As it appeared in the Arvin Tiller/Lamont Report Supplement Oct. 14, 1998:
 

On December sixth, 1935 my grandparents, Papa, Mama, their five children, aunts, uncles and cousins totaling 16, were loaded into a large trailer, beds on top of the large car, and everything that had a useful purpose was tied on tops and sides.

As we pulled out and left grandpa's old home place, I felt sad, and a tear rolled down my face, and I thought, "We will never see this place again."

My parents never did, however fifty years later I returned to see what I could recognize, and to visit Papa's cousin, Carl Albert, the forty-sixth speaker of the "House of representative," who we had kept in contact with.

Carl worked hard, and pushed a bill for Federal funds for the reclamation and preservations of Oklahoma.  He was successful in getting the Eufaula Dam Built.

I was thrilled and proud when Carl told me they sang "Shall We Gather At The River" at the dedication of the dam.  I still have pride for Oklahoma, my first homeland, and I really miss the red clay.

Another place I visited and recognized was the cemetery, which was near our home.  They usually don't move cemeteries.  This gave me direction for other places I wanted to find.

Life in Oklahoma
Life in Oklahoma became really tough after the "Dust Bowl" and the depression of 1929.  As a child I didn't realize the extent of poverty everyone suffered.

The faith of our Christian parents and their love for us was security for us.  I know my parents suffered many hardships, especially after the shut down of the oil company Papa worked for.

The Dust Bowl storms and drought brought poverty and misery to most of the mid-west.  Times were so hard and money was so scarce.  Papa exhausted himself looking for work.

A little temporary job here and there, he took whatever was available and for as little as $.50 to $1.00 a day.  One time there was a street show in McAlester where a large bear, a real one, which put on a show, and $5.00 was offered to anyone who would wrestle the bear.

My Papa was strong and did love wrestling.  He wanted to take on this bear.  Five dollars was a lot of money.  My mother objected, she said, "No, Willie, No."

She wanted to keep her husband.  He didn't end up doing it.  Many people suffered from malnutrition, diseases, diphtheria, measles and malaria.

Many kids and adults died.  There was no money for medical help, and actually no modern medicines as we have today.  I remember visiting a family up the hill from us.

They had seventeen children.  This family lost some to diphtheria.  This family even had their own cemetery in the back of their property where generations of their family were buried.

This seemed unusual to me, however this, I learned wasn't too unusual.   Our family was blessed and escaped the worst diseases.  I can remember my mother preparing a large soup bone for a meal when she screamed and said "I've cut off my thumb, go get Grandpa."

He was working near by in the field.  He poured salt on it and wrapped it back on with strips of a sheet.  It healed, leaving very little scar, but some numbness, which was easy to live with.

This was a miracle as there was no stitches or medicines.  Nothing seemed to dampen our parents spirit, their trust in God was strong and their faith didn't waiver.

Route 66 Journey
It was a two lane highway but there were places we could pull over and camp at night.  My Uncle's favorite saying on the way was, "Feed the kids cheese, limit the liquids."

We joked a lot and shed a tear or two.  We kept up our spirits pretty good.  We got our kicks on route 66 from the Burma Shave signs along the way.

The road was rough, but we were tough.  By night we knew we had had enough.  By morning light, we had left that sight.  As far as automotive problems, we were in good shape.  Papa and Uncle Jeff were able to handle the few problems that occurred.

On a cold night in New Mexico, we needed inside shelter and found a wood shack with a wood burning stove, the rent was $2.00.  The men hustled wood for heat and cooking.

We had fried potatoes and chopped wieners.  we had portion, but we couldn't pig out.  My uncle came in and said there was a hobo, a homeless man that needed shelter, but there was no room inside for him for the floor was wall to wall with our people.  The man was fed and slept inside the auto with a wool blanket.

This was our lesson of caring and sharing which was a common trait in our family.

Arizona Refuge
After 7 days of traveling, we settled and lived in a small town near Phoenix, Arizona, a large tent camp of migrants.  My family, Mama, Papa, and my four siblings remained there until April.  The others went on.

Papa cut lettuce for $.10 an hour.  The migrant had no choice, work or starve.  So many people needed work with children to feed and really had no choice but to work for  $.10 an hour.

Papa looked for other ways to supplement the low wage.  A dairy near by gave him skimmed milk that was usually discarded.  He used large galvanized cans to carry the milk

He sold the milk to other migrants for $.05 a gallon until the health department stopped his sales.  He continued to get the milk and distribute it for free.

