In 1964, during Montana's territorial centennial year, Mrs. Morris (Gladys Mullet) Kauffman of Glendive, Montana noticed the dwindling number of pioneers who had settled Eastern Montana. Too many of them were taking their stories to the grave. Surely someone should record those stories! Of course, there was no 'someone' so Mrs. Kauffman, despite having nine children at home, undertook the task. During the next twelve years she interviewed over 160 of the early Eastern Montana pioneers and published their stories in Glendive ...
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In 1964, during Montana's territorial centennial year, Mrs. Morris (Gladys Mullet) Kauffman of Glendive, Montana noticed the dwindling number of pioneers who had settled Eastern Montana. Too many of them were taking their stories to the grave. Surely someone should record those stories! Of course, there was no 'someone' so Mrs. Kauffman, despite having nine children at home, undertook the task. During the next twelve years she interviewed over 160 of the early Eastern Montana pioneers and published their stories in Glendive's newspaper, the Ranger-Review, naming the column As I Remember. Mrs. Kauffman, herself the daughter of early settlers, reflects her love of history and her affection for Eastern Montana in her writing. She vividly brings to life the colorful pioneer era as she retells the heartaches, joys, laughter, and hardships of those hardy settlers. As Mrs. Kauffman interviewed the old timers they related their experiences as they recalled them. Thus the name As I Remember. The reader may notice variations in the different recollections, but we do not attempt to reconcile discrepancies. These stories are 'their' memories. In 1964 the Ranger-Review printed the first twenty-nine interviews, most of which were fairly short. As Mrs. Kauffman continued the project, she began drawing more memories out of those pioneers, and many of the later stories are considerably longer. In the latter half of this book, we have grouped the first twenty-nine stories together in chronological order as they were published. Although most of the stories were written by Mrs. Kauffman, a few were submitted in writing by others for inclusion in the original series. In this book we have not changed theoriginal submissions to conform to our format. The same applies to other sources, such as newspapers. These entries appear in italics. And now a note about language: The reader should keep in mind that these stories were recorded between 1964 and 1975 and reflect life experiences in the late 19th and early 20th century. These interviews are in the language of the time and no attempt has been made to 'update' the stories to conform to today's standards. In the back of the book, a glossary explains some terms and locations that may be unfamiliar to the reader. These terms are marked by an asterisk* in the book to indicate their inclusion in the glossary. Also in the back of the book is a list of all the interviews Mrs. Kauffman recorded between 1964 and 1975. Most of those stories not included in this book will appear in Volume II. Let As I Remember take you back to another era and also help you appreciate the times in which you live!
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