The Wild, Wild West

Fandango

My best friend’s great grandfather, who we went to visit in the nursing home, was a treasure trove of stories. He told us about how he moved his family from a cushy life back east to the Louisiana Territory to get a great deal on 160 acres of land that was in the category of the Homestead Act.

He said life on the prairie back then was difficult, but he and his family were ready to tackle the challenges of creating a home on the range. His tales of bravado were indeed mesmerizing.

I was able to glean, though, that there was something fishy about my buddy’s great grandfather’s tales. And as entertaining as they were, my friend admitted that they were all concoctions of his great grandad’s addled mind from all of the westerns he had watched on TV.

Written for these daily prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (treasure), The Daily Spur (category), MMA Storytime (territory), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (tackle), and Ragtag Daily Prompt (glean).

9 thoughts on “The Wild, Wild West”

  4. Marleen June 21, 2021 / 6:33 pm

    The grandad of my children is old enough to be a great grandfather. He’s ninety-two. Their dad recently went to visit and took some video of his dad telling stories and answering questions [phone recordings rather than actual video reel]. I was going to say it might be a little sad — not as an absolute definition but as someone’s point of view — to get old enough but not, in fact, have great grandchildren. Then I recalled that he does have great grandchildren… from his other son’s son and daughter, though. We used to visit with that contingent of the family a lot when the children were small. The children, not the children’s children. It’s a whole ecosystem over there in Saint Louis, carrying on as is traditional; the traditions of the white man. Grandad is quite bright, though, living at home and fully lucid. He’s had hip replacements and seems to perpetually be low on sodium in his blood. Not too shabby. He wouldn’t even imagine being given acreage in a settlers’ deal to promote homesteading. He was from a people whose land was simultaneously being taken away, while those children were being re-educated to not be who they had been before the entitlement brigades arrived. Success. This son of the Trail of Tears fought on the side of Manifest Destiny and more. Beyond the West and back again.

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