Latah County Oral History Collection

Laura Schrager: Lola Barnes. Trimble moved to Princeton from Nebraska with her parents and brother in 1913 at the age of ten. She married Hershel Trimble when she was 17, but remained close by her parents on Harrod Creek. On this tape, Lola describes the move to Princeton School's days, chores at home, courting and dances. She also talks about her life When Herschel worked in the woods and the neighbors building the schoolhouse for their children.

Lolah Benge Tribble: You get run down and I'll give you that. I can't do.

Laura Schrager: Anything. Yeah. I wanted to ask you about again and go why you came out here. You deserve it. Really.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I would say it was from the people that come out here before we did Riding back. That's the only thing I can think of and fathers tell them to do. I think he probably figured he'd probably feel better here and back here. The winters was so rough back there. I mean, of course, that's the only reason I know.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And I think that's probably enough. I can probably give you a better reason than I could, because I was only ten years old when he hit me. That's. That's the reason.

Laura Schrager: Do you know why the first people came out? You know, what was it about Nebraska that made them, you know? Well.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I really don't know. I can't tell you that one. I don't know why they didn't. That's why I didn't know how to set up one. And I can't tell you unless it was some of McFarland's that came out here first. I don't know. I kind of believe that was why they came. And then, of course, you know how it is when people go from place to place, they write back all the good things, but they never tell you the bad things.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And really, I don't think they would do anything for the state of Idaho has always felt that way.

Laura Schrager: You said that your father.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Rented you from there. Yeah, he. He ran out of farm, rented place. He always rented the migrant farm back there for the fair and then cows and had chickens and homes and sheep or anything like that. In passing, you.

Laura Schrager: Do you think was that were most of the other people also that they rent? I was wondering whether that would be a lot of the reason they moved down here, cause they didn't want to pay rent.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I really don't know that a lot of the people back there. I do know that. And I suppose probably it's like this here. So we own this place. But then Hershel doesn't farm or do anything he rents about to do some somebody else and I think probably a lot of them were like that. I just really don't know.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I was too young to know for labor, really older places or not. But even back there now, I'm just like, it is here that the wealthier people are better. Do do people smaller up over small places and the people that haven't moved into town and just leave the big guys farming and you know, that's way it is around here.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I think probably down here maybe had something.

Unknown Speaker: To do with it.

Laura Schrager: Were you pretty excited about.

Unknown Speaker: Coming out or.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I don't think I was actually too excited about coming. The thing of it is that most of the people are, and the kids that I played with were already here to see that I played with back East. And of course they mean a lot to me. Naturally, you know, it's kids you like and things you want to do for their art.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And that meant a lot to me. I knew I was working on the definite day here. I thought I was.

Laura Schrager: Anyway, who did it? It wasn't a quick decision. It wasn't. I mean, was it something that your folks thought about for a long time? I, I really don't know.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I don't know. Fact, I suppose they talked it over naturally. Yeah. And they knew. But of course, you know, little kids do that. They don't pay a lot of attention to their folks a lot of the time, you know. And I spoke big and I was quiet. I mean, we did a lot of the lot of their. Don't let you hear me.

Laura Schrager: What are your early memories of what it was like? Do you have a story for those things?

Lolah Benge Tribble: You know, on those? I really do. I know one time it was one of the neighbor girls that you it wasn't anything bad. And, I don't know. I can't remember what we've done or I'm not sure what we still. Rotten eggs, Daddy. I'm not sure, but I believe we Did you remember this? I'll get to nickel. So we run the toilet to get away from it because we knew old boy wouldn't come.

Lolah Benge Tribble: They taught it for real life. Then there.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Were no.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And these are on the moon in here. The board was often hitting.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Me on the head and that.

Lolah Benge Tribble: My head cleared through my son.

Lolah Benge Tribble: But I bled like a stick of.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And I know, I know that that's a girl because it was freak. Your mom. What have you done to dig pretty cheap? You get after me? You She wouldn't say anything, baby first before she could get after me for throwing rotten eggs in me. I'm sure it was rotten eggs, but never remember that we're going to do that.

Lolah Benge Tribble: That's one of the first things I remember about when he was victims. he's awfully good to me, really. I know after we come up here and everything, because when my father came in, anything like that and.

Unknown Speaker: He was offering to take me to dances. So you you're.

Laura Schrager: Telling me about the railroad car.

Lolah Benge Tribble: That you. They rented the boxcar? I think that's what they call them, honey. They're all boxed up inside. But I think you couldn't ship your stuff without somebody coming with it. And I think they was two men come through that now. They could tell you more about that. And I can, too. But I think I think that whoever had the stuff in the car had to pay for their tickets out here because, you see, they had horses on there.

