My Childhood

 

MY CHILDHOOD AS I REMEMBER IT BY CEATHEL ALLEN, May 2001        The Construction Years    I was born on the [private] 1934, in Jerome Idaho, where my family was living at the time. Daddy's   name  was Carlos William Allen. My Mamma's name was Nellie Mae Allen. My sister LaRaine was almost 5 years old at the time and my brother Carlos Jr. was 1 year and 3 months old   My father started working for construction companys that were building roads, dams and highways. He worked as a Cat Skinner; Truck driver; Shovel Runner and Rock Crusher Operator. Earlier in life he owned and operated a thrashing machine. Daddy loved working with machines.   When I was about 2 years old we moved to Rawlins Wyoming area so Daddy could work on Seminoe Dam. We lived in a construction camp. Our home was a tent. When I was 3 years old my baby brother, Earl was born on [private] 1937. We were still living in the tent and Daddy was still working on Seminoe Dam.   In what spare time Daddy could find, he and Momma worked on building a 20' by 8' trailerhouse for us to live in. It was really something, after living in the tent for so long. We had bunk beds on one side, a fold-away bunk on the other side for LaRaine and a double bed in the back for Momma and Daddy. There were 2 big drawers under the bed. One was for bedding and clothes, the other was where Earl slept. Mamma would leave it pulled out when Earl was using it. There was a foldup table, a sink in the very front, in the middle, and a coal oil stove we used for cooking and heating. We used folding chairs. Our trailer was very compact, with 4 children and 2 adults living in it, but it was so much better than the tent.   When Daddy finished working on Seminoe Dam, we moved to Walla Walla area so he could work on the road construction down there. From there we traveled wherever the construction took us. We went from Walla Walla to Moses Lake, to Ephrata, to Soap Lake and then to Schragg. From there we moved to Skykomish on the west side of Stevens Pass. The weather up there was terrible as it never stopped raining except when it was snowing. The cold, the rain, the snow and the wind was gradually wearing Daddy's health down. He could never seem to get warm or dry because he had to work such long hours.   When the job ended in January of 1940 we picked up what little we had, hooked up the trailerhouse one last time and headed East to the Mount Kit Carson area where Daddy's sister Florence and her family were living at the time.   We left Skykomish on Lincoln's birthday February 12th. Crossing Stevens Pass in the winter of 1939-40 was quite an adventure. It was snowing hard and we discovered the trailerhouse had soaked up a few tons of water while we were living at Skykomish. The axle on the trailerhouse broke as we were crossing a bridge near the top of Stevens Pass. Daddy had to jury-rig it so we could get on our way. He must have done a good job because it held together all the rest of the way to Kit Carson.   LaRaine, Carlos and I rode in the back of the 1938 International pickup Daddy owned. He had built a canopy to keep us dry, but we had to leave the back open so we wouldn't get done-in from exhaust fumes. "It was very cold!"   It took 3 days to get to Aunt Florence's place on the mountain, where we camped until Daddy found a place to buy. He bought 200 acres with a woodcutter's cabin on it for $800.00. It took Daddy 8 years to pay for it. The Mount Kit Carson Years, Getting Settled In   We cleaned up the cabin and finally moved in. It was so good to be out of the trailer and into a real house, even if it was only 12 ft. by 20 ft., we could move around a little. Daddy parked the trailerhouse right along side the cabin and built a porch between them so we could store wood and things there. LaRaine was finally able to have some privacy as she was able to use the trailerhouse for her own private room. This didn't last too long however as it seems there were always other little kids and people needing to share her space.   The first year on the mountain was extremely difficult. Daddy, Mamma and us children would go out in the woods & tear the bark off old stumps to burn in the stove for heating and cooking. What money Daddy had saved was gone and we were trying to get something planted to can for food. Daddy traded work for some wheat from a neighbor and Mamma would boil it for about an hour and then we would put salt and some honey if we could get it and then we would eat it. As soon as the lambsquarter and pigweed came up that spring we would gather them and eat them with our wheat.   One day this lady that lived down the road 2 miles from where we lived, came leading a Jersey cow up to our place. She said they didn't want to take care of her anymore, as her husband was working for the Great Northern Railway and he didn't have the time to care for the cow. We found out later she said this so Daddy would let them give us the cow, as they knew he wouldn't accept charity if there was any other way. That cow had a calf in about 3 weeks after we got her and now we were in the dairy business! How great it was to have milk to put on our boiled wheat.   As the snow melted and the ground warmed up, Daddy, Mamma and LaRaine started spading up any open patches of ground that didn't have too much brush on it and they planted peas; potatoes; carrots; beans and corn. It was very hard work because they had to do it all with hand shovels as we had no horses or plow yet. By that fall we had food to can and potatoes and carrots to put in the rootcellar Daddy & Mamma had built.       Things were starting to look up for the Allen family. I started school at Chattaroy Grade School, where   LaRaine and Carlos had been going since we moved into the area.We had a supply of wood cut to keep our fires burning through the winter and Mamma was busy making us some winter clothes.   There were no jobs to be found in the Spokane area and we needed some income to purchase basic supplies, so that winter Daddy, Mamma and LaRaine cut Christmas trees and Daddy sold them to a dealer in Spokane for 10 cents per tree, delivered. It seemed all Daddy, Mamma and LaRaine ever did was work - cutting trees; cutting wood; canning food and taking care of the regular household chores.   