delta on the train, ("Ya") and then he delivered them to the communities where the train didn’t go through, you know. ("Sure") And a-

Ralph: And he took you and Jenny with him?

Merla: No, I was a baby.-

Ralph: -You were the only one.-

Merla: -I was the only one. I was a baby. And they had this big wagon back [hitch, you know], ("Uhuh") the wagon did on it. [So it was all] fixed up to sleep on. And that's where they slept. And they cooked their food over a campfire. They made campfire []. And of course mother nursed me, so I was no trouble there. They [[] had] to worry about the baby. And mother and daddy told me that that was the most lovely trip they ever took, because they went leisurely along. And as they came to southern Utah towns, they'd drop off whatever it was they were supposed to. And it was on the old- an old road that followed- it isn't used today of course- it followed the [streets], you know, ("Uhuh") right next to the streams, that's where the road was. It wasn't a very big road. But oh daddy would sing songs as they went along, and they'd talk. And as they said, they just had a wonderful time delivering those buggies.

Ralph: I'll bet that was a good time.

Merla: You can see that road sometimes between here and Cedar. You can see just the last of it as you go along. I can see where I went when I was a little girl. You can see it on the [[] mountains], pretty low down.

(Recording possibly cuts out 19:33)

Ralph: […Tell me about…]

Merla: Well on the farm, daddy didn't seem to- he really didn't like farming. But he didn’t seem to make very good- [wasn't a good] going of the farm. Now Uncle uh- who was that one who was in the buggy?

Ralph: Ray.

Merla: Uncle Ray lived nearby, and Ray new just how to do it. He'd go- one year he'd raise pigs and make a big lot of money. And then daddy would say, "Well, Ray made a lot of money on pigs this year. I'll go into it next year." Well a lot of people next year were going on the pigs, and then daddy wouldn't make any money. And that's the way it went, and he just didn't like to be a farmer. So they gave up the farm, and daddy- they just had to go down to the town, because I was getting ready to go to the first grade. They had to get me down [there] to the school. No school buses. And so daddy got in [] with a Mr. Steel, who was a carpenter. And he worked with Mr. Steel as a carpenter. And he built a yellow brick house down in Delta, downtown Delta []. He decided he liked to build houses, and from then on he was a carpenter [builder and []].

Ralph: Did he study this in school or [at the LDS []]

Merla: Oh that- when he went to school that was before he got married.

Ralph: Yes.

Merla: I don't think he did.

Ralph: He didn't ever study ever to be a carpenter.

Merla: No.

Ralph: He just [grew] into it.

Merla: He just- well his father was a builder- knew how to build houses. And he taught all of his boys how to build houses. I know that. Daddy told me that.

Ralph: What about the other wife. I don't know anything about her. Mahonri Moriancumr's second- first wife.

Merla: Well she was much older than my grandmother. They said she was a beautiful brunette.

Ralph: Do you remember her name?

Merla: Oh, I forgot. But she was- they said she [was a] pretty [wiry] woman, with a loud mouth. A lot like Aunt Lula. Lula []. Ya.

Ralph: I remember Lula [] ("ya").

Merla: They said Lula [looked] after her mother. But I didn’t know much about [it]. I never met her, […].

Ralph: Did she ever divorce ("Yes.") my grandfather? ("Yes.") [Or did she stay with him?]

Merla: She went- I understand she divorced. I don't know, I'll have to check that out. But uh, well she gave him permission to take [another] wives. He married my grandmother. What was my grandmother's name?

Ralph: Janet.

Merla: Janet. He married Janet. Janet was a young woman; he was older than Janet. His first family were nearly all girls with two boys. And he married Janet. And Janet had a big family of boys with just one girl. And uh- well after they were married, I guess things didn’t go well. I don't really know [what] the trouble was. But I understand that the first wife- well I thought she divorced him, and went to California. And that was the end of it.

Ralph: California.

Merla: Mmhmm.

Ralph: […] reminds me of Idaho.

Merla: She's got a daughter in Idaho.

Ralph: Maybe that's it. There are Bishops in Idaho. And-

Merla: Bishop girls.

