Serving

Louise Perkins was Relief Society President in Pocatello.  She would go and get food from the people who were moving and were throwing some food out to take to someone else in need.

 

(1945 Louise Perkins)

Musical Memories

Joseph H. Argyle would always sit and listen to Denece practice the piano he gave her (he had bought it for his wife).  He loved to hear her play hour after hour.  Denece loved to hear him talk about his Elizabeth (his wife) and that Denece’s hands reminded him of her.  When he talked of her, you could feel the love he had for her.  He remembered her hands being so soft.  Even though she worked hard she always had the right creams to keep her hands soft.  Elizabeth would always memorize her favorite piano pieces so she would have them with her and she would often play by memory.  Whenever he had to go to Pocatello, he would go to the music store and buy her sheet music.  He could not read music but he loved to hear her play. 
Joseph bought Elizabeth the beautiful piano back east. It was shipped by boat to California. Then by train to Salt Lake and then by ox cart to Idaho. Later he gave the piano to his grand daughter Denece. When she moved to Seattle her parents drove it from Idaho to Seattle. Denece gave the piano to her grand daughter Monica Butchart McDonald. She learned to play and enjoyed it until she made her home in Utah. Now the piano is in the home of Trevor and Michelle Butchart.

(1940 Joseph Hyrum Argyle)

 

 

(1946 Denece Ann Argyle)

 

 

 

 

Bees and Hollyhocks

As a kid, Edwin would trap bees in the Hollyhock flowers and feel them buzz.  Eventually he’d get stung and he would run for the ditch and slap mud on his bee sting.

 

(1937 Edwin Perkins)

 

 

Hollyhocks

 

A Trip Through the Caverns

Alene, Delbert, and Dora came to visit Edwin and Denece while they were living in El Paso, Texas.  Edwinna was about a year old.  They brought Grandma Baty with them.  They all went to Carlsbad Caverns.  Delbert was carrying Edwinna and she liked to lay over his arms.  People would comment, “look how that man is carrying that baby.”  So he’d try to hold her another way and she would howl.  While going down into the cavern, Lettie Baty started to lean backwards.  Her son told her she was leaning and to stand up straight.  She said, “I am, Delbert.  I am standing up straight as I can!” A tour guide said they should take her out of the cave before she fell over backwards.

 

 

(1953 Denece Perkins, Dora Argyle, Lettie Baty, Alene Argyle, Edwinna Perkins, and Delbert Argyle)

 

 

(1953 Carlsbad Caverns Brochure)

 

A Surprise

On Denece’s 5^th birthday no one wished her happy birthday.  She got mad and rode her trike about ½ mile to visit Unilla Sessions, a childless neighbor who she called “Umbrella.”  She took Denece home and told her, “Don’t you cry when you find out what you done.”  Her parents had planned her a surprise party.

Eloping

Edwin and Denece helped Bobby and Rita elope.  Edwin hid the car near the police station.  Both parents wanted the kids found but it was too late.  John Dean Perkins, was an older cousin and Chief of Police of Pocatello.  He often said he would have liked to catch Edwin doing something so that he could have brought him home to his parents.

 

(1951 Edwin Perkins and Denece Argyle)

 

Childhood Chores

Evelyn and Edwin would use the push mowers to mow the lawn.  It was a chore for the kids and there was a lot of it to do.

 

(1937 Edwin, Evelyn, Elaine, and William Keith Perkins)

Bum Lambs

When Denece was young, the shepherds would bring in the bum lambs.  A bum lamb was one who’s mother rejected it.  It was Denece’s job raise them.

 

(1945 Denece Ann Argyle and Friends)

Mom (Denece Ann Argyle) and Dad (Edwin Perkins) met in July or August in Pocatello.  Mom was staying with the Van Orden’s (2^nd Cousins) Veah and Jolene.  Dad drove a green 1949 Ford convertible.  He would meet up with his friends at the Alameda City Hall every evening.  Veah bet Mom $5.00 that Mom could not get a ride in that car.  It took her a week, but Mom won the bet. One Sunday morning, the girls were getting ready for church.  Veah had loaned a blouse to her friend JoAnn Bybee and Mom went to get it.  Dad went to pick up Dale Bybee and give him a ride to Priesthood.  They met there at the Bybee house.  Mom said she needed a ride home and Dad volunteered to take her home.  She told Veah that she was going to marry Edwin.

