Chapter 9The oppressive winter of 1877–78 finally passed. A late freeze had already pinched out premature buds on trees and bushes, but now the cold was truly behind us. The Goose Moon season was a busy time on the farm. I’d worked hard over the winter months to hone the plow blades and repair our equipment because this was the one time of year when my back was required in the fields. We had three hundred sixty acres planted with crops from wheat to corn to beans and peas. Everything Ma and Jane needed to keep the family healthy and satisfy the coach passengers and drivers.
Coaches coming from Fort Ramson to the east supplied news from the big “out there,” and the outgoing stages kept us up to date on the goings-on in Yanube City. From the Fort Ramson coaches, we heard talk of the depress
