Grandma Lu Wants To Have A Party

 Grandma Lu was feeling a little blue. She was missing folks at Marleewood. Thanksgiving was over and she felt like having a party. "I wonder if anyone would like to go to a party in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have my shopping all done except for a few little things, I could sure use some company. I think I will give Grandma B a call and see what she thinks. She has been working really hard lately maybe she could use some company too. I think I will call it an Unholiday Party," she chuckled.

Grandma B said that she thought a party in between the holidays would be perfect. There was always a lull in between the two holidays. The only thing that would be a problem was that Marlee was thinking the same thing. She would soon be going to Preschool and wanted to see her Marleewood friends before she started. 

Grandma B said, "I don't think we could do two parties at once. The little ones need to be supervised with food and drinks." Grandma Lu agreed. She said, "Well, what do you think of the older kids being the host and hostesses? Marlee has quite a few of them she hasn't seen for awhile. Shall we call them and their parents and see what they think? I really need to socialize for a couple of hours. It has been a lonely last few months because of the dreaded COVID Virus. We could have extra masks and hand sanitizer for those that want or need them. If it's nice we could even set up tables outside. Everyone would have to be well and ready to have fun."

The two friends divided up a guest list and who would bring what to the party and when it would be and what room would they use for the grownups and where the kids would have their party. Marleewood hadn't had a party for such a long time both ladies were excited. Hopefully people would want to come.

The first friends Grandma Lu called were Cynthia and Nancy.

Cynthia and Nancy both said that they thought a party in between the two holidays was just what they needed too. They asked what they could do to help. Of course, Grandma Lu said, "Tell your kids and grandkids. I'm going to make sure that Bella and her brothers can come so I'll call them. I'm sure that Aiden would help with the younger kids. Talk to you soon. This is going to be such fun!"

But something was afoot that would even take Grandma Lu for surprise.....

The Frontier Was Settled With Faith And Hope

 Pa thought, "I need a miracle. My children and this strange woman and I will starve if I don't do something." He told the children that he was going to go out and try to find something to eat. One of the boys begged to go with him. It would be his first hunting trip. Finally his pa agreed. He could use all the help he could get. When they went outside the air was cold, the snow was deep, but the sun was shining. Pa felt hope deep in his heart. He explained everything to his son for safety and where he thought maybe the deer might have ventured out. They went their separate ways. 

It seemed like no time when he heard a shot then a shout. It was his son! They were going to have Thanksgiving dinner alright! And right before his eyes his little boy had changed into a man. His eyes automatically turned to the sky to give thanks. His eyes turned misty and said, "Thank you, Catherine. I think you might have had something to do with this. What do you think of our boy?"

Two days had passed since pa had found the woman in the barn. She had awakened and had eaten. She had at last told them her name. She was the lady that pa had sent an advertisement for in the paper. Now what? She did not know how to cook! She had never done much of any cooking except out on the trail. But she could sew. But her sewing machine had gone into the river. There was no new material for her to sew with, however, there was mending and lots of darning of socks to do. She had found clothing that was no longer of use. She had an idea. She was going to make a quilt. Maybe she could get it done before Christmas. A new quilt for her new family. Yes, she would try very hard to get it done in time.

One day Marlee Ada saw what Nell was doing. She said, "My ma used to make quilts for us, but she used a sewing machine." Nell was very surprised because she had not seen a sewing machine in the cabin. Even the thought of a sewing machine made her heart ache. Her mother had left her her sewing machine, but it was now down at the bottom of the Missouri River.

 Marlee Ada told her that her pa had taken it out into the barn because it made him sad to look at it after her ma had died. While pa and his son were out hunting Nell had Marlee Ada take her out and show her the machine.

