1967 THE PERKINS .TOURNAL PAGE FIVE
Old Timers Page
e
and Pictures from the 6ood 01d Days
" All Right, Hop On "
• WOLF DOGS
Our stepfather gave Jean and
me each a light rifle and let us
hunt together. We were godd
Wooct smen and could take care
of ourselves almost anywhere.
We killed squirrels and rabbils
for meat and once in a while a
deer or turkey. And all the
while I was getting to be a bet-
"ter shot.
MOTHER'S ADOPTED CALF
In the Cherokee Nation all the
stock ran out on the open range;
we had to have a fence around
the house to keep the hogs and
cattle out of the kitchen and off
Jean and I hoed
and corn, helped to get
WOod and water. Tim
gave us 3 hunting dogs
half wolf. The Ind-
the female dogs to the
the pups were smart
good fighters. We
dog that would set a
a setter dog sets a
were not so wild
they were only killed
ometimes they would
we got within 50
before they would
i:tll
Frank "Pistol Pete" Eaton
d The 01d West
the front porch, or gallery, as it
was commonly called. The barn
and corn cribs were fenced in,
tls well as all other plaees where
we did not want the stock to run.
"vVe had our house, s.)kehouse,
all the out-buildkngs and tle ash
hopper inside a high rail fence.
The ash hopper was a container
for wood ashes. It was made
so that when we poured water
over.them the lye from the ashes
ran out through a trough. The
lye was used ir soap that was
made from the cracklings after
the lard was rendered out.
The fence enclosed the garden
the war[ and the flower garden
and tht'e were steps to go over
at the front and back. My mo-
ther and sister Flora had lots of
beanii£ul flowers. There were
zinnias, asters, bachelor buttons
and many other kinds. The
fence was covered with morning-
glories, ivy and bitter-sweet
berries.
That garden was the thorn in
the sid of Jean and me for it
was our lob to grub out the weeds
and grass and keep the soil loose
and melIw, tt was lois more
fm to take ot rfles and g
hunting than to take the hoe and
work in. the flowers and vegata-
bles. But it had to be done, so
we kept it in fine shape, for we
knew there• would be no hunt-
ing while there were any weeds
in the garden.
One spring an old cow died
and left a little calf. Mother
adopted the little thing, took it
in the yard and fed it milk and
table scraps. It lived, and out-
grew every other calf in the cou-
ntry. Jean and I fenced the
flowers off from the yard so the
calf would not trample them,
kept fresh water in the trough
for it to drink - and in the fall it
was bigger than a common year-
ling.
We had Sunday to do as we
plemcd. There were no chur-
ches or Sundayschools. Some-
times we would g htmting and
sonmtimes ride wild. ponies or
cattle. -We rode e-erything on
the place.
One Sunday we had fiiRshed
fixing the fence and were elear-
Jng out guns. Mother was out
in e shed kitchen washing the
milk pans, whiei, sl-m kept ha the
shed on a.long bench where the
sun would shJlre on them. As
she worked she sang that old
hymn-
In. the sweet by-and-by.
Wlen Jea, an& I finiahedt
caning our guns we hung them
in their plhces. We wece at
the wbll washing our hands when
Mother's pet Ca!f canoe up and
began begging for some water.
We gave it to her and an idea
struck us both at the same time.
We looked at each other and
Jean said to me, "If you will
keeP her from riding acound
where Mother is I will ride her
to a finish." We had never
been on her back. She was
really Mother's pet!
We rubbed her neck till she
shut her eyes. I whispered,
"All right, hop on!" Jean pile.d
on and got settled before the
calf knew what had happened.
Th she jerked loose from me
and went to bucking like a real
bronco. Jean stayed right on
her. After a turn around the
flower garden she heard Mother
singing and headed for the shed.
Mother was scouring the milk
strainer when Jean and the catf
came in, ran over the milk pan
ad upset the bench. I was
lngi.ng on to, the calf's tail try-
ing to tm-n her from the shed,
for I "knew there was going to
be trouble if Mother caught us
mding that calf!
But I couldn't turn her, and
neither could Jean. We all ran
over the tneh fult of pans a!
buckets. Mother thxew up both
ands, with the strainer in one
H
and the scouring rag in the other.
She gave a scream you could
hear for a mile. The calf ral
r'z ,ht. TaD to. her and Jean slid off.
Ile and I ran around the corner
of the shed as fast as we could
go and the calf ran around Mot-
her and: stopped her bucking and
weit t tbrikh'tg bl,-diohwater
and begging for biscuits.
We were looking through a
crack to see bow things were
going when Mother called u.
We came out sober as julges,
and she looked at us a long time
veithut speaking; then she said
"Young gentlemen, I want; you
to understand this calf is n@ sad-
dle pony, and the next time you
bother her I will' get me a good
hickory and you will sleep on
your faces and take your meals
st,n(ing u or a week when I
am through with you. Now gat-
her up those pans and buskets,
up, wash and
scour alI that tinware and. put
it where it belongs. Clean up
everything well, then you can
go down to the creek, take a
bath and change your clothes
and behave yourselves, the rest
of the day."
She sat down on the end of a
log on the woodpile and watched
us; nd that damn cal stood
right there beside her.
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