fbpx

Wind Was Whipping on South Dakota Homestead

At our Stanley County, South Dakota homestead, where we moved in 1910, the sun shone every day and the wind blew every day.

When Mother and we younger children were walking on the prairie one day, we noticed Mother’s apron was missing. It had come untied and had blown away unnoticed by any of us. In a letter back to Iowa, Mother mentioned the loss to her sister.

Her sister wrote back that something with a tail passed over Iowa. She had called it Haley’s Comet, but it probably was Mother’s apron. 

Mrs. Fred C. Nelson
Lucas, Iowa


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.