Chapter 19

TOUR PIKE'S PEAK, MOVED TO ARKANSAS, WENT TO COLLEGE

As you know, Frank was the oldest in our family, and when I was growing up, he was away from home a lot. I had long since become accustomed to his being away from home. He even went to college awhile, I believe it was Denton State. But he didn't go very long. I didn't know whether he quit because of a lack of finances or because of a lack of interest and drive. I was the only other one of us who ever left home to work or run around-- except Joel. He went as far as Stamford and worked there for years in a drygoods store. And later, of course, he had his portable skating rink and he took it from here to there. Then he settled down with it in Brownwood.

My working away from home never amounted to much. However, I wouldn't take a pretty penny for the educational benefits I gained from my traveling around. It increased my desire for more learning, and it gave me confidence in my ability to do more things. It made me more mobile and took away my fear of strange places.

In fact, I thought so much of my education gained through travel that I wanted us to travel a lot with our children. But we were poor and couldn't travel first class, which would have pleased some members of my family. As for me, I would have been glad to travel second class or third class rather than not travel at all. As is evident, I have roughed it much of my life. Later, when I wanted to travel with our kids, I would have gotten a lot of pleasure from roughing it again, going places and seeing things, camping out, and visiting the wild. Some of our traveling proved to be a big failure because some of the family didn't especially care to put up with some of the roughing they had to go through with at times.

For instance, we drove up Pike's Peak once in our Dodge Command car. There was nothing wrong with the car. It was built capable of traveling across the Sahara Desert trouble-free. It was Army surplus, four-wheel drive and as solid as they come. Many cars get too hot climbing the Peak, but this one didn't, although it was in the heat of summer. It had an army canvas top and curtains to match. But since it was beautiful weather, we had the curtains packed away under the back seat. And although it was summertime at the foot of the mountain, it was not summer on top.

The weather on Pike's Peak can change from sunshine to snow and from snow to sleet quicker than perhaps anywhere else in these United States. And the sky can pour out the abundance of her elements faster than is sometimes enjoyable to those upon whom she so recently spread her sunshine. And that is just what she did to us that day. Her elements were in the form of rain, snow, and large sleet. The sleet was sort of a cross between pure white sleet and large, soft hail.

Now, the road up Pike's Peak is, for the most part, void of suitable parking places, even for emergencies. And all this sleet and ice falling suddenly out of the sky did create an emergency. However, before we arrived at an emergency parking place, Ima was very unhappily sitting in a puddle of snow and sleet and ice that had fallen into the front seat and had worked its way down to the back side of her lap.

When we found a little place to pull over and stop, we put up the curtains. But Ima's unhappiness remained with her much longer than I had hoped it would. The truth is, she carried a large portion of it, as well as a little bit of dampness, all the way back down the mountain to Colorado Springs. And there, we found the same type of slush curb to curb four inches deep.

I never quite forgave the weather for that little stunt it pulled on us. It was a long time before I could get the family to go with me again anywhere outside our home county.

Time not only "waits for no man," it seems to go faster and faster. We were getting older and our kids were growing up. Dennis finished high school in Hamlin in June of 1949. In the fall of that same year he began to hear advertisements on radio about cheap farm land in Arkansas, and he sent for a catalog of listings. When it arrived, I had to admit there were some interesting bargains offered in it. The more Dennis read the catalog and listened to the radio, the more he was convinced that out there somewhere in this big country of ours, there was something we had been missing. Then one day he said to me, "Daddy, let's go look at some of these places. All we are doing here is working ourselves to death and getting nowhere."

We talked it over and I agreed that, if it suited the rest of the family, we would go look. Dennis and I went first, not to buy, but only to shop around. We went to Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and looked all the way from 60 miles north of there to 60 miles south of there. We liked what we saw and the prices were right. Then we returned home, and Ima and I went to Arkansas, this time not just looking; we were buying. After looking a few days, we found and bought a small farm three miles south of Mansfield.

