Thanks

From "Writings" by Carrie "Cree" Probst ©1985

Thanks

Give thanks for what?
Can you raise your eyes,
For the gorgeous blue of the morning skies,
Or see the glory of God's sunrise
And not give thanks?

Give thanks for what?
Can you gaze and see
A blade of grass or a stately tree
A butterfly or a humming bee
And not give thanks?

Give thanks for what?
Can you dry a tear
From a little face that presses near
Or hold in your arms the form so dear
And not give thanks?

Give thanks for what?
Can you see at night
The stars pinned round
With the moon for light
And feel that God makes all things right
And not give thanks?

Returning Home from a Dance

Taken from "Experiences in the Life of Karl Lorenzo Probst"

"One night about the middle of April, our orchestra went to Duchesne to play for a dance. After the dance let out about 10:00 p.m., we started on our way home. While coming up Deep Creek in Dolph Duke's car, he was driving, he went to sleep at the wheel and I could feel the car swerve, going to the side, and the car tipped down against a quaken aspen tree and was braced across this tree. I opened the door on my side and crawled out and helped the piano player out, and then Dolph crawled out. Seymour Duke and Albin Hansen were in the back seat, and Albin said, "Seymour, don't step on my violin," and Symour said, "Hell, you have got it under your arm." At the same time, Albin was stepping in the middle of Seymour's drum. From then on, Albin carried his violin under his arm to protect it. We gathered some wood and made a fire. Seymour and I walked to the State Road Shed in Strawberry Valley about five miles away. We arrived at sunup and Ronald Johnson was the only man there working for the State. He got a state truck and equipment and we rode back with him to the wreck. He pulled us onto the road, and we got on our way, arriving in Heber about 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning."

Fishing with Karl

Memories of Karl as told by GWP:

Dad (Karl) and I were "fishing buddies" for as long as I can remember. He started me fishing at about age four. My first memories were of the Mahogany Spring at the mouth of Pine Canyon and not far from our cabin in Snake Creek––maybe a couple of miles. Dad took me in through the brush to a small stream and said, "Glen, come and look at this." I crouched over, went up to where he was, looked into the clear water and saw about a dozen Brook Trout feeding in the quiet current. That was my first experience and it "hooked" me on fishing. I was so excited. Then Dad baited his hook, dropped it into the stream, and I watched as one of the fish quickly took the bait, and Dad pulled it out and onto the grassy bank.

Now I was really excited. Those Brook Trout were so colorful. From that day on Dad and I fished several times a week. As I got older, we went to Deer Creek Reservoir, Strawberry Reservoir, some of the high lakes (Brimhall Lake, Lake Catharine, Pittsburg Lake, Blood Lake, Island Lake, Lake Mary, and others) in the mountains above Midway towards Park City and Brighton and Alta. We also fished the Provo and Weber Rivers a lot. Whenever we could, we went fishing.

My mother (Cree) both bottled and froze fish for use year around.

When Dad (Karl) was in his late eighties, he still wanted to go fishing with me, if only to watch me fish. I remember one day we went to Rainbow Bay on Deer Creek, one of his favorite places. I drove as close to the reservoir as possible and then helped him down the embankment and over to the edge of the lake, where I put him on a chair, and we fished and caught our limits. Dad loved to fish and so did I.

Karl's favorite places to fish at first were up Snake Creek--the stream that ran through our orchard and right next to the old cabin where he was born. In later years he liked to fish the reservoirs--Strawberry first, Deer Creek next, and then Schofield. He also enjoyed going with me to the Uinta Mountain lakes.

He mostly fished with bait--worms and cheese. He only fished with flies when he was with me doing evening fishing on one of the lakes. I tied many, many flies that were very effective, and Dad would use a fly and a bubble on his spinning outfit when we fished the lakes in the evenings or early mornings. Sometimes we would get up at 3:00 AM to go to Strawberry and fish with large streamers or bucktails, trolling them behind a boat with the motor running very slowly. This was very effective. We'd fish into the morning and catch fish as long as the fog and mist remained on the lake.

Dad was famous for being able to catch fish on the streams around Midway. This is how he taught me. He would walk into the most brushy places with a short fishing pole and line, sneak up to the side of the creek, drop the bait in along the undercut banks, and catch fish at will. He always told me this was the way to do it, because most people would not fight the brush to fish those places. He was right, I caught my limit of fish almost everyday doing this. We had fish regularly.

Dad used a spinning rod only, once they came on the market in the fifties. Before that he used a bamboo pole or steel telescoping rod to fish on the streams and rivers close to home--mostly Snake Creek, the Big Ditch behind our house, Mahogany Springs, and the Provo River. He never used a classic fly-fishing rod on the rivers and streams like I did.

Karl's Fishing Hats. Originally these were his "Dress Hats" before they were commissioned as "Fishing Hats."

Karl's Tackle Box

Karl's Fishing Hat filled with flies tied by GWP.

Browne Lake Fishing Trip 1962

Memories of Karl as told by GWP:

Karl L. Probst - Browne Lake 1962

In 1962 Dad (Karl), Harold Hullinger (my father-in-law), and I took a fishing trip to Browne Lake. Browne Lake is north of Vernal, UT, on the eastern end of the Uinta Mountains, north slope near Flaming Gorge.