Lolah Benge Tribble: No cows, but horses. Well, see, those horses would have to be watered and fancy, so they had to have somebody in the car to take care of and take care of them. And we brought our furniture and everything else and we come. We didn't have a lot, but we brought what we had. And we lived in Princeton just a month before we moved up to the place here.

Laura Schrager: Did did when your stuff was sent, did it get all the way out of place or where did it start or did.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I think it come right to Princeton? Honey, we stayed overnight in Tucson. You know, I can't remember why. I don't know. Maybe it. No, Ben, I don't know why we stayed all night in occlusion I was telling you about when Daddy washed. You know, the sink was on the wall. And bless his heart, when he stooped over what she had been riding.

Lolah Benge Tribble: So he just ran. You can't read in the wall. He'd tell about that, but thought he was such a good guy or I thought he was anyway.

Laura Schrager: To remember much about the actual trip itself in the train.

Lolah Benge Tribble: A No, I really don't. I know I slept quite a bit and I remember that we brought lunch. I don't know what Mom put it in or anything, but all of them that came when William brought lunches and we were on the train. I remember that. I remember that. I think. I don't. I do anything now. I don't why I was.

Lolah Benge Tribble: But I did. And Dick had a broken leg. And then this crippled guy, you know, was with his father and that's it. It was an awful looking wreck. But we got here anyway.

Laura Schrager: Mostly most of the other people on the train, were they all were coming out to.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Go just, you know, just passenger show me just the outfit that we were with. I can't tell you for sure how many of the both of it Now, Nick would remember that I was me. Like there was two families that lost conveyances and coupons, I think. I'm not sure about coupons. I know that Mrs. Copeland's father came through with the with the car Dad bought his ticket.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I'm sure that and his name was sharp and we always called him Daddy Sharp. I remember that. This plane, this can be and then Frank mean, I think was Mrs. Bailey's his cousin, but he had at one time been married to her sister and they separated and she was in Kansas City and he was out to be on Sears.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And he came in, he came out, he come out with the car. I think he'd come in and.

Laura Schrager: Said, you know, we ran through the tape and just went on and on and.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Talking for I don't know how long. There's no end the line this morning.

Laura Schrager: But here I'm thinking about the trip out. And I was wondering if you remember the first time.

Unknown Speaker: For the Rockies or anything,

Laura Schrager: Or just what your first impressions? I do.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I think probably one thing that will come through the place where they said you're headed for the north side. I do remember that. And outside of that, anything of importance or anything. I just know remember, cause she she now was 18 and I don't have a memory that if they said that any of the kids on the train that wasn't their name came from only this plan, I suppose.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And you know how kids are, you.

Laura Schrager: So then you stayed overnight and.

Lolah Benge Tribble: It did happen on occasion. And we got into Princeton about noon and I couldn't.

Laura Schrager: You did your own room for your room?

Lolah Benge Tribble: yeah, we did. Of course. I suppose it was only the train to meet us. And I imagine part of it was anyway, but it was sure different. Anything we'd ever been used to, you know. Of course, that was. It took us, I think, for days and nights and but nevertheless, it was a lot different. Anything we've may been used to.

Laura Schrager: The traveling or well being. All of it, all of it really.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Was different because I had ridden on the train before we come here, we mom and I made two trips to Saint Joe, Missouri. That's where Nan's books live. And we made two trips down there. But I well, I guess they made three. But I do remember the first because I was a tiny baby. I guess when they went down the first time, that's what they told me.

Lolah Benge Tribble: So I guess I, I don't remember the folks saying anything about it, but I know Dick said that they went down there and I was thinking about two months old, but Mother and I made two trips down there and back on the trains. And so I read them on the train before that was new to me.

Laura Schrager: In German memory. So the time just just.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I remember thinking about.

Lolah Benge Tribble: It.

Laura Schrager: so then you moved up around here for.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Very little imprisonment for for 30 days and then my daddy bought this place off for her brother right up here. There's no house up there now. They had a house built for you in a remote house, and then we moved up there right away and I walked to school from there to Princeton.

Laura Schrager: You started going to school right away?

Lolah Benge Tribble: We got here. I went to school right away. Just since we got here. I so we got here on Saturday morning and I think I start school Monday. And I went to school for that month that we live in Princeton. And I walked and this was all me came in here by I think probably the biggest tree was here long enough around in here.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Come off of this, Frank.

Laura Schrager: I was thinking about it and I was surprised that your father was a farmer in general. And then it surprised me a bit when he came out here. You didn't you didn't try to very much.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Didn't We don't know. I don't know how much land was in cultivation. Course, they just bought 40, 40 acres at that time. They later bought another 40 and there they was a little bit here up there and and most of it I think was in Timothy. And of course, that was for a horse feed in the calf. He bought a cow right away and a few chickens.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And we put a little garden here. But yeah. they cleared some land. And of course logging was all new to them too. Of course it was like nothing seed. And when we got here, then they didn't start logging till next winter. You see, they some of the logs and then came burning up and what they called them and they wait till it's known and then they'd take them down either honestly under or what they called.

