Words From The Past

Today, I received a letter in the mail that I have been waiting for in anticipation. I thank my cousin, Dr. Roy Baker in Lincoln, Nebraska for returning the original letter to our family after sixty three years. His brother, Don Baker was going through some old papers and discovered it. The letter is from my father to his Uncle Wayne Baker. The envelope is postmarked, "Montrose, December 12, 5 PM, 1945, Colo." Attached is a three (.03) cent stamp with the picture of Thomas Jefferson. As you can see, there are no street addresses, just name of city and state. As a sign of inflation, this letter was mailed at the cost of three cents. Sixty three years later it was mailed to me at the cost of forty two cents.

This advertisement, I am assuming was clipped from a newspaper as it is to large for a business card. It was also enclosed with the letter from Roy Baker. This is when my father was in the guiding business in the Soap Creek Creek area. Soap Creek is located in the high country east of Montrose. Sapinero is a small community on the Gunnison River which has now been dammed to form the Blue Mesa Reservoir. Sapinero was a point of entry into the high country of Soap Creek. The fees for guided big game hunts have increased over the years. This advertisement is most likely in the 1947 - 1950 time frame based on the telephone number. The first phone number that I can recall consisted of four numbers.

Although appearing similar this is a different advertisement that was also included in the letter. This advertisement also includes "hunting and fishing parties in Alaska" so it was printed after my fathers and brother Tad's first trip to Alaska. The address, Route 4, is the address that we had when we lived on the place east of Montrose, when my younger sister and brother were born. The telephone number is unique in that it is my birthday. When this ad appeared, I was most likely 6 to 8 years old. The name of the business has also been changed to read "Vern Harrington & Sons". The two advertisements would not have been included in the original letter as each of them are in a later time frame than 1945.

The letter is written on line 5" x 8" lined tablet in pencil. It is difficult to get a clear scan from it so I will post it in it's entirety as written and uncorrected. The letter was written on December 12, 1945, 6 months and 24 days after I was born. World War II had just concluded in Germany with their surrender to the allied forces on May 7, 1945. The war would conclude with the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945. The letter from my father was written to his Uncle Wayne Baker, the brother of my grandmother Ella Belle Baker Harrington who was married to Henry Philo "Ten" Harrington. Uncle Wayne had just returned from World War II in the European Theater. The letter reads as follows:

"Montrose, Colo
Dec.12, 1945

"Dear Uncle:
Have owed you a letter since shortly after you went to the Army. Long time no see - or write either. To kind of catch you up with things in our family, we have an irrigated 80 acres here (paid for)in this valley within 1 hours ride of where you can kill a deer. Like it here fine good climate never down to zero last winter nor up to 90 last summer. Lots of fruit etc and plent hunting & trout fishing. I work on Thursday at the Delta sales yard and hope to sell my place and buy a sales yard of my own this winter- maybe - if I can get my price and buy the same way."

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"We now have a grand total of five - four boys &1 girl. Dorothy never did forget you. She is in the sixth grade now and realy getting big. Tad is in the third grade and is a tough little hombre.

I am contemplating following papa Diones example - divorced his wife because she was overbearing. Ran a hunting camp this fall and took out some dudes. Every one done very well. I brot home a big bull elk for myself and a cow elk for Lena besides my deer. Canned 160 qts elk meat besides keeping a hind quarter fresh and giving some away. To me elk hunting is the greatest sport in the world. I use a 30-06 Savage super sporter. What do you think of the army

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guns as big game rifles?
Havn't saw Ralph or heard much from him. Thought he would be out. Lenas brother Marshall hopes to be home from Germany by xmas. He has been a guard at Goerings castle. Write that he killed 2 deer near there. Dave is in the far east and also expects to be home soon.
Hank Mills - world famous rodeo clown is a neighbor of mine. Also Jack Dempsay lived near here and went to the same school my kids do.
While our house is of logs it is finished nicely inside and we have electricity in house, barn, granery, yard light and have most of the electrical appliances. Has been snowing off and on the past (over)

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two days but not so very cold. Have possibility of 8 inches snow is a beautiful thing here as there is no wind to drift it.
What do you returned combat soldiers think of the things labor is doing? Are you going back to farming the home place? Is the corn all picked and how was it?
Before you get all settled down again, better come out and visit us -
We'll treat you so many different ways you would have to like one of them. This neighborhood is mostly young couples and we go in for house dances & card parties in a big way. Write soon, come see us or both.

Yours,
Vern Harrington (Signature)

Wish you the best of everything for hollidays"

The log house that he speaks of is the house where I was born of which my children and family have pictures of me standing in front. His idea about a sales yard become reality because when we left this location, we moved to Nucla, Colorado where he was assigned as a County Deputy Sheriff and Town Marshall. He opened a "sales yard" or "sales barn" in that location. The one thing that I did learn from the letter, is that we owned the property that he describes in the letter, I never knew but assumed that we rented that property but of course I was just a baby back then. When he mentioned that within a hour from the place and kill a deer, ride refers to horseback not by vehicle. What a great letter and I thank the Baker family.

