Miriam McFate Travel Journal - 1926

Fri, Nov 5, 1926

Had to pay $1.00 to have this old Ford pulled to get it started. Picked up and ready to leave here. The old lady begged some more coffee this morning. They just about froze last night. Had a heavy frost here, but the sun shines bright so it will be warm after while. Gave them what wood we had left and $1.00 bill. Maybe one good turn will bring us a one. Poor old folks like this are to be pitied. Left at 9:20.

Drove on thro a very level stretch of country. About the same amount of corn and cotton raised here. Large patches of sun flower too. No wonder they have nicknamed Missouri the “Hound Dog State”. It surely is one. Every one has two or three. We don’t see many horses but lots of mules. All building and fences are ramshackle. Don’t see how people live in them. Where ever they use any paint it is of the most brilliant hues. Have passed load after load of cotton going to the gins. Every way you look you can see negroes at work picking. They have to pick this every two weeks. The bolls do not all burst open at one time. You can easily tell where it was picked a week ago. The white blossoms are scattered here and there, then where they are picking it looks like rows of little brown bare trees, and where they haven’t picked it is just a confusion of white blossoms. Wish you could see these cotton fields, as it surely is a sight.

We passed a great long transportation truck in the ditch this morning. I think the driver must have fallen asleep as it was not a bad place and he was off on the wrong side of the road. It looked as if he had driven right into it. At any rate it will be a big job to get it back in the road. We drove on till noon.

Stopped at a filling station called Canady. Eat our dinner. Started again 1:30. We have heard about cotton plantations. This is where we get to see them. We could see a nice large house with well kept yards, then off about a quarter of a mile you would see a row of shacks about every 80 rods apart. Sometimes these would extend clear across a whole section. The owner, most always a white man, lives in the large house. The shacks are occupied by negro pickers. Large families of Negros live in these shacks. I think they must pile up like pigs do as I don’t see where there is room for so many in one.

Lots of Alfalfa grown thro here. It is nice and green. The soil here is very sandy. We crossed the Mo and Ark. line at 2:45. Most every town of any size has at least one cotton gin. Passed load after load of baled cotton today. This is baled in layers, done up in a net sack. 100 or 500 pounds to the bale. All this is shipped to the cotton mills. The north eastern is very much like southeastern Missouri. Very level. Lots of corn and cotton. Cotton isn’t as good here as in Mo. Very short and thin. Don’t have such large fields of it. More timber here. They plant cotton where ever it is cleared enough to work the ground. Houses are very near the road. Not a spear of grass in any ones yard, No fences along the road, don’t know how they tell ones land from another. Each yard is fenced in with piece of slabs wired together. Just a little square place around the house. Doors wide open, chickens, goats and kids all have free privileges. Have seen all three in the same house. Many of the houses are built of native lumber with tin roofs. No fences of any kind, and no telephone poles along the road. They are so close to one another they don’t need these.

We saw an amusing sign at an eating house. It reads “Pa’s place, Ma’s cooking.” Pulled into camp at Oscealo Ark. 4:25. Motor has worked fairly good, but still takes to much oil. The boys are going to let down a spring and will see it that helps. We are camped right across the street from a carnival so hurrah for music all night. Got supper. All went to the carnival. Not much of a crowd. This is the noisiest town we have been in yet. Whistles and engines going everywhere. Not a very nice camp ground either. We are only a quarter of a mile from the Mississippi. It is real chilly again tonight. We drove 66 miles on pavement today.