Unknown Speaker: It to now.

Laura Schrager: So as far as used to go, to walk down to school and stay there all day, then.

Lolah Benge Tribble: In the wintertime it was dark when we got out. Of course, as usual, in the wintertime they had just half an hour noon and they'd let us out at 330. Otherwise it's 4:00. And, you know, in the wintertime it was near dark before. Of course, I was here before the war. And the first year was here in the spring.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And mom, I don't know, I guess we started out to do some and there was a big bear standing up at the gate. I guess it would make like Mingus was both scared to death and it didn't come in like what it was as far as or a little farther than from your barn, I guess, from us. But that was close enough.

Laura Schrager: To where you expected to work around the house for long. Well, no.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I didn't do as much as I should about tell you. There. I did help Dad, though. I helped him an awful lot. I was out time with Dad more. Not like ever in the house with Mom and not very much. But I have learned. And then mom and I would we had neighbors that cut the hay and then I'd break it.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And then Mom and I talked to them in the barn and that was up in camp at that time. Course, I was about 15 or 16 or something like that. 16, I think probably.

Laura Schrager: That took me a long time to do it.

Lolah Benge Tribble: You know, they wouldn't let me pay their money just on 48. And it wasn't a week. Your own cultivation, you.

Laura Schrager: Two remember what your your mom's day was like. You know.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I wonder what it was like.

Laura Schrager: What her her day was like from getting up in the morning.

Lolah Benge Tribble: For I would say actually a lot of like it is now. It would be get up, will give the meals and get your housework done and whatever extra you had to do washing or ironing and things. It's just a lot like it yesterday when you've done it the hard way. Those days you have to water from a spring or a creek or whatever happened to be you didn't have water in the house, you didn't have nothing electricity, you had a wood stove, both heater cook still.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And I would say, is it just general housework like like it is today? Only you got different things to do it with. You know, everything's electric now where they that's I don't think I even have like one. It was like I don't believe I knew. Yes, I need to but I got, I got my electric stove after my mother died.

Lolah Benge Tribble: She died in 49 and I got my leg fixed on the Nautilus that year.

Laura Schrager: There must have been I haven't mentioned that there were a lot of, you know, tours just keeping.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Yes, but you must have been to the church very much. Then I get most of the children raised me up. I'm not. When I was little, tiny things I can't remember, I guess when I couldn't pay off how much I can do this. But I have will put me on my life machine. Me like I have of I couldn't now my hands are crippled up with.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I tried it. I couldn't be up now. But I'm used to milk. I know when we came out here and bought this cow and I wish I didn't milk for the morning, but when he come in from work or from the logging, I always had the coming for me too. But I'd be more milk and then she'd be in.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Well, I can be. And I didn't kill after her, so I was married. And of course we didn't have very much dog. Once in a while I helped with the milking, but that usually left. You can't have the cows seen in old boy who have wonderful calves to say the false age. And really they didn't need too much.

Lolah Benge Tribble: They saw little cream, but it was really rough on them. Getting to the place was hard for them to trim the separator. You know, now they have electrics separated those things. It was manual labor to turn on. I know, because I've done it both.

Laura Schrager: Well, yeah. You just mentioned that the first time you ever went to Moscow, so, no, it would have been five years after we.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Got here.

Laura Schrager: From.

Lolah Benge Tribble: 18. Yeah, I wanted a winter coat, and I don't know why we didn't get it in the Potlatch, but Dick was home. I guess Dad was still in camp because I don't think Dad wasn't home. I know. And they cart a man in. I had a was an A modeling or model T I don't know it's the Ford anyway to take back to Moscow and I never will forget that because it rained that morning and I would just and of course the roads, you know, wasn't gravel like they are now, you know, just over the Moscow mountain.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I'm just afraid I didn't think I was going to get my coat, but I guess I even remember what mom paid for it. I never will forget it. It was burgundy cream. And by the way, it is pretty thing. That was in 1918.

Laura Schrager: You never had much reason to go there before.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Well, you know, the funny part of me, too. I don't know. How come Mom didn't try to give me a call about it? Because they had clothing there. They always. Well, I see. Always. Chris, You know, the Potlatch show that used to be there burned down several years ago, but ten, 11 years really burned down. I guess I can't tell you the year for sure, because I don't know.

Lolah Benge Tribble: But it burned down. Of course, they've got another clothing store in their store there now. But they call it the Potlatch Mercantile. And they just had everything in their shoes and they had meat market and groceries and hardware. And it was just a great big store. But several stores inside of it see not different rooms or anything like that, but just different things.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And then up over here they were so they had apartments that they had. It was nice big brick building. And I think I don't know if they ever did find out what caused the fire. It was like faulty wiring. There's still a little woman that was in there. She and her husband got out with just their nightclub sign.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And just 30 days they lived up over here. Didn't those apartments just 30 days? I guess it was just till the day he died with a heart attack. And she now lives in California now. And she writes to me all the time. She was a clerk in this storm hit record for me. All this real pitiful.

