Katie’s Life
part 1 as
dictated to her daughter Sherry Snyder
September 2, 1916 must have been quite a day for my parents. Here
was Ma, 9 months pregnant, Pa had been sick in bed with typhoid fever
for several weeks. There was no money left. Ma, age 44, had given
away all her baby furniture thinking there would be no more babies.
Ma decided to make donuts for the 3 small children she had. While
she cooked them she thought of the old steamer trunk. Maybe she
could make it do for a bed. Yes the tray would keep the baby up high
for a while. When it grew the bottom would do for a crib. That
afternoon she fixed it up and went to bed satisfied. That night she
knew it was time to call the doctor. In 1916 there were no cars.
Uncle Frank lived near so she had sent him to get a doctor. He
saddled his horse and rode to a neighbor and told he Ma’s time had
come. Then rode on to find Dr. Hay who lived about 10 miles away.
Minnie Jewel came to be with Ma. I was born at 4:00am. Minnie Jewel
ha me all bathed and dressed by the time Dr. Hay rode up on his
horse. All Dr. Had did was come in and check Ma, and change my
diaper, my brothers and sister teased me about that for years. I was
born near Richland (now Pep) New Mexico. I was a healthy baby and
caused little trouble.
Pa got up the next day he was still very weak but felt he had to have
work. He applied to teach school at Center. A small school near the
ranch. He got the job! We were living in a shack near the windmill
on the ranch, near the corral.
One of my first memories was the house burning down. 1918 had been a
dry year, no crops. Pa had gone to Bisbee AZ to work in the copper
mines, leaving Ma home with the for kids, me 2, Jim was 6, Jo was 8,
and Jack 10. It was a cold sandstormy day. Ma had built a good fire
in the stove we were all sitting around the table writing Pa a
letter. My letters were just crooked lines, but Pa said he could
read them. All of a sudden Ma looked up and the whole ceiling was
ablaze, the fire had started in the attic. Ma sent me to Uncle Frank
and Grandma Williamson’s house which was where the ranch house is
now. As I climbed under the fence around our house, I looked back
and saw the house all a fire. It had started so fast Ma couldn’t
save a thing. All was lost pictures, clothes, treasures. We had
only the clothes on our back. Ma sent a telegram to Pa “Come home
now, house burned”. When Pa come home we moved back in the
sandhills on our claim. It was a one room shack, it is now the
harness house in the corral. Jo said they would pull the covered
wagon up to the window of the shack and crawl back and forth and use
it as a bedroom.
I remember one time Uncle Stewart Hunt came to see us. In the late
evening while we sat outside the shack on the door step and on the
ground he made me a little bow and arrows. It was a neat toy. We
did not have any toys and I really liked it. Uncle Stewart lived on
a ranch in Sonora Mexico called the Tapela. He came in a car, I
guess we got in the wagon and went to see it. Cars were very scarce
in those days. If there was a road he probably drove it to Grandma
Williamson and Uncle Frank’s house. I don’t remember. Uncle
Stewart was a good man, kind and honest, and helped a lot of
different people.
They built a cement tank in the orchard, it is 16 feet square and 4
feet deep. While they were building it they had a trough that they
mix the cement in, later we used that for a boat in the tank. It
always sank in the deep end, jack would save me when it got over my
head. I was sure the older kids wished I would stay home, but I
always wanted to go because it was so much fun. There were catfish
in the dirt tank, it was near the cement tan and held the runoff from
the cement tank. The water was clear and the little school of black
catfish were really pretty swimming around. When I was about 7 years
old I fished there, Ma took a needle and bent it to make a fish hook,
I caught 10 or 12 fish, that was the only time I ever fished. We ate
them and they were so good! This is the only fish I ever ate that
didn’t make me sick.
We had a big orchard there at the east end of the tank we had
dewberries (similar to blackberries) bushes. Over on the south side
there were lots of grape vines, they were little wild purple grapes.
They had vines and I would crawl under and eat delicious grapes
without being seen. Wehad big apple trees, the limbs came down and
touched the ground and made a great play house. Lots of fruit to eat
and no worms in them. I loved the orchard. I played there a lot
while Pa watered the orchard. He had an old iron “ice cream
parlor” chair he sat in while he watered when he got older.
