Just for fun, to ponder

[Delmonico]

I ran across this a few months ago and now I have a decent enough computor to post such things.  I offer no explinations for this, not an item one would think you would see in the "Old West."  I'm going to toss it out and one can come to your own conclusion as to why it is there.  It is out of the Solomon Butcher Collection and I found it looking for something else.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/nbhihtml/pshome.html

Type "Before Heading Out" or just 1206 to get the large picture off the site.


Feel free to add any thoughts.  Just goes to show, no matter how much we think we know about the "Old West" something out of the ordinary will show up.

[Books OToole]

It is a toy of one of the kids.  How else would it wind up on the roof.
(Been there, done that.)

Books

[Camille Eonich]

Could it be the same reason that this is here?  

[Delmonico]

Books: Butcher staged many things on the roofs to put them in the picture, but not in the main focus.  I've thought about the kids toy, may be the reason.  But if those limbs are ash it's got a heck of a draw weight.

Cammie: It might be a family heirloom like the pump organ.  That was carried out of the sod house and away from it, to be photographed because the lady did not want the sod house to show.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Those rotten kids draggin' the organ into the dooryard again. 

Slim

[Delmonico]

Books would have tossed it on the roof.

[Sod Buster]

And what are the oars doing on this roof....on a soddy in Central Nebraska!

[Silver Creek Slim]

In case of flooding. 

Slim

[Silver_Rings]

Crossbow would make sense for hunting, especially by kids.  Arrows or bolts are reuseable and could be made easily.

As to the oars, they may have had a pond or be near a river that they used a boat on.

SR

[Camille Eonich]

Crossbow would make sense for hunting, especially by kids.  Arrows or bolts are reuseable and could be made easily.

As to the oars, they may have had a pond or be near a river that they used a boat on.

SR

So they kept them on the roof?  Is this another part of history that I have yet to learn about? 

[Delmonico]

The sandhills are full of natural lakes, Nebraska has what is said to be the 2nd in the nation as to natural lakes after Minnesota.  Also they made ponds where needed.

Santa Claus spent his summers down there fishing.  The fish and fish lines are drawn on the plate in ink.

Cammie, most likely another one on Buthers "in the back ground things"  the boat was probally at the near by lake and no one wanted to fetch it.

[Cuts Crooked]

Well I can envision several reasons why a kids cross bow would end up on the roof. Probably the second time a bolt came through the wall of the house pa dealt with it in proper fashion......... after applying another piece of wood to someones backside!

Meanwhile I don't think I would want to get into a race with that team, given the way the harness is attached to the wagon!

[Delmonico]

Well, they wanted their picture taken not a wagon race.

Check out picture 10754 up close off the site.  Was the fella on the roof their cause he was bad, or just cause he had an ugly sweater on, they type my ex-wife always tried to get me to wear.

Check out the strange gun rig on the guy with the shotgun and the moulded looking holster.

[Cuts Crooked]

Wierd lookin rig!!!!

But it's nice to see that they were still very proud of that ol' Hawkin rifle! Found one of those hangin' over a fire place in Oskaloosa, Iowa back in the mid 1970s. Lady that owned it wouldn't part with it, said it once belonged to her great uncle, who had been "up the Missouri" in the 1870s. Fancy thing with German silver mountings. I cleaned it and fixed the lock, which was just frozen with mild rust. A good soaking in kerosene freed it right up. Found that it had a charge in it too! Left it in there and told her it was loaded when I gave back to her. Lost track of the old gal since then. Wonder what ever happened to that beautiful old rifle! Hope it ended up in the hands of someone who could really appreciate it for the piece of history that it is!

[Grizzle Bear]

Anything that has been handled by humans, such as a crossbow or boat oars, will contain salt from persperation.  Such things should always be stored out of reach of rodents, from mice to porcupines, who will chew it up for the salt.

Not sure the roof of a sod house is going to be a good place to keep things away from rodents, however.  But maybe the occupants thought it was.

I think Books has the right idea; Pa threw the crossbow up there to stop the kids from shootin' at the chickens!


Grizzle Bear

[River City John]

Wierd lookin rig!!!!

But it's nice to see that they were still very proud of that ol' Hawkin rifle! Found one of those hangin' over a fire place in Oskaloosa, Iowa back in the mid 1970s. . . . Found that it had a charge in it too! Left it in there and told her it was loaded when I gave back to her.. . .

Cuts, once took a plains rifle we bought in an estate in to the local gun shop that specialized in antique pieces to have them check it out before selling and it had a charge in it, too. The feller told me that often MANY of the old hunting long arms that came in were loaded. So many, in fact, that he felt that it was standard to leave them charged, in those days of meat hunting or as defense in case of need, but not capped or primed. Saw it too often to just be explained as being a misfire that no one ever got around to pulling the charge. Time passed and the more modern cartridge arms took over within a very short time and the front stuffer was kept ready, as a back-up or through nostalgia, but the knowledge of it being charged most likely was not passed on.   

[Guage Rod]

Del, while all this speculation about how the cross bow got on the roof is reflective speculitive and sort of an enigma

I came to the conclussion after the enraged father got tired of the cow being shot in the utter, the pig being shot in the butt and the chickens being harrased till they would not lay eggs any longer

Dad decided to take out the "Board of education" simply tanned a little boys "rear-end" for the last time, over the darn toy cross bow, and threw the thing on the roof till it was forgotten about . 

In my oppinion this was sort of like an early version of the BB gun and mom kept fretting about the boys shooting each others eyes out, and dad had had enough

[Delmonico]

Of course then we have the "Cow On The Roof" picture.

<Not really, but a funny place to teather the cow.>

[Sod Buster]

Of course then we have the "Cow On The Roof" picture.

<Not really, but a funny place to teather the cow.>

BESSIE...GET DOWN FROM THERE!!!!