ìMotherî Forney ran a boarding house in Fremont Nebraska. She had come there with her husband, from Ohio, I believe. Information about the Forneys is not known to me in any depth.

These things I do know. They came from the East in covered wagons. Brothers and sisters of ìfatherî and ìmotherî Forney came with them, but they continued on to the ìOregon Territoryî, where their descendants live in the Cashmere Washington area. ìFatherî Forney was German or Dutch, Sometimes called Pennsylvania Dutch by one of their daughters.

There was Grace, Maud, Frank and Pearl, the children of the Forneys. I have a little information about Frank and Pearl. Maude married and went to Oregon. Her husband worked with the State university there. Grace, married and stayed in the area. Moving to Omaha. Her husband and her son Jim were in the contracting and building business.

Frank, prided himself on the fact that he had not been out of the County until after adulthood some friends tricked him and got him out one time. For the most part he made a living breaking horses that were caught on the plains running wild. That is what he was doing at the time Dad was staying at the Forney boarding house. The time came when a horse kicked him and Injured his leg so that he no longer could pursue that trade. He obtained a job as a mall carrrier and worked in that capacity until he died. It was in the hands of the undertaker that it was discovered that his leg was only ìout of jointî. For years the doctors and the hospital failed to make this simple diagnosis.

Pearl was born April 15, 1880,and Dad arrived on the scene about 1900. At this time she was teaching school in a little one room building out on the prairie. (I have a picture of this building, taken in 1936), In the winter, there were times that she drove a buggy to the school when the snow was up to the horses belly. The deep ditches on each side of the road made it imperative that she stay on the road. Getting the horse and or the buggy out of the ditch after a mistake was made was a major chore. There was a ìcycloneî cellar in the school yard. Pearl did not talk much about her experiences. She was not the ìstory tellerî that Dad was.

Jim Henry put in an appearance during this period and added a competitive element with respect to the relationship between Dad and Pearl.

Frank, Jim and Dad would start off to ride the prairie. About the time they were out of town, Dad would come up with something like, ìI have to go back to get my hatî. Then he would stay and spend the time with Pearl. On several occasions Dad showed up at the school. He would stand in the back of the class and silently tease Pearl.

The three fellows apparently did a lot of hard riding around the country. About this time there was an outlaw calling himself ìDoc Middletonî rustling livestock and doing other unpopular and antió social things, One night Frank and Dad came racing into town, Frank in the lead. Frank was yelling ìLook out, here comes Doc Middletonî, with Dad right behind him, expecting to get shot. This may have been the time that Smuggler split his hoof on the cobble stone street and was no longer the horse that could run through the country side with Pearl. This was an available recreation.

It seems that the bond between Jim Henry and Dad which seemed to have flourished from their Navy experience until now could not survive in this atmosphere. The last Pearl saw of Jim was his back as he rode away. Destination unknown, but thought to be Texas.
Pearl and Dad were married, Frank told Dad that now that he had married her he had better take good care of her, Dad sold Smuggler, his gun Saddle and chaps. Then he left for the East.

Dad went to Washington and got a job. He sent for Pearl. She gathered her newest and most stylish clothes and went to Washington. She went to the Middleton home in Georgetown. Dadís sisters were, in their opinion, ìhighî society. In those days fashions in the West were never ìup with the timesî with the East.

Pearl was devastated by the attitude of her in-laws. Well, I do not know where they made their residence at this time, nor do I know when this occurred, But, on July 3,1902, a son was born . Robert H. The day after ìBobî was born, Dad took a string of those very tiny fire crackers In his room and set them off.