Mom's Story:

Alden, Minnesota 1933.

I don’t know how long folks had been planning, but that was first we knew that the folks were going to sell the farm and move to a warmer climate for my mother who was not well. They had talked about moving out west for years.

So we had an auction - it must have been in December. I don't remember Christmas that year, Phyllis might, but I don't. Sold the farm and all its contents. One day here came Dad driving down the road - a cold, windy January day - driving a new Chevrolet chassis. No cab or anything. He already had a plan for building the "motor home".

It was made out of pressed wood (like masonite). Roof and all. He made a frame out of wood and built onto it. And it all fit onto the chassis. The neighbors thought he'd lost his mind. They'd come and look and say " Earl! What are you doing?". It took about a month to build. He built it outside at Irvin's since we'd already sold the farm and moved out. We lived at the neighbors for 6 weeks. Some with one, some others. I lived at Jensen's (Burnice Erickson’s family). Dad, Mom, Dolly (Phyl's nickname) & Bud (Richard) at Irvin's.

They planned furniture to take - a piano (a large upright - a Cabel-Nelson), a writing desk, a Maytag gasoline washing machine - just heated water in Coleman gas stove - built into cabinet by front door. Had a portable oven to put on top of Coleman , underneath the stove we stored all the pots and pans. Beside that cabinet built a cupboard with a door that let down to serve as table. Over the writing desk built a cupboard that was one of the beds. Over the top of the piano was a bed. Over the washing machine was another one. My parent slept on a sleeper sofa

In the front the cab was angled out on both sides, on the left of Dad was a jump seat where my brother (11) sat and on the right of Mom ( who sat in a regular car seat) were two seats for my sister (13 1/2) and I (15 - 16th birthday on way out).

When it was all done, they painted it bluebird-blue (that's the way Mom wanted it) and named it the "Bluebird".

And so it flew, on the first day of February, 1933. We had a little dog (black and white terrier) named Tag (I think) . We lost it in Ames when we visited Aunt Edith (Dad's sister) and Uncle Bert. Heading for the sunny south first. Also there: Dad's brother Charles (and Hazel). Aunt Grace & Aunt Addie (dad's maiden sisters) had a boarding house for students (I later stayed with them when I was in college at Iowa State). Also Aunt Sib (Silvia) and Uncle Roy (she was dad's sister). Stayed in Ames a day or two then on to Council Bluffs where Dad was raised and visited Dad's brother Bill and family.

Went to Kansas City, Missouri and stayed a couple of days with Mom's Uncle Dave Winter and Amanda. We stayed with another family (I can't remember their name) since Uncle Dave only had an apartment. Her name was Elenore and they showed us the sights of KC Mo. And that's where we saw the first bread lines where they were serving bread and soup.

Uncle Dave was the neatest man - really a gentleman. Quiet spoken , handsome, blackest hair. We stayed 2 or 3 days. Went on to Richmond, Kansas to visit their son Charles who had a tiny farm with 1 cow to milk. I remember that we had supper with them that night and went on the next day.

Went on through western Kansas to Zenith to visit my grandmother's brother - Uncle John Hooton and families. They had 2 sons and their families. Visited a long time - 4-6 weeks. As we drove along the sand was piled up along the fences like snow in Minn. The days of the dust bowl. We had a great time at Uncle John and Aunt Minnie's . They had 4 children around there. A daughter with 2 kids in Stafford. 1 son (Lee) lived at home and helped run the ranch. Another son Floyd and Francis and 2 children lived a few miles from there (Suzy and little boy - they were so cute.)

This was March since celebrated Mom’s and Dad's birthdays. Both born March 30, 1888. We always had 2 birthday cakes. I baked sponge cakes at Floyd's. Ended up with 4 since used their wood stove and they didn't bake. The damper wasn't closed so heat went up chimney instead of around oven. So I mixed up 2 more and baked them. And we all got together at Uncle John's and celebrated their birthdays. We left the next week. We all hated to leave there - we had such a good time, but I bet they were glad to see us go.

Oklahoma. I remember they were having floods in Oklahoma, and folks were worried but we did not have any problems. The soil was so red. We went through Oklahoma City and there were oil wells all over - our first sight of oil wells. We just kind of drove on through Oklahoma, I don't remember much, just pit stops and service stations. We stayed in Ardmore one night. Just by an old, rundown service station, but they had water (which was horrible).

Then we were looking forward to seeing the bluebonnets of Texas . They were supposed to blooming by that time (first of April). I remember laughing at the bluebonnets because they looked like fields of vetch.

On to Mineral Wells Texas, where we stayed several days. Visited the once-famous crazy water crystals. A very small town with two very large hotels. They were tall. People came to partake of the crazy water crystals, for health. Our first introduction to the Armadillo, a strange creature (small burrowing mammal).

The next destination was San Angelo where we rested and cleaned up in a nice park. Then on to San Antonio. We went through Austin, and drove by the capitol, but did not stay. Drove on to San Antonio, where we stayed for several weeks, in Breckenridge Park where there were several other families camped. We had a great time exploring the city, visiting all the historic sites. The Alamo, for one. And having many good times in the park. Mom would play the piano and the campers would gather around for a song fest.

