A Boys Story - Chapter 5 - The Adventures of Charles Kent: The Montana Trip, Big Skies and Wide Open Eyes
As the weather got better my parents announced that we were going to Portage to see Bill, Bob and our other relatives. My Dad and Uncle Skinny both took their cars. I got to ride with Aunt Marie and Uncle Skinny and their new Ford. The car smelled great and it had a radio. Aunt Marie found some music on the car radio. She liked big bands like Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman.
Uncle Skinny passed my dad’s old Pontiac, the Ford was fast and quiet, I really liked it. We stopped at the Buckhorn Tavern in Columbus so Marie and skinny could have a cocktail. They got me an orange Crush and a Baby Ruth. Aunt Marie put some coins in the Wurlitzer jukebox and Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played while my aunt and uncle danced a little. Uncle Skinny was a good dancer and the bartender and I both applauded when they were done.
We all used the restrooms and got back on the road again. I got to sit in the front seat between the adults. Soon we passed the old Pontiac again, Uncle Skinny said he thought the Pontiac was “burning a little oil” as he pointed to the bluish exhaust smoke. We all waved as we passed by … my dad didn’t look too enthusiastic. We zipped by listening to the radio … the sun visor shading the front seat. This Ford also had seat covers that felt better to sit on than the old no hair seats in the Pontiac which were prickly. I think we need a new car. Dad said they are hard to get because everybody wants one. Some dealers have waiting lists. When I asked Uncle Skinny how he got his new Ford he just smiled and winked.
When we finally got to portage we all met at Heberleins Standard Station on the way into town. The old Pontiac was overheating when it came rolling in, dad got some antifreeze for the radiator and Charlie Heberlein had a used tire because Dads spare tire had very little tread left on it. Cousin Bob Heberlein was back from Navy duty in the Pacific it was working under a car. He came running out to greet everyone, wiping the oil off his hands on a shop towel. He had a standard oil uniform on with a light blue shirt. It was sure good to see him. He talk to his aunts and uncles first … I just stood to the side smiling and watching him, waiting my turn.
He grabbed me with a big hug and said “Hi Butch” … “Do you want to see a finger I cut off of a dead Jap?” “It’s a real Jap finger!” “Yes I said enthusiastically” Bob ran back into the station while the adults talked to Charlie. Bob reappeared with a little wooden box in his hands. He leaned over me as he slid the lid off. The box opened in front of my curious eyes, I looked with horror at the finger laying on the bloody cotton … it was kind of yellow with a dirty finger nail. “Touch it” Bob said … I slowly extended my finger to touch the Jap finger. Just as I touched it, it MOVED … I jumped back then Bob pulled his own finger out of a hole cut in the bottom of the box … it was a TRICK. He had put iodine on his finger and the blood on the cotton was dried paint. Then Uncle Skinny noticed I had wet my pants a little. I thought it was just the orange Crush that had leaked out … but I was really scared. Everyone laughed, I got some clean clothes from Ma from my suitcase and use the station restroom to change. Then we rode to Grandma Arns house, Uncle Skinny thought I should ride in my Dad’s car in case I had any more “leaks”.
It was a great reunion except Grandma Arn was not feeling well. We even got to sit in Grammas parlor. I sat on the floor. I mostly listened and didn’t touch anything. I got a chance to see Jack and Joan and Jim, but we had to go back home the next day. The Pontiac made it without any problems. I think I heard my dad saying a little prayer as he backed into the garage.
My Dad had picked up some state road maps at Heberleins Station and when we got home he laid them out on the dining room table. Ma and Dad began planning a trip to Montana to visit my grandfather John Kent, whom I had never met. Colleen had a new boyfriend who was from Portage. He was a soldier in the Pacific and was trained to use four machine guns mounted on the back of a truck to shoot at Jap planes. He got to come home too … his name was Chuck Schwanz.
Ma and dad agreed that first we need a new car. My dad begin pestering different dealers. Some of them wanted some “money under the table” which my dad said it was dishonest. My dad was a Mason and finally he was able to get a car with the help of a lodge brother that didn’t require a bribe. It was a black four-door Hudson super six sedan … with a sunvisor, heater, radio, cigarette lighter, to outside rearview mirrors AND turn signals!
Doc Hudson from Cars was also a Hudson
We had to wait about a month and a half for delivery, but my parents were very happy when Hudson finally arrived, we had to give our neighbors a ride around the block using the turn signals and listening to the radio. The new paint was so shiny I could see myself. The chrome didn’t have pits and bumps and the Hudson had four chrome hubcaps too. I still like burgundy better than black, but you couldn’t use the color and dad said we were lucky to get any car.
