COOLEY, LEE AND ERMA (WOLFENDEN)

I started school in Mullen as a kindergar-tener in 1916 as Erma Wolfenden. My mother moved to town every winter to send us children to school. Until all the other children graduated, I was ready for the 7th grade, which I took in the country, as I did the 8th grade. Then I boarded in town for the 9th grade. I went to Alliance, St. Agnes Academy for the 10th and 11th grades, but that was too confining for me and I came back to Mullen for the 12th grade, boarding with Mr. and Mrs. Sherm Keith.

I taught school in Cherry County for two years.

I married Lee Cooley in 1931. He had lived northwest of Hecla and he had come to town to High School. He went home some week-ends. He went to Hecla on the local freight train early Saturday morning, then walking the four miles to home. Then on Sunday afternoon he again walked to Hecla and got the Railroad Section Boss to bring him to Mullen on a hand-car. He boarded in town and among other jobs did the High School janitoring one year. This consisted of emp-tying the waste paper baskets, emptying the ashes, and getting in enough coal to last the next day for all the stoves, and sweeping all the floors. There was a coal stove in every room. There were about five rooms upstairs and three downstairs and about the same number of students that they have now.

We worked for my Dad for a time, and for Billy Piercy for awhile. Then we rented the `Stickley Place' on the Dismal River. We rented a place from Snip Revere and lived 7 miles northwest of Mullen. Lee milked cows, separated the milk, and sold the cream. The skim milk was fed to a pig which we butchered or it was poured on the ground, as valueless. He also trapped, mostly coyotes. These two enterprises made most of our living for us. We moved back to the `Stickley Place' and from there to the Dismal River Ranch of W.B. Farrar where Lee was foreman for six years.

Our children, Cy and Jack, rode horseback to a country school 3 1/2 miles south of the ranch, over some of the highest hills in the country, and seldom missed a day of school no matter how cold nor how deep the snow.

We bought our place eight miles south of Mullen, piece by piece, until we had 7 sections. Here we built a house and outbuil-dings and planted trees.

The first `school bus' in the county was started for our two boys, two Ralph Revere children and the Lyle Benner children. It was just a car driven by Lyle Benner. The next year, a car driven by Bob Long was the school bus. They did not haul High School students, so when Cy was ready for High School, he drove our car to school and after he graduat-ed, then Jack drove our car to school.

We lived there until we retired and in 1975 bought the Booker Long house in Mullen and moved to town. We rented our ranch to Harding Brothers until May 1986 when we rented it to Kenny Bader. Baders had rented the house for about 10 years.

We celebrated our 50th anniversary July 6, 1981. Our son Cy is a well driller, and lives in Mullen. Our son, Jack is meteorologist in charge of the Weather Bureau in Grand Rapids, Mi. for the past 15 years.

So Lee and I have made our home in Hooker county for all of our 70 odd years excepting a few years spent in Cherry County, when Mullen was our town.

We are among the charter members of the Senior Citizens Club.