Tag Archives: family history

LETTERS FROM MONA – Part 10 – July 2 – July 31st, 1913

2 Replies

July 2,1913

Dear Diary,

I am sitting outside watching Papa’s grain blow in the wind. It sure looks nice. I think we are going to have a good crop this year.
Roy wrote that his berries were just about ripe. I sure wish I could be there to help him pick again this year. He and I had such fun picking last year. But thinking of that is making me feel even more blue and I was already feeling blue enough. Roy told me Cousin Justin and Lillian are going to marry soon. Oh, my is that ever a surprise for they had just met for the first time in November right before we moved back here to Mona.
Mama and Papa thought the news was great even though Justin is 10 years older than Lillian.  Roy is only one more year older than Justin so why do they have such a problem with him being older?

I guess we are going to go to Aladdin for the 4th of July. I am looking forward to the festivities and seeing Sadie and our other kin there.

———————————————————————————————————————————-

July 8th, 1913


Dear Diary,


I’ve been feeling poorly since the 4th of July. I didn’t enjoy the 4th much either. I woke up with the tiniest bit of a sore throat and it got steadier worse as the day went on. I was sure glad when Papa said we wouldn’t be staying for the fireworks. I had a terrible night and barely slept, by sunrise I could barely swallow. It was all Mama could do to coax some water down my throat.  It’s some better today though. I ate some tinned fruit this morning. The first food I’ve had since the 4th.

————————————————————————————————————————

July 10th, 1913

Dear Diary,

My throat is almost back to normal especially since Papa came home with the biggest surprise for me. Two big boxes of Washington cherries. And you know who they were from. My, did they ever taste good. They made me feel so much better. There is way more than we can eat before they go bad, so Mama and I parceled some of them up to share with the folks around here.

The wild strawberries and raspberries are starting to get ripe and the plum trees are loaded. It won’t be long before Mama and I are busy canning them all up to eat this winter.

————————————————————————————————————————

Mona, Wyo
July 11, 1913

Dear friend,

Well Roy I wrote to you Wednesday but never got to send it so will write today and Hazel will take it to Mona tomorrow. I got your letter and those cherries. My! But they were fine. I was so glad to get them and must thank you very much. I have been sick ever since the forth of July and so the cherries helped me out I feel lots better now.

How are you any way? I hope you are well for that is the main thing I think. I was sure glad to get your letter. I just knew I would get one for I counted the days and you sure did not disappoint me. You are the only one I can depend on to write some of the folks have only written to us once. Haven’t heard from Uncle Sol’s since April and Uncle Hugh since March. So see we are always glad to hear from there.

Yes I sure, never thot when we left that Lillian would be Mrs. Phillips in side of five months. I never thot of them even going together. But wish I could have been there at the time. I haven’t heard from them since they were married but expect a letter every mail day.

Where were you the forth? Hazel and I were down to my cousins. Had a pretty good time but wish you had been there. Aunt Sadie and Bert are living down to Mrs. Merchants about sixteen miles from here. I sure get lonesome but can talk her anytime. They are coming up on Saturday. I’ll sure be glad. My garden looks fine. My corn is about the best in the country and I have nice vines also. Oh I think I am quite the gardener (nix). Every thing looks pretty good our grain is so nice and looks nice in the wind waves so pretty. The wind blows most of them time. We sure had some pretty warm weather, but is sure cool today quite a change. I am glad your berries are doing so well. And sure wish I was there to enjoy a few of them. The strawberries are almost gone. We just had a few wild ones is all. The raspberries just begining to get ripe but haven’t had any yet. I guess there will be quite a few plums and cherries. But not a good as yours were. My! No!

I was invited to a party last night. My garden looks fine. My corn is about the best in the country and I have nice vines also. Oh I think I am quite the gardener (nix). Every thing looks pretty good our grain is so nice and looks nice in the wind waves so pretty.

How is Lida? Why don’t she write? Hazel and Daniel got your cards but haven’t answered them yet. Daniel is busy most of the time with his pony. Do you go to very many shows. I wish I was there to go to one more like the last one or the one when we tried to catch the car. Hazel speaks of it quite often.

How is your mother tell her I sent my best regards to her. Where are Richard and Joe? Well I guess I’ll stop my foolishness for that all I can do is write anymore. Hoping to hear from you soon.

I am as ever,

Mae Phillips

I just got weighed, weigh 110 have only lost 13 lbs

————————————————————————————————————————

Mona Wyo

July 11, 1913

Dear friend Roy,

How are you gitting along I am fine and hope your are the same how is Lida and Mrs. Caple tell them hello for me how is your Berries if I will come bake will you give me a Job to Bee Boss? Are you coming to the fair I wish would come Mae is writing to you so there was a storm yesterday and after a while it got still and the sun come and all at once some thunder lighten come and struck something. It sure was hard the poney just tore up the grond offel, now when I get him and slap my hand he just jumps offel I could hartly get the girdle on him.

