The Homestead

Family tradition says that Carlo followed up on an advertisement in the newspaper looking for a family to lease a 100 acre farm at Orchard, Colorado. Orchard is in Morgan county, 90 miles north east of Denver. The Union Pacific RR tracks go through Orchard and Goodrich. Carlo's brother Joe lived in nearby Weldona, Colorado and this probably influenced Carlo's decision to move to Morgan County. Joe and Maggie had already purchased some land in Weldona, Colorado. What a change from the mountains of Silver Plume to the plains of eastern Colorado and even more from the 26 inch average rainfall of the PO valley in Italy.

Carlo initially leased land from Harry Kuhn, he helped them get established and the Francones tended his sheep and other livestock.

Harry owned a lot of land in Morgan county, particularly in the Orchard- Goodrich area. In the spring they began working the sugar beet fields. Frank described this 100 acre lease as 40 acres of water (a swamp) and 60 acres of rattlesnakes. After two years on the leased land, Carlo was encouraged to homesteaded 160 acres about 2 miles from Goodrich, in Morgan county, Colorado. The following transactions by Carlo and Caterina were found in the Morgan county records on February 18, 1997.

U. S. government register's final certificate for Carlo to get a patent on the SE 1/4 of section 28 of TS 5, R 60. June 7, 1910

Contract of sale and purchase of land where Carlo and Caterina sell 320 acres in SE 1/4 of section 28 and NE 1/4 of section 33 of TS 5, R 60 to S. Grafft for $10830 dollars. June 2, 1911.

U.S. government approval homestead for Carlo for NE 1/4 of section 33 of TS 5, R 60. February 6, 1912. (See above)

U.S. government approval homestead for Carlo for SE 1/4 of section 28 of TS 5, R 60. February 6, 1912

Trust Deed February 8, 1912 Carlo paid $4080 to S. Grafft for 320 acres in SE 1/4 of section 28 and NE 1/4 of section 33 of TS 5, R 60.

Warranty Deed filed May 31, 1912 where Carlo sells 160 acres in SE 1/4 of section 28 of TS 5, R 60 to S Grafft for $1.00 and other considerations.

Warranty Deed filed May 31, 1912 where Carlo sells 160 acres NE 1/4 of section 33 of TS 5, R 60 to S Grafft for $1.00 and other considerations.

Phil, Mary, Maggie and Frank were old enough to go to school in Goodrich. The Francones were the first Italian family to move to this area and discrimination manifested itself mightily on the children. Each day after school, there was a "whip the Wops" gathering. This went on for some time until Phil and Frank singled out the leader and gave him a lesson in Italian diplomacy. After that there were no more after school fights. Frank left school after the eighth grade. That means he was working full time on the homestead when he was 13-14 years old.

The homestead required living quarters, water, and livestock protection. First they had to dig a well, then using the resources available, they made sod bricks from the soil, straw and the water from a nearby mudhole.(Another technique described below says "A plough cut loose the closeknit turf, held securely by the roots of plants undisturbed for centuries. With a sharp spade suitable blocks for building could be cut and laid into a strong wall, four feet across for warmth and durability.") These were then assembled to make a sod home. While they struggled to get the homestead developed, Carlo, Phil and Frank hired out as sheepherders. Frank who was 7 years old was earning $7.00 per month. Carlo also leased some land near the homestead and planted sugar beets. The kids hoed, thinned, and harvested the beets. It was a family project. As they would ride home on the wagon after the days efforts, they would begin singing. Carlo and the entire family had excellent singing voices

The following section about the life in Orchard/ Goodrich has been abstracted from the autobiography by Della Francone. I have done some editing. It should be remembered that Della was about 2 1/2 years old when the family moved to Orchard so some of her recollections may be from experiences described to her by others.

Father decided to stay and immediately went to work (in the Orchard area) herding sheep. He was to get 90 cents a day, his food and a place to sleep. Mother was informed, and she and the girls packed the belongings for the move to Orchard. Uncle Feliciano (Feliciano Aliberti) took care of all the arrangements. (We don't know when Feliciano returned to Italy but it appears it was in late 1900 or early 1901.) Harry had provided Philip and Father with a wagon and horses to meet us when we arrived on the train. Philip met us at the train and our things were unloaded and put in the wagon. The pride in Philip. I remember how important he felt. Handling a team of horses and being a real man of the house. Father was somewhere out on the prairie with the sheep. I heard Philip say the sheep were 'lambing' and Dad had to stay with them. I wanted to know what the word meant. He said, the sheep are having babies and they needed to be watched so that nothing would happen to them.

