HomeMy Public PortalAboutReedy, Tom/lb r
UP To Now
Alice Koskela, whose grandfather
Gustaf was one of the early Finnish
settlers in Long Valley, is living in
Donnelly and researching the history
of the area for her PhD dissertation
at Washington State University. She
would be happy to talk to anyone
who recalls any of that history, and
can be reached by writing to High
Country.
by
Alice Koskela
"I'll tell you about a guy," the old
man began, "who got in trouble with
the sheriff back in Virginia."
His younger friend listened intent-
ly - Tom Reedy always had a good
story.
"By gosh," Tom said, "they was
huntin' him with horses and dogs.
And they just about caught him,
when he run down a north slope
where there was lots of oak and
hickory. This was in the fall of the
year. There was one tree tipped
over, and the hole it left was filled up
with leaves. He just knew those dogs
was gonna catch him, so he quick
jumped in that hole. The leaves just
covered him. He wasn't in there but
a few seconds when the dogs got
there, but they didn't catch his
scent. He could hear those dogs and
horses go right by."
Reedy paused for a moment, then
smiled.
"I left for the West after that."
Joe Bennett remembers Tom tell-
ing that story, and remembers think-
ing that whatever the "trouble"
was, it couldn't have been much
more serious than moonshining. He
knew Reedy better than that.
Tom came to Long Valley from
Virginia in the early 1900's and
chose a homestead site by the river,
south of McCall. He proved up on
the land and received his deed in
March of 1,912. In 1919 Eldon and
Marie Starr bought an improved
homestead near Reedy's place. It
was very little "improved"though.
The man who had owned it had
complied with only the minimum
requirements of the Homestead Act:
he left a little cabin, and a few acres
plowed up, but not much else. And
the Starrs moved up in June, too late
to do much planting. Nevertheless,
they were determined to stay.
Tom had raised a big hill of
rutabagas that year, and they had
done so well that he let it be known
around the valley that his excess
crop was free for the taking. Starr
would stop in from time to time
during the fall for a sackful, thank
him for his generosity, and go on
home. Reedy knew his neighbors
were going to have a tough winter.
One evening Starr happened by
when Joe was visiting. Tom and Joe
were finishing a supper of bacon and
beans and the sourdough biscuits
that Reedy made so big and light and
flaky. Starr stood in the doorway and
looked long and hard at the kettle of
beans and the plate piled with
biscuits.
"Mr. Reedy," he said, "I was
wondering if you might have another
sack of rutabagas to spare."
Tom jumped up from the table.
Tom Reedy in the twenties. Reedy, an
expert hunter and taxidermist, shot this
bear near his home in McCall.
Photo courtesy of Joe Bennett.
"Have a bite to eat with us," he
offered. "Sit right here." The other
man shook his head.
"No, I can't stay. But I thought I'd
stop and see if you had any more -"
"Sit down!" Tom boomed. "I'll
just throw it out if you don't."
Starr moved slowly toward the
table. and Tom motioned for Joe to
come outside.
"We'll just load up the rutabagas
while you eat," he said.
Joe remembers the storage room
next to the cabin where Reedy kept
his supplies. In it hung a row of hams
and bacon that Tom cured earlier
that fall. Without saying a word, the
older man took down a slab of bacon
and filled an empty sack with beans.
Then he put these in a larger sack
half-filled with rutabagas. He did
this three times, and Joe loaded the
"rutabagas" in Starr's sled.
When they went back inside, Starr
was just cleaning his plate. He stood
up.
"Mr. Reedy, I don't have any
money right now, but I'll pay you."
"I don't want no money for those
things, "Tom replied. "I just want to
get rid of them.
"Well, I thank you very much,"
Starr said.
When he had gone Tom looked at
the empty kettle of beans, at the
empty biscuit plate.
"That man's hungry," he
muttered.
Tom and Joe watched him through
the window. He walked up to his
sled, then noticed the strange lumps
in the sacks. He opened one, looked
inside, and stared for a few mo-
ments. Then he investigated the
other two. Slowly he turned and
walked back to the cabin.
"Mr. Reedy," he called through
the door, "I can't take what's in
those sacks."
"What'd ya mean?" Tom called
back to him. "Don't you want them
rutabagas after Joe and I loaded
them for you?"
The door opened and Starr step-
ped inside.
"I don't have any money," he
repeated.
Reedy looked at him steadily.
"I know you don't have any
money. But don't have anything to
eat either, do you?"
Stan- shook his head. They'd been
living on rutabagas for a couple of
weeks now.
So Tom Reedy gave him ten
dollars - which could buy a lot of
groceries in 1919 - and he looked
after the family for the rest of the
winter, and the next summer, until
Starr could harvest a crop. When he
was on his feet, he paid Tom back,
and never forgot his generosity.
After Reedy got older and it was
hard for him to get around, Mrs.
Starr did his cleaning and laundry
and cooked for him.
Reedy moved into McCall later on,
onto some of the land he had
purchased east of Payette Lake. One
of the roads that ran through his
property is named for him. 1 drove
down it not long ago, just as the
leaves were turning. As I looked at
the sign (misspelled: "Ready
Lane" I, I thought about the man who
ran down a hillside in Virginia so
many autumns ago, and "left for the
West after that." ❑