Herding livestock – seven cows and
eight Chester White pigs weighing about 100 pounds each – we drove them all the
way from Nebraska to eastern Colorado in April 1887. The pigs were less
trouble than the cows after a few days. They followed the wagons and wanted to
sleep under the covered one.
There were many gray wolves along
the way, and they killed a yearling steer in the daytime. They also killed colts.
The Tuttle Ranch corralled their horses at night and hung lanterns on the posts
to keep the wolves away.
We made our living the first year
picking up bones and selling them. We got $7 per ton in cash or $8 in trade. In
the buffalo carcasses, we would always find a big lead bullet.
Glass Davis
Burlington,
Colorado
Back in 1955 a call
went out from the editors of the then CAPPER’s WEEKLY asking for readers to send
in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early
settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from
grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were
received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My
Folks title – My Folks Came in a
Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine
other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from CAPPER’s readers, and we are proud to
make those stories available to our growing online community.