"The Flying Buzzsaws"

P-51 Mustang

UNITED STATES ARMY, 5TH AIR FORCE 35TH FIGHTER GROUP 41ST FIGHTER SQUADRON "The Flying Buzzsaws"

41st FIGHTER SQUADRON

The 41st Fighter Squadron operated in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. Pilots in the 41st Squadron flew the P-47 Thunderbolt and transitioned to the P-51 in later combat operations. The primary mission of the 41st was to provide top cover for the bombing raids conducted by B-24's throughout the western Pacific theater. The secondary mission of the "Flying Buzzsaws" was to search and destroy enemy aircraft and provide aerial attacks on water surface and shore based targets. The 41st Fighter Squadron operated in the New Guinea and Philippine area as well as providing air coverage for several major assaults north of the Philippines. The 41st Fighter Squadron earned three Presidential Unit Citations during the war, "given for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy." This award is equivalent to the Distinguished Service Cross which is awarded to an individual.

Lieutenant Jack Warren Epperson, U.S. Army Air Force
Born: October 22, 1921~ Frontnac, Kansas
Father: Allen Hubert Epperson ~ August 15, 1897 ~ July 24, 1942
Mother: Mary Louise Roeser ~ January 1, 1903 ~ 1994
Married: Mary Laurie Epperson ~ October 1, 1942

Jack Epperson was born in Kansas, moving to Laramie, Wyoming four years later. In 1936, his family moved to Loveland, Colorado. The family later moved to the small community of New Ramer, Colorado near Sterling, Colorado. He graduated from high school in 1939 and at the age of seventeen moved to Los Angeles, California to live by himself. He entered the U.S. Army in 1942. Following his initial training, he was selected for the Army Air Force and commenced his training as a pilot. Upon graduation from his training, he was commissioned and stationed in the states for a short period of time. In 1944, he was given orders to the 41st Fighter Squadron when this squadron made the transition to the P-51 Mustang from the P-47 Thunderbolt. He would remain with the "The Flying Buzzsaws" for the duration of the war flying a variety of missions. Following the surrender of Japan, Lieutenant Epperson returned to the United States and was discharged from the military in 1946.
Following the war, Jack and Mary lived in the Los Angeles area. Terry Lynn Epperson Harrington was born on April 18, 1947 and her brother Dean Allen Epperson on November 17, 1949. The Epperson family would move to Alaska in 1954. The family, including Jack's two brothers and his mother homesteaded adjoining properties in the area between Homer and Anchor Point, geographically known as Epperson Knob situated on the North Fork Road.

The majority of the men and women of the "Great Generation" that served in the military in both the European and Pacific Theater, seldom talk in detail concerning their experiences in combat. As a nation, they deserve our respect and admiration for the sacrifices that they made to protect the freedoms that we often take for granted. In time,the last of these great warriors of World War II will be gone, but hopefully never forgotten.

Leather Flight Jacket of Lt. Jack Epperson With "Buzzsaw" Squadron Patch

Leather Flight Jacket of Lt. Jack Epperson With Squadron Sleeve Patch

Leather Flight Jacket of Lt. Jack Epperson With P-51 Mustang Image on Back

Baker Ladies

"MOTHER AND DAUGHTERS"

(L to R) Great Aunt Pearl Baker, Esther Baker, and
Grandmother Ella Baker Harrington

My Grandmother Ella Baker was born to D.W. Baker (dob 1854) and Esther A. Black Baker (dob 1861). Ella Baker was married to my Grandfather, Henry Philo "Ten" Harrington.
The D.W. Baker was a large family, typical of most farming families of this era. There was a total of fourteen children in the family, twelve boys and the two girls which are pictured above, Pearl and Ella.
Unfortunately, I never knew any of the members on the Baker side of the family. My family moved to Colorado just prior to my birth. Although, I do remember my parents talking about the Baker side of the family. As a young man, my father worked for several of the "Baker Uncles" and thought very highly of them. The Baker family continues to farm in Nebraska. By coincidence, several years ago I received a telephone call from Dr. Roy Baker of Lincoln, Nebraska. He and his family were visiting the Homer area and we had a short time to get acquainted. He is the son of my Great Uncle Will Baker (dob 1900) and Mildred Folts Baker. Roy Baker and I were both born in 1945.
Since our acquittance, we have remained in contact with an occasional phone call but primarily via email. I would like to thank him because he has been a wealth of information pertaining to the Baker side of the family of which I had very little information.

Grandmother and Aunts ~ Harringtons

(DUPLICATED FROM HOLE IN THE WALL BLOGSITE)

I have had this picture in my "family box" for a great number of years, having received it from my mother. She was not one to waste good ink, there was no annotations on the picture as to dating or even the names of the individuals. Perhaps, we could all learn from this for some of the pictures that we have in our possession that might mean something to someone in the future.

Just recently, I had this picture identified. I never had the opportunity to meet any of these ladies. The lady on the left is Ella Belle Baker Harrington. She was my grandmother on my father's side of the family. She passed away in 1939, six years prior to my birth. She was married to Henry Philo "Ten" Harrington. The lady on the right has yet to be identified.

The two young ladies on horseback is Esther Irene Harrington and Virginia "Louise" Harrington, sisters to my father and my aunts. I met "Louise" once or twice as a very young boy as they had moved to Wyoming from Nebraska. "Louise" is the girl on the right, she was born in 1916. Based on that, I will assume this picture was taken between 1924 - 1926. Was not able to identify the horses, except one could possibly have the name of "blaze".

More pictures to come!