As a child I loved to hear my
grandmother talk about the “olden days” when she and Grandfather
homesteaded southeast of Foss, Oklahoma.
They had just finished building
their small home and had not hung the door yet. Grandmother was sitting,
waiting for Grandfather to come home. He walked to Foss every day to work for a
dollar a day, and walked home each evening. In the twilight she rocked the
baby, with her small daughter on a stool at her feet and a lighted lamp on the
table.
When the dog whined, Grandmother
glanced toward the door. There stood a huge timber wolf, growling.
Grandmother shoved the little girl
out of the way and tossed the baby on the bed. She grabbed the door and held it
in the doorway. The wolf left. Grandmother always thought it was the lighted
lamp that kept the wolf from walking in.
It wasn’t long until Grandmother
had Grandfather hanging that door on hinges so it could be opened-and shut.
Mrs. Ralph Roll
Arapaho,
Oklahoma
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.
