My 72-year-old mother tells a story of the old days that is true, but difficult to believe, about how to cook a turtle. When she was a small girl, her family lived near some Indians. The children visited back and forth. One day Mother was playing with the Indian children when their mother brought a live turtle into the house. She put it in the oven and built the fire.
Mother said she could hear the turtle moving around for a long time, and then it was still. The women kept the fire going, and in the evening the Indians just scooped the meat out of the shell and ate it – all of it.
Mrs. Alfred M. Foster
Conway, Arkansas
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.
