Pioneer Boy Of The Midwest (1956)

[Music] Do you know what this is? It's a