Remembering

[JimT]

I grew up in the wide open spaces of eastern Washington State. My Grandpa had a ranch there, in the dry hilly country a ways south of Spokane. He grew wheat, barley, rye and oats on quite a few square miles of land. The nearest neighbor was 5 miles away and a trip to town was big deal, nearly 20 miles! We did not go to town often.

Guns were always a part of the ranch and I grew up with them. I was never taught that handguns were a short range affair. We had plow discs for targets on the hillside 200 yards across the coulee behind the house and rang them quite often with our .22's.

In later years when I would visit I brought .45 Colts and Ruger .357's and an old 1886 Winchester in .45-70. Shooting at targets out to a half mile was not a problem with the 45-70. I was shooting handloads with a 450 gr. cast bullet and driving it around 1400 fps. It would reach out very long distances quite easily. Dad had scrapped a 1941 Ford Coupe and left the body laying upside down on a small hill east of the house, near the Section Line. It was an honest 400 yards. The first time I shot at it with a Colt SAA .45 I was using Winchester factory loads with the copper colored lead bullet. I think they called them "Lubaloy". My first shot was over the car. The second shot was under. There was no dust from the third shot and then we heard a distant THUNK!

The dry volcanic ash soil made for wonderful long-range work. A .22 would kick up a dust cloud nearly 6 feet high when shooting into the fallow ground. You could tell if you were over or under and how to adjust your shots. My great-uncle Bob shot a bandit off a wagon at better than 300 yards with his old 30-30 doing just that. He was up on a hill above the road and as the bandits drove down the road as hard as they could whip the horses, Bob held out in front and fired. He saw how far back the bullet hit and walked his shots up until he hit one of them. Folks from back east have beautiful country with all that green grass but it is sure not conducive to long-range plinking. It's hard to beat the dry western lands for that sort of thing.

It was a great way for a young man to grow up and I am grateful for it. To this day I don't care to live in the city, preferring the country instead. And while I like trees, I don't care to live closely among them. I like the open country. It is all in how a person is raised I guess.

A few years ago a friend flew over the ranch and shot a few photos for me. The house is long gone. It stood where the metal shed on the left is. Everything changes.

[Blaine]

I remember the first time, while I was in the Army, driving from Ohio to Ft Lewis. THE EVERGREEN STATE!! Wow. I could hardly wait. After I made it out of Idaho, I was confounded by the complete lack of evergreens until I got well past Ellensburg.

[hfcable]

great story Jim,...makes me feel I had been there...in fact makes me wish I had been there.

I grew up in the country too, mountains back east, and to this day I cant stand cities, esp big ones.

only feel truly peaceful when the real outdoors surrounds me.

[AmBraCol]

I remember the first time, while I was in the Army, driving from Ohio to Ft Lewis. THE EVERGREEN STATE!! Wow. I could hardly wait. After I made it out of Idaho, I was confounded by the complete lack of evergreens until I got well past Ellensburg.

Shucks, the complete lack of GREEN, much less evergreen...

[.45colt]

Great Story Jim, Thank You. I grew up in rural farmland not as large as Yours but All the same to a Kid I had it made , hunting, fishing, camping , working on the farm... We never had much money but I always thought We were rich and We were, just not money wise .it's all gone now , half million $ homes where We used to squirrel hunt.. I had it made as a Kid.

[Grizz]

Thanks for the memories Jim. I'm with you, I like open spaces. I like trees too when I find them in a lumber yard.

[OldWin]

Sounds like a great life, Jim. Thanks for posting that.

[KWK]

Good read.

While for the most part a city boy from Illinois, I spent many months on my grandparent's farm in Indiana, and I feel claustrophobic when in a forest or in a mountain valley. I've read people from Switzerland often feel exposed when on open plains.

[piller]

I grew up in the semi-desert of Southwestern Kansas. Lots of sand and cactus and yucca. Not many trees. Not quite as much freedom as when some of you who are older than me grew up, but still good. Lots of prairie dogs and coyotes to hunt.

[marlinman93]

My dad is from that area also Jim, and I spent a fair amount of time visiting relatives in the area between Spokane and Moses Lake, Wa. as a kid and adult. I love that open country, and the rolling hills that abound around there.
That picture of your grandfather's place reminds me of my grandfather's east of Moses Lake. His place was 25 miles to Moses Lake, and nothing closer any other direction.

[JimT]

My dad is from that area also Jim, and I spent a fair amount of time visiting relatives in the area between Spokane and Moses Lake, Wa. as a kid and adult. I love that open country, and the rolling hills that abound around there.
That picture of your grandfather's place reminds me of my grandfather's east of Moses Lake. His place was 25 miles to Moses Lake, and nothing closer any other direction.

It reminds you of your Grandpas place because it is east of Moses Lake in Adams County. East and south of Lind between Lind and Washtucna. We musta been neighbors.

[marlinman93]

My dad is from that area also Jim, and I spent a fair amount of time visiting relatives in the area between Spokane and Moses Lake, Wa. as a kid and adult. I love that open country, and the rolling hills that abound around there.
That picture of your grandfather's place reminds me of my grandfather's east of Moses Lake. His place was 25 miles to Moses Lake, and nothing closer any other direction.

It reminds you of your Grandpas place because it is east of Moses Lake in Adams County. East and south of Lind between Lind and Washtucna. We musta been neighbors.

My grandparent's's place was near Ruff, Wa., which is only a grain silo with a name on it now. A few people still live there today, but no businesses exist. When I was a small kid there was one building left there. It was gas station, barber shop, pool hall, tavern, and hardware store all in one! Owner was a friend of my dad's named Charlie Shell. As kids we always thought he was the guy who owned the Shell stations, or related to him. Of course when he died that building went away also.
Lind, Wa. is very close to Ruff, and you're pretty darn close at your grandparent's place too! Small world!
Just slabs and foundations mark the half dozen buildings that were there in the 1800's and first part of the 1900's. Ruff was a German community, and my dad told me nobody spoke English there until WWI when they banned Germans from speaking their language in public.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ruff, ... 118.998341

[Rube Burrows]

Great stories and great upbringing. Ahhhhhh the good ole days.

[Bill in Oregon]

That's "boy heaven" Jim. Funny, I visited my brother in Newman Lake, just east of Spokane, last fall and we took Highway 27 down to Rockford and then cut over to Plummer and went on down to Moscow, which I had not seen before. There is just nothing quite like that Palouse country. And here I thought you were from Missouri all this time!

[JimT]

Bill .. I lived in Missouri about 20 years ... but was raised in Washington State and then Arizona. When we my Dad told us we were moving to Arizona my Mom cried. All she knew was that we were moving to the desert. Ha! Arizona was greener and had more wild plant life than where we were living. I moved to Missouri in 1990 and lived there until 2010 when we moved to Mozambique, Africa. Now I am back in the US, living in Texas.