Were oxen much used for farm work in early days?
There were some, but I really think not as generally as one might imagine. They were soon supplanted by horses and mules. We never had them on our farm; my father was not possessed of that much patience. Were people more contented then than now? I believe they were. We didn’t live the rapid pace we do now. There was more home life; the pleasures were simple ones, with old Dobbin and the rubber tired buggy. We couldn’t wander so far away from our home environment in a few hours. Coming down from New Rockford a few evenings ago, as I watched the big red, full moon, slowly rising in the east, I remarked to a pioneer who was with me, “That reminds me of the “mornings” we used to arrive home after attending a dance in New Rockford when I was a girl; but it was the sun that came up instead of the moon. The lateness was usually due to the fact that we had to ford the big slough near the Ralph Hall farm. We had breakfast and then went immediately to our schools and taught all day. What are som
