Family Letters
When William Vandevert’s son, Claude, married
Pearl Catlow, he married into a large family of Catlows and Peters.
This included Pearl’s Aunt Linnie who lived in Iowa where the family
was from. It also included Pearl’s brother Charles, who lived in
Portland and visited the ranch often. When Claude and Pearl’s
daughter Grace Vandevert McNellis reconnected with her Iowa
relatives and visited them in 2007, they had a surprise for her – a
box of letters from Pearl and Charlie that the family had kept for
over seventy years. The letters were especially meaningful to Grace
because her mother had died when Grace was only thirteen.
Among much family news the letters contained
descriptions of life on the ranch that are excerpted below.
(Comments by the editor are inserted in parentheses.)
From
Pearl, October 26, 1924
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…We have been having
such wonderful weather this fall and we only hope it will continue
to be the same until December. Last week we butchered a beef and
since then we have been living high. It was such a good one but now
I have to salt some down, can some, and make a lot of mincemeat. I
guess we will do it next week.
Harry (another of Pearl’s brothers
in Portland) sent me some flowers last week and also Dad. So now I
have flowers everywhere. That is the one thing I miss, the
flowers. We have sent all of our house plants down to the doctor’s
office (in Bend). We can’t keep them here because it gets too
cold. A couple of plants have frozen already…
(At
left, Pearl Marie Catlow Vandevert)
From Pearl, June 17, 1926
My Dear Aunt,
…Claude painted the
kitchen floor for me today. He did the dining room and the pantry
floor the day before yesterday. So we are all upset and will be
until Saturday…It is supper time but we will only get a hand out
tonight as I can’t go in the kitchen…
From Pearl, August 12, 1926
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…You ask about our
crops? They are so poor that it was hardly worth while to cut it.
They got four loads (of hay) off of this place to 63 loads last
year…We had a freeze the 17th of June that killed
everything. And, of course, the water was very low this year so we
couldn’t irrigate much on the other two places. They can’t irrigate
this place so had to watch everything dry up. We have enough hay
here for the milk cows this winter but the boys have started to look
for hay to buy already. Two years ago they paid out $1,700 for hay
but I hope not this year. They have about 220 cattle, counting
calves, but they want to sell at least a 100 head this fall.
We haven’t had any rain since May
and maybe before as I can’t remember when it did rain last.
From Pearl, January 16, 1927
My Dear Aunt,
…In one of your
letters you spoke of putting up lots of fruit…Claude’s sister and I
put up over 200 quarts and since then have made mince meat, apple
butter – also apple, quince, and crab apple jelly. I did feel
awfully proud of it all but we have made an awful hole in it since…
(Gracie McNellis reports “In the early days
(1890's until late 1910 era) the family drove to the Willamette
Valley and picked fruit. They probably drove two wagons over and
back and filled them. They sometimes canned the fruit there, but
also brought a lot back to be done on the ranch. There were
relatives in the Salem and Eugene area and that is where they went.
“In later years, and I'm not sure just
when, they bought their fruit in Bend. I would think it was after
the railroad came (1911) and maybe they even drove over to Shaniko
some before that.
“In 1941, my Dad, Mary Jean, and I drove
over to Salem and picked the fruit ourselves and brought it back. I
remember so well as we had just purchased a 1941 Chevrolet Sedan and
thought it was wonderful!
“Also, anyone coming over from Portland
area would bring us fruit by the boxful - - and then they helped my
Mother do the canning!! Where there was a will, there was a way!!
We canned peaches, applesauce, pears (100 quarts one year when I
helped my Mother) and apricots.)
From Charlie, December 6, 1929
Dear Aunt and Uncle,
…While we were at
Pearl’s we went up to a lake about 20 miles away and caught 125
trout. They were all about 14 inches long and sure were good.
Pearl had 20 there for Thanksgiving. There were 17 there for the
other three days. You can see that she had a houseful. During the
day it was real warm – about 85 degrees. At night it would get down
to 8 or 10 above zero. There was about three inches of ice on the
river. The river is only about 100 feet from her kitchen door.
They are getting a good price for their cattle this fall. Beef is
high and they sold some old cows that were fat and brought over $100
(each). The year-old beef brings about $25 which they sell for baby
beef.
