Our ward had a Family History day. Joe was asked to come as one of his ancestors and tell about them as if he were him. He chose to come as the person he is named after. His Great Grand Father Joseph Christen Bolander
He did a great job. This is what he said:
My name is Joseph Christian Bolander. I was born on April 10, 1907, in Orderville,
UT. Orderville was established in 1875
at the Direction of Brigham Young, specifically to live the United Order.
After graduating high
school I went to work herding sheep. I
was a cowboy. I spent time on the
Arizona strip ranching and herding animals. I loved to chase the wild
horses. I caught a few of them and they
made for some of the best horses once they were trained. This job allowed me time to study books. I
always loved school especially learning about history. So I
loved to read and study about the history of Utah, and had a great knowledge of
this land.
I married Pearl Batty on April 5th 1934 After we were married I went to work on the
Zion Mt Carmel tunnel in Zion’s national Park
Every night before going home after work I would shake the used cement
bags and collect as much of the leftover dust out of them that I could. I used it to build the foundation of the home
I built for my family in Orderville.
. I served my country during the Second World War. I had known the war was going on, but I was
37 years old and a father of four children so I was pasted the age of those who
might have to serve, So it was quite a
shock to everyone when I was drafted and then an even bigger shock that I was
deployed out to battle. Being deployed to the Phillipines. I remember the lowest point of my life was
watching the Golden Gate Bridge recede into the horizon as the troop ship I was
on headed out into the Pacific Ocean.
Later on that trip, our battle group was attacked by the Japanese as we
neared where we were to land. I watched
a kamikaze pilot fly his plane into the aircraft carrier that was part of our
convoy. We had a warning that it was coming and were
told to run down into the ship, but I stayed on deck and saw it happen. I was not sure I was going to make it back to
see my family. .
After the war I returned to my family in Orderville where I began
working for a lumber company and went into the chicken business.
At the age of 57 I got a job as a caretaker at Pipe Springs National Park
in Arizona. Later I became a guide. I
loved to tell the stories to the visitors who came. This
is a picture of me telling people about my experiences living and working at
Pipe Springs. This picture appeared in a
issue of National Geographic along with a story about Pipe Springs. Once, a friend of mine and I were working
with some of the Piute Indians from the Kiabab Reservation. We convinced a few of them to be baptized. My friend went and bought them some new
clothes for the baptism. A few months
later they came back and asked to be rebaptized so they could get some more
clothes. I loved this job "My
work of interpreting the Mormon Pioneering of the west was interesting and
challenging. I met people from every
state and many foreign countries. And I feel I have enjoyed some measure of
success.
I served in the
Orderville bishopric for eighteen consecutive years the last eleven as the
bishop. While I was bishop we built the Orderville chapel. Funds for the church
building had to come from the members.
Many members of our ward sacrificed to contribute so we could have a
building. After I was released as bishop I was called
to be the stake patriarch
Throughout my life I was blessed to be able to work outdoors. I loved being in nature. I was also a gifted orchardist and had an
apple orchard behind my house in Orderville, and a few more around town. People would come from all over southern Utah
to buy the apples from my orchard. Later
in life, I served a mission with my wife at temple square. While I was never a rich man I was happy and
loved life. I died in November of 1993.
