Author: Cora Hendricks

Miss Bertha Ballou

Elks, Nevada

Fort Logan, Colorado

Dear Bertha,

Your letter with the check came today and I turned the check over to Papa, of course. I am dreadfully sorry you were so tired and hope you have been able to get rested up before now. You must not work too hard, or put in such very long hours. It will not pay in the long run and you are not expected to stay and work until five every day, I am sure.

When you get all that library work straightened out, I suppose it will be a lot easier for you.

I am glad you have gotten rid of those boys, they must have been hard proposition. I went to Sunday school today. The ladies of the post are trying to have a Sunday school this was the second meeting and I acquitted a strong desire to wield a shingle for the benefit of certain boys. They acted exactly as I can remember seeing boys act, when a teacher went out and left one of her pupils in charge for a time.

One of the young lapels was the only one who seemed to have any interest in the lesson, or an idea concerning it. Mayor Herren left this evening. Mrs. Herren will remain here until their belongings get through and in meantime, he hopes to get a place to live. Dr. and Mrs. Drummel left this morning on leave, a month, I believe. I wish Mrs. Herren was not going. I shall miss her, also, I rather like her little girls. Mrs. Bailey is gaining quite nicely just now, they are much pleased with her progress, and they now have a cook, which she says is helping her to gain strength. Col. and Mrs. MacC – I can’t think of the rest just now, called today. They live in Denver, he is in the National Guard, I think, and was in Papa’s office in town. I like them both very much.

I even think Mrs. MacC – looks a little like you. I am glad you have a stove although it is sometimes hard to manage one in a sleeping room.

Also, I am glad you have all the other things and I will send the sleeping bag, etcetera, before long, perhaps I can finish the stockings and put them all in the same bundle. I trust I shall not be a very long time in getting the stocking done, but the first half of one does go very slowly.

I had a letter from Sally today. Yes, she seems to be having a good time mostly, and also to be getting along pretty well in her studies. She is already asking if she can go to Washington for Christmas. I think it will be well to let her do so this year as she will feel pretty lonesome, if she has to stay at school her first year. However, I have told her it will have to depend on her doing her work well in the meantime.

Papa has been to a meeting at the Service Club, and has just came in. I did not care to go. It has been warm but very windy here today and I believe a storm is gathering in the mountains. I about finished putting books in the cases today, had most of them in before, but not the best ones. Nearly everything is out now, and the house is in order, very well down stairs, but the unused bedrooms are rather ….

(Remainder is illegible)

Fort George Wright

November 1st, 1920

Dear Bertha,

I did so enjoy your letter! You have the talent for finding interesting things and people. You also seem to have a talent for finding things to do. Well, it is all right if you do not go beyond your strength. Since you are interested in so many things, you will not have any time hanging heavily on your hands. I should not know what to do if there were not so much dust to clean up.

Of course, it will be sometime before our property gate here. We are going to have the parlor and probably half of the house done over before of bad places on the wall, but the rest is pretty good, not just the color I would prefer in all respects, but too good to be at the trouble of having it changed. Since I wrote you, I have learned that there are quite a number of ladies her, mostly quite young and seemingly very nice people. The _____, who met us is not as young as he at first looks and has a wife and baby, also he has been ordered away and today a _____ has been appointed. The one West Pointer of the 21st stationed here, I believe.

We are having beautiful bright days and frosty nights. I think it is turning colder today.

Do you remember Miss _____ who went to the Philippines with us the first time? Mrs. Duncan’s sister. She lives in Spokane and came out to call yesterday. Quite a middle aged woman now, of course. Well, tomorrow will be a great day! Too bad you are not a _____ in Elks! Which party leads there? I am so curious to know how you succeed with your boy. Of course, one can sympathize with them in feeling that the teacher should do as well as she expects them to do, but the right thing is certainly for them to state their grievance.

I hope you are able to bring it about. Does you special pupil promise to be appreciative of the extra time given to him? Wish I could have seen you and Miss Johnson going to impress the natives. I suspect you did it and not with your clothes, either. Do you find any of the people congenial?

The lady with the four boys and a girl must have her hands more than full to judge from what you say of one boy. I am glad you have the sleeping bag and blankets that the price of canvas will serve you so well. If you ever do go camping, take it along to put on the ground. I do not know that you will care for the _____ but I thought it would do to throw over a trunk or table. I have your stocking finished and would have mailed them but have to find some paper to wrap them in. I had only a little ball of yarn left. I am out of knitting and I think I must get some yarn to have for a pastime. Do you want anything knitted?

We went to the library yesterday and found a few books to read. A large part of the books were the same as some of our own, but there were some others.

All the old ladies in Spokane seem to be after Papa to do something for their particular reforms. It is rather amusing, one called me, dear, half a dozen times in as many sentences over the telephone yesterday. If I had your talent, I am sure I could have sketched her portrait after hearing her talk. Today it was a very fine looking lady and she came in person.

I am anxious to have you see this place. It is very pretty, must be especially so in the summer, and I have found such thickets of wild rose bushes down towards the river.

I want to see it in spring, but then I need the winter to get the house fixed up in.

We have an excellent mess and shall not fret about a cook at present.

Now it is growing dark and I must stop. The light outside is wonderful.

Your loving mother.

Fort George Wright, Washington

November 7, 1920

Dear Bertha,

Your letter came this morning and I have been thinking of you a great deal both before and since it came. I guess we are all a little lonely dear, you and Sally and I all miss each other a lot.

I am very sorry it takes so long to get here from Elks, it does not leave much time out of your Christmas vacation or much chance for you to enjoy it if you spend four days and nights on a train. That might not be so bad for anyone who enjoyed travel but it would be hard on you. How long a time do you have at Christmas? I suppose quite a member of the pupils live at some distance and will go home for their vacations. What will the other teachers do?