(At
right, the Catlow siblings about 1938. From left to right
Frank, Pearl, Charlie, and Harry.)
From Pearl, winter 1930
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…Yes, we got a good
price for cattle this winter. They butchered them and got 17 cents
a pound for them, which we thought very good. They have butchered
about 30 and have 4 more to do. They have about 170 head of cattle
and they surely are fine looking ones. We have had enough hay so
far and hope we won’t have to buy any. Yes, one can certainly use
plenty of money, even one counts over the pennies. We hope to not
have to do that in a few more years. But we are happy so that is
all that really counts.
We have been having
Sunday School this winter but the last two months the minister has
been gone and I hope he comes back soon. He is preaching in
California now. There are only 16 of us that go but I want to keep
it up as it is so far to go to Bend every Sunday…
From Charlie, February 1930
Dear Aunt and Uncle,
I will be like the bear come out of
his hole in the spring and look alive by writing a letter. We were
very near as bad as the bear this winter as it was so cold here we
sure did stay inside where it was warm. Someone just dropped one of
those Iowa blizzards right down on top of us and it lasted for two
weeks. The Willamette River froze over, also the Columbia. Two men
drove an auto across the Columbia at Vancouver and back again.
It was pretty cold.
It got down to about 10 degrees above (in Portland). Pearl said it
reached 38 degrees below zero at their place. That is cold enough
for anyone.
I must stop for a few
minutes so I can hear Amos and Andy on the radio. Do you hear it
also?...
From Pearl, January 12, 1931
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…Xmas week we didn’t do much but
play with the kids and talk. It seemed such a relief to not have
the teacher here so we made the best of it. She came back on the 3rd.
She isn’t a bit like the other teacher that stayed here two years
ago. She was so sweet and was just like one of the family. She
still is for that matter as she comes back real often and stays a
few days with me. But this teacher you can’t be the same to. She
doesn’t talk much, then usually some kind of catty remark. So
naturally we are not as sociable…but Claudie is doing fine at school
and that’s what counts. Another thing: this teacher is so lazy it
is hard for her to move. I have never seen anyone so lazy before
and that’s going some. She does play the phonograph for Gracie but
that is all she ever helps with. If she would just pick up the
dishes or wipe them I am afraid I would be sick from the shock of
it. For two weeks I know she never made her bed. Now isn’t that
awful. I do her washing and clean her room and have done most of
her ironing. But told her the other day she would have to do her
ironing as she was supposed to do it. I guess that is enough about
our boarder…
From
Pearl, July, 1931
My Dear Aunt,
…We have had some wonderful rains
and now are having the hot weather. It must have been terrible back
there. One thing we have the river at our back door and we can cool
off. Claude and I just took Gracie in and she had so much fun. The
kids go in about three times a day…
…Claude is busy building a wagon
bridge across the river. We have a foot bridge but haven’t had
another one for years as we use the county bridge about a half mile
from here (presumably the bridge near the schoolhouse)…
From Charlie, October 23, 1932
Dear Aunt and Uncle,
…Claude was down to Portland not
long ago. He brought down a carload of cattle but did not receive
much for them as stock is down with the rest of all commodities. He
received an average of $4.75 per cwt. (hundred pounds) while two
years ago he received over $8.00 for stock that were not as good…
We made a trip up to Breitenbush
Hot Springs over Labor Day. You can drive all the way to the
springs now although the road is quite narrow part of the way from
Detroit. It had been about twelve years since we were up there the
last time and there has been a big change since that time. With the
autos being able to drive in there it does not seem like the old
place we used to go to when we had to pack our grub in on our backs…
From Pearl, June 24, 1932
My Dear Aunt Linnie,
…We have had such a wet spring and
now with the hot weather our hay crop sure looks fine. Now if
cattle would go up just a little then we would be sitting pretty.
Cream is so low that it doesn’t pay to take it to town – 11 and 13
cents a pound and we have gotten 60 cents a pound for butterfat.
Eggs are so low you can’t feed chickens and make anything from
eggs. Of course we have enough chickens for our own use. Claude
has about 40 little turkeys and our goose is supposed to hatch next
week.
