Words From Martha, A "Tag-A-Long" Little Sister. . .

The other day, I was thinking of some things we used to do for entertainment as children growing up in Panaca. There was no such thing as television and many people did not even have a radio. We made our own fun, and there was plenty for all.

Play acting and story telling - what fun we had with that! Some of our plays were really great. My sister Edna, and cousin Jo, were something else. They would pull back the curtains to the stage and away we would all go - the audience running to keep up with the actors. This could envolve several town blocks . These were very original stories that no one wanted to miss. I remember one "swell" one. It went like this - Pandora sat fanning herself and all of a sudden a pig walked in! Now is that a good opener, or what?

A favorite time was when the Indians came through twice a year. The tribe spent weeks gathering pine nuts. Few people realized that the chief had attended the BYU Academy and was an educated person. He had been sent to school so he would be ready to lead his people.

We all, the children anyway, thought he was a fierce person. He thought we were one "crazy" tribe. My father always made sure there was work for the young chief so he could furnish sugar, flour, and other necessary items for his people. A couple of my siblings, a cousin and I, used to creep away and hide in the shoulder high "rabbit" brush so we could entertain them. We felt very brave and smart and I remember the great laughs we received. My cousin and sister spent hours on "gunny sack" dresses that were frayed and decorated with beads. The whole purpose of this operation was to dance "Indian" around their fire. How the chief would laugh and I would burrow deeper into the brush and hide "plenty".

When the chief came to weed and thin the new plants for dad, it became my duty to talk "Indian" so he would know how to communicate with us. How he would laugh at my weird utterings, grunts, and so on. I could lay him in the aisle everytime. Because he was Dad's good friend, he put up with our nonsense.