My Grandparents had a slide-in camper they put on their pickup where they stayed, Dad was not going to be able to go this year, so Mom and I went with them and would be sleeping in a little tent near their camper. Grandpa would come in the evenings with a heated cast iron skillet and put it under the mattress by our feet, and had put a little butane heater inside connected to a small bottle of propane outside. We were warm as toast every night.
This year we were in the mountains near Carizozo, New Mexico. Ed and Frances Snapp and their son, Arvo, were with the group, my Grandparents, and Mom and I. Dad would be coming down later on. I remember there was much activity in 'setting up camp', but Arvo and I played with the little plastic antique cars my Grandpa had bought me in Carizozo where we fueled up, and broke everyone of them. I was terribly upset about this.
I don't know how many days we were there before the snow came, unexpectedly. I do remember my Grandpa hacking us out of the tent we were sleeping in, fearing that we had been asphyxiated from the little stove, though I did not know this until later, only that he kept hollering at us and talking to my Mom while whacking away, I thought it was funny and cute of him to be so concerned, whack, whack!
What I did not realize was that about 6'-8' of snow had fallen during the night, and it was still snowing. There was no way we were going to drive out of there, we were far back in the mountains, at the very end of a 'trail' of a road. I was enthralled, it was surely the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life! 4-year-olds know no danger, that there is a set amount of food for a certain period of time, that there is only so much fuel on hand for heat and cooking.
We spent that first day in the camper with my Grandparents, wiping the condensation from the aluminum ceiling of the camper, all day, while the men were out shoveling snow from around the vehicles, FOR HOURS! Grandpa would come in to eat, have something to drink, thaw out and rest, then go back out. My Mother and Grandmother were talking about the situation, with concerned looks on their faces, I didn't know why they were worried, Dad was coming in a few days, and I knew he would just drive that pickup right on in there. Probably bring the tractor and pull the pickups out of the snow.
Unknown to us at the time, the Ranger Station who takes all the names and locations of those going into the mountains, while checking all their licenses for hunting, were in contact with the Army, 8+ feet of snow is no joking matter. I was just having the time of my life, the walk ways that had been dug out from camper to tent, to main tent, to the other camper were feats of wonder to me, the sides of the paths towered above my head. Looking back I realize we were like mice in a little maze of paths, and that only a few feet away from that towering left side of the path, the deep snow blanket went on for miles, hiding any identifiable thing.
On the morning of the third day from the snow storm we could hear engines off in the distance, my Grandpa speculated that they had called out the National Guard to come in after all the hunters scattered throughout the mountains. But there was no telling when they might make it back to where we were, sound carried far over the snow and quiet of the mountains. But the next morning a gentleman in a black fur hat, long gray overcoat with a fur collar, black boots, a 'Clark Gable' mustache, beautiful brown eyes and stellar smile made his way into the 'path maze'.
I do remember Jim Clayton, they called him, but I was sure it was Clark Gable! And said so! My Grandparents and Mother knew him, and I kept asking Mom if that was Clark Gable?! He told everyone to lock up and prepare to leave, The Army was at the main road in half-tracks and we would be walking out the path they had spent the last 12 hours digging. He picked me up to carry me out and everyone else followed him. I was gobsmacked, he was gorgeous! LOL
When we made it to the main road, there were about 6 'big trucks' and some heavy equipment off the side of the 'trail' they had blazed through the middle of the 'snow field' where the road lay hidden. He set me up in the back of the half-track and then helped everyone else in, there were several people already there. The lady next to us held a little blonde Cocker Spaniel, so I was quite content to sit on my Moms' lap and visit with the lady and her little dog. People were just sitting on the floor with their backs against the side of the covered back portion of the truck, I took all this in and asked my Mom where they were taking us.
It turned out that the Army had called in trains to run according to the direction that people needed to go, either east or west. We would be going east. I was so excited to ride a train. Golly Wow and Shazam, what a lucky kid I am I thought, and said so to Mom. I did not know then that it had taken two days to clear the tracks and get the trains lined up to go, that train station was packed full of people. We were there for several hours, people phoning to get in touch with family members, cleaning up and changing clothes, eating and drinking what the Army had brought in.
Mr. Clayton was there, I had of course had to make a time to go and thank him, and to stare at him some more! He did not seem to mind my childish infatuation of him. He came over just before we were to board to let Mom know personally, I had had all the excitement I could hold and had zonked out just as the train was getting there. Though my Mom tried to wake me and I remember trying so very hard to open my eyes to see the train she kept telling me was there, I was just done in for the day.
It was late night by the time we were pulling into the railroad yard in Tucumcari, by then I was no longer comatose and could see the amber light shining through the windows of the depot. I was sure my Dad would be there, I could not wait to tell him all about my adventures, he would be so impressed!
The parking area of the depot was full of cars, mostly police cars, those lovely, beautiful cars of black and white with the single red light on top, this was safety, things were back to normal. These were people I knew, friends of my parents and 'surrogate' uncles to me, I knew Jerry would be there!
And sure enough, Jerry is who met the train, with several other officers that my parents knew. But Jerry is who I was looking for, and when I saw him I bounded off the train step into his arms. He carried me to the depot, with me chattering all the way. Telling him that Clark Gable came to carry me out of the snow, but that my Mom said it was someone else.
Inside the depot, it was pretty crowded, mostly with officers that Jerry knew. Mom was given a cup of coffee and sat down on one of the benches to wait her turn to call and let Dad know we were there. Nobody had known how long it would take the train to get there, so were not called until it pulled in. She was talking to Dad on the phone when Jerry stood me up on a desk there. I was telling all the officers about being snowed in and the Army coming to get us, digging us out and riding in the half-track, about the lady with the dog, and Clark Gable carrying me out of the snow.
Jerry had some thumb cuffs he put on me and we all had a big laugh about me trying to get out of them. When Dad got there I was standing 'cuffed' on the desk and laughing.
http://www.nmstatepoliceassoc.com/1940s.php The second photo on the opening page is of Jerry, before my time
http://amarillo.com/stories/012301/obi_brunk_28.shtml His obituary in the Amarillo paper
http://www.yourhikes.com/HikePages/HikePage.aspx?HikeID=37 The area around Carizozo and the Sacremento Mountain Range
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