We were approaching our new home. It was a very exciting day. Here we had come to a place where there were no mountains and you could look anywhere and see forever. The land was flat with many large trees and a big ditch full of water going just back of the house. Philip said it was the Weldon Valley irrigation ditch. This ditch was taking the water out of the South Platte river and putting it in a reservoir so the farmers could water their farms.

Philip was telling mother about the house. It was a two story house with bedrooms upstairs with a stairway going up the outside that went into the top where the bigger kids were to sleep. There were two bedrooms up there. Downstairs there was a big bedroom for Mother and Dad. There was a kitchen, a room they called the dining room and a parlor. It was a big house in my eyes. As we got closer we saw great tall wide spreading trees called cotton wood trees. They looked to me as if they were reaching the sky and heaven and God.

The yard was large and had barns and corrals. I saw my first cow that Harry Kuhn had put there so we could milk her. It was wonderful to see how the milk came out. There was a pig and chickens so we would have fresh eggs. Soon the wagon was unloaded and the house was ready. Mother and Philip got a fire going in the stove and we had something to eat. In the yard there was a funny looking thing that Philip said was (from) Harry's house. A covered wagon or sheep wagon.

That evening Dad got to come home and Philip and Frank went to stay near the sheep and the dogs that guarded them. We were glad to see our father. He left early that next morning so the boys could get back because they had to go to school. The school was in Orchard. Philip had pointed it out to us the day before as we came through the town. Mother, Johnny and I were left at home. Mother took us out to the big ditch and told us to stay away from there as we would get hurt if we fell in. I was already afraid of the water, remembering the creek in Silver Plume.

The newness soon wore off of the new home and what went on. School was out for that spring. The sugar beet fields were now ready for the workers. My father quit the shepherding job to lead the children in the field work. Phil, Mary, Maggie and Frank. This would be their work now until the crop was harvested in the fall. As for me, life became a blank. Nothing of great memory recalled. Johnny was growing up, learning to walk and talk. Mother had a large belly, another child was on the way.

Christmas came. Harry sold his sheep in Denver and brought gifts home for Mary and Maggie. He brought sleepy-eyed dolls with long hair and some cloth for Mother to make new school dresses. I don't recall what he brought for the boys. For me he brought a tin fish which when pushed on a table top, acted like it was swimming. Frank picked it up and pushed it so hard that it fell off of the table and split open, breaking it. The girls would not let me touch their dolls. So I waited until they went to school. As the dolls were placed on a high dresser, I got a chair, put an apple box on that and got up and took the dolls down, punched their eyes in, pulled their hair off and their arms and legs and put them back on the dresser to await the results. When they found them they were very angry, of course. I was whipped by Mother. Johnny could not stand this, so he gave me his gift. He was nearly a year old.

The next time Harry came by with my father for a day home, he said that he was going to get married and needed the house. He called Phil to come and talk to them, Father and Mother. He said, The government has opened some land in the Fort Morgan County. If Carlo was an American citizen, he could file on 160 acres of land with water rights."

Since Harry knew Carlo he would sponsor him to become a citizen and at the same time he could file on the land. He then took Frank out to watch the sheep with the sheep dogs.

The next day very early, Harry, Father and Phil, left for Fort Morgan and all this was taken care of. When they came hone, Father had changed his name to Charley Francone. He was now an American citizen or rather a citizen of the United States. We had to wait some time before the papers all came. That evening was very pleasant. Phil had a lot to tell us. (Note: Carlo received his full naturalization papers in October 1894 - 6 years before the family left Silver Plume).

The next day we got into the wagon and drove over the prairie looking for the land we wanted. Harry met us to show the sections that were available. Dad and Mother made their choice. Harry drove them to the land office where they filed for 160 acres and we became homestead land owners. While they were gone, we went down below the big ditch which went through the land and came to a spot that was higher than the land below to choose a place to build the house and barns.