Daniel Phillips

——————————————————————————————————————————-

July 25, 1913

Dear Diary,

Last night just after we bedded down for the night, we thought we heard a woman screaming and a baby crying. Papa thought it must be coming from one of the neighbors up the road, so he threw his clothes back on and lit a lantern to go investigate. Just as he got to the door the scream changed to that of an animal and we knew it wasn’t coming from humans. This morning when Papa came in from his chores, he said he could make out tracks of a mountain lion close to our cabin. Mama and I were scared but Papa says it’s long gone by now. Just the same I’m going to be sure to be watching over my shoulders until I’m sure it’s not roaming in these parts anymore.

————————————————————————————————————————

July 31, 1913

Dear Diary.

Today was washing day. All that work standing over steaming water with the stirring, and wringing in this hot, humid weather has me pooped out. Right now, I am sitting on the porch trying to catch a cool breeze. Dark clouds are starting to rumble in. I expect any minute Mama will be hollering for me to rescue the laundry off the line before it starts to storm. It must be done so I guess I should put you down and get to it.

LETTERS FROM MONA – Part 9 -JUNE 5 -25th, 1913

2 Replies

June 5, 1913

Dear Diary,

Today is my second day at the Plummer’s and I’ve barely had a moment to even breathe. It isn’t that there is so much work to do but all the visitors. It seems the whole neighborhood has stopped by to say hello and see how I am doing or to bring me a lunch or dinner. I haven’t had to cook at all.

It is dark outside now. I shouldn’t be wasting the lamp oil, but I just wanted to add a few lines to you today.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

June 10th, 1913

Dear Diary,

I am still at Plummer’s. I surely shouldn’t have worried about being lonely here, someone is always stopping by and Mama calls everyday. She was feeling poorly with one of her headaches but today she said it was gone. I hated being away when she is like that for I know she really could use my help. She did say Hazel had pitched in and taken good care of her.

——————————————————————————————————————————-

June 19th, 1913

Dear Diary,

It’s not even daylight but I must write about last night before I forget all the details. When I went out to check on the animals last evening the air felt oppressively hot. I got all the animals bedded down and all seemed fine except the horse seemed a bit skittish. When I emerged from barn through the haze of humid air, I could see dark gray clouds rolling in and could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. If there is one thing I fear, it is lightning. I dashed for the house as large splats of rain started to fall. I was barely inside when I heard a loud hiss followed by a brilliant flash of light out in the barnyard. The force was so powerful it nearly knocked me off of my feet. Another intense flash came from across the road followed by a deafening crash of thunder. Within seconds I was clinging to Bismark, the Plummer’s dog. The storm didn’t seem to faze him though. The lightening was followed by heavy sheets of rain and gusty winds but thank goodness the lightening moved into  the distance.

The sun is up so I am going to interrupt my writing and check outside.

I am back. Everything seems fine except I found a clump of trees near the barn singed. Uncle Waddington came by to check on me and said a calf at the place across the road was hit and killed by a bolt of lightning.

As long as I live I hope to never see a lightning storm that close again. I tremble to think what might have happened if I hadn’t run for the house when I did.

———————————————————————————————————————-

June 23, 1913

Dear Diary,

This morning I took advantage of some solitude and lowered myself into a tub of warm water with thick bar of soap. I scrubbed myself until my flesh was pink, and my nails cleaner than they’ve ever been all week. Never before have I had a tub all to myself without having to take turns with the rest of the family.

A moment ago I stood on the hilltop behind the Plummer’s place with may arms spread, my hair blowing in the gentle breeze. I felt so free. Now I am sitting up here letting the sun dry my hair. Down below I can see the roofs of the farm buildings glinting in the sun and beyond the sparkling water of Deep creek as it ambles along. And the horse and cattle dot the fields like miniature figures.

Soon though I must return to the house and pin up my dark brown hair. All ladies keep their hair pinned up. And a lady I must be.

————————————————————————————————————————————-

June 25, 1913

Mona Wyoming

Dear Friend,

Well Roy I suppose you think I have forgotten you but not that.  I’ll tell you I answered your letter as soon as I got it and have been waiting so long for a letter and last night I thot sure I would get a letter but here come my letter back I guess you must be in Puyallup for it said you were not there. I’ll tell you I was sure disappointed. We have quite a time with our letters don’t we, my other letter is so long in reaching you.

Well how are you anyway. I am pretty well. I have been staying with a neighbor while they went to town, I have been gone nearly two weeks. Just got back home.

Is Justin in Puyallup? I suppose he is for you couldn’t keep him away for at present anyway (ha ha)

I’ll wait until I hear from him and then I’ll write to him so tell him to write to me. I think my Wash. friends are few for I don’t get near so many letters as I did.