We moved onto the place in the early spring of 1950. Anita stayed with the Tarlington Willingham family to finish out her Sophomore year in Hamlin High School. She joined us that summer and spent her Junior year in Mansfield High School. Then she did some special work during the next summer and, in the fall of 1951, instead of entering Mansfield High as a Senior, she entered the University of Arkansas as a Freshman.

Three years later Dennis also entered the University as a Freshman. Then three years after that, Dennis and Anita both came to me and told me it was my time next. They promised to see me through. They would handle the finances; it would be up to me to make my grades.

One of my dreams when I was 20 years old, was to finish high school, go to college, and become a school teacher. It was 31 years later that my three children decided it was time for me to realize that dream. At first I argued against the idea, half- heartedly, but was pleased when they insisted. And I must admit that I have thoroughly enjoyed the good life which they have afforded me, beginning with those first days of college in 1957. By that time Dennis was a college Senior, Anita was teaching in college, and Larry was a high school Freshman.

Oh yes, I even enjoyed the struggle during those early college days, even when it became doubtful that I would make passing grades in one or two subjects. The challenges encountered there and afterward have renewed within me the will to work for something better, and a desire to better understand why I work at all.

Early in my college days I realized that I must make some changes in my way of thinking toward others, and my attitude toward some of my ideals, which I had cultivated since early childhood. I saw a need for conformity in certain cases, rather than uncompromising individualism, so long as it didn't interfere with my integrity. Such a change didn't come easily; I am still trying, but old habits from the past keep causing me to backslide at times.

However, I think my greatest change is one that can not be seen by others--an inner feeling of well-being that tells me, "Don't worry about your past mistakes. You can not go back and correct them. And you will make other mistakes tomorrow. Mistakes are a part of the natural order of human living. Have a good day today and be content with whatever tomorrow may bring."

I spent three regular school years and three summers in college, and enjoyed every minute of it. I was on the honor roll half the time. I also did a little teaching in General Shop in Junior High Training School. One day when the Professor had to be away, I even took it upon myself to break one of his rules and allow the boys to make knives. I told him about it when he returned, and I told him why I did it. He agreed that it was a good idea.

Then I served one semester as student teacher in a college machine shop course, ranked highest in my class in economics, first in woodshop class, second in machine shop, and made "C" in United States History without having to study it. After all, I remembered most of it from having lived through so much of it. I cheated on two exams, just a little, not even enough for my conscience to bother me, caught two professors cheating on my exams--cheating in my favor, to help me make passing grades.

During my first two semesters, it seemed that I got very little help from my teachers. There I was, an old man sitting in class with a group of 20-year-old boys and girls. It seemed that the teachers had the idea that I would drop out as soon as the going got tough, so why should they waste time on me?

Then when they saw I was there to stay, they seemed to want to help me get on through. From then on, things got easier. Finally I graduated and went out to face the same world that I had been facing for 55 years, only this time I had the diploma which caused adults to look up to me and kids to look down on me.

My first year of teaching was in a 21-teacher school in Farmington, Arkansas. Enough interesting things took place there that year to fill a good size book.

In September of 1961 I began teaching 6th grade in an Indian School on the Navaho Indian Reservation near Winslow, Arizona. I taught there at Leupp just six weeks. Then I resigned my position and moved to San Angelo, Texas, because of Ima's health. There I spent my first year teaching Wood Shop at Lee Junior High School. And I taught nine years in Special Education.

At age 65 San Angelo Schools retired me. I could have gone on and taught in some other town, but who wants to teach when he can retire and loaf? Not me. So, I retired and loafed. Ima and I bought a travel trailer and did more than our share of traveling the next two-and-a-half years. In fact, we traveled so much that the nation began to run short of gasoline. It doubled in price and we thought we ought to slow down and let some others do some traveling also. Now, all I have to do is sit around and write and let you know what I have been doing these past 72 years.

Since I have retired, I have a lot of time to loaf and sit and think. At first it hurt my conscience to loaf; I had to force myself to sit down, and I still find it difficult to think. But I am having a wonderful time since I have learned to look at life from a different angle.

