In every beaver’s life, there comes a time to leave home. My brothers, George and Woodchuck, were really devoted to helping Flatty and me get our starts, but after a few years, that long-suppressed instinct to wander returned. It took hold of George one day, without a word. Woodchuck, on the other hand, obeyed Rule Number One of a young beaver: tell your mother where you’re going. Always the ladies’ beaver and perpetually frustrated by the fact that beavers are not indigenous to South Korea, his parting words to Mom were “The natural habitat of lady beavers.” That led him here:
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The City of Beaver was a good bet. It not only has the best water in the world, but it is also seated along the Beaver River in the Beaver Valley in Beaver County. Unfortunately, Woodchuck arrived and settled in, only to find that the beavers of the Beaver River have all but been annihilated! So I was not too surprised to find him single when I came to visit him for Solstice. We beavers celebrated Solstice millions of years before Christmas was even imagined. It’s our third most important holiday, along with Firstbud and Lastleaf. On Solstice, we gather with those we care about and look forward to our relationship growing like the days ahead. This year, I had the opportunity to reconnect with one of my brothers, and I took it.
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Woodchuck has made his home in an irrigation ditch of all places, another huge surprise! He argued that it makes travel around town very convenient, along with the running of his business. Yes, Woodchuck has started up a small construction business, building homes for field mice and the like. He’s apparently been turning quite a profit, enough to save up a bit, the better, he says, to draw the ladies. They like a beaver that looks after himself. I think they should like him for who he is, but I digress.
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It turns out that Woodchuck’s doorway is right next to a very prominent plaque, marking the Indian Raid on Lee’s Ranch in 1866. In fact, the whole town is swarming with historical landmarks! I had to literally drag Woodchuck away from the TV to go see what we could see! He wasn’t happy about that at first, but he got over it when we found out how cool his city is!
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Beaver was first settled in 1856 and grew as Mormon pioneers who overshot Utah started to turn back from California, probably because the water tasted funny over there. It was formally incorporated into the brand new state of Utah in 1867 and took off as a center for raising crops, like corn and barley, and animals, mostly cows and sheep. It quickly became a retail center for local miners and farmers, a haven for small businesses, so I can see why it was so appealing to Woodchuck among beaver-themed locations!
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Oh! One neat fact I learned about Beaver is that it was the birthplace of Philo T. Farnsworth! “Who the heck is that?” you may very well ask. He was only the inventor of electronic television as we know it! He came up with the idea of projecting images in lines across the screen, using a vacuum tube, and hey, the idea stuck! He also created a baby incubator, the first electronic microscope, and started to delve into nuclear fusion toward the end of his days! And he was born right here in Beaver, Utah in 1906! It took a while, but Woodchuck finally got the gist of why I find this stuff so interesting.
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After a whirlwind trek past the woolen mills and a brief waddle around the Beaver High School Track (Shh… Animals aren’t supposed to be on it…), we finished up at the site of Fort Cameron, built in 1872 to protect the locals from angry Black Hawks and to investigate the Mountain Meadows Massacre! By then, our feet were sore, and it was time to head home for some Solstice tarts, Solstice carols, and enough merriment to wake up the sun from its winter slumber. From our den to yours, we wish you the most splendid holidays, and I’ll see you again in the new year!
May your days be longer and bright!
