THE STEINER FAMILY
In the days of Johann Martin STEINER, 1824-1897, in Germany, they had to serve time in the Army. As soon as Johann was through he moved to Switzerland where he met Anna Barbara SCHMIED. His trade was tailoring (1st class). They were married 6 May 1868.
Johann Martin STEINER and Anna Barbara SCHMIED were baptized and confirmed into the LDS Church by Henry Reiser, 7 May 1873. They were baptized a second time, 26 Jan 1878, by Rinehart Maesser. He was ordained Elder on Sat. 17 Oct 1874, and was President of St. Imier Branch, 31 May 1875. Johann and his family emigrated from Villeret, 24 Aug 1883, going to Hull, England on the steamer "Fairy" and thence by rail to Liverpool, where they boarded the steamer "Nevada", 29 Aug 1883 which arrived in New York City on Sunday 9 Sep 1883. They arrived in Salt Lake City, UT in Sep 1883. With Johann and Anna were Flora and Ida Hermine, their daughters. P.F. Gass was President of the company of which 106 were German Saints.
Rulon S. Wells was 19 or 20 years old when sent on his mission and lived with the Steiners in Switzerland. He told this story of the feather bed. (This information was given by Rulon S. Wells, Senior President of First Quorum of Seventies.)
The Steiner family spoke "high German" and Rulon S. Wells lived with them to learn the language. The night he arrived neither could understand the other. The interpreter who brought Wells explained to each other--then left. They used signs. Johann pointed to the feather bed. Rulon couldn't see any covers so when Johann went out Rulon examined the bed and found 2 feather beds and slept between them. He stayed there and learned the language.
John Ernest (5 years old) and Walter Herman (3 years old), sons of Johann and Anna Barbara Steiner, emigrated 2 Jun 1874 from Villeret, Switzerland to Utah. John Huber and Henry Reiser were in charge. By the time the boys saw their parents again, and then only for a few days, Walter was 13 years old and Ernest was 15. They were so used to the life on the open ranch that they didn't want to live in the city with their real parents.
John C. NAEGLE took the two small boys when the emigrants were being distributed. His wife, Pauline (his 6th wife) took Walter and his wife, Louisa, took John Ernest. They moved from Lehi to Toquerville, in the fall of 1875. Walter was then5 years old. Thae house is still there except for a new front porch (1951). They lived there til Walter was 19 years old and then started for Mexico 7 Oct 1889, driving 307 head of cattle. The wagons left 8 Oct 1889, and the boys with the horses left 9 Oct 1889. They all arrived at Jacob Lake, Arizona at the same time.
Father Naegle had a ranch in the Buckskin Mountains where he had cattle and sheep. There was a spring there and it ran down the Mountain and disappeared in the ground. The boys would round up the cattle, taking a month, and driving them down the slide into the Gulch which was a box canyon about 20 miles long. Then when they wanted to get all the cows together, they went up and down the sides to the bottom and then they'd drive the cattle out.
They came down from Toquerville to Moccasin and Pipe Springs, down Kanab Creek. Just east of Kanab Creek and north of the Colorado River was where Walter had herded sheep. Just west of Jacob Lake and 40 miles southeast of Pipe Springs was where the ranch was located.
They started for Mexico from the Buckskin Mountains with 100 head of loose horses, 4 saddle horses each in a different bunch, and 307 head of cows. With a few head of steers for beef on the road. Whenever they needed meat they killed a steer.
They went down off the mountains and across House Rock Valley to the VT Ranch where they watered the cattle and horses. It took them 3 days to cross the valley to Lee's Ferry (Navajo Bridge is 10 to 15 miles south of Lee's Ferry, now). First night out crossing the valley it was trying to storm and the cattle were almost crazy trying to get to shelter and it took 3 men to keep them in check. They rode hard for about an hour keeping them in check.
At Lee's Ferry they swam the horses across, then the cattle; a boat towed a mare and 3 colts following and the horses followed them. They forced the cattle in and the cattle milled around and piling. Someone fired 3 shots and the cattle went right ahead. They only lost 3 head.
Reuben Naegle went on across with the cook wagon. Ernest and Walter took pack horses across (ferried). It was pitch dark and narrow trail with deep canyons on each side of the trail. Next morning they looked back with field glasses (Willow Springs) and saw a camp and campfire--there was Walter's future wife, Mary Elizabeth Porter, with her family!
