Poverty Wasn't Painful
Depression Recollections of Eastern Oregon Ranch Life

Poverty Wasnt Painful is a "must read" for Kansans, Nebraskans, Oregonians - all those who knew the drought, the dust bowl, or grew up during hard times. Folks growing up during the Depression - who share camaraderie not unlike that of blood relatives - get a "warm and fuzzy" feeling reading this chronicle of ranch life: outhouses, wood cookstoves, sad irons, feather beds, coal oil lamps, harvesting ice from the John Day, bloomers made from flour sacks, anxious watch of haystacks to see if they will feed cattle through the winter. "Just like I remember it," readers say. Elaine Dahl Rohse, who grew up on a cattle ranch near Monument in eastern Oregon during the Depression, and galloped through poverty without realizing they were poor, views those who experienced such times as "heroes." The Depression stiffened the backbone of Americans, taught them work ethic, patience, frugality, hope - attributes plainly evident at the start of World War II when Americans went to work for their country with colossal effort. Just as pioneers who crossed the Plains in covered wagons birthed a vital Oregon Country, Depression "heroes" brought vigor to our land.