One summer when we lived in western
Nebraska, we
mowed and bunched hay for a large cattle company until late in the fall. The
hay was for cattle that stayed out on the range all winter without shelter.
That year we had one of the worst blizzards this county had ever known. The
cattle were in good shape as they drifted with the storm, but when they came to
a fence, the snow covered them and they froze. I don’t know how many cattle
died, but the cattle company lost heavily.
My husband got a bunch of men together
and they skinned 400 head, leaving the carcasses in the fields.
The coyotes grew fat, and the big
green flies were so numerous that we swatted and sprayed all spring.
Mrs. Carl E. Feikert
Kearney, Nebraska
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.