The barn was dark and full of cobwebs, but as they made their way clear to the back of the little make shift barn they could see an old quilt covering a very nice sewing machine. As Nell went to lift the quilt something slipped to the floor. As she went to pick up the old paper Marlee Ada said, "Look! It looks like my ma's paper she use to send letters with. Nell picked it up and read the note. As she read tears slipped down her cheeks. It said,

                                            *************************

The real Nathan went back to Ohio, but his son George Washington Banister lived in a cabin such as the one in the story. During his lifetime he accumulated a section of farmland, but sold it and moved to town. He was quite the community leader. He enlisted in the Army during the Civil War and fought in South Dakota where I lived for thirty years. I had no idea I could have been walking on the same land he fought for freedom for the slaves. He then came back to Iowa and was elected judge, coroner and sheriff for two terms. Then he built a grocery store and had a son who was named George Dwight Banister. He delivered groceries to a Nathan Hayes who had a daughter named Lulu Hayes. She was my grandmother and he was my grandfather.

 My great grandfather gave them the farm that I grew up on in Cherokee. Nathan Banister came back to visit his son and passed away from an unknown illness. He is buried in a cemetery not far from the farm I lived on, but had no idea until I was seventy-six years old and wrote a children's story for you.

                                                      ******

When we were children on the farm Thanksgiving dinner was chicken and mashed potatoes and lime Jello with pineapple. Probably some canned vegetables and also a pie which was my father's favorite. Only when I was grown was there turkey and cranberry salad and candied yams for our Thanksgiving. Thanks to all of you readers for letting me add a bit of my family history into Marlee's Adventures. A special thanks to Luann Turner Musgrave for giving me permission to use her great great aunt Nell's picture. That is where the whole story began. Happy Thanksgiving!

Nathan Needs A Miracle

 Pa rushed over to the tiny woman who lay on the dirt floor of the shanty he used to house his horse. She was barely breathing. "Who in the world are you, woman? What do I do with you now? How am I going to feed six of us when I can barely feed  five? Well, there is nothing to it but to take you to the house to thaw you out and get something hot in your belly." He put his coat over her thin one and put her over his shoulder. He then grabbed the rope and made his way back to his cabin.

When Marlee Ada's pa came stumbling into the house the children scattered. He carried the woman over to his bed and started telling the children what to do. He told the boys to put more wood on the fire. He told Marlee Ada to put some ground corn  into some hot water. Even Marlee's sister brought over her cat and quilt to curl up to the lady to help warm her. Pa started rubbing the lady's hands and instructed Marlee Ada to take off the lady's shoes. He needed to warm her hands and feet up as quickly as possible so she wouldn't suffer frost bite.

After the shock of seeing their pa bringing in an almost dead woman they started asking question after question. Of course, their pa had no answers. It seemed that with some coaxing and soft words the lady was able to take some sips of the bitter brew. She started to open her eyes and look around her. She saw a picture on the wall. It was of a lady and her four children. 

Oh she hurt all over. When you get your hands and feet too cold they start to hurt when you get warmer. Pa told the children to help rub her feet and hands as he looked on.

He told Marlee Ada to go get a pair of her ma's socks for the woman. Marlee said, "You want her to wear my ma's socks?" He pa looked sternly at her and said, "You heard what I said. Go"

 He started a pot of soup. He had some canned vegetables and a hock of pork he had been saving for Thanksgiving. He figured he was thankful he had saved a life and the children would enjoy it. After that he just didn't know. He only had enough food to last a little over a week. He would make this pot of soup big enough to last as long as possible. Maybe just maybe he could spot a jackrabbit for more stew if he was lucky. But the first thing he had to do was find out who this lady was and where she came from. He was sure folks would be looking for her.

What pa didn't know was that most of the people that Nell, had been traveling with had fled the area because of an Indian massacre just twenty miles or so from where he and his children lived. The Banister colony had dispersed, Mr. Banister and the women and children had moved to join others in another settlement called Old Cherokee. He needed a miracle.

