Here are three accounts of a story I heard many times growing up. First in Dad’s words, then Muriel’s (the one that got bit), then Sterling’s, adding more detail to how they spent their days.
Dad, some years older than at the snake bite caper.
For us kids it was ideal, spending summers at the homestead. We would take a lunch and be gone all day . . . to the mountains and other places. Sterling, Muriel and I were always together. Comer was the oldest, two years older than me, and the boss, so we didn’t play with him. Burwin was six years younger and too small for most of our hikes.
One day we went to the sand hills about two miles away. We were racing and jumping over sage brush and Muriel landed on a rattlesnake. I asked if he got bit and he said it just tapped his foot. I had him take off his shoe and we could see that he was bit, even if only one fang had penetrated.
We put a tourniquet on him and carried him to a sheep wagon near by. I sent Sterling to get Mother. After some delay Mother came. She’d forgotten to get the snake-bite kit and had to return for it. She was with a neighbor in a car and they took Muriel to town. Town was 50 miles away and a four or five-hour ride. The doctor gave Muriel an anti-venom shot, and that’s what almost killed him. It has been my opinion that Muriel would have survived without the doctor’s help.
Here’s Muriel’s account:
Muriel, also years after surviving the bite (and the doctor).
We were going to the sand hills to go swimming. We were jumping over sagebrush to see who could jump the highest. I jumped over a huge one and came down on a rattlesnake! Hyatt yanked off my shoe, found the puncture marks and sucked out the poison, while Sterling raced full speed for home (about two miles). Mother hitched up the team and came down to pick me up. She drove to Miller’s ranch where there was a car, but only the ranch hand was there who had only driven once. He said he’d try and we made it to town, only running off the road a couple of times. The doctor had a new snake bite remedy which he hadn’t used before and gave me too much. That’s what neaarly killed me. I spent several weeks in the hospital.
Then here’s Sterling’s story:
Sterling, the runner, aged between Dad and Muriel.
Comer, being the oldest, was the man of the house because Pop was gone most of the time. He took the position seriously, so he rarely played with the rest of us. Hyatt, Muriel and I roamed the country for two or three miles in all directions looking for magpie, crow and hawk nests, and exploring. We killed hundreds of rattlesnakes with rocks and sticks, cut off the rattles and took them home to Mom. She had several quart jars full of rattles by the time we left the homestead.
When we got hungry during our travels, we would get up on a ridge and look for the nearest sheep wagon. The herders were always so glad to have someone to talk to that they were happy to feed us pork and beans or chili con carne.
There were some sand hill lakes about three miles south of the house. They were beautiful lakes to swim in and it was on one of our trips to the lakes that Muriel was bitten by a rattlesnake. I must have been about 10, Hyatt 12, and Muriel 8. We were pretending we were wild horses, running as hard as we could, jumping sagebrush as we went. Muriel jumped a sagebrush and landed on a big rattler and it bit him on the foot. Luckily, Hyatt had joined the Boy Scouts the previous winter and had learned about snake bites and tourniquets. So he put a tourniquet on Muriel’s leg and carried him to the creek a short distance away to put mud on the bite to draw out the poison. Meanwhile, I ran home to tell Mom.
(Below) The full family in around 1931, all dressed up and feeling out of place. Note the early and great hight of first born Comer (back). No wonder they called him “the boss.”
When I told Mom about Muriel and where they were, she ran up to the road, on a ridge about 200 yards from the house, to try to catch a ride. We had no transportation of our own so I ran to the Fraker’s ranch, about three miles away, because they had a brand new Chevy. When I returned with them, I learned that Mom had caught a ride and was on the way to town with Muriel. He was pretty sick by the time they got to the doctor, but the tourniquet Hyatt used and getting him to the doctor fast, saved him.
Next: Out of food, broke down wagon, child guards.
Our Lives Together
Its About Life
8:01 pm
Hyatt, Your love for stories and story telling is making more sense. It’s your heritage and I can hardly wait for the next!
8:41 pm
Isn’t family history fun? Enjoy reading your family stories.
9:54 pm
Can hardly wait for the next part of the saga!
10:21 pm
These are keepers, Hyatt. These snakebite stories are a hoot! I can so relate, being a snake-hunter when I was a lad myself. Never got bitten, but close. Being a young buck was so different in those days … so much adventure.
3:34 am
Love the story. My cousin Larry (now departed) have a similar story involving cottonmouth snakes. With the telling the truth remains but the facts seem to. BE continually and there is only one if us left telling the story. ::))
Gary
4:02 am
Enjoyed the variations in the telling. Thanks for sharing the family lore.
6:30 am
Wow; Grandpa really understates his role in this story! I never picked up on his being so nonchalant in his stories, but he had our raptured attention all the same :)
7:11 am
Thanks for sharing these precious stories. My dad used to write up stories which my siblings and I have today. Maybe I’ll be inspired to do the same for my children. Your sharing is an honor not only to your dad, but the whole family.
7:32 am
What a legacy. I’m loving the adventure…..more, Moore!
9:24 am
Oh my…. truly a life-threatening event and so well handled by such youngsters. You carry an impressive history.
9:39 am
Hyatt, you know our birthdays are close, so I had a similar childhood. Such fun. Such freedom. Kids to days don’t know what they are missing. All the more reason why parents today need to take them on these daily adventures whenever possible.
10:40 am
These stories are fascinating!! Can’t wait for the next one.
10:56 am
These are so fun to read….Can’t wait until the next one!
3:53 pm
Great fun to read these accounts. Thanks!!
10:37 pm
I’d love to know how many of these stories were also told by his brothers. It really gives a bigger picture.
5:21 am
Really enjoyed the retelling of the stories through different voices and eyes..Makes you wonder how anyone survived these times.