Knowing What Was Important

“He will sigh to lose his friend, groan if his wife dies, but if his dog is lost by death, his grief is overwhelming.” That's how a 19th Century reporter described a sheepherder of the West and his devotion to his sheepdog. Such observations tell us what was important in those rough and challenging days when everyone had to make due. “The wind whistled through the walls in winter and the dust blew in summer, but we papered the walls with newspapers and made rag carpets for the floor, a