Every thing looks fine here I hardly knew my garden it looked so nice, everything is so large.

Things are getting pretty dry tho.  We have some rain but not near enough. Last week while I was at Plummer’s, we had several bad storms and oh…I am afraid of them. I  worry every time from the time I see a cloud coming until it is gone. Last Wednesday we had a very bad one. The lightning killed a calf in a corral a little ways from the house. I’ll tell you that is as near as I care to have the lightening to come to me. I was almost crazy for a little while.

Where are Uncle Sol and the rest of the people we never hear from any of them. How are your berries, wish I was there to help you eat some and pick a few.  My it makes me homesick for Wash.

You had better come out in time for the fair at Spearfish. We will have a fine time. Tell Aunt Ann to write for I haven’t forgotten her if she has me. I feel pretty blue today and have a headache so must close. Hoping you will for give me and write as soon as received.

As ever,

Mae

——————————————————————————————————————————-

    LETTERS FROM MONA -Part 8, May 3 -May 25

    3 Replies

    May 3, 1913

    Dear Diary,

    Sadie is now a married woman. I am real glad Hazel and I got to go. Grandma and Grandpa took all of us in their wagon to Aladdin and then we joined Bert and his mother, Mrs. Marchant, and caught the train to Belle Fourche. I sat next to Mrs. Marchant on the train and she told me all about the sad day, 4 years ago, when her husband drowned in a flash flood. I felt so bad for her. I know she really wanted him with her to see their son get married.

    Sadie looked so pretty in her blue lace and voile dress. Bert picked a bouquet of wildflowers for her to carry. It was a busy couple of days. I have been all tuckered out since returning yesterday.

    ——————————————————————

    May 8, 1913

    Dear diary,

    My birthday was yesterday. I am now seventeen years old. We had a little party at the house last night. Just a few of the neighbors and Grandma and Grandpa Smith. Grandpa made me a hope chest just like Sadie’s. They also gave me cut glass vase to go in in. It was the best gift they could have given me and I will cherish both pieces forever. I can’t wait to start filling it with things I will need when I become a married lady.

    Papa came home just as the festivities were starting and besides bringing me several cards, there was something from guess who?  Yes, Roy! He sent me a big box of chocolates. I was going to share but everyone said no, they were meant for you. So I shall enjoy one chocolate a day, from my sweetie, until they are gone.

    ———————————————————————-

    May 12, 1913

    Dear Diary,

    I have been gone for several days. I hitched a ride with the Baxter’s to see how Sadie and Bert are settling into married life. From the glowing looks in their eyes I’d say just fine. For now they are living with Mrs. Marchant, but they have plans to begin building a house on Sadie’s homestead claim. I must say I really enjoy visiting with Mrs. Marchant. She was born and raised in England. She has the most delightful accent. I love hearing her tales of life there and how she came to live in Aladdin. I found time to visit my Aunt and Uncle Waddington and the other Phillips relatives living there, too.

    Uncle Waddington gave me a ride home this morning. He teased me about my box of chocolates to no end. He says someone must be sweet on me. While I denied it to him, I certainly hope it is true.

    ————————————————————–

    May 20, 1913.

    Dear Diary,

    The Plummer’s stopped by here today. The wanted to know if I ‘d be willing to stay at their place for 2 weeks while they are gone on a trip. I was sure Mama and Papa would say no but instead they said I could, if I wanted to. I said yes and I am so excited. It will be the first time I will truly be on my own. It will give me a chance to show how mature and responsible I have become. I won’t be going until June 4th.

    ————————————————————————

    May 25, 1913

    Dear Diary,

    My garden is coming up nicely, but it is awfully dry out. I may have to start hauling water if it doesn’t rain soon. Today is spring cleaning day. Soon Mama will put all of us to work even Daniel. First we all have to work together hauling all the feather beds and furniture out to air while we dust and scrub everything indoors. My job is always the floors. I have to sweep the wood, then damp mop it and finish with a splash of kerosene.

    I am hoping I will get another letter from Roy in this week’s mail. It seems I just live for mail day, if there is a letter I am filled with such joy and if not with despair.

    Letters from Mona -Part 5 – March 19 – March 25, 1913

    2 Replies
    One of the Phillips brother’s ranch probably near Aladdin, Wyoming

    March 19, 1913

    Dear Diary,

    I am exhausted this afternoon. We had a surprise party for Mama’s birthday last night. Oh my, so many people came, so much storytelling and laughing. Papa teased Mama about he used to wheel her around in her baby carriage and vowed he’d marry her one day. Mama swatted him and said he was lucky she ever agreed to be his wife. And of course, there were the many stories everyone in these parts have about the hardships they faced when they first got here to Crook county. It was the wee hours of the morning before folks left.

