My father, A. W. Rachuig, told me the story of how my grandfather worked hard to pay for their farm. My Grandfather had two teams of horses and a couple of wagons. He would rent out his team of horses and wagon for about $2.50 per day. He would work with them for $1 more. Can you imagine a man making all that much money per day? He, the team of horses (Two) and the wagon for $3.50 per day.
When they brought the railroad near by, as it passed along the river, he worked using his team and wagon to help build the bed to lay the tracks upon.
The main road from Clifton to Valley Mills was on the East side of the Bosque river. The decided to build a new road and it would be on the West side of the river. The new road came by the Rachuig farm and joined the West edge of their property. Again this provided work for my Grandfather and his team and wagon. During this special times, when my grandfather had outside work, his three sons did the farm work. They used the other team to farm the land and they kept up the place. They cared for the few cows and took care of the others things like chickens and whatever. The family got up early, fed and cared for the animals before breakfast, and in the evenings, they cared for the animals, before supper (dinner). They were taught to respect the animals, because they were a main source of their making a living.Their were lots around the barn, to be kept clean and repaired, for keeping the animals, as needed.
There was a small trap of about 5 acres (more or less) between the house and the main road. If my grandfather had animals in that little area, on Saturday, he would have the boys gather up all animal droppings, fallen limbs and other trash and dispose of them. He would not have any trash of any kind in this area near the house. The house was located in a large thicket of live oak trees and fallen limbs had to be picked up often.
All of the farm equipment was used with a team of horses and he kept all the equipment in one area along a fence between the house and barn, that was located about one hundred yards from the house. Each piece of equipment had it's place and it was all lined up with an equal distance between each piece. It was all in a straight line and after each piece was used, it was returned to the exact place it came from, or as close as is possible.
When you drove by the place, from the main road, a person could see the cleanliness and the organization of everything. The house and barn were well kept, painted and repaired. Smile - it is no wonder that my father make me pick up around our home place and keep the equipment in the proper place. My grandmother was just as organized in the house. They were just plain all American hard working folks.
"Robert Rachuig's Family Memories at the home of his grand parents, Rudolph and Huldina Rachuig."
One of the special memories I have of my grand parents is about the family summer get-togethers at their home between Clifton and Valley Mills. It was on or near the 4th of July every year. On many of those occasions, we had a fish fry for family and friends, at their place on the Bosque river. On many occasions, we had a big fishing expedition to catch the fish for the picnic.I remember gathering at the Clifton city park and all of the men getting into the river and dragging a long net down the river and catching all the rough fish we could, that was legal to catch in that manner. It was about 5 miles from the park to my grand parents place on the river. Rough fish were fish with scales. However, it was not legal to catch fish by hand, such as catfish.My father and his two brothers were raised on the river and knew all the catfish hiding places down in under the banks on the river. They, along with the other men, did engage in the act of taking some of the catfish by grabbing them by hand. They were secretly taken home and became a part of the picnic meal. In the afternoon of the day of the fish fry, large tables were placed in the yard under the live oak shade trees, and a large crowd of family and friends came. On an occasion or two, I remember the local game warden was present. We did have lots of fun at my grand parents home.
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| Will Krueger, Sr., an unidentified man, & a young boy with catfish. |
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| A view of the Bosque River |
