Ghostwriting: Cowgirl Courage
Writing Sample – Cowgirl Courage
Kate Jonuska • Names and details changed
It was 1916 when my parents stepped off the train in Marlton, New Mexico and I do believe they went straight to the courthouse. They were two years into their marriage and almost 500 miles from their home town of Lampasas, Texas. I don’t think they were scared, though, as they filed papers to claim two different half-sections of land offered under the Homestead Act. One in her name—Eva Marie Smith—and one in his—Jason Dean Smith. All together, that land made up a whole section of 640 acres which they were granted, free of charge, with the catch that they live on the premises for six months. The deed to the land was the carrot on the end of that six-month-long string.
Those premises, however, were entirely empty. Their parcel of land lay more than 20 miles from the town of Marlton and, in those days, there was no transportation to get out there. There was no “there” to get to yet: not a road, not a house, not a crop, not even a fence. It was flat land that was closer in nature to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, only about 40 miles away, than the real desert environment of other parts of the state. There were trees and foothills, a creek nearby. The soil was a deep black and fertile with potential. For six months, they had to make a living on that homestead. I know that they weren’t able to bring in calves to start the ranch until they owned the land and, more importantly, no way to physically round them up until they owned a horse.
Of course, they went into homesteading knowing all of these obstacles in advance. Despite those challenging circumstances and in an effort to surmount them, they stepped off that train. They boldly claimed their land with the rest near that small town in the northeast corner of New Mexico. As I said, I don’t think they were scared. Homesteaders were not an easily scared bunch or, if they were, their other character traits minimized and hid that fear, traits like dedication, independence, and strength of spirit. It takes a lot of all three, I would think, to carve out a home in the middle of that vast emptiness.
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