St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-09-26
CHAPTER VI.
BEGINNING A NEW HOME.

at once began the work OF erecting a
shelter.
John Parsons and Bill Ritchie selected
claims near to, though not adjoining,
each other, for the country here is
more broken than on the Suscol Ranch.
much of it being unfit for farming or
even for fruit growing; and very few
quarter sections can be found lying
wholly in a valley.
Generally, if the squatter could get a
claim, one-haf of which was in the val
lev, he was well contented to take the
remainder upon the broken lands lying
upon the bluffs.
Such claim was that which John
and Martha Parsons, assisted by Eras-
tus, selected.
s.The boy has been faithful, " said
| John to his wife. Il don't know what
YOU and the girls would have done but
| for him, crossin' the plains, an l mean
| to do the square thing by him if ever we
do get ahead bit. Besides, the grit
which he showed back at the other
place ought to entitle him to heF his
advice axed, if only for good manners
sake; specially if It'll is anything in
which he is interested.
And thereafter nothing of Importance
to the family was ever fully decided
upon until Erastus had been given an
opportunity to express an opinion OF its
wisdom or feasibility.
The valley in which most of our pill
gr.ms had sought homes was scarcely
| more than quarter of mile wide; the
stream which watered it keeping nearer
| to the bluffs upon the right side the
greater part of the way, but occasion
ally curying outward, near to or past
the center of this level strip OF ground
between the hills.
Where the stream made one of its
curves, leaving between its channel and
the bluff handsome piece of ground of
perhaps twenty-five acres, which was
Slightly higher than the rest of the val
lev, and so not likely to be overfowed
by the water during the winter freshet,
and near to the bluff, which sloped back
gradually for some distance, did John
| Parsons begin the erection of his humble
home.
Material for building was scarce and
high. Lumber could have been OBJ
tanned had the settlers possessed the
means of paying for it; but, lacking
this, they were obliged to do the best
they could with material furnished by
nature upon or near the spot Some
dug into the sides of the hills, thus Sc
curing the walls for three sides of their
dwellings,, the roof and front being of
such bits of lumber as they had brought
with them or could purchase; in some
instances the rude front being of lum-
Der which had once composed dry
goods boxes and in which the clothing
or furniture of the owners had been
brought from the States.
Mr.. Parsons and Erastus, in prefer
ence to this style of half dug-out, de-
cided to build of logs, but to obtain
these they were obliged to go several
miles further into the hills and snake
down the bodies of small spruce trees.
This took much time and hard work,
but willing hands made light of it, and
three weeks from the day OF arrival the
family moved into their new house.
There was but one room, and that not
large: and the floor was the earth,
smoothed and beaten down. There
were two doors, with window upon
either side: the latter taken from the
: cottage in the Suscol Ranch and
brought through in the wagon with the
bedding carefully packed about them.
! The furniture consisted of some rough
/ shelves in one corner sufficient to hold
} a few pieces of crockery in daily use, a
: table, several chairs and two beds,
which, with the stove, so filled the sin
gle apartment that there was no room
Q for another bed, even if they had pos
e sessed it; and for the time Erastus slept
. in the covered wagon, for which there
g was little present use, and later on upon
q a bunk on the dirty floor OF the shanty.
I 1t was very far from being as com
d Portable as the cottage back on the Sus-
g col Ranch, and as for elegance or effort
i at Responsibility it made none what.
s ever; was, in fact, as much below the
i log house ssback in the States, which
# the family had left as the Suscol cottage
had been above it in that regard. anc
j. this thought kept coming to John Par
n sons, and causing him tWinges of pair
n all the time they were at work on it
but once fairly don1iciled beneath his
e own roof, poor though he was, with hi!
l. family about him, and with the Cheerful
; voice of his wife ever bidding him TAKE
n courage, he soon ceased to dwell upor
/; his disappointment; or at least to raakt
S mention OF it.
d The first thing to be done after tn
IS shanty was up and the family safel.
e sheltered was the securing of proyende
e for the teams; for while domestic ami
+ mails will live all winter on what the,
.e can pick, and in ordinary seasons com
it through in good condition; yet the.
% can not do this If required to work, an
d our friends had sod to break for mex
d seasons crop. So they set about gath