Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 16.djvu/47



REMINISCENCES 39

large family, and occasionally they would send for some neigh- boring families to spend the night. I was always called on to read something, and I can remember how proud I used to be. They thought it was wonderful to see how well a boy of my age could read. In those days reading was something of an accomplishment. The people with whom we traded were poor and hard-working, but they were kind-hearted and hos- pitable. They lived on what they raised and on what game they killed. I used to enjoy sitting around the fireplace and hearing the men tell stories of their adventures and hunting experiences. I remember stopping one night where there was an overshot wheel grist mill. The man who owned the mill had ten grown daughters, all of whom were at home, and all of whom helped him in the mill. The mill took its pay in toll taken from the grist. There was very little money to be had.

"On this trading trip we saw a number of mule teams haul- ing ore from Iron Mountain to some small furnaces.

"After working for Ed Drew I went to work for Grand- father Stormont, on his farm. He was land poor. He had hundreds of acres of prairie land and considerable timber land. Each winter he cleared about 4 acres of timber land. He ran four plow teams and for that day he was considered a very thrifty farmer. All of the family worked hard. My grandmother and her daughters Linda and Naomi were al- ways at work. When they had nothing else on hand they carded wool and spun and wove webs of cloth. One of the webs for summer wear and the other for winter wear. The winter cloth or jean was dyed navy blue, while the summer cloth was dyed butternut. They made all the clothing for the family.

"I remember what profound astonishment the invention of the carding machine created. Grandmother sent some wool to the carding machine which came back in rolls ready for spinning. It was considered an almost miraculous invention. One of the most profitable sources of revenue my grandmother had was her flock of geese. She had nearly 200. She kept