It was a wonderful day at our house in the little coal mining town of Reliance, Wyoming, when the old Union Pacific coal truck pulled out back and placed a brand new outhouse over the hole where the old one once stood. Whether paid or furnished it was a proud day for us. Ours was dark green in color but that really didn’t matter. On Mondays, after mom would finish her clotheslines full of wash it was the girls’ turn to take the strong, soapy lye water and either scrub the outhouse or the back porch.
The seats in the outhouse or the porch would turn white after so many scrubbings, anyway.
The most exciting day for me was one day I saw mom and dad smiling and whispering, and the next thing I knew there was a small pile of wood outside the outhouse door, along with some nails and a hammer. Then dad began working on a miniature seat just for me. Twelve inches high and twelve inches wide and a six inch hole right in the middle. What a proud day for me!
Mrs. Irene (Bucho) Thiemann
Torrington, Wyoming
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.