In 1844 Lydia Maria Child wrote in her children’s book, “Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go.” It brings back good memories of years and grandmothers gone by.

The grandparents on my mother’s side were from central Kansas, the town of Eureka. Grandfather Webster sold out and moved south onto the Cimarron in Woods County. Arriving shortly after the Land Run, he found the soil sandy and the water table high. My mother had many stories of the once-monthly trips by horse and buggy to Cleo Springs for provisions. Flooding on the river was a springtime event, mitigated...