About Pete

Kaye's notes from Pete Andrijeski, my grandfather

 

Born April 10, 1902

Old sod house in southwest Nebraska, near St. Anne Post Office and Church

Helped tear it down when he was 10yo

20 miles from town

6 brothers and 3 sisters, Pete was #4

 

His dad got mad a lot

Frank Xavier born in Posan, Poland

Migrated to Germany and came to Nebraska and homesteaded there in 1880s or 1890s

 

Born in Illinois, they moved to Kansas 

Went to school about 4-6 month terms

Rest of the time stayed at home and worked the fields up to 8th grade

Get corn in, cut if off, feed it to cattle in the wintertime

8-10 years old, rode horses, get horses in out of the large pasture to harness

 

For fun, ride horses, go to neighbors, visit, play baseball

 

Helped Farm

About 20

Harvest time, best wagers were thrashing

Wintertime shuck corn by hand for neighbors - 3-5 cents per bushel + room and board

Up before daylight

hitch up horses, go in and eat breakfast (pancakes), go out to work 

 

Left home for Iowa 1923 on a freight train with a load of his dad's black angus

Rode in the caboose, went to St Jo. and sold cattle there, then interurban to Kansas City - first ride on interurban. It was a big place. It wasn't level. Only stayed about an hour and caught interurban back to St. Jo.

Caught a train to Altavista, Iowa

Had relatives there and helped through the summer

Then went with a cousin, John Mishak, to Waterloo, Iowa, worked in a factory that made bathtubs and pails etc.

He and another guy that was fired or laid off went looking for a job and got one at a packing house.

Pete boarded with Mishak and his family.

He was hired "stinking" job: spread cow hides out

4 or 5 took hold and shook the hides up and down until they shook the salt out.

Splattered all over and made them dirty and smelly.

Then wondered "Why did I ever leave home?"

Then on miscellaneous then up to the fresh meat room.

Cut fat back off bacome -- all hogs put wires inside to hold open

Had to cut it off with one swipe and get to the next one or they piled up on you.

My hand and wrist ached.

Worked there about three months.

Spring came - Altavista relative wanted him to come up and help - Ed Swallow

Helped with farm work.

Went back to Waterloo and went to an employment office and for 50 cents they would get you a job.

Got a farm job with an Englishman -- "Bloody this, and bloody that" -- all through Summer

 

1924 he and a couple guys (Louie and Art) bought a 1919 Model-T for $50.

Went back to Nebraska and then down to Kansas to work in the harvest -- 30 miles east of Dodge City

Man asked them to stay until harvest time -- week or two. Wanted someone who could run a combine and a header

Pete the only one of the 3 who knew how to run this old-timer -- Hodges header

Could cut 15-20 acres a day

He knew how to stack and six horses behind header, you site behind the horses -- 3 horses on such side of beam, you just turned wheel and horses turned header.

Had canvas he had to patch 

When they got through Pete got a dollar more than the others -- $4 a day 

Worked 13 days without a break

 

Started west, Garden City, Kansas, Greeley, CO

Hold Model-T gas pedal down and just basely clime the mountains, would boil, looked like water was running uphill

Got to the top, let it cool.

Went to Utah, SLC - 1st time a woman ever cut his hair

Big Salt Lake

Traveled about 15 and 20 miles per hour -- lot of tire trouble

Wooden spokes in the wheels 

Headed for San Francisco

Got into the mountains and got lost eneded up back where they had been.

Decided to drive into night to make up time.

Got lost again going up the Arkansas

Slept in the car every night

All three hinged back on front seat

Laid it down and slept on that.

Pulled off to sleep.

Put rocks under wheels.

Freight coming up the draw.

Made a horrible noise.

Woke him up and he thought the car was going into the river.

First time he work up terrified.

Must have been mines in the mountains -- lights up them

 

1924 - Next morning - headed for SF again

Got into salt flats -- moonlit night 

Water in barrow pits and it looked like snow -- it was salt.

Drove to about 10, 11 o'clock and around behind some buildings to sleep.

Usually ate breakfast somewhere and buy enough stuff for dinner.

Bought a brand new tire in Battle Mountain - $10

Blew out in about 1,000 miles

Nevada farmed but didn't seem to live on farms -- lived in town 

Came into Reno for breakfast -- asked about jobs -- couldn't find any.

 

Got to California -- onto a detour, terrible climb, over rocks, etc. -- near Truckee

The 2 of them would push and he'd open it up and finally got on the highway again

Got to SF toward evening.

Asked a policeman for place to park.

Put the side curtains on they buttoned on

Foggy as the dickens

Didn't find the Golden Gate

Got on highway 101, up to Eugene, OR and turned east

Across McKenzie Pass down through John Day and landed in Ontario.

Breakfast at John Day was 75 cents for bacon and eggs -- really high for them days

No graded road -- just tracks

Came through Garden City and Boise, Mountain Home, Pocatello and turned north to Yellowstone Park

Stopped at west entrance

They wanted $7.50 to go into the park so they didn't go in.

They tried to hit the Palouse country to work but didn't realize they had missed it.

Went into Montana, Bozeman, and down into Casper Wyoming

Storm came up in Wyoming

Day's drive out of South Dakota 

School House out in the open so they stopped and parked beside it.

Put cushions out of car on floor and laid down to sleep.

More cars came in to sleep, ended up with 22 people

There looking for a part in the storm.

Stopped in Rapid City -- pretty nice place laid down in valley

Got to South Dakota from west to east -- like a roller coaster -- up and down 

Harvest pretty much over.

They bound the train.

Too early to thrash in North Dakota so went back to work on thrashing crews

Slept in barns or whatever they could find, gave board.

If it rained, went into town -- get back for dinner, go back to town

Stayed until first of October went with threshing crew west into Missouri

Sold the others the car for $25

Couple Norwegians on crew.

When they left the crew he went with them to Pipestone Minnesota

Got a room for 50 cents a night

Went into pool hall

Went to priest and asked to go to confession and communion next day.

Went back to pool hall, fella came down that was going to Omaha -- looking for someone to pay half of gas

He had a Model-T roadster

Looked like a pretty decent fella.

 

Got train ticket back to Waterloo. Shucked corn for Englishman again all Winter.

Need some wheels to get around.

Looked up those guys and bought the Model-T back for $15

Shucked for some others

Got snowed in.

Traded car in for a new roadster.

Allowed $25 on old car -- $295 for new one.

Didn't have starter or a de-moutable rim.

 

1924

As soon as he could get out went back to Nebraska before Christmas

Drove day and night -- nobody home when he got there on a Sunday morning.

Gas cap in front of the windshield 

Ford made a big change and put a door on the left side

Got that car right off the show room floor -- ran really good.

People gathered around to look at it.