Pa Had To Make A Decision To Leave His Children Or Stay

 The food had nearly run out in the wagons. The men had sent two men off to get much needed provisions and food, but they had not returned. The people could no longer live in their wagons, so several folks including Nell had moved into the Cherokee House. One day during a particularly cold and snowy day one of the men went out and had found an ox that had been killed by Indians, presumably for food. That left only one ox to do a very difficult job. He was hooked up to a bobsled without sides to go to the field and gather the potatoes and corn. The vegetables had frozen and seemed beyond hope to be eaten.

 I have many times said that these pioneers were determined to survive and make happy homes there. So they took tools like picks and sharp pitch forks out to the field and dug up the frozen vegetables. When they returned the women and men took turns grinding the corn into a meal with a surviving coffee grinder. They made a kind of pancake and a bitter  brew made out of melted snow and ground corn. It tasted really bad, but they needed something hot to drink. Life in Cherokee House was not easy to say the least.

Grandma Lu looked out at the folks and said, "What happens when you don't have food to eat for a long time?" She received many different answers. Some said, 'you get skinny' some said, 'your tummy makes funny sounds' and one said, 'you get naughty.' 

Grandma Lu said, "You are all right. Most of us say we have been hungry, but we probably don't know what real hunger is. Hunger is when your clothes no longer fit, and your bones show. Hunger makes a person feel kind of mean inside and will even steal and do bad things just so they can get food. This is what was happening inside Cherokee House. That included Nell. She was getting desperate because she was getting dizzy and feeling like she couldn't walk very well.

Marlee Ada and her brothers  and sister were also getting very low on food. Their ma had preserved some vegetables and their pa had put some meat in the small root cellar, but it was almost gone. And the wildlife had hunkered down in the timber so hunting was very poor.

Pa had a difficult decision to make. He either would try to make it into the nearest settlement and leave the boys to take care of the girls, or wait out the weather to see if it would be possible to take his family into town where there was food to be purchased. He had no idea that the Banister Colony was just a mile or so away. They had planned well and continued to enjoy good health because they still had some food to eat. Marlee Ada's pa was unaware that there were people hungry and cold in the Cherokee House, also not far from his farm.

Pa finally called the children together and told the boys that they would have to be in charge while he was gone. With him being gone there would be more food for the four of them. There was little discussion, because they all knew that their pa knew best. They quietly watched as their pa put some bread and some dried venison in his pocket. He quietly said, "Take care of each other and remember how much I love you. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Pa had tied a rope to the leather strap that he had fastened to the outside of the cabin and headed towards the small building or shack that sheltered his horse and wagon. In those days a rope tied to the house and the barn was almost a necessity because sometimes in the winter storms called blizzards the the snow blew so hard a person couldn't see. The wind had calmed a bit which he was grateful for. It was still going to be a long cold ride for him. He went to put the bridle and saddle on his horse when he thought he heard a noise from the far side. He thought it was an animal that had come in from the storm. Instead of an animal pa discovered it was a very thin and half frozen woman laying on the ice cold dirt. 

It was in fact Nell. She had lost her way leaving the outdoor bathroom from the Cherokee House. 

Pilot Rock And Cherokee House

 Carter's mom looked outside and there he was sitting in a tree; again! She smiled and yelled out, "Hey, Carter, do you want to go to Marleewood? We have an invitation to go listen to Grandma Lu tell a story. She has already started so we have to be quiet. I think you might like it. She is telling about the olden days and how people got to Missouri and Iowa. Would you like to go?"

Carter liked to listen to stories so he crawled down and got in the car. His brother and sister were busy so he got to have a special treat that day. It was fun to go places with his mom. 

When they got to Marleewood there were quite a few people there, but there were two seats just waiting for them. When he looked to the front there was an older lady that grinned at him. She waved, but kept on going with her story.

