My great-grandfather left New York state in the
early 1800s traveling west. His adventures have come down by word of mouth in
our family. He married a wonderfully brave woman who went with him to the wilds
of Michigan,
where they operated a trading post. Great-Grandmother never saw a single white
woman during this period. She bore several of her children without the
comforting presence of another woman.
One day her husband went into the
forest to hunt, and he never was seen again! No one ever knew whether he met
with a hunting accident or died at the hands of Indians. It must have taken
great courage for Great-Grandmother to pack her belongings and begin the long
dangerous trek back to Wisconsin,
alone except for the children. She was an old, old woman when she died, and my
aunts can remember stories of how she clung to her worn Bible to the very end, perhaps
because it gave her strength and courage through her terrifying adventures.
Mrs. Leonard Kristiansen
Nashua,
lowa
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.