When I was young my parents took me to Sunday School and Church. They taught me that it was good to keep the Sabbath, respect the preacher, honor my father and my mother, and be kind to others. I knew I was good because I did all those things.

But, as I became older, I began to feel that something was wrong. Life was passing me by. Church had lost its charm. When the preacher preached hellfire and brimstone to sinners, I felt left out. I knew he wasn't preaching to me because I was good, and had been all my life. I put my dollar in the collection plate only to feel that I had been cheated--not getting my money's worth, always listening to sermons preached to bad people.

But now I'm happy again. I have changed my entire life style-- what I do, what I think, and what I say. Now I make it a point to insult someone, cheat someone, lie to someone, be mean to someone at least once each week. Now the preacher is back on speaking terms with me. He preaches directly to me every Sunday. I give my dollar to the church and come away with the feeling that I have gotten more than my money's worth. It's a good feeling.

EPILOGUE

Clarence Johnson -- January 11, 1906 -- November 9, 1994

Clarence Johnson died quietly in his sleep at daybreak on November 9, 1994. He had been ill for about three months. He was 88 years old.

This book was scanned and edited by David Larry Johnson in loving memory of his Dad.

Index

Abbie, from Wichita Falls to Abbie.................. 94 Abbie, from Abbie to Lamesa in wagons............... 99 Abbie, moved there from Lamesa...................... 93 Account books, we boys kept.........................117 Age 4, CJ plant in field............................ 18 Airplane, At Lamesa, World War One..................111 Albert, Dodge car ran over him......................136 Alternator, CJ invented it, 39 years early..........134 Anita fell in water.................................200 Anita wanted to drive without a license.............233 Anita fell off horse................................229 Anita went to college...............................240 April Fool's day at Wise Chapel, age 8 or 9.........145 April Fool's day at Hamlin School...........146-147-148 Apartment, in California, we hunted one.............218 Arkansas, Dennis & CJ went to look for farm.........240 Arkansas, we moved to from Royston..................240 As a man thinketh...................................151 Auto, Dennis drive at age 4 or 5....................189 Auto, WFJ's first car............................... 74 Auction sale, odds and ends, saddle horse...........228 Availability slip, to get into War-Work.............209 Baby, big baby, wore dresses for years.............. 35 Babies, CJ learned about, & calves & colts..........114 Ballard School, near Lamesa farm....................106 Barn blew part way down............................. 15 Bank went broke, had road building money in.........124 Batteries, old, from phone company..................129 Beer, CJ tried to drink some........................191 Bible and Sears Roebuck Catalog..................... 57 Bicycle tires not in big box........................ 61 Bicycle, Dennis rode his into Death Valley..........216 Big Box from Sears & Roebuck........................ 57 Big Spring Mail car, to Lamesa......................101 Binder, pulled it and tractor behind car............235 Bed, Larry's in travel trailer......................215 Blasting powder, CJ play with.......................121 Blow-up in Mama's kitchen...........................132 Bob cat, Royston farm...............................224 Bones, we gathered and sold at Lamesa............... 83 Boot Jack at Grandma's house........................ 51 Boxing gloves in our family......................... 30 Brag on self........................................170 Bruner boy, prickly pear............................ 26 Brag on what cars would do.......................... 75 Bridge, Papa drive truck off of.....................174 Broken fender era...................................201 Bull called Surley.................................. 45 Burglar in filling station..........................172 Butter, Annie churn it in jar on saddle............. 54 Bushes and culverts, we stopped for many of them.... 95 California, we went into War-Work...................210 California, we went again in August 1943............217 Car, old Chevrolet, WFJ wanted to give to Dennis....231 Cattle round-up at CJ's Royston farm................234 Cattle drive to Kent County.........................192 Calomel tablets, hole in porch floor................ 