Georgia On Our Mind

On October 7, 1926, my daddy, brother, and I left Lawson, Texas (18 miles from Dallas). We were traveling by covered wagon to Georgia. Our daddy's birth state, and where all his people lived. We were driving 2 small mules. An old no nonsense mule named Bert, and an orange one named Jerry. He was feisty but lovable. My brother rode a Mexican Burro named Ollie. Some times Ollie was hitched to the wagon to relieve a mule. Ollie was stubborn, and would lead so she had to work.

The first night we couldn't find a place to camp, so we pulled off the highway as far as we could. That night someone stole a side of white meat from under the wagon seat. The next day, going into Longview, the wagon tongue broke. The first two days weren't very encouraging.

We crossed the Red River at Shreveport, picked up mail there and headed to Slagle, Vernon Co., Louisiana, to visit our daddy's half sister. She lived with a daughter. Daddy's sister thought he had drowned in 1908 when the Trinity River flooded, and his house washed away.

We spent a few days with Aunt Lorena to do our laundry and get more supplies. We were there on Halloween. The kids got rather rough with their pranks so papa slept in the wagon to keep them from doing any damage to it. They didn't bother the wagon, but the town got a big surprise. Slagle was a sawmill town, and very sandy. There was plenty of lumber so they built board walks. The kids removed every one of them. Until the town could replace the walk, everyone had to wade around ankle deep in sand.

When we resumed our trip, we headed north for Monroe, Louisiana. Papa had a nephew who lived there. They lived in an apartment so we couldn't visit in their home, but they stayed with us for two nights in our camp.

We often had other people camp with us. Two of the most interesting were some Gypsy hoarse traders. They are a happy sort of people. They made music and sang.

A young couple on a motorcycle with a side car spent one night with us. They had just gotten married, and were heading to Florida for their honeymoon. On their return trip, we camped together again and had a long visit.

Papa had a reason for making the trip in the fall. It's cooler, and we get work picking cotton in Louisiana and Mississippi. We spend one weekend on the Mississippi river waiting for a Veterinarian to check the animals. They ferried us across the river on an old fashioned steamboat. That weekend many people were down at the river sightseeing, and of course we were an attraction.

Nothing much happened until we got to Alabama. Papa put brakes on the wagon, we had to travel some very rugged mountains. Most of the people were traveling in one-horse wagons. It was December and getting cold.

A few days before Christmas we arrived at Papa's sister's. School had just let out, so there was a crowd to meet us when we arrived, aunts and uncle, and a galore of cousins, and their friends.

The location was Omega, Georgia. When we started school, all the kids wanted to know about Cowboys and Indians. Ha!

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