Steinbo Place
We moved to the Steinbo (Steinbaugh) place when I was about 4. It
was a small shack, with a kitchen, living room and a lean to for beds
I think. It had a big dirt tank with a weeping willow on the north
ban and an apple tree on each corner at the west end. I learned to
swim and dive there. WE put fruit jars in a gunny sack at first to
hold us up, early water wings. My swimming lessons consisted of
being taken out in the deep water and swimming or sinking, so I
learned to swim young. We loved to play in the water and did it a
lot. Ma was brave and let us swim often. The older kids used to
climb the willow tree and slide down the limbs into the water. We
also had a diving platform that Pa had built near the willow tree. I
learned to dive off there when I was about 4, everyone was amazed
that I could swim and of course I loved showing off. The preachers
had the baptizing in our dirt tank because that was the only water
around. We had to have water for our cows. One time after a brush
arbor revival they baptized a lot of people and one man’s stomach
didn’t go under. Jim and I thought the devil lived in his stomach,
because it did not go under. After seeing that, Jim and I baptized
each other all summer taking turns being the preacher.
Ma got sick while we lived there, she was probably going through the
change of life and was very sick. One of the neighbors made me a new
dress, either Mrs. Rightmer (Rightmeyer?) or Mrs. Gumm, I thought it
was really pretty. Mrs. Rightmer had the first phonograph I ever
saw. It squeakily played “It ain’t Gonna Rain No More”. I can
still hear how it sounded.
There was a girl my age, 4 or 5, named Ethel Drenon (sp) she lived
in the Ailers house. The Drenons came first the Ailers came later.
She had a little iron stove. We went down in the cellar and built a
fire in it to make candy. Mrs. Drenon frowned on that! And she
stopped the candy making. I remember her dragging us out of the
cellar.
Before I started to school Jo said I should learn the ABCs and to
count to one hundred so I would not be stupid and she proceeded to
teach me. I remember that on the first day of school I got up and
said them.
I started to school when I had just turned 5 in September. Ma was
sick so I started early. Mrs. John Stroud was the teacher, her son
Jim was 4 and we learned and played together. We read from a chart
on the wall that had pages printed with large black type, like a big
tablet. We did not have books. We rode to school in an open stake
truck with one long bench on each side, it had a top and canvas side
flaps, they popped in the wind all the way to school letting in a
very cold breeze. The roads were so bad that we always got stuck in
the sand and everyone would have to get out and push. I was the
least one on the school bus, but I got on first so I always had a
seat. When more kids got on I would sit on Talbert Smith’s lap to
make room for others, he was the biggest boy. When others would
tease me for sitting in his lap he would push them on the floor or
make them stand up and give me their seat. We had to walk about a
quarter mile to catch the truck. We played in and out all the way to
school. When it snowed Pa would come and meet the truck and carry me
home. We had some cold and deep snow then or they seemed deep to me.
Pecos Finley was a cute little boy who would bring me a treat to
school lots of days. I thought he was neat! Who wouldn’t? My
first boyfriend, ha.
Jo taught me a lot of nursery rhymes and poems while we did dishes.
We would take turns reciting poems to see who could last the longest.
Of course she could, but I learned a lot that way. I still remember
many of the poems I learned. She washed because I was so slow that
we never go finished if I washed. I did not like the feel of the
homemade le soap on my hands, it was not like the detergents we have
now. Detergent was one of the best things invented in my opinion.
One Christmas Ma’s cousin Nell Rider sent a package to us from Las
Angeles. There was a great big doll with celluloid hands, head and
feet and a cloth body. It was for me….! I was so happy, I named
the doll Nell after this cousin I had never seen. We had so little
money Ma wrote and told her not to send any more gifts, because we
could not send any in return. I was sure glad to get Nell before she
quit! That was the only big doll I ever had. I used to take my doll
Nell to play down by the lake east of the house by the clay field on
the Steinbo place. We could wade in the lake and sit under the
mesquite bush for shade. It didn’t make much shade but that was
all there was. [During World War Two I lived in California and met
Nell. She was a nice lady. Nell and Ezra had me come to eat with
them once a week all during the war. It was so nice to get
acquainted with them at last. I loved them. I had to ride the
street car to their house. One time I left my purse on the street
car with @20, wedding ring, engagement ring and watch in it! The
conductor saved it for me! We were not allowed to wear any jewelry at
work.]
While we lived at the Steinbo place we burned cow chips, it was my
job to go and gather them up. East of the house was a prairie dog
town. While getting the chips we could see the cute prairie dogs.