    I think Mama wishes I would be more social; I have gotten rather quiet since our return from Washington. I know the other young people are going to dances and parties, but I just can’t bring myself to join them right now.

    The days pass so slowly. And I worry about Roy. His last letter said he’d soon be returning to the logging camps and I know how dangerous those places can be.

    March 22, 1913

    Dear Diary,

    At last spring has arrived. How wonderful it is to be able to roam again in the warm sunshine. At dawn I went out to fetch a pail of water. The sun was rising and what a glory of nature was before me.  Meadowlarks were flying from dewdrops to dewdrops while jack rabbits loped beside the path. Everywhere there are hints of green popping out and before long everything will be in bloom.

    I intend to plant a garden this spring. Not only will it give me something of my own to do but I am hoping I will have enough to sell to the miners in Aladdin and show Mama and Papa how mature I have become.

    March 23, 1913

    Dear Diary.

    I had a letter from Amber Henry this week. She says all is well in Puyallup and asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding this summer. Seems she and Ode are planning on tying the knot. Oh, how I’d love to go. I read the letter aloud to Mama and Papa and suggested I see if one of the aunts might accompany me out. We’d have plenty of places to stay there.

    Hazel said please, please let us both go. But Mama and Papa said it was out of the question as Mama would be needing our help with the canning and garden then.

    I guess Roy would be up logging in the mountains anyway but maybe he would make it home for the wedding if he knew I was going to be there.

    March 24, 1913

    Dear friend,

    There is a dance at McDonalds. I suppose we will go but I don’t care a great deal about it. I wish you would go too.

    No I haven’t heard from Justin or Lillian for a long time. I don’t see why they don’t write. I hear they are not going to Canada. It would be nice if they moved up there to Nagram for you.

    I am sorry your Mother and father are going away.  My it will be hard for you. Maybe they won’t stay so long as they think for I don’t think I would like it there as well as Wash. But maybe they will. I hear Amber and Ode will be married in Aug. sometime I don’t know just when. Hazel got your card and seems pleased to get it. I wish you were here to go to church tomorrow I have kept my lessons up in the Bible and I think quite a bit a head. Well I must close and get busy again now. Write if I don’t.

    Best regards, as ever,

    Mae

    March 25, 1913

    Dear Diary,

    I just finished by morning chores and there is nothing that needs doing until the bread dough rises. I am so tired as we didn’t get home from the dance at MacDonald’s barn until 5:00 A.M.

    Mama is napping, perhaps I’ll find time for one this afternoon. It was a fun crowd except I’d really rather not have gone. Not that I had a choice wherever the family goes, I go.

    It was nice to catch up with all the family and friends though. We haven’t seen much of some of them since we returned from Washington. I was relieved to hear my Uncle say cousin Justin isn’t going to Canada after all. I don’t have to tell you why; I want to keep all my Puyallup connections.

    I am a little worried though, I didn’t get a letter from Roy this week but Hazel got a card. I try to tell myself it’s just that he is trying to show he is interested in friendship with our whole family so gradually they may come to accept our relationship but still I worry that maybe he is losing interest in me. Hopefully I’ll get a letter next week.

    .

    .

    LETTERS FROM MONA – Part 4, February 14, 1913 to March

    Leave a reply

    Reminder: The diary fiction but the letters are real. The first letter appears here in the 4th part.

    William Roy Caple, photo is from around 1914

    February 14, 1913

    Dear Diary,

    Oh my, my heart is soaring. Papa came home with the mail from Mona, to my surprise he handed me an envelope and package. And yes, they were from Roy.

    Here I thought he’d forgotten me; I hadn’t heard from him in so long and then he goes and sends me the most gorgeous Valentine. He also sent me a quirt with a note that said – something for you to use when riding your pony, Drummer. My goodness, he even remembered my horse’s name. I just love them both and I will think of Roy every time I ride my pony.

    He sent Hazel and Daniel cards too, but they are nothing like my big fancy heart. Mama and Papa said very little about my gift, I am not sure they were pleased.

    ————————————————————————————————————————————–

    March 4, 1913

    Dear Diary,

    I haven’t written in you for a while. Mama has kept me pretty busy with chores. Yesterday was wash day. I hauled water from the well and stood over boiling pots of white linens most of the day.  All the wringing, rinsing and more wringing it dry before hanging it all about this tiny cabin. Doing laundry in Puyallup was much easier with indoor water and more space.

    Sadie just called; she is coming over tomorrow. I can’t wait to see her. I haven’t heard from Roy since Valentine’s day.

    Mama is calling, the irons heating on the stove are hot, it’s time to start the ironing.

    Mona WYO .

