My Grandma and Grandpa Coons had two other places with houses on them besides the home place. Grandpa was a hard working guy but he never got excited or hurried about anything. Grandma was just the opposite. She was shorter than five feet and less than one hundred pounds but she was made of high tensile steel. She was the one who finagled and was able to buy other places that made their original homestead into a creditable ranch. The Briggs’ place was one of these places. They bought it from someone named Briggs.

The Briggs place lay just north of Catamount Creek and just a little east of the...