Dog Owls lived in the prairie dog’s holes and would hoot in the
evenings. We liked to hear them hooting. Ma would sit on the
doorstep with us in the evening and we could hear them. It was
cooler outside the house in the evening. She would tell us stories
while she sat there. I think Ma had written a few children’s
stories. One was about little children in the woods, going farther
and farther in the woods and picking flowers. You were afraid they
would get lost. You could almost see the forest. She was a good
story teller. Ma used to be a kindergarten teacher, she would sit
and help us make a farm or other things out of writing paper. That
would really entertain us on a rainy day. She was a really good
mother. I can still make cows and horses that stand up. [Sherry
still has a few she made.]
Jim shot his first rabbit there. We were proud of him and we all
enjoyed eating the rabbit. The gun was a 12 gauge double barrel shot
gun I think. It kicked him over when he shot the rabbit. He was
probably 8 or 9 years old.
I milked my first cow on the Steinbo place. Old three-tit into a tin
cup. I stood up and milked the cow with one hand and held the cup
with the other. I wanted to help but did not really do any good, but
my cat appreciated it.
Pa got his first vehicle, it was an old Model T truck. He taught me
to drive through the gates so he could open and close the gates and
not get back in. I could barely see through the glass standing up,
but I could drive through the gate.
We planted cotton while we lived there, and I helped pick some. Ma
made me a little cotton sack similar to what the others used. We
soon decided that this was not cotton growing country.
The road to Portales was dirt and some red clay. On a rainy day we
would get stuck on the road, so we would get out and push. If you
passed another car you would always wave. Pa knew nearly everyone
that lived between home and Portales. We would stop and talk to them
and get a drink of water. If someone new was there we always stopped
to get acquainted. Often he knew them from school or somewhere.
People were always glad to see us, it was thinly settled and company
was always welcome. It was fun to go with him. We often went to
town in the wagon. We probably only went to town once or twice a
year so it was quite an event. One time Pa took us to the top of the
court house to see the pigeons. He took us through a Catholic Church
in Clovis and talked to the priest. He taught us to read street
signs and house numbers.
If a cowboy came y your home you would always feed them. They would
come in and cook a meal if you were not home, and just leave a note
that they had been there. Everyone’s house was always open and
they were ready to help their neighbors. No one locked their door,
we did not even own a key!
School Section
We moved to the NE corner of the School Section when I was about 7.
We moved the harness house there and Grandma Hunt slept there. (I
think the harness house started out as the shack on the sandhill
claim and was moved several times and added to.) She spent the
summers with us and the winters in Arizona with Uncle Dave. We built
the east room on there, I think. Ma had the most beautiful flower
garden in the L the 2 rooms created. 2 squares touching only on the
corners. The morning glories grew to the top of the house. I wish I
had a photo of them. We carried water in buckets from across the
road and across the fence at the windmill. It seemed like a long,
long way to me.
There was a bad twister there one time. I laid down on the ground.
It came up very suddenly and stuff was blowing all around. I think
the windmill blew over but I’m not sure.
We knew the Gathens there they had several boys, Alton, JP, Glen and
?? one was my age. He and I burned tumble weeds all one Sunday Boy
that was quite a fire. It was fun to see.
It seems we walked a long way to catch the school bus. We walked to
Jack (Betts maybe) house to catch it. I remember walking in fog one
time, it was scary. We went to Richland to school. The penalty for
bad behavior was walking a ring around a bear grass plant all during
recess. It was very humiliating. I had my spelling words written on
a paper on my seat between my legs and I was going to read it since I
couldn’t spell back then either. The teacher saw me… that was
the last time I ever cheated. I think that was 2nd grade.
Another method of punishment was to sit on the wall with no chair,
or to hold the heavy geography book with your arms stretched out. I
never had to do those. On trip to the bear grass was enough for me!
Jim had a teacher Henry Miller who told him to learn the
multiplication tables or get a dos of “hickory tea” which was a
whipping with a hickory stick. He got busy and learned up to 6x12
one night and up to 1212 the next night. He should have learned them
the year before, but he didn’t want to. Fifth or sixth grade I
think.
The Richland school house burned down. The parents fought over where
to build a new one, Highway or somewhere above Richland. I don’t
remember much about it but that there were 2 sides. We were in the
Richland District, to go to Highway you had to find your own
transportation. After the school war Jim (13 or 14 years old) drove
the school bus to Highway (Richland?) for 3 years. I was in the 6th
grade and wanted to go to Highway (Richland?). So I rode horseback 4
miles to the Sprigs’ house. Then the teacher picked us up and took
us the 4 miles on to school. To pay for that I had to sweep one
third of the school house, build a fire and dust the seats.