64 Calves, nursing, sucking............................ 45 Calves, can it be mine?............................. 70 Cap Rock, Reo had to be helped up it................ 74 Catalog, Sears...................................... 57 Catclaws and whirlwind..............................108 Candy, sugar stick in Papa's trunk.................. 30 Car trouble, ring gear on way to Oklahoma........... 96 Caddie, Earl did....................................119 Candy, CJ sold it in Hamlin School..................141 Car, model "T", Ed Lewis & CJ repaired motor........200 Car, CJ bought Buick for $30........................204 Central, telephone operator......................... 47 Cellar at Exum farm, bananas hung in it............. 23 Chivaree............................................ 70 Churn, Annie tied milk jar to saddle................ 54 Character reading at sight..........................134 CJ plant in field at age 3 or 4..................... 18 CJ liked to watch parents and learn................. 38 CJ slow reader...................................... 57 CJ went to college..................................240 CJ frank whipped.................................... 47 CJ woman chased with hoe............................105 CJ gambled, didn't know it was gambling.............115 CJ in 7th grade in Hamlin School....................137 CJ hole in pants in school..........................143 CJ got 110 volt shock...............................131 CJ kept Larry while Ima worked at Lockheed......214-215 Clark, Clarence, ice box and at gin.............226-227 Clean out plates and eat out of them next time...... 91 Cows, milk them and sell cream......................207 Cows, drove them to R R stock pens at Lamesa........ 93 Cow, Papa shot cow.................................. 55 Cow, give-down milk, English in college............. 12 Cook stove, ration board at Stamford................236 College, CJ started at age 51 ......................240 Colt, can it be mine?............................... 70 Command, rule of, or line of, in our family......... 30 Cottonseed, we play in............................52-53 Cottonseed, haul and set fires......................163 Cottonseed, CJ haul after school, had to stay in....143 Cotton picking in Oklahoma.......................... 97 Cotton, Papa took to gin from farm.................. 72 Cotton, good in 1919, until worms hit it............116 Coin purse, (pocketbook) CJ wanted to buy one....... 88 Count, bolls of cotton while picking them........... 37 Conflict, between Earl and CJ...............182-183-184 Coach Hinton, came early & didn't get paid..........142 Coyotes, more of them, chase dog back home..........100 Cream, sold during World War II.....................207 Crazy sayings,...................................... 62 Cripple Creek, vacation trip to.....................187 Cows, froze to death at Lamesa...................... 86 Cycle, Frank, motorcycle............................ 86 Dancing, parents didn't approve of.................. 41 Death Valley, we went through.......................216 Dennis, finished High School in 1949................239 Dennis went to college..............................240 Dennis drove car at age 4 or 5......................189 Dennis ate dirt from under car fender...............190 Dennis, 3-years-old, walked mile and half for cows..188 Dirty words not used in our family.................. 46 Dog plow in field................................... 19 Dog, Old Scotch, tricks he did..............31,32,33,34 Dog, Old Scotch, sick & died at road camp...........124 Dog, Old Scotch, fight other dogs...................126 Dog, Old Scotch, paid his way on Lamesa farm........126 Dogs, Robert's greyhounds........................... 49 Dogs, Wes Kennedy's, chase cars.....................198 Dodge car, had magneto, I used Ford coils...........166 Debnam, big, big horse.............................. 87 Desert, Death Valley, we went to it.................216 Denver, CJ went & worked in lumber camp.............158 Drain your car every night era......................201 Drain car, CJ did one cold night at midnight........202 Dreams, CJ had..................................66 & 67 Drinks, Johnsons, water, sweetmilk, buttermilk...... 7 Dry, Roby, during World Flood....................... 