Go West Young Man, Go West

(Written for my Mom and Dad and read at their Golden Wedding anniversary party in l963. My Dad left his native Iowa to pioneer in Western North Dakota in the early 1900's.)

Go West, young man, go West,” they cried, And the challenge touched his heart,
Those open spaces beckoned so, that he made plans to depart.

But when the family heard it they were filled with great dismay,
They tried in vain to change his mind, and keep him home to stay.

For from the wild and wooly West weird tales had drifted back,
Of evil, violence and grief there surely was no lack.

“Why, you’re life’s not worth a nickel, Killers roam at will, they say,
“Freely toting guns and arrows, Someone’s shot ‘most every day.

“You will soon become a caveman if you even find a cave,
“Here the corn is tall and handsome, There for meagre food you’ll slave.”

But he wouldn’t be dissuaded, though he loved his family dear,
Dauntless, brave and pioneering...he set out without a fear.

To be sure, the West was rugged, Summers hot and winters long,
Some gave up and called it evil, Ohers found themselves more strong.

Nature greatly joined the testing, Rain was slight and drought prevailed,
Grasshoppers in droves descended, Courage ebbed, but never failed.

In the West he lived and loved it, Open skies and wide terrain,
Friendly neighbors--not so vicious-- brightened life out on the plain.

There he met his wife of valor, There his children, nine, were reared,
Grew and learned to be resourceful, For they, too, must pioneer.

And they learned a lesson early: goals before us to be met,
Are ne’er fulfilled by dreamy idlers, And quitters never got there yet!

Now this girl he found was pretty and she really caught his eye,
The very first time that he saw her, He went home a-flyin’ high.

“You should see that Aarhus girl, boys; A nicer lookin’ there can’t be,”
And with that old determination, He vowed, “That’s the one for me!”

And she it was who shared the rigours, Strong in spirit, soul and mind,
For prairie life of self-denial, Few today are to be found.

Many times I marvel deeply that she kept her nine so well,
In an illness she was doctor checking tongue and pulse to tell.

Keeping all so healthy, frisky; Vitamins were sure unknown,
Canning in the fall the produce, That in spring was always sown.

Dishes washed would total truckloads; Home-made bread three times a week,
Cakes and cookies, without mixes, for their baker well did speak.

Sure her nerves wer worn and tattered, What one forgot, eight more thought up;
They drove the car into the water, Blew up the stove with a covered up.

Two fell in the cellar, scuffling; Hit the churn and spilled the cream,
One broke an arm when horseback riding, Another when swinging from a beam.

But a Higher Power was sought for; Sought to keep and sought to save
from the world’s alluring pitfalls, many hours of prayer she gave.

From the Bible she claimed verses that the Lord would save them all,
Draw them to Himself eternal, Help each one to hear His call.

Hear His call to full surrender; Nothing less than all for Him,
When the heavenly roll call’s taken, All must be there, saved from sin.

Now the kids are all grown up and scattered far across the earth,
How they all would like to be there on this day to share your mirth.

And to say to Mom and Daddy on your Golden Wedding Day,
Thanks for all your love and patience as you led us in the Way.

Thanks for discipline and firmness, Thanks for lessons old and new,
Thanks for tender care and sweetness, Thanks to God Who gave us you!