Donnis Slusser Crane

Josie Donnis Slusser Crane

Josie - a genealogical review of a young pioneer girl who was raised during the mighty settling of the Midwest. Like so many homesteading families, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Josie's mom and step-daddy left the friendly farms of home. They sold off everything they could not carry, packed all of their possessions into a covered wagon and started west on foot walking beside the team of horses toward a new beginning. They were reaching for room to stretch, for better and richer land, for more opportunity to live a life of independence. Josie told stories about her life as a child. Many have been touched by her narratives: her vivid detail of herding cattle with her pony 'Maude'; scooting her school chum Clara off their study bench in an ornery incident; running with Josie through the prairie grasses of Oklahoma; and hunting Indian beads along the sandy creek bottoms. These are only a few of the events Josie told her listeners. This genealogical tribute to Josie is a poignant reminder about the life of a simple girl living at a time when early American settlers struggled to get a firm foothold on the land.