Grandma Lu said, "Remember what I said about landmarks and saving Nell's wagon train? Well this is what happened. Robert Perry, one of the ten men had traveled ahead of the thirteen wagons. He had found a huge rock. It was called a glacial rock. Thousands of years ago the earth didn't have grass and trees it was covered with ice. It had happened several times as a matter of fact. Hard to imagine isn't it? But the ice accumulations were called glaciers. They were huge bodies of ice that constantly moved. Well when they moved they would leave behind a rock sometimes. People call them them glacier rocks. It was huge. It was twenty feet high and forty feet wide and sixty feet long. It was so big it was called a boulder. The Indians called it a woven stone. It would later be called Pilot Rock.

Mr. Perry settled south of Pilot Rock and my great grandfather settled his colony a few miles away. It was called the Banister Colony. All in all only fifty people had settled in this area. Mr. Corbett and Mr. Perry planted two acres of potatoes and corn and a house called the Cherokee House that was not quite as big as our garages are now, but with an upstairs called a loft. They soon ran out of provisions in their wagons and slowly but surely had to move into the Cherokee house. They sent two men to Iowa City for provisions, but they didn't come back until the next year because of the bad weather.

Avery and Finnley had been making and frosting cupcakes for the group. They were happy to help Grandma B and Grandma Lu by making snacks.

Grandma Lu stooped over and got into her purse. "Guess what while we take a little break and look at the pictures of what we now call Pilot Rock, I'll tell you something fun. I grew up just a few miles from there on a farm. My great grandfather was one of those ten men. Isn't that fun? This is a picture of him and his fellow trail blazers. He is the stern looking one sitting down on the right. It still seems strange to me that my great grandfather actually helped settle the town where I was born and my grandfather farmed the farm that my grandmother and him got for a wedding present. That's where I lived for eleven years."

"When we get done with our snack I'll tell you what happened to those people that ended up living in the Cherokee house and how they survived. It's a really fun story, one we can't even imagine doing nowadays. Maybe Nell was one of them," Grandma Lu smiled.

A Wooden Bucket And A Dutch Oven Were Necessary Tools

 Grandma Lu continued her story of Nell and her trip to Iowa by telling the children about what the women were expected to do on the wagon train. She said they were expected to do the same things they had done at home. Of course, you know it was much harder wasn't it. All the cooking had to be done outside, the children needed to be cared for, the laundry had to be done. Often spreading the clothes out on bushes to dry if there were some close by. One lady whose name was Ann said that after all the camp work was done she would start out way ahead of the wagons so no one could hear then through herself in the dirt and cry she was so very tired.

Finnley said, "My daddy helps my mama. Why didn't the men help the ladies on the wagon train?" Grandma Lu said, "That's just the way it was in those days. The women weren't even able to vote. The women started fighting for the right to vote about the same time Nell started on her journey. In fact Iowa was the tenth state to let women vote and that wasn't until 1920. Almost seventy years after Nell reached Iowa, so she never got to vote. Oh how those women fought for that right. They would go in a group to the capital and demand that the right to vote, but never got the chance for a long long time. A sculpture is in the capital at Des Moines depicting the women that fought that good fight.

Marlee said, "My Grandma B votes and so do her friends." Grandma Lu said. "Yes she does and that's because ladies we never knew fought for that right with such determination that they won over the men that said that couldn't."

"Okay let's get back to our story. The last we knew was that Marlee Ada was cold and was cuddling up to her dog, Zeke, on a quilt to keep warm. Well, the next morning, her pa had trouble opening up the door. It had snowed something fierce during the night. It snowed so much he couldn't get the cabin door open. Remember that I told you about the compass flower? Well, there was something else that the pioneers did. They built their cabins so that the door was always facing to the south so if it was blowing snow they could always tell which way to go to the house from the barn. Usually in those days the barn was a small shack, as the years went by though, barns were often used as landmarks because they were so tall they could be seen from the road. My grandmother's barn was one of those big barns. We will see how a landmark saved Nell's wagon train a little later.

Well in those days the buckets were made of wood with metal hoops to hold them together. They would tie ropes onto the bucket to lower it into their well. The buckets also held drinking water that they got sometimes from a creek or stream if they didn't have a well.