3 Driving Old Sow, kid's game......................... 69 Drop out, CJ dropped out of high school.............139 Duck hunting, on plains, duck soup..................113 Dug-out, CJ's parents lived in one.................. 4 Earl shot peaches off trees .......it was told......101 Earl, powder monkey, road work at Gorman............121 Earl, boss of truck lines, CJ objected at time......181 Eggs, CJ gathered them at early age................. 12 Electric lights, we got them in Hamlin..............119 Electric train, CJ got his first one................133 Electrical Engineering Course, CJ took by mail......134 Employment office in California.....................210 Emma and Will got married........................... 2 Engine, gasoline, made it run washing machine.......133 Erector set, CJ made things with it.................129 Exum Farm, bought it in fall 1910, moved to it...... 23 Exum Farm, six good years........................... 78 Exum Farm, sold it & moved to Lamesa................ 79 Farm, Mama & Papa bought their first one............ 4 Farm in shinnery south of Hamlin....................164 Farm, Johnsongrass hay farm.........................164 Farm, CJ & Ima moved to in 1932.....................185 Farm, Royston, we bought from Jim Johnson...........215 Farm, Royston, Jim wouldn't fix up papers, no deal..221 F.B.I. Came for one mule driver at road camp........123 Fender, broken fender era...........................201 Feed stacks, don't climb on......................... 52 Fence building, WFJ, Old Scotch helped him..........126 Fight, Earl and CJ..................................182 Fight, CJ & kid at Lamesa........................... 89 Fight, Old Scotch, CJ sic him on other dog..........126 Fight, Hob Reed and CJ, almost but not quite........230 Fire, we kids set fence row afire...................163 FIRE IN THE HOLE....................................123 Firecrackers, at Lamesa, 9 for half dollar.......... 90 Fire in bucket under dining table................... 78 Fizzlums, book in Bible.............................171 Fly chaser, CJ invented.............................131 Flash light, CJ made his first one..................120 Fleas under man's house............................. 66 Forecast, weather, on telephone..................... 46 Frank whipped CJ in cotton patch.................... 47 Frank carried U.S. Mail in buggy.................... 74 Frank bought Grant automobile....................... 75 Frank away from home at Lamesa...................... 82 Freshman, CJ, high school, at age 18................139 Funny papers, at Wichita Falls...................... 93 Gamble, CJ, didn't realize it was gambling..........115 Gamble, CJ shoot dice...............................190 Games we played..................................... 69 Games, party games,................................. 41 Garage, CJ had at Royston...........................204 Gaddies, we visited them in Oklahoma................ 8 Gaddie, Grandpa came to live with us, and died...9 & 10 Garden at Exum farm................................. 24 Gasoline, World War One, up to 29 cents gallon......103 Gay, Mr. Gay hired CJ in grocery store..............169 Gin at Royston, CJ worked there.....................225 Gladys Flint, sweetheart............................ 40 Getting ready to go to California, War Work.........209 Good-looking, my family............................. 27 Good years, 6 at Exum Farm.......................... 78 Gorman, Texas, we went to build road................120 Goats, Larry needed goat's milk, we bought goats....206 Grant auto, Frank bought one........................ 75 Grandma's house, CJ played with matches............. 63 Grub trees, WFJ clearing land at Flint farm......... 13 Gun, CJ found one in old house......................112 Gun, Frank's pistol, CJ & Joe shoot it..............167 Gun, Joel shoot hole in wall........................173 Guns, we boys muzzle-loading ours...................112 Gulf of Mexico, CJ went there.......................149 Gypmill, CJ got job there, August 1943..............217 Hammer, boy found one on road to Lamesa.............106 Hack, our new one................................... 17 Haul cottonseed cake, WFJ, to ranchers, Lamesa...... 82 Heat in Royston home, used old lube oil.............207 High prices, World-War-one, gasoline 29C gallon.....103 Hinton, Mr., coach at Hamlin High School............143 High School, CJ took 7 subjects.....................139 Hole in pants, CJ in high school....................143 Hot water, Papa put hot coals in pan of water....... 78 Hoeing cotton, woman chased CJ with hoe.............106 Horn, auto horn in Joel's bed.......................130 Horn-tooting Scripture..............................171 Horse, Old Ribbon, buggy horse...................... 