Fixing fence is the one of the hardest jobs on a ranch. I no longer live on a ranch, but I do know what hard work is. Fences are everyone's concern, but nowadays,the "hole" is always your neighbor's side not your own. It used to be that you would respect your neighbor and mend the fence together. If their cows got in your field, a simple phone call resolved the problem. You might even saddle up your own horse and help them gather them up. We need more people who are willing to roll their sleeves up and fix the fence regardless of who your neighbor is. There are people in this country who need to be reminded that a fence is like the way you should conduct your life. Your posts should be straight and neat. The wire needs to be stretched tight and your gate might be closed, but can still be easily opened. And most of all, we can all saddle up together and ride the range, it won't matter if you have an Appaloosa, Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred. The cows still have to be gathered, fences have to be fixed, and the range is a wide open space of opportunity for us all.

Cherry Blossoms in the Wind

Posted Wednesday, May 1, 2013, at 9:27 PM

My Aunt Norma's Wedding Day. I miss her sweet smile and loving heart.

I recently ordered a book about Gem County Historic Moments, News & Photos. There are many stories of Emmett History from 1893 to 2010 to delight and entertain you.

Our family was pleasantly surprised to see our Uncle Charles as one of the people featured on the cover of this wonderful book.

With your permission, I am going to share a few bits and pieces ripped from the headlines of that busy metropolis, Emmett, Idaho.

1893:

"A young lady rid herself of an objectionable suitor by throwing him into an irrigation ditch."

1893 December:

"A Team Driven by an inebriated gentleman became unmanageable and ran off the freeze out grate one day this week. No damage was done, but the scare came near to sobering up the driver."

1894:

"A suit against Nath Lick for flooding the road brought by road supervisor Carpenter was dismissed on motion of the plaintiff. The water on the road evidently came from a gopher hole."

1895:

" The fellow who left his pen knife sticking in that watermelon in Mrs. Christiansen's patch on Thursday night can have the same by calling to Billie Anderson. Billie knows the knife and he says that maybe the owner will need it to pick out the shot out of his legs."

1897:

"About 3,000,000 cubic feet of "perfume" was allowed to waste its strongness on the desert air" on Main Street Tuesday. The cause was a trapper's wagon bearing the small defunct carcass of a pole cat and the effect was to make the average citizen hold his breath-and his nose-until the show passed."

"Pay Subscriptions: A far-seeing publisher appeals to his subscribers in this unique way. "If you have a frequent headache and fainting spells accompanied by chills, chilblains and jaundice, it is a sign that you are not well and liable to die any moment. Pay your subscription one year in advance and thus make yourself solid for a good obituary notice."

1900:

"A good bath either hot or cold would not be bad for you to take before attending the Christmas dance."

1907:

"Willie wailed and Winnie wheezed while wintry winds whined weirdly:

"Willie Wiggled while Winnie wheezed wretchedly.

Wisdom Whispers, winter winds work wheezes.

Wherefore we write, "Use Kennedy's Laxative Cough Syrup"

Nothing else so good. Sold by B.B.Davis"

1910:

"An Emmett family has a hen that every day lays an egg on the kitchen table. She stands patiently at the door until it is opened, flies up on the table and makes a deposit."

Emmett Idaho is a beautiful place. Our mother talks about growing up there and working in the orchards as a child. A small town that grew massive crops of peaches, cherries, apples, watermelon and other fruits and vegetables.

Our Uncle Charles was a very handsome and appealing young man in 1952. He boxed under the name, Chuck Berry and was described in the book as a young Emmett boxer who "looked good" in winning his third fight with a K.O. at Boise.

I think that true love won out when our Aunt Betty Jean captured his heart and put any thought of a boxing career aside in favor of being a family man. They stayed married for over 50 years until his passing a few years ago.

I love small town histories. The ties that bind always start in a close community setting. Children who grew up working on a farm or ranch learned early that everyone was needed to keep a family afloat.

Hard work was expected and necessary. We didn't lose our childhood with all that responsibility but gained a work ethic that has stayed with many of us all of our adult lives.

I went to the grocery store a month or so ago and one of the clerks was saying that there wasn't enough for the young kids of Independence to do. What! They have parks, movie theaters, shops, bowling alleys, museums and countless opportunities for community recreation.

