Craig Daily Press / Family reunion: Johnson

Archive for Thursday, August 7, 2008

August 7, 2008

Craig — To coincide with the city of Craig's centennial birthday, the Johnson/Bushyager family hosted a reunion at Johnson Meadows on Black Mountain, off the Freeman Reservoir road to celebrate more than 100 years in the Moffat County area.

At its peak, the reunion included more than 70 people and a menagerie of animals, including several dogs and a pet lamb named "Pig."

The Bushyager and Johnson families homesteaded in 1905 near Freeman Reservoir and have lived in Craig and the surrounding areas since. When the families moved into the area, the reservoir still had their name - Johnson Reservoir. It wasn't until the 1960s that a county commissioner named Freeman changed the name.

The family reunion represented four generations of relatives, though the family has been in the area for six generations.

With an age range of 10 months to 94 years, the reunion was a chance for all the Johnson/Bushyager relations to forge new friendships and rekindle old ones. The family spent three days fellowshipping around campfires, singing, performing skits, participating in a scavenger hunt and storytelling.

There also was a sawdust pile full of coins to keep the kids busy and wagon rides pulled by the Percheron draft horses, Adam and Lee.