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January 31, 2010
WOLF CREEK HERITAGE MUSEUM NOTES by Virginia Scott MUSEUM HAPPENINGS I hope everyone stayed inside and warm during our first snowstorm of winter 2010. Our snow was beautiful and the ice fog during the weekend created a beautiful morning. Our roads and the museum parking lot and sidewalk is cleared so if you have cabin fever and your road is cleared come see us. The bad side of being closed and not at work is that we have a backlog of mail and email. Be patience and we will get everything answered. Hopefully, I will also add some snow pictures to our website. We had a good work day last Wednesday before the snow moved in with the Core Team catching up on mailings, obits, cemetery volumes, and answering requests for information,etc. We are also preparing our annual statistics. I hope everyone is working on their stories. Businesses and Organizations remember you can write your stories and you can contact our town representatives about memorials and ads (see our brochures for details). Stories are coming in and they are well done, thanks. The clock is ticking so get busy. HISTORICAL MUSINGS In his column "Memories of the Old Home Town" entitled Bull's-eye Harry Zollars describes the activity and people of Lipscomb when the blacksmith shop was opened and run by Martin Madsen. Pete Jenkins, ten years old would hang out at the shop.He would tug on the bellows lever to supply air to the large forge with its glowing coals in the belief that he was helping Madsen who let him cherish that belief. He also ran errands for Madsen and had his mother bake an apple pie or loaf of bread for him because he was a confirmed bachelor. One day when he appeared at the shop, Madsen presented Pete with a crossbow that he had carefully crafted for him. Pete was thrilled with the gift and he proceeded to look for the corrected "bullets" for the bow. Lipscomb had many deserted home sites from houses moved from Lipscomb to other places like Higgins when the railroad decided to bypass the town. On these sites were rusty square cut nails that were a perfect fit for his bow. His mother made him an ammunition pouch to carry them in when out shooting. With much practice Pete became quite accurate with his bow and was always looking for a new challenging target. Pete and his sister, Winnie, had a clubhouse in an old hay barn behind their house where each had a side of the second floor section for their use. Winnie had her dolls and decorated it with curtains while Pete's side was cluttered with tortoise shells, old bird nests, snake skins, and other boy items of interest. The boards of the old barn had numerous large knot holes and one day while looking for targets at which to shoot Pete observed one upon his side of the clubhouse and proceeded to endeavor to put a nail right in the bull's-eye. After several near misses he succeeded in hitting his mark squarely and the nail did not glance away but went right into the hole. This dandy shot was immediately followed by loud shrieks and screams and had Pete standing in wonder and amazement. Mrs. Jenkins ran from the house, mounted the ladder to the upper section of the barn closely followed by Pete. There stood Winnie with both hands clasped over her right eye with blood streaming between her fingers and down her face. She was taken quickly by her mother to the kitchen and the wound washed and the location was determined to be above the eye with no damage to her sight. Once her cries subsided the mother inquired what had happened to her and Winnie replied "Pete shot me in the eye with his crossbow". Pete had no time to explain that he was shooting at his own side of the barn;that his sister no doubt had heard the noise of the nails striking the board and had applied her eye to the knot hole. The crossbow was seized, carried to the woodpile and entirely wrecked with the axe. Winnie's wound quickly healed with no problems but "many a moon waxed and waned before the wound in Pete's heart was healed. His making a bull's-eye shot had become a boomerang which took from him his beloved crossbow." A great story from an article written with more descriptions of Lipscomb in 1967 by Mr.Zollars. A wonderful treasure in our old newspapers. |
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