Ralph: [There is?]-

Merla: Oh ya, and there was a boy there.

Ralph: There are some Bishop names up there.

Merla: Ya. Well, [I should- let's see], I was young. I just know what I heard. What they told me.

Ralph: What outstanding [character] do you remember from dad, our father?

Merla: He was so funny; he'd make you laugh all the time. He had a pleasant, happy disposition. And he was really funny. And it was fun to be around him. And mother was such a hard worker. And she'd be working and she didn’t have much to say, just working hard. And she wasn't funny, you know; she didn't have any jokes. But daddy had 'em. He knew the jokes, and he had a pleasant- I thought he was handsome. But being his daughter, he was very nice to me, you know, being the first child. I loved him dearly, but I never- when I got older and knew that he smoked, it didn't bother me like it did my brothers, I guess. I just took it as a matter of fact. ("Ya") But you know, I never saw him smoke. Never discussed it with him. But it didn't bother me.-

Ralph: -Right. I'd go to work as a teenager on a house [he was building]. And he'd be secure, and all of a sudden the odor of smoke would drift to my ear- my nose. (woman laughs) Just like someone put a knife in my back.

Merla: I know mother felt that way too. Mother felt- she'd just go pale every time she heard of daddy smoking. But I'm just not of that temperament.

Ralph: One day when I was 18, after the house burned down, we rebuilded. Before I went to school at the Y, it was the Saturday before Christmas, and a telephone call came, and it was my father. And he said, "Ralph, I want you to come get me." And I said, "You have a car don’t you?" And he said, "Ya, but I don’t feel well. I feel sick. I want you to come get me." [So I started] driving down, down []. I Went down there, and he was intoxicated (woman laughs). He had so many drinks and so many [] that he couldn't drive.

Merla: Well, I believe that. I believe that. But that was a general thing [was it?]

Ralph: No, no, no. It really knocked me askew.

Merla: Ahhh, poor Ralph.

Ralph: And he said a-

Merla: Ralph suffering so.

Ralph: [If] he just said, "Hey Ralph, I'm drunk, and I want you to come", I would have been prepared [for what was there]. He was- I mean you've heard of men being tipsy. He couldn't walk [to] the door (woman laughs) without reaching out and grabbing the wall. So I put him in the car, and took him home. And he got home and he started vomiting. ("Ohhh") He went in the bathroom and sat on the floor by the toilet, and he says "Oh Lil, come and help me." And she'd say "Help you nothing you drunken bum." (woman laughs) You got yourself into this mess, now you get yourself out of it. She wouldn't go wipe his brow or hold his head. He'd just sit there, and [wrench] over the toilet bowl, sitting on the floor.

Merla: Oh mother was so religious. And she just lived her gospel right down the line. Oh she did.

Ralph: One day he came home from work, he had a cigar in his pocket. And she grabbed that out of his [pocket], she says, "So your taking up these filthy things, have ya?" And he said, "No, no, no. A man I know had a baby and he gave me a cigar." And she said, "Well if you can smoke than I guess I can." She stuck it in her mouth. She said, "Grab me a match, Ralph. I'm gonna light this thing up, and we'll show dad that I can smoke just like he can." (woman laughing) He grabbed that out of her mouth, and he said, "Don't you dare, ever smoke! Don't you ever dare smoke! Especially a cigar. My gosh woman." He says, "Be sensible." She says, "If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me." [] says "Well it's not good enough for me." She really put him down that time.-

Merla: -Oh she just hated drinking and smoking. Oh, oh so much, you know.

Ralph: Now…tell me whatchu remember, what do you remember about your [homes]. Do you remember anything about those.

Merla: Oh yes. I remember that the house was haunted.

Ralph: I remember-

Merla: Do you felt- I never discussed it with you, but that house was haunted.

Ralph: I could never stand to be alone upstairs.

Merla: No, and I'd never go upstairs without Jenny.

Ralph: [Now that was upstairs?] This was upstairs?

Merla: Yes, yes. That was the second- No that was the third house we owned. The first house we owned in Provo was on a- you were just a baby.

