A Step Back In Time
A couple of weeks ago when we took a color drive over Owl Creek Pass, we passed what used to be the Freeman place, reminding me of an article in the “Ptarmigan Magazine” about Pearl Freeman, “The Old Woman from the Mountains.”
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Students, Vicki Overholser, Valinda McCombs and my son, Doug Cox, authored the story about Freeman. They quoted her as saying, “I wouldn’t trade my life for anybody I know of, and for all the money in the world, because I like the way I live. I’m just the old woman from the mountains. I’ve been up there ever since I was 22 and I hope I live up there until I die.”
Pearl’s summer residence was a little three-room cabin nestled in a grove of aspens on the family’s 500 acres of grazing land, which supported a large cow operation. In 1975, it had been in the family for three generations.
Pearl was born in Oklahoma in 1905, in Indian Territory. When she was two, her family moved to Cortez and lived there until she was 14. The family then moved back to Oklahoma where her father hauled pipe to the oil fields. Pearl entered high school in Haskell, Oklahoma, but had to quit because she contracted tuberculosis. Since her father’s sister had died of the disease, he was scared to death. It took him just four days to pack up and move back to Colorado, settling in Rocky Ford.
Pearl spent most of the winter in bed, “’cause that was the cure for TB…rest. Drink lots of milk, eat lots of eggs and stay in bed.”
When Pearl became stronger, the family moved to Montrose. Since she hadn’t been able to finish high school, she decided to attend a business college in Grand Junction. In just nine months, she received a diploma in bookkeeping, shorthand and other needed skills.
When Pearl first met Lester Freeman, she was smitten. She said, “I was crazy about him for two years, but in those days the girls didn’t let them know.”
Lester felt the same way, but was afraid she wouldn’t say yes if he asked her out. At a Sunday picnic, he saw her with one of his cousins, so that gave him the courage he needed. After just four dates, they became engaged, and after a two-year engagement, were married. She said they had a very special relationship, sharing many good years and happy times. She rode countless miles with him, helping with the cows, even though she was afraid of the high, narrow trails.
One of her most colorful memories was of Lester’s dad, Wiley Freeman, who family and friends called “Potsey.” Pearl said, “He had a wooden leg and got along good. He could even do a jig dance…he was quite a guy.”
Pearl told about Potsey one night when he was alone in a one-room log cabin. His dog was acting funny, but he just told the dog to shut up, finished his supper, removed his wooden leg and went to bed—but the dog kept growling. Potsey got up, lit a kerosene lamp, grabbed his six shooter and went looking for the problem.
Pearl said, “He looked under the bunk on the other side and it was a porcupine. This old cabin had holes in it and anything could get inside. He shot the porcupine, and his light went out. There he stood in his long underwear with the gun in one hand and the lamp in the other, hobblin’ around on one foot and he didn’t know where the porcupine was.”
One of Pearl’s favorite things was having people around, sharing their piece of the mountain with friends—taking them fishing in their private holes, cooking and sleeping out. They rented out cabins, which were always filled. She said, “We have these fish fries out by the lake at night and everybody plays their guitars and sings songs. Just old, old time stuff and they like it and it’s a family deal. Some people’s been coming up for years.”
It’s no wonder she kept repeating, “I’m just the old woman from the mountains and I love it.”
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