Karl would have been 65 years old in 1962. We went out to the Uintas specifically for this fishing trip and stayed in Harold Hullinger's camper.

The fish are Native Cutthroat fish, and each weighed between 2 and 3 pounds. We caught many fish that day. I don't remember what the limit was, but we kept only the larger fish.

Dad (Karl) always wore bib overalls. I still have his old hat and fishing license. In fact, I've used his old hat for years and have added some more of my home-tied flies to it.

Glen W. Probst - Browne Lake 1962

History of Karl Lorenzo Probst - Part IV

History written by Karl L. Probst in 1968:

"Besides teaching school and farming, I played for many dances, using the saxophone, trombone and guitar. we traveled in all kinds of weather playing in surrounding towns in and out of the valley."

Old Midway Social Hall where Karl and his orchestra played for dances.
(Notice the pot rock construction.)

"I was Sunday School and ward chorister approximately forty years and was Wasatch Stake Sunday School chorister for eight years."

"In the year, 1914, while attending B.Y.U., I was selected for the Wasatch Stake to take the Scoutmaster's Training Course that the Church had initiated. I was chosen Scoutmaster in midway and worked in Scouting for about forty years as Scoutmaster and on the Troop Committee. Also, I took a course for college credit that gave me the 'Scoutmaster's Key.'"

"I organized a male quartet composed of myself as second bass; Reed Kohler, bass; Rulon Huntington, lead; and Roy Huffaker, tenor. We did much public service, and sang for funerals, on programs, etc., for some forty years. This quartet took first place in the Utah Farm Bureau Contest. I organized other groups and put on about six or seven minstrel shows to help raise money to pay on the present Midway Second Ward meetinghouse., and after the money was matched, it made about $6,000 toward the chapel."

"My favorite sport was baseball, having pitched and won many games. I came by this naturally, because I could curve a ball when I was in the sixth grade. I have obtained a hunting and fishing license each year and never missed a year from the time I was fourteen years old."

"My wife and I served a six-months' mission in the East Central States from October, 1961, to April, 1962. We also spent several winters in Mesa, Arizona, doing temple work and enjoying the warm climate."

"Over the years, I developed the ability to do fancy handwriting and was asked many times to sign numerous certificates, invitations, etc."

"During my farm days, I got into the silver fox business and had a ranch of my own––about twenty pens. We made money for several years and had good luck, and then the styles changed, and the women weren't wearing fox fur. We sold the last ones for $10.00 a piece and got out of the business."

Fox Pens on the Probst Farm where Karl raised silver foxes for their pelts to be used for clothing, 1940's.
At the peak, he had about 500 foxes.

"I also had acquired by this time some black Karakul sheep; the first ram I bought from Texas at a cost of $250.o0. It was the only Karakul ram in Utah at that time, and I crossed him on Suffolk ewes, and their offspring were half bloods, and I kept crossing this ram until I got a 15/16th blood, almost purebred. I also purchased a ewe then, too, and kept inbreeding until I finally had a quality of pelt that was valued at about $25.00 to $30.00 a piece."

"I sold a carload of sheep to Hemingway in California, keeping twelve yearlings that were the highest quality of broadtail type fur. I kept one ram lamb to breed on these twelve, having let the old ram go to California. I figured I had the best ram, and these twelve ewes were the best in America for their quality of fur. I figured now that I would really make some money. I had this valuable ram in the corral with some horses, and about two weeks after I had sold the other sheep, I went up to the barn one morning, and the ram was lying dead. He had been kicked by a horse and had a broken neck, so I had no ram to breed these twelve ewes with. so, I wrote to California to try to get the old ram back, and they informed me that they had already killed him because they didn't think he was worth anything. So, with this disappointment, it put an end to my experiment in the sheep business."

"We also raised peas for silage, sugar beet seed, milk cows, head lettuce and hay. Just recently, I have purchased two rare Mouflon sheep, almost extinct. The ewe now has a lamb."

"We also had a raspberry patch up Snake Creek in the apple orchard which produced berries very abundantly for some time. However, the State Park has now purchased this ground, but I have continued to lease it back since that time. This year is the last time I will take care of the raspberries up Snake Creek. The bushes are just about all dead."

"The last year I taught school, I decided to try making a guitar. I found a large log up Snake Creek, hauled it to my home and with an ax, chopped it down to size. I then took it to the shop in high school where I smoothed it and cut it to the pattern I had made. By the time school was out in the spring, I had finished a very good electric guitar. Later, I invented an instrument I called the Melody Harp. I have made many of these. Lately I have been making Spanish Guitars, and have been experimenting with different kinds of wood. I still have many ideas I want to work out."

Karl created this Trade Mark for his Melody Harp.

"Since retiring from school teaching, I have kept very busy with my hobbies––painting, guitar making, and fishing. I have painted many pictures, many of which I have given away, and some I have sold."

"At seventy-three years of age, I have very good health, enjoy life, and hope to live to be one-hundred years old."