WEBVTT - Ep. 240: This Country Life - Collections

0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:08.639
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves.

0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.719
<v Speaker 1>From coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living.

0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:14.720
<v Speaker 1>I want you to stay a while as I share

0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:19.240
<v Speaker 1>my experiences and life lessons. This Country Life is presented

0:00:19.280 --> 0:00:23.239
<v Speaker 1>by Case Knives on Meat Eaters Podcast Network, bringing you

0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:28.280
<v Speaker 1>the best outdoor podcast the airways had off. All right, friends,

0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.840
<v Speaker 1>grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some

0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:43.320
<v Speaker 1>stories to share. Collections. It's all about the things folks collect.

0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:45.840
<v Speaker 1>This week, I'm gonna talk about some of the things

0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:48.879
<v Speaker 1>I collect, some of the things my family has, and

0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:51.040
<v Speaker 1>give you a little background.

0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:52.080
<v Speaker 2>On some of them as well.

0:00:52.080 --> 0:01:07.240
<v Speaker 1>But first, I'm gonna tell you a story.

0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:04.400
<v Speaker 2>Back a few years after the turn of the century.

0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:07.039
<v Speaker 1>And I know that sounds like a long time ago,

0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:10.480
<v Speaker 1>but it really wasn't. Or I like to think it was,

0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.560
<v Speaker 1>because the reference used to me like eighty years ago,

0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:18.360
<v Speaker 1>but not anymore now it's less than twenty five. Anyway,

0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.000
<v Speaker 1>I was kicking it around southeast Arkansas and was a

0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:26.520
<v Speaker 1>special Agent in charge of the five County tenth Judicial

0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:30.920
<v Speaker 1>District Drug Task Force. My office was in Monticella, a

0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:34.520
<v Speaker 1>booming little metropolis of about ninety five hundred humans. On

0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:38.280
<v Speaker 1>the edge of the Mississippi Delta region of Arkansas in

0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:42.800
<v Speaker 1>Drew County, the University of Arkansas at Montecella is there

0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:46.760
<v Speaker 1>gold bowl evils. That's right, I said bowl weavil And

0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:50.400
<v Speaker 1>like they say, ain't nothing more evil than a dang

0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:54.840
<v Speaker 1>bowl evil. It's also the birth home of Ensign Rodney

0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:58.640
<v Speaker 1>Shelton Falls and sin False is considered by many to

0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:02.800
<v Speaker 1>be one of, if not the first American casualty of

0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:06.680
<v Speaker 1>World War Two, having been struck by strafing Japanese planes

0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:10.200
<v Speaker 1>during the initial attack of the United States in Pearl

0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:14.800
<v Speaker 1>Harbor and some foss. We thank you for your sacrifice.

0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:17.120
<v Speaker 1>And the current mayor of mane Soela is my old

0:02:17.160 --> 0:02:20.720
<v Speaker 1>partner from the Drug Task Force. Jason Akers is my

0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:23.520
<v Speaker 1>brother in blue and one of the very best friends

0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.200
<v Speaker 1>I have on this planet. He's the kind of guy

0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:28.160
<v Speaker 1>that if he got thrown in jail and I couldn't

0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:29.960
<v Speaker 1>get him out, I'd get.

0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:30.519
<v Speaker 2>In there with him.

0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:33.880
<v Speaker 1>But this story takes place long before he was elected

0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.480
<v Speaker 1>the town mayor and has absolutely nothing to do with him.

0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.200
<v Speaker 1>I enjoyed my time in Manaseella. Back in high school,

0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:43.560
<v Speaker 1>some of my friends and I would make the sixteen

0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:47.360
<v Speaker 1>mile trip east across the Slain River to go to

0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:50.520
<v Speaker 1>the walk In movie theater or stop at the fish

0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:53.160
<v Speaker 1>Place just on the edge of town that my grandparents

0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:57.079
<v Speaker 1>frequented every Friday. So when I wound up there as

0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:00.720
<v Speaker 1>the Drug Task Force commander some fifteen years later, I

0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:04.520
<v Speaker 1>was quite familiar with the folks in the area. It

0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.240
<v Speaker 1>would be the place where I started a collection, a

0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:10.640
<v Speaker 1>collection that I also laid the foundation of at the

0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:16.120
<v Speaker 1>feet of my father. It's not knives this time, it's shotguns.