    March 1913
    Dear Friend,

    I received your letter some time ago. Was very glad to hear from you for I had not heard from anyone there. I surely thot you had forgotten me in Puyallup. We are all pretty well at present and hope you are well and happy.
    I received my valentine and many thanks for it. I think it is awful pretty and so do everyone else. They all think my quirt is nice too. I haven’t used it yet on my saddle pony for one of our horses got lame and we have to drive him.
    We had a surprise party on Mama last night wish you could have been with us. We had a nice crowed and a fine time. They stayed to almost five o’clock this morning.

    Did Lida and Blanche get my letter? And how are they getting along. When are you going now and where are you going up in the woods to work? Justin said you and him are going. Are you going to the same place you were last year?
    We have had very nice weather for the last week. But it was cold. Aunt Sadie came over today. It seems like I have to be with her all the time. My, I sure do miss Lillian. And of course I miss all of you folks there. Has anyone moved into the house where we left yet? Do you go to very many shows? I well remember the last one I went to. I don’t know when I will get to go to another, it is thirty miles to one here so I don’t think I will go to any for some time.
    Did you get my card? I sent you one long time ago.
    They have had quite a few dances since we came but I haven’t been to many.
    Well I must close for this time and please excuse me for not writing before. Hoping to hear from you soon, I am as ever your friend,
    Mae

    LETTERS FROM MONA – Part 3, Dec. 22, 1912 -Jan. 30, 1913

    3 Replies

    • Photo of Mae Edith Phillips probably taken around age 16 or 17

    Dec. 22, 1912

    Dear Diary,

    Well we arrived back in Mona last Friday. Cousin Clifford took very good care of our animals and place. You could barely tell we ever left. We loaded up on supplies before we left Belle Fourche. Grandma and Grandpa Smith and Sadie were there to meet our train on our arrival in Aladdin. It was good to see them again, especially Aunt Sadie. I have learned my 2 best chums, who lived nearby, have moved away. So, Sadie will be my only chum. She may be my Aunt but since she is only 5 years older, she is more like a big sister. At least I will have her to talk to. And surprise she has taken a homestead claim of her own just north of Aladdin. Isn’t she the plucky one?

    I told her all about Roy and she said she understood how I felt, for she has fallen madly in love with Bert Marchant. She’s hoping he will ask her to marry soon. I never thought of them as a couple, so it came as a big surprise. And it made me miss Roy even more. Tomorrow after church I am going to write everyone in Puyallup a letter. The weather is turning cold probably won’t be long before we get our first snowfall.

    —————————————————————————————————————————————–

    December 29th, 1912

    Dear Diary,

    Christmas has come and gone. I didn’t have much time to write because Mama and I were busy making lots of cookies and cakes. We went to the program the school put on, if we had been back earlier Hazel and I would probably have would have been part of the production. They had a good crowd and it was nice seeing everyone again. It snowed for two days before Christmas so we had a white one. Christmas day dawned clear and bright. We hitched up the team and took a sleigh ride over to Grandma and Grandpa Smith’s. Uncle Will and Aunt Minnie were there also. My how my little cousins had grown in a year.

    We sang Christmas carols, enjoyed oyster stew and ate plenty of the cookies and cake that both Mama and Grandma made. On the way home the moonlight glistened on the snow like glitter. Oh how I wished Roy had been there to share it with me.

    There will be a dance down at the Phillip’s barn New Year’s eve. Guess we will go if the weather holds.

    ———————————————————————————————————————————————January 30th, 1913

    Dear Diary,

    It’s been a while since I wrote in you. I must get back in the habit, I think for I have so few to talk to around here about my deepest thought.

    My the weather has been cold. Makes me really wish we were still in Puyallup where it never gets this cold. We did go to the dance on New Year’s eve. Most all of the Phillips relatives were there which made it fun, I hadn’t seen many of them for so long. But I didn’t care so much for dancing.

    It would have been different if Roy had been there. I got a letter from him, but he didn’t say much and it was ever so proper. I keep telling myself it’s because he knew Mama and Papa would read it but then again, maybe all he means to be from here on out, is a friend who once lived next door. It makes feel so blue. I don’t dare say that around Mama and Papa, I’m sure they wish I’d forget all about him. I never shall never forget him, no matter what the future may hold, of this I am sure.

    It’s time to help Mama get dinner on the table, more later.

    My Grandma

    Leave a reply

    This story is about Margaret Ragsdale Caple. Although my aunt says she was born in Kentucky all of her records indicate Missouri as her birth place. The family came to live in Puyallup sometime between 1900 and 1904.  The Puyallup house, in this story, burnt down in the late 1930’s. The G.A.R. home mentioned was the Meeker mansion. Today it has been restored back to to the way it was when it was Ezra Meeker’s home and is a museum.

    Margaret Ragsdale Caple with grandchildren in 1923

    Margaret Ragsdale Caple with her 5 grandchildren in 1923. Standing in back are Robert Caple and Blanche McKay. The girl standing in front is Iva Caple Bailey and the older baby is her brother, Roger Verle Caple. Margaret McKay is on the right.

