The winter Papa had to spend several weeks in a hospital in Kansas City, Mama kept us five children back home on a farm in Mitchell County, Kansas. To help keep things going, each of us children was assigned a job.
Our uncle made a trap he called a “Figure 4” so Bub and I – we were about 6 and 8 years old – could try catching quail. It was a box of wood and wire in which we hung a head of kaffir corn. When a bird entered to eat the corn, he tripped a board that closed the opening.
It was our job to check the Figure 4’s each day, keep the traps baited, and bring home any birds we had caught. We did very well at bird hunting, for I remember the family table was often graced with tasty dishes Mama made from quail. Once we even caught a prairie chicken.
Gracia M. Webb
Alton, 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.