0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:21.560
<v Speaker 1>Browning Shotguns Belgium made a five semi automatic shotguns to

0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:25.680
<v Speaker 1>be specific. Now, those shotguns have been revered in my family,

0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.200
<v Speaker 1>like a lot of other families, since John Browning had

0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:32.239
<v Speaker 1>to wherewithal to design and patent that metal and wood

0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:37.720
<v Speaker 1>framed example of exquisiteness. My dad had several, I have several,

0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.800
<v Speaker 1>and so to all other members of my family. There

0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:43.840
<v Speaker 1>are works of art and how they operate is the

0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:48.000
<v Speaker 1>thing of genius. My admiration for them did not match

0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:51.600
<v Speaker 1>my ability to afford them early on, and I didn't

0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:54.240
<v Speaker 1>become a policeman to get rich, and that plan worked

0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:58.240
<v Speaker 1>out for me. Bind them came on the rare occasion

0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.720
<v Speaker 1>I found some disposable income. At the same time, I

0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.960
<v Speaker 1>found a good deal on an A five. Those two

0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.680
<v Speaker 1>things hardly, if ever, came about concurrently.

0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:10.559
<v Speaker 2>But one Friday morning.

0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:13.080
<v Speaker 1>I was in my office in Monticella and my secretary

0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.440
<v Speaker 1>popped in and said she was taking her lunch break

0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:18.479
<v Speaker 1>and getting an early look at in the States sale

0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:22.960
<v Speaker 1>that was taking place not far away. Buy me a shotgun,

0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:24.800
<v Speaker 1>was the last thing I told her. Is she beat

0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.800
<v Speaker 1>feet out the door. Fifteen minutes later she came running

0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.400
<v Speaker 1>in and said, Hey, they got an old shotgun down

0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.440
<v Speaker 1>there for one hundred and fifty dollars. A one hundred

0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.200
<v Speaker 1>and fifty dollars shotgun wasn't much even then, at the

0:04:37.240 --> 0:04:39.920
<v Speaker 1>turn of the last century. And I asked her what

0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:41.800
<v Speaker 1>kind it was. She said, I don't know, but it's

0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:45.000
<v Speaker 1>real pretty. That's in a case. It looks like it's leather,

0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:48.320
<v Speaker 1>but it's it's I think it's imitation like vinyl. It's

0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.680
<v Speaker 1>cracking in places and tore. I told her I wasn't

0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:54.560
<v Speaker 1>interested in one hundred and fifty shotgun and a cracking

0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.640
<v Speaker 1>vinyl case. Doubtfully, it was a very good one for

0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:00.960
<v Speaker 1>that kind of money, and at that time I actually

0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.039
<v Speaker 1>had the extra funds. She said she was going back

0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.440
<v Speaker 1>down there, and as the door was closing, I told

0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.599
<v Speaker 1>her to see what kind it was and give me

0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:12.080
<v Speaker 1>a call. A short time later, my nokid cell phone

0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:15.520
<v Speaker 1>started buzzing, and when I answered, she said, it says

0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:18.440
<v Speaker 1>Browning on the side of the metal. And I said

0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.640
<v Speaker 1>for one hundred and fifty dollars. She said, well, that's

0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.400
<v Speaker 1>what the tag on it says. I asked her, was

0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:26.640
<v Speaker 1>it all rusted up? She said, no, it looks new.

0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:29.680
<v Speaker 1>But the lady said it was old. She said it

0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:33.440
<v Speaker 1>was her husband's bird gun. Now where I grew up,

0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:36.600
<v Speaker 1>if you said bird, you meant Bob white quail. And

0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:39.280
<v Speaker 1>if you were to draw a picture of a bird hunter,

0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.960
<v Speaker 1>he'd have a pair of leather lace up boots, a

0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:46.839
<v Speaker 1>flannel shirt and a matching set of ducks back canvas breeches,

0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:49.919
<v Speaker 1>coat and a hat just like the one that my

0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:53.159
<v Speaker 1>dad shot to pieces that belonged to his cousin Wayne Fry.

