Bullies and Wayne

Wayne was named Ottis Wayne Benefield, He was not a big boy but he was definietly bigger than me, After all I only weighed 122 when I graduated high school.
The Benefields were a tough bunch. Never a problem starting a fight or ending one. My uncle was Uncle Will, he was a half brother to my Dad. He had two sons, those boys being Eli David, (E.D.) and Wayne. We spent a lot of time together growing up.
We did go to a gravel pit like swim hole. There was a boy there, He was big, Really big. His name was Toby. He was always picking at the younger boys, Coy, Myself and anyone that was around. He would push us under the water and hold us down.
One day I went to Wayne, I told him what was going on, he found Toby and told him, If you ever bother the boys again, You will answer to me. Toby knew Wayne and the reputation of the Benefields. He never bothered us again.
I am not sure my Mom and Dad knew we went but I am equally sure they would not have paid any attention.
My Uncle Will got into lots of fights, He would go into the local bars and start fights. One time he came to Redding and 3 guys picked a fight with him. He was never one to let a fight pass. Uncle Will beat up the three guys and when the cops arrived, Uncle was sitting at the bar having a beer. The bartender told him if he had known he could beat those three guys he would never have called the cops. It was a self defense thing so no time was served. You have to remember Redding and Red Bluff were once rough towns, They had lots of bars and equally lots of cowboys. All three of the Benefield men were tough, Uncle Will, Uncle Turner, and Uncle Clarence.
Dont know how my dad turned out so mellow. My uncels told me my Dad was not so mellow, they said he was pretty tough when he was younger and they were running around. I can not imagine him being tough, I only knew him as pretty soft spoken and usually drinking. I did see my Dad sober up pretty fast when Leon needed him, during one of his seizures. My Dad did love his sons, and wanted to help out but he just couldnt seem to manage the alcohol.

State Theatre

Every Saturday we wanted to go to the movies, We would beg Leon for Money to to , perhpas 25 cents cor the movie , and a dime for popcorn and soda. The movie always had seriels, Lone Ranger, Zorro or something similar. Every week it ended with a cliff hanger, if you missed a show you did not know what happened to your hero. one week Zorro was riding a buckboard over the edge of a cliff, It was horrifying, Of course we knew he would make it but what if they decided to end his reign?Man the suspense was intruguing. Coy and I often discussed the options. Next Saturday we would pick up the story line, with the buckboard scene, and at the last minute you would see Zorro jump off and make it. Always left us in suspense. Of course there was a movie too but the weekly seriels kept us coming back.
We were pretty much allowed to roam Red Bluff. After all it was a small town and I had a brother, or My Dad working at one or more of the restaurants. The togetherness of my family helped us through the hard times. Often I wonder how we made it at all. My sisters were not much help and it made me angry to have to help with the dishes. I wanted to go play, or get into mischief.
We often played ball with our cousins, We did not have a regular baseball so my dad improvised. He would take a walnut, tap a small nail into it, with a piece of string attached. He would then wind the twine around the nut until it was the size of a baseball. We had so much fun with a home made ball. At least we had fun until it came unraveled. One time we hit it over the fence into a ladys yard. She went out picked up the ball and took it into her house. My cousin, Wayne Benefield, walked over and asked her for it, she shut the door, He then leaned on the doorbell, when she opened the door again, he held out his hand and said, "The Pill, Lady the Pill." She handed the ball over. On another occasion we would stop and pick plums from a colored ladys tree, We did not go into her yard but would pick them up outside. Every time she saw us she would say "Move on boys, dont bother them plums, them plums belong to me". We still laugh about that.
I loved going to the Red Bluff Plunge. I was a pretty good swimmer, I was self taught. When we went I always went to the highest diving board. I was never afraid of the water. Guess you can tell that by the pipeline walks I took. When I joined the Navy that lack of fear helped me a lot. Guess that story is a few years down the line.

Yes life in Red Bluff was a lot of fun, for the most part, we went to movies, we roamed the streets, we had our Benefield cousins to play with, We had lots of aunts and uncles around. when we moved back to arkansas all that was gone. No more movies, we lived in the country, We did go swimming in the old creeks but never made it to the local swimming pool. We were no better off or no worse off, still just poor with no real baseballs or bats. Oh yes, our bats were usually an old two by four that was whittled down or an ax handle. We always made the best of things, After all we were a family and family sticks together.

Come back and check me out I have lots more stories.