I wish we could plan something different for you enjoyment. I fear you are going to find the winter pretty tedious . It will be so cold and long, but perhaps it will really not be so bad. You know we always strike exceptional years where ever we go. I believe we are having exceptional weather here right now, anyway it is remarkably find. It freezes at night and the air is pretty sharp in the morning but the sun shines out warm and bright every day. He don’t put in very long days, goes down at 4 P.M. I think, dear, you must be right in so far as a really good teacher is concerned, she, or he, must give very largely of the best that is in her and so make the work very wearing.

Well, we have just had some callers from town. I will say for the Spokane people, they are more interested in the Army people than is the case in most towns, or they would not come out to call as much as they do. It might help to make this a pleasant station.

I am sorry to hear that Dan is disappointing but hope he will not disappoint you altogether. You are certainly making yourself felt among the pupils as well as teachers. No, you had not told me before about the situation of the school. It must have been planned to take all the superfluous joy out of the youngsters.
Papa says to tell you not to work too hard and not to worry, which is more wearing than work. If you cannot keep your expenses down quite as low as you hoped to do, I guess you will find that everybody else is working under the same trouble.

Well, I do wish _____ bathroom! We could easily spare one. We have had some of the walls down over the last week and the floors downstairs varnished and waxed. The floors are unusually fine, and the house will be quite nice when we get something in it. It is two weeks since our furniture was shipped and I hope we may get it in two weeks more.

How are you getting on with the Campfire Girls? Or do they call themselves Girl Scouts? What is the plan of work with them? I read some of their laws or rules just a day or two ago, which sounded very good. Are there many of them? We see quite a lot of some of the people here as nearly everybody goes to the mess for dinner and the people who have no babies to look after are apt to sit and talk for some time after dinner. There is a lady visiting here from Florida who is a neighbor of people we knew well when you were a baby. Her son is, I believe, the only bachelor in the garrison.

At first, I thought there were a lot of them, but they all seem to have families somewhere, if not here.
By the way, I am having my blue suit made over quite completely. I do not believe I shall get another suit. I think I should really prefer to get a nice looking wool dress after a little. I shall be likely to wear my big coat a lot. I hope you have the stockings now. Have you good warm underclothing and pajamas? It is snowy there now. I hope you will not have much snow to go about in. The cold will be enough. I wish you had one of our cots in place of the big bed you dislike only I am not sure you could sleep so warmly in it.

I cannot help you out much, girlie, dear, but if it is any comfort to you, you may know I am thinking a lot about you and missing you a great deal.

Your loving mother.

To Bertha from Cora Hendricks –

Miss Bertha Ballou

Elks, Nevada
Fort George Wright, Washington

November 25, 1920

Dear Bertha,

Your letter of the 18th is waiting to be answered. I intend to have written yesterday, but did not find the time. I have been going to a dentist in town every day this week, having a new lower plate made, and now I have a very sore mouth, if nothing else, I think the new plate will be a great improvement when it is fully fitted and I get used to it.

I have started a sweater for you, dark green, because the greens are prettier than the blue in the dark shades. I have about a foot of the back knitted.

Yes, I was interested and please to know that you were going out so often and that you were dancing again, of course you can dance if it not too hard on your foot.

I am glad you are seeing the people and while I dare say you meet a lot of people you do not care for it is evident that you also meet some when you enjoy knowing. Mrs. Hunter must be a woman of some character and intelligence to manage her home and family so well. What a ______ it is that Dan does not take more interest in helping her instead of making her so much trouble. I certainly hope he will being to think of something besides having his own way.

I wonder what you are doing today. It does not seem much like Thanksgiving day to me. The morning was very dark and rainy, but it began to lighten about noon and now the sun is shining a little. We have just been at the mess for dinner, which was earned early to a small number of people. A very nice dinner but I was not hungry and could not ear with much satisfaction, because my teeth did not work comfortably.

I had a tiny note from Sally morning just explaining that she was too busy to write a real letter, but everything was alright. Of course, she is planning on going to Washington for Christmas and not having considered the possibility of being at home, is not feeling at all disappointed because she cannot be here. I am certainly glad you care coming, it will be the very best Christmas gift for me. By the way, I spent all yesterday morning at work with my Christmas present, the vacuum cleaner, and the amount of dirt I look out of the rugs I went over was shocking. I think after another good going over, they will need very little work on them, until summer comes with the dust which I told is very bad here. It is so damp now that we can get no dust except from the furnace and coal, a really surprising amount I find. Papa found a cider mill yesterday and some very fine ide just made. You will like it when you come.

I am certainly glad we are no further north. One can do nothing without a light after half past three in the afternoon, and it is still a month to the shortest days. I cannot help feeling sorry for your friend, Miss Johnson. Life must have been a pretty hard and lonesome proposition for her, and I a glad you can help her by being her friend. One can hardly think what is would be like to have one who cared for one, or tried at all to help one along. Where is she from? Does she go to her home, if there is one, for her vacations, or does she just go somewhere and board alone?

We are still spending all our spare time on the house, or at least Papa is spending all his spare time on unpacking and repairing and I am spending what is not spare time on trying to get things in order, and keep things clean when I get them cleaned.
We are going to unpack some more books as we have a lot of shelf room here, and I will unpack some China, after a bit, and a box of kitchen things. We really have no place for some of our things, with the D.M. furniture to fill up.

Papa said he told you all about the arrangement of the house, so I will not start on that, besides it is getting him here and I must write or little to Senn this afternoon.

Don’t work too hard, dear.

Your loving mother.