During the proving-up period on
their claim, my parents were so short of money that my father went to the coal
mines to work, leaving my mother and the children at home. Before he left, he
bought a rifle and told Mother to stand it by the bed every night so it would
be handy should she ever need it.
One moonlight night a noise woke
Mother, and she could see what appeared to be an arm and a hand at the window
screen. She reached for her gun and said, “Who is it?” Our horse whinnied.
He had come for a drink from the barrel near the window.
Mrs. Pearl
Allen
Olney Springs, 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.