We made several trips to the Milwaukee library and Museum to get information about the west before we did our trip. I love to go to the library and museum on Wisconsin Avenue. They had cases of interesting items and the skeleton of a whale which hung from the ceiling. Sometimes my parents would be in the library and they would allow me to explore the museum. I was particularly interested in the exhibit of Indians and how they lived. They had dioramas of people in many lands. One was blue showing some Eskimos hunting seals in the Arctic. There were some of pronghorn antelope, buffalo and prairie children, all of which we might see Live in Montana. I found an exhibit of rattlesnakes too. I looked at those snakes carefully … you do not want to run into any rattlesnakes. I was ready to go for the trip of my lifetime.
My dad had three weeks of vacation from work. Kampa Plastics whom was no longer running three shifts as the orders for war materials had dropped off. Colleen was going to be working full-time at the Riverview roller Rink so she did not want to go to Montana. My uncle Luther had a vacation from badger battery I was going to help dad with driving. Ma got off work too. She had written to Conoco and got a TRIP-TIC Mark out on a bunch of maps to give us the best route between Milwaukee and Winnett, Montana. We had given Conoco a list of sites we wanted to visit after our visit to the library.
THE TRIP
Our first stop was Mazomanie, Wisconsin. Dad and Luther wanted to see their mother’s sister, Grace who lived in Mazomanie with her husband Charlie. Charles was a popular name in our family. Great Uncle Charles and Great Aunt Grace were retired from farming, but still live in a big old farmhouse. They had a picnic set out in the backyard that we were all invited to attend. The men took turns making ice cream with two big wooden tubs that had a hand crank you had to turn. One tub had peach ice cream and the other was vanilla.
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It took a long time to make ice cream so Aunt Grace asked if I would like to help gather eggs in the big hen house. They sold fresh eggs to people in town so they had a lot of chickens. Great Aunt Grace and I each had a basket. Sometimes you had to feel under a chicken to see if they had any eggs. I thought I might get pecked, but the hens were friendly. At the end of the row I showed Aunt Grace all the eggs I collected and she laughed. I mostly had glass eggs that they put into the nest to encourage the hens to lay real eggs. They knew right away that I was a city kid I didn’t know the difference between the glass eggs and real eggs. Aunt Grace patted me on the head as we left the chicken coop.
Peach ice cream what is best with oatmeal cookies. I liked the farm a lot. I think I'll love the ranch in Montana to. We stayed overnight in Mazomanie so we could get an early start the next morning. The plan was to cross the Mississippi River into Minnesota which would be the third state that I had ever visited. I look forward to seeing the Mississippi River, but it was still dark when we got there so I didn’t see much. They were doing some repairs to the bridge which made the crossing kinda scary.
I could see the outline of the bluffs along the river in the half light of dawn. Soon we were in Minnesota, it looked a lot like Wisconsin.
Dad had done all the driving so far and uncle Luther didn’t have a turn yet. Luther said he didn’t like Hudsons so much because he had a Hudson many years ago called a Hudson Terraplane … Luther said he called it a Hudson Terrible Pain cause so much went wrong with it. He was driving the Terraplane once and the brakes went out and he crashed. The front seat broke and he ended up in the backseat. The police had to help him out. No wonder he didn’t like Hudson’s. I liked our new car. Sometimes we would switch seats … mostly I rode in the back seat with Ma. The only thing I didn’t like was the cigarette smoking. On sunny days they rolled the windows down and the wind would blow the smoke out but it was hard to hear the radio. Whoever was sitting in the front passenger seat was busy with the map or trying to find something on the radio. I read and reread my comics and finally put them in a trashcan at a Conoco station in Minnesota … I’ll buy some more. Another thing we did was read aloud the red and white BURMA SHAVE signs beside the road. I had just seen a few on trips to Portage last year like “SLAP, THE JAP, WITH IRON, SCRAP, BURMA SHAVE” and “CHEER UP FACE, THE WAR IS PAST, THE H IS OUT, OF SHAVE AT LAST, BURMA SHAVE.”
We also saw a “VISIT THE WALL DRUG STORE” sign, I thought that would be a great place to get more comics. I had a few dollars I had saved up and comics were only ten cents each.
Our second day we made it to near Fairmont, Minnesota and stayed in a motel that looked like a bunch of little log cabins made out of half logs. Each cabin has a screen door and two beds. My uncle Luther and I took one cabin and ma and dad were next-door. I discovered my uncle snores. There was a restaurant near the motel so we walked over and had supper. It was real good so we came back for breakfast the next morning. The lady who cooked at the restaurant also made her own baking goods … I decided I liked warm sweet rolls. As we drove out of town I noticed my second VISIT WALL DRUG sign. Dad said that Wall, South Dakota was only about 60 miles or so east of Mount Rushmore which was on our list of places to visit. We finally were getting out of Minnesota which still looked messy like Wisconsin with lotsa Farms. Our next stop was to be Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
SHAVING BRUSHES, YOU”LL SOON SEE EM, ON A SHELF, OF SOME MUSEUM, Burma Shave.
