When I was a child on a Colorado homestead in southern Colorado, I had no children to play with, yet I had many friends – companion animals.
There was Smokey, a horse that fiddled with my hair and never moved a foot when I played under him; Bonnie, a dog that hunted and killed snakes and guarded me from inquisitive range cattle; and Old Annie, a goat that was mean to most people but loved me and stood patiently lending the support I needed after a serious illness. And there was Annie’s kid; he played tag with me in the yard and see-sawed with delight on a board which my father placed over a sawhorse for us.
Pauline Sasse Wallis
Rolla, Missouri
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.
