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Skousen Brothers Contracting Company of Albuquerque was awarded contracts
to construct three road projects along Route 66 in the summer of 1936. Each
job, about eight miles in length, was a new alignment job. Jess Skousen
oversaw the job through the lava flow east of Grants, Dan Skousen ran the one
near Thoreau, and my Dad was in charge of the third job at the Continental
Divide, known as Top-of-the-World. He also coordinated the work on all three
projects.
During those early "mule-and-fresno" years, a typical camp consisted of a
number of plywood buildings and perhaps as many as 14 tents where the workers
slept. The plywood buildings included the field office, an oil house, a tool
and parts house, the blacksmith’s shop, a tack and feed shed and the cook
shack. The mule corral and the wrangler’s tent were placed near the working
area.
There was always a hum of activity in Dad’s camps: men and equipment
coming and going, carpenters building concrete forms, and the distinctive
sound of the blacksmith’s hammer dancing on his anvil. There were also
distinctive odors: the smell of hay, fresh cut wood, gasoline and oil fumes,
burning coal bellowing from the blacksmith’s shop, kerosene lanterns, and the
wonderful odors emanating from the cook’s shack.
Our Favorite Spot
My sisters and I still agree that the Top-of-the-World camp was our
favorite summer camp. In that summer of 1936, Dottie was 12, Joye was 10, and
I was 8 years old. Dad had built two plywood cabins for the family. They
faced each other and were set in a grove of pinon and scrub cedar trees. The
windows consisted of large screened openings with hinged, fold-down shutters.
On hot summer days and nights, we propped open the shutters and were rewarded
with a wonderful cool breeze. Mom and Dad had their own cabin, and we kids
slept in the other, which also contained a kitchen and dining area. We didn’t
eat at the cook shack as we had during previous summers.
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Family Outings
Occasionally, we drove to Gallup to buy groceries from Charles Ilfield &
Co. They charged wholesale prices to Dad because the cook also bought
groceries there. A big treat for us kids was the canned creamed marshmallow.
It was bought by the case and we ate it by the spoonfuls.
In addition to Jess and Dan’s families living on their jobs, Grandpa
Willard and Grandma Laura Skousen lived and worked on Jess’s job. Willard
worked as a powderman and Laura helped Rufus (Cookie) Wimberly in his cook
shack. We enjoyed our aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents keeping us
company. To celebrate the fourth of July, all of us drove to Bluewater Lake.
We also did some fishing. Dad and I walked around the lake to a rocky point
and we stopped at the right spot. I started pulling Bluegill out as fast as
Dad could bait the hook. I think he may have had more fun than I did, and
that’s saying a lot.
Dad had another fun day --at my expense! One Saturday our family drove to
Gallup. Dad needed a shave and I needed a haircut, so we went to the barber
shop while the women did some shopping. After Dad had his haircut, it was my
turn. What I didn’t know was that Dad had made a deal with the barber to
shave my head. Not cut it short, but to SHAVE it! When the barber finished, I
did not look up. I walked out staring at the floor. Dad didn’t laugh very
often but when he did, it was the knee-slapping kind of laugh. He slapped a
lot of knee that day... until Mommy saw me.
Boys will be Boys
Then there was the day that a buddy and I were throwing spears of wood at
each other. His stick hit me in the middle of the forehead and blood came
rushing down my face. Mother took one look and rushed me to the hospital in
Gallup. The doctor put a band-aid on it and sent us home. At another time, he
and I found some new, shiny rods in Martin the Dutchman’s blacksmith shop.
Naturally, we took a few.
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Spring 2000