72 Horse, sick at party,............................... 44 Horse, lost, Old Nancy, saddle mare.................195 Horse, Old Pony Boy, Carriker's saddle horse........230 Horse, Old Keno, at Flint farm...................... 16 Horse, Mr. Debnam, huge stallion.................... 87 Horse, rolled over on Joel..........................114 Horse, Old Nig, at saw mill in Rocky Mountains......160 Horses, Mr. Hamilton's, tired in field.............. 82 Horses, we kids roped and rode......................105 Hudson, Sox & Red, CJ worked for them...............169 Ice, CJ made ice at West Texas Utilities, Hamlin....139 Ice box, Clarence Clark, and cotton gin.............226 Ideas, CJ at Lockheed in California.................219 Ima's kinfolks, death in Gordon, light, match.......188 Ima's kinfolks, Wouldn't have made it anyway........188 Ima worked at Lockheed..............................215 Jesse James, CJ's 3rd cousin........................ 11 Joel, with rattlesnake in field.....................104 Joel, horse fell on him.............................115 Joel, shot hole in wall.............................173 Joel was smart too, made windmill and submarine.....101 Joel, Earl's gun, "Now it's not loaded."............173 Joel, turn truck over...............................173 Job for CJ at McCamey, Texas........................155 Johnsongrass hay farm...............................164 Jump seats in car...................................102 Kerosene lamps, we quit using them in Hamlin........119 Kerosene, quality poor, mixed gasoline with it......207 Kerosene, we heated house with it & old lube oil....207 Kicked by mule, kid................................. 25 Kitchen, how Mama saved time........................ 91 Kennedy girl, slipped away from her dad.............198 Knife, CJ found one................................. 66 Knife, large, for cutting heads off bundles......... 77 Lake, by yard at Exum farm.......................... 73 Lamesa, we moved to, first time, from Hamlin........ 79 Lamesa, we drove to from Oklahoma................... 97 Lamesa, WFJ bought 2 farms.......................... 79 Lamesa, we moved to, from Abbie, in 2 wagons........ 99 Larry, CJ kept him nights, in California............214 Larry, born 1942....................................206 Larry was spoiled, rocked him to sleep..............213 Land rush, Gaddies nor Johnsons were in it.......... 9 Leather from Sears, in big box...................... 59 Lick plates clean, at Lamesa farm................... 91 Little sister, look the other way................... 28 Light fire in wood stove with alarm clock...........129 Lost, Old Nancy, saddle mare................195-196-197 Log, butane, for fireplace, Carriker................232 Mail car, Lamesa to Big Spring, Passengers......101-102 Maize, we haul......................................167 Match, gets light when strike one...................188 Matches, CJ play with at Grandma's.................. 63 Mama rode in back seat of hack...................... 17 Mama had love for baby and for me too............... 14 Married, CJ got.....................................181 Machine shop, CJ taught in college..................241 McCamey, CJ left and went back to Hamlin............156 McCamey, CJ went to on motorcycle...................152 Medicine, calomel tablets, hole in porch floor...... 64 Merry-go-round, we had at Exum farm................. 69 Miss Fortune, Ford car..............................165 Milk, saved to make bread...........................106 Mice, CJ shoot in house with 22-rifle...............187 Motorcycle, CJ repair, couldn't stop it.............151 Motorcycle, Frank got one........................... 62 Motorcycle, CJ got one..............................152 Motor, sewing machine, Albert found, sold to CJ.....131 Moved into house on small Lamesa farm............... 80 Moved to Lamesa by rail............................. 81 Moved to Lamesa in two wagons....................... 99 Moved back to Hamlin after selling Lamesa farm......117 Moved to Royston farm, Ima, Dennis & CJ, 1933.......186 Moved, Johnsons, back to Texas from Oklahoma........ 3 Moving picture machine, talking, CJ invented........133 Mule kicked kid in head............................. 25 Mule colt, jumped out & wanted back in pen..........105 Nursing calves, Sucking calves...................... 45 Neighbors, had reputation for stealing..............105 Night lights in house from old batteries............129 Nig, Old, black horse at lumber camp................160 Oklahoma, from Wichita Falls, pick cotton........... 