Mail Call: May-June 2009
Never Missed a Day; Familiar Places; InteGRITty; New Format, Same Result; and more
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Construction for the Baun dairy started in 1948. A severe storm in December left 10-ft. snowdrifts in the farmyard and delayed construction until spring.
Rusty Tews
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Never Missed a Day
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Your recent issue prompted me to look around my neighborhood here in Idaho for old barns. I’m pleasantly surprised by the number still standing. Just a couple of miles down the road, the Braun family has continuously milked in theirs since 1949. I doubt that’s a world record, but Ron Braun, representing the second generation to use the barn, can’t recall a missed day.
His grandparents arrived from Nebraska in the 1930s, driven from their 60-year-old farm by the Dust Bowl. “Grandma came in a boxcar with all their cows and equipment,” Ron says. “They had just built a new house, and all she could bring of it was the claw-foot tub.” That tub is still in use.
Ron’s dad, Herman, filed for his homestead in 1937. Paperwork was simple by our standards – map of the canals (three) on the homestead, plat map, water license and preliminary deed. Ron cherishes the history, but the family is most proud of the final deed, issued in 1942 with President Roosevelt’s signature.
By 1948, Herman had saved $6,000 and built a two-story barn. “The rafters and joists were full-cut timber,” Ron says. “The 2-by-4s were really 2½-by-5s.”
Mangers and stalls on each side protected livestock in the harsh winters. “When it was cold,” he says, “we kept the cows in all night and threw the hay down from the mow.”
Ron and his wife, Ennis, purchased the farm in 1976. Through the years they added pipeline milkers, bulk tanks and raised walk-through milking stalls. Throughout reconstruction, they never missed a day in the barn. Currently they milk 300 cows.
However, back in the homesteading era, times weren’t as easy. Milking parlors often were made of straw and woven wire panels. These tiny sheds doubled as chicken houses as cash-strapped homesteaders saved to build something better. I remember playing in straw sheds as a youngster; jumping off the roofs onto pigs’ backs in a straw shed only slightly taller than we were.
Cooperation among the settlers was essential. “My folks lived in Grandpa’s basement until they could build their house on the homestead.” Ron says. “I think Aunt Bea and her husband lived there, too.”
My own dad and his two brothers came from Chicago in 1926. It took several years to save enough for their first homestead. Dad told the story of working all summer on their first farm – harvesting and delivering their crops, taking their cash to the bank, and having profit enough only to buy a quart of ice cream for their summer’s work.
Rusty Tews
Second Generation Rancher
Shoshone, Idaho
Country Women
Thanks a million for the article by Jerry Schleicher, "Country Women Rock." Growing up on a dairy farm in New York and now working a small grass-fed beef ranch in Arizona have given me many experiences. They made me smile at the curious things expected of a farmer/rancher's wife in this article. Pulling a calf by myself, spreading manure every spring, bush-hogging fields every summer – each has actually been a joy. I have also been known to lean over the dairy case at the grocery store and rain down little flecks of alfalfa all over the floor. My hat is off to my cohorts, who breathe clean air and wear a natural tan. One warning to all of you young ones; before you leave the house in the morning, stretch those muscles and tendons because for certain you'll be chasing livestock somewhere. Your joints might not hurt so much at my age if you're wise in this!
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