WLM
for properly. This had to be made more
difficult by the Dust Storms of the early
1930s, which passed through Medicine
Bow shortly after the family moved
into their home. The white curtains and
storm windows only did so much good,
and fine black dust filtered through. In
the wintertime, pipes froze and the family struggled for water. “Dad and the
other caretakers had to carry water from
Medicine Bow to the airport using five
gallon cream cans,” Betty writes. “I can’t
begin to fathom how many cans of water
they had to haul just for our daily use.”
Old tires and railroad ties were gathered
for a bonfire to warm the ground, and
the pipes defrosted. “From then on in
the winter we kept a faucet trickling water,” Betty adds.
The airport was one mile from the children’s school, and many miles from
health care. Ed decided to use a shelf
along the attic stairs as a swing and fell,
cutting his chin. A trip to Hanna resulted
in stitches. An Armistice Day dance in
November at the Community Hall ended with the family hitting ice in their car,
overturning and injuring Evelyn. A deep
cut on her head required stitches, and
Evelyn and her mother headed to Laramie with friends. While returning home
days later, another accident occurred;
poor Evelyn broke her nose on the dashboard. The doctor advised the worried
parents to administer daily doses of cod
liver oil to ‘build up her system’ – which
she dutifully took in the basement.
“{O}ne day either Mom or Dad noticed
that she had been tossing the medicine
into the coal bin,” Betty writes.
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plane began to depart without him when
the man realized what was happening.
“Dad said he was runn