One day, Papa had to go to town to get some work done at a
blacksmith shop. He took me with him. A small stream runs through Caldwell. The blacksmith
shop stood on the northeast side of the stream, which was called Indian Creek,
and a large livery stable stood on the southwest side of Indian Creek. I really
can’t imagine how many horses were lodged in this building, but I would think
there may have been 20 or 30.
While we were at the shop, a fire broke out in the livery.
To me, it was quite a sight. We were probably about 200 feet from the fire. Of
course, there was no fire department as we now have. I was more interested in
the action. There were horses running in all directions. Men were going into
the stable and loosing the horses or leading them out. Anyway, as soon as they
would get a horse out, he would break away and run back into the fire. From
later references, I would guess that nearly all horses stabled in the barn
died.
Some time later, perhaps a couple of days, we went back to
town and they had stacked all of the horse carcasses in a huge pile and were
burning them. You can only imagine the stench. I suppose they could have buried
them.
alfalfa (photo courtesy wikimedia commons) |
This incident occurred when we were all at a neighbor’s
place putting up alfalfa hay. I think I mentioned above the large ditch, or
high line as we called it, running through the area feeding branch canals. From
an educated guess, I could say the high line was 14 to 16 feet wide and, of
course, very deep – five to eight feet. The farmer had built a waterwheel, what
for I do not know, downstream; and close to the wheel the farmer had made a
bridge (foot) by placing a couple of 12” planks across the ditch.
example of a waterwheel (photo courtesy wikimedia commons) |
Bill’s 1st
haircut (Fall of 1907)
I’m sure I didn’t mention this incident anywhere in this
report, but I witnessed the dastardly act and the affect it had on our mother.
As you know, you Uncle Bill had very curly red hair, and for
some reason, Mama wanted to keep him looking like a little girl? During
threshing season, she had to go to town for supplies. One of the threshing crew
sat Bill down on the wash basin stand and cut all the long curls off as well as
the braid which was always tied with a ribbon. I don’t know where Papa was;
maybe they both went to town. Anyway, when Mama got home and saw Bill, she just
about flipped. I’m sure she could have killed the guy right there. It was a bum
joke and maybe she should have killed him. She did save the braid and some
curls for years.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned several times that economics was
kind of tough. We seemed to always have plenty to eat, but very little money (I
guess here that the barter system was pretty much in effect).
Of course, I can’t remember what my parents did for
recreation or entertainment. I remember one year we went to Boise. The Scottish people were putting on a
big wing ding and some girls doing the sword dance and Highland fling. Also on
that trip, Bill and I were outfitted with boots (black) with a red top and a
tassel at the top of each boot. I can imagine that we outgrew them rather
rapidly.
The water springs
There is a lot of natural hot water coming out of the earth
around Boise and extending east and north into
the Sun Valley country and the Salmon River.
Mama had a number of relatives living in that area, having cattle ranches and
dairies. I remember only one visit to the area, but I’m sure there were
several. We would go by train to Gooding and from there to Ketchum by stage,
and we were picked up in Ketchum by some member of the family to go to their place.
A to B: Caldwell to Sun Valley |
The one thing I distinctly remember was the hot water
springs. They had a log cabin – or house – which had two springs (large)
bubbling out of the earth (guessing, I would say they were about 10 feet
apart). One was boiling hot and the other was ice cold. I could stand on the
edge of these pools and watch the men wash their milk cans in the hot water
while you could get a nice cold dipper of cold water form the other pool. In Boise, they had what was
called a natatorium or large covered swimming pool filled by hot water springs.
An aunt
I’m sure we visited other relatives in Boise, but there was only one person that I
remember, a woman, or girl, who had a deformed back, the result of falling out
of a swing located on the front porch of their house. Mama could not let me
near that swing for fear that I could be injured.
Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library |
Whenever a circus came to town (Caldwell), we would always
go. I saw Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show a couple of times. He looked like the
pictures of him, and he always rode a white horse.
Of course, there was the County Fair each year, but I
believe I should go into that faze in the next era of this narrative since I
was involved to some degree.
to be continued...
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