What wasn't said, is that our youth doesn't have enough work to do. Sure, the average city kid doesn't have irrigating to do or cows to herd. They wouldn't be caught dead cleaning out a horse stall or weeding a bean field.

How can anyone of a certain age make their way in this world if they never learn the value of a lesson learned by trial and error? To win something on their own merit, not because "everyone" is a winner.

We want to give our children everything that we never had, but somehow we have forgotten that all that we achieved was mixed with more than a few tears of disappointment, failure and mistakes in judgement.

It is essential to our character building to have a little salt mixed with the sugar of our lives. Each provides a certain balance to keep us centered on the business of living an honorable and ambitious life.

I hate to have my grandchildren cry. And I find myself spoiling them more than I should. I know that skinned knees, a firm no and a few reminders on their backsides can keep them centered on the rules of life and help them to keep safe and happy.

I hope that you have enjoyed some of the little excerpts that I have shared. Please feel free to share some of your own hometown memories.

Comments

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Loved this Bonnie. I have a blog to do of a little branding that Jilly and Bryce worked like little troupers.

Yes many kids these days have no clue what real work is and have pride in a job well done

Emmett is a beautiful little place. It's pretty cool that you have family in the history book.

Jessie

-- Posted by jessiemiller on Wed, May 1, 2013, at 9:41 PM
Thank you. Mom and her siblings are enjoying a visit to the past.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Wed, May 1, 2013, at 10:09 PM
Good stuff Bonnie. I've been working on a story about Rocky Bar's last full time resident that I'll try to get posted by the weekend.

I just bought a copy of the early history of Elmore County compiled by Olive Groefsema and am having a bit of a tough time putting it down.

You might get a kick out of this, Bonnie.

The book was given to Emma Timbers of King Hill for Mother's Day, 1972. From her daughter and family, Dolph, Eileen, Chris, Karen and Racheal Hitesman.

-- Posted by wh67 on Thu, May 2, 2013, at 9:48 AM
I would be very interested in getting a copy of that too. I remember that name Groefsema. I think from 4H events.

Let me know if there are any Allens mentioned.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Thu, May 2, 2013, at 11:38 AM
The book is called "Elmore County - It's Historical Gleenings". I found three copies on the internet and bought the cheapest one, if you can call what they asked "cheap". :)

The Groefsema family had a farm several miles south of town and were active in 4H and the ELmore County Fair. I think one of them was even a county commissioner for a while.

I'll keep my eye out for the Allen name and let you know.

-- Posted by wh67 on Thu, May 2, 2013, at 12:32 PM
I enjoyed the commments from the Emmett history but I think that you may be selling the current generation short on how they raise their children. It's good to remember the past but in the times that you speak of children were physically and mentally abused because that was the way things were done then. There was a lot of racial issues. It really wasn't the good old days.

There are good things about the past but some things have improved since then, making our current lives maybe much better than in 1895, or even the 1950's.

-- Posted by Podkaine on Fri, May 3, 2013, at 12:37 AM
I think that you missed the fact that everyone needs to learn how to deal with disappointment, loss and the expectation that everything is here for your own entertainment.

I was pointing out that most city kids claim that they are bored when there is a huge treasure trove of things to do for leisure. Do I think that a five year old should work in a factory? No. But, I feel that children at every age can take on some responsibility.

It wasn't so much the good old days, but the different way in which we interacted as families.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Fri, May 3, 2013, at 7:00 AM
Sorry, I meant to say that not everything is here for our entertainment in the world.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Fri, May 3, 2013, at 7:15 AM
I'm sorry but I don't think I missed anything. I'm just respectfully disagreeing with your opinion.

I don't think that there is a disparity between how much work a city kid does and a child from the rural areas. It's just different work. I agree that children may not work as much wherever they live as they did back in the "good old days" but frequently their parents have them doing another kind of work: music lessons, sports ....

During your longed for "good old days" do you know what was happening? People in their 50s+ years were longing for the good old 1900's.

Life is hard sometimes and will teach children and adults how to deal with the hard things. There is no need to look for ways for life to be harder as a character builder.