I hoped to see Sioux Indians, but I didn’t, I did see other travelers and cars. Some of the cars had water bags hanging on the outside in case the car overheated. The Hudson just purred along, even Uncle Luther seem to like it. We stopped at a grocery store near the highway and Ma got some bread, meat and cheese to make sandwiches. The store had a soda cooler so I had a Nehi Grape.
The store had a mail pouch thermometer that said it was 78°. “Good traveling weather” said Dad. We found another motel near Sioux Falls, the SUNSHINE MOTEL. You can park in front of your room which was one of a long line of rooms. Ma and Dad got a big room and Uncle Luther and I each got to sleep in a roll-a-way bed which was cheaper than getting another room. Ma and Dads bed was a “MASSAGE BED”. You had to put a dime in a coin box and push the start button in the bed with shake for a few minutes. We invested a dime and took turns trying it out … it made me giggle. Traveling can make you tired even if you just sit for hours. I fell asleep first.
From Sioux Falls to Mitchell, South Dakota didn’t take long. Ma wanted to see the CORN PALACE. It was a squarish building with real corn decorations all over the outside which must’ve taken somebody a long time to make. On top were some onion shaped parts that were decorated with ears of corn too.
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There was a drugstore nearby where we had lunch at a lunch counter. I had a grilled cheese sandwich and a Coke. We got some penny postcards to send back to Wisconsin and I got a fresh supply of comic books. I liked Captain Marvel comics, the store had a big selection. Captain Marvel had an interesting adventures and wore this red uniform with a yellow lightning bolt. He also had a magic word “SHAZAM” which I used when I pointed my cap pistol out of the window as we passed other cars. I'd point at the driver or shoot out their tires saying shazam, shazam.
I spotted a motel that looks like a row of Indian teepees I begged my parents to stop, but dad said it was too early and he wanted to get closer to Pierre, South Dakota before we stopped. It starting to get dark and the first two motels we stopped at were full-up, NO VACANCYS … I don’t know where we finally stopped, I remember my uncle carrying me inside someplace and I fell back asleep. The next morning I remember my dad carrying me back out to the car, it was still dark.
As the sun came up the scenery started to really change. We were entering the Badlands … you could tell you weren't in Wisconsin anymore. There weren’t any trees or grass or even bushes. I saw gray and tan ridges with a white band of stuff making layers. It was too steep to climb and the deep canyons look dangerous. This was a different land, Badlands was the right name. As the sun rose higher in the sky the colors seem to change to red and orange and in another part it was purple, gray and yellow as we drove along … I never saw anything like it. Cars were pulled over to the side of the road and everyone would just stand there … we were discovering America the beautiful but nothing seem to live in the Badlands. I did spot the next Burma Shave sign … “ IF YOU, DON’T KNOW, WHOSE SIGNS, THESE ARE, YOU CANT HAVE, DRIVEN VERY FAR, Burma Shave” another sign that said, “LIVE BUFFALO” … WALL DRUGS. Dad agreed to stop when we got there. We had already past the LARGEST BALL OF TWINE in the WORLD. I thought it would be interesting but everyone else said no. I expected the Wall Drug Store to be huge, it wasn’t. The outside that had those little half logs like the cabins we stayed in one night. It had a wooden sidewalk in the porch was covered with a roof where I saw big elk antlers. It did have a real wooden Indian totem pole near the front door. There was a fenced in area to one side where there was a buffalo, but I didn’t have any horns. Dad said it was a young one.
I got some postcards of the Badlands, Black Hills, Mount Rushmore and the dinosaur park near Rapid City. I also bought more comics in case the scenery made me sleepy. Inside there was lotsa stuff for sale. They had a stuffed bear and a stuffed horse, but I’ve seen better at the Milwaukee museum. We had a meal and got a free bumper sticker, but I didn’t want to put it on the new Hudson.
During the depression my Uncle Luther worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps … called the CCC. He helped make projects in the parks and planting trees. Dad said the WPA was also started during the depression and he wanted to see the WPA Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, South Dakota … it was our next stop. The concrete statues of dinosaurs were made life size. They were a gray concrete color, but some kids painted their names on some of the dinosaurs. One was real tall and my uncle said he thought he saw it move a little … that kind of spooked me … I kept looking up at it. One sign said “STEGOSAURUS”. It had big arrowhead shaped things sticking out of its back with a long neck and a small head that I could lean on. I didn’t know much about dinosaurs, but I was sort of glad they were around anymore. They would be a lot harder to kill then say a deer.
The land around here was a prairie, mostly grass which was pretty tall. Soon we were headed south to see Mount Rushmore. There were a lot of people at Mount Rushmore. We had to park and then walk to the viewing area and look up. Dad read on a plaque that President Roosevelt was the last face done and the carving was finished in 1941. I said that it didn’t look like President Roosevelt that I’d seen in the news reels at the movies. Dad said, “no that’s Teddy Roosevelt .. he is related to FDR.” Colleen and let me use her Nazi binoculars so we got a good look at the faces on the side of the mountain. You could also put a dime in some binocular machines that were lined up to look at the Presidents … we saved lotsa dimes.