 

(1950 Edwin Perkins)

 

 

(1950 Veah Van Orden and Denece Argyle)

 

Topping Beets

Edwin Perkins worked harvesting and topping beets when he was about 15.  He had to be careful with the knife to cut the tops off because it was hooked shaped and could cut his leg with it.  He worked for a farmer with the last name of Stewart.  They earned six dollars a day.  The farm was between Pocatello and Tyee.

 

(1947 Edwin Perkins)

Billy the Goat

When Edwin Perkins was young, his dad did not like dogs, so he had a goat.  Edwin caught the goat wandering around the neighborhood.  It was tame.  It was a white and brown goat that he named Billy.  Some mornings his Dad (Lamar Perkins) would wake him up to get the goat off the roof.  All Edwin would have to do is whistle and that goat would get right down.  He would pull a little cart and would do fine until he got started towards home, then he would run straight home. Max, a little neighbor, liked to tease it.   If Max got close, the goat would bunt him in the seat of his pants.

 

 

(1947 Edwin Perkins)

 

Hereford Cattle

Grandpa Delbert Argyle raised Hereford cattle on his ranch.  They had to watch the cows that were calving.  The main reason was that the cows would get down in the willows and drop the calves in the water.

From Edwinna Perkins Forschler:  I remember that they would often give birth out on the ice of the frozen river. I could never understand why a calf wouldn't arrive in the spring when the weather was more conducive.

 

 

(1948 Argyle Ranch House)

 

 

(Hereford Cattle)

 

Namu the Whale

When Edwinna was young, Dora and Delbert were visiting Denece and Edwin and the kids in Seattle.  The family went down to the waterfront to see Namu the whale.  During the show, the trainer picked Edwinna out of the audience to come up and whispered in her ear the plan.  The whale put his head up and she kissed the whale.  Dora was scared stiff that she would be eaten alive. 

 

 

(1965 Edwinna Perkins)

 

 

(1965 Dora and Delbert Argyle)

 

 

(Namu the Orca Whale)

 

 

(1965 The Perkins Kids - Edwinna, Delbert, Darlene, Denece, and Billy Joe)

 

Christmas Year Round

Santa would visit the Argyle Family year round.  He would peak in their windows.  One Sunday, Dora was combing Denece’s hair before Sacrament Meeting.  She had curly hair that would tangle easily and Denece hated to have it brushed.  He rapped on the window and shook his finger at her.  She stopped her fussing right then.  One Christmas Eve, Santa came by the house and they were still eating dinner.  He had his bag with him with presents that Denece could see, especially a doll with her name on it.  He said he’d come back when they were asleep.  You never saw kids eat their dinner so fast and get in bed.  On Christmas morning the doll Denece saw in Santa’s bag was waiting for her under the tree.  When other children at school would say Santa was not real she would argue with them that she knew he was real.  It was not until she was grown that she figured out who “Santa” was.  He was a neighbor and a distant relative that never had children of his own, Mr. Potter. 

 

 

(1937 Doyle and Denece Argyle)

 

 

 

Gooseberries

Edwin’s Grandmother Banks lived in Montpelier.  She grew raspberries in her garden and sold them.  She also had red currants and Edwin’s favorite gooseberries.  Edwin never knew what a ripe gooseberry tasted like because he always ate them green off the bush.

 

(1875-1947 Eliza Ann Tubbs Banks)

 

 

(1939 Vern Banks and Edwin Perkins)

 

 

(Raspberries and Gooseberries)

 

Swimming in the Cistern

When Denece was young, one of her favorite times was when it was time to clean out the cistern which held the drinking water for the family from the well.  It was like a swimming pool and it was a lot of fun.  She was not sure how much cleaning she actually did, but she sure looked forward to that day.

 

 

(1942 Denece Ann Argyle)

 

A Good Older Brother

Denece’s brother Doyle was always good to her in school.  He always included her in the fun with his friends at dances.  She would often date his friends.

 

(1949 - 1950 Doyle Argyle)

 

 

(1949 - 1950 Denece Argyle and Friends)

 

Beans at Hazleton

One year his (Edwin Perkins) Grandpa Frances grew beans out at Hazleton.  Lamar went out and got a truck full of bean vines.  They put a large canvas in the backyard to dry them.  When the vines were dry, they stomped on the vines and then they blew the chaff away with a vacuum.  They stored about fifty pounds of dry beans that year.

