Page 4 of 8
Phase I - Part II
A Year, 1903, in Texas
- Our Dad got the "Texas fever," it culminated late in
1902 when sold at auction the farm equipment and most of the household goods
and moved to a farm about 5 miles from Mt. Pleasant in Eastern Texas.
- My mother prepared enough fried chicken, country ham,
jellies, cookies, etc., to feed the family of 6 the entire three day train
ride to Texas. As we were crossing the Mississippi River at Memphis
I recall looking out the window and saying to mother, "look at that big field
of plowed ground." I was train sick.
- Dad shooting opossums that had raided our chicken house,
provided excitement many nights. Another exciting occasion he shot an
eagle, only wounding it. I'll never forget the effort it made to reach
us, with a determined fierce expression on its face, and in its eyes. The
eagle had to be shot again. Carlos and I held the tip of each wing,
which showed a wing spread of six feet.
- While living in Texas our father opened a small savings
account for Carlos and me in a Mt. Pleasant bank. On one occasion the
banker opened the vault door so we could see "our" money. We thought
it was the same money we deposited.
- The creek that flowed through the swampy bottoms near
our home usually had a skim of oil on the surface. Oil wells are now
thick there -- oh for foresight.
- Some of our cattle strayed into the swampy bottom land
during a wet period and sunk up to their bellies and could not be extricated
-- they perished.
- Carlos, age 10, and I, age 8, went to a neighboring
farm about 1-1/2 miles from our home for two big watermelons. They filled
both ends of a large burlap sack. To carry them we straddled the sack
on a strong pole, then placed each end on our shoulders. The return
trip was without incident until we came to a high rail fence -- about twice
our height. The melons were too heavy for us to lift over the fence.
Finally the problem was solved by Carlos raising gradually his end of
the pole, while I raised the other end and resting it on each successively
higher rail. At the top one end of the sack was rolled over and across
the rail, then the melons were lowered inversely from the raising. This
bit of "strategy" has remained vivid in my memory.
- Our first and only experience of growing cotton was
in Texas. At age 8 I was a fast cotton picker and with fewer bleeding
fingers - than others - pierced by sharp hard burr prongs surrounding the
cotton boll. Before the cotton is ready to be picked it goes through
three different color stages of blooming.
- Most people in Texas didn't bother to kill snakes. My father killed over 80 the year we were there. While gathering some fruit one Sunday afternoon, I suddenly discovered 8 or 10 big snakes all about me -- some coiled. By keeping cool I got away without being bitten, by backing slowly through an opening.