My first loan

my sister Debbie with one of her sheep -

I was shaking in my boots the day my dad took me to Shidler State Bank to talk to Wendal Andrews the President of the bank.  I wanted to purchase 2 Ewes (female sheep) to start my first financial venture not to include turtles (previous stories). 

I got cleaned up that day and got in the pickup (Ford) with dad to go to the bank.  Dad talked to me and told me not to be nervous and that did help but I had never done this before.  I knew that those two ewes would cost me $60 so that is what I was going to request.  I anticipated he would ask me how I was going to pay him back so I made a few notes on what later in life I found out was a business plan.  I had calculated how much feed would cost and how much I thought I could sell the lambs for which I hoped the ewes would deliver.  It all seemed simple but Mr. Andrews was the man in those days and I had to talk to him.

Well we arrived and dad said I had to go by myself so he just waited in the pickup or went to drink some coffee, I really don't know.  Well I walked inside and the bank was pretty quiet and Mr. Andrews saw me and asked what I was up to.  I told him I came to request a loan.  It was kind of like in the movie "Its a Wonderful Life" where old man Potter was the banker and I felt intimidated but this giant of a man.  But thankfully Mr. Andrews was not like that and he got me pretty comfortable for just a few minutes.  And  I mean just a few minutes because then he started asking me questions and here is how it went from what I remember:

Mr. Andrews:  Well Gary how do you plan on spending that sixty dollars?

The confident pioneerman: I am going to buy me two ewes and they are going to have babies and I am going to sell them for a profit.

Mr. Andrews:  Well how are you going to have any lambs if you don't have a ram?  (I am not talking about a RAM truck either)

The worried pioneerman: The ewes are supposed to be pregnant already.

Mr. Andrews: What are you going to do if they don't live?

The squeamish and concerned pioneerman:  I don't know, I guess I will just get them bread again.  (that means to get a ram and get them pregnant,  you are probably thinking a ram truck full of bread)

Mr. Andrews:  So do you expect that you might not be able to pay me back for an extra year?

The lost confidence of the pioneerman but thinking quickly:  I will pay you some of the money because the odds are one of the lambs will live and I will sell it and pay you some of the money plus I will sheer them and sell the wool and make some money as well which will pay for the food so that all of the money for the lamb will go to you.

Mr. Andrews:  It seems you are pretty confident and I am going to make you that loan.

THE PIONEERMAN AND HIS FIRST BUSINESS: Thank you Mr. Andrews

Of course I don't remember all the words that day but this is close and did I mention I was 9 years old?  Ya, I started young but my parents encouraged me to try.  I think mostly they wanted me to learn responsibility and doing what I had to regardless of the circumstances. 

That day was the beginning of getting up in the mornings to take care of MY business, not dads or moms or ours but MINE.  I had to feed and water and make sure they were safe from the coyotes by putting them inside each night.  I checked on them everyday morning and night.

I remember when the lambs were born and I got two sets of twins.  Mr. Andrews would be proud.  I was surprised that they were born with long tails.  You may not know it but those short tails are not normal.  You clip them off when they are young because it helps them develop better and yes you casterate the male lambs, sad.  It actually makes me glad I am not a sheep.  Anyway I sold one of my lambs to my sister, pictured above.  And one of the neatest things about sheep was when I hired some men to sheer the wool and I sold it and I found out it was worth a lot of money.  I don't remember how much but I just remember I was very surprised.

Debbie, my favorite sister, and I  raised lambs for the 4-H livestock show held each spring in Pawhuska.  The good and the bad was that the lamb I sold to Debbie won the show, not mine.  Another good thing about the livestock show that has nothing to do with this story is that is where I met a very pretty girl, Vicki McGuire.  We dated for a while when still in high school.  Another thing about that show which was bad is that (boy this is bad english, but it is the way I talk)  that is where Cathy Eaton, another pretty girl, and I were chasing each other and I had a pair of sheep sheers in my hand.  Sheep sheers are used to cut the wool on the sheep but when I caught Cathy I clipped her hair a little too much and I got clipped by my folks, metaphorically speaking.  That is the biggest word ever!  The Eatons were from Grainola and lived just east of Tom and Bud Head (Head Country BarBQue

Well back to the story.  Obviously my business plan was successful and I started next year raising hogs and cattle and those stories will come.

What did I learn in the Osage?

• responsibility can start very young and it did at our house but it was more fun when it was mine
• Ownership - that is what makes America great,  think about it, have you ever heard of Communism and how great it works?
• Free Enterprise - the right to try to get a head, NOT a gift of the government, NOT an entitlement but the gift of OPPORTUNITY, God Bless America
• It is about the journey not the effort or the end

Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com