"So what Pa found out was that it was not the snow that was causing the problem but ice that had fallen on top of the snow. So he poured the water from the bucket into what is called a Dutch Oven. Dutch ovens were a very important part of American History. So important that our very first president's mother, Mary Washington, specified in her will that her grandson and granddaughter should receive her metal furniture which included the Dutch Ovens. Even Paul Revere had a hand in reinventing the Dutch oven by inventing flat lids with a ridge for holding coals and legs on which the Dutch oven could stand. So when pa had the water hot he carefully poured some on the ice from inside the door, Little by little he got the ice melted so he could open the door. It was a beautiful sight to behold. The world was crystal clear with a beautiful white blanket of snow. From the cabin he could hear the creek babble as the water went over the rocks. He could see the bushes covered with snow and ice. He wondered what had happened to Nell and if the new ad he sent to the newspaper would get him a new ma for his children.

Marlee Said She Needed a Cooking Book

 The weather was cold and so was Marlee Ada's cabin. It was made out of logs and there were some places in between the logs that the cold air was getting through. Those little spaces were called chinks. The pioneers would stuff those holes with wedges of wood and a mixture of clay and and sand and grasses. Then they would spread that mixture over the walls to make it so the wind couldn't get in as easy. The only really warm place was by the fireplace. The children would often lay on pallets of quilts by the fireplace.

It was so cold tonight that her pa had let Zeke crawl in bed with her and her sister to be warmer. Her tummy made a growly noise. She was still hungry. The winter seemed like it would never end with the ice and the snow outside and her pa always being sad, Marlee wished that she had a cooking book. Her ma had one, but she couldn't read it. Maybe she could cook for her pa if she had one with pictures. If her new ma would only show up then she just knew things would be better.

Grandma Lu stopped to clear her throat and Marlee said, "I have a new cooking book. Joann gave it to me for my birthday. It has lots of pictures in it. My Grandma B is going to help me cook and bake with it. If I could I would have given it to Marlee Ada in the story. That would have helped her."

Nell and the other travelers followed the ten men that were headed for the area where Marlee Ada and her family lived. The weather was terrible, but the ten men were strong and young and made good use of the things they had read before they started on their trip. One of the reasons besides the weather that the trip was so dangerous was that the area was all prairie. Besides the trees that grew close to the river, there were few landmarks to follow. They had to use a flower in the spring, summer and fall called a compass flower. It's leaves faced north and south perfectly with the sun. They knew that the sun rose in the east and set in the west so these very tall stalks; about nine feet tall actually. The Native Americans broke the stalks and chewed the resin for chewing gum and used it for medicine sometimes too. 

This is all well and good, but it was winter time now and the flowers no longer were blooming so the men had a compass. It shows where north, west, east, and south is when you hold it in your hand.

Remember it was snowing and windy so they had to have something to go by because they had never been there before. The pioneers often got lost in those days, but Nell and her fellow travelers did not. They steadily traveled north west through the heat and floods, through the drought and rainstorms, through the cold and snow. The trip nowadays would have taken only about eight hours by car.  It had taken them over three months because of sickness, weather, and having to stop to repair the wagons. The wheels or axles on the wagon would sometimes break and need repaired or replaced. Some wagons were left at the side of the road because they could no longer make the trip.  Years would go by and new travelers going west or north would see the remains of wagons and many many possessions left by the side of the trail. The pioneers would have to leave behind their precious things often just because of a broken wheel that could not be replaced.

Grandma Lu made a little map  to show the children the trip that Nell and her new friends took to get to a land mark called Pilot Rock.

Cornhusks, Yarn, Rags, And Feathers Were Used For Dolls And Pillows

 When Grandma B and Marlee heard about Nell's dress and saw the pictures of what the dresses for women in those days looked like Grandma B got out her phone and showed everyone the paper dolls that Grandma Lu had sent Marlee. They were all dresses of what women wore in the 1850's. As people were looking at the pictures Grandma Lu said, these paper dolls are what the dresses looked like in the city, not out on the trail.

