Squak Valley: by Bessie Wilson Craine (page 19-20 from original book)
Going to school
The spring that I was five years old, Mother took a notion that she would like to go to Seattle and spend some of her butter money. She asked Aunt Hessie if she thought she could manage me for a couple of days. She was sure she could, and that suited me fine. She took me to school with her. I felt very grown-up sitting there with all of the older children. At that it was a long day for me to sit still. I got pretty tired and sleepy. Aunt Hessie fixed me a bed on one of the long seats and I had my afternoon nap.On Mother's return trip from Seattle, she had quite an experience on the stage over the New Castle Hill. She and some lady, with a bird in a cage, were sitting on the back seat. Some man had tied two hound dogs to the seat. When they were going up one of these steep hills, the seat went over backwards. The woman, birdcage, two dogs and Mother landed in a heap in the road. No damage was done. Mother had a quick temper, also a sense of humor; but after all, that was carrying things too far. By the time she got untangled from the dogs, she, no doubt, told the stage driver plenty and gave him some good ideas as how to fasten the seat down, besides just slipping them over the side boards. By the time she reached home and retold the incident, they all had a good laugh. About all I could think of was wondering if they hurt the dogs when they fell on them.
For several years previous to this time, there had been much talk of a railroad from Seattle, through the Valley and on to North Bend, where they hoped at some time to continue it over Snoqualmie Pass to eastern Washington. Through the efforts of Daniel Hunt Gilman, a prominent resident of Seattle, the Lake Shore and Eastern was about to be put through.
The engineers came to our place and asked Mother if she would board them, which she was very happy to do. A large tent was pitched in our yard, and a long, board table put in the house. Then Mother was in her element. She was a wonderful cook, and she had plenty to do with--all of the garden vegetables and pork, smoked pork, salt pork and more pork. The doctors say pork isn't healthy, but it is still my favorite meat. There is nothing I like better than good old side pork and hominy. Mother made her own hominy with wood ashes and whatnot. In those days we had three full meals a day, breakfast, dinner and supper. The engineers were always ready for all three of them.
The settlers were taking heart now that the railroad was really going through. They could add a great future for the Valley. More land was being cleared for meadows, more swamps slashed and drained for pasture. All of the beautiful trees were slowly disappearing. They were cut down and dragged by horses or oxen to great piles and burned. At night one could see the red glow of the big fires throughout the Valley, and you would know that one more meadow was in the making. The farmers were increasing their herds. There were more sheep and more pigs. They knew that soon there would be an outlet for all of their produce.
Everyone seemed to be happy. There were more social activities; a dance once in awhile at Uncle George's hall, or sometimes a party at the different ranch houses. Mother had brought a taffy hook from Missouri. It was her job to supply taffy for these functions. It used to fascinate me. She would take a big hunk of this taffy, throw it over the hook and pull it out in a long rope, over and over again. Sometimes ! would catch my breath--I thought surely she would drop it, but she never did. This continued until it was a beautiful rich taffy color. Then she would roll it out on a big board and crack it into little chunks.
I remember one night the folks decided to have a surprise party on Tom Cherry, a bachelor. Mother made a boiler full of oyster stew, and they started out across the field with it, engineers and all. Why they didn't take the oysters over and make the stew when they got there ! don't know. There was much laughter and hilarity as they trudged through the fields, boosting the boiler of stew over the fences. When we reached our destination, the small children were immediately bedded down in some out-of-the-way place for the night. As each family came in another youngster was added. Mr. and Mrs. John McGraw and their small son, Tommy, were visiting the Tibbetts, so they were at the party. That was when Washington was still a territory and several years before Mr. McGraw was governor of Washington when it became a State. Tommy shared the corner with the rest of us youngsters. In years after we used to laugh about it, and always felt that we had something in common.
I guess I gave Mother a bad time during these years. I was forever running away. I had the schoolhouse to run to now, but Mother knew that Aunt Hessie would always send some older child home with me so she didn't have to worry about that.
One day I really stirred up the whole neighborhood--and
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