We had no electricity, telephones or running water, so everything was made even harder. Carlos and I started helping by carrying water for our home use. Our well was in a draw about 1/4 of a mile from the house. In the winter we would have to tramp the snow down so we could pack the water up to the waterdock Daddy had built by the house. LaRaine & Mamma carried water in 5 gal. buckets, Carlos used 3 gal. milk pailsand I used 10 pound lard pails.   Daddy started to build fence around our 200 acres of land that late winter and spring. There was no money for fence wire so Daddy and Mamma would cut poles and posts and then make a pole fence. We had a lot of 2nd growth Douglas fir which made very good poles. It was hard, time consuming work. As Daddy and Mamma cut the poles and posts LaRaine would help did postholes and set posts. While they worked on the fence, Carlos and I would dig around the stumps, cut the roots off and roll them into piles to be burned. By removing the stumps we were gradually getting some land cleared so we could plant some hay and a real garden. Our farm on the mountain was beginning to take shape.   The summer of 1941 Daddy found work over in St. Maries, Idaho. It was building logging roads and logging. It didn't pay much but it sure helped out. The bad thing was Daddy had to stay in the logging camp, so the work on the farm fell on Mamma and LaRaine. Carlos and I helped all we could by carrying wood and water and helping with laundry etc. We spent the summer working in our garden, canning and preparing food for winter, cutting wood for winter and clearing as much land as we could. There was always water to carry.   The War Years   I was in the 2nd grade of school that fall and things were starting to work out for all of us, it seemed. Then the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. At first, I wasn't sure what it all meant and I couldn't see how much it would affect our lives, but it did. Things were in a turmoil in our country and it reached even the peaceful people on our mountain. We had neighbors who signed up for the military. There was a shortage of almost everything. The government started rationing almost all products - gas; tires; food; clothes; equipment; etc. were rationed or unavailable.   One of our neighbors had a large horse called Barney. He asked Daddy & Mamma if we would take care of him while he was away in the Army. Daddy had already bought a team of horses with harness, so this gave us three horses to work the land. It helped the neighbor and our family both.   At around this time Daddy went to work at the Army Air Base maintinance and repair center at Galina plant, where Fairchild Airforce Base is today. Daddy liked working as a mechanic and was very good at it, so he soon became test block forman. Getting to work through the winter was always a challenge. Daddy and a neighbor named Gene Ashbaugh took turns driving to work as people were allowed only so many gas-ration stamps. They also picked up a co-worker who lived at Colbert, which was on the way to Galina. His name was Frank Delporto. Nowdays they call this car-pooling.   We lived at the 4500 ft. level on Mount Kit Carson and the road off the mountain was very primitive. The snow in winter gets very deep and they didn't plow because of the war. Sometimes Daddy couldn't make it home, so he would walk or stay in Spokane until we got the snowdrifts shoveled.   During this time Mamma started to develop breathing problems. At first we thought it was an allergy that would go away. It didn't. It just steadily got worse. She got to where she would run out of breath just doing her housework and chores. More and more the work fell on LaRaine. Mamma really hated this situation, but there was nothing she or anyone could do.   We were taking care of various children whose parents were in the service or working in the defense plants. We had Bobbi & Jerry Mickelson and then the three Kenny kids, Peggy, Rusty and Dale. These children became very much a part of our family for quite awhile. They were very young as two of them were still in diapers when they came to us. Because Mamma's asthma was steadily worse, most of the care of these small children fell on LaRaine & Carlos. It was a labor of love and I can't remember ever hearing them complain, even though it added to their already busy lives.   By 1944 we had increased our herd of dairy cows to about 12. That meant we had 9 or 10 cows milking everyday, twice a day. LaRaine & I were the fastest milkers, however Carlos was very good at it also. We had quite a routine worked out. At four a.m. LaRaine, Carlos, Daddy & I would awaken. LaRaine would start a fire in the stove & start getting breakfast ready for everyone. Carlos and Daddy, if he wasn't working, would get the little ones up and help LaRaine get them ready for breakfast. I would head out to bring in the cows and get them ready to be milked. Carlos would have the grain in the mangers for the milk cows and we would start milking. When we finished milking we would go in and have breakfast. I usually did the separating of the milk while Carlos washed milk pails and cans. Then I would take the separator apart and LaRaine or Carlos would wash it while I brought in wood for the daily fire use. While we were doing these things, Earl and Boddi Mickleson would be feeding the rabbits, chickens and pigs. Everyone helped out. We all then got ready for school and caught the bus for the one and a half hour ride to school.   In the winter the bus had to fight snow and ice. In the spring there were areas where the roads turned into enormous mud bogs where the bus would have to turn around and go back or be pulled through with a team of horses. The roads on our mountain were very primative, with no gravel on them in those days. Sometimes the bus just couldn't make it at all. Then we had to stay home. It gave us time to catch up on our water supply & to get the snow shoveled from the outbuildings.   