Laura Schrager: And then ask you to go, well, what? Recording these documents. They were a hoarder court.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Everyplace you went, you walked.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And.

Lolah Benge Tribble: You didn't get in a car and go anyplace but you know, I know. I think usually the boys spent the evening here. I know that's way it was at our house. I know they're not as wide as some of them are nowadays. I know that if I've done some of the things from the grove that now my dad would kill me and he really would have.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I'm not kidding me, have wouldn't have been here, told the story.

Laura Schrager: Soon they just come over and visit him. They, you know, invite you to dance with everything.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Honey. They would know where to go. That is. I mean, like we was. You didn't have any way you now they can. I went to the dance of horseback. Or we could walk to Princeton to dance or something like that. But of course, I guess probably some of the wealthier ones had sleds in the wintertime and nice horses, you know, the sleigh bells we we didn't we looked at the place.

Laura Schrager: We do. You remember could you do you remember any of the dances that they.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Would like, you know? gosh, yes. We all didn't drink like they do now, you know, And it was kind of funny. My dad always told me, he said, you don't have to dance with a man that's drunk. But he said, if anybody asked you to dance, the king said, you better dance with him. He didn't like this idea.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Some of them think, Well, this guy, you can't dance quite as good as somebody else to dance with. He said. None of that. But then they used to have dances around people's houses, you know, too. They had the whole down here at Princeton, where they dance. They used to have optimized dances There. And another thing he always told me to leave the dance off.

Lolah Benge Tribble: You know what I never do at night. Now the girls go out and drink and that's fine. He said, Don't you ever do that dance on. So we had part of our life cut out for us.

Laura Schrager: You, you, you said once that if you got married.

Lolah Benge Tribble: That you were a piece of candy. We had our honeymoon. You can't leave married. Going to get one up. We went up to the end and came back Saturday. We were up on the train collecting.

Laura Schrager: What do you think if you go get and all?

Lolah Benge Tribble: We went to shows and a dancer slept in. But and then of course, I had never been the Spokane. I heard she used to live there. She knew me, but he showed me around and we went to Parks in the daytime, you know. But it was in October. Holcomb The museum, it was called. He. And we went to a show every night for some movie.

Lolah Benge Tribble: It was something new to me to go and don't know. I thought, I mean, movies, I don't remember. Madge and I and, but I haven't been to very many know now that would seem funny to kids and they didn't go to a movie at least 1617 years old, you know when they're raised on.

Laura Schrager: Now was was Herschel working in the woods at this time.

Lolah Benge Tribble: He had been up to the time we was married. Then he he came down in, I suppose, the 1st of October to remember married in 24. And then he didn't work anymore than winter. Well, he took chances and he in January, that took in a month and then he went up to camp in the spring. He and Dick both went up there, and then in the spring, we we had a little house over here.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I don't know, Mom. Half I guess from here, maybe not quite that far, but we moved to ourselves right away. We married again this little house and then first went up and worked till he probably came home in July of that year, nevertheless was born on the 14th of August. And then he built his little house up on the South 40.

Laura Schrager: When he would he'd be gone all the time when I mean, after he left.

Lolah Benge Tribble: yeah, we had just come home for weekends and I think he was home once. And I'm going to move out once because he had a brother and sister in law that lived in Greenville, but we stayed at the hotel. But then we went to probably wash up the Obama was up there. I went up on Friday and.

Unknown Speaker: Come back Monday morning every thing.

Laura Schrager: Was that horrible too. But there was that hard on you to do.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And I stayed with my folks. I forgive Montana. You know, I really didn't mind to what he was going to push if I hadn't stayed by myself. I was adventurous, nice, but I could stay with.

Unknown Speaker: Mom and dad.

Lolah Benge Tribble: The year and then and after we got this little house built and moved into it, we moved their stuff over to the little house we lived in. They built a camp up here for that to work up here. Then they built the camp right here too, of course, from while Hekmatullah picked up the farmhouse. And that way he could come home for dinner.

Lolah Benge Tribble: So and they loved him for his support, feeling they wanted to. Most men that work at camp, you see, ate dinner there while they boarded there. But I supported him and they loudly prayed for me at home. I don't know how much you done made the board all 100, 100, $145 wouldn't be too much. I'll call you that one four or five $600 a month like they get now.

Laura Schrager: To rebuild that house. And so for me to get a of.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Hundred, he really was pretty good. CARPENTER You'd be off this room mostly by yourself for the buildings we bought but yeah from an old house. But he built it mostly by sea of men. when you were children. One time here, Jody was staying with us, and they built several houses around here. I don't think.