95 Oklahoma, Reo car trouble........................... 96 Oklahoma, Grandpa Johnson moved to for grazing...... 1 Old Scotch, our family dog.......................... 31 Old Scotch returned to Exum farm.................... 84 Old Scotch, fight...............................126-127 Old Ribbon, buggy horse and kids ride............... 71 Old Ribbon take Papa's dinner....................... 72 Old Nig, horse at lumber camp in mountains..........160 Operator, telephone................................. 47 Orange, Texas, CJ went to...........................211 Overtime, work in California........................212 Owed me $2, Hob Reed, at Royston....................230 Pants, hole in CJ's in school.......................143 Packwood, Miss, teacher in Hamlin school............142 Parents & CJ doing things together.................. 38 Party games......................................... 41 Paralysis, CJ....................................... 27 Parents taught us many things....................... 34 Parents, ours, leaders in the community............. 35 Parties preferred over dances because............... 43 Papa & coals of fire for heating water.............. 78 Peddlers came to farms.............................. 75 Peanuts in barn loft at Exum farm................... 24 Phantom Canyon, on vacation trip....................187 Phonograph, Frank and Susie got one................. 60 Pick cotton, count bolls............................ 37 Pig, Uncle John's, hot weather, pig out of pen...... 51 Pig at Ballard School,..............................107 Pigs ran wild at our Royston farm...................224 Pikes Peak, our trip to.............................238 Picaroons, tools at lumber camp.....................160 Pistol, Frank's, Joe and CJ shoot it................166 Plant, CJ plant in field at early age............... 18 Play, school play, take posters to other towns......141 Poem, to my father, WFJ.............................162 Pocketbook, coin purse, CJ wanted to buy one........ 88 Preacher and the bear, song on phonograph record.... 60 Prickly pear, boy sat down in one................... 26 Quirts, WFJ made them for us kids, taught us how....111 Rabbits, Government bought at Lamesa................ 81 Rabbits, twist them out of holes.................... 83 Rabbits, froze to death on plains................... 86 Race, to cotton gin................................. 73 Races, motorcycles at Hamlin Fair................... 73 Rawhides on plains.................................. 83 Rats, at Royston farm...............................187 Ration coupons, gasoline, to go back to Calif.......218 Ration coupons, gasoline for cookstove..............221 Rankin, Texas, CJ slept there one night.............157 Record, Preacher & the bear......................... 60 Reed, Hob, owed me $2...............................230 Reo, our first car.................................. 74 Reo, ring gear broke tooth on way to Oklahoma....... 96 Rest room in garage, CJ and Joel used it............ 95 Retired and traveled................................242 Red River, we forded it in Reo...................... 98 Repair truck, CJ repaired rotor arm.................170 Repair car lights for cotton pickers & others.......171 Repair cars in garage at Royston....................204 Ribbon, Old, one of our horses...................... 72 Road work, WFJ do work to pay taxes................. 77 Robert, Uncle, paid us cash for work we did......... 50 Roundup time at CJ's farm...........................234 Rowbinder, Ima & CJ cut feed with...................204 Royston, Ima & CJ moved there in 1933...............186 Road work at Gorman, Texas..........................120 Rocky Mountains, we made trip there in 1934.........187 Rule of command in our family....................... 30 Santa Claus, CJ didn't know about him...............114 Sand storms, the worst one.......................... 85 Sayings, crazy...................................... 62 Sand & dust in air in kitchen....................... 86 Sand colic, our horses died with it................. 93 Saw mill in Rocky Mountains, west of Denver.........158 Saw mill, CJ left there and went to Hamlin..........161 Scotch, Old, our dog................................ 31 School, Ballard, on plains, teacher lived in........106 School, we drove from Hamlin to Wise Chapel.........137 School at Hamlin, CJ in 7th grade at age 16.........138 School, CJ started at age 7, Wise Chapel............ 