0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:56.760
<v Speaker 1>He'd also more than likely have a Browning Auto five

0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:01.479
<v Speaker 1>shotgun in twelve sixteen or twenty gage. Not everybody, but

0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.800
<v Speaker 1>a lot of folks. Coincidentally, it was a brown and

0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:07.880
<v Speaker 1>a five that my dad used to obliterate Wayne's hat

0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:12.600
<v Speaker 1>back in The Father's Day, episode number two twenty three,

0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:15.920
<v Speaker 1>when he said her husband's bird gun. I'm pretty sure

0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:18.560
<v Speaker 1>I jumped over the desk to get down there. When

0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.560
<v Speaker 1>I drove up, she was sitting on the porch talking

0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:24.760
<v Speaker 1>to an elderly lady who was overseeing a yard full

0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:28.960
<v Speaker 1>of antique furniture and items that no one would call junk.

0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.880
<v Speaker 1>I remember her being not unlike my own grandmother, an

0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:37.320
<v Speaker 1>absolute walking definition of a Southern lady. Her hair was

0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:40.279
<v Speaker 1>beauty parlor fixed, and her dress and shoes looked like

0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.599
<v Speaker 1>they came right out of my grandma's closet. She invited

0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.240
<v Speaker 1>me to sit down on the porch with them, and

0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:49.040
<v Speaker 1>I did. I introduced myself, and she asked me about

0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:51.560
<v Speaker 1>being a policeman and said that I didn't look like

0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:55.160
<v Speaker 1>any policeman she'd ever seen with all those whiskers. Well,

0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:57.279
<v Speaker 1>I showed her my badge and ID and I told

0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:58.839
<v Speaker 1>her the nature of my work.

0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:01.480
<v Speaker 2>She said folks ought to be.

0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:04.440
<v Speaker 1>Ashamed of themselves, and that I should be very careful

0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.520
<v Speaker 1>dealing with that meanness. I told her I would. She said,

0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:11.080
<v Speaker 1>you want to see that shotgun? I said, yes, ma'am.

0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:14.080
<v Speaker 1>She said, it's right in Yonder on the kitchen table.

0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:17.520
<v Speaker 1>Help yourself well. I walked in her house, and that

0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:21.560
<v Speaker 1>was immacktly clean and tidy as any home I'd ever

0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.800
<v Speaker 1>been in. Everything in there was old, but well taken

0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:29.200
<v Speaker 1>care of in its place and served a purpose. The

0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:32.760
<v Speaker 1>old wood floors creaked under the big oval oriental rug

0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:34.600
<v Speaker 1>she had in the living room. As I made my

0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:37.880
<v Speaker 1>way toward the dining room, just a head laying on

0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.360
<v Speaker 1>the table was a full leather shotgun case, just like

0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:45.040
<v Speaker 1>my secretary had described. Tied to that zipper was a

0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:48.400
<v Speaker 1>tag that was marked one hundred and fifty dollars. The

0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:51.400
<v Speaker 1>zipper was rusted in spots and wouldn't go all the

0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.800
<v Speaker 1>way down. I opened it as far as I could,

0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:59.040
<v Speaker 1>and then I saw the butt plate on that shotgun FN,

0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:04.360
<v Speaker 1>which stood for Fabric Nationale. That was the gun maker

0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:07.840
<v Speaker 1>in Belgium. We're up until the mid nineteen seventies. All

0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:12.000
<v Speaker 1>the A fives were produced after that. The barrels were

0:08:12.040 --> 0:08:16.040
<v Speaker 1>inscribed made in Japan when production was moved to there.

0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:20.560
<v Speaker 1>The Belgian brownings were what true browning folks wanted, and

0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:24.600
<v Speaker 1>I was holding one right now. I slowly pulled it

0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.560
<v Speaker 1>from the Chamois lion case, waiting for it to turn

0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:29.960
<v Speaker 1>into something that would warrant one hundred and fifty dollars

0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:30.600
<v Speaker 1>price tag.

0:08:31.320 --> 0:08:33.559
<v Speaker 2>But it didn't. It only got better.

