Mom Trapped in the Outhouse

When our sons were young boys they belonged to a 4-H club and had a few sheep. We lived on a farm and I had to use a clothesline prop with a rope clothesline. For some unknown reason the ram didn't like this pole, and just as soon as I put this prop in place to keep my clothes in the breeze and off the ground he would charge after me. I did not have time to get to the house, so would go for the outhouse. He would keep guard over me. From the cracks in the siding of the outhouse I also kept a nervous watch over him, all the while hoping he'd not hit the place. He never did. I couldn't get out, so there I'd sit the rest of the day until the boys came home from school and they heard me calling them, also saw the ram circling the outhouse or standing at the door. Needless to say after a couple of Mondays in the throne room, my husband put a fence around the yard to keep the ram confined to his quarters. Whenever my sons want to tell a funny story about mom they always tell about how mom likes her outhouse. 

Loretta Morgan
Phillipsburg, Kansas

Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.