COLLEGE AT LAST!!
The summer of 1936 was ending. I could see that there was no chance whatever of my attending the University of Minnesota to study forestry, as I had long planned to do. I had very little money, and for that reason had not applied to the University. As we were growing up, our parents had always encouraged us to get a college education. They were willing to make great sacrifices to make that possible. They now came up with a new plan.
Mom would move to Havre with Jean, Mary, and me. Robert was already living there, having attended Northern Montana College the previous year. We would live in an apartment, and Dad would keep on working at Fort Peck, to pay for it all. It was especially difficult for Dad, as he wanted to be at home, but it seemed the only thing to do. By our moving to Havre, both Jean and I could attend Northern Montana College, Mary could attend Havre High School, and Robert could live with us.
I can't recall the actual move to Havre. Robert came down to Hinsdale with his Model A Ford to help with the move. Robert's car pulled a small trailer. We also had our family chariot--an ancient Model T roadster with a box built in place of the rumble seat. We loaded the things we would need in Havre, and drove up there. That was a major move for us--one hundred and sixty-five miles! We moved to an upstairs apartment just a few blocks from the administration building of the college. My younger sister, Mary, was a freshman in high school that year. Her school was only another two or three blocks beyond the college administration building. Robert kept his Model A there, while Dad took the old Model T back to Fort Peck Dam with him. He lived in a barracks there, and came to Havre when he could, to visit us.
Dad was always working at something, beside his regular job; he didn't like to be idle. His job on the dam was working as a laborer on the fill. The dam was largely built by dredging dirt and gravel from the river valley below the dam site, and pumping it through giant pipes up to the fill. There the water seeped away, leaving the dirt and other debris to build the fill. The pipes that brought the mud and water up from the river valley were six feet in diameter. The powerful dredges, digging deep into the deposits down stream, often encountered large stumps of the ancient juniper forest that had once grown there. Some of these stumps were pumped up onto the fill. Also, buffalo skulls and bones came out frequently.
Dad began to salvage some of the juniper wood. Such material was undesirable in the fill, anyway. He found the wood wonderfully preserved, though it must have been buried for centuries. He took the wood chunks to the carpenter shop, and from them cut out small pieces of beautifully grained and colored wood. From these he made several table lamps. The wood had wonderful colors-- browns, yellows, pinks, streaks of violet--and made handsome lamps. I think one or more of them may still be in service in Great Falls, in the homes of relatives there. Wages in those days were very low--less than a dollar an hour for hard work--but living expenses were also low. Dad and Mom managed nicely, so far as I am aware, and we (or at least I) never felt particularly pinched for money that year. I don't know just how we happened to rent the particular apartment we found, We had plenty of space, and, wonder of wonders, an indoor bathroom with running water! That took more than a little adjustment by us all, as we had never before had such a facility in our home! There was a little neighborhood grocery store just a block or so down the street from us, and we did most of our grocery buying there. The Methodist Church, where we all attended, was also not far away, and we walked there for the various services.
Robert bought a new radio for the apartment. It was a "console" model, standing upright from the floor, and we had many hours of enjoyment listening to it. He was not attending classes that fall. Instead, he was working at Gamble's store, a small and new hardware company. The radio was purchased from the store, I'm sure.
How well do I remember that first day of going to the college to register, and to meet the president, Dr. Guy H. Vande Bogart! I had a scholarship that first year, based on my high school grades, and success at the state high school week, in May. Jean and I walked the few blocks to the school, and with many other young people, got through the registration process without a hitch. Though I wasn't attending the school I wanted, the prospects at this college excited me. I don't remember being troubled by having to attend a lesser school.
When registration was completed, we new students met Dr. Vande Bogart, the president of Northern Montana College. We dutifully lined up, and he came out of his office. He shook hands with each of us, asking our names, where we were from, and what we planned to study. He was a very distinguished looking man, and, I think, a fine man. He did a great deal to develop Northern Montana College in the years he was there.
