On a recent visit to my aunt in Tennessee, we were reminiscing about family stories from the past. My father, her brother, used to tell about participating in a WPA project to build a lake for water supply to the Missouri State School for the mentally retarded near Marshall. He took his team of red mules, "Woodrow" and "Kate", to join others in dredging the area for the lake. At night he boarded them in a barn nearby. One night Woodrow and Kate were able to open the barn door and they went back to the farm where they lived. . .10 miles away.
The Great Depression created a hardy breed of people. "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" was a motto for my ancestors and many others.
2 comments:
How did your dad get home each evening? Guess in the 30's he had a vehicle, didn't he. But someone had to help him get those mules to the lake...cooperation of neighbors? The 20 mile round trip would be onerous to do daily and hard on Kate and Woodrow, but I guess they didn't realize that!
My dad drove his family car back and forth - probably a Model A or T
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