1913-1914
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| via Wikimedia Commons |
Corn Club
I first belonged to a corn club. I suppose it was a
forerunner of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) or the 4-H organizations. The
next two to three years it was potato club and then the pig club. I did well in
all these efforts and won prizes at the various fairs.
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| via Wikipedia |
Mack had planted 40 acres of potatoes in a field across the
road from our place. He had plowed up an alfalfa field to plant the potatoes.
After the potatoes came up, the alfalfa did, too. So, Mack hired Colonel and me
at 25₵ per day to pull out the alfalfa
that was threatening to crowd out his spuds. We worked nearly all summer. I
believe it was about the first paying job that either one of us had. We earned
enough on that job to buy ourselves a couple of shotguns and a box of shells
for each. We paid $10.00 each for the guns. Colonel chose a 16-gauge Bay State
32” barrel and full choke. It is nearly as bad as Mack’s 10-gauge for kicking
and if I was off balance when shooting, it would knock me flat; but, as I grew
older and heavier, it was easier to handle. Colonel didn’t have much trouble
with his gun.
From this time on, we trapped muskrat in the winter and sold
the skins for 75₵ to $1.50 each. This
enabled us to buy more shells. The guns opened up a whole new world for us.
From that time on, we dined on duck, pheasant and rabbit more often. We also
shot a lot of holes in a lot of things we shouldn’t have shot at, but we were
out in the wide open spaces where we didn’t bother anyone, and no one was in
danger except ourselves and Mack had done a good job in teaching us about guns.
Papa helped us out on the duck shooting. Each spring, or
when he planted wheat, he would run the drill along the top of the bank above
the river, planting a strip about six to eight feet wide of wheat about one
quarter mile long. About the time the wheat matured in the fall, the ducks
started coming in, literally by the thousands. Colonel and I would leave the
house, sneak down the draw to the river, then upstream to where the ducks were
in our wheat field, then up the bank twenty to thirty feet, and whango! The
only problem I had was with the gun on the slope up from the river. We were off
balance when shooting, and many a time I got knocked over. Colonel did alright
and could get in maybe two or three shots (these were single-barrel guns).
Our parents
I think it was along about this time that we approached Mama
and asked her if Papa would care if we called him Daddy. I don’t know why we
were concerned about such a thing, but apparently we had talked it over between
ourselves and decided to do something about it. Undoubtedly, we had heard
something at school that prompted such action. I know other boys called their
parents “Old man” or “Old lady,” but we could not do that, always referring to
our parents as Mama and Papa or Mother and Father. Mama told us to go ahead and
call him Daddy, which we did, but finally shortened it to Dad.
We continued to call our mother “Mama” for a number of
years, which we finally shortened to “Ma.” Looking back, I don’t think she
cared too much about being addressed as “Ma.” I now think she would have liked
“Mom” or “Mother” better, but she didn’t say anything.
World War I
World War I started in July of 1914. Being so far from any
communication, it was some time before we heard about it. It didn’t bother us
for some time since it was a long way from us and the old folks were still
talking about the Civil War and the more recent Spanish-American War. I don’t
remember our teacher ever saying anything about the war. I’m sure, however, it
must have had some effect on our farming operations in prices and quantity.
School
School was going ok. The number of students was increasing
to a point where the one room was getting over-populated. We had a number of
teachers, but none of them could stand the rigors of isolation, having to move
every couple of weeks and trying to teach students that in some cases were
older than the teacher; but, by this time the older students were getting
thinned out to a point where both the teacher and younger children had some
relief.
It was about this year that an addition was built on to the
school. The addition was about the same size as the original, being connected
on the south side so large doors could be installed allowing both rooms to be
opened up to community gatherings. Both rooms were lighted by kerosene lamps
bracketed on the wall about six feet above the floor. There were a number of
these lamps around the rooms with a reflector at the back of the lamp. This
arrangement gave us pretty good light, but not for studying. There were a lot
of windows that gave us good light in the day time – school hours were
nine-to-four.
When the new addition was built, it allowed four grades in
each room, so it was necessary to hire two teachers. They were sisters by the
name of McCormick. {The household of Maidie McCormick was enumerated in Homestead Precinct in 1910. Included in the household were three daughters of age to teach: Ora Pearl, Elsie Fern and H*** Rene} By this time, I was in the fifth grade and moved into the
new part while Colonel had to stay in the old building another year. The grades
were lined up from the teacher’s left to right, so I was on the west side of
the room facing the teacher (south). When it was time for each class to recite,
the teacher called u up front and were seated on a bench. She usually started
calling on the student at her right.
The lower-grade student certainly had the advantage because
he could listen in on upperclassmen’s recitations and learn a great deal at
least a year before he got to it. I’m sure from this point I did a lot better
in school. Not only were the teachers better equipped, but we didn’t have the
pressure from older students. Colonel always did pretty well.
Prior to the advent of the teachers McCormick, I don’t
remember that any of the previous teachers had any extracurricular activities,
but the McCormicks changed all that and had plays and other social activities
designed to create some learning abilities in their students. I one play, I
planed the lead. My partner, Fern Johnson, was a couple of grades ahead of me
and also about two inches taller. I was Uncle Sam and she was Miss Liberty. The
teacher gave me a hat that improved my height, but not my feelings. I’ll never
be able to understand why I was given the part.
Eska O'Neal
I should have written this down on the first day of school
since Eska made my life miserable for three to four years. Although this guy
was in my class, he was big and I suspect he may have been two to three years
older than others in the class. His father was a railroad employee and
evidently made pretty fair wages for the time. As a result, Eska, being the
only child, was given most anything he wanted. Among the things Eska had were
boxing gloves, and probably had some coaching in boxing. In any event, this guy
liked to practice on other people with his bare fists. This sort of thing
continued and all the time I was growing larger and stronger and I believe I
was in the fifth grade when the usual daily ruckus started and I was invited to
the sand dunes. It was always the sand dunes or at the back of the woodshed. I
got at a slightly higher elevation than he was and managed to lay one across
the side of his face. He fell over backwards and I was on top of him. Of
course, we had a large audience, all who wanted to see Eska get his just
desserts. After that, he left me alone, but continued his activities with
younger and smaller people. I learned many years later that Eska moved to
California where he did become a professional fighter.{The 1910 census shows Esca O'Neal, born about 1902, as the son of Edward and Lida. They were living in the Homestead Precinct, Canyon County, Idaho; the same area as the Aitchison family.} Eska had a cousin, Harry
Rogers, who also liked to torment other persons. Harry pretty well ended his
activities when a three-foot piece of sage brush was bounced of the back of his
head one day on our way home from school. This particular time, he was picking
on Colonel. (Harry later became one of the largest sheep men in southern
Idaho.) {Harry Rogers was born about 1902 and was the son of Fred and Annis, who also lived in the Homestead Precinct near the Aitchison family. Harry left Idaho by 1935 when he was a representative of 'sheep users' on the advisory board for the Dolores Grazing District in Colorado, under the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934. The Dolores Grazing District was located in southwest Colorado.}(Colonel and I fought quite a bit, but being older and somewhat larger, I think I got the best of him most of the time except when he got me at a disadvantage; but let anyone pick on either of us and the other would come to his aid.)
Mrs. O'Neal’s
riding outfit
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| image found here |
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to be continued...
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