 

 

(1940 Edwin Perkins)

 

 

(1940 Frances Marion Perkins and Margaret Ann Southworth Perkins, and unknown)

 

 

(1945 Lamar Perkins)

 

Aunt Delphia

From Denece Ann Perkins Butchart:

 

Mom’s (Denece Argyle Perkins) family took a trip to Payette to visit her Aunt Delphia whose husband was Roy Aston.  They stopped at King Hill to sleep in a Motel.  Mom thought the water must come from the ocean because the water tasted so bad.  She was about eight.  Her aunt and uncle owned a furniture store there in Payette.  She would go down to the store watch her Aunt Delphia repaint her beautiful long fingernails.  Aunt Delphia always dressed in black.

 

(1897 Delphia Elizabeth Argyle as a little girl)

 

 

(1943 Doyle, Alene, and Denece Argyle)

A Knife For Christmas

One year at Christmastime, Edwin brought home his pay, while they were living Texas.  Denece lost the cash, she couldn't find it anywhere.  Denece wrote letters to everyone that she mailed packages to for Christmas, to see if she mailed it to them by mistake.  Elaine wrote back wondering why she had included the butcher knife.  She was concerned that Edwin and Denece wanted to sever ties with the family.  Denece found the money five years later in the big dictionary.

 

 

(1953 Edwin and Edwinna Perkins)

 

 

 

(1953 Denece and Edwinna Perkins)

 

 

(1953 Edwinna Perkins)

Dance Competition

When Dora was a teenager, she won a dance contest held at Lagoon.  Lagoon was the first amusement park west of the Mississippi.

 

(Lagoon - Farmington, UT)

 

 

(1930 Delbert and Dora Argyle)

 

 

(1928 Lagoon)

 

 

 

 

Uncle Ferdinand

Dad’s (Edwin Perkins) Uncle Ferdinand A. Johansen (the called him Ferry) was blind.  He lost his sight from sugar diabetes.  They moved from Pocatello to Twin Falls.  Both his daughter and his wife, Agnes, did not drive so they told him when to stop and turn and he drove the car.

 

(1909 Pocatello, ID)

 

 

(1913 Twin Falls, ID)

Who is that Guy?

One time Denece Argyle went to Pocatello with her speech class.  She was giving her speech when Edwin walked into the auditorium.  She gave her ten minute speech in three of four minutes.  Her teacher asked, “Who is that guy?  I want to kill him!”

 

(1951 Edwin Perkins)

 

 

(1951 Denece Ann Argyle)

 

A Long Night

Mom (Denece Argyle Perkins) had many adventures.  One time, in 1964, she was driving home to Bancroft.  She had just the kids with her.  Dad (Edwin Perkins) had just gotten new tires put on the car.  It was late when the tires started to wobble.  The lug nuts were loose and by the time she noticed, they were stripped.  She found a gas station in Pendleton, Oregon.  It was closed though, so they spent the night in the parking lot.  Bill was a baby and knew something was not quite right and started crying.  It was one long night.

 

 

(1964 Edwinna, Darlene, Denece, Billy Joe, D.Ann, and Delbert Perkins)  

Cedar Hill

Doyle and his friends told Denece, when she was 9, that there was a mountain lion in a cave on Cedar Hill.  She believed them, so she stopped going there to hike and play.  She believed this story all the way till she was in High School.  Cedar Hill was a great place to slide in the Winter time.  You could ride the toboggan all the way into Bancroft.

 

(1945 Denece Ann Argyle)

 

Across the Dance Floor

Lamar Perkins met Louise Banks at a dance in Montpelier, Idaho.  He was on one side of the dance floor and she on the other.  She told a friend she’d like to meet him.  He saw her across the room and told a friend he’d like to meet her.  They were introduced and the rest is history. 

 

(1926 Lamar Perkins)

 

 

(1926 Louise Banks)

Tomato Juice

When Denece was expecting Darlene in the Summer of 1956, she was ill, so Dora came out and put up tomato juice.

 

(1956 Edwinna, Denece, and Delbert Perkins)

 

 

(1957 Darlene Perkins)