He shared and cared for people in need.  Papa exhausted himself and became ill.  He and my sister Rachel developed pneumonia.  Mama treated them with hot salt bags to relieve the pain and release congestion.

In this camp, my Mama, sister, and I visited a near neighbor whose baby had died.  The mother of the baby built a small casket made of an old wooden apple box.

Candles were burning beside the small casket.  I do not know how or where the baby was buried, but I know it bothered me for a long time.

I was thankful to God for our family surviving...A MIRACLE INDEED!  Papa kept in touch with close friends near Shafter, California who had work on a ranch.

The Stevens family had work and had spoken for Papa and promised a job driving a tractor.  They sent $6.00 for gas and to help with our trip to California.

We loaded our belongings into a Model A Coupe and headed for the Promise Land...(California).  Things went fine until the motor overheated and we were stranded on the desert.

We camped under a bridge of a dried up wash.  we boiled water on a camp fire, the water had come from rusty barrels on the highway for hot cars.

Papa was unsuccessful in finding parts for repairing the engine.  After three days he used the leather from an old shoe to replace the babbit which had melted from a connecting rod.

He line the rod with the leather.  IT WORKED ANOTHER MIRACLE.

We were on our way again.  We were in Bakersfield near our destination, Papa only had a small amount of money and went into a store to buy bread.  We were hungry.

While he was in the store, an Angel, a Salvation Army man came up to the car, said, "God bless you.  You have a large family.  I want to help.  Please accept."

My mother said, "Why don't you give it to someone who needs it more?"  He smiled and left the money, she thanked him as he walked away.  (Another Miracle!!!)

We arrived at Lerdo Ranch, about ten miles from Bakersfield.  We were greeted by our dear friends, the Stevens who had a cabin next door to them.

Papa went to work immediately driving a tractor for 25 cents an hour.  We were so grateful.  ANOTHER MIRACLE!

It was so nice to stay in one place for three years.  Lerdo School was a small two-room, red brick building; we walked about a mile to school which back then wasn't far at all.

Milk was 2 cents a bottle which we drank with our sack lunch.  Each morning the day started with a flag salute, a hymn and a prayer.

Our teacher, Mrs. Dickey was a wonderful Christian lady.  She taught much more than the three "R"s, and was a very kind person.  I loved her, "ANOTHER ANGEL" in my life.

I did feel a home sick feeling for Oklahoma.  we were taught a song titled, "I love you California" and I felt like a traitor singing it.

As I learned the words to the song, I realized the true beauty of California.  We had arrived in the PROMISED LAND.  After living three years on the ranch, Papa bought a lot in Lamont.

We lived in a small homemade trailer house and a tent until Papa could build a small house.  While living in the tent, my sisters and I slept in the tent, a dust storm blew the tent down on us.

We only laughed and thought it was funny.  However, our baby brother took pneumonia and died.  He was 26 days old and the dust was unbearable.  This was in 1939.

We moved into a church building for the night and slept on the floor.  We attended Mt. View School and loved it!  Mrs. Bribble was a wonderful educator, a very hard worker.  She became superintendent of schools.

We saw homes built in Lamont.  Many went up after we moved there.  My Papa, William T. Townson always did work, we all did.  I worked for Harry Cheavers Varity, also McKenny's Grocery and Civil Service.

My mama, Edna sold Avon for 15 years.  My papa was president of the Lamont Water District for over 20 years.  My sister Rachel lives in Northridge.  She retired and lives in Louisiana now.

Virginia married Al Clark.  They have been very successful, they have retired from their own business.  Hazel is successful in her own business, Del Kern Sales, which sells fabric, foam car carpet, retail and wholesale.

George, my youngest sibling is still working.  He has been working for the State of California teaching rehabilitation in a facility.

He also did upholstery classes for many years and about ready to retire.  I'm married to Ray Helm, a self employed successful hard working business man.

We are in our seventies and still working automotive and antiques.  I'm enjoying interviews with students in history classes and receive calls from other states.

The Dust Bowl is now a requirement in national history books.  Our whole Townson family are blessed with success and blessed by God to have made it through some hard times, but hard times and hard work makes better people.

We are all bonded family.  Bonded by love for each other and by God.  We were taught high morals, keep the Ten Commandments, and respect for God and our country.

Prayer was daily routine.  Every year we get together for a family reunion.  We can say "we're strong, we have kept the faith, fought a long and strong battle in life, and are thankful for our parents and the up bringing that we had," and most of all very thankful we made it into PROMISED LAND.

Personal reminiscences
The Arvin Tiller/Lamont Reporter
9717 Main, P.O. Box 548, Lamont, CA 93241, (661) 845-3704