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Traveling east through Wyoming in September of 1989 on a trip to Nebraska, I am remembering a trip to the west on this same road. It was 1947. We had purchased a trailer house and were on our way to Oregon to make a new home. At that time, Norman and I had been married for ten years and had two daughters: Gladys, aged nine and Delores, aged eight.
Going back to my early years, I was born on November 15, 1916, at Huxley, Custer County, Nebraska. Huxley was not a town, or even a store, merely a post office in a country home. Later we lived across the county line in Sherman County near my paternal grandparents.
One of my earlier recollections is the day Russell, Jr. was born. Dad put Wayne, Janice, and me in the farm wagon and took us to Grandpa Adams house. The snow was very deep, so travel by team and wagon was necessary. Dad took Grandma Adams home with him and we three kids enjoyed the day with aunts, uncles and Grandpa. The day was December 28, so when Dad picked us up to take us home in the evening he told us that he'd met Santa Claus who was running late, and that Santa had left us a little baby brother! Due to so much snow that year no Christmas shopping had been done. But Mother was very clever and handy with a needle. She had made an "Uncle Wiggley" doll for Wayne and an "Aunt Jane" doll for me. We both loved the Uncle Wiggley stories that were published in our weekly newspaper.
The following March we moved to Custer County north of Broken Bow. I was five years old and had not started to school. However, since Aunt Dorothy VanDyke was teaching the Snake Run school. I was allowed to start in March. By the end of that term I was promoted to the second grade. I am told that because Wayne missed so much school during his first year, Mother was teaching him at home and I learned most of it along with him.
Only one year was spent in that school as we moved to Senate Valley where I lived until I was married. Living on a farm, there were always chores to keep us busy. I learned to milk cows at an early age. Being the eldest daughter, I was taught to help with all household duties, including bread baking. Part of each summer was spent chopping sunflowers out of the cornfields. Although I never was expected to do any of the actual work in the fields, our mother was sometimes recruited to help with haying. On these days either I went to the field to care for the younger children or kept them at the house and prepared meals.
There was always time for playing, too. Our "playhouses" were designs drawn in the dirt with a stick, cabinets were orange crates, pie pans were old jar lids in which we made mud pies. Some winter evenings Dad would tell us we'd all play games if the chores were done early. Then after supper was over and dishes done, we would play Rummy, Old Maid, or other card or table games. There was sledding on pasture hills when it snowed, or on the icy slope from the overflow from the windmill.
Near our frame house stood an old sod house, which was used for storage. I had been sent out to get a basket of corncobs, which were to be used in the cook stove. A mother hen and her baby chicks were in a small pen near the sod house. Noticing that some of the chicks had gotten out of the pen, I stopped to put them back. A loud thud behind me caused me to turn quickly. There was a very large snake, coiled up. It had apparently dropped from the sod house roof, also interested in the chicks. I raced to the house to tell the folks. I don't think they found the snake but it was decided that it was most likely a harmless bull snake. Later that old sod building was torn down.
Our house had neither water nor electricity. Our water was carried by buckets full from the windmill to the house and for laundry, was heated in a wash boiler on the cook stove. Most of our lamps were kerosene burning ones, so they had to be filled periodically, the wicks trimmed and the blackened chimneys cleaned and polished. We had an outhouse and our bathtub was a washtub.
When the first 4-H Club was organized in Custer County, my mother was the leader. I was only eight years old but became an associate member and began to learn to sew. About that time I stayed two weeks with Grandma Adams and she taught me to crochet. Each summer thereafter I was in 4-H Clubs; sewing, cooking, or canning. I usually did some demonstrating or judging at our county fair and twice I earned trips to the State Fair in Lincoln.
Since Dad was raising purebred Duroc Jersey hogs and always interested in new breeding stock, when I was eleven it was decided that our whole family would make a trip to the state fair. The folks borrowed a tent, which fastened to the side of the Model-T Ford and we camped in the State Fair campground very near some railroad tracks. At that time there were five of us children, which crowded the tent, so two of us slept on the car seats. It was a fun experience for me, and to this day at times when I hear a train whistle in the night I recall that trip.