Marlee said, "I got tired of trying to play with them. I decided I would rather play with Zeke and my real dolls."

Grandma Lu chuckled and said, "You won't believe this, Marlee, but I only had one doll when I was little. I had a lot of paper dolls though that my mom helped me cut out of old catalogues. I thought it was a little bit fun, but I would rather read books than play with dolls when I was just a little older than you are."

Marlee asked Grandma Lu what Marlee Ada in the story played with. Grandma Lu said that her mama showed her how to make a corn husk doll and a yarn doll. Lots of little girls had rag dolls which are still popular nowadays because they are soft and cuddly. Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy are fun rag dolls.

Little girls loved them so much the stores started selling them in 1880 about thirty years after Nell travelled to Iowa. Rag dolls were made from scraps of sewing material and yarn and stuffed sometimes with feathers! Yes feathers. My mama stuffed her own pillows with down and feathers that she had picked from her chickens and ducks. It takes a lot of ducks and chickens to make enough down and feathers to make even one pillow. She would take white pillow cases or feed sacks and fill them to almost full then hang them on the clothesline on cool windy days. It couldn't be hot because the quills in the feathers have oil in them. It took a long long time to get enough feathers for the whole family. The ladies also stuffed mattress ticking with the down and feathers to make very soft mattresses. They called them feather beds. My sister and I had one on our bed. The pioneers did too. The pillows needed to have new feathers stuffed in them every year or they got lumpy and very uncomfortable.

Grandma Lu grinned and said, "I loved to pick the feathers out of my pillows when I was a little girl. Sometimes the sticky out part would poke through the casing and tickle my nose. My mother scolded me when I did that though."

Grandma Lu showed the children a picture of a lady holding a duck and putting the feathers in a sack that she had hung over a chair. It doesn't hurt a duck and they lose them anyway.

Charlie said, "Does Marlee Ada in Iowa have dolls and nice feather pillows? She doesn't have a mama yet, does she?"

Grandma Lu said, "I'm afraid that Marlee Ada doesn't, Charlie. Hopefully her new ma will get there soon. She has about forty miles to go yet. That was a long ways in those days. Hopefully the man called George and his friends and other travelers will get her there safely."

A Man Called George Gave Nell Hope

 The distance to Fort Dodge in Iowa was short in modern days. It was less than seventy miles, but it took longer than a week for the wagon train that Nell was traveling with. She was traveling with some new people this week because some of her former companions had decided to stay or to travel a different direction. Winter was a terrible worry for them. Nell could no longer go barefoot of course, because of the bitter cold. She had done some hand sewing for some ladies at the fort which she traded for some fur lining for her old coat. She was much warmer now, but still so terribly worried that she would have no home when she got to Cherokee.

Fort Dodge was unlike most forts in the 1850's. It had no high wooden fence around it Grandma Lu told the group. It had twenty-one buildings in it, but they were all in a straight line. Those buildings took up the same distance as many of our city blocks do. The traffic to Fort Dodge was mostly travelers who needed supplies or fresh horses or oxen. There seemed to be no trouble with the natives, or there would have been a stockade which had tall sharped points on the wooden fences that surrounded forts in those days.

Fort Dodge was a very busy fort. Travelers were commonplace because of the Gold Rush out west. The people came from New York, Ohio, and many other states and/or territories that had not yet been declared a state.

 When they woke up the next morning it was snowing. The snow was thick and the wind was blowing. The man in charge of the soldiers in the fort was called a general. He told the trail master that he could not in good faith allow them to leave. He said the weather if anything was going to get worse. They would have to stay there until the weather was better. Needless to say Nell was devastated. She just knew that Nathan was going to marry another lady or perhaps already had. She pleaded with the trail master to leave the fort so she could reach the man that she was to marry. She thought that she should be able to get there in about ten days.

