The Red Cloud chief., 1895-03-01
In Memory Of Mrs. Tulleys.

Mrs. Tulleys was one of the pioneer
women of this vicinity. She was not
among the first female settlers, still there
are only a half dozen living near Red
Cloud who have lived in the neighbor-
hood longer than the deceased. and they
are younger in years and more rugged
in health, for she was a confirmed invalid
before her removal to this county.
With her husband and two children she
settled on the old homestead just east of
the city twenty-three years ago and be-
gan the life of the pioneer. The first
home was a dug-out and the buffalo
threatened to break in its roof in its reck-
less run down to the river side. The
dug-out became a log house and the
Indian peered in at the windows. and
knocked at its doors and yelled How"
She saw the sawmill come to make
boards of the cotton wood that fringed
the river. and the logs of her house were
covered with the cotton wood siding.
She saw the %grasshopper pestilence of
1874 and she covered the young trees
and flowers she had set about the house
with rags and straw to protect them
from the Egyptian plague.
She saw the terrible prairie fire light
mp the awful gloom of night and rush with
name of smoke and tongue oil flame from
the northern sky. With her little ones
and her husband she tried the long hours
of the April evening to keep the furious
enemy at bay and sat the long night,
waiting for the smoke TO lift and the
dawn to show whether people still lived
in her midst or whether she was. alone
upon the prairies.
One awful night she. heard the wind
arise in fury and felt a darkness as of
death, save when the fierce lightning lit
up the gloom. In its vivid CLEANS she
saw the new built barn, sheds and fences
flung by the roaring wind past the win
dows of the old log house. She saw the
tenant house upon the opposite hill
dashed across the road. She saw that
where her daughters house had stood
no house was there. She heard the solid
timbers of the old log house culver and
groan beneath the awful blows, but her
children were all with her and the house
withstood the storm,
The railroad came. The logs and
cotton wood boards were replaced by
pine boards and lumber. A neat frame
cottage succeeded the dugout and log
house. Then near by a promising little
city grew into being and it fell to her lot
to dwell in one of its stateliest mansions.
Yet strange to say she never was in
better health and spirits than when she
bravely struggled with the privations
and hardships of the pioneer days. To
the last, the friends she then made, the
life she then lived remained her happiest
memories. The vanities and frivolties
of city life made but little appeal to her.
She had no ambition to lead society or
the fashion, and so far as she followed,
she followed with reluctant steps. To
the last she preferred the companionship
of those whose plain and simple living,
whose frugal and industrious lives were
calculated to help their husbands build
homes and maintain them.
In one respect her fortune was excep-
tionally kind. She saw her daughters
happily married and settled apparently
for life on farms adjoining the old home
stead. She saw them each give birth to
children who seem born to comfortable
homes and happy surroundings. She
was an earnest hopeful christian al
though not connected with any church
organization. A faithful wife, a fond
mother, she passed away having seen her
children and grandchildren in comfort
and peace about her, the life work was
finished and the wearied spirit sank to
rest.
A we'll bred and will trained dog is
the best Investment on the farm