Crystal was born in Lyman where he became a star basketball player and known for his musical talent. One of Crystal’s first big jobs was driving a team of horses and hauling lumber from Carter where it came in by freight train in big carloads and going to the sawmills in the mountains above Robertson and hauling out lumber. Crystal and his wife Jessie intended to operate an American Food Store in Tremonton, Utah after their marriage but the 1929 Stock Market crash took its toll and the couple’s plans fell through. With little money, they moved to McKinnon to Jessie’s parents’ ranch. They started a herd of black Angus cows and some sheep and eventually bought out Jessie’s parents. The work involved using teams to accomplish haying, plowing, moving sheep camps and heading out horseback to check cows and sheep. His boys learned early how to break horses and work cattle. And they each had their turns at staying at sheep camps and helping their father manage the herds. His legacy remains, the branding iron Quarter Circle CY is still in the fire every spring.
Crystal Winder Youngberg