    My Grandma

    by Iva Bailey

    I was only twelve when my grandma Caple died, but I have many good memories of her.

    For the first eight years of my life, grandma lived right next door to us in Puyallup. We all lived on 16th street, south-east, in what was then called Meeker Junction.

    The house grandma lived in was a large, two-story, white house with a big bay window in the living room that grandma called the parlor. There was a porch that went almost all the way around the house. This was the home my dad grew up in and the house that was for a short time, my second home.

    My grandfather Caple had died in 1920 when I was only two years old. I really couldn’t remember him but his memory seemed to live on in the house too.

    Grandma had snappy brown eyes and long beautiful hair when it was combed out she could sit on it. She would let me brush and comb her hair, then she put it up on her head with big, bone pins and pretty combs. To me she was beautiful.

    Even though grandma was born in Kentucky, she was of English parentage and she was an avid tea drinker. She and I had many tea parties, complete with Johnny cakes, as she called the little cakes she made. I remember, in particular, the sassafras tea she would make for us.  It tasted so good to me then.

    Years later, when I was grown up, I bought some sassafras bark and made some tea, but it didn’t taste the same as grandma’s.

    The feather bed she had brought with her from Missouri, in the covered wagon. How I loved to spend the night with grandma and sleep in the big feather bed. In the morning there would be sunken spot where we had slept. She would let me help her fluff and make up the bed again.

    When I was about eight, grandma traded the big white house in Puyallup for a house in Orting, which was about ten miles away from Meeker Junction. She was a Civil War veteran’s widow and as such was entitled to commodities. To get the commodities she had to live in Orting where there was a colony of soldier’s widows. There was then, and still is, a soldiers home there.

    Once a month the army officials would deliver grandma, coffee, tea, sugar and other staples. To grandma on her small widow’s pension, this was a big help.

    I can remember how really upset I was by this move. Grandma traded houses with a lady by the name of Mrs. Zettiker. I didn’t like this lady. She had taken my grandma’s house away from us, or so I thought in my childish mind. I can remember my dad trying to explain to me that it was to grandmas best interest that she make this move.

    Mr. Zettiker came and she changed grandma’s house. She put a bathroom in the room that had been my play house. She tore off the big porch that my cousins and I had played on when it rained. All this didn’t make me like her any better. I was glad she never lived in the house. She rented it out and I had several “best” friends there during my growing up years.

    I would visit grandma every chance I had, which was pretty often. Dad worked in the logging camp which was above Orting, so he would take me along often, when he went to work, and I would spend the day or week-end with grandma. We had some good times together, grandma and I.

    It was the summer before I was twelve that will always live in my memory. Grandma had gotten up early one August morning to water her garden. She left me sleeping in the big feather bed that she and I loved so much. In a short time she was back. She was talking to me but I couldn’t understand her. She lay down on the bed beside me and I knew something was wrong. I don’t even remember getting dressed, but I guess I did. I ran to the neighbors and hysterically told her that something was wrong with my  grandma.

    The neighbor helped me call my dad in Puyallup. We had no telephone at home, so I had to call a neighbor who got Daddy to the phone. I was so hysterical by the time Daddy got to the telephone he could hardly understand all that I was trying to tell him. He knew something was wrong with grandma.

     By the time my mother and dad got to us, grandma was in a coma. She had a stroke and never regained consciousness.

    They moved her to the G.A.R. home in Puyallup. There she died a few days later on August 5th, 1930. She was seventy-two.

    She was laid to rest with my grandfather in the Orting Soldiers cemetery on August 8th, which happens to be my dad’s birthday. It seemed to me then, that part of the light had gone out of my world.Headstone-Caple, Margaret Malinda (Ragsdale)

    Movies Of Days Gone By

    Leave a reply

    cinematographic camera with cinema icon vector illustration design

    This short piece on movies of long ago was in the envelope along with the previous posted story “Grandmas Do Wear Pants.”

    Movies Of Days Gone By

    by Iva Bailey

    Yesterday, the second day of 1988, I sat watching some old silent movies on the television with my two granddaughters, April and Johni. The girls thought they were really funny. I suppose to young people who have never known anything but wide-screen talking movies they do seem a little odd.

    My earliest memories of going to the movies were at the old Dream Theater in Puyallup. The theater wasn’t very big and was only open on Saturday and Sundays. It was heated by a big old wood heater. If you got there early you would freeze until the fire got going good and before the movie was over you would be roasting. We would start out by setting down in front by the heater and gradually move back as the heat got to us. There was a pipe organ that was played all during the movies. As the excitement on the screen built up, the music would get louder and louder. I remember how I would set close to my dad, so he could read the conversation flashed on the screen. It was much easier for all concerned when I was old enough to go to school and learned to read for myself. I especially like the dog stories and Rin-Tin-Tin was my favorite.