Laura Schrager: She was that unusual for him. I really.

Lolah Benge Tribble: You mean for me to live there?

Laura Schrager: All right, well, just for. No, for it sounded like in general, it was just a bachelor.

Lolah Benge Tribble: It was.

Laura Schrager: You know, I mean, whether it was unusual for you to be, you know, up there and for being alone.

Lolah Benge Tribble: But you see that little shack that we live in have fairly. He showed me that. I don't know, you you that.

Laura Schrager: I want to.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Say.

Laura Schrager: You once every you can get.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I don't know if he came all the way on the train with us for Spokane or not when we came down and when we got off of the at the after the train here, the people of Princeton, you said, well, if the first one was a boy named Bear, we didn't like him.

Laura Schrager: That's a pretty rough town for you. Or you were outside of town.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I don't know. I don't know anything about him. That's you. And that's the first Dennis ever went to. And he was. You grew up a lot bigger than I should. Really? And then I sure personally look professional and look at me like I don't look like.

Laura Schrager: Did your life change a lot when you got married?

Lolah Benge Tribble: How was your future?

Laura Schrager: Could your life change?

Lolah Benge Tribble: What percent of my life?

Lolah Benge Tribble: You know, I can't say that it did really?

Laura Schrager: Because I take it home. Yeah, well, I can. You know.

Unknown Speaker: People be happy and explain.

Lolah Benge Tribble: The world is full of people like that.

Unknown Speaker: To me, it's it's really. I mean.

Laura Schrager: Is this the only time when you moved up that town feel what time you lived away from right around here?

Lolah Benge Tribble: I've definitely been clear up in New York and you.

Laura Schrager: Depth and breadth.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Yeah. My folks come with me and I was quite a bit different. You, Hershel and Dick and Uncle Charlie had your job of putting you one time over here. I don't know how far it is. We walked through, we had Louis and Reichmuth at that time. Those work, by the way, we had to carry records the way and we walk.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I don't know how many market was. It seemed like as long way before we got here. And it was quite a ways I guess you probably, but I don't remember how long that was week in the course of that time.

Laura Schrager: You went up and just ramped up. Where were they?

Lolah Benge Tribble: My work. They had a house from there. They was a house built up there and I went up for the boy quarry was cottonwood and mother and I had to have an operation During that time. I can't remember seeming like I was working folks in one for six weeks at that kind. And then when we lived up to boom, that's the only time I was ever away from my home until they passed away.

Laura Schrager: Think you continue to live with them or they continued.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Will live on one place. We didn't live at the same house, but I can see the fact Mother was here with us when she died. So I.

Laura Schrager: Seems like I had a pretty tight family.

Lolah Benge Tribble: You know, real close.

Laura Schrager: So did did Herschel continue to work in the world, continue to work in the woods everywhere or her own home?

Lolah Benge Tribble: Yes. We have a new family.

Unknown Speaker: Coming in here.

Lolah Benge Tribble: They run this camp there. The camp didn't run steady. They had let's see, one, two, three. They had either three or four campsites up here, but they might run a few months maintenance, you know, run a few months and shut down. And you didn't. My dick was unloading logs down here in Potlatch and at the river. And Herschel got a job scaling homes and he worked down there and then he worked one year in the Forest Service and then he got on the mail from Native News On the Mail about what he'd been working with you.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Well, he would be in between when I was he he was hiring, I guess, before you when he got the mail that I guess.

Laura Schrager: Did you worry about them working in the woods?

Lolah Benge Tribble: Just, you know, not and you know, it's just something you get used to. Like I we can kind of back our grandson up there. The sun logs of an evening for Daddy because they've got chainsaws, you know. Yeah. Little trees and I where you can find out more about him And I knew Herschel but you know, you're younger and you're raising your family and I didn't like them to work in the woods, But still, you know, you got to eat something.

Lolah Benge Tribble: You can make a living at sea and. I think you get used to those things. Now. It was I don't know how many men, 1 million men work quite like man in the and personal said two or three close calls. But he never got hurt.

Unknown Speaker: He broke ahead, cold, broke. That's all we were had with him.

Lolah Benge Tribble: How bad I that well he and another fellow were carrying a big plant and when the thumb got ready to drop in there but he dropped it and of course he was having to direct it out of her. So she to off on one of these toes. And the one or no, I think you just keep used to it.

Lolah Benge Tribble: There was one girl, her dad was killed in the wind. I think actually where most of trouble is in the woods, of course, now the launch, the logs have come off the lawn last time and kill them. But I think where most of the trouble was and falling timber, a limited kitchen under the tree and flip back and come down, kill them.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Now there's several of them feel that way. But I went to school with a girl. Her dad. You still run a mile from here. Even the guy that stayed with the most. But not now. I don't know. When the tree fell off, it knocked the top out of a net and I believe it knocked the top out of the net and come back in thinking that we could only he was.

