Have you any wool?

With the addition of two more children, Mable Elsa - born 20 July 1902 and Garnons Hughes - born 12 January 1904, Grandpa Davis decided to change his line of work from farming to raising sheep.  Note that as the oldest daughter, Birdie was very aware of the details of the living conditions and household responsibilities.  Norman was much more involved in the work of handling a sheep ranch.  More about that later.

Birdie - With doctor bills and so much expense, Daddy thought he had to get into more money than farming, so he sold the homestead and bought a place a Kendrick, Colorado where he could run sheep. He had bought a few sheep already, but really went into the sheep business and bought two bands. We had to start all over again to build a home. There was only a two room shack on this place besides some sheds and corrals. There was a well in the creek and long trough to water the sheep. It was a hand chain pump deal and we kids had to see that the trough was full of water when the sheep came in. In the evening we also had to help the herders pump the water until both bands were watered.

As I mentioned, the house was a shack of two rooms. These became our kitchen and dining room. Lumber had to be bought from Calhan, Colorado and hauled to add on to the shack. Through a busy summer and herding sheep they finally completed four bedrooms which were built on the north side.

We were ten miles from the Post Office and a little store run by Mr. and Mrs. John Mortimer. It was five miles to the nearest neighbor (the only neighbor.) These were busy days, lonely days and trying days, for the only entertainment was made by the family. Mother hardly ever went to town. I was only 12 and with chores, cooking and care of six children to be responsible for, she couldn’t see herself leaving over night. There can be lots of things happen to that size family in 24 hours. Rattlesnakes were plentiful, too. We never went out with the sheep without a hoe or long stick to kill them with. We never wanted any to get away.

All our trading was done at Calhan which was 30 miles away. It took two days to make the trip for groceries, coal and lumber. It was only made about once a month after we got our lumber to build. We bought everything by the case, 100 pounds of sugar, oatmeal and flour by the 500#. We made all our own clothes so yards and yards of print and overall denim for boys’ jeans and jackets. I went with Daddy most of the time; though I was only 12 I could help make some of the choices. One time when Daddy went to town alone, he came home with a big box of shoes – all sizes, boys and girls – it was all the odds and ends the store had. All of us picked one pair of shoes and the rest were kept for later use. It was an exciting time.

One of our biggest chores was to haul water to the house. On wash day especially it was a big chore, and another big water hauling day too was Saturday, for each had to have their Saturday night bath. We did have a power washing machine run by gas motor. One time when it was real cold Mother let too much gas fumes come back into the house and we all got sick. She had put the exhaust pipe out the window and the wind blew it back into the house.

Norman - With the increased responsibilities Dad began to realize he had to do something more for a living, so knowing the sheep business, he decided to try that. He knew a man by the name of Matheson who lived somewhere east of Limon, Colorado. Dad went to see him, and made a deal to buy a thousand old ewes, on time.

Our house was only a two room affair, and much too small for the growing family.  Dad took the lumber wagon with a four horse team and made a two day trip to town and brought back lumber and supplies to build on badly needed bedrooms.

 photo from Wyoming Tales and Trails