Spring of 1927, The Jackson Family heads West
We were having hard times in Colorado. Dad tried to make a living doing odd jobs, selling books and farming. We even picked peas as a family by working the whole field. One day we picked a ton of peas! Dad saw a better chance for employment could be found in Oregon or Washington.
We left he small farm near Golden, Colorado. Our brother Burrell was 20 years old and the youngest was Mary, who was just about one year old. We had an old touring car with a trunk on the rear and a Ford roadster that had a rumble seat. How do you put pots and pans, food, an extra tire and jack and find room for eleven passengers?
Now I understand Mother’s tears. She had to leave so much – the family bible, genealogy, pictures, and other treasures. However, she did secretly tuck in her bag of buttons. Each time we had a flat, Dad would fly into a rage blaming the flat on the extra weight of the buttons. Dad drove the touring car and Harold or Burrell drove the Ford. The boys were behind us on the road. It was our job to make sure they were behind us. I remember the worry we felt when we couldn’t see them.
It seemed to be a long trip. We slept in the tent on the hard ground when we couldn’t find a cheap cabin to rent. I remember the ice on the water trough when we got up early one morning near Pocatello, Idaho. It was a sight to treasure when we wound down on the west side of the Blue Mountains. We were up high and in the light of the setting sun, but Pendleton was in the dusk, and we could see the lights coming on in the homes and businesses. Lovely picture!
We lived in the tent all summer long just south of Portland, Oregon. We picked strawberries, raspberries, and other fruits. One day aunt Mildred, uncle August, and cousin Dorothy drove into the yard. All of a sudden I realized how awful the whole family looked. Our clothes had berry and mud stains. Our relatives were spotless. It was great to see the relatives but how I wished I had tried harder to be neat.
In the fall of 1927 we picked 200 boxes of apples. Our pay was 100 boxes of apples, Dad found a farmer who needed help over the winter months. Dad and our three older brothers cleaned out a chicken coop for their shelter. Dad and Mom had a bed, but the rest of us had bunk beds with straw ticks.
When our apples began to spoil in the spring of 1928 we debated what we should do. We all agreed we had never had our “fill of apple pie”. Mother said she would make each one of us a pie. It took all day because she had two pie tins and a wood stove that would cook only one pie at a time! We had a wonderful Mother!
We were about to move again, this time to Longview, Washington. Long Bell hired Dad and the boys right away. We settled into a two bedroom house on 15th Avenue. Mother was about to have her tenth child. The boys used the garage for their shelter. If the new baby was a boy we would have 5 boys and 5 girls. But we were so happy to welcome a lovely sister named Betty and she has been a joy ever since.
Long Bell wanted their employees to live in their houses, shop at their store (Columbia River Mercantile) and when they didn’t need you, you were not paid. This seemed to try to put you into debt. Dad decided he would move to Kelso.
We moved into a big house on Cowlitz Way. Dad and our brothers were fired. I don’t recall much about our time in Kelso. Ruth became a friend of Carl Koskela’s sister (Elma). Grandfather Jackson died about this time and Grandmother sent us some money. I was ill with something. We moved back to Longview and were in a Long Bell house for about one month. Long Bell didn’t hire the men.
Dad took his family to Klamath Falls, Oregon. We lived at the end of Garden Avenue near a hot water spring. It smelled like rotten eggs. Mother was about to have another child. Eugene was born at home August 7, 1930. He was a good baby. Thank goodness! Mother was very busy at that time with her other children. Mildred, also known as “Pat”, had to have her tonsils out. The nurse and doctor did this in our home. Pat was very ill. Two year old Betty had her big toe badly cut with a hatchet. Harold stepped on a nail while fighting a fire that threatened to wipe out Klamath Falls. Infection kept him needing Mother. I had frost bite from walking to school with a hole in my shoe. Gene was the only good thing that happened there!
In the fall of 1931 we were in a tent again in Yakima Valley, near Harrah, Washington. We were harvesting potatoes. Dad and out three older brothers picked up the spuds and Edith, Walt, and I traveled in front of them picking up the potato vines and tossing them away from the harvest.
Dad agreed to grow onions on a farm. We moved into a two story house. We had more space now than ever before. We had chickens and a cow. Edith felt so smart because she learned quickly how to milk the cow and I never did. One morning the cow put her big foot on top of Edith's foot and both Edith and I beat on her until she moved off the injured foot. Now I was sure I never wanted to learn how to milk.
Dad planted onion seed twice but no luck. Not even one plant. I do remember some beautiful tomatoes he grew. He and the older brothers left us for awhile. They returned to Longview to seek work. Before long all of us were living in Longview, this time we were on 16th Avenue. We felt things were getting better. Now we had a new davenport, a big radio, a refrigerator and new clothes. Dad and our brothers were working for Weyerhaeuser.
Harold and Howard hopped the freight cars to go to Denver where they worked for aunt Mildred and uncle August in the animal hospital. Harold met Mabel who was helping aunt Mildred in her home. When Harold and Mabel decided to marry, Howard decided to marry Stella. The two couples had a double ceremony in Denver and the four or them rode the freight cars to Longview. That was 1933. Carl and Ruth (also known as “Jerry”) were living temporarily in our garage until Carl could get his first check from Longview Fibre. The newlyweds moved into the front bedroom. Dad and Mom had the dining room. I don’t remember what Burrell did. The rest of us (Edith, Mildred, Walt, Mary, Betty, Gene and I) crowded into two beds in the back room. It wasn’t very long before the newlyweds moved out and we had more space and a bathroom again.
Mother was about to have a baby again. This would make it an even dozen. Six girls and five boys. Would it be another boy to make it six and six? Mother gave birth to a lovely girl in the HOSPITAL! All of the other babies were born at home. What to name her? Mother had run out of names. No one ever called me Peggy. I really didn’t like the name of Maggie. I urged Mother to name her Peggy. She did just that and since Mother needed some rest, I was allowed to bathe and feed this live doll. Peggy was born March 2, 1934.
~ Margaret M. (Jackson) Clemens
