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Joseph or "Joe,"
grandfather, was molded by his Welsh ancestry. He was strong beyond our
comprehension. He lived to be 96. His life had been one of constant
struggle. He had claimed land in Oklahoma as a young man. He fought
through drought and every hard living circumstance. Then there was the
building of the ranch and these were his golden years. The input into the
lives of others in his older years was more to being observant as to the
needs of the children. He was not a conversationalist, but was a man of
few words. Living through the terrible losses with his own family when
the state was just opening up before the turn of the century, had left
their imprint on his personality. There was probably, not much he had not
seen. Actually, the planning of the building and the organization of the
lands at the ranch was his thinking. One only has to make this deduction
by knowing what he had done before as to his building around the area of
Marshall, Oklahoma where he had staked his claim. In her notes, his
daughter, Gertrude Wadley, makes the observation that Joe had moved a
whole town, buildings and all with his carpentry skills when the railroad
moved to another location away from the original town site.
Fame Flower - Talinum rugospermum
Fireweed - Epilobium anguestifolium
The meadow established at
the ranch is of no consequence to anyone unless they be aware of how
important the rich prairie hay is to the growing of beef. The vegetation
is comprised of annual and perennial 'weed' species such as broom weed,
buffalo burr, giant ragweed, western ragweed and snow-on-the-prairie. The
blue stem tall prairie grass was what was desired. In the spring the blue
haze over the meadow is truly beautiful. This eighty acre meadow is
surrounding the ranch place still produces and is prime land.
Joe Pye Weed - Eupatorium maculatum
Milkweed, Sand - Asclepias amplexicaulis
Dennis stood behind his
father, Joe's philosophy as to protecting the land. There was an unwritten
understanding as to not driving on the meadow, except at the time of
haying. Truck tracks could cut into the soil making a permanent scar and
no one wanted to cross Joe or his sons when they were alive to drive on
the meadow.
The day after Dennis's
death we drove by the meadow and there across one end of the meadow in a
mark of defiance was the rude marks of tracks in the meadow. It didn't
anger me. More than that it seemed more like a tribute to Dennis. "They
didn't do it while he was alive." This was my feeling. The meadow was
never grazed because it too destroys the grass, especially if pasturing
isn't controlled. This was the reason there was no fences established on
the meadow. The grounds of the meadow comes right out to the road.
Track vehicle activities cause extreme
disturbance to the soils |