-- Posted by Podkaine on Fri, May 3, 2013, at 8:02 AM
Nice job KH, I always enjoy your writing.

-- Posted by TundraRat on Fri, May 3, 2013, at 10:21 AM
Nice picture.

-- Posted by Geordey on Fri, May 3, 2013, at 5:04 PM
PodKaine, If you feel that you're having good times now, then you're probably raising your kids in a good way.

Unfortunately, not everyone does, and I see it on a daily basis.

Fact is to us, that those WERE the good ole days. A higher percentage of kids (again in my opinion) had better values .... but that doesn't mean that no kids THESE days don't.

Jessie

-- Posted by jessiemiller on Fri, May 3, 2013, at 6:41 PM
I do admit that a lot of children seem to have a sense of "entitlement" and I'm not quite sure what that's about.

I'm not so sure about values. Values to me are things like honesty, kindness to others, and finishing what you start.

I believe that parents used to try to instill those values by rigidity and unkindness. I'm pretty sure that a good percentage of parents now teach those values by example, talking to their children and listening to them.

I don't want to imply that everything is better now than 50 or 100 years ago because there are no absolutes. I think the trend is more to an improvement on how children are raised to have good values.

50 or 100 years ago, they were probably debating the same things.

-- Posted by Podkaine on Fri, May 3, 2013, at 7:04 PM
There have always been good parents, great parents, uninvolved parents, and terrible and abusive parents. So, yes, while some tried to be rigid and unkind, there were those that were exactly the opposite.

I work in the school system, and it shocks me how teens talk to just about any adults. But again, it's not ALL of them. But it's more than it was when I was in school. Had we talked like that, punishment was coming, one way or another.

I hope the trends get changed back to what I think was better. And I hope the percentage that that you think teach those values by example, talking to their children and listening to them, is on the rise

-- Posted by jessiemiller on Fri, May 3, 2013, at 10:17 PM
I've read that people's brains aren't fully developed until they are about 25. As parents sometimes we just have to do our best and cross our fingers until they are 26.

-- Posted by Podkaine on Fri, May 3, 2013, at 10:46 PM
I've heard and believe that we know most of the basics by the age of 5.

-- Posted by jessiemiller on Sat, May 4, 2013, at 4:26 PM
The weight of your brain is 80% of it's eventual weight in early childhood but brain development continues into adult age. Myelination and pruning continues into adult age. What's significant is frontal lobe development doesn't complete until the ages of 25 to 30.

That means judgment, planning, risk assessments, and decision making aren't fully ready in a five year old, a teenager, and some young adults.

Podkaine is right about the crossed fingers.

-- Posted by History_Nerd on Mon, May 6, 2013, at 11:02 AM
I'm not talking about the development of the brain. By the age of five, most have learned to either, say "Please" "thank you" things like that. "get along with others" or not. By 5, alot has been already been decided. Not that it can't be 'changed' 'bettered' or 'worsened'. But the rest is just learning....

-- Posted by jessiemiller on Mon, May 6, 2013, at 6:41 PM
I thought the frontal lobe was pretty important. I wonder if frontal lobes grow faster in the country or the city? I also wonder if frontal lobes developed faster 50 years ago.

-- Posted by Geordey on Mon, May 6, 2013, at 7:06 PM
KHGal,

There is a piece in the Elmore County book about an 1894 nationwide railroad strike as it took place in Glenns Ferry. It says that after the strike was broken by a large group of "deputy marshalls" from the outside, a Jack Allen addressed the final meeting of the strikers. A couple of pages later ,there is a partial listing of the strikers that were dimissed by the company managers in Omaha. It includes a John E. Allen listed as one of the engineers. If the company were based in Omaha, I suspect that would have been Union Pacific. I would also suspect that the Jack Allen and John E. Allen were one and the same.

-- Posted by wh67 on Mon, May 6, 2013, at 9:15 PM
When you can give your children the joy of learning new things, encouragement after the experience of loss or failure, the satisfaction of earning their money and saving toward something that they have always wanted.

When you can teach your children that everyone matters to God, not just a select few. That although God loves us all, He is still God and does not wink at bad behavior, those who wax proud in their superiority or lifestyle choices.

