my life in cowleyPapa got wondering feet and made a trip to Iowa where his brother was and Mother wanted to get us kids in a better school and Milton had a girl friend in Durango, so Milton picked Mother up and moved us to Durango. Papa was quite mad about it when he came home.
family crisis
I guess you are wondering where Papa has been all this time. In the fall of 1916 or 1917, papa sold the place in Red Mesa and put mama and us on the train for Wyoming and he went to Iowa to see his brothers and sisters. He left Mother to get us to Wyoming all by herself, which I think she did a pretty good job. Mother got us to Wyoming with out too many mishaps.
mother hen
Mother gathered us all together and told us what to do. There were seven of us kids so Daphne was to keep track of Charlie and I had to hang onto Bob. Edith came up with Gene; Mother had Iowa in her arms.
We had to change trains in Denver. I can still see us going into the Denver depot with mother in the lead with Iowa in her arms, then behind her Daphne and Charlie caring a violin, then Robert and me and a bag, then behind me Edith and Forest. It reminded me of a chicken hen and her chickens. I do not know why mother did it but when we got in the restroom there in Denver, Mother took all our cloths out of the boxes and had them scatter all over that restroom. When a little black woman came in and saw all them clothes all over that room, she sure got mad and told mother to gather them up fast.
We got back on the train and we had to go over Berthoud Pass, it was before the tunnel was made and the altitude was too high for me and the Pullman told mother to keep her eyes on me, I was asleep in a second. I guess Mother told Daphne to get me some water and wake me up, all she did was throw the water in my face, well I came up out of that chair fighting like a wild cat. The Pullman had to pull us apart.
We got off the train in Cowley, Wyoming on a cold day in January; the wind was blowing snow. I wanted to go back to Durango, Colo.
Jennie was there to meet us in an old car, and took us to her home. She had two big rooms and was taking care of four children that belong to our cousin; his wife had died in childbirth, so you see there was eight of us and five of them in two rooms. (I’ll leave it to you imagination.)
Mother worked cleaning other people houses, and keeps food in our mouth. Daphne, Edith and myself had one good dress apiece for school; mother would wash them pretty often to keep us clean.
family crisis
I guess you are wondering where Papa has been all this time. In the fall of 1916 or 1917, papa sold the place in Red Mesa and put mama and us on the train for Wyoming and he went to Iowa to see his brothers and sisters. He left Mother to get us to Wyoming all by herself, which I think she did a pretty good job. Mother got us to Wyoming with out too many mishaps.
mother hen
Mother gathered us all together and told us what to do. There were seven of us kids so Daphne was to keep track of Charlie and I had to hang onto Bob. Edith came up with Gene; Mother had Iowa in her arms.
We had to change trains in Denver. I can still see us going into the Denver depot with mother in the lead with Iowa in her arms, then behind her Daphne and Charlie caring a violin, then Robert and me and a bag, then behind me Edith and Forest. It reminded me of a chicken hen and her chickens. I do not know why mother did it but when we got in the restroom there in Denver, Mother took all our cloths out of the boxes and had them scatter all over that restroom. When a little black woman came in and saw all them clothes all over that room, she sure got mad and told mother to gather them up fast.
We got back on the train and we had to go over Berthoud Pass, it was before the tunnel was made and the altitude was too high for me and the Pullman told mother to keep her eyes on me, I was asleep in a second. I guess Mother told Daphne to get me some water and wake me up, all she did was throw the water in my face, well I came up out of that chair fighting like a wild cat. The Pullman had to pull us apart.
“I remember setting on that train looking out the window and wondering what was going to happen to us”.
We got off the train in Cowley, Wyoming on a cold day in January; the wind was blowing snow. I wanted to go back to Durango, Colo.
Jennie was there to meet us in an old car, and took us to her home. She had two big rooms and was taking care of four children that belong to our cousin; his wife had died in childbirth, so you see there was eight of us and five of them in two rooms. (I’ll leave it to you imagination.)
Mother worked cleaning other people houses, and keeps food in our mouth. Daphne, Edith and myself had one good dress apiece for school; mother would wash them pretty often to keep us clean.
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