I remember a game of rounding up snipes. Phyl was to hold the bag while we went out to round up the snipes. The game backfired because Phyl caught on and she hid from us. We finally went back to camp after dark. We were worried and when she was found, we received a good lecture .

I can still remember all the fresh fruit there and the little man on the corner selling "BANANOOS, ten cents a dozen".

The folks had planned to go on to Long Beach, California to join other Alden friends, but the report of a severe earthquake there changed their plans.

The folks loaded up with fruit and we headed back north, stopping in Osceola, Missouri. We visited the cemetery there where Dad's sister Ethel and brother Ernest were buried among the Yuccas growing tall and with white-white blooms. Dad inquired around and we found our way out to the Long place, where Dad was born. We took his picture sitting on the old cellar door. We wandered around the place and a small stream running though it. The house was still part log house. We tried fishing from a bridge right in the middle of town.

The next day we drove on to El Dorado Springs where Dad said he used to go with his sister Addie to get the special health water there. The folk had heard about strawberry field around Joplin, Missouri. They stopped at the town square and Dad inquired. He was told to go to the Bonnow's place. We found it back in the hills and scrub oak. We were hired as a family to pick strawberries and we did until the crop was in. We had many a song fest there where we parked the Bluebird right out in the woods. We heard and learned many Ozark songs. Dad was privileged to go on a coon hunt with the men and he really enjoyed that.

We were on the road again and headed north and planned to take Hwy 30 to Denver. But we stopped in Council Bluffs to spend the 4th of July with Uncle Bill (Dad's brother). We then headed west. Nothing new until we stopped at a service station near the west end of Nebraska. The attendant told us to keep our eyes straight ahead and we would see our first mountain, Long Mountain. At first it looked like a white cloud. As we drew near, it took the form of the mountain -- our very first mountain.

We had planned to go on to Denver but there was a flash flood that washed out the highway, so we headed west by way of Ogden Utah and then to Brigham City. As we were leaving there, there was a large, ripe cherry orchard, ready to be picked. So Dad stopped and asked if he, Mr. Anderson, needed pickers. "I sure do", he replied, so we all picked cherries. Mr. Anderson owned a creamery across the road from the cherry orchard and the night before we planned to go on, the creamery burned to the ground. So Dad built a new one.

During that time, the Andersons took us on our first mountain trip. We three kids and their two boys rode horses to the campground on Ben Lomand. By the time we got there, Mr. Anderson had a large skillet of sheep herder’s potatoes cooking. I don't remember what else we had, but I'll never forget those potatoes. They took us on a trip to Salt Lake City and attended the Tabernacle Choir concert. We made a trip to Promontory Point to see the spot where the Central and Southern Pacific railroads joined. My mother was secretary to General Dodge, who helped put the railroad through. I have the books which she transcribed for him describing the history of the railroad.

We left the next day and stopped the night and celebrated my 17th birthday at a stream in Utah. Then on to Oregon by way of the Columbia River. We made several overnight stops along the way. One was at American Falls and another at Crown Point (near Troutdale, Oregon) where we kids laid on our stomachs and looked over the edge of the cliff to watch a train going far below. The folk said not a word and probably held their breath until we had moved back. We detoured Portland and drove down the Willamette valley to Eugene, Roseburg and Medford.

Then they decided to go to the coast before settling down. So we went over to what is now Sunset bay and camped along the beach. Not one house there then. We picked blackberries and caught weird looking fish from the rocks and thoroughly enjoyed the coast.

We had to make a decision as to where to settle. It was harvest time in the Rogue Valley and the beautiful Siskiyous swayed us. Dad got a job on the Crater Lake rim road, so we moved up to Bear Camp below the rim and enjoyed real back woods -- bears and all. Wonderful spring water.

When the snow began to fall, we moved back to Medford and moved into our first real home - 507(?) Hamilton Street. November 1st, 1933. With running water, lights and gas. They paid $12.50 rent. Phyllis and Bud started school at midterm and I waited until the following fall. We all loved the valley. Mom only lived 2 1/2 years after that and I'm sure lived over many times that happy flight.

Dad sold the house part of Bluebird to Mrs. Brownlee, the woman we rented the house from. She parked it in her back lot and rented it out. I don't know what she charged.

Postscript

Mom’s family settled in Medford and purchased two acres with a house to the east of Medford at what is now 615 S. Keene Drive. Her father lived there for the rest of his life.

Her sister Phyllis married Melvin Nipps. They lived in various places in the West, eventually returning to the Rogue Valley where they built and operated a green house business for many years.

Mom’s brother Richard was a pilot in World War II and was killed in action in 1945.

My mother graduated from Medford High School in 1936, went to college and graduated as a Registered Nurse. She returned to Medford and worked as at Sacred Heart Hospital and later the Community and Rogue Valley Hospitals. She married my father, Gordon Barker, in 1942. After the war they built a house next door to her father’s home. Mom lived in the house until 1989 . She now lives in Southwest Medford.

Larry Barker
Talent, Oregon
January, 2002