    When I was older and could attend the movies by myself or with a friend, there were serials that were continued from week to week and would always end at the most exciting spot, that kept us saving our nickles so we could go week after week. Sometimes we could talk the doorman into letting us in for free. Then we could buy a bag of popcorn or a candy bar. Nickles were hard to come by in those days.

    Later on when the talking movies came in, another theater opened up. It was called the Liberty. This theater was larger and more elaborate. The Liberty is still there but the old Dream Theater has been gone a long time.  The town wasn’t large enough for two theaters after television came in.

    Once in a while now when some movie is supposed to be special, Jack and I go, but they just aren’t the same. They leave nothing to the imagination, they tell it all.  The old movies, April and Johni and I saw on television may have been funny to them, but to me they brought back memories.

    An Unforgettable Experience

    Leave a reply

    Here is another logging camp story written by my Aunt about her family’s move to Kinzou, Oregon. Today it is considered a ghost town. It existed as a company town from 1927 until 1978.

    An Unforgettable Experience

    by Iva Bailey

    One day in the summer of 1928 our family, my dad, my mother, my brother and my-self set out on a trip to Oregon. Our destination was a new logging camp opening up in the Blue Mountains near Condon, at least this was the largest town I can remember near the camp.

    My mother had asthma and the doctor had told daddy that a high dry climate might help her, and Kinzou was that.

    My dad had been preparing for this trip all winter. He had built a cupboard that fit on the running board of our model T Ford. In this cupboard, my mother put all the staples we would need in our long camp-out on the way to Oregon.

    To us this was a long trip, as most of our trips up until then had been to logging camps surrounding the Puyallup Valley.

    My mother had made us blouses and skirts out of some kind of khaki colored material that would not show the dirt, because it would be hard to wash clothes on the road. I can remember those clothes so well. They weren’t very glamorous but they were serviceable. We had a new tent and daddy had made us beds out of canvas that he set up on blocks of wood we would pick up after we got there. They rolled up so they wouldn’t take up much room. I can’t remember too much about how they were made and I can’t remember being uncomfortable.

    We started out from Puyallup one morning right after school was out so it must have been in early June. We went as far as Winlock, Washington which is probably about 60 miles from Puyallup. We had friends who lived there so we stayed over-night with them.

    The next night I remember we stayed in Vancouver, Washington. We weren’t traveling very fast but with our model T and the load we had that was fast. I can remember going through Portland. This was the first time I had been out of the state of Washington and going across the Columbia river into Portland, Oregon was something to see. The Columbia river was quite a bit larger than the Puyallup river where we lived.

    We must have camped at several places before we finally got to Condon. I can remember Condon though because the trees and everything were so different from the ones we had around Puyallup. It was very hot and dusty.

    In Condon daddy bought us a little stove. He hadn’t wanted to carry one all the way from Puyallup and take up our precious space in the car. We bought the food supplies we would need before we went up into the hills to the camp.

    The road up to the camp was narrow and rough. If we didn’t stay in the tire tracks we would get stuck in the sand. I can remember one place on the road in particular because it scared me to death every time we went on it.

    The model T was really quite top-heavy with our cupboard on the side of the car filled with staples and all our other gear. This place in the road slanted into a canyon. We would have to all get on the other side of the car to keep the car from going down into the canyon.

    We finally got to the camp and looked around for a place to set up for the summer.

    Daddy had told me there would be rattle snakes there so I was looking for them, I sure didn’t want him setting our tent up on a snake. I can’t really remember seeing one but I imagined a lot.

    This was a new camp and they were still building. My dad got a job unloading bricks from a rail road box car. It was a hard job but my dad being a logger was use to hard work.

    I can’t remember to many things that happened in particular while we were there but there were a few unforgettable experiences.

    There was a mill-pond where they dumped the logs they brought out of the woods. It was hot there and the people, especially the kids, would swim in the pond. Verle, my brother and I couldn’t swim but were allowed to wade close to the shore. On this day Verle went too far out and was climbing on a log when it rolled. He went under the log and I started screaming. There was a man close by and he pulled him out. I was sure scared and watched him a lot closer after that.

    I can remember another day when dad decided we would go into town for some supplies. There was a company store in the camp but the prices were higher than they were in town, and you didn’t have much choice. I never really looked forward to those trips into town because of that road.

    It was a very hot day this time. We hadn’t gone very far when we had a flat tire. We had a spare one but the tube had patches on it. It was so hot the patches would melt off and we would be flat again. Dad patched the tube all the way into town.

    We finally got there and bought a new tube before the return trip. I had taken us so long to get there, dad was afraid it would get dark before we could get back to camp. He had heard they were building a new road that would be a short-cut back. He figured it might be finished enough for us to get back so he decided to try it. It went a long ways but not far enough. We came to the end. It was very narrow road with a canyon on both sides and absolutely no way to turn around.

