Richard A Pilling: Pride Struggled with Tears

Rebecca put up two audio recordings, as you can tell from the post (Doral Pilling in his own voice) that follows this one.

She said that much of the audio recording is Doral reading from his life story.

The small selection that I listened to, hasn't been information found there, but elsewhere.  Below is a portion of an article from the Cardston News, Nov 24, 1936.  It begins 27 minutes into the first tape and goes to 35 minutes.  My transcription is not exact, but close.  Doral was asked to tell about his grandfather, Richard Adams Pilling.  He reads into the tape, the article above.  Here is an excerpt:

Dick Pilling with a team of oxen

He drove this around the province
on the occasion of Alberta being a province for 50 years.

This was painted by Fredrick G Cross, a painter of Alberta reputation.
The painting belongs to Moiya Wood
and hangs in the front entry of her home.

Another oil painting of a similar scene belongs to and
hangs in the home of Glen Pilling.

(27 minutes)

Young Dick only went to school 2 or 3 weeks a year.  What you could learn on the job was considered more important than what you could learn out of books.  He mostly worked in the fields, and learned horses, rounders and was at the occasional dance for social purposes.

He stands 6 feet, weighs 200 pounds. You can scarcely imagine a kid whom anyone could put down.

But when he was young, he was regarded as a weakling.  It was a source of sadness.  He wanted to be big and powerful.  He learned hard work, cattle and horses.  He could handle horses so successfully, one mean bronc was turned over to him by his father to be broken and it was this horse that was the reason for him leaving home.

He was on this horse, the first time he saw grain loaded into a train car without being sacked.  On the words giddy-up his horse refused to move.  Dick used the lash.  The horse bolted, broke the traces and made a break for freedom.  The father used hard words.  Little Dick responded in kind and ended up by announcing that he would be leaving home for one year, a whole year at least and maybe he wouldn’t be coming back. 

He had a pony of his own.  He had earned it by farming a few acres for his father.  So he took his pony and rode away.  He rode slowly hoping his father would call him back.  Pride struggled with tears.  But no sound.  All was silent.  The next turn in the road would hide the farm from the boy’s sight.  He rode on.  He was 15.  He had left home. 

He found refuge with his Uncle Joe Adams and worked for him a short time.  Then went to Uncle Josh’s home, who tried to but couldn’t convince him to go home.  He was offer $150 a year to become a bushwhacker.  Uncle Josh was a freighter of considerable enterprise.  Hauling logs to the saw mills was Dick’s job and then he was sent on a long journey of 500 miles to Montana.  Here he swung his lash at five oxen, in a load of quicksilver and booze.  He was in constant association with many hard and rough characters for the west was still young and men prided themselves on being he-men.  But the boy’s training was still with him and he lived clean and simply with no indulgences.  So, for a year, or more, ox teams were his life. 

In the meantime he grew, put on more weight and hardened.  When his contact with Uncle Josh had expired, the boy’s pay was one mare, one cow and a calf and five head of sheep, so when  he decided to go back home he came back as an owner of considerable livestock and he still had his original pony.  He was welcomed back.

On returning home, he met his ancient chums.  One wrestled him to the ground, but Uncle Dick remained on top.  No one was more surprised than himself.  Then he wrestled them one by one, the entire gang and self-respect was restored.  No longer was he Little Dick, but now Dick.

He married Amanda Penrod, they went to homestead in Layton and began their married life in a log cabin with a dirt floor.  They were married 56 years and then Amanda passed to her reward.  He is proud to say he has only been thrown from a horse 3 times in his life.  

(38 minutes)

Part of the charm is listening to Doral read into the tape, the words above.  He goes on to tell other places that Dick worked.  Dick seems to have gone the length and the breadth of the Canada and the US.  I shall be listening to more of this and taking notes. 

Thank you, Rebecca, for making the tapes available.,

Arta