The area around Mount Rushmore had many pine trees as we enter the Black Hills on our way through a corner of Wyoming on our way to Montana. Dad said the next stop was the CROW AGENCY, Indian reservation in Montana. Dad had read about finding valuable stones called MOSS AGATES in a stream that flows through the reservation.
We finally found a place it was sort of like the Wall Drugstore with stuff for sale. We had to pay an Indian to go inside and then go outside and wade through a creek. We each got an old lard pail with a handle. I wasn’t sure what a moss agate looked like so I collected a pail full of the most interesting stones I could find. When the Indian went through my bucket he announced that I had found … well, a bunch of rocks … no agates.
My dad had read stories to me about GEORGE ARMSTONG CUSTER. He was a hero of the Civil War. After the war his cavalry unit was hunting down Indian’s in Montana they surrounded on a hill and all the soldiers and General Custer were killed in a battle called “The LITTLE BIG HORN”.
The national monument was on a small grassy hill with little markers to show where all the soldiers had died. The whole hill had a fence around it and you couldn’t walk on the hill. I could see myself fighting the redskins with no place to hide, it was a sad place.
That night we stayed in a big old black hotel in Billings Montana. The rooms were real tall and they had iron beds and a sink in the room. The bathroom with the tub and toilet were at the end of the hall of rooms … if the bathroom door was closed, it was being used. The hotel manager said it was better to take a bath at night than in the morning. We all freshened up … I was kinda dirty except my legs and feet were cleaned looking for agates. Back in our room I discovered a pay-radio. If you put in a dime it would turn on. Ma said to save my dime … we needed to stretch our legs a little so we went for a walk in downtown Billings. It was a warm evening and we found an ice cream shop that had a sign outside of the building that said “AIR CONDITIONED” with little painted ice cubes and blue icicles. We went inside. I got a big bowl of chocolate ice cream that was served with little vanilla wafer cookies. Please soon I noticed I had goosebumps. Between the air conditioning in the ice cream I was cool and clean for the first time in days. The sun had set before I left the ice cream shop and Uncle Luther pointed out all the stars you could see as we walked back to our hotel. I kept looking up and wondered why they were more stars over Montana than over Wisconsin … there were lotsa things that I didn’t know and understand.
WINNETT
Winnett is a real small town. There is one main street called Broadway with the big house that belonged to Mr. Walter Winnett, the man who founded the town in Petroleum County, Montana. There were a few buildings, a green elevator, a café, a couple of other homes and stores.
We were to meet my grandfather in front of the Chinese Laundry which was painted all red many years ago … the paint has faded to a sort of pink. I found out that my grandfather owned and ran the Chinese Laundry. He had met and hired a Chinaman who had worked on laying the railroad across Montana years ago and was looking for work. The first thing I learned about my grandfather was that he had a lot of jobs. If there was money to be made he could do it.
Uncle Luther walked over to the grocery store and got us all some cold bottles of Coke as we waited in the black Hudson with the doors open, it was hot and Winnett didn’t have any shade trees.
An old green Studebaker rolled up behind the Hudson and my grandfather stepped out. He was thin and taller than my dad. He shook hands with my uncle and dad. He took off his cowboy hat and greeted Ma and then me. I noticed the tip of his head was white with short white hair, but his face and hands look like the color of a horse chestnut. He had a long sleeve gray work shirt and faded blue bib overalls with leather working boots. He was smiling as I stepped closer to meet him, I could see he had hazel eyes just like my dad. While we were in Winnett, grandpa pointed back at the red dilapidated building that was faded to a bright pink color … “That was my Chinese laundry, years ago” … we walked around looking inside when something moved by my feet … I jumped … it was a huge SNAKE. Grandpa laughed and said “watch this”. He picked up a stick and poke the snakes tail and it took off like a shot. Grandpa said it was a Blue Racer … it was scary fast.
Grandpa had to get a few groceries as long as he was in town and then we had to follow him back to his sheep ranch. The gravel roads soon covered the black shiny Hudson in a cover of dust. It took almost an hour. We drove up over a little rise and then down between some high rocks. I saw the barn first and then the squarish house and out buildings. A bright blue river with leafy green trees could be seen as we drove down to park in the shade of the house, I was the first one out of the car … I wanted to see everything. Grandpa’s wife Bessie May walked quickly from the house to greet us along with a little white dog who was running and barking and sniffing all around us. Bessie's hair was braided and wrapped around her head. She had on a worn dress and a white apron, onto which she was wiping her hands as she smiled and greeted everyone. We were quickly surrounded by about a dozen little lambs, a flock of geese and the crazy little barking dog as we tried to talk and walk toward the back of the house. Vic the dog continued to bark and race around us until grandpa gave him a swift kick in the butt which is settled him down.