    Dad made us all get out and he backed all the way out while we walked. Needless to say it was dark when we got back to camp. I never was so scared in my life. There were no street lights out there in those woods and I knew what was just off that road. It was a deep canyon. To this day I have a fear of narrow roads and I think it all began that day.

    We stayed in the camp about two months. Dad worked in the mill and filed saws for the loggers. My mother didn’t seem to be getting any better in fact she was having all kinds of problems. Dad decided we had better leave and get back to civilization where there were doctors.

    The day we left was so hot and my mother was so sick, I will never forget it. We went to Toppenish, Washington. Toppenish is close to Yakima. She had relations there.

    We stayed there the rest of summer and daddy worked in a prune orchard. My mother was better there and she was happier with relations. We went back home in time for school it was a summer I will never forget.

    The New And The

    Leave a reply

    The trains still run by her old house in Puyallup, WA. In this story, my Aunt Iva Bailey, tells of growing up near near Meeker Junction in the 1920’s and 30’s.

    The New and the Old

     Every time we take the short trip to Puyallup, the place where I was born and grew up in, there are new sights and sometimes new sounds. The railroad that runs through the middle of town is still there but the old steam locomotives that pulled the trains of cars are gone. In their place are diesels.

    As we sat in our car at the crossing waiting for the train to pass before we could cross the tracks and be on our way. I thought of the days gone by and the part the railroad played in my memories.

    We lived just a mile from the depot, in what was called Meeker Junction. Our house was less than a block from the tracks. When the train would come into the junction, they would start blowing their whistle for the several crossings between our house and town. They would keep blowing all the way into the depot.

    The engines were fired with coal and the black smoke would pour out of their smoke stacks.

    Sometimes if the wind conditions were just right, and this was quite often,  the smoke would all blow our way. The black soot would settle all over us. Many times my mother hearing the train coming would rush out and try to get her wash off of the clothes line before the train got there.  She didn’t always make it and would have to do the wash over again.

    The  big red wooden water tank, where the engines took on their water was close by at the junction. It was always interesting for us kids to watch the man climb up the ladder and pull down the big spout that let the water run from the tank into the engine.

    It was sad the first time we went back home after they tore down the big tank. It had become old and was no longer a need for the new diesels.

    During the depression years in the 1930’s, people would walk up and down the railroad tracks with buckets picking up coal that had fallen from the many coal cars that was hauled by the big trains. That coal probably kept some little children warm that would have otherwise been cold.

     I remember the long trains of logs that would pass by every day. The train would be so long we couldn’t see the end from where we were. At first they were great big logs, sometimes only one log on a flat car, but as the years went by the logs got smaller and the trains got shorter.

    It seems to me there were always men working on the railroad then. Many times the section gang, as the men were called, would be quartered near our house on the rails in bunks similar to those in a logging camp. They would have their dining car and after work at night we would hear the dinner bell calling the men to supper.

    We were always sad when they would finish their work and move on to another location but it usually wasn’t long until some more men would come again.

    It was fun watching the long train of passenger cars go by. We wondered where they had come from and where they were going. We would wave and the people would wave back. I can remember the first time I rode on the train. It was just a short trip. My Uncle Dick took my cousin Blanche and me from Orting to Puyallup which is about 10 miles. We had been visiting grandma and he was taking us back home. If we had been going to New York it wouldn’t have been the thrill that short trip was. It was fun watching for the places we knew.  When we came to our house my mother was watching for us and she waved. My dad met us at the station and took us home just as though we had come from a long distance.

    During the 1930’s depression, men would ride the box cars hunting for work, or maybe because there was nothing else to do. Lots of them came to Puyallup. They would get off of the train before it went into town, so Meeker Junction was the place they established a hobo camp, as we called them.

    This camp was just across the track from our house. Every day we would have men coming to the house wanting to work for something to eat. We didn’t have work for them to do but my mother would give them food anyway.

    Sometimes they would want some particular item such as potatoes, carrots or some other vegetable. I guess they would make a soup or stew and several of them would get together on it. We had them ask for our used coffee grounds but we always gave them fresh coffee. I think they must have had some kind of a mark on our house showing that we some kind of easy mark because they kept coming all through the depression.

    The Salvation Army would come to the camp every Sunday. They would have prayer and play their instruments and sing. The men would wash their clothes and hang them to dry on the fence along the tracks. It always seemed funny to us to watch the men hanging up their underwear while the band played Onward Christian Soldiers or some other hymn.

    As the years went by and I was old enough to date, the train played another role in my life. My dad would tell me what time I was to come home but sometimes I  would be a little late getting there. I soon learned that if I would wait until the train came by before opening the door, the train made so much noise, dad wouldn’t hear me come in.

    Yes, I remember the old steam coal powered train like an old friend. Somehow the diesels just aren’t the same.