The River

We lived in Red Bluff for 6 years, enough time to roam the streets and know lots of people. During this time, we lived by the river, We had a little house on the river banks, it may have been two bedrooms but we all piled into one or two beds anyway. The house was small, but to me it was home, and as good as my dad could provide, He was a cook at the chicken shack and they slaughtered their own chickens daily. Plus you can be sure it was great fried chicken, my Dad was a good cook. Better than my Mom. Poor Mom she just could not cook and she wasted so much. Garlic she hated garlic and complained when Dad used it in cooking. So back to the river. The house was small but not as small as the second house we used when the river flooded. The river would rise into our house, so we had to go to higher ground. Up the hill we had a little house, it was boards half way up like house, then a tarp was put on top, like a roof of a house with a gable to keep us dry. Warm it was not, I am sure we had a heater but also I am equally sure it was wood heater. How we cooked is a mystery, but it must have been on the wood stove, The bathroom was an outhouse, toilet, Community one at that. At one time one of the tenants of that little settlement, was on the toilet, he was the dirtiest man around. I am sure he never took a bath. He was sitting on one seat and when my Mom went up, the door was unlocked, he said, 'Come on in this is a two seater' LOL The river bridge was another issue, In those days it was a wooden bridge, you have all been across that bridge, it is the one after you exit the freeway and go directly into town, chico exit. So the story of the bridge goes, coy and I would walk across the river on the pipeline, it is a big pipe that runs under the bridge. We did this often, not a problem in our eyes, Well one day Dad saw us, he met us at the other end, He was saying come on son Dad have something for you, he had something alright, it was a belt on our rear ends. You can bet if we walked that again, we made sure Dad was not around. We saw no danger we could swim, which we often did at the red bluff plunge. No problem but in retrospect it was a very dangerous stunt, I being no older than 12 and coy 10. One of our adventures included shooting out windows of a building with a BB gun and going to weekly shows at the State Theatre in REd Bluff.

My little Red Hat

It was 1944, my dad had moved to California, my older brothers, Jim, Leon and CB were already here and thought the move would be good for the family.
I was only 6 years old, Times were hard in Arkansas, We never seemed to have enough food or enough warmth, and never enough clothing. Our jeans and shirts had patches on the patches. I of course do not remember most of these hard time, it was just a way of life.
Wynell was 13.
Dad finally sent for us, We boarded the train in Pine Bluff, to begin our journey across the country. So our first trip was not by Old car on Route 66 or by Wagon Train, I know that must dissapoint some of you, since you think I am ancient.
My Mom bought me a little red cap, like a baseball cap, I had never had a cap. While we were traveling, the windows were open, We had no air conditioning, and I am sure we did not even have a sleeper car. We probably slept in our seats. One day my little cap blew out the window, I remember crying for a long time about that cap, and having a feeling of loss and disappointment.
For food, I recall the bologna sandwiches. They were the best food I ever had. Mama bought them on the train. In 1944 bologna was so good. Unlike anything you buy today. No fillers just great meat.
When we arrived in Red Bluff, it was late. My Dad was asleep on one of the carts that sit at railroad stations. I believe we moved into a little shack on Oak street in Red Bluff.
My Aunt Esther gave me a photo of that little shack a few weeks ago, I will share it as soon as we get it scanned in and posted.
Being only 6 at the time, I began school at Lincoln Street school, I would remain in California until I began 7th grade then we moved back to Sheridan.
During my years in Red Bluff a lot of life happened to my siblings myself.
The next story will deal with the River, The Bridge, and our two homes on the river.



Stay tuned, (if I can dig it out of him).

First Memory

The first memory I had was of an old plow mare. Her name was "Ole Coalie" As you can see, by the name, the mare was black.
I was probably 4 yers old, so Coy would have been 2.

One day we decided to all ride her, Several of us got on her back, Coy, Myself, Virgil, and maybe one more. Not sure.
We were doing pretty good Coalie had back bones that could hurt if you hit them just right.
Suddenly Coalie ran under a clothesline, all of us got swept off by the clothesline. no one was hurt but I am sure Mama was upset that we had ridden the mare.

My next memory was of a move we made, We moved often, Dad used to joke that we had to move when the rent came due. Often he would see and emptry house and decide to move in. We only once in our life had running water, and an inside bathroom but the well was dry so we had to run to the well to get water, and the bathroom was of no use.

When we borrowed the truck for the move, It had (had being operative) big wooden sideboards on the back to support itme being moved. As Dad was pulling into a service station,( to get gas, at psosibly 10 cents a gallon, the truck would not fit under the station awning , which was probably homemade anyway, ) The sideboards came off and fell all around the kids in the back.
I was possibly 6 at this time.

I never lived in one house a year at a time, Sometime only a month. They walls were so thin the winter winds could blow through. My Dad took an old 55 gallon drum and put legs on it, cut out a door and made a heater out of it. That old drum was pretty thin material. It is amazing our house did not burn down, In fact one did, but that is another story, I know few details as I was only a baby at the time,.

Stay tuned