Moonshine whiskey, cheap and available, accompanied the cowboys on trail rides, roundups, brandings and local dances. At the dances, dressed in clean Levi’s, cowboy shirts with kerchief’s around their necks, moonshine whiskey limbered cowboy legs after riding all day and they danced with pretty girls, late into the night. I choose to believe that Joe met a certain girl, Blanche Parkin Fields, at one of those dances in 1929. I know for a fact that he courted her, taking her to dances where they danced to the strains of “The Tennessee Waltz” and “You are My Sunshine.” Joe sang along as he held her close.
Blanche, recently divorced, and in need of a home, moved with her two little girls to her parents ranch. On his days off Joe rode horseback to the Parkin ranch, where he stayed for dinner and then played endless games of cards on cold winter evenings. Joe found another way to help pass the evenings, he loved children, and spent time playing with Blanche’s two little girls, Loraine, age three, and Barbara only nine months. I can picture him in my mind as after supper he, holding a little girl in each arm, singing them to sleep.
Blanche at age twenty had a slim figure, hazel eyes and dark wavy hair. Joe fell in love not only with her, but also with her two little girls. I’m not sure who stole his heart first, Blanche or the girls. Loraine and Barbara soon started calling him “Daddy Joe”, and within a year Blanche and Joe married and he would claim the girls as his own.
A story told many times, about a visit Blanche and her sisters, Jessie and Peggy made to the sheep camp where Joe was tending a herd of sheep. They rode horseback to the camp, where Joe planned to cook dinner for them. A sudden winter storm forced them to spend the night at the sheep camp. As the story goes, they all took their shoes off and crawled into the one bed. Joe first, next to the canvas wall, then Blanche, Jessie and last Peggy. If one person turned they all had to turn and although Joe was in bed with three girls, he nearly froze his “back side,”pushed against the canvas wall of the sheep camp. The girls’ father arrived early the next morning to find Jo out doing chores and the girls fixing breakfast before they started home. To be continued...Hugs to All...OWAV:)
Below are the earliest photos I have of Blanche and Joes early days...These are after they were married.
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