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I thought I had written this story out before, but if I did it wasn't tagged.
When my dad was eighteen, his sister and her husband took a trip out west from Indiana. They were visiting someone on a ranch in Montana, and they guy said to my dad, "too bad you're not staying. We'd give you a job!" My dad didn't say anything, he just went out to the car and came back in with his suitcase. So the guy had to give him a job. He said "go down to the basement, pick out some tools and tell them your a carpenter."
I've heard this story quite a few times, along with his exploits there. But last night he said that he was staying with a family, and they charged him a dollar a day. That, and he needed to help with the dishes, and do all the ironing. He was apparently paid in silver dollars. This was about 1962, and a lot of the coins were very old - Morgan and walking liberty dollars from the 1800s. Most people didn't like the silver dollars because they were heavy and wore out their pockets, but he didn't care so much. He ended up taking the train back home, and it cost him thirty dollars. In the station, he put every coin on the counter, making sure that everyone in the place could hear the coin clink.
EDIT
This is about his second summer going to the ranch...
He went to the ranch again, but it had rained for 30 days straight, and there was no work. Their veteran ranch hands were out of work, so they couldn't take him on. They said he should try for work out in Washington (he was from Indiana), so he went out there. Unfortunately, Boeing had just laid off a bunch of people, so any available jobs went to them - people with families. He applied for jobs at about 300 places. He finally went to Cincinnati (about 50 miles from home), and was hired at the first place he applied.
What did he say about that ranch... it was so big the north and south parts each had their own air strips. They had about 300 breeding mares, just to keep the ranch in horses.
When my dad was eighteen, his sister and her husband took a trip out west from Indiana. They were visiting someone on a ranch in Montana, and they guy said to my dad, "too bad you're not staying. We'd give you a job!" My dad didn't say anything, he just went out to the car and came back in with his suitcase. So the guy had to give him a job. He said "go down to the basement, pick out some tools and tell them your a carpenter."
I've heard this story quite a few times, along with his exploits there. But last night he said that he was staying with a family, and they charged him a dollar a day. That, and he needed to help with the dishes, and do all the ironing. He was apparently paid in silver dollars. This was about 1962, and a lot of the coins were very old - Morgan and walking liberty dollars from the 1800s. Most people didn't like the silver dollars because they were heavy and wore out their pockets, but he didn't care so much. He ended up taking the train back home, and it cost him thirty dollars. In the station, he put every coin on the counter, making sure that everyone in the place could hear the coin clink.
EDIT
This is about his second summer going to the ranch...
He went to the ranch again, but it had rained for 30 days straight, and there was no work. Their veteran ranch hands were out of work, so they couldn't take him on. They said he should try for work out in Washington (he was from Indiana), so he went out there. Unfortunately, Boeing had just laid off a bunch of people, so any available jobs went to them - people with families. He applied for jobs at about 300 places. He finally went to Cincinnati (about 50 miles from home), and was hired at the first place he applied.
What did he say about that ranch... it was so big the north and south parts each had their own air strips. They had about 300 breeding mares, just to keep the ranch in horses.
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Date: 2026-01-05 03:35 am (UTC)From:I wish I'd written more of my grandpa's stories down.
no subject
Date: 2026-01-05 04:49 am (UTC)From:A few years back, Cindy started taking a voice recorder to my family reunions, and would ask people questions.
I just added another part of the story to the entry above (copied the text from an old post).