Idaho Farm Girl

Ione Thorpe 1947

R to L Little boy, Lucy Walker Thorpe, Athena, Thomas Thorpe, little boy, Ione, Preston

I enjoy talking to Grandma Latour on Sundays. Her life is so interesting! She was born on a farm in Pleasant View, Idaho, the second to the youngest of ten children. Probably because of cars being more prolific and dependable, this community has mostly vanished and is considered part of Malad, Idaho to all but the old timers.

Grandma has a high opinion of her dad. She said, "Dad was a busy guy. He was a wonderful guy. If anything new came out that would make Mother's life easier, Dad would buy it for her. Mom was the first person in Pleasant View to have a Bendix (automatic washing machine). Dad would take off work and help Mom on wash day. He was a farmer, so he could. Mom's health wasn't so good. Dad helped her every fall with the canning. He got the boys to help too. They would peel the peaches and pears."

Even though Grandma and Thad (grandma's younger brother)were the youngest children, her Dad found ways to spend time with her. "He read Thad and me the funny papers every night and kept me in stilts. I was always walking around on stilts." Grandma recalls.  "One day, Mom was gone and the bread had risen. Dad showed me how to make the bread dough into loaves."

For three years Dad was the Bishop. In those days, the Bishop's desk was in his home because there was no room at the church. He gave Thad and me drawers in the Bishop's desk. I remember helping him count the silver dollars paid in tithing. Joyce helped by typing the membership cards. Because of Mom's health, Dad resigned after three years."

Grandma also remembered tromping hay during haying. One day, they had a full load of hay and a snake slithered out from underneath the hay where grandma was tromping. Her Dad was jumped to the top of hay in a flash. She said it was hard to tell who was more frightened, her or the snake.

Since there was no TV, video games, computer, or all the other distractions that keep families disconnected from each other, Grandma and her siblings played cards at night and listened to the radio. Grandma and Thad's favorite radio show was Let's Pretend. It featured fairy tales. She and her brothers and sisters played card games too: Rummy and Steal the Pile. With all the boys, the play sometimes got wild. Grandma's Mom said if she could raise her family all over again it would be summer all year long, so she could send them outside. If the kids argued too much, Grandma's Mom would take the cards and toss them into the fire. Cards were not easy to come by, so they learned not to argue.

Grandma's Dad could be tough if need be. Once on a family trip to Yellowstone Park and man was wandering around suspiciously in the campsites. Grandma's Dad shined the flashlight in the miscreant's face until he took off.

I wish I had more scanned photos and stories about Grandma's family. They sounded so happy. They are good example of how families should behave towards each other. Thanks for sharing the stories, Ione!