Isaac Edwin Black gets new pants

Isaac must have been about 16 years old when the families joined the United Order at Orderville. One of Isaac's jobs in the United Order was herding the sheep. He apparently went with them to the winter range and stayed all winter along with them at least once. His account of this experience tells of the loneliness he suffered during those three months, with no books or anything else to keep him company. His diet was bread and molasses, which he grew to loath. He trailed the sheep by day and stared at the coals of his campfire at night, thinking of his wife and longing to be with her.

The winter finally ended and Isaac was able to move northward. His one pair of trousers, made by the women of the Order was hanging in shreds. He felt he couldn't be seen by the public in them and the sheep shearers teased him unmercifully. Finally, as he was seated by himself wondering what he could do, he saw the lambs' tails that had been cut off and thrown away, and he realized they had wool on them that could be picked off and used. Secretly he gathered the tails, put them out to dry in a hidden place and when he could get away he picked the wool off them, sacked it and carried it to Homer Bouten's store in Glendale when he traded it for a pair of "store bought' pants that fit. In fact they were so long that they wrinkled at the ankles. Only then did he fell fit to go see his bride and other members of his family.

The men of authority in the order, as soon as they saw the pants, demanded to know where he got them. When they heard his explanation, they declared that he had taken property that belonged to the order and so had done wrong. However, they decided he could keep them if he would let one of the men borrow them to wear to Conference at Kanab the next Sunday and also allow the women to use them as a new pattern for the trousers they made for all the men. Isaac gave his consent but he said later that the pants never fit as well after having been ripped apart and then sewed up again.