Right to left: Grandpa Alfred and Grandma Ida; children in birth order; Arnold; Isabel; Walter; and the obviously not identical twins, the red-headed freckled faced, Lucile and Lucy
A much younger Durtschi Family
Grandma Ida and Grandpa Alfred Marry
Grandpa Edward and his family worked so hard hauling wood from the woods in the mountains to earn money and build up the value of their farm, that when a man approached them to sell their farm, they did. They used that precious cash to buy the family tickets to America. They immigrated from Switzerland on a steamship to the U.S., September 30, 1905, arriving in New York October 12,1905. Grandpa Alfred was 19 years old. They made their way by train to Utah, just as Grandma and Lena had. They bought 30 acres of land in Midway, Utah and built up that farm as well.
But when Grandpa Alfred’s younger brothers were big enough to help his Father run the farm, he and his brother, Edward, and concluded it their duty to make the desert blossom, dig canals and ditches, cultivation desert land and help build new churches. They chose Teton Basin in SE Idaho and left Midway on April 26th, 1909, with three head of horses and a covered wagon. They arrived in Teton Valley May 14, 18 days later. That’s where they chose to make the desert blossom, dig canals and ditches, cultivate desert land and, yes, they helped build new churches!
Grandpa and his brothers John, Fred, Edward, and his parents, Great Grandma and Grandpa Edward and Rosina Kartina Hiltbrand Durtschi were all next-door neighbors. Grandma and Grandpa Durtschi had five children Arnold, Isabel, Walter and twin girls, Lucy and Lucile, my mom. All five children served missions. My uncles served during World War II. Besides Grandpa’s family, Grandma’s sister, Lena, and husband, Fred Deursch, lived 3 miles north, so Mom was surrounded by cousins galore. Farm work was difficult and the weather harsh, but there was no better place to raise a family.
When my Grandpa Alfred moved to Teton valley with his parents and his brothers and some sisters, they bought 160 acres of land on Stateline Road in June 1909. They divided the parcels between them. Grandpa Alfred then built a four-room wooden slat house with a wood cookstove for cooking and heat, an outhouse etc., on his parcel intending to return to Utah to find Ida Aeschbacher and marry her, if she agreed, that is. He went back down to get Grandma, who he barely knew. He met her when she was singing in a Swiss Yodeling Quartet. She agreed to marry him after visiting the beautiful Teton Valley. Grandpa said in his history that, “the deal was made and we got married on the 7th of October in the Salt Lake Temple in the year 1915.”
Grandma Ida’s life had been a challenge in Utah. She and her employer, Mrs. McIntire spent a lot of the time play guessing games to try to communicate. At the next employer’s home, the Baily’s, an evil man sneaked into the open door, shut it and, put his hands around her neck like he would choke her. Immediately, there was a scratch on the door. That scared him and he let go of Grandma’s neck. Grandma ran and opened the door. Like lightening, a big purebred English bulldog, tore into that man. “It sounded and looked like he was going to tear him to pieces. It was awful. Even though the man had threatened to harm her, I did not want that dog to tear him to pieces. I kept telling the dog to quit but he wouldn’t. Finally, the dog stopped and the man ran out. I thought about calling the police but I could not speak English. Many times, I was at a disadvantage because I wasn’t able to speak English.
I had another bad experience. I was walking home from a Christmas party. A negro, or a man that was painted black, held me up with a pistol and took a nice purse away from me that my sister Lena had given to me. It had a dollar and my house key in it. I had to ring the bell for someone to let me into the house when I got home. I’ll never forget how awful that experience was.”
Grandma Ida had great faith! She left her home in Switzerland. Then she left her sister, Lena in Utah, and her place as a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the German Choir to go live with, my Grandpa Alfred in Idaho, and man she barely knew, in an unknown place without any family or friends.
Grandma and Grandpa married and moved into the home he built for him and his bride. They had five children, red-headed Arnold, Isabel, Walter, and the red-headed twins Lucille and Lucy.
Aunt Lena and her husband Fred Deursch, who married in 1911, eventually moved to Teton Valley, just three miles north of the Durtschi’s. She and grandma were asked to be in a quartet. this quartet won the regional competition competition, then they traveled back to Salt Lake where their quartet won the “All Church” title. That was pretty cool. Aunt Lena and uncle Fred lived in Teton valley until their own children were raised. My mom was raised with her mom’s family, the Aeschbacher cousins, while growing up. Mom lived by many cousins. Lucky! They attended church together, helped each other farm, provided employment when needed and had so much fun together!
That is how my mom came to be raised in Teton Valley.
Grandkids begin to arrive!
The Durtschi Place was on Stateline Road at the foot of the west side of the Teton Range foothills.