 There was a young man who overheard Nell and the trail master talking about leaving against the General's orders. He also wanted to leave. He and nine other men were on their way to an area south which someday would be called Cherokee. They were determined to settle in that area because of the river, the rich soil, and the miles of trees that would provide them with wood to build log cabins. There had been scouts telling them it was the perfect place to settle and have families. He walked over to Nell and said, "Hello, my name is George. My friends and I are going in the general direction that you want to go. We don't want to wait either, but you must know it's going to be a dangerous trip not only for us, but for our animals. The area where you are going is not settled. There are other wagons behind us that wish to settle there as well. I've been told that there is shelter there that will get us through to the spring.

Nell just knew that one of those farmers that George was talking about was Nathan. She had to go. Nell's heart pounded with excitement in her chest when she  heard about that shelter. It would later be called Fort Cherokee. She was ready to go. All she had to do was find more people to go with her. They would have to leave within an hour or two or it would be impossible to make any headway during the daylight.

The thought of freezing on the trail was a real concern for Nell. The clothes she had were not suitable for the trail in the winter. She had a fur lining for her coat, and deer skin around her shoes, but her cotton dress was a thin muslin. She had to find a way to make her dress thicker. She had traded some sewing and mending for some wool stockings and had fashioned a heavy apron to wear over her dress. She was a warm as she could be. Hopefully she would find folks to go with her and they would share some of their warm clothes and quilts.

Fort Des Moines Had Newspaper

Well, there were only fifteen of the twenty wagons left when they did arrive at Fort Des Moines. They had lost some horses and oxen as well. They were anxious to get fresh horses and oxen and be on their way to Fort Dodge with a new stock of food and other things that needed to be replaced. The Fort had a hospital, a general store, and a few log cabins. Here is a picture of the first cabin built in Fort Des Moines.

 Nell was most surprised and extremely pleased to find that the fort had a newspaper. It was called the Des Moines Gazette. To Nell the newspaper however old it was was a connection to the outside world. It seemed she would never get to Cherokee to her new family. Everyone was wanting to read the newspaper needing to hear the news from around the country. Therefore, Nell had to wait her turn. She did visit with other ladies that lived in the fort. Their husbands were soldiers. She heard many stories from them that concerned her very much.

One of the things that she learned was that the government had signed a three year treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians that lived close by. A treaty is like a promise written down on paper and signed by government officials and the Chief of the tribe or tribes as it were.

 The natives were farmers and would trade vegetables and furs for things that the folks needed inside the fort.  Nell learned that folks that had started out going to California to get rich mining gold had decided that the land around the fort was beautiful. It had two rivers, beautiful trees and rich black dirt just perfect for farming. They illegally sneaked out at night and surveyed the land. They would light torches and climb trees and guesstimate how many feet apart they were to measure acres of land. Then they would squat or stay on that land and attempt to force the natives off that land. It kept the soldiers busy between keeping the peace with the Indians and the white people trying to steal their land.

When it got Nell's turn to read the paper she was more than amazed. The news although very old, probably several weeks old actually was so very interesting. She read every word, but when she got to the back of the paper she saw an ad that had been placed for a lady to move to a farm outside of Cherokee. A man named Nathan was in need of a woman to be a ma to his four children! Nell's hands were trembling as she quickly turned the paper to the first page to find the date of the paper. He had placed an ad after not hearing from her. What would she find after she finally got to Fort Cherokee? Would she have a family waiting for her or did Nathan already have a new wife and mother to his children.

                                                             *******

Fort Des Moines Hotel was built in 1919. It was a two story beauty which held many important political rallies, Presidents and famous actors stayed there, as well as many other conventions were held there. I attended a Nurse Of Hope Convention there in the 1970's with my sister who was named Nurse of Hope for Woodbury County. It was an honor to see her pinned and awarded the honor as well as listen to her speak encouraging nurses to care for folks in the last stage of their life. The hotel was a sight to behold. It was closed down for two years and has been remodeled and is a popular place for wedding receptions. Nell would be amazed. I don't have a picture of it in 2020.