After the settling of pioneers in Bluff, in 1880, by 1882 one cabin had been set up as a co-op where goods and supplies were sold to the people in the Fort and/or traded with the Navajo. The pioneers bought Navajo wool, pelts, and blankets which were taken to Durango, Colorado for sale. Returning from Durango, they brought other necessary goods to be sold from the co-op.
By 1889, the co-op became housed in a brick building and became known as the San Juan Co-Op, being named after the San Juan Mission, not the river. It was destroyed during a robbery attempt by the Fred Starr gang, and blown up. Being diligent, the residents rebuilt the store and it is now the Bluff Fort Welcome Center and Museum.
North of White Mesa, Walter C. Lyman founded a small community, in 1905, which was named Grayson, after the maiden name of the wife of Bluff leader, Joseph Lyman. The renaming of the community occurred in 1914 when a hefty library donation, from wealthy Easterner, Thomas W. Bicknell, was given. His wife’s maiden name was Blanding, so followed the pattern of the first naming of the area.
Three years prior, the Grayson Co-Op had been established, but it was not until 1918 that it became housed within the ZCMI building. The ZCMI (Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution) building featured a cast-iron and stamped sheet metal façade; the materials shipped in from Philadelphia. The main structure was constructed with brick masonry and heavy timber frame, with elements of pine pillars and stamped metal ceilings, and remains a prominent iconic feature along Blanding’s Main Street.
When the co-op was first established in 1911, Parley Redd was hired as manager, and continued to do so until 1939, when he purchased the business. Being a hard worker, and having business “smarts”, he was able to buy out other stockholders and changed the co-op to a private business, the Parley Redd Mercantile. “The store carried clothing, food, shoes and just about everything a pioneer needed right down to baby diapers (cloth of course) and coffin
…ice cut from the ponds in winter and buried it in a big sawdust-filled pit in back of the store to be dug out in the summer and sold. (sounds like Parley took a lesson from Hans Jensen).
…goods were purchased from traveling salesmen called “drummers” and shipped in by horse-drawn wagons.
The Co-op store was a gathering place for many of the town’s people. They would sit around the old stove in the middle of the store and catch up on all the latest gossip and news. Parley was, by nature, a friendly, gregarious individual who loved to play practical jokes on people. They say he rigged an auto coil under the counter and when an old-timer or anyone else sat on the counter Parley would wind up the coil and shock the person perched thereon. His good humor made it work and it curtailed men sitting on his counter.” (from San Juan Record, July 6, 2011, Parley Redd and his Ruth: A San Juan romance)
In 1952, Parley sold the business to his three sons, Vint, Gordon and Kent, but retirement was very short for Parley, as he died, from illness, April 1955. The mercantile eventually joined forces with the Ace Hardware corporation, and became known as Redd’s Ace Harware; and yes, the Redd’s still own the business to this day.
So, where does food come into all this? Well, while Parley Redd ran the merc, and the modernization of refrigeration began, he was able to offer more then just cut up blocks of ice, or dried and canned goods. He installed frozen food lockers that could be rented, and residents were able to come in, store fresh food in the lockers, and pick up their goods whenever needed.
Weekly, Parley would have cattle slaughtered, prepped for sale, and that would be a way for local cooks to have more than pork, mutton/lamb, or wringing the necks of their own chickens.
However, the hardware store doesn’t offer up much in the way of edible goods any longer, unless you count the candy, snacks and soft drinks available near the main checkout counter. Or, you can always pop into the Subway housed in the same building complex, or walk one street over to Smoke Pizza Company, if you’re hungry after all that hardware shopping.
Now for a recipe that would honor Parley fresh cut beef, but I’m not one for the Dutch oven, over an open fire, way of cooking. No, low and slow in the crock pot does me just right.
Crock Pot Beef Stew
Ingredients:
2 and ½ lbs. sirloin or eye round roast
½ cup flour
4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided in half
6 medium potatoes
1 lb. package baby carrots
1 large onion
1 and ½ cups beef broth
½ tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
Preparation:
Spray a 6-quart crock pot with nonstick spray.
Cut roast into 1-inch-thick slices, the slices into 1-inch-thick strips, the strips into 1-inch cubes.
Coat the cubes in flour; heat 2 tablespoons oil in large skillet, medium-high heat, add half the cubes and brown on all sides; drain on paper towels. Repeat with second half of cubes; place browned and drained cubes in bottom of crock pot.
Cut potatoes in half lengthwise, cut into 1-inch strips, the strips into 1-inch cubes. Place into 5- quart pot with the baby carrots, cover with water; parboil for 15 minutes. While these are parboiling, cut the onion into ¼ inch strips; place over the beef in crock pot. Drain potatoes and carrots; spread out over the onions.
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In a medium bowl, mix together beef broth, black pepper and garlic powder; pour over ingredients in crock pot.
Set pot on low; cook for 8-10 hours until meat, potatoes and carrots are fork tender.
Makes 8 servings.
Mary Cokenour
