The Graduation Gift
of 75 Years Ago
The earliest
memories of my mother, Bernyce Smith Gates, included her parents raising cattle.
An early recollection of her father, Calvin Callcayah Smith, and cattle was
written about in Tobacco, Tents, and
Thieving in the Thirties. Below is an excerpt and the entire blog posting can be accessed at: https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2017/03/tobacco-tents-and-thieving-in-thirties.html
Mother
chuckled as she told of Grandpa outrunning a mean cow across the pasture. This
didn’t just occur once. Mother said the pernicious cow would raise her head and
charge. She said Grandpa was “picking them up and putting them down” but always
outran the cow,
When Mother graduated from Burbank High School in 1943, her parents gave her
a Hereford heifer for a graduation gift. No need for wrapping paper for that little red heifer.
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| The Senior Panel for the Burbank High School Class of 1943. Top Row - Bennie Kitts, Cecile Smith (sponsor), June Moore, Jimmy Kenneth Martin 2nd Row - Sara Jane Johnson, James Ellis, Lela Lieber 3rd Row - Harmon Lee Franks, Clarene Brotherton, Reta Martin, Olen Freeman 4th Row - Joyce Artman, Rosemary Hadden, Bernyce Smith (my mother) Bottom Row - Ida Gilliland, Marjory Cleghorn, Charlene Hindman |
Five years later, when Mother and Dad married,
they merged their two herds. Dad chronicled how he acquired his cattle herd in Okie Over Europe, his World War II experiences. He told how he had the
military send a monthly allocation of $100 out of his $300 monthly paycheck to
his mother. Following Dad’s discharge, his father, Edmund Gates, Sr., gave Dad
fifteen head of cattle, valued by Dad at about $100/cow. (Dad was stationed
in England for 21 months. The military would have sent $2100 to Grandma.
Grandpa used $1500 for Dad’s cows.)
Dad handled all the care of the cattle with assistance
from Grandpa, his father-in-law. When Dad began working away from the farm, Grandpa
checked diligently heifers during the calving season. Grandpa kept the fence
lines cleared, too. He also milked the Jersey cow twice a day. (Upon reflecting
about Grandpa’s involvement on the farm, Mother mentioned how Grandpa cared for
the flock of 200 to 500 laying hens from feeding and watering them to gathering
and storing the eggs daily! Angie and I assumed some of the chicken
responsibilities during the summer. When Grandpa died, Angie took over the
poultry operation until it ended because they encountered difficulty in getting
replacement chicks.)
Angie and I helped Dad and Grandpa with working the
cattle. Even though Mother seldom did any hands-on work with the cattle, she knew every aspect of the business side of the cattle
operation.
I recalled Dad
intimating that if something happened to him, Mother would immediately contact
Pawnee Livestock Sale and have all the cattle rounded up by the next Saturday, loaded,
hauled to Pawnee, and sold. Even though they had been married for 67 years, Dad
didn’t know her mind about their
cow/calf operation and couldn’t predict what she would do. Dad’s stroke
occurred 6 years ago. Not only did Mother not sell all their cattle, but in
2012, she kept a heifer for the first time in several years. Dad’s plan for
several years prior to his stroke involved selling all heifers and keeping
none. His aging cows would eventually have phased him out of the beef cattle
industry.
As of 2018, Mother
had only one of the cows Dad tended. She also had Keeper, the first heifer she
chose to kept the year Dad had his first stroke. All the rest of her herd have been
born since Dad’s stroke.
Seldom do we know what we will do until we are in the specific situation. With the support
of my sister, my brother-in-law, and me, Mother has been able to continue her
75-year endeavor in raising beef cattle. Digital photography keeps Mother in
the loop to see the state of her herd. Undoubtedly, there are few 93-year-old
women who continue reaping benefits from a high school graduation gift!
These are two verses Mother and Dad applied to their little cattle
operation. This Biblical philosophy guided their decisions and time devoted to
their herd.
Good people
take care of their animals, but wicked people are cruel to theirs.
Proverbs
12:10
Know the
state of your flocks and put your heart into caring for your herds.
Proverbs
27:23
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| The Class of 1943 at the Burbank High School Reunion on June 23, 2007. Seated - Bernyce Smith Gates and Lela Lieber Stewart. Standing - Kenneth Martin and George Wayman, the longtime sheriff of Osage County. Sheriff Wayman's photo is not on the panel since he joined the army during World War II prior to his senior year. |
Note - My aunt, Martha Gates Johnston, is not pictured
on the senior panel. Her explanation appeared in a blog posting at: https://bernadeanjgates.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-missing-photograph-from-panel.html
June Moore Loyd was featured in a blog posting at:
The senior class sponsor, Cecile Smith, is featured in a blog post
at:
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