Pole cutting

Over the weekend my family and I set out to get a load of poles from the forest to build a corral. We bought our pole cutting permit from the Forest Service for an allotted amount of trees we could cut down. The best trees are the Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta; the stipulation to cutting down the trees: they had to be dead. With the pine beetle destroying Lodgepole Pine forests in the Rocky Mountain region, finding dead trees is not a problem. In fact, there are so many dead trees the forest service has been paying for the removal of the trees in certain areas. Dead trees are a tremendous wildfire threat, and once they dry out completely, their roots can no longer hold them up and they eventually fall down.

Besides following the Forest Service guidelines, we had our own: finding trees that were not too big in circumference. We did not want to be out aimlessly cutting down trees to meet our required length. The goal: finding trees narrow enough for corral poles and long enough to get about two poles out of one tree. This requires a little searching and knowing were the “pole stands” are. Thankfully we have friends, a couple who lives close to us, who know where a good stand could be found.

We went up to New Fork Lake to find our friends down a Forest Service road already at work. They needed 12’ poles for a buck and rail fence they were going to build. We needed 14’ poles. The day was very warm for the area, but the nature of the work meant being fully clothed, including long sleeved shirts and leather gloves. The guys would cut down the trees, clean them up, measure the right size and cut the pole appropriately. My friend and I then drug the trees down and out of the forest to separate the poles into appropriate piles based on size. A blazing hot sun, heavy poles to drag over a thick forest floor, and soon we were all sweating, some of us in streams.

The kids played in the shade, pretending and acting out all sorts of stories. My son enjoyed immetating the sound of the saw.

I thought of the people who came to the area long ago as loggers and made their living by clearing the forests by hand. Then the tie hacks came to mind; the men who would go into the woods and cut down trees to shape, by hand, into railroad ties. These men would swing their heavy axes over and over to make one tie, getting paid per tie and probably not very much for the amount of physical labor they were exerting.

One day of being a woman in the woods and I was exhausted. But we have a permit for one more trip, a corral yet to build, and soon we will begin getting ready for the winter by making a few firewood runs. Although we were working hard we will end up saving a lot of money, and perhaps we were doing our part by taking what dead trees we could so they could be put to some use.

Two pairs

We added two new members to our family this summer.

My husband and I knew we would like to find some horses for our kids to begin riding on, and after looking around in all of the local papers and online sites, we found some reasonably priced horses suitable for kids- Boots and Cowboy.

As far as horses go, they are nothing extravagant; but they are calm, easy to catch, tolerant around kids, and very friendly. Both are sorrels in color, although Boots is darker. Cowboy has a white blaze on his face and white socks on his front legs. Boots has white socks on his back legs and is a little smaller than Cowboy.

Like their names, Boots and Cowboy are a pair. The man we bought them from originally found them for his kids at ranch where they give trial rides in the summer. Boots and Cowboy have never been separated. The man’s kids outgrew the pair, so when we talked to him about purchasing them, he said we could as long as we took both.

Now, looking out in our pasture, the two graze together and walk around the property as the companions they have always been. My two kids are a pair as well, and Boots and Cowboy are already the topic of our conversations and our focus in the evenings as we bring them in to brush them, give them grain, and let the kids ride for a while.

“Quite the pair,” some would say, and I would have to agree: Two kids and two horses with plenty of memories to develop and adventures to be found.

Seeing a Pronghorn fawn

We saw our first Pronghorn fawn last week. He and his mamma were running down our dirt road as we drove by them, right next to our car. Believe it or not, he and his mamma were running far too fast for me to pull over and take some photos of them. Even though they were so close to us, they were over the hill and hidden in some sagebrush before we could get stopped. It’s amazing that the fawns can run so quickly after only a few hours of being born.


Making a trip across the state we had the opportunity to see some more baby Pronghorn mingled with other members of their herd, eating alongside their mothers under blue skies out on the open spaces of prairie grass and sage.


My kids loved seeing the fawn and look for more of them every time we drive into town. Even they know that seeing the babies is a very special part of our day. Although we are surrounded by thousands of Pronghorn in Wyoming, and they become a very common site, taking the time to enjoy their presence makes the place I live in all the more lovely to me.

Map of the Silk Road

On occasion I have some extra time to snoop around on the internet and see where the links lead. Recently I was rummaging around and came across this map, created by amproehl, on Flickr. The map is an interpretation of the ancient trade routes along the Silk Road.

