During the days when I was growing up, my family often took in events held at the Shady Grove Schoolhouse (we called it SCUD).
During those early days, I remember often hearing other farmers there talking about the things they liked and didn't like about their farming. But one thing often repeated was that farming gave them opportunity to be their own boss. That seemed to be the convincing factor that led many to stick with farming despite its challenges and limited rewards. In those times, most of the people who came to Shady Grove events were farm families. Very few of our neighbors in those days had employment somewhere besides their farms. That's very different from today, when full-time farmers are rare, and much of the land that is still in farming is farmed by part-time farmers.
At these same times, in school, I was learning about the early days of our United States, particularly the movement to settle the western states. I was regularly listening to "The Lone Ranger" on the radio, and hearing and reading about the pioneers who had moved out west in covered wagons, venturing to establish a new way of life for themselves in fresh and undeveloped places. There was a sense that the pioneers were heroes of a sort, taking on great ventures despite being faced with many obstacles and uncertainties. They were pulling up roots in settled communities in the east, to strike out into unfamiliar and undeveloped lands, where they hoped to be able to create farms, towns and communities where they could make a life for their families using their own ingenuity and relying on the labors of their own hands. My family was never a family to go to movies, but we were aware of movies, primarily westerns, in which those times in the 1870s were depicted, with heroes like Tom Mix and Gene Autry, as well our Lone Ranger, were trying to bring law and order to untamed territories, and safe and productive living for the settlers.
I have always thought that farming, even after generations have farmed a land, offers opportunity for people to be pioneers. Farming is a venture challenged by many obstacles, uncertain weather, threats of crop loss because of disease or pests, unreliable markets for crops or cattle or other farm products, problems in financing the farm operations, and the requirements for hard work and enduring effort. But farming also offers possibilities for trying new ideas, for innovating, for being creative, and for showing ourselves that we can succeed by relying on ideas that we come up with ourselves. The confidence of self-reliance, which is a major aspect of the pioneering spirit, is a strong factor in motivating a farmer.
Commonly there is a desire to figure things out by learning from one's own experience, not just relying on the commonly accepted ways of doing things, or going by the advice of other people, or just going along with tradition. Work, to some people, seems to be seen as just a burden, and to be avoided wherever possible. On the other hand, farming is an opportunity for a person to prove to themselves and others that they can accomplish things, that they can make their ideas and their labors bear fruit for the good of themselves and their families. The self-reliant motivation is somewhat resistant to the idea of being directed or advised by others on how to do things.
At the same time, and on the other hand, one aspect of the pioneers' ventures was that they did many things by teaming up with others. Few people traveled into the far west totally alone. Many traveled in wagon trains, with several families traveling together, facing the dangers together, sharing the work, and mutually sustaining one another in the times that were especially trying. And, they went, not just to set up isolated lives, but to form towns, communities, schools, churches, stores, markets, law enforcement, courts, counties and local governments.
Working out this tension between a self-reliance that focuses on "going it alone" and an approach to life that looks to work in cooperation, to contribute to team work, to help others and to accept help on occasion is one of the interesting challenges as a person shapes a lifetime. Some may take the approach of a belligerent resistance to anyone who tries to influence them. The idea is that "nobody should be trying to tell me how I should be doing things." Or, the idea is that everybody better stay out of my way as I go about having my own way.
Trying to unite two good motivations is a key challenge. We like having opportunity to experiment, to try our creative ideas without others' meddling, without being harassed, and without competing obligations. But we also can appreciate the value of accomplishments that are possible through collaboration, through cooperation with others, learning from others, and thinking of how not only we ourselves but all others can benefit from our work and ingenuity.
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Editor's note: This column first ran April 10, 1919. Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge and an award-winning columnist, is vice president of Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.