From Pearl, November, 1932
My Dear Aunt Linnie,
…I have canned so much this fall,
even borrowed jars to finish canning some of my fruit. Fruit was so
cheap I just had to can. I had a girl for a month to help me and it
was lots of help during canning season…
How did you like the election
(Franklin Roosevelt was elected for the first time)? We didn’t like
it at all but we hope that most of the people knew best. At least
we are hoping so. Our state went wet (to end prohibition and allow
the sale of alcohol) but we were very sorry. Maybe the people will
tire of it soon…
Claude got four ducks today. Wish
you could have some as they are so good. I cook them in my Dutch
oven and they are so tender then. Have had some venison that was so
good.
The boys only had a carload of
cattle to sell this fall. Then they got a good buy on 47 head so
have over 100 head to feed this winter. But they have plenty of
hay. Claude has about 70 head of ewes, the first he has had in a
good many years. But he says cattle for him, sheep are too much
bother. Have to put them in a corral every night so the coyotes
won’t get them. We are in the timber you might say…
I think the extent of my giving
will be mostly letter writing this year. One can’t sell cream for
much. Turkeys are only 18 cents and we have 20 up to fatten for
next week then more for Xmas. It seems when one has a lot of
something then prices drop. But our turkeys are nearly all clear
profit as they run all the time and we don’t feed them much until
fattening time. There is plenty for them to get outside. They look
fine.
We have had so much rain lately but
we are glad it isn’t snow. Last year we were feeding cattle at this
time.
(At
right, Catlows with Aunt Linnie Peters. From left to right:
Edna with her husband Charlie, Frank and Bertha, Aunt Linnie, and
Pearl. In front, Mary Jean.)
From Charlie, November 7, 1933
Dear Aunt and Uncle,
…We went up to Pearl’s for
Thanksgiving. We left here on Wednesday and returned on Sunday. We
all had a fine time with lots to eat and plenty of milk and cream to
drink. Pearl and family are all fine. Although it was a bit cool
in the evening the days were fine and warm. It was two degrees
below zero on Wednesday night and two above on Thursday night. The
river by their house was froze over and was strong enough to skate
upon near the shore. Of course two of the boys tried it too often
and fell in getting wet. Two years ago when we were up there at
this time we had good skating as the river was frozen several inches
thick.
It is 220 miles from
our place to Pearl’s but with the good roads and faster cars it does
not take long to go there. We were six hours going up but it took
us seven and a half to come back as we ran into a snow storm
crossing the mountains by Mt. Hood and it slowed us up
considerable. There was about ten inches of snow through the
mountains.
The farmers up there
are not making anything as the price of everything is so cheap.
Claude and his brother sold a carload of cattle a short time ago
here in Portland and only received $3.75 per cwt. (hundred pounds)
for them. For a ten gallon can of cream they get $3.25 as compared
to $18.00 a few years ago. They did sell some turkeys but the price
was only 18 cents a pound dressed so they did not get rich on them.
With prices so low and the coyotes taking their share of the sheep
and turkeys there is not much left to be put in the bank. And if
you put it in the bank it will close and you will lose what little
you save.
From Pearl, January 10, 1935
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…The boys had to sell so many of
their cattle this fall as we didn’t have much hay. It doesn’t pay
to buy hay for cattle at the price they are now. It makes one sick
to sell such fine stock and get so little. I hope cattle go up
pretty soon…
We had butchered about 10 (?) days
before Xmas so Claude and I canned 25 ½ pints of beef and 38 pints
of vegetable soup. It took four days and I was too tired to do
anything else. I was so tickled to get it finished as the meat and
soup came in so handy…
From Pearl, October 4, 1936
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…After all our ado about taking the
children to school (in La Pine) we had to have school in our little
school after all. The evening you left we heard of two other
children. Then Sunday we heard of four more. So that settled it
about going to La Pine. We couldn’t haul them all.
We got a young man just from normal
and we like him so well and the children are all crazy about him.
Gracie especially so. He is about 23 years old and so much like
Maude’s boy. He is giving Claudie his high school work and so far
Claudie is doing real well. Anyway, we don’t have those long drives
all the time.