Our home in Senate Valley was a short quarter of a mile from the schoolhouse, so we went home for our lunches. I thought it wasn't fair, all the other kids played games after their lunch at school but we couldn't. I was glad when we'd have a heavy snowstorm for then we could take a cold lunch and eat at school. If only I had realized it, we were the fortunate ones for we got good hot nourishing lunches!
My first year of high school was in a country school. I had to ride a horse four miles, which I hated. For some reason I have never felt at ease around horses.
Broken Bow, where I spent the last three years of high school, was eight miles from home. In those days there were no school buses, so I stayed in town except for one semester when Wayne and I did "light housekeeping" in two rooms, I worked for my room and board. I took a Normal training course pre- paring to be a teacher. I had no time for any extra- curricular activities. The lady I worked for served family style meals three times a day in her home to teachers and business people. My duties were helping prepare meals, wait tables, and do dishes. One Sunday when I was serving pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream, a piece slid off the plate onto the lap of the County Clerk who was there in his good suit after church. How embarrassing that was, but his kindness helped to put me at ease. Part of the time we served as many as twenty to twenty-five people at two huge tables but most of the time it was ten to fifteen people, so they could be seated at one table. Every second or third weekend I was allowed to go home. The remainder of the Saturdays were spent helping to clean house and ironing stacks of linen napkins.
I graduated from high school in May 1933, at the age of sixteen. Dad and Mother thought I was too young to start my teaching career that fall and I could be helpful at home since a new baby was expected the next February, so my first year of teaching was delayed.
The depression and droughts were deeply affecting the economy at that time. With a large family to support, our enterprising father diversified and, among other things, grew celery to sell to local merchants. I recall many hours of helping to prepare it for market, washing it in cold water until my hands and arms were numb up to my shoulders.
Dust storms were prevalent during the dry years. No matter how tightly the house was closed, when the winds came a layer of fine dust was deposited over everything. The cows had to be milked on schedule, dust or not, and sometimes the milk could not be filtered well enough for use. After carrying a bucket of water from the windmill to the house, the dust had to be allowed to "settle" in it before it was usable for any purpose. I remember one trip from Broken Bow to our home with Dad when a dust storm had struck and was in the height of its fury. In order to prevent running off the two-lane road we had the car windows rolled down and our heads outside, driving very slowly and watching for the road edges. That was a long eight-mile trip!
In February when Kathleen was born at home it was common practice for the mother to spend at least ten days in bed. Besides all the housework and pre- paring the meals, I was also nursemaid and took complete care of the new baby.
Grandmother VanDyke was ill the next summer and spent several weeks in bed. I went there to keep house for them. During that time Grandma told me so many true pioneer stories of her childhood and early married years. I wish now that I had written some of them on paper as I've forgotten most of what she told me.
September of 19341 was teaching in my first country school. At that time all one needed to receive a teacher's certificate was a high school diploma and to pass the State Teachers Exams with satisfactory grades. That certified one to teach grades one through eight in rural schools for three years without further education. The certificate could be renewed after a specified number of hours of summer school in a college.
I taught school for three years, my wages were $35.00, $40.00 and $45.00 monthly, an increase of $5.00 per month each year. About all I could afford was my room and board and necessary clothing.
Looking back, if I could do it again I would have taken a business course in high school as I did not en- joy teaching at all. At the time, I think I was expected to be a teacher because that's what most respect- able girls did. Most of my parents' sisters were in the teaching profession so I was following them.
During my second year of teaching, the Kirchmann family moved into the district. Their youngest daughter attended my school. Her older brother was serving in the C.C.C. at the time, but he was soon discharged from service, and he met and fell in love with his sister's teacher.
Norman and I were married, on February 6, 1937, during my third year of teaching. That summer he was farming on shares with his father but the drought wiped out all hopes of a crop.
Since the nation was still in the throes of the depression, things were pretty rough for us for a while but Norman took any available job and we managed to do all right. During that time we lived in Broken Bow, where both of our daughters were born.
In the summer of 1939 Norman took a job as a bus driver and we moved to O'Neill, Nebraska. He worked long hours, seven days a week, so my days were spent rearing our daughters. O'Neill was a nice place to live. On hot days we played in the river and in the spring we gathered wild asparagus. I raised gardens and canned vegetables and did lots of sewing, even to making the girls' coats and snowsuits. When the girls were old enough they attended public school.
