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Once upon a long time ago in the vicinity of Billings, Montana, there lived a little girl named “Retta”. When she was three years old, her cowboy Dad moved the whole family (Mom, Retta and little brother Galen) to a big sheep and cattle ranch near Columbus, Montana where he became the ranch manager and foreman. The new ranch family set up house keeping at their new job in the ranch two story log cabin. It was almost a modern place compared to other ranch accommodations in those olden days. It did not have electricity when they first moved in. Lighting at night came from kerosene mantled lanterns. Within the first year they lived there the owner of the ranch had the place wired for electricity and the house did become modern. There was a kitchen, dining room, living room, one bedroom and even a bathroom of sorts on the first floor and two (unheated) bedrooms upstairs. Eventually Retta and brother Galen each had their own bedroom upstairs, which was great; except in the winter months it could get a tad bit chilly, since the only heat was what filtered up the stairway from the downstairs coal oil heater. Praise be to God for long underwear, flannel nightgowns and down quilts.

Mr. Pierce, the owner of the ranch, and his family did not live on the ranch. He knew little Retta’s Dad was not only an extremely hard worker, but also very good with animals, especially with horses. In some ways Dad was an olden days “horse whisperer”. He was the boss and I doubt that any horse on the ranch ever bested him. When he sent a message, the horses listened. Dad was indeed an excellent horseman. In the not too distant future it wasn’t long before the sheep were history and in addition to farming and raising cattle, horses became a bigger part of the operation. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, ’cause the “horse business” of the ranch is another story for another time.

Little Retta’s Mom on the other hand, “tolerated” horses. Oh she could ride them and all, but usually only did that to sort of placate Dad. She and Dad did love to ride their horses in the parades held occasionally in town. On the other hand, put Mom in a house, particularly the kitchen and she could create wonders. There were several other hired hands on the ranch that stayed in the “bunk house”, but they ate most of their meals with the family, so Mom was the cook for everyone. And as proficient as Dad was with the ranching duties, Mom did equally as well with the cooking and other household and ranch wife chores.

Mom and Dad attempted to transfer their individual expertise’s to their children and partially succeeded; ’cause most of Dad’s went to the son and most of Mom’s went to the daughter. Mr. Pierce had purchased a Shetland pony for his children, but the critter was too ornery for them, so the pony was relegated to Retta. For some time Retta tried and tried to handle that mean little pony. She’d get on him and start him galloping and all of a sudden he’d stop quickly, drop his head and Retta would go tumbling over the top and land smack dap on the ground. And that little grey Shetland pony would stand there, snortin’, shakin’ his head and sorta’ grinnin’ at the little girl he’d just dumped. Well sir, Dad would make Retta get right back on that horse and try again. But the same thing would happen over and over again. After a while it was decided that the pony had won; that he had bested the little girl.

Dad then bought a bigger, older, more gentle horse from a sheep herder and that critter worked out better for Retta. They got along famously. Retta didn’t have to worry about always getting bucked off ole’ reliable “Paint”. She enjoyed riding and working with Paint, Retta and ole Paint would……..but…….that too is another story for another time.

Retta also had fun playing in the kid’s play house that was on the ranch. In the little play house she could pretend she was doing the same things Mom did. For example, Mom baked scrupulous, delicious pies. In those days Retta made fabulous mud pies. A talent that ultimately was passed on to “her” daughter. However when Retta grew up, she eventually become famous for HER real (eatable) scrupulous, delicious pies.

In the years when they raised sugar beets, the ranch employed Mexican speaking laborers to work in the beet fields. The ranch provided housing for them which was located fairly close to the ranch house. During those times Retta would play with the children of those families and she soon learned to speak Spanish fairly well. Unfortunately she did not retain this linguistic ability when she reached adulthood. However today, she can cook up some very delicious Mexican chow. MMMMMMM She enjoyed watching the Mexican women prepare and bake tortillas on top of a wood heated cook stove in the “beet shack”. I have no idea why they called it the “beet shack”. It was actually a pretty nice, well built, two story house. Better than some of the area ranch and farm houses.

In the winter Retta enjoyed ice skating on a nearby pond, but one of her fondest memories as a little girl, was riding on a little snow sled being pulled by a big Bay gelding saddle horse ridden and maneuvered by Dad. Dad would sort of play “crack the whip” with the sled that Retta was hanging onto for dear life. She had gotten throwed off the mean little Shetland pony a lot, but she seldom fell off that sled. She loved it, especially ’cause she was doin’ it with Dad.

In the house Dad and little Retta could also put on a pretty good rodeo show. Retta was the bareback bronc rider and Dad would be the buckin’ bronc. Usually she could hang on, but occasionally Dad would buck her off…….However, she’d get right back on……’Cause since her Dad was a good cowboy, and she sometimes wanted to be a good cowgirl.

Those were some of the good ole’ ranch days for little Retta………

Papa (Jim Diede)