Lolah Benge Tribble: So I.

Laura Schrager: Guess it wasn't all that much more dangerous than dropping a tree down.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Here. Well, I guess not really. The only thing is if you get careless. But, honey, you can cross the road and car can run into and kill you. Now, here. how many I read in the paper. I didn't know her. No, I knew of her, but I didn't know where she is. Just on this side of Moscow.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Right closer to Fort Lewis is New Orleans. She went across the road to get her mail to the mailbox and the carbon interior course. Now, I can't help but think that must have been a little bit carelessness on her part. Either her hearing was bad or something because, you know, if you just start out in front of a car, put in, you're going because they can't stop this right now.

Lolah Benge Tribble: You know, I mean, I know we got one son or a grandson working on the I mean, I just we were going down in one of the guys he worked with was like security here a couple of months ago. I mean, when you get that big no coming back from, you.

Laura Schrager: Want to tell those stories again about how about how Dick got his name and I'm sure he got his name.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Well, I heard you got the nickname I get. Well, I.

Laura Schrager: Became.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Chummy. I'm sure you called him. Tell me now where he got that. I don't know. Put some of the kids in place. They used to call her. For what?

Laura Schrager: To cook for.

Lolah Benge Tribble: For Huckleberry Finn. Yeah. ha ha ha. But, yeah, that was just, I think two or three kids do that. But I don't know her. This name family originated from her Uncle Shirley. Five year. But anyway, Shirley called her son Tommy, and he said, I if you don't quit calling me family says I'm going to call you Shorty, so I'll prefer you quit.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And that's where I'm sure he got his nickname.

Laura Schrager: If you're.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Stuck in.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Atlanta, you better be. And Nick was my dad's nickname. Pamela I've my dad tell is his name was Nikki Barlow, and they called the crying. I don't know. Something was wrong and Mom was getting sick or something.

Laura Schrager: But you say your father's name is Tiki Bar?

Lolah Benge Tribble: No, no, no. My dad, You know they would do that. Yeah. And then he said that he says, Come over here geeking out with everyone that affectionately stayed with Nick. I don't know. I suppose if there was somebody there and heard it, why they thought that. Pete And that's how they parties and I don't know if they even knows that or not, but my dad told me that I was curious how they come to naming Nick, you know, when his name was John Lewis.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And that's what he told me.

Laura Schrager: So you could use just he was just kidding. We did that.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Right?

Laura Schrager: He was just kidding. Really?

Lolah Benge Tribble: Yeah. Yeah. Dictation, But, you know, nicknames stay with you. Lots of times that we do. And now I don't know how the folks here come to call me babe, and that's what it is, because I was the youngest, I suppose. I don't know.

Laura Schrager: Do you really not know your name?

Lolah Benge Tribble: Well, I do not know what all the kids are. Call me in school. But as far as. As far as at home. When I was at home, Mom, call me babe. When they call me baby. And then call me baby. All the people that are most of the people that come from Nebraska pretty big too. So really, that name stuck with me until it ever formed.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I was married. Chris Herschel never call me who I suppose he has, but then one I mean, and for a name to stick with me. We never knew he was coming over. He said, I've. I've met her. He need better because he here anyway.

Laura Schrager: Or Prohibition. Sam told you that it.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Didn't mean a whole lot. I really I don't know. I don't know much about and I know they. I mean, like, around. I know that. But as far as probation, I don't I don't know much about it.

Laura Schrager: It wasn't a big deal when we had what occurred here.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And, you know, a person could tell you more about that, actually than I can. Honey, because I knew I was pregnant. I feel bad, but I know that they made moonshine. I know that because I knew several of them. They didn't.

Laura Schrager: Would they make it out sweet?

Lolah Benge Tribble: I suppose someone made it out of fruit and stuff like that. I know for sure they got great stuff up here, out of there in the kitchen, and he said, I need these to make a move. And they denied it. But because nothing that we were getting out.

Laura Schrager: But a lot of people just have some kind of set of.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Their homes or not in their homes, honey, you know. Yeah, I don't think they did. I think it was people living that said moonshine actually were people that was in the business who made it to sell and make a living out of this kind of work. They used to be one of the people here. I mean, really? Well, I knew what it was and but I never was told.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I never see that I could tell you anything about how they were raping.

Unknown Speaker: I knew how.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And then they was down here. Not only it was two families, I guess, down there that made for one of them. They called Big Red Wood. They call they go red. It was real dark, pretty scary. I never tasted the smell of snuff. I guess we drank and I went to that place.

Laura Schrager: See, What could you drink in Washington?

Lolah Benge Tribble: You did what it was.

Laura Schrager: The Idaho outlawed liquor before Washington.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I really don't know.

