DEDICATION

There are a THOUSAND THOUGHTS lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up a pen to WRITE.....William Makepeace Thackeray....

Someone once told me that I shouldn't use the word...MEMORABILIA...in the same paragraph with the word...COMMEMORATE...The Webster's New World Dictionary that this same fellow sold me for the sum of $2.00...indicates that the words..memorabilia and memorable...are in direct correlation with each other and are derived from the Latin word memorabilis, memorable...all of which means things worth remembering or recording, such as a collection of anecdotes, accounts and etc.,or of mementos, especially about one subject,event and so on, anything worth remembering, notable, remarkable.

The two extraordinary people that I am about to dedicate this noteworthy story to are most certainly worth remembering and nearly every event they created together or even seperate was outstandingly notable and because of their dedication...their determination...because they dared dream the American Dream for their own lives as well as the lives of all their children...because they were capable of perseverance, were persistent in their cause...their lives were certainly worthy of notice...and their accomplishments...all were positively...nothing short of...REMARKABLE...!!!

Therefore...this memorabilia is commemorated to the..EVERLASTING MEMORY...of my beloved PIONEER PARENTS, Frank Raymond (1889-1983) and Lena Belle (Moor) Schmeiser (1890-1964) who, along with the three oldest of their eleven children, emigrated from Metz Indiana to settle on a half section (320) acres of virgin prairie land that prior to their arrival had only been occupied by coyotes, jackrabbits, rattlesnakes...and...perhaps an occasional badger!!!

AS THE CROW FLIES (Requires using a bit of imagination)...Drawing a straight line on a US Atlas map from Metz Indiana to a point thirty five miles northeast of Colorado Springs Colorado on U.S. Highway 24 to the town of Calhan the train my parents traveled on to reach their destination would have crossed six and one third states.
They were met at the Calhan Colorado railroad station by their neighbor Mr. Ralph Broadhurst who then transported them across the prairie approximately thirty five miles southeast via his CONESTOGA (A broadwheeled covered wagon used by the early Pioneer Settlers for crossing the plains to their prospective homesteads) Upon their arrival at Mr Ralph Broadhurst's homestead, which was located one mile west and a quarter of a mile north of their own homestead, Mr Broadhurst graciously put them up in a dugout...root cellar...there on his place until their house was built.

This particular..HISTORIC VENTURE...took place at the time the youngest of their three oldest children...Walter Marlin Schmeiser (11/1/1914-2/13/1957) was just six weeks old!!!

My Pioneer Parents...HOMESTEADED...made their home...for forty years..in the "L" of Lincoln County Colorado from December 15, 1914 until the Spring/Summer of 1954..at which time they moved into their retirement home at Simla Colorado, the house that Mother, my little sister Glida and I stayed in...week days...while attending the Simla Union High School...graduating together...Class of 1952.......!!!