The house had a big lean-to shed attached on the backside with a dirt floor. I learned that this was where the lambs were raised, they were all orphans. They thought they were people. Anyone walking around outside the house had a lamb escort. We all went into the house leaving the sheep and geese to mull around the back door. We sat around a big kitchen table and everyone began talking. Suddenly I had a wet hand … Vic came over to my chair to make my acquaintance. Turned out he loved belly rubs. I made my first friend in Montana.
My grandpas house was not very big. There were two bedrooms. Uncle Luther and I were to sleep on the front porch on army cots which was fine with me. The kitchen and bathroom were at one end near the lean-to. The living room had a fireplace and a wood-burning stove. I went to use the bathroom only to find I didn’t have a toilet. Grandpa laughed and pointed to the outhouse down from the front porch. As soon as I walked outside I was greeted by the herd a little sheep and the geese … we all walk down to the small wooden outhouse. The sheep would not leave the outhouse door closed they pushed it open with their heads and took turns looking at me sitting there … baa, baa, baa. The little house was very clean with room for two people to sit side-by-side. Grandpa had rolls of regular toilet paper too. When I got back to the house Ma leaned over to me and said in a very quiet voice … “How was it?” “Oh it’s nice and clean, but the animals will follow you when you go … oh and there isn’t any toilet paper, just corn cobs.”
Ma made a funny face and then said to everyone … “Excuse me for a minute”. She went to the car to get a handful of Kleenex and I saw her with all the animals going over the hill to the outhouse. Bessie had cooked a big meal and grandpa announced that he had cases of cold soda to drink because the water doesn’t taste very good. On the path to the toilet was a big round dirt mound with a thick wooden door. During the winter grandpa would cut ice from the Box Elder Creek and hauled it to this big underground room with his Case tractor pulling a wooden sled called a stone boat carrying blocks of ice.
He would then cover the ice with sawdust to keep everything cold for a year or so. Grandpa and I got a bunch of glass bottles of orange soda and a big cold watermelon for the meal. I think I’m gonna like Montana!
After supper we all sat around the kitchen table again. Vic came over to lick my hand and beg for another belly rub. The adults talked and told stories. I mostly listened and drank my third bottle of orange soda. Grandpa announced it was time for evening chores so us men lit up a couple of kerosene lanterns and headed out toward the barn. Grandpa blew out the lanterns as we reached the door to the barn. “No fire inside the barn” he said. Grandpa had another dog called “Laddie” that I did not meet yet. Laddie was a herding dog used to move sheep. Grandpa could control him with whistles and emotions. Laddie brought the herd of sheep into a corral next to the barn. Inside of the barn grandpa had a black and white dairy cow named “Bitsey” … she was real big. I thought I might get to milk the cow, but it had twin calves named “June and Jake” who were in a different corral outside of the barn. After he fed Bitesy I was to let in the calves. They were very pushy and almost knocked me over as they ran to the barn to be with their mother. Us men worked to clean up some of the stalls of the big barn and moved sacks of grain. The barn had overhead electric lights and birds flew around us in the barn as we did the chores. On the way back to the house I noticed the stars again, there were millions of them … you didn’t really need the kerosene lanterns. The air was almost cooler now that the sun went down. I made a quick trip to the outhouse … too much soda and watermelon. Bessie gave me a big quilt and said “you’ll need this tonight” and I headed for my army cot on the enclosed porch. I was soon dreaming about tomorrow’s adventures.
By the time I woke up everyone else had been up for an hour. When I walked into the kitchen, grandpa greeted me by saying “hurry up and have some breakfast. I have a chore for you” “I talked to your parents and they said you were old enough to feed the dogs”. I thought that would be OK … I had fed Marco a couple of times, it was easy. I quickly finished my eggs and ask grandpa where is your bag of dog food? Everybody smiled, grandpa said … “you have to catch it”. Then he reached over next to the fireplace and pulled out a 22 rifle saying … “Actually you’ll have to shoot it” “your dad said you might like to learn how to shoot.” Grandpa smiled as he handed me the empty rifle. Grandpa and I headed outside and over the hill toward the creek. I had 1 million questions and grandpa seemed well prepared. He brought along some tin cans for targets and began my lessons. Grandpa said the dogs generally ate prairie dog’s which were a small ground squirrel-like animal, but with a short tail.
There was a “Prairie dog town” not far away and we headed there next … crawling the last part. Grandpa said we also had to watch out for snakes which also like to eat prairie dogs. Grandpa shot the first one, then was my turn. They were hard to hit. One would stand up, look around then quickly duck down. After several tries and more instructions from grandpa I finally got one too. I had a burlap sack to carry the dead animals in. Grandpa also shot a rabbit on the way back to the house so I learned how to hunt for dog food which was one of my chores early each morning at the ranch. Grandpa had a lot of land. I’m not sure how much. He had another parcel on the Musselshell River and his relative B. C. Stewart had a spread “next-door.” B. C. and his wife Pearl had some other children, a daughter and two sons, one named Don and one named George … who was about my age. We were going to meet them sometime later.
