The rigors of the new, unfriendly country – drought, blizzards, lack of resources and, finally, starvation – drove some of the settlers back to the wife’s folks. Many of these stragglers stopped at our home on their way back East.
My parents – bless their memory! – always took them in. Mother fed them at a well-spread table, and Father fed their teams from his meager supply of corn and oats. After a few days rest, they went on their way refreshed.
The land these settlers were forced to abandon is now an empire of wheat and oil. But normal human beings can’t live on hot winds, blizzards and prairie grass.
Pruda B. Utley
Arkansas City, Kansas
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.