Haven’t even started to get caught
up with my work yet and am still swamped. Counted my jars and had
over 380 jars of everything. I only had about 100 when you were
here so you can see I have been on the jump. One week put up over
120 jars of jelly and jam besides canning lots of other things…Have
about a box and a half of pears to can then think I will quit.
Claude has helped Bill (his
brother) three days with hauling hay and threshing. We all went to
the county fair last Friday and had a real good time. I had to stay
in the car a lot as Mary would get tired walking around. Of course,
Gracie liked the merry-go-round the best…
Claude has been working the last
two nights as a flag man on the highway. They are repairing a
railroad crossing so have two flagmen. Seems strange to be home
alone. Of course Dad is here. He worked most of yesterday then
rushed home for some heavier clothes and some lunch and then stayed
all night.
From Pearl, January 3, 1937
My Dear Aunt,
…The children are doing very well
in school and like their teacher so well. He hasn’t stayed here so
far but he may want to now on account of the snow. It is so hard to
have anyone when it is real cold as we have no way of heating a room
upstairs…
P.S. January 8 – This letter has
had a terrible time trying to get mailed. We have been snowbound.
Others have brought our mail sometimes so I hope I can send this
today. Claude will have to walk out though. We are having severe
cold. The last two mornings it has been 40 below and it really is
chilling.
From Charlie, October 31, 1938
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…We had a letter from Pearl a short
time ago. Claude had just finished his haying. They did not get as
much as last year but expected that they would have enough to carry
them through the winter…
Isn’t this war awful? I would have
thought that they would have had enough of it the last time but I
guess they don’t know when they have had enough. I only hope that
we can stay out of it. But that was what we thought the last time.
From Pearl, June 4, 1939
My Dear Aunt Linnie,
…We are having such good weather
lately and it is so beautiful here now. Two weeks ago we had such
wonderful rain and our crops are looking better than ever before.
It looks like it might rain again at any time. For a while it was
terrible, especially so about 40 miles north of here. It was dry
here but not as much so. We had lots of snow and that helps so
much. Of course, so many don’t like snow during the winter. But I
always think what good crops we will have next year.
From Charlie, August 30, 1939
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…Claude, Gracie, and Claudie
dropped in on us last Thursday and stayed here (in Portland) until
Saturday when they left for the beach. The children had never seen
the ocean so Claude was going to take them down the coast a ways and
return to Salem on Monday to see the state fair. Claude brought his
niece down here to take the train back home to Indiana. She is only
10 years old but she made the trip out here last year and again this
year alone.
From Pearl, 1941
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…Claude finished shearing his sheep
yesterday and tomorrow wants to start cutting rails for some new
rail fence. Wants to get a lot of new fence every year. Then his
worries will be over for a while. They usually last 30 years and
sometimes more without repairing unless a tree falls on them. Then
Claude says someone else can worry about the fences…
We got a bargain on a Kohler plant
(electricity generator) so just got it. Still can’t hardly believe
we have them. It is a 1,500 watt and 110 volt plant so we can run
anything with it. Are hoping we can get a second hand refrigerator
for this summer but are not sure. In time, can have a water system
and all. Have only had it running since the 25th of
May. Will get a different motor for my washing machine and an iron
at once. This plant, as you may know, doesn’t have batteries. They
are so expensive.
We didn’t have as much snow as
usual last winter but lots of rain and it is still raining real
often. Makes us feel so good. Claude had hoped to get a pumping
outfit to irrigate with but couldn’t so we are glad for so much
rain. Our rye looks better than ever it seems.
Guess I better put my dinner on
then call the girls. They are playing with their dolls across the
river and have so much fun together.
From Charlie, June 18, 1944
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…Claude is working at Camp Abbott
which is just a few miles from the ranch. I guess he makes more
money than he would on the farm.
From Charlie, December 22, 1946
Dear Aunt Linnie,
…Katherine Catlow was married last
month in Bend. We did not get to go but Frank and Bertha went.
They stayed a few days at the ranch where Frank and Claude did some
hunting for ducks. I guess the old ranch is just not the same if
not worse than the last time you saw it. We have not been up there
for a long time as it does not seem the same with Pearl gone.
