Pioneers of the Plains (1942)

it is the year 1870 and the American PLS offer a vast open region for a new tide of settlement with few streams and little water the plains are nonetheless rich in deep fertile soil and there is room here room for a man to farm room to carve out a new life room to breathe at least that's how the Carter family see it theirs is a Pioneer Heritage for their forbears it was on to Ohio then Indiana then Illinois and now it is the Western Plains that beckon once it was the pack horse later the flatboat now it is oxen and wagons that carry the Pioneers West the father fought at Tippy Cano the son was with me at Gettysburg the mother conf fronted Forest Trails the daughter faces the lonely Plains and for the Carter children there are Frontiers yet unknown the American Faith travels westward in the prairie there are pauses in the journey each night pioneers and oxen must have rest and food and water thus while mother and children prepare a supper of long familiar cornmeal mush father leads the weary oxen to the banks of a nearby stream and now with supper nearly ready Mr Carter ties the animals to a tethering steak for the night and joins in the simple meal long days on the trail make the heartiest food most welcome but from a distant Ridge a settler Mr Crawford notices The Carter camp that means a visit ma see them campers over there I think we ought to take something to them it is lonely on the plains in 1870 very lonely news from Back East is always welcome to settlers like the crawfords a visit to a newcomer is to relive their own Journey West and to foresee needs and emergencies that will confront oncoming Pioneers strangers in all but their sharing of a common Heritage and a common destiny established settlers and new arrivals greet each other with warmth and genuine friendship we saw your Camp from the house and kind of wanted to come over and talk gets awful lonesome out here glad you came come over and sit down yes it is good to be with One's Own Kind again where are you from Illinois how long you've been on the way about 8 weeks now yes my husband filed his claim last spring and came back for the children and me in July you'll find things very different out here yes I imagine we will so friendly talk goes on around the Carter campfire until with the setting of the sun over the darkening Prairie vastness there comes a request for music music that erases the Solitude of the Plains [Music] e [Music] the day is passed and steadily the Carters press on Westward only a little distance now to the claim already coming into view but new trials lie ahead Cattlemen have long considered the PLS their land for grazing their vast herds of cattle aing to settle around here Mister see that cornfield right over there that's mine this here's cattle and it's no good for farming have you seen my crop of corn no but this is all xbo grazing land that's not what my claim Stakes say well partner is the saying goes I guess you just have to live and learn not very pleasant words to hear but those who have faced repeated dangers and privations for their staunch Pioneer Faith are not easily shaken in their resolve and now finally the long journey ends after nearly 3 months the Carters are on soil bounded by claim Stakes driven last spring past are the hazards of the trail unknown streams the dreary monotony of day after day under the blazing sun they have come through all in safety the soil is theirs ahead of them lies the life of pioneers they will build their future here on the Prairies by hard work by unwavering courage and the mutual helpfulness necessary to carve a living out of the Virgin Prairie for their present home they will use the small Dugout built last spring by Carter during the planting and cultivation of the first crop of corn that corn is now ripened and almost ready for the Harvest it is corn heavy with mature ears a good first CR brings the reassurance that success May attend their new Venture that they may depend on a rich friendly soil to sustain life for their new home the ploud sod of the fertile soil furnishes most of the material tough Prairie sod plowed and cut into lengths will supply materials for walls and roof materials that will make a substantial house with sod laid carefully a thick wall grows layer by layer each section smooth before another is placed upon it the Pioneer Spirit of helpfulness prevails Mr Lewis and his son are neighbors experienced in sod house construction and the walls grow upward to the ridge pole of Cedar brought from a nearby Canyon sod walls smoothly trimmed will shed rain well will be less easily eroded by the wind on the plains Lumber is precious a few slabs brought from a distant Sawmill form frames for Windows and Doors and the luxury of more lumber as a roof Foundation assures a minimum of leakage there at once the new home is circled by a Fire Guard two plowed rings of several furrows each between these two ploud paths Carter burns the grass and thus protects the house from the dreaded Prairie Fire by the Gap formed by the blackened Baron area within the completed sod house Mrs Carter has set up housekeeping walls are plastered shelves are decorated the little round stove is the center of the household for cooking and when winter comes it will afford protection against howling blizzards fuel of any kind is at a premium only Prairie Grass occasional Twigs aside from the everpresent Buffalo chips the collecting of these forms a considerable part of of each day's routine for Irene and James again at Corn Harvest the lewises offer that helpfulness and exchange of Labor which on the frontier soon became a custom cooperation here is a necessity today on his return from the purchase of a horse Paul Carter has gained another acquaintance a venerable ciruit riding Minister the Reverend Mr Hansen whose parish is Broad and vaguely Limited here on the Windswept Plains the outposts of Western Civilization are already rapidly being organized into a society as new settlers continue to arrive in the prairie loneliness The Minister's visits will always be timely I'll have dinner ready soon and you'll be more than welcome tell me you're going to to have a new school around here yes putting up a building down there about 2 miles the children be starting in soon you know they'll have to see a lot of changes in this section yes I guess they will but I don't think the land will ever change much not the Prairies Paul maybe brother Danon here would like to hear some music yes ma'am we need music out here music to ward off loneliness music to sustain the high courage needed by dauntless Pioneers in their conquest of the [Music] Plains [Music] d