We had chickens, pigs, rabbits and horses to look after. Earl was old enough by now to take care of the chickens & rabbits. He fed and watered them and gathered the eggs. Everyone had to pull their own weight in order to survive.   Nobody planned this way of life. It's what God dealt us to strengthen us. We never felt we were given a bum deal. We just figured it to be the way life was. My dad worked himself into an old man long before he was old. He never complained to my knowledge. All the people on Mount Kit Carson were in the same boat. No money, few jobs, and everything was work. Sometimes we would make games out of our work to change the pace. Somehow it made the task a little easier.   Mamma was taken to Deaconess Hospital in Spokane in the fall of 1943. She was there for over nine months. When she got to come home she had to take it really easy. The doctors were trying to find out what was causing her to have such severe breathing problems. They were trying everything they could to help her breathing. For a time she seemed to be better. Then she got worse again.   Mamma was taken back to the hospital and the doctors tried everything that was available at the time, but none of it seemed to help much. Mamma spent the next year in the hospital. From there they placed Mamma in a Nursing Home where they could give her full time care. It was so hard on Mamma to be away from her family and also she had to fight for every breath she drew.   After The War   In the spring of 1946 Mamma & Daddy decided we could take over the care of Mamma just as well as they were doing in the Nursing Home. We all took turns and learned how to give her the shots she needed to keep breathing. It was good having Mamma home again, even if she couldn't breath well enough to get around very much. Sometimes Mamma needed Adrenaline shots every 15 to 20 minutes. This had to be very hard on her heart, as it forced it to work harder.   Someone had to be with Mamma all the time. We set up shifts so someone was always there, 24 hours a day. Us kids each took 2 hour shifts through the night. Daddy stayed with her while we were in school. We all loved the time we could spend with Mamma, especially when she was feeling well enough to sit up, visit, play chinese checkers or do picture puzzles. Mamma always seemed to keep her spirits up, no matter how hard she had to fight for air.   LaRaine was barely 17, Carlos was 13, I was 12 and Earl was 9 when this arrangement was set up. We all took our turns without one second of doubt as to whether we could do it. Earl was as reliable and proficient as any one of us when it was his turn. We all felt pride in being able to help out and also it gave us special time with Mamma to help make up for the times she was away from us.   In March 1947 LaRaine and Lynn Dean got married. They had been sweethearts even before Lynn had to go off to war. It was time for her to start a life of her own. We were all thrilled for her and Lynn. LaRaine had been carrying so much of the burden of our survival, helping Momma, Daddy and us boys through so many stressful times.   Now it became Carlos's turn! He was the one that took over the cooking, supervising the laundry, ironing, etc. One top of that he still did his share of the milking, sewing, water hauling, wood cutting and land clearing. Through all of this I can't ever remember hearing Carlos complain about what he had to do. This really set an example for Earl and I as we in turn wouldn't dare complain about anything. Our lives were hard a lot of the time but there was so much love and caring toward us kids from Mamma & Daddy that we knew we were truly blessed. Daddy would never tell us to do anything, he wouldn't do himself. Mamma & Daddy truly earned and got our love and respect. We were so lucky in so many ways.   Mamma passed away in November of 1949. She was just 39 years old. This left a big hole in our lives, as she was a big part of each one of us. At last though we knew she no longer had to fight every second for breath. Our daddy was devastated by the loss of our Mamma but he knew he still was responsible for all our well being, so as he had always done in the past, he just pulled himself together and went on. Daddy had to sell a lot of our beautiful cows to help pay medical expenses and funeral costs. This had to be so depressing for him, I'm sure now that I can look at it from a parent's point of view, but he never let on.   All my growing years I and my brothers and sister were in a position of sharing each day with Daddy, in the work that must be done and on that rare occassion when we could go to town or to the lake, we could do it together. We cleared land; hauled water; milked and fed cattle; plowed and tilled the land; planted and put up hay; grew a huge garden; picked, packed and canned the produce. We also picked and canned enough fruit to last us all year long. This amounted to around 300 quarts of cherries; 300 quarts of peaches; 200 quarts of apricots and what ever plums, pears, apples and berries we could find time to put up.   I completed 12 years of school as did my sister and brothers. We learned general education there. This came in handy later in life but what we learned from our parents, each other and the good people on our mountain, prepared us for a chance to be whatever we set out to be. There is no way to really express the gratitude and love I have felt for the way my parents gave of themselves, even when it seemed so hopeless,during those trying years. Also my siblings, who were there alongside me, working; laughing; joking; crying sometimes and when we could fit it in, even playing. Life gave us some tough times to deal with. God, through our parents, gave us the ability to learn and grow from them.   There are so many things that happened in this span of time that it would take a lot of pages to cover it all. This is just a quick cover of my childhood as I remember it. It is as accurate as I can remember. Through trial and faith, in the long run, God has really blessed my life.  Thank you!   Ceathel Allen, 2002 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TRIPLES with EMMA