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So it was, Gertrude Jones married her
tall handsome beau whose name was Daniel Wadley.
“We were married in Oklahoma. We
didn’t know there were no legal licenses at the time, but, of course,
someone told us.” Gertrude wrote in her journal. “ o what to do? Well,
we just took the whole wedding party out across the prairie to Kansas
and a little town called Wide Awake, and we were married again.” The
telling of the story brought out the Collin’s sense of humor and one
could almost hear Gertrude chuckle to herself as she made a note of the
incident. She goes on, “Some folks didn’t know about this and lived
together for a time before they found out they were not legally
married.”
‘Today in the 2007 this wouldn’t even
raise an eyebrow, but in the year circa 1917 it would have been
something to cause the genteel ladies to shudder.’
“She looks like a woman, and she
thinks like one. There won’t be any holding her back. Gertrude is too
much of a Jones, like the rest of you, to ever change her. I’ve taught
her to take care of a family, and I don’t have no doubts about her being
able to do just that.”
Gertrude was married to Dan T. Wadley,
and she painted a broad stroke on the land, as she ever supported her
husband, and was a wise manager of her family.
‘Meanwhile, the dust bowl was born and
named as such. When the winds started they came with such a certainty of
destruction; a tidal wave had no more power. Tall waves of black, dark
dust rose up high into the sky to move across the landscape bringing
total darkness so thick and complete no one could see their hand in
front of them. The dirt sifted in under the door and through the edges
of the windows, making little piles of sand on their ledges. Bell’s
asthma returned. The tiny, frail woman was aware she could not survive
the onslaughts of the dust filled air that was turning the very days
into nights.
“What are we gong to do, Joe? We can’t
stand this.” Bellzona was at her wit’s end.
“I tell you what we are going to do.
We are selling out. Selling out for the bottom dollar. I’m taking what I
can get and I’ll be thankful for that.” Joe announced, with finality in
his voice. |