0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:37.120
<v Speaker 1>There wasn't a blemish on it, The bluing was intact,

0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:42.000
<v Speaker 1>no scratches on the wood jackpot. I couldn't wait to

0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:44.960
<v Speaker 1>show my dad and Tim the deal I'd gotten, But

0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.560
<v Speaker 1>before I got to the front door, I had a

0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.320
<v Speaker 1>bad feeling in my stomach. There was no way I

0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:54.000
<v Speaker 1>could give that lady one hundred and fifty dollars for

0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:58.680
<v Speaker 1>a shotgun that was worth three times that I stolen

0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:01.200
<v Speaker 1>watermelons and done up other than the fariest deeds in

0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.400
<v Speaker 1>my life that I hope and pray I have a

0:09:03.440 --> 0:09:06.520
<v Speaker 1>tone for. But no way was I going to be

0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:09.560
<v Speaker 1>the sweet old lady out of a shotgun that belonged

0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:14.160
<v Speaker 1>to her husband. Did you like the gun? Oh yes, ma'am.

0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.080
<v Speaker 1>I like to just find and I'd like to buy

0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:19.040
<v Speaker 1>it from me, But I'm afraid I can't give you

0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.280
<v Speaker 1>what you're asking. She said, Well, how much would you

0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.520
<v Speaker 1>like to give me for it? Your secretary says, you

0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:28.160
<v Speaker 1>like to hunting. I'd like to see it go to

0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.520
<v Speaker 1>someone who likes to hunt as much as my as

0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:35.040
<v Speaker 1>my herald did. So no, ma'am, it's not too high.

0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:39.800
<v Speaker 1>That shotgun is worth more than that it is. I said, yes, ma'am,

0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:43.520
<v Speaker 1>quite a bit more. She looked thoughtful for a moment,

0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:47.720
<v Speaker 1>and she said, well, that's the price on there, and

0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:50.400
<v Speaker 1>that's what i'll take for it. I told her it

0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.080
<v Speaker 1>was worth more, and she said again, no, that's the price.

0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:55.360
<v Speaker 2>Take it or leave it. Well.

0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:57.080
<v Speaker 1>I wrote her a check and I folded it up

0:09:57.120 --> 0:09:59.559
<v Speaker 1>and I handed it to her. She smiled and stuck

0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:01.560
<v Speaker 1>it in her from pocket, and without looking at it,

0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:03.680
<v Speaker 1>and said, I guess I can take a check and

0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:07.319
<v Speaker 1>trust a policeman, even a hairy one like you. I

0:10:07.400 --> 0:10:09.280
<v Speaker 1>hugged her neck and thanked her, and she told me,

0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:11.960
<v Speaker 1>I hope you get as much enjoyment out of that

0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:15.760
<v Speaker 1>gun as my herald did. I left there with a

0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:19.800
<v Speaker 1>clear conscience and a piece of history. Now, twenty plus

0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.360
<v Speaker 1>years later, I can see that shotgun sitting in my

0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:25.880
<v Speaker 1>safe every time I open it up, and I have

0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:29.760
<v Speaker 1>no idea if it even shoots. I've never loaded it,

0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:33.160
<v Speaker 1>much less fired. It was meant to be and has

0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:37.720
<v Speaker 1>always been, a bird gun, and the Bob White quails

0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:41.360
<v Speaker 1>have all but disappeared in South Arkansas. The gaming fish Man.

0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:43.600
<v Speaker 1>They're working hard to bring them back, and I'm thankful

0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:47.080
<v Speaker 1>for it. I hope to have the opportunity soon to

0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:49.560
<v Speaker 1>take my brother Tim and his sons and mine on

0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:52.520
<v Speaker 1>a quail hunt, maybe out west, somewhere where you can

0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.120
<v Speaker 1>still walk them up behind a good dog, shoot into

0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:58.360
<v Speaker 1>a covey rise, so they can experience what Tim and

0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:03.000
<v Speaker 1>I did when we were young. Birds were plentiful. I've

0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:06.480
<v Speaker 1>been saving that shotgun, whose serial numbers revealed it was

0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:11.319
<v Speaker 1>manufactured in nineteen fifty eight, just for such an occasion.

0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:17.640
<v Speaker 1>Then that portion of its story will be complete. Its

0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:22.000
<v Speaker 1>journey from Harold to Harold's widow to me will end

0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:24.959
<v Speaker 1>that chapter of the one hundred and fifty dollars shotgun

0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:30.280
<v Speaker 1>that coincidentally, in nineteen fifty eight sold new for one

0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:33.600
<v Speaker 1>hundred and fifty dollars that I bought with a folded

0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.679
<v Speaker 1>check that I made out to her for two hundred

0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:37.160
<v Speaker 1>and fifty.