At Winslow, Arizona they camped near the railroad track and the cattle were stampeded by the train--they'd never seen or heard one before. On to Holbrook and east to Concho. The train would come by at night and scare the cattle. They lost 16-18 head. Next day Walter's saddle horse gave out and they took the pack off the pack horse for Walter to ride and put the pack on a cow and the cow bucked and tore around for awhile and then went along with the herd. Just a mile from Joseph City, Arizona, Walter's horse gave out completely and they had to push him off the trail. Next morning Walter went back but couldn't find him. He was a roan horse named "Hundred Mile".
They had to watch out for quicksand while crossing the Little Colorado River.
They stopped at Concho, AZ for 2 or 3 days. Father Naegle had a family there who had lived there for years. Here they left some weak stock. Occasionally a cow was weak and would fall down, so they had to get a horse on either side of the cow, hook a rope to her front quarters and lift the front up, then would lift the back up and as soon as the cow was on her feet, off she'd go.
They went directly east through Springerville, White Mountains and Deming, New Mexico where they camped for 3 days and got supplies.
From Deming to Boco Grande (Big Mouth) was the night drive to the next water. They crossed the line between the United States and Mexico just before Boco Grande. "It was here that I nearly ran over Porter's Camp and nearly ran over my future wife." (Walter Steiner)
Next was Ascencion, inspection or custom house. Everything was checked, cows, horses, luggage, everything. Patrick Hayne helped the people through as he knew the language.
Then they came to Colonia Diaz, 3 miles south of Ascencion. Walter was left alone at Pacheco to take care of things while the others went back and came through again for colonization.
At Corralitos was another custom house. Next was Colonia Dublan, one of the settlements of the Saints. About 3 miles from Colonia Dublan was Casas Grandes, a Mexican town. About 15 miles on to Colonia Juarez. They camped in Tanja Wash, just outside Juarez. They stayed 2 or 3 days. The wagons went on into town. New Year's Eve, 1889, some of the boys went to the dance in Juarez. Then on to Pacheco, 7 Jan 1890, their destination--just a forest then, high in the mountains. Porters and Heatons arrived, too. Took cattle on to Gavalan, 18 or 20 miles west of Pacheco. 1892 and 1893 winters, Father Naegle moved over to Oaxaco named after the state of Oaxaco.
After they'd been camped at Pacheco a few weeks they went to Sunday School at Corralles. The girls (Porters, Heatons, Scotts and Beacrofts) started picking out their beaus from the Naegles. Mary Elizabeth Porter picked out Walter first time she saw him.
They made cheese the first 2 years in Pacheco. Walter and Ernest made 2 cheeses by themselves. The cheeses weighed 57-58 lbs. each.
After riding herd on the cattle on the Gavalans all day, Walter and a Hardy boy saw a bear. Walter jumped off his horse and shot the bear. They skinned it and tied the hide on the saddle, and cut off a few chunks of meat.
There were 6 or 8 boys there for supper, also Bishop Jesse N. Smitih, Jr. The Bishop said he wouldn't eat bear meat for anything. Walter hid the bear hide and baked bread and fried bear meat--tasted like fresh pork--everyone enjoyed it. Around the campfire the boys started joking about it and someone let it out that it wasn't fresh pork!
Orson Brown was their first Bishop in Morelos. He was curious and ate rattlesnake meat one time and said it was delicious!
They were driven out of Mexico in 1911 and went to Blanding, Utah, where they built a barn and lean-to where they lived until they built their brick house. Herman caught a chipmunk and trained it so it would come when he whistled for it. It would jump all over him.
In 1913, Walter and his son, Herman, drove teams down the San Juan River to Hole-in-the-Rock crossing to get well-drilling equipment to drill wells at Blanding.
SEALINGS PERFORMED IN MEXICO BY AUTHORITIES OF CHURCH
as told to Marcella Collett Steiner by Pres. Joseph Fielding Smith
George Teasdale was ordained an Apostle 6 Oct 1882 and on 9 Apr 1885 he was sent to Mexico for a special appointment. Many Saints had moved to Mexico during the underground days of polygamy, and it was deemed advisable, due to the long distance from a temple, to send someone there who had the authority to perform sealings for time and eternity.
Apostle George Teasdale was the Ecclesiastical head of the Mormon Colonies in Mexico since the return of Moses Thatcher. Anthony W. Ivans was appointed Mission President with headquarters in Juarez, Mexico. Apostle Teasdale performed many sealings for couples who could not come to a temple. His diary was lost and many of these sealings, unable to be proven, were done over again the temple.
He was released 8 Dec 1895. Herman's parents, Walter Herman and Mary Elizabeth Porter Steiner, were sealed by him and the date recorded in her diary. They later, in 1907, came to Salt Lake Temple and had Walter, their eldest child, sealed to them. Herman was born after their sealing and was blessed by Apostle Teasdale prior to his returning to Utah, so Herman was born in the Covenant.
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