Volume 36, Number 2 - Fall 1996
Freighting After the Civil War
by Ike Pangle as written by Tressie Narramore and edited by cassie hagen
Thar surely wasn’t much money in them days. Was thar, George?
But we made out very well.
We managed to get a few dollars of what was goin’ around.
"We worked hard for it, too." Yeah, but who minds work?
In them days we had energy to spare.
We did pretty good with our freight line, didn’t we?
Haulin’freight from Springfield to the Yellville stores and business men in our springfield wagons.
By George, yes. We had a pretty good buiness there, ‘til th’railroad came along, an’ ruined it for us. It took about four good days of drivin’ to make the trip to Springfield and longer comm’ back--if we was heavy loaded. Sometimes, though, if it was dry in Missouri, we might have a load of hay, or corn, on the way up an’ then it took longer.
We were always anxious to get started on a trip but we shore got tired of that grub we packed along. An’ cookin’ over campfires, an’ eatin’ hard biscuits, an’ sow’s belly an’ fried potatoes.
But we never got tired of that black coffee, nor sleepin in our wagons.
"Yeah but if we was heavy loaded we had to sleep on the ground."
But them was th’ good old days an’ I wouldn’t mind livin’ ‘em all over again.
"What I’d like to do," George mused; "would be to drive a good herd of cattle to Springfield once more. Ain’t nothin’ gives you a feelin’ like mounting a horse an’ ridin’ behind a good herd of cattle,
right off the range, and fat." That’s right! Nothin’ but one thing,
--a good fat check in your hand at the stock yards in Springfield,
when you sold th’ cattle. Haw! HAW! Haw! Haw!
And Ike spat into the fire and rolled a cud of tobacco in his jaw.
And there’s a thing that makes you happier than that, when you go to the bank and turn that check into gold pieces.
[21]
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