And the land certainly did provide. The growing season of eighteen sixty-seven proved successful for Frank and Gregory. The mild winter and early spring enabled them to start in the fields early. The nice weather allowed them to continue to plow up the land they were laying claim to. There would be even more crops that year. If it rained during the week, they worked outside on Sunday to make up for it.
Spring brought torrential downpours, but they managed to avoid tornadoes throughout that spring and early summer. And although those rains helped germinate the fields, Gregory and Frank were both concerned about what precipitation the warmer, summer months might bring. They remembered their history lessons about Zebulon Pike’s exploration of the Louisiana Purchase and his declaration of the