Laura Schrager: I don't know. Wonder because they had a broom and collude.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Yeah, they did have, which means. But now they hand knock when we come here, honey. But they had right here in Princeton two years ago. But that was before we were here. I don't know why. Maybe there's something wrong with it. I don't know. I, I would say three, but I don't know. I may be all wrong about that.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Me? I don't know. I know where that place did. You know for that big store building is in Princeton. It has to be to. You're right. Coming from Moscow in Princeton, they used to be a student. We lived in that house. 30. That's where we lived in Princeton. 30 days in the mean before.

Unknown Speaker: We moved out.

Laura Schrager: But did you did you just walk into town or did you know you were going to have that place before you arrived?

Lolah Benge Tribble: And yeah, we walked to town. Mother never done much. I mean, if we needed a flower or something like that way, then we either had a buggy or a wagon or something like that. You think you can go buy things? But it took me a half a day then to go to Princeton and back, you know, driving down with the horses.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And they didn't have this flat room up here. We had to go round this way up here in the north, up here and go round all great people in the wintertime. You couldn't get a winter under your.

Laura Schrager: You didn't go to town much in the winter.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Mom and dad usually got.

Laura Schrager: A flower in the.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Barrow and then they read is 20, something like that. And they always have new and we could carry the rest of the stuff up, coffee and sugar and stuff like that. I was kind enough to find it after.

Unknown Speaker: Her from I was married even.

Laura Schrager: But you went to school every day when you were going. I mean, you went to town every day. Yeah. Then how long did it take you to get in?

Lolah Benge Tribble: One. And we figured an hour walk down here when you see when we got home in the wintertime and be well, in the wintertime, they usually turn two out of 330 have a half an hour.

Lolah Benge Tribble: That would let us home up for 30 years and then it was dark and wintertime, you know, about 4:00. Then when our kids went down there, the world was not pretty smart people. Princeton, We had a school up here for a while. And when they came.

Laura Schrager: In, you were saying that the, Herschel and, and some other people built the school.

Lolah Benge Tribble: They did all donations. Well, everybody that lived around here really got some of the biggest property very much. But they knew. That's right.

Laura Schrager: And so you just got together because you wanted to have a school. We were both.

Lolah Benge Tribble: In fact, donated to the Miami that.

Laura Schrager: And then they just worked on it when the time.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I think they finished about a year or so. I'm sure you helped on a lot of campuses. We've come a not.

Laura Schrager: And then how did was it essentially you people that then hired a teacher.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Or nobody in.

Laura Schrager: The county.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Either and you were hiring for people the idea.

Laura Schrager: So they took it over once you had it. Yeah.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Well yeah, I guess you'd say that. Yeah.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Again. Yeah.

Lolah Benge Tribble: They just had one contemporary Greenville. We had three different three, four or five things. I don't know how long they had school up here, but we had two teachers. It wasn't too good that I remember. We had to keep English, which is Benjamin and then over here, she was a wonderful teacher. I don't know how many years she taught here.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And then there was a little house just across the road from house to house, and they lived there and they were maintenance work on the property. Finally part. she was a wonderful. And then the first picture we had was within a year that can become too much. I didn't think anything like that was my opinion. And you know, the utility company, single man, I don't think anybody can find a better looking flower than he like.

Lolah Benge Tribble: It has to be big, big husky, you know, it don't seem possible. He was a lot younger than what he's been. You hear. If you can't hear and miss, you just can't hear long term. And he had really been talking or and listening to and I think we've never before I'm talking with Mrs. Benjamin was enough. And so that we started thinking and I guess that was good enough teaching.

Lolah Benge Tribble: But I mean, they were my choice of the teachers at the time. But this luncheon that was finally went up into Alaska, I don't know what you mean. The air quality, what my under what I don't know.

Unknown Speaker: But I passed away.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Lois and Rex went through first year Germany. We kept out of school till he was seven and he Rex walked through Princeton. And then we kept mounting here When they got the school up here, this one year reading, Lucy. And then they got to school up here and then they went to school. And I think they need to prove and I think then they had we could go back to Princeton.

Lolah Benge Tribble: It seemed to me like I think maybe I then of course, they had all the Potlatch High School, you know, they all went to here.

Laura Schrager: It's hard for me to get used to the idea for eight grades and in.

Lolah Benge Tribble: One room with, you know, everyone. Yes, I think because now, you know, they were all down here. Finally, I think they got a room for improvement grade. I think they have. And that many teachers and everything. I mean, they had that new high school. I'd been over there in the Times. I guess it's real nice.

Laura Schrager: Where the teacher's pretty strict. You know what?