0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:39.959
<v Speaker 2>And that's just how that happened.

0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:05.160
<v Speaker 1>Collections can be as varied as the collectors, from fishing

0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:08.680
<v Speaker 1>baits to beanie babies. There's someone somewhere that likes to

0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:11.480
<v Speaker 1>stack them up and proudly display them for others to

0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:14.720
<v Speaker 1>look at, or keep them hidden from sight, only enjoying

0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:18.920
<v Speaker 1>the ownership and the satisfaction that comes from owning quantities

0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:22.440
<v Speaker 1>of the object of their desires, like my wife's shoe

0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:25.360
<v Speaker 1>collection that would rival that of Amelda Marcos. Don't know

0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:28.800
<v Speaker 1>who Amelda is? Google is your friend, Well maybe not

0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:31.720
<v Speaker 1>your friend, but you can see who that woman is

0:12:31.880 --> 0:12:35.320
<v Speaker 1>I just named by using it. Anyway, I come from

0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:38.880
<v Speaker 1>a long line of collectors. My mama likes anything that's

0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:43.600
<v Speaker 1>connected with depression glass dishes, antique furniture, quilts, and the like.

0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:46.640
<v Speaker 1>And while I just talked about my dad's affinity for

0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:50.360
<v Speaker 1>brown and shotguns, it is along that same vein that

0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:55.560
<v Speaker 1>he had another collection by Centennial Quarters. For all you

0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.000
<v Speaker 1>folks that don't know what one is, I'm going to

0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:01.320
<v Speaker 1>suggest you google it, and if you have to Google

0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:03.880
<v Speaker 1>that up, may the Lord have mercy upon your ill

0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:08.280
<v Speaker 1>informed soul. Nineteen seventy six wasn't that long ago? Never

0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:12.640
<v Speaker 1>mind apparently it was, But starting forty eight years ago

0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:16.560
<v Speaker 1>and every year thereafter, my father snatched up by Centennial

0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:19.640
<v Speaker 1>quarters like they were gold. He could sniff one out

0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:23.680
<v Speaker 1>quicker than whaling can of bandido. There wasn't one safe

0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.680
<v Speaker 1>anywhere close, And when he passed away, there were gallon

0:13:26.920 --> 0:13:30.720
<v Speaker 1>jars of them on shelves in his closet. I carry

0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:33.360
<v Speaker 1>one in my pocket from that collection, along with the

0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.200
<v Speaker 1>sundry of other items. I don't leave the house without.

0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:39.960
<v Speaker 1>What was his fascination with him, I don't know. I

0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:42.040
<v Speaker 1>never asked him. I asked him, and he said the

0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:45.720
<v Speaker 1>same thing. He just liked him. His affinity for bisentennial

0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:49.600
<v Speaker 1>quarters was surpassed only by his desire not to spend

0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:53.679
<v Speaker 1>quarters of any kind. My dad was notoriously a tightwad

0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.679
<v Speaker 1>when he came to spending money on anything he thought

0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:01.560
<v Speaker 1>was frivolous. Fifteen hundred dollars for a dog, no problem, boat,

0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:06.120
<v Speaker 1>motor okay, fishing, poles, hunting boots, shotguns, horses, saddles. In tact,

0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:08.840
<v Speaker 1>take my money, said Buddy Reeves.

0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:09.760
<v Speaker 2>Dad.

0:14:09.800 --> 0:14:12.400
<v Speaker 1>I'm hungry. We'll get someone when we get to the house.

0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.079
<v Speaker 1>But I'm hungry now. Guess what, You'll still be hungry

0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:18.040
<v Speaker 1>when we get home. Case in point, He and I

0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:21.600
<v Speaker 1>took a trip out west in July of two thousand

0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:25.920
<v Speaker 1>and one. He'd never been past Oklahoma, and he wanted

0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.560
<v Speaker 1>to see Mount Rushmore. I'll relate the details of that

0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:33.280
<v Speaker 1>trip and another story. Trust me, it can stand on

0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:37.400
<v Speaker 1>its own without any poetic licensing. So I'm just gonna

0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:40.440
<v Speaker 1>fast forward to us standing in the Black Hills of

0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:44.960
<v Speaker 1>South Dakota at the Crazy Horse Memorial. We walked all

