In the spring of 1935 E. L. Anderson and his wife, Bertha, moved with their three daughters, Betty, 8, Joyce, 6, and Vivian, 2 ½ , from Hershey, Nebraska, to a farm near Sterling, Colorado. This was the middle of the drought and Depression. Times were not good.
But grasshoppers
and Dry weather and Dust Storms were Bad and the Dust Killed several
Cattle for
me[.] And I got a Chance to get a pasture Down on a Creek In a little
Valley so
I Rented it[.] And I An[d] An other neighbor took the most of our
cattle down
there as it had a good shed on it and that ended our Cattle losses[.]
Some of
the Cattle we cut open to See what Cause them to Die And found Big
Balls of
Dust In the entrance to their Stomich.
I Raise a fair
crop of Beans one year and the Next the grass Hoppers took over[.] they
Come In
one morning and By Noon I didnt have any Barley Wheat or many Beans
Left[.] But
it seem that they didnt Like the Cane Be Cause they Left it So I had
some Rough
feed[.] But I turned Around and put some more Beans in[,] pinto
Beans[,] and I
did get a few of theose[.] I had one Small Bunch that I had Just pulled
and the
Wind come up from the North West and the Beans Left ehe Country In
Hurry.
My father Rented a
place Just across the Road from me[.] he had some Milk Cow and nice
Bunch of
horses and Mechinery he Brought with him enough to Farm With[.] My
oldset
Brother had some horse's there also[,] purebred Belguns[.] But he
wouldnt work
them even though they were Broke to work and that Summer some of got
Bit By
Rattle Snakes and Died[.] It Just so
Happened he was there When it happened and we couldnt Seem to save them. He some way trade places with the younger
Brother and took the horses Back to North Platte Nebr where he worked
and Sold
them off[.] he sold one Colt[,] a Stallion[,] that he Raised from a
Mare I sold
him and Belgum Stallion that was a Decendant of Belgum Stallion that
took Grand
Champion at Worlds In Chago Ill By the name of Espar the First which
Henry Hawn
an Importer of Belgum horses had[.]
Mr Hawn had a
Stallion colt from Espar the First that also took Grand Champion at
Several
County Fairs and also the State fair of Nebraska. my Brother Sold the
Stallion
Colt from that Decendant of Espar the first to Cap Harris of Sterling
Colorado[.]
And he also took Grand Champion of Logan County Colo as well as Grand
Champion
of the State of Colorado. He latter Sold a Second Colt to Mr Harris But
I do
not Know how he turned out as he was a much younger Stallion.
My younger Brother
Harvey D Anderson Rented a place Down near Willard Colorago about 6
miles from
Where I Lived[.] It was Mostly Pasture Land[.] he Bought a few Calves
and put
on it But Never Farmed it. It was at harvest time that year that my
youngest
Brother took Notion to go to Oregon[.] he was going to help Dad and I
do our
Combinding But the morning that we were to start Harvest a fellow come
along
and Said Lets go to Oregon[.] and he Barrowed $25 from me And another
$25 from
Dad And I dont Know how much he had of his own[.] [He}
Left his calves ect on the place he had Rented So We had to
Look after his Stock also with harvest on our hands[.] So I finished
Harvest
alone and Dad moved down on the place my Brother had Rented for 5
year's[.]
Dad only Stayed
there for a few months then He sold all the Stock And went to North
platte Nebr
and Stayed with my Brother there for Short while until he could get the
Rest of
his Stock Sold off[,] except four or five horses[,] And his Farm
machinery[.]
he had a McCormik Deering 22x36 Engine[,] 3 Bottom plow[,] one way Two
Row
Lister[,] 2 Row Cultivator[,] Corn planter[,] Drill[,] one way Grand
Detour
Disc[,] plow[,] Harrow[,] and house hold good's[,] a few not many as he
had
sold off or gave the most of them to my sister. Dad and my younger
Brother made
agreement to my mother when She Died that they were to Look after one
another
as Long as they Lived.
I paid [the rent]
and moved down on [the place my brother had left] for the Rest of the
five
year's[.] And they were the grass hopper year's and people couldnt
Raise much
or make much money[.] We had
a couple of Family's near us that Raised
Turkeys[.] they made some money Due to
the Fact they Grazed on Land that was Bare and had a lot grass Hopper's
on and
that was their main feed[.] of course they were fed a Balance Ration to
Balance
their Hopper Diet. We had to sell
Cattle off Due to the fact that the Hoppers were eating the pastures to
Short
for many Cattle to graze on[.]
I had some White
Arabian colts and horses there[.] of Course they were mostly Saddle
Stock. I had one young Stallion that
coming a three
year old we Broke him to Ride and my oldest Daughter [Betty] would Ride
him[.]
one Night or eve she Rode him across the pawnee creek to get the cows
when a
Stray Dog Snapped at his head and the horse started Bucking[,] put her
off and
Broke her arm[.] I heard her Scream and I threw my Saddle on an other
horse and
went over and Brought her home. that is
she Rode my horse and I put my Saddle on her horse.
As I didnt want him to get the Idea he could put some one off
and
get Away with it[.] But he Never Bucked Again to my Knowledge[.]
a man that Run a
Garage In Sterling Come out and he wanted the colt[.] So I traded it to
him for
a GMC truck and nothing to Boot And I used the truck for Several
year[.] I
hauled Beets[,] hay[,] Grain[,] Lumber[,] and fruit[,] also Stock as it
was a
part of my Living[.] I sold that truck to my oldest Brother[.] he was
to pay me
for it when his Beets out[.] I guess he never got Beet's out[.] at
Least he
didnt get around to pay me and I dont Know what ever did Become of it[.]
I also had a Ford
truck And a Dodge that I hauled with and would use Both for Hauling
Beets ect
with I sold out there[.]