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,

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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.

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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!