Of course, he had previously met my brother, Robert, so I suppose that was a help to him in remembering our names. Although I saw him a few times that year, and the next, it was always very casually, and I never felt really personally acquainted with him. Imagine my surprise, then, ten years later in 1946, when I was attending the University of Montana at Missoula after World War II, I met Dr. Vandebogart on the campus at Missoula. Without any hesitation, he greeted me by name, and asked about my sister and brother, also by name! He had a wonderful memory.
What were my first year subjects? Since I was pursuing my planned study of forestry, I chose the same basic subjects I would have had at a larger school. I had to take English for Technical Students, college algebra, zoology, and (I think!) sociology. I enjoyed every subject, and settled down to get good grades. All the teachers who had met Robert the year before were wondering if his kid brother would be as good a student as he was. I had a difficult example to follow! Jean signed up for a secretarial course, and took typing, shorthand, and some other business courses. We didn't have any classes together.
I also had a job! In those days the government had some programs to help students who needed extra funds. Each student could work enough hours to earn a maximum of fifteen dollars a month, at the standard wage of forty or fifty cents an hour. My assignment was to work with a Dr. Morgan, a teacher of German courses. His office was in East Hall, about a mile from our apartment. I worked with him several afternoons each week, correcting papers, sometimes typing memos and tests, and doing similar office work. Sharing the same office with Dr. Morgan was Mr. Johnson, my math teacher, and we became good friends. His son, Ed, was one of my classmates, a very fine athlete and a good student.
Beside working for Dr. Morgan, I sometimes worked on the campus, raking and cleaning up. During the winter months, I had a regular job cashiering at the basketball games. I could make change rapidly and accurately, and really enjoyed that. I got to see most of the students as they came in, and many towns people, too. Also, I had free admission to the ball games. I could usually get out of the ticket booth about half way through the game, and watch the rest of the time. Checking out my tickets and money at the end of the game took a little time, of course, but I earned fifty cents an hour for the whole time, so it was really an easy job.
My classes were all interesting to me. The zoology course covered a very wide range of subjects, and required the preparation of drawings of various bugs, animals, etc. I soon found that I had a knack for drawing, though I had never had any formal training. Also, my lab partner in that course was a young lady, a year ahead of me in school, who was preparing for medical school later. She was absolutely fearless when it came to handling the various specimens, even live snakes, several of which were kept in the lab. Often when working on some project, such as dissection of frogs, she would have a snake crawling around on the lab table, or draped around her neck and shoulders. I don't know whether she ever became a doctor, as I never heard of her after that one year of school.
The zoology teacher, a Mr. Anderson, had a delightful little daughter about three years of age. The little girl often came to the lab in the afternoon, and was wonderfully well acquainted with the fish and other creatures in the aquarium. She spoke intelligently of dinosaurs, and all sorts of things. Toward the end of the year, I worked some as lab assistant to Dr. Anderson, and learned to operate the various slide-making equipment available, fed the creatures in the fish tank, and so on. Then, as I was acquainted with the little girl, I sometimes served as baby-sitter for her while her parents went out for an evening. She was unusually intelligent. No silly little baby stories for her at bedtime! I have often wondered what happened to that little child!
That winter I signed up to take wrestling, for physical education. On the first night, the coach, Dr. Morgan (the professor for whom I worked) asked me to get down on the mat on my hands and knees, while he demonstrated a good hold. He got in position, then told me to try to get up. I out-weighed him by maybe ten pounds, and was strong and in good shape from hard work on the farm, so I simply stood up, taking him with me! He protested! That wasn't the idea, at all. My wrestling career ended quickly. I was getting enough exercise walking about the campus, and in my different jobs.
Both Jean and I became active in the Epworth League at the Methodist Church, and I sang in the church choir, too. Most of the young people in Epworth League were of high school age, and I made several good friends. I didn't have a car, as many of the high school kids did, but they sometimes invited me to ride with them. In the church our whole family became acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. W.W. Jones, leaders in the church. That acquaintance was to be a big help to me the next year!