In this age of high technology, we spend a great deal of time looking to the future and how rapidly we can move forward in all aspects of our life. However, there will come a time in your lifetime that the past becomes as important as the future. It is only at this age that we become acutely aware that perhaps our past is as important as our presence or even the future. It is the past that has molded us into the people that we are today. The old saying "the acorn does not fall from the tree" applies in most cases.
At this particular time in your life, the quest for knowledge of your past becomes as important as your goals for the future. In this age of technology, the frame work of the family unit has spread across not only the nation but the world.
I was born at the time that the great migration commenced, prior to my birth the family units would remain in one area for the majority of their lives. I was fortunate to know my grandparents on my mothers side of the family, but never had the opportunity to know my grandparents on my fathers side. In recent years, it has become important to me to recover some of the information pertaining to my family and through time I have compiled a great deal of data. In time I will hopefully publish this information for the use of my children and their children.
Recently, while in Colorado and assisting my nephew and niece in cleaning up around my brothers home, they come across a little blue diary. This diary was unknown to me, I assume my brother came across it after my mother passed away and had retained it. They felt that I should have the diary since it was maintained by my father prior to his marriage to my mother. Unfortunately, he only maintained his writings during the years of 1933 and 1934. The majority of the daily entries pertain to the weather, since they were all farmers and accurate records were important for future crop planting. There were several entries where I learned things about my father that I did not know.
I had known that he followed the rodeo circuit at times during the summer to make extra money. This was documented in his writings, when riding in the rodeos he was paid $1.50 to ride broncs and $2.00 for each bull that he rode. One particular rodeo hired him to ride a buffalo, this was the big money pot at $3.00 per ride. What I did not know, was that he was also a boxer. As in the rodeos, they would pay him to box for public enjoyment. In these matches, he received a flat rate of $1.00 per fight. Life was much simpler back then but it was also a time that you had to do what was needed to survive. As an example his entry for January 8, 1933 reads "Fair and warm - Topsy bucked so hard that she cracked the last joint of my back. Got and rode Louis Stunkles roan colt". The following day, January 9, 1933, his journal read "Fair and warm - couldn't hardly walk. Dan took me to Doc Williams and he put the bone in place $1.50 - bought new bit and had bridle fixed". There are so many entries like this that make you fully appreciate how these times affected their lives and yet the future that they help develop for us. The last two entries that I will share with you, are dated the day prior to and the day that my father and mother got married. February 15, 1934: "Over to Riley's. Lena & I went to Hordville. Then I went to Benedict to have the car fixed. Stayed at Riley's all night." On their wedding day, February 16, 1934 he entered: "Fred (my mothers father), Lena, & me went to Council Bluffs. There I got my dog license to be married. Was married on Long View Hill, Pottawaltanie Co., Iowa by Lippett".
My point is to encourage everyone to take the time to sit down and visit with senior citizens, especially within your family, they have a wealth of experiences to share and only through you will those experiences be passed down to future generations.
-22°F in Deadhorse, AK
8 years ago