When Delores was four she had an accident while visiting her Grandma and Grandpa Adams, which seriously injured her left leg. Six months later she entered the Crippled Children's Hospital in Lincoln for remedial surgery and therapy. During the four months she was there Gladys and I made several bus trips from O'Neill to Lincoln to visit her. The effects of the injury have plagued her all her life.
At the time the United States entered into World War II, Norman was the right age for the draft. Because of his marital status and type of work, he was afforded deferments until August of 1945. At that time he was called up and ordered to Kansas for his physical; if he passed he would go directly into training without returning home. About five days before he was to leave, Japan surrendered. When I heard that news on the radio I was home alone but I rejoiced and I cried, experiencing a variety of emotions. That night, after Norman got home from work, we went downtown where the townspeople had built a bonfire and were celebrating. Because of the war ending at that exciting time our "Daddy" did not have to leave us after all. For this we have always been grateful.
My brother, Wayne, and three of the VanDyke uncles had migrated to Oregon. From their reports it sounded like a lovely place to visit so in 1946 we took a three-week trip to Oregon and Southern California. Our trip convinced us that we'd also like to live in Oregon, so in the spring of 1947 we sold our furniture, moved into a travel trailer, hooked it up to our 1936 Chevrolet, and headed west. Janice and Charlie joined us making it a crowded but fun trip.
We settled in Salem, Oregon. Norman took a custodial job with the Salem schools. The girls and I picked beans and strawberries that first summer, very frugal pay but every penny was important. Our home for over a year was our trailer house. Later we purchased a tiny two-bedroom house in Salem.
Things went along quite smoothly for us for a number of years. I took employment with the State of Oregon as an office clerk. Norman again became a bus driver. The girls continued in public schools.
Perhaps we still felt that we were farmers at heart. In 1951 we sold our home in Salem and took over a dairy farm at Tillamook, Oregon. Norman developed a stomach ulcer due to stress and his doctor advised him to change his line of work.
Our next home was in Seattle, Washington, where Norman worked at recapping tires. Our son, Keith, was born while we lived there.
Southern California beckoned to us, so in 1957 we moved to Fullerton, California where Norman worked in an electronics plant. I was an Avon representative for several years. I liked the climate there, but after twelve years the increasing smog and traffic convinced us that Oregon was better.
We purchased a small sporting goods and paint store in Winston, Oregon, and operated it for the next eight years. We lived in the roomy two-bedroom apartment over the store. Keith graduated from high school in Winston. Early in 1977 we had an opportunity to sell our store, so we did it.
At that time we took a two-week trip to Hawaii to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary, visiting the four main islands, which was a very special time for us. Then we bought a motor home and traveled for several months through many of the states west of the Mississippi River and parts of Canada.
Autumn found us living in a mobile home in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains at Toketee Falls, Oregon. Norman was driving a school bus, taking children to Glide, some forty miles away. Toketee is a small community consisting principally of forest service families with some public utilities people also. It was a beautiful place to live, not too far from Diamond Lake and in one day we could take a leisurely trip around Crater Lake. There were many hiking trails in the area as well as beautiful waterfalls. Enjoyable as it was, it became a lonely place for me, as there was no employment available to me, and only our small home to care for. I looked forward to the weekends when we would usually make a sixty-mile trip to Roseburg for groceries.
In 1980, we purchased a house in Roseburg where we spent our weekends until Norman retired in 1982, after which time it was our permanent home. However, Roseburg did not seem to be the friendliest of places for us so we sold out there and bought a home in Woodburn, Oregon, where we presently live.
We like it here. Our home is a small two-bedroom house located in a very friendly retirement community. There is a clubhouse, year-round swimming pool, and other facilities at our disposal.
For our Golden Wedding Anniversary, the children hosted a lovely reception for us in the clubhouse, and presented us with a gift of a cruise to Anchorage, Alaska, and a plane flight home.
I should mention two of our more memorable trips. One was a plane flight to Atlanta, Georgia, in June 1980, where we rented a car and toured Tennessee and Kentucky, enjoying many points of interest. The other was in October 1982, when we boarded Amtrak in Eugene, Oregon, and rode it to Boston, Massachusetts. We rented a car and toured parts of six New England states, visiting points of interest and enjoying the beautiful fall colors.