Ralph: Yes. I was upstairs trying on clothes, dress up clothes you know. ("Ya") And I got the strangest feeling that I gotta get out of there right now because there was a ghost there. And no one told me about this. I just went downstairs and said "Momma there's something upstairs. There's a ghost or something upstairs." She says, "Oh Ralph, [] they won't bother you. […]" (woman giggles) But I would never stay up there alone.

Merla: Oh I know that's true. Now that's the third house. The first house we lived in was on 4th East and 4th South. It's still there I think. A big old three story building. And that's the first one. And then they moved down to 5th East in a little white lumber house. Maybe that isn't even there anymore. And that's the first time we had a bathroom inside the bathroom.

Ralph: Is that the one where the kids caught pigeons? I remember that it was a white house []. And Mark and [Derek] and Dean were catching pigeons under a tub. Putting grain under the tub and sticking on one edge a string. And those pigeons would come down and go under the tub, and [] would stick out []. They put it under a tub in the bathroom, which was on the north side of the house.

Merla: Oh, yes that's the only house we had that had an indoor bathroom. The first one.

Ralph: And then momma came home, and found about 12 pigeons under this tub in the bathroom. And there's pigeon poop all over the floor. (laughter) She made me turn all of the pigeons loose.

Merla: Did she? (laugh)

Ralph: She made me mop the floor.

Merla: Oh, if those kids got into a fight or did something naughty, she'd get the broomstick, and she'd go after 'um as hard as she could with that broomstick. (laughing) And they'd run and do just what she said. Oh and she […] Lillian. But she was a nice mother, wasn't she.

Ralph: Oh yes

Merla: []. But that's the second. And then the third house: they bought this house over on a West, 2nd West side of town, and it was a two story. And it was a nice older [home]. But it was nice. And that's where we had- the ghost was there. And I know it. But [you know I never discussed it with anyone]. I never said a word. But Jenny and I had the room to ourselves and [whenever we'd go up], we'd hold to each other to go up there together to bed. Yep, there was a ghost. That was the only time I've ever run into a ghost.

Ralph: [A] strange feeling when I was going up there. [I couldn't go]…

Merla: You know in the neighborhood there was that story. And I felt the ghost before they told the story, [that] they said that house was haunted. People in the neighborhood [did]. That was the last house we lived in before we moved []. Now what was it you wanted to know about [there]?

Ralph: Well some of the things which the family did []. Or which father or mother did, or…father was building houses there wasn't he.

Merla: Yes. He was building them right and left. And he wouldn't keep good records. Mother offered with her- mother offered to keep his records, and he said, "No, this is man's business. Women aren't supposed to be in this kind of business." And uh he got into- and I'll tell you what he'd do: He'd build a house, and then they'd want to add something on, and so he'd say "Okay I'll do it." But he wouldn't have them sign, see, for it. Then they'd refuse to pay for it. And then he'd build a bigger house than they originally- see and he'd lose money. He'd lose money. But he got in such a mess that he had to take out bankruptcy. Did you know that?

Ralph: I didn't know that last [part].

Merla: Had to take out bankruptcy. And mother went through a terrible time because she'd- he'd be- I'll tell you what, he ran off to California and said he was going to get a job in California. And mother was left with all the people calling her up and [cussing about] daddy, see.

Ralph: This was after the bankruptcy? Or…

Merla: Yes. And he went to California to get a job. But before he- before he got a job, he had to travel [up and down] the state (laughing) to see the state. He says "It was so beautiful." I can remember writing to him in Culver City, California. And he had a brother down in San Diego. And he'd go down to San Diego to see the brother, and he'd go up this way to see another brother. He had two half brothers there in California. And then after a while he got in and got him a job in Culver City, and helped build a studio. I think it was a movie studio there. But he had ta [] [stayed] over before he started. And mother would a- had quite a time getting us all fed while daddy was in California. [Really did].

Ralph: I remember riding from the store on a box of macaroni. ("Yes") [We'd go in a] red wagon.

Merla: Mother had her canned fruit, see, she had her canned food. You always had that because you'd always []. And then she got the- she didn't have any money, and she got the milkman. And in those days they had milkmen. And she got the milkman.

