Welcome to my Blog!

Hi,I'm Hayley the creator of this blog. I have loved learning about the prairies of Texas this year. I've been to Cedar Hill State Park and the Penn Family Farm to visit the Texas prairies. They have worked hard to protect what is left, and it is beautiful. I thought it would be great to make up some adventures that John Penn's daughter Laurra might have had growing up in the prairie, and tell how their farm changed the prairie. I used facts from the Penn Family Farm to make up adventures Laurra might have had. It was hard but fun to make up the adventure part.

Prairies really are endangered in Texas. Texas used to be mainly all prairie land. There's less than 1% of tallgrass prairie left in Texas.  Prairie plants are really pretty. I love the wild flowers and prairies of Texas. If we all work together, we can help save the Texas Prairies!

Now - Go to the first post of this blog (at the very end) and Enjoy the Adventures of Laurra Penn, a little girl on the Texas Prairie!!!

Lucinda's Big Day!!

Finally it's Lucinda's wedding day. She's been talking about getting married since she was 6! Lucinda's husband, Johnathan, is pretty nice and friendly. Not every boy Lucinda's brought home was that kind.

Wedding days are so much fun. We take the day off from most of our normal chores on the farm to celebrate. Getting ready for the wedding does take a lot of time and work though.  I was in charge of baking the cake and finding fresh flowers.  The cake part was easy.  The flowers were a different story. 

On the prairie there are a lot of beautiful types of flowers and tall grass.  But now there isn't nearly as much as there used to be, because of the cattle and our crops. Plus it is fall so alot of flowers look dead. It was hard to help find flowers that looked fairly alive.I had to ride my horse Blue out a few miles and find some beautiful yellow blossoms for Lucinda to hold. 

We had the wedding in the gathering area.  I am glad it was a clear, cool day.  If it rained, we would have had to move it to the smaller barn.  Lucinda looked so pretty, I loved it! I had an awesome time with Mama, Papa and my brothers. Lucinda (and me) have been waiting for this day for a long time!  I am glad we were able to have the perfect yellow flowers from the prairie to make it so beautiful!

Cotton Time!

Now that the wheat is all gathered in, Papa, my brothers and the workers have been busy preparing the land for our cotton crops.  They added another area this year for the cotton crop.  That is a lot of cotton!  I love the soft feel of the cotton once it has been cleaned.  I don't like to have to clean it though.  It can be very prickly and makes my fingers bleed. 

Cotton Fields on the Penn Family Farm, drawn by Hayley M.

Hunting

My brothers just came back from a long hunting trip and they shot 3 bison!!  Each time they go looking to hunt bison for our food, it is taking longer and longer to find the herds.  Papa says it is because of all the new farms on the prairie.  The animals are going farther away. We have had to start eating more small wild animals and animals from our farm, instead of the yummy bison.  I am so happy they found bison!!

Laurra's favorite treat to eat - Texas Bison!!  Drawn by Hayley M.

Harvest Time

Finally it's time to harvest the wheat crop. Andrew is sick so I got to help harvest. It's much more fun than sitting all day doing housework, sewing and cooking over the fire. I like to be outside and hear the birds and see the prairie flowers in the distance. The golden wheat is pretty, but the prairie tallgrass is still my favorite!


The new plow Papa got this year works so much better than our old one on this rich prairie land.  When we first got here and started planting, Papa said he didn't know it would be so hard to plow the land, the soil is much thicker than it looks.  But now that we have been here a few years, we understand the land better and are able to plant more wheat and cotton.

Picture of Plow at the Penn Farmstead

Papa said there are so many people coming to Texas, that next season we will hire people to help plant and harvest on some of our unused prairie that is west of the barn.  With our new plow and new workers, we will be able to plant three times as many crops! The land will look very different.  Our little family farm has grown so much since we moved here! 

Sign at Penn Family Farm, picture taken by Hayley M.

Our Animals

Papa gave me my own colt today!  I think I will name her Blue because Little Bluestem Tallgrass is her favorite to eat.  She is a little small, and Papa says I need to watch her carefully.

"Blue", Laurra's new colt - drawn by Hayley M.

We have a lot of cattle and horses now.  They love to graze on all of the naturally wild prairie grass and some of them seem like they eat all day long!  It is fun to have horses and cattle, but I miss the prairie dogs.  Now that the livestock graze on the prairie grass, the prairie dogs have found new homes further away in prarie grass that is undisturbed.  I will miss playing games with them. 

Growing Crops

I am so tired.  We have been working so hard planting the crops this year.  It is hard work sowing the seeds in this new ground.  Papa says the prairie land soil is so rich and perfect for crops of wheat and cotton.  I love wheat, but it just isn't as pretty as the tallgrass prairie. 



A plow used on the Penn Farm - picture taken by Hayley M.



It has been a busy year.  Lots of new people are moving to Texas.  I hope they don't plow all the praire grass and flowers on their land. I am glad we still have lots of prairie grass to play in. 

Our Barn

We have finally finished our big barn!  Papa and my brothers have been busy cutting down lots of trees for our buildings on the farm.  They had to cut down over 80 red cedar trees just for our big barn.  I love playing in the big barn, but I miss seeing all of the big cedar trees on the ridge.  I don't hear the coyotes as loud at night anymore, now that the trees closest to us are gone. 



Cedar Trees in Cedar Hills, TX - taken by Hayley M. from the Penn Farmstead



Finally Home!!!

Papa & Mama say we are finally at the place we can call home. After the long journey my family and I are ready to start building our final home in the wide praire of Dallas County, Texas. My three sisters Ella, Frances, and Lucinda and I love all the beautiful wild flowers and tall prairie grasses.  My brothers Richard, Joseph, Sidney, Morrison, and Andrew love the wild animals that roam the grass and nearby cliffs.  The coyotes howl at night and the prairie dogs play hide and seek with us.

Arriving in the Blackland Prairie Grasslands, greeted by the Coyotes and Praire Dogs

It is 1859 and my name is Laurra E. Penn.  My parents are John Wesley Penn and Lucinda Moore Penn, and we are farmers.  This is my record of how we came to change the beautiful, wild Texas Blackland prairies forever.  Sometimes change isn't always for the best!