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Show Nettie, Page 47 Cowley. The first baby was born December 3 and Lenora died December 15. The Peterson family, though, escaped this seige of illness and Papa and Brig continued to work on the railroad. When the camp was moved once again to Piney Creek to continue the railroad it was early spring, 1901. In this camp Nettie was reunited with Nettie and Becky Taggart who had been hired as cooks for t.he camp. Somehow between work on the railroad and work in Cowley, Papa built the family a log cabin. He had drawn his lot (as each man had) from a hat containing slips of paper on which the land descriptions had been written. The cabin was made of rough-hewn logs, with a very slightly sloping dirt roof, one door, a small window at the side of the door. The door itself was made of rough pine boards and had no door knob. A buckskin string protruded through the hole in the upper part of the door. To enter one pulled the string lifting the latch on the inside and the door swung open. Mama was glad to be into a dwelling where the walls were solid and didn't flap in the wind. Though the inside of the cabin looked as rough as the outside, it became home to the Petersons and felt rather comfortable after dwelling in a tent for nearly a year. It was late in the summer of 1901 when two bits of news cheered the family. Papa and Brig arrived at the cabin one day to announced, "It's done, Margaret. The railroad contract is completed and we are home to stay." Papa swung his tiny wife around, setting her down as she protested loudly, but obviously pleased at his statement. "What now, Papa?" Nettie questioned. "What will you do now?" "Return to work on the canal, and try to improve our own property here |