Between the two ranches there was an artesian lake that irrigated some land on which they grew crops and watered some of the animals. Grandpa took uncle Luther, dad and I for a walk around the ranch to learn where things were. I got to carry the 22 rifle and grandpa got to carry the bullets. The land was sometimes sort of flat and sometimes sort of tilted where it ran down to the creek. On the other side of the creek the land rose up into stone cliffs that grandpa called “rim rock’s”. We walked and walked, it was a bright sunny day, but the air didn’t feel hot … it was very dry so you didn’t sweat. Dad said that grandpa was like a “mountain goat” as he scrambled up, around over the rocks. At one point we all start to look at a big bunch of rocks they had found. Grandpa took out a small hammer he had in his bib overalls and cracked some rocks open to reveal some marine creatures that grandpa said we’re also from the age of the dinosaurs. I was getting weighted down with the rifle and pockets full of rocks, we kept walking. As we approached some taller rim rock’s grandpa turned and placed his finger across his lips to for us to be silent … we all froze as he pointed overhead. We all looked up to see a bald eagle landing in a pile of sticks on the rim rock far over our heads. We all crouched down and didn’t move. The eagle flapped from the rocks and flew over us. It suddenly swoop down diving toward the creek. The eagle skim the water and grab a fish with his feet as he wheeled around to head back toward its nest. We could now see the head of another eagle who seemed to be looking at me. We turned and walked back to Box Elder Creek so we didn’t disturb the eagles. As we approached the water, grandpa had us fan out so that little bugs and grasshoppers jumped and flew ahead of us as we walked through the sagebrush. As we reach the waters edge some of the bugs flew into the water where trout rose up to eat them. Grandpa asked if I would like to catch some fish. He said the trout were “good eatin” and easy to catch. In the late summer the creek didn’t flow much and the fish will gather in deep pools in the stream bed. Grandpa, dad, Luther and I cut some fishing poles from a willow tree growing near the Box Elder creek. Dad had brought fishing lines, hooks and gear in the Hudson. Grandpa said the trout would bite anything that hit the water … no bobbers needed, no fancy equipment just a stick, a line and a hook. I caught a bunch of grasshoppers that were everywhere, to use as bait. We all lined up along the shore and cast into the biggest pools. Uncle Luther got the first trout, and we all caught these beautiful silverfish and filled a bucket in no time … Fish Fry Tonight!
Montana is said to be a BOY’S PARADISE … with hunting with real guns, fishing on hot summer days in the shade of big trees and new adventures every day. I didn’t miss my radio programs and my comic books were still in the trunk of the car, almost forgotten. After chores the next morning we were all going to town. Lewistown that is, grandpa needed some supplies and he said I needed a real cowboy hat because my face was starting to look as red as a watermelon. Uncle Luther and dad got hats too. Mine was white with four little air holes on the sides. I tried to talk dad into cowboy boots too for me as a protection against rattlesnakes, but he said that cowboy boots are too expensive. I tried to think of some more arguments but grandpa walked up to me and tapped the front of my new hat and said “be thankful you got a cowboy hat” … I was.
We stopped at the farm supply store and grandpa got a couple of boxes of things that we carried out to the Studebaker for the ride back. Next we stopped at the Texaco gas station. Grandpa wasn’t too happy that the price of gas has gone up since last time he got gas. $.22 a gallon was more than we paid on the trip out. Uncle Luther bought everybody some “ice cold cokes” from a machine in the Texaco and we headed back to the ranch. On the way grandpa pointed out the JUDITH MOUNTAINS out to the west as the sun was crossing them, they looked sort of blue and white in the distance.
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After supper Thursday evening we are walking from the barn back to the house and grandpa said … “Look you can see the Stewart’s house” he pointed with his outstretched arm. “Where … I can’t see it?” “Here look along my finger”. Then I saw three tiny yellow squares of white in the black starlight night. The three yellow squares were the windows of the ranch house a long, long ways away. “we are going to drive over to see the Stewart’s tomorrow” … “you will have a chance to meet George Stewart and he has a horse he said you can ride named Babe” … I could hardly wait.
B.C. Stewart dressed like my grandfather with bib overalls. He was pretty tall and when he took his hat off, his hair was dark. Pearl Stewart was his wife and she was very friendly and glad to see us. She said there were not many visitors out this way. We met their family and I met George. He was bigger than I was and he thought we all talked “funny”. We did have some different words for things which we explored as we talked. Soon everyone was talking and laughing and telling stories … I mostly listened. Grandpa told one story about my Dad and his sister Grace from a long time ago when they were children and live with their parents in Montana. Dad and Grace were attending a county school during the winter. The teacher ended the lessons early one day as a big snow storm was approaching and the children were instructed to hurry home before the blizzard hit. Dad held Graces hand and they headed across the snow blown fields. Dad said he would see his house and then the snow would blow and he couldn’t see. He walked right into a barbwire fence cutting his chin and making it bleed. Grace began to cry and thought they were lost. The two of them plowed on. Dad leading the way. The swirling wind plastered snow on every object so it was white on white. Finally dad walked into the side of their house with Grace in tow. His mother Jessie Kent was inside the house waiting for her children to return from school, she heard the THUMP and rushed outside to rescue her two cold snow caked children and bandage dads chin. Dad laughed at the story rubbing his chin and pointing to the old scar everyone inspected and reminded him that he was real “LUCKY”.