Lolah Benge Tribble: We had to the district would be and it just like losing everything else. Some money was on my mind, you know, because Mr. Freshman Teacher would feel good and maybe she'd give in on being boss. And that's what you got to be. People in the school picture. I'm your preschool teacher, but I know that if you let the kids run it and they know they can't, they're not gonna learn a lesson.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Same thing over. They just play all the time and that's no good. But she was a good teacher. She created English and I just learned I just can't keep up. Me and a lot of my kids and I still love her. She won the paddle one of my girls. But I feel like you're. I still do.

Laura Schrager: Is she still around here?

Lolah Benge Tribble: Yes. They may press you. I don't know. I guess instead of crossing the river bridge down here, that big metal bridge in terms of what it needs to be to your right, going back toward town. And they live up there a mile, maybe 24 miles from.

Laura Schrager: Well, she married when she died. It was that unusual? Was that unusual?

Lolah Benge Tribble: No, I don't think so. And I never had a man keep you know, I come out here, I thought, you young man, probably here. I was scared you came. Now I'm not kidding. You get begins on the side of a barn. Had a little snot, came even I was afraid that you might want to get married.

Laura Schrager: And you stayed scared of them. You never get used to.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Not really. And I got back to the time repealed. But it always seemed to me like if they was a hard poem to learn or anything at Christmastime or the last day of school, I always got my share of that. Now I ask you one time I said, Well, how come I always give them a hard keep? You said, Well, for one thing, you learn.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I'm now I don't know any of them. I just learned from year to year. But he was really good to me in a way. But just before we came here from Nebraska, well, one of the come from Risca for we need to live down here. Not waiting the hammer her heater on there.

Laura Schrager: What do you do that for?

Lolah Benge Tribble: Always, man. Here. I don't know. But in mining or some mining, all that happened before we got married. We went up to school. My company, I was quite beaten. Very few were. But, you know, he shouldn't throw the hammer either. I don't know. They actually put the heat through the hammer at or even just turned down and bounced over in heater because you know how those things scatter.

Lolah Benge Tribble: So I don't know what happened, but my grandmother, when it was coming off for that, I guess, he had to be enough. She never came. He was actually fairly nice looking from right here by the fire. And then we had met the teacher, man, teacher, and he went in back in World War One. He was an awful good teacher, but he got to dances with us.

Lolah Benge Tribble: I remember one time when we one pulled long to over there and some of the guys took a split in him strong and they had quilts on top of this time. And of course we fell on like ground. He was a big settlement, but he would right along with us. I mean, you would never know he was a teacher to to be, you know, in the same company with him.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And if you go to dances or anything, I don't think he was ever did dance that I was too that he didn't dance with me three or four times. He just was a real good guy. And when he and my husband probably didn't is good like this. He was a three year old. Have we We went right after Christmas.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Seems to me like. And they got a little tiny woman here, which she really loved, like my mom. Little tiny thing about being around way. And she was a county superintendent from Montana. Boy, nobody ran over her either, you know, Boy, she's waiting to see what's wrong with me. We can't keep showing them. Teacher I had some awful big teaching that.

Lolah Benge Tribble: But this guy that would go to Nancy with us, she's not nice guy. I don't think. I don't think he had an enemy in that whole school. You know, that's saying a lot with that many kids. You know, everybody like we when he was out with the bunch, he would miss one of the kids when he was inside the for what seemed.

Unknown Speaker: Like he was a big.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Guy to red faced. He had a red sweater. And I couldn't imagine his face any better if he did for that purpose. Putting the sheriff's back, I imagine that. Well, he did, too. Of course, he used to be in quite a little bit old life and how much older, how many year? Ten years? I but he's gone and has been for several years.

Lolah Benge Tribble: He's got a sister that married a man down there. She used to come and cook for him. They were from Canada and he used to come and cook for him and he raised quite a family. I don't know how many of them for this type of life. We keep talking. Have you been dating for eight?

Laura Schrager: I mean, was the area around here I mean, would you can have thought of yourself as I mean, would you consider this pretty much a community, you know?

Lolah Benge Tribble: yes. Yeah. I think, I would consider that.

Laura Schrager: I mean, the people who live right around here with your closest friends.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Yes. Yes. And they were real good friends to. But they still are. But people just don't communicate like they used to. You know, it used to be if you wanted a bar soap or you want to wash your you didn't have any brand or. just different things. Well, I'll go here and keep it around and then give it to him.

Lolah Benge Tribble: Then they would. You don't do that. Now. You get in the car and go to town after. I never borrow anything from anybody anymore. And people used to do that all the time, you know. But I never borrow anything from anybody. And you just get out of the habit of doing that. And I used to borrow, but you know, you've got waste, go get it.

Lolah Benge Tribble: And I think the whole thing needed to brainwash the school, get it? Because I you can make my own bread and keep it on hand. I don't know. My summer was this one. Slow down, girl. And all I had, I knew this was life, including the bread brewer. And so I called her up on the phone and I seen all my coffee.