In case you didn’t know, Marco Polo was a famous traveler on this route, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to China. Polo was one of the first westerners to make it all the way to China and live to tell about his experiences.

Since the Silk Road covers many miles and many countries, making borders a hindrance and a cumbersome part of viewing the ancient road, the artist of the map has decided to focus on the geology the route encompasses and has used text to define location.

Although some of the towns can still be visited and some of the routes are still in use, the majority of the Silk Road no longer exists; which is what makes this map and the history so fascinating to me.

Click here to see the map.

Interview with author Susan L. Krueger

Addie Slaughter
The Girl Who Met Geronimo
By Susan L. Krueger

Interview with the author


1. What made you decide to do a chapter book on Addie Slaughter?

It was a trip to the Slaughter Ranch in Cochise County. Reba Wells Grandrud made arrangements for our writers group to stay at the ranch and while we were there, Reba presented her talk on the Slaughter family. I realized others would relate to the children who lived on the ranch, especially Addie.



2. I understand John Slaughter is a rather well-known figure in the Old West. Tell us a little bit about what kind of man Addie's father, John Slaughter, was and how he related to his children.

John Horton Slaughter was a small man with big ideas. He wasn’t afraid to track down the meanest outlaw or to try to make a success of the biggest ranch in Southern Arizona. He doted on his own children and probably never forgot that he almost lost them to smallpox. The foster children that came to live at the ranch were also a joy to him. The family photo album is full of pictures of a smiling John holding one child or another.



3. Why did you decide to do the book about Addie, rather than John Slaughter?

I thought it would give children a unique perspective of what life was like in the Wild West to hear it in the words of a child who lived it.



4. Tell us about Addie's mother and her stepmother.

Eliza Adeline was a mature woman with two young children who left her home and family in Texas and followed her husband to start a new life in Arizona. She was well prepared for the task of setting up a new home. Viola, on the other hand, was a southern belle teenager with no idea of how to be a housewife and mother. It took time but she rose to the challenge magnificently.


5. What are some of the hardships Addie and her family endured while living in the Wild West?

There was the real and present danger of outlaws, Indian attacks, and wild animals. But, when I think of the smallpox that killed her mother, the tuberculosis that plagued her father, and the many injuries that happened around the ranch, I would have to say their greatest hardship was the distance to medical care.



6. How did you research the lives of the Slaughters?

Reba Wells Grandrud was the historian during the restoration of the Slaughter Ranch. Our collaboration made all her painstaking research available to me, including the stories that Addie had told her own daughter about growing up in Tombstone and on the ranch. Between the two, there is no better source.




7. The contents of your book are based on historical facts with some dialogue and background fictionalized. What percentage of the tale would you say is pure fact, and why did you include fictitious information?

Every bit of the book is as historically accurate as I could make it. While it is based on Reba’s research, she did additional research after the book was written to make certain all of our facts were correct. However, I did want Addie to tell her own story so the dialogue is, of course, mine. I wanted children to hear Addie’s voice so she could come alive to them.




8. There is a poignant scene in the book where Geronimo takes off one of his beaded necklaces and gently holds it out to Addie. And then, he bows to her. Was that a factual scene? Why do you suppose he did that?

Yes, this really happened. It was certainly the most memorable thing that ever happened to Addie when she was a child. Geronimo was on the Slaughter Ranch many times and had given Grandma Howell a hand-carved wooden spoon. It is believed that Geronimo’s generosity to the Slaughter family had to do with his respect for the determined, fearless John Slaughter.


9. The Slaughter Ranch has been restored and is open to visitors. Can you tell us where it is, and what guests can expect when they visit the ranch?

The ranch is 15 miles outside of Douglas in South-eastern Arizona. The ranch buildings have been restored and the area is beautiful. It is well worth a visit and will bring the time period alive for visitors. The website is: http://www.slaughterranch.com/slaughterranch/index.html



10. Is there anything else about the ranch or the book that you would like to share with us?

Only that I love family history and it has been a delight to preserve Addie’s stories.




11. If somebody wanted to contact you to speak at their school or historical group, how can they get in touch with you?

My publisher at http://www.fivestarpublications.com/or (480) 940 -8182 would be happy to hear from them.


Photo used with permission by Tim Trumble.