I’ve heard Granddad tell many times about their wagon train running out of water and nearly out of food on the way from Illinois to Colorado. One evening, the women in the party insisted on a meeting to pray for rain. The men in the group thought it would be more profitable to send scouts out to look for water. Men on horses went in several directions.
Presently a rain started, and all available pots and tubs were set out to catch the water. Still very little was caught. Then the women spread all the clothing out to catch moisture and wrung the water out into containers and spread the clothing again. There was thunder and lightning.
A flock of wild ducks flew over and some of them were struck by lightning. Five ducks dropped close enough for the women and children to get them. The men found no water or food, but when they returned to camp, both were waiting for them. Granddad said no one in the party belittled prayer after that.
Mrs. A.L. Rader
Lorna, Colo.
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.