Annabelle and Ruth Sprigs also did this. We did that for 2 years and
never missed a day even in the rain and snow. The school was 2 big
class rooms and an auditorium. The Sprigs family took care of my
horse during the day. Mr. Sprigs was a trucker and he would give us
a nickel to buy candy every now and then. I think he had more lose
money than the farmers, because the farmers only had money in the
fall. The Sprigs had a rodeo most every Saturday for the neighbor’s
kids and young adults. They had lots of horses. We bought a
beautiful horse from them, and when Jim and I went to pick it up they
roped it and it broke it’s leg and had to be shot, so they gave us
a scrawny colt that we named Flee.
That was where I met the Brown family, Zell and Iva were the girls.
Iva and I were in the same class. We learned the sign language
alphabet so we could talk during books. We both still remember it
after all these years.
EA Hunt (no relation) was the principal and Pa taught there. I was
in Pa’s room and they had a penmanship contest, I wanted to win so
I tried really hard. One night I heard him tell Ma that I won but he
couldn’t give me the prize because I was his daughter. I was so
hurt that I never tried to write well again! No wonder even I can’t
read my own writing.
One time I was seesawing with Lory Mun, Jack Mixon came up and picked
up a bear grass that had been cut and was lying there. He poked
Lory. I got off and beat him up. EA Hunt called us in. I thought
he would whip us. He asked me if I thought I should have a whipping.
I said no, I would do it again. So he let me go. He spanked me
every 3rd day even if I had not done anything wrong.
The Autman’s girls, Marie and Odessa, and Iva, Zell and I were all
good friends. Their brother Ray was a good dancer and I loved to
dance with him. The Autman’s had a baby that died. Zell made the
dress it was buried in. Gene Hay made the coffin from planks. I
helped Zell to decorate the coffin, we padded the sides with cotton
and used satin and lace on it. It was very pretty. Zell, Iva and I
sat up all night with the corpse, so the parents could sleep. While
waiting Cory Betts filled our bottom lip full of snuff. We had quite
a time trying to spit it all out in the same slop bucket, I spit in
Iva’s hair. We were all sick and groggy. Finally we ate a bowl of
black eyed peas to keep from being sick. The Autmans asked Iva and
me to sing at the funeral. I have no voice, Iva could sing pretty
well. We sang “Shall We Gather at the River” I guess it went ok.
It didn’t cost anything to get buried back then.
Annabelle came over on her horse that was kinda wild and I was going
to ride behind her and hold a bucket of water with green apples
floating in it. We planned to eat the apples for lunch. The horse
threw us off, and I hurt my hip real bad. Annabelle said we couldn’t
let the horse win we had to get back on and keep going so we went on
to Mr. Moore’s Mountain, tied the horse to a chinery bush (scrub
oak) and played all day. The water bucket had a lid so the apples
and water were not spilled.
One Christmas when I was about 7 or 8 the Sprigs had me spend
Christmas Eve with them. It was the first time I ever hung up a
stocking. But I hung it up with Annabelle and Ruth and sure enough
it was full of candy and nuts the next morning. I thought Santa
Claus filled it. I could hardly believe it. The next year Pa, Jim
and Jack went off to pick cotton. They were gone for Christmas. Mrs.
Santa came to see us. She said Santa was sick so he sent her. She
gave me a little six inch china doll “Johnny Bob”. I loved that
doll. I kinda thought Mrs Santa was Mama but wasn’t sure. She did
a good job.
Our first Christmas trees were plum bushes. We would sting popcorn
and cranberries. Made paper loop chains and painted them with
Crayolas. We made a star and covered it with foil. It looked good to
me. One Christmas Uncle Dave (he was a janitor in Douglas School)
brought tree all decorated with bought things and tinsel. It was
beautiful. We kept those trimmings for years. I was 7 or 8 that
year.
When I was in High School I was in a play and fell behind the piano
and pushed my kneecap over to the side. It was very painful for
years and years. I went ahead with the play because I was playing an
old crippled lady. Jim had come to Richland to get me riding a horse
and leading a bronc that he was breaking to ride. I was supposed to
ride home and hold the bridle of the bronc and keep his head up while
Jim rode him home. My knee was so sore I could hardly stand it but I
had to ride home anyway leading that bronc.
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