Page 71 - Ninety Miles From Nowhere

interest of science I guess I should have waited to learn more about hibernating rattlesnakes - but I didn’t.
In the spring of 1936, my brother George came out from Oklahoma to look for a place to live in Mountainair. He, Sally, and their first son Arles were moving to Mountainair where George was to work for Burt Blake in his general merchandise store. Burt was a brother of Tom Blake who helped George build Dad’s cabin, and of Mrs. Alby.
Even today the words “Blake Mercantile” can be read over one of the brick buildings on the north side of Main Street. I think it is now a coin-operated laundry.
Imogene and I went to Mountainair to meet George, and he showed us some of the prospective rent houses. I had my 1932 Chevrolet Sport Coupe, with the little stand- up trunk on it, parked across the street. We heard a terrible commotion outside and ran to see what was happening. A team of horses, pulling a wagon, had run away down the street. Whey they came to my car, one went on one side and the other went on the other side, leaving the wagon tongue to crash into my trunk and smash it flat, then go on to knock out the back glass and the body on one side of it. The thing that concerned me most was the fact that one horse was under the car, kicking and squealing.
When the men caught up with their runaways, they were unable to turn the horse over under the car, so the only way to extricate him was to pull him out bodily by his harness.
The owner of the wagon and team told me to take my car to a certain place in Albuquerque to have it repaired and have them send him the bill - which is what happened.
Although Imogene was an only child, she had never had any birthday celebration of any kind - no presents, no parties, nothing. The other two teachers and I were determined to put as many birthday surprises into the event as we possible could to help make up for the previous neglect.
In April when her birthday came, I gave her a present that morning at breakfast, so she’d think that was all. After school that afternoon the three of us told Imogene we
were kidnapping her, so we blind-folded her and tied her hands with small rope. We went by our house to leave my car, then we all got into Dora Elsie’s car. She drove around and around trying to confuse Imogene. We drove to the ranch of a couple who had helped us plan the whole thing - I wish I could remember their names - who took turns driving one of our school buses. They had to deliver their bus children before they could go, and that was the reason we were killing time.
Their ranch was in the direction of Corona, and we continued on in that direction until we reached the Gallinas Mountains where we stopped at an old deserted saw mill.
We went by the ranch to leave our presents with the couple, who preceded us to the picnic spot in their pickup. That was the real reason for the blindfold. We also left food for them to take up there.