Life in Texas County was very different during the 1930s and 40s than it is now, and as time rolls on, fewer and fewer people remain to share first-hand accounts of those days.
But over the years, a handful of books have been written documenting that period in the county’s history. One more was added to that list late last year: “Ozark Girl,” by Helen Gourley Wasson.
Now 88 years old and a resident of Seward, Alaska (on the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage), Wasson had the book published last December. Born into a large family in 1924 (the middle girl of seven sisters, with two younger brothers), she lived in the White Rock area during the Depression years, and then spent several years on a farm at Bado. Her father was a farmer, trapper and lumberman, while her mother (who attended the old White Rock School) began teaching school at age 16, before she was married.
“Ozark Girl” is billed as “heartwarming, humorous, and truly entertaining,” as Wasson “sums up her life and family’s story.” The pages also paint a mental picture of colorful people (like her full-blooded Irish grandpa Henry Farley and 3/4-Cherokee grandma Martha Farley) and happenings in the surrounding community.
Wasson said she’s written a few children’s books in the past, but never had one published. Writing about her Texas County past is something she’s considered doing for a long time.
“It seemed like we were always telling stories in our family about what happened,” Wasson said. “I just wanted to retain some of the memories, and I just started writing.”
Wasson attended her first two years of high school at Houston before finishing and graduating at Cabool.
“The bus ride to Houston was long, because it wound all over the place picking up kids,” she said. “A friend convinced me to go to Cabool, and the ride there was much shorter and easier.”
After attending Draughn’s Business University in Springfield in 1942 and working as a secretary for the Rural Electrification Administration, Helen Gourley married Joe Wasson. When the couple had been wed for 47 years and had three children, they moved to Emmett, Idaho and lived there for eight years.
Following Joe’s death in 1994, Helen moved to Boise, where she gardened extensively. While there, her children encouraged her to being writing.
After Wasson started jotting down descriptive versions of her memories, the whole book scenario began to unfold one day in Seward, where she had moved to be near her daughter.
“I mentioned to a young girl at the senior center that I had been writing my memoirs,” Wasson said. “She said, ‘oh, let’s publish it!’ I said, ‘I’m not ready,’ but she just took over. I called my daughter and said, ‘I’m not ready – I want to edit and revise.’ She said, ‘mom, you could do that the rest of your life and not be ready.’ So I let her go.
“But I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on it. It really resonates with old people – and a few young people.”
Recalling the struggles of rural life in Texas County some 80 years ago, Wasson remembers being excited when she received an orange at Christmas. But she always stayed focused on not letting negative circumstances overcome her joy.
“It was hard, but it was a very rewarding life,” she said. “But I think that sometimes, it’s just your attitude. We were poor, and it would be easy to let things run you down. But I think a person’s attitude can make all the difference.
“I like to think you enjoy what you can and endure what you must.”
Wasson is currently working on another writing project, after recently being asked by representatives of the senior center in Seward to produce a profile piece on a local senior citizen.
“That’s really been fun,” she said. “He’s a retired Coast Guard fellow from Nantucket Island (Mass.), and I’ve been really enjoying interviewing him. I also looked up Nantucket, and I’ve been having fun reading about it.”
Being a first-time author at 88 is a reflection of how Wasson approaches life near 90.
“I don’t like to be bored,” she said, “and I’m not too fond of bored people.”
Living in Seward has reminded Wasson how much she appreciated residing in the more temperate lower-48.
“I wouldn’t like to live here if I was still gardening,” she said. “They say there are more gardeners in Alaska than any other state in the union, but they have to work for it, I’ll tell you.
“But Seward is nice; it’s a very close-knit community and an artsy town. And I’m counting the months till the cruise ships start coming back in. I really enjoy them. I’m on the third floor of an apartment building, and man, do I have a view.”
Wasson (who still has several relatives living in Texas County) said copies of her book have been sent around the world.
“A friend of mine sent one to her mother in England, and my daughter sent one to some friends in Australia,” she said. “So it’s kind of getting around.”
“Ozark Girl” is available online at Amazon.com.
“I still have a big, big, warm heart for Missouri,” Wasson said.
…I think a person’s attitude can make all the difference. I like to think you enjoy what you can and endure what you must.”