The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1921-07-23

NJ Nevada. won prize from the
Washington Post for story he wrote
entitled. Life on Ranch" telling
about his parents ranch in this state.
The story was the feature OF the
Home Page" In the big Washington
newspaper, and follows:
Dear Aunt Anna: | wonder If you
have ever been to our big west and
especially to our state Of Nevada. We
think 1t is the best part OF all the
United States. and | hope you Will
come here some day and see US on our
ranch.
I like the ranch because there Is
so much outdoors. We can see some
OF the mountains Of the Sierras,
which have snow all the time, and
Lake Tahoe is not very far away.
We can drive up there in our auto
mobile in just few hours.
We have on the ranch, horses.
cows, goats, sheep and pig, rabbits
and chickens, geese. ducks, turkeys.
and a beautiful collie dog named
Bruce whom we very much love. He
Is named after Robert Bruce because
he is a Scotch collie. l have big
wagon and harness for him which
an old man who came to fix the har-
nesses for the work horses made OF
heavy straps. SO 1t Is very strong
and we hitch Bruce to the wagon
and he can pull all of us. but most
always let sisters ride and / walk
by his head because 1t Is hard to
make Bruce go where we want him
to. Unless / lead him he may dump
us all into an irrigating ditch or
some prickly sage brush. because II
he sees a jackrabbit away he goes
like the wind under fences. through
bitches into fields, or off over the
sage brush after 1t. and 1t Is no fun
TO get a ducking In the cold water
and all scratched up by the stickers
in the sage brush and we sometimes
have baby Mary with US. and al
though she thinks she Is just as big
as any of. us. she really isn't you
know. and she might get hurt.
When Bruce isn't hitched up we
love TO chase the rabbits with him.
He goes everywhere with US. and last
Christmas we took him when sisters
and | went with father to get our
Christmas tree up in the cayon about
a mile and half from the house.
We did get such a pretty tree and
we helped father carry II home on
our shoulders. We call this special
place from which We get our Christ
mas tree each year Santa Claus"
garden, because when we were little
once we were up there and we saw
some tracks In the snow that father
said were deer tracks and we thought
he meant reindeer like Santa Claus
has. Every fall mother lets me go
with father and the men when they
go up to get our fire wood for the
winter. We sometimes see our neigh
bors there getting their wood. too, be-
cause every one can have wood for
their own homes IL they take only
the dead trees from the mountains.
They have on our mountains fir trees
and pines and cottonwood and noun
tain mahogany. not like the real ma
hogany you make furniture Of. but a
very heavy wood that has knots and
turns and twists. 1t burns a long
time and makes a very hot fire.
We take wagons with brakes on
and six horses and go az far as we
can into the canyon; then the horses
are loosened from the wagon and let
to rest. only one or two which the
men take with them up the mountain
side and they hitch them with a
heavy chain to log and pull the
logs one at a time down the noun
tain to where the wagons are In the
bottom of the canyon. While the men
are busy bringing the logs down |
gather pine nuts. they are awful good,
you know. They grow In some kinds
OF pine cones. and you gather the
cones and take them home and build
big, bonfire and put them on It and
then the nuts pop out or you shake
them out and then you roast them
some more in a big pan and crack
them like peanuts and eat them. The
Indians know where the most pine
nuts grow and II you just see where
lot of Piute Indians are busy by
some pine trees you are sure to find
lot of pine nuts there. But the
pitch does get all over your hands
and clothes. and mother says 1t will
never come off. but 1t does wear off
the hands In time and. well. / don't
know what does become of the
clothes.
We have more fun riding on Buck
skin. or Old Pat as we call aim, all
through the alfalfa fields, because he
let's just as many children as want to
get on and we can stand him by the
woodpile or any fence while we all
get on. My real pony. Dolly, doesn't
ike to have so many on, but she
doesen't mind one or two, but she
is young and likes to play jokes. She
everything, and will run
and play and beg for sugar plums or
apples just like boy. Pat don't care