Daughter of John Hunt and Lois Barnes Pratt

Married David King Udall, 25 May 1882, St. George, Washington, Utah in a plural marriage

Children - Pauline Udall, Gilbert Douglas Udall, Jesse Addison Udall, Don Taylor Udall, John Hunt Udall, Grover Cleveland Udall

Ida was born March 8, 1858 at Hamilton Fort, Utah, and was laid in her mother's arms in a covered wagon. John Hunt and his young wife, Lois Pratt, who had just turned twenty-one, were moving from San Bernardino, California to Beaver, Utah, when their first baby's unexpected arrival compelled the company to remain at the crude fort. 

Although Beaver became a cultural center, it also attracted a very rough element, due to the mines on the west and the government soldiers there. It became necessary for the citizens of the town to have a peace officer possessed of rare courage, tact and discernment. In John Hunt, they found just such a man. Ida learned to do his office work for him. He took great pride in the education and aptness of his eldest daughter, as his schooling was so limited. Ida also grew into the bosom companion of her dear patient mother while her father was away on his perilous business.

When Ida was but fourteen years old, she held the position of bookkeeper for the Beaver woolen mills. She drew her pay in linsey-woolsey cloth, knitting years, cheese, etc., which helped the family budget. John and Lois had a family of eight, six daughters and two sons. It fell to Ida's lot to make the cloth into dresses for herself, little sisters and even her mother.

Near their home on the Sevier River was a little village of Joseph City, where Ida taught the little "log cabin" school. She was a diligent reader, with a taste for classical literature. Her greatest solace, however, was her guitar and large repertoire of songs, which she taught to her brothers and sisters. Wherever this family journeyed, the wilderness was made to resound with the melody of their lovely voices. Other lives were also uplifted by her songs.

In 1887, John followed the urge to move on to the new frontiers and help colonize Arizona. Ida and her sister May drove one of the teams on the long journey which took them three weary months to complete. One can only imagine Ida's feelings—a cultured, refined girl of nineteen, facing the primitive and wild aspect of the Arizona wilderness. On the stub of a receipt book, written in lead pencil, she kept a daily record of that journey. When they finally arrived in Sunset at Lot Smith's camp, all felt inclined to go on to New Mexico, where they resided a year. While there, Ida learned the Spanish language, which had a very decided effect on her life to follow.

David King Udall came to Snowflake in search of a clerk who could speak Spanish and was informed that Miss Ida Hunt was capable. She had just finished teaching school a year in Taylor and another in Snowflake. The agreement was made and Ida returned to St. Johns to work in his newly established St. Johns store. 

Here they became acquainted and Ida found David King Udall to be the one of all the men she had ever known who completely satisfied her every ideal. She soon forgot her Beaver sweetheart. The story of their great love and checkered career is recorded in an outstanding journal and the reflection there of a second wife are beautiful to read. She became his plural wife on May 26, 1882, in the St. George Temple.

With the difficult frontier life came the joys of young motherhood, even though borne amid much adversity. She bore six children, with her husband away from home a great deal with his church and civic duties. She half soled the children's shoes, until they were nearly grown. She made butter and cheese for sale, raised chickens and a garden every year, while at the same time cooking for hired men. Her children consisted of a daughter and five sons. She was a wonderful mother whose government was that of love and firmness. Notwithstanding her frail body, and the multiplicity of her every day duties, she always found time for the refinements of life. 

 There were petunias blooming in the window or mignonettes in the yard. On the wall hung pictures, the frames of which she had fashioned from pine cones. She made a home which always brought comfort and cheer to those within. The charm and hospitality of Ida's nature made all classes at ease.

Long years of strain took their toll and caused a paralytic stroke in1908, after which she was an invalid in the home of her daughter for seven years. She enjoyed most of all the companionship of her beloved husband and an occasional visit to her home in Snowflake with her aged father and brothers and sisters. When the St. Johns dam and the subsequent breaking of the one at Hunt were swept away, her tired heart could stand no more. Death's 'bright angel' called for her on the morning of April 26, 1915, after which she was beautifully laid to rest, with her five stalwart sons as the pallbearers, in St. Johns, Arizona.

Written by Pauline Udall Smith, her oldest daughter

Ida Frances Hunt Udall was the mother of six children; Pauline Udall Smith, Grover Cleveland Udall, John Hunt Udall, Jesse Addison Udall (grandfather of Senator Gordon Smith and Federal Court Judge Milan Smith, Jr) , Gilbert Douglas Udall, and Don Taylor Udall, AZ State Representative.

Ida wrote a book about her life Mormon Odyssey: The Story of Ida Hunt Udall, Plural Wife