0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:48.960
<v Speaker 1>through the visitor center, admiring historical photographs and information not

0:14:49.000 --> 0:14:52.760
<v Speaker 1>only about the memorial, but about the man himself. We

0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.040
<v Speaker 1>walked out to the visitor center on a big deck

0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:59.080
<v Speaker 1>out back, and therein all that's grandeur was Chief Crazy

0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.400
<v Speaker 1>Horse's likeness being carved out of a mountain. It was

0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:06.760
<v Speaker 1>absolutely enormous, and like most places there, there were those

0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.680
<v Speaker 1>big coin operated binoculars that would give you a magnified

0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.920
<v Speaker 1>view of the scenery. I saw a small yellow speck

0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:18.200
<v Speaker 1>on the outstretched arm of the Chief and I realized

0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:21.600
<v Speaker 1>it was a bulldozer. They rarely put the size of

0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:24.840
<v Speaker 1>that relief carving in perspective, and I dropped a quarter

0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.600
<v Speaker 1>in to get a closer look, and it really took

0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:32.000
<v Speaker 1>my breath away as how big that thing really was. Dad,

0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:35.000
<v Speaker 1>you ain't gonna believe how big this thing is. He

0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:37.040
<v Speaker 1>was like a little kid trying not to run on

0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.760
<v Speaker 1>the pool deck. After being warned by the lifeguard for

0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:43.280
<v Speaker 1>the final time, I went back to gazing at the mountain,

0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:45.960
<v Speaker 1>and I caught him in my peripheral vision, turning that

0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:48.040
<v Speaker 1>big set of binoculars to where he could see what

0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:51.640
<v Speaker 1>I'd so excitedly described to him. Where is it that

0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:56.760
<v Speaker 1>son right there where I can't see nothing. I looked

0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.360
<v Speaker 1>over at him and staring through the viewfinder, and I

0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:01.880
<v Speaker 1>was like, Dad, it's pointed right at the mountain. Just

0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:04.520
<v Speaker 1>looked through it. He said, I don't see nothing but black.

0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:07.520
<v Speaker 1>This thing's broke. I said, no, Dad, it ain't broke.

0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:09.320
<v Speaker 1>You got to drop a quarter in that slot and

0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.240
<v Speaker 1>make it work. He drew his head back and looked

0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:15.760
<v Speaker 1>at me like I'd lost my mind. A quarter, I said, yes, sir,

0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:18.520
<v Speaker 1>put a quarter in that slot and it'll turn on

0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:21.440
<v Speaker 1>for you. His face turned into a portrait of what

0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:23.760
<v Speaker 1>someone looks like when they smell sired milk.

0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:25.720
<v Speaker 2>You already put one in.

0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:28.080
<v Speaker 1>Yes, sir, he said, oh, heck, I'll just look through yours.

0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:34.000
<v Speaker 1>A quarter twenty five cents. Twenty five cents is what

0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:36.880
<v Speaker 1>separated him from seining to sight. He'd only dreamt of

0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:40.160
<v Speaker 1>sin before today, and he wasn't about to spend one

0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:45.880
<v Speaker 1>to see it. He collected quarters, but he didn't spend them.

0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:52.400
<v Speaker 2>Not for that anyway.

0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.760
<v Speaker 1>My brother Tim collects a bunch of stuff very reminiscent

0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:59.280
<v Speaker 1>of my own, but he's got a lot more of each,

0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:03.400
<v Speaker 1>from knives and firearms and Indian artifacts from where we live,

0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:07.440
<v Speaker 1>and a collection of memorabilia from a local battle from

0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:10.840
<v Speaker 1>the war between the States, musket balls that had been

0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.800
<v Speaker 1>dropped on the field to battle, along with fired ones

0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.240
<v Speaker 1>that held the deformity of being fired and striking something

0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:21.919
<v Speaker 1>or someone. Down near the river, there were camps occupied

0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.879
<v Speaker 1>by soldiers, and just like any place where people gather,

0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:29.560
<v Speaker 1>people lose things even back then, bullets and buckles and

0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:35.000
<v Speaker 1>spurs and knapsacks, horse tacking the like. Less than one

0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:39.000
<v Speaker 1>hundred years later, our older relatives talked about scratching around

0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:40.800
<v Speaker 1>on the banks of the river when they were down

0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:43.720
<v Speaker 1>there fishing and picking up the lead bullets from that

0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:48.200
<v Speaker 1>battle to hammer into fishing weights, a practice the soldiers

0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:52.480
<v Speaker 1>themselves did anytime they were stationed near water. That's quite

0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:55.560
<v Speaker 1>a collectible. A piece of lead that was built for

0:17:55.640 --> 0:18:00.399
<v Speaker 1>taking the life being fashioned into something to catch a fish.