You only get a few years to exclusively teach them most of the lessons of life and then there are others who step in to shape their minds and souls, whether they be teachers or peers.

A parents job is to honor their gift from God, a child. To teach them all the aspects of life, good or bad. If children are only told that they are wonderful and talented and get out into the indifferent world of business or higher education, what a shock it must be to them to realize that they are just a small duck in a big pond.

Like Jessie said, it is not brain developement that matters most, but the opportunity to present life from all sides at age appropriate times.

The methods of how we teach may have changed over the years, but it only works if we realize that cake, cookies or bread requires salt with the sugar to make the baking sucessful.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Tue, May 7, 2013, at 7:24 AM
Thank you for the mention Jack/John Allen, I will have to look them up. We have several in our family tree.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Tue, May 7, 2013, at 7:25 AM
Not sure I know what you are talking about KH Gal, except that you seem to be providing parenting and religious advice.

I'm religious too but I think that you may be short changing science. Alexander Pope, an English poet wrote this.

"Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night,

God said: "Let Newton be!", and all was light."

-- Posted by History_Nerd on Tue, May 7, 2013, at 9:26 AM
While children's brains are developing so are their emotions, which are real and powerful.

-- Posted by MsMarylin on Tue, May 7, 2013, at 10:59 AM
I cheerfully accept all of your input, as long as you accept mine as an opinion that does not need to be debated to death.

No matter how it gets explained, 40 years ago, it was rare that young kids got into trouble much less murder, complete destruction of property or violence against others. Yes, Rare.

Now, look at the headlines today and pick out how many kids do crimes because they are bored and want the extra thrill of killing someone. Should we not be concerned about a failure on society to teach children right from wrong? To allow a 17 year old to "punch" a ref because of a bad call? If we do not teach cause and effect, how will our children know boundaries?

It is still not common for these things to happen, but it does occur more often than it did 40 years ago or even 20 years ago.

And after it is all said and done on parenting, you can still have a child who makes his/her own decisions that are contrary to what they have been taught. Can't do much about that as we all know. But it is our responsibility to teach them regardless of the mores of society.

Go enjoy the sunshine people, and quit trying to find a grub under the rock.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Tue, May 7, 2013, at 11:19 AM
It sounds like KG doesn't want people to disagree with her.

-- Posted by Geordey on Tue, May 7, 2013, at 6:04 PM
Disagree all you want, I have never said that my thoughts are the way that everyone should think.

I do have the right to point out that what I said has merit and that sometimes a person's motives for commenting are not to give a different point of view, but to instigate a quarrel.

My point of view is simply mine and no one elses. I don't tell anyone that they have to agree with me totally. Or that I have the entire truth of the universe on my side.

Again, write your own blogs if you think that your point of view needs to be shared.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Wed, May 8, 2013, at 7:35 AM
Are you saying that we can't share our opinions on the MHN blog unless we have a blog? That seems strange.

-- Posted by Geordey on Wed, May 8, 2013, at 8:57 PM
No, I am not saying that at all, but at some point if you want a format for all of your own opinions and/or beliefs, consider writing your own blog.

I really don't think that anything that I have said was off-center. And what everyone else added was fine.

Insert your opinion, but respect mine just as I have respected yours. If you cannot get enough satisfaction from posting a comment or two, think about writing a blog.

It seems as though there is a concerted effort to make things more complicated than simply enjoying what you read.

I don't have any hidden agendas, nor do I desire to create any controversy. Again, my blog is about personal accountability, childhood memories and other topics. I am sharing my thoughts and not expecting anyone else to change their minds or beliefs.

Go out and enjoy the sunshine.

-- Posted by KH Gal on Thu, May 9, 2013, at 11:36 AM
Actually what you said KH Gal was "write your own blogs if you think that your point of view needs to be shared".

I think Geordey is probably reacting to that comment and how you're responding to differing opinions. It doesn't seem respectful.

Most respectfully, have a nice day!

-- Posted by History_Nerd on Thu, May 9, 2013, at 12:01 PM
I don't understant why I am being told to go out and enjoy the sunshine. We have different weather in Pine, Idaho than in Missouri and I don't think someone should be telling me what to do.

-- Posted by Geordey on Thu, May 16, 2013, at 10:31 PM

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