George asked me if I would like to see his fort … I said “sure” then I discovered it was underground. As I started to lower myself into this hole in the ground that looked like a grave, George asked if I’d seen any snakes yet. I stopped and scrambled out of the hole … thinking I didn’t want to meet a snake in a hole! George laughed at me and asked “are you scared?” I said "no" and George went in to the hole first. Next it was time to meet BABE. What a nice horse Babe was, mostly white with little spots of gray and black.
George had him saddled up and I got on behind George and away we went with my arms wrapped around George. He flew past the Stewart’s Ranch House and Babe jumped across an irrigation ditch and galloped quickly as George and I leaned forward feeling the wind push past us. We traveled in a big circle and headed back. As we approached the ditch again, Babe slow down and walked into the water for a drink. We all got soaked … it felt good … I almost slid off as Babe tried to jump out of the water. I love Montana! We had a big meal together outside with fried chicken and stuff, topped off with lemonade. The Stewart’s were great neighbors … I really liked Don and George, they were sort of cousins or something that I didn’t quite figure out.
On the car ride home I told grandpa how much I enjoyed the story of dad and Grace and the blizzard and asked if he could tell me some more stories during our visit. “You betcha” he answered, “I’ll fill both your ears right up to the top” … and so he began, “B.C. And I came out here from Virginia leaving our families behind. We had heard that many southern folks had settled out this way after the Civil War. There is still some problems with Indians, but not as much around here. There was talk about some of the land might have oil. Winnett is located in petroleum county and the land was pretty cheap which was good because nobody had much money. Lack of water can be a problem so we tried to find some land that that had water. We both worked the land and ran some animals. After I built my house I sent for your grandmother, Jessie Kent. Did she ever tell you about coming out here?” “No” I replied “she has been sick a lot and I don’t see her much because she lives with aunt Gladys, uncle George and my cousin Drue.” “Well let me tell you a couple of stories about your grandmother.” “After the house was up I sent her a package that had train tickets to get from Williamsburg to Billings, Montana for her and the children. I also included a Smith and Wesson 32 caliber revolver called a “young American double action” because she wrote to say she was afraid of the Indians.
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When she finally got to Montana the first thing she did was give me a cloth bag with that 32 in it. She said the gun scared her more then the idea of attacking Indians.” “Your grandmother was brought up to be pretty refined. She didn’t catch on to the guns and hunting much.” “Let me tell you another story about her. After she was here for a few months everyone was making a good adjustment away from the west. Your dad and I loved it and was doing well in school and helped a lot with chores around the ranch. A letter arrived from Williamsburg in the Winnett post office. When I pick up the mail there was a letter to your grandmother. The envelope was etched in black which meant that it contained bad news. That is the way people got news, there weren’t any phones out here. The black edge was a warning.
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Well, grandma wouldn’t open it … she set it up on the fireplace mantle and would look at it and cry. Finally, after some days I said “this is a lot of whooie and I took the letter down and ripped it open. Grandma’s brother, Raymond ELLIS had accidentally drowned in the James River. There was a copy of the story from the Virginia Gazette newspaper … grandma cried and cried”. I had never heard of grandma Kents brother Raymond. So this was very interesting. Grandpa said to me, “Charles do you know how your father got two middle names?” “I heard that he was named for his two grandfathers”. “Well I was there … this is the whole story.”
“We had leased Magruder’s Farm just outside of Williamsburg to farm. You’re great grandfather, Nathan Ellis lived on a farm nearby … he was your grand mother’s father. Benjamin Gwynn her other grandfather, he lived nearby too. When your dad was born your grandma announced to a room full of relatives that your dad’s name was to be Charles Nathan Kent … then she noticed that grandpa Gwynn had a tear in his eye and she spoke to him privately. At the baptism in the Methodist Church his name was given as Charles Benjamin Nathan Kent … and everyone was happy about it.”
Then I asked grandpa if he had other stories about living in Virginia. “Sure, let me tell you about your dad when he was a little guy”. Dad rolled his eyes and said “oh boy!” "When we rented Magruder’s farm I raise cotton and tobacco. Tobacco took a lot out of the soil so you can’t grow it every year. Grandpa Gwynn had an old black horse and I had a mule. We would plow the soil each year before we planted crops. Your dad would often follow us plowing and would pick up worms for us to go fishing with later in the James River. During the war between the states there was a battle across part of Magruders farm and dad would also find mini balls and musket balls and other pieces of metal that would turn up each spring during plowing. He would fill his pants pockets until he could hardly walk … you kinda reminded me of him the other day with your parents looking for rocks. Your dad liked to play in the woods and streams. He and his friends had adventures every day. He loved to go to the silent movies. He liked Tarzan, who is played by an actor ELMO LINCOLN
… Best of all he liked cowboy movies with William S. Hart … do you like cowboy movies chat?” “I sure do” I replied … thinking of how my dad’s life was like my own when he was my age.