25 Sears Roebuck and Bible............................. 57 Sears, order, big box............................... 57 Seventh grade, CJ in Hamlin School..................137 Sex, male and female................................ 46 Shipyards at Orange, Texas..........................211 Shot, WFJ shot cow.................................. 55 Shot, man got shot in Hamlin........................ 76 Shoe last, from Sears, in big box................... 60 Sister, little, look the other way.................. 28 Simpson Johnson, went to Melvin's ranch............. 1 Slow reader, CJ didn't like books................... 57 Snake in girl's toilet, at Ballard..................107 Snakes, hunt rattlesnakes near Roby.................233 Snakes, rattle, at Royston farm.....................186 Snuff, Susie tried it, got sick..................... 21 Sop plates clean at Lamesa farm..................... 91 Song book, WFJ's, Henry Gaddie kept it years........ 8 Sookie, Susie's nick name........................... 76 Sold big farm at Lamesa.............................116 Stove, gasoline, CJ borrowed in California..........221 Stovepipe Wells, in Death Valley, California........216 Steam engine, toy, heat water on cookstove..........132 Surley, another name for bull....................... 45 Susie got married................................... 76 Suitcase, lost off Reo fender....................... 95 Sunday work, we began to do it......................119 Sweetheart, CJ's, Gladys Flint...................... 40 Syrup Mill, at Flint farm........................... 15 Syrup, molasses, Earl and CJ haul it, sleep out.....179 Talking picture show, CJ invented it................133 Target practice, with our 22 rifles.................100 Telegrams, Ima & CJ sent to each other..............213 Teacher's pet, CJ................................... 27 Telephone, we got our first one..................... 46 Temptation, CJ tempted to steal money in store...... 90 Telephone company, old dry cells....................129 Teacher, Miss Packwood, boys gave her trouble.......142 Texas, CJ took Ima and kids back to from Calif......211 Texas, we went back to in August 1943...............215 Teach, CJ, general and machine shops, in college....241 Teach, CJ, one year public school in Arkansas.......242 Texas, a state of mind.............................. 20 Tires, bicycle, cotton in tires,.................... 61 Tire about to blow out, bridle rein around it.......103 Toddy, man sick in bed,............................. 7 Tobacco, Frank and Ruth liked it.................... 20 Rest rooms dirty, we used bushes & culverts......... 95 Toll road in Oklahoma over sand dunes in pasture.... 97 Trucking business, WFJ got into.....................129 Truck line to Abilene, CJ drove.....................181 Truck turnovers, Joel 173, Albert, Dode, & WFJ......176 Truck run off bridge, WFJ & CJ......................174 Truck, Joel drove between car and wagon, hit both...177 Truck in mountains west of Denver, CJ drove it......158 Truck, Earl, bumblebee in cab, apples on road.......178 Tractor, CJ built one at Royston farm...............203 Tractor, "Pull-Ford" at Lamesa farm................. 87 Train, Ima and kids rode to California..............213 Travel, CJ and family, to Pikes Peak................238 Traveled after retirement...........................242 Trail drive, near San Angelo, whiskey for free...... 53 Tumbleweeds and sand bury fences on Texas plains....112 Wash dishes or lick plates clean.................... 91 Water fight, we boys and Mama.......................165 Weather forecast, daily on telephone................ 46 Wen, beside CJ's nose............................... 28 Weather, cold, rabbits and cows froze to death...... 86 Whip, Frank whipped CJ in field..................... 47 Whirlwind and catclaw bushes........................108 Whiskey free, cowboys camped near San Angelo........ 53 Whiskey as a medicine, Gaddie's home................ 7 Wichita Falls, we went in 1918, WFJ carpenter....... 93 Wichita Falls, we kids picked cotton................ 94 Wind, stories about strong wind on plains...........109 Windmill and garden at Exum farm.................... 24 Women's' wear, CJ consulted Sears catalog pictures.. 59 Windmills, many on plains & courthouse lawn.........103 Work on Sundays, we began to........................119 Windcharger, CJ built one before farmers got them...130 Work hard, sleep hard, worry none................... 36

End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of Me, by Clarence Edgar Johnson