Here’s the first of a short series recounting the life of my father. He wrote it at the request of family reunion organizers a decade ago. The photos are from various albums that have come into my possession. Enjoy this, if for nothing else, the times they lived in and the contrast to ours.
Here’s a photo I’d never seen that just fell out of one of the albums. It’s captioned “Madge Comer and Hyatt Moore when they first met.” That will be my dad’s father and mother. I love it because it’s one of the few that’s not posed in a photographer’s studio, when they were young, rugged, and ready.
I was born in McPherson, Kansas, September 20, 1916 to parents Hyatt Edwin Moore and Margarite Diadame (Comer) Moore. My older brother Comer Edwin Moore was born in Provo, Utah two years before me.
My first recollection is from the time we moved to the homestead 50 miles outside the nearest town of Rawlins, Wyoming. I must have been about 2 because my younger brother Sterling had not been born and he was two years younger than me.
First we “camped out” on the Miller Ranch nearby while Dad cut native logs, hauled them in, and built a one-room house for us. Meantime, the Miller cabin we were using reeked, having been used to dip sheep. It was open to the weather and leaked when it rained. It must have been very hard for Mother.
I learned later that this was the second attempt at homesteading. The first homestead was in Colorado using Dad’s name, while he was a fireman on the railroad. He lost that job and the homestead.
In Rawlins Dad got a job as brakeman on the Union Pacific Railroad. He used the name of Henry and applied for the homestead under Mother’s name. They had a choice of several locations and picked the best, 640 acres with running water up against the Seminoe Mountains.
They had little money and no steady job so this was all they could do.
Here’s already good-natured Dad at about 1 year, with older brother, mother and Hyatt the First.
I do not remember the first trip to the homestead but we probably moved with a horse and wagon, as the horse was necessary to bring logs to build the house. My dad was on the extra board, out of work for most of the summer, so this is when we moved.
(Next: An early Christmas, a cigar-smoking Santa, and attempts at wilderness schooling.)
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
7:57 pm
There is a Comer (a last name I have never heard before), originally from Texas
though, at the care facility my mom is at. You never know… I call him Tex and he calls me pumpkin.
10:09 pm
Thanks for sharing your grandparent’s story through your dad. Enjoyed reading it and getting a few very cool visual reference. Looking forward to more.
10:21 pm
I’ve never seen these pictures either. I find it fascinating how grandpa looked like both his parents, so clear in that second photo.
10:46 pm
Hyatt, I can see family resemblance between you and your grandfather. It is a strong family look. So much fun!!! Thank you for sharing. Times have changed so much. Gosh. Thanks! Blessings! Lisa
10:48 am
I agree with Lisa ~ you can see the resemblance! Loved the pictures and the story.
6:34 pm
Truly fascinating Hyatt. Thank you for sharing this. I can’t wait for Moore :)
1:09 pm
I love this Hyatt. So interesting.
3:54 pm
Hyatt,
Love to read about your folks.
Becky