Pioneer Woman...the Wagon Ride

  
I envision a pioneer as an adventurer and explorer:  a bold and curious, nosy soul who travels the distance to satisfy her curiosity, to settle her dream.  My Grandmother is a fine example, or maybe it was more her husband, my Grand Daddy Kemp.

During the early 1900's they traveled from Arkansas to Oklahoma in a covered wagon... twice!  As newlyweds, the "just opened" Indian Territory offered opportunity, land and adventure:  just what a young couple desired.  But, the Oklahoma plains proved too forlorn for them.  Terribly homesick and overwhelmed, they packed everything back into their wagon and retreated back home to Arkansas.  

However, once replenished and emotionally restored, they took off again, for that same rugged, covered wagon ride.  This time they stayed and raised their five children on Oklahoma's red soil.  Maybe they had fallen in love with Oklahoma the newly titled "forty-sixth state" and its open skies, or maybe they were too weary to travel back to known opportunities, or maybe... they were just too proud.  For some reason, they dug in their toenails and stayed near the southern Red River, taming their parcel of land, parcel of possibilities.  With grit, determination, hard work and pure "hardheadedness" they conquered their "West" and carved out a homeland for their generations to follow.   They were true adventurers, and most definitely... pioneers!

That was my grand daddy Jesse Samuel and my grand mother Lizzie, and even though their "Pioneer" title appropriately applies to them, it cannot be passed on to their children or children's children. My ancestral history may contribute to my pioneer longings, but family credentials do not prove me a pioneer.  The title "Pioneer" can not be given.  It must be earned.  

Hence, I continue my quest, and ask myself again... "Am I a pioneer?".

Sincerely, 

Cindy Lou Kemp Hodges

Jesse Samuel & Elizabeth Kemp, Wedding Picture 1919

Note their eyes:  Grandpa's look of adventure, Grandma's look of steadfastness

Webster's New World Dictionary... Pioneer:  noun  1. a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.
 


 

@Copyright 2012, Cindy Lou Hodges All Rights Reserved.