Grandpa continued, “I would fish, hunt in trap muskrats, I would dig clams in the James River … I tried to make a living back in Virginia. It was hard to do. Some of the soil was poor so everyone was always interested in new ideas. I even tried my hand at photography, but the good equipment was expensive and you really needed a studio.”
"Once when I was out hunting raccoons I wrangled one and it ran up a dead hollow tree. I kind of after it. The top of the tree was gone and the coon was down inside the open tree trunk. I stood on a big branch looking into the top of the tree there was the coon just inches from my face, hissing. The branch I was standing on broke in my head and neck were wedged in the top of the tree. I thought I might hang there or get my face chewed up by that darn coon. Luckily the tree was old and rotten, I was able to break my head free with my hunting knife, I have a scar on my chin too … got that from where that raccoon nailed me good. We had raccoon stew that night with biscuits and gravy as I recall."
Grandpa had a million stories … he talked when we were doing chores in the barn. I was supposed to let the twin calves come in from a small crowd to get some milk from Bitsy, one-at-a-time … these calves were strong. I tried to hold them by their halter, but it was a losing battle … one I ALWAYS lost. Grandpa laughed at me a lot. He also asked if I would like to learn to drive his Case tractor? YES! First he had to take a big tin can off the exhaust pipe that pointed up in the air. Grandpa showed me all about steering, the pedals, gears and brakes. We were going to take that stone boat out to pick up rocks from one of the fields tomorrow.
At supper that night Grandpa John gave me a picture, a TIN TYPE and said it was a picture of his father. I wanted to laugh … the man in the picture looks like he was dressed in long underwear … grandpa smiled at me and said, “do you know why he is dressed like that … he was a wrestler.” His name was William Kent and he lived in Sturgis Michigan. He had hand bills printed out that he could OUT RASSEL, OUT BOX, OUT SPIT, OUT CUSS, OUT SHOOT ANYBODY IN ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, MICHIGAN where he lived … I was very impressed!
The next morning grandpa and I were up to pick up and move those rocks with the stone boat. I jumped up into the tractor seat, grandpa gave me the key and stepped back BAM! I forgot to take the 10 can of the exhaust pipe. It blew up higher than the barn … grandpa laughed again … I need to pay attention!
My parents said we needed to get ready to leave pretty soon to drive back home. My adventure in Montana was coming to an end. Grandpa said we might enjoy a hunting trip to get some pheasants or Prairie chickens.
Early the next morning we loaded into his green Studebaker sedan, grandpa Jack had some more land on the Musselshell River that he didn’t farm. He said it was “high Prairie” and he used it for hunting and grazing. The river was bigger and wider than Box Elder Creek. We opened some fences and drove in and parked. Grandpa gave this big double barrel 10 gauge shotgun to uncle Luther and told him to walk through the grass and brush up to a ridge. My dad, grandpa and I are going to walk through the underbrush in a line to drive any birds toward Luther. We could barely see him … he was so far away. We started walking in a line … we scared a rabbit … kept walking. It was pretty hot. Then I heard a loud bang and then another! I saw uncle Luther running toward us a gun held over his head … he shouted “RUN!” as he looked back over his shoulder. I start to takeoff back to the car. Grandpa and dad ran toward Luther. I never saw it but Luther said he had walked into a real big badger that chased him and wasn’t afraid of getting shot. Luther missed … twice. So I didn’t have any birds or badger for dinner. Trout were better anyway. That night grandpa Jack told me about the depression with my dad, his brother Luther and sister Grace and Gladys little Montana. Grandpa ask dad and Luther if they remembered a Christmas one year where all the kids got for Christmas was a big navel orange each … they remembered … an orange for Christmas. We ended up staying a little longer than we planned. The plan was to do our sightseeing on the way out so we could just drive all the way home. We had about three days to get to Milwaukee. Ma and I sat in the backseat. Either dad or Luther drove day and night … we stopped for gas, food, and to use the bathroom. If the drivers got tired we stayed at a motel. It was a lot more fun going to Montana and coming home. I still liked watching for BURMA SHAVE signs, “PASS A SCHOOL HOUSE, TAKE IT SLOW, LET THE LITTLE, SHAVERS GROW – Burma Shave”, “IF CRUSOE’D, KEPT HIS CHIN, MORE TIDY, HE MIGHT HAVE FOUND, A LADY FRIDAY – Burma Shave”, “DON’T STICK, YOUR ELBOW, OUT TO FAR, IT MIGHT GO HOME, IN ANOTHER CAR – Burma Shave”.