0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.480
<v Speaker 1>The most remarkable item from that struggle is a handful

0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:07.680
<v Speaker 1>of coins, not unlike what a lot of us towed

0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.359
<v Speaker 1>around today. These, however, belonged to a soldier who lost

0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.159
<v Speaker 1>them on the field of battle one hundred and sixty

0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:18.360
<v Speaker 1>years ago. Five cent pieces back then were called half dimes,

0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.600
<v Speaker 1>and there were two of them, along with twenty three

0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:28.480
<v Speaker 1>dimes and seven quarters four dollars fifteen cents many from

0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.800
<v Speaker 1>eighteen sixty to eighteen sixty three. That is equal to

0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:36.520
<v Speaker 1>about eighty dollars today. But in eighteen sixty four a

0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:41.560
<v Speaker 1>Union soldier's pay was thirteen dollars a month. My brother

0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:44.199
<v Speaker 1>had found in the area about the size of a

0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.840
<v Speaker 1>kitchen table, a falling American's.

0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:49.080
<v Speaker 2>Wages for a week of war.

0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:52.639
<v Speaker 1>Now, this battle took place on land that belongs to

0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:56.760
<v Speaker 1>TAM's father in law, mister Billy Bryant, by turkey hunting mentor,

0:18:57.119 --> 0:18:57.919
<v Speaker 1>who turned.

0:18:57.720 --> 0:18:58.720
<v Speaker 2>Ninety one this year.

0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:01.840
<v Speaker 1>He was raised there on that piece of land that

0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:05.720
<v Speaker 1>was given to him by his father. His father told

0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.359
<v Speaker 1>him a story of when he himself was a little

0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:12.400
<v Speaker 1>boy and was squirrel hunting. One day, while walking through

0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.000
<v Speaker 1>the woods, he walked upon something that caught his eye

0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:18.480
<v Speaker 1>and after looking closer and moving leaves, he found the

0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.720
<v Speaker 1>skeletal remains of a Union soldier near the base of

0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:25.800
<v Speaker 1>a tree. Covered in leaf litter and the passage of time,

0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:29.720
<v Speaker 1>the ragged wool of his uniform was still somewhat visible.

0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:32.479
<v Speaker 1>He ran all the way home and was so shaken

0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:35.760
<v Speaker 1>that he couldn't find that place again to show anyone

0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:39.240
<v Speaker 1>where he'd found him so they could bury the remains.

0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:43.520
<v Speaker 1>A not so gentle reminder that some collections are not

0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.919
<v Speaker 1>to be taken lightly, and the story of their existence

0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.840
<v Speaker 1>is important to document, to be told and not forgotten.

0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:54.280
<v Speaker 1>I dare say there is no better self taught his

0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.879
<v Speaker 1>story and on the Battle of Marksmel than my brother Tim,

0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:01.600
<v Speaker 1>to our family and other sentence of that terrible time

0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:03.679
<v Speaker 1>who still reside there. It is a place to be

0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:14.680
<v Speaker 1>revered for the human struggle of all involved. I'll share

0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:18.040
<v Speaker 1>some photos of the items on my social media pages.

0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:21.040
<v Speaker 1>Slide on over there and give those pages a follow

0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:24.919
<v Speaker 1>if you'd like to see them. Also, for you folks

0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:28.080
<v Speaker 1>are starting to think about whitetail season and are so inclined,

0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:32.000
<v Speaker 1>check out First Light's new whitetail kits over at the

0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:33.480
<v Speaker 1>first light dot com.

0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:37.200
<v Speaker 2>That's First Light l I T E dot com.

0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:40.120
<v Speaker 1>Thank y'all for listening until next week. This is Brent

0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:41.520
<v Speaker 1>Reeves signing off.

0:20:42.600 --> 0:21:02.119
<v Speaker 2>Y'all be careful,