(34:33-34:38 break)

…For a month [then he] said he would. And then what little money she had, she'd buy macaroni and cheese. And we lived on macaroni and cheese and canned fruit for quite awhile. I think a few potatoes too. But finally daddy got the job, and sent us money home, and we did much better. He was an easy going man, daddy was. […]

Ralph: Oh ya, this [is] all [rigged]. Tell me about the good qualities.

Merla: (laugh) Well, daddy was wonderful man in lots of ways. He was generous. What?

Ralph: […]

Reva: This is Reva, and I wanted to talk about grandpa Bishop, Ed Bishop []. When Ralph and I were married, oh, not quite a year, I became pregnant. And I was so sick that I could just hardly get out of bed. One day, he stopped by, when we lived in the little old Jensen house in Sandy, to see how I was. Ralph had gone to work, and I was alone in bed. And he says "You just can't stay like this." And he picked me up, and carried me out to the car, and took me out the house on 7th East. And he and mother took care of me. And Ralph came home, he was surprised. But we moved up there until the baby was born. And they were so good to me, his mother and dad. And I appreciate him. He didn't scold me or anything. Just picked me up and said ["You just can't stay like this."] So I love him. [He was a good man].

Merla: Oh he was a good man. He was well liked. His funeral was one of the biggest they ever had in Sandy. Do you remember that? People were lined up down State Street [for] blocks to view him. And people going along would say "Is this a Stake President that's having a funeral? Or what? Look at all these people come to [Ed] Bishop's funeral." And he was. He was a popular man. He was well liked.

Ralph: He went out to the airport to pick up a thousand baby chicks. [] Because he had to bring them home, and it was quite a ways, and it was a cold winter day. He was speeding. And a state highway patrolman stopped him on State Street. And he walked up and he said, "Roll down your window" you know. And dad put his hand up and says, "Don't shoot officer! don't shoot! There's [at] stakes a thousand lives." He says, "A thousand lives?" He says, "These chickens here. If I don't get them home," he says, "they're gonna all die!" And he says, "Go on your way, Bishop."

Merla: (laugh) Another time, he was going to school in Salt Lake City, he and a- who was mother's second [cousin]?

Ralph: [Hoggle]

Merla: He and [Hoggle] were living together, and they were out late at night. And here comes this man to hold them up, see, it was late at night and [wanted] to hold 'em up. And daddy talked to him, he says, "Aw, come on now, you don't want to do this thing. You might get into trouble." And he had talked so nice to that [] man, that he let them go. And they never did give him any money. (laughs) He was that kind of a fellow.

Ralph: Ya. Another time he was speeding down the street, and one of the county sheriffs stopped him. And it was a man that dad knew. They used to play basketball on the Sandy Recreation Hall. And he saw him coming up, and he rolled down his window and said "Don't shoot officer! don't shoot officer! I'll marry the girl." (woman laughs) Of course [they] didn't give him a ticket. He never got a ticket; he always talked his way out.

Merla: Oh yes, and he was lucky. He was lucky. If there was ever a turkey out to be- you know they'd buy tickets on the turkey, he'd always win the turkey. He was really lucky that way. I remember that.

Ralph: He lived more for the moment ("Yes") than I do. He didn't worry much about the future. He'd just pull his was through. He'd get paid, and stop at the grocery store and bring home 10 pounds of smoked salmon, you know. (woman laughs) And we'd all eat smoked salmon. Loved it. But like now it's very costly. But he liked smoked salmon, and so he'd buy smoked salmon. And mother would say, "Ed, that costs a lot of money." And he'd say "Well, we'll make more money." That's about the-

Merla: (laughing) That's the way he was. Oh but, when I was in 5th and 6th grade in Provo, I'd bring my little girl friends home. And he'd tell them these outrageous stories. Like, he said that when he was young he went up to Canada, up to the Yukon. What's the name of that state?

Ralph: Alaska.

Merla: Alaska. I'm sorry. [] I forget names. Went up to Alaska. (laughing) And he said he'd go up there, and he went to sell iceboxes to the Eskimos. (laugh) And he got us to laugh until we just about died. He was such a pleasant, funny fellow. Girls [they'd come to just to talk to dad].

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