The first thing we needed was to clean the sagebrush off and dig awater well. When the others got back we went back to the homestead for Dad's approval and to witch for a well as Mother's father had taught her to do. They found the spot. The boys had a pick and shovel and measured it. They were so happy to have a place of their own. They started shoveling and started the hole in the ground. We each had our turn just because we were so happy. Johnny was about three or a little more and he wanted to help. Phil said, 'Johnny you be the boss." This was all he needed and he never forgot that he was the boss in any venture. Sometimes he didn't want to help, but it didn't work that way.

We finally got down so deep that we had to build a frame around the well. We put up a windlass with a bucket and rope. Now it was extra help at the well. Johnny and I would work hours, pulling the bucket up and emptying it, then returning it down the well. This was summertime and the beet fields had been taken care of so we had a lot of time from sunrise to sunset.

A pump had been ordered from Sears and it had arrived. Within a week we reached water and Dad got down in the well to see how much water was coming in. They went down deeper until they had water up to Dad's waist. We were all there when the pump was set and fixed into the well. Mother had put a wash tub in the wagon and we got it and pulled up a bucket of water to prime the pump. We poured the water into the pump while pumping and then we celebrated the water coming out. We pumped until the water ran clear and cool then we all had a drink and Mother asked God to bless our well and its water. We went home to discuss how the house would be built.

We were going to first build a hole for a cellar. This was to be six feet deep and large. In the meantime we would take the dirt from the cellar, mix it with straw from the barn and fields and make clay bricks. A mold was made. The bricks would be one foot long and one foot wide by six inches thick so they would dry fast. Somewhere Dad had gotten some horses, borrowed a scraper and started on the cellar.

After making frames from lumber, the kids would go up to the place and pump water from the well, mixing the dirt and straw, filling the frames and we started the house.

House was made of Cottonwood logs, straw, and mud. When they put in the door they there were 11 rattlesnakes in the wall. The merchants had given us credit, knowing we would pay when fall came. So while the cellar was being dug out, the brick making going and drying, the wood for the frame of the house was gotten and put up.

There was the main room, a bedroom and then two more bedrooms. One for the girl's and one for the boys. While we were digging the well, Mother, Johnny and I planted a garden. Not a big one, because we were going to have to water it from the well. We would put wash tubs in Johnny's wagon, fill them at the well and take them over to the garden. It wasn't long before we had lettuce and radishes to add to our meals. As we had to water the stock, a large wooden trough was made and it was mine and Johnny's job to see that it was full of water all the time. One day a flock of ducks came by and used it for a swim. That night we had duck for dinner.

We still had work to do for Harry in his fields but that would be the last year. Father leased land from farmers, that was already being used, while we were opening up our land and getting the Irrigation ditches made.

It sounds as though we were a bunch of work-aholics, but it was not so. We had a lot of "just fun". Even the work, we made fun out of. I was put to a full days work during the beet season. From sunrise to sunset with two hours off at noon for lunch and a rest. There were also many parties as the Italian Community grew.

Before beet harvest, the house was finished and we moved in. The floors were all dirt. Over the years Mother had made braided rag carpets so she had almost enough for all the rooms. We were looking forward to Christmas in our own home.

The sheds became barns after harvest time. The chickens had a coop and a real place to lay their eggs. These were happy years. We as a family were participants in the literary program at school on Saturday nights. We were a singing family, a happy family. Maggie liked to play house. I did not like to play house, but to please her I would play only if I could be the papa. I would go hunting and build the house she wanted by laying out rocks in the shape of the house. After supper, we would take everything apart again. We would put the boxes away until her mothering instinct showed up another time.

I was now old enough to work part time in the beet field, thinning beets on my hands and knees. I had very bad knees and they would bleed. Mother made knee pads, but they did not help me very much.

One day while working, I went to the toilet in a ditch. As I put my hand on the bank of the ditch something bit me. When I returned to the field, I showed my wrist to Paul, a hired man. He took his cud of chewing tobacco out of his mouth, put it on my wrist, tied it with his handkerchief and made me lie down. Paul told Blake, another hired man, to start a chaw of tobacco. They changed the cud of tobacco several times. When they carried me to the wagon and told Mother what had happened, I was put to bed. Mother came with Dad's razor, cut the sign of the cross in my wrist at the bite and put carbolic acid on the cut. The next day I was well.

I was now looking forward to when I would be six years old and could go to school. Johnny did not want me to go to school, because he would be alone at home. Mother was pregnant and he did not want a baby that could not play. So he would do things that were not right, run to Mother, bury his head in her lap and say "Della made me do it. " Mother would whip and shake me and say "Della if you are not a good girl the Devil will get you." My answer to her was always the same "Mama if God is God and needs a Devil then he isn't God." I would run away and think about what the Devil must look like. (Della told this story at different times with different people - a priest one time) Baby Louis was born, but he did not live. He was buried in the Grave Yard on the homestead. Several people were buried there.

One day in school the teachers let us all out of class to watch the ditches near the school being dredged. There were twenty teams of oxen hitched to one of the machines and some had less. Each machine had from two to four drivers. Each driver had at least two teams. After the pleasure of watching them, the teachers let us go home early.

One winter the snows were very bad and we had many blizzards. Father and some of the neighbor men would come to the school and get us. They would bring a long rope and tie each child around the waist with it. It seemed that the blizzards would come during the evenings.

One of the men would take the lead and the others would hold on to the rope while watching each child to see that they were all right. We would leave each man and his children off as we reached their home. Our family lived the farthest away, but the last man would stay with us until we could see our house through the blizzard. Then the eldest child would come up in the rear until we got home. Many days we had to stay home because of the weather.

Soon after we got settled in the homestead, my father started sending for young men to come to America from his home town of San Berdino (Benigno), Italy. We would pay their steerage or way from Europe and meet them in Denver, Colorado. When they arrived, they agreed to work for a year for their room, board and a dollar a day. When Father didn't need them, they could find work and keep the money.

At the end of their year, they were free to go wherever they wanted to. Father would then send for one or two more men. These young men usually became sharecroppers for many of the people in South Platte River Valley east of Denver. It didn't take long for some of these men to buy their own land. They sent for their sweethearts and started families of their own. Many families came to the valley. Soon there was a real Italian community. They helped each other at harvest time. This way no one would be left with crops in the fields before the snow fell.

One day in 1910 Philip came home from town. He told us that if we looked towards the mountains at sunset we would be able to see Haley's (Halley's) Comet This was to bring on the end of the world. That evening at sunset, we each chose our place and waited to see if we could see it. As the sun got lower and lower, we saw this big ball of fire moving along just above the mountain tops. It moved very fast and was soon out of sight. Its tail stayed until the sun went down. (Actually Halley's comet was visible for at least two months and it would appear to be moving only slightly faster than the stars appear to be moving.) Then what my father called a cyclone came through the yard. It passed away from the barns and the house. We were too fascinated with what was happening to go inside. As the cyclone passed, rain and what we thought was hail fell in torrents. When it was over, we had over an inch of tadpoles covering the ground. Mother had the boys get the scraper and gather the tadpoles up. They put them into the manure piles and covered them up.

Time passed and by now my parents had brought six single men and several families from Italy to the United States. The Weldon Valley had a good size Italian community. We were a happy group and the weekends were spent in beer parties, horse racing and batche (bocce), a front (fore) runner to bowling of today.

In 1910, we sold the homestead place and moved to Dan Dandridge's farm in Goodrich, Colorado. During haying time, the haystacker in the up right position broke loose and came down hitting my father and breaking his back. Father became an invalid, because there wasn't medical care for broken backs in those days. We moved to the Uncompahgre Valley near Montrose, Colorado. Father died April of 1913. Phil left home and went out on his own. Frank went to work in the mines in Silver Plume, Colorado. Mary went to work in a hotel in Telluride, Colorado. This left Maggie, Johnny, Armond, Annette and me at home.

In 1914, Maggie married and went to live in Sterling, Colorado. I entered High School in Montrose, Colorado where I worked for my room, board and a dollar a week and graduated in April 1918.

Thus ended an era of my life. I was now on my own.

© 1999 Frank Francone all rights reserved.