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Woman Remembers Rain on Covered Wagon Journey

By Capper's Staff
Published on June 14, 2012

It was a long, long trail awinding that led us from Indiana to droughty Kansas. There were nine of us, one a small baby – far too many to start so far in a covered wagon. It was a long, tiresome trip, and it seemed to me it rained most of the time. We children slept under the wagon, and the rain would run under the wagon and get our beds wet.

With all the rain, there was no way to dry the “squares” for the baby. My sister and I had to be the clothesline and hold the diapers up before the campfire to dry them. We disliked this job very much. Some days we would make camp to get the washing done and let the horses rest.

I remember one blizzard after we got settled. We had plenty of fuel, but no water. We would open the door and dig out snow and melt it. One dry season the folks planted turnips, and fall rains came in time for them to grow. We lived mostly on turnips that winter. I haven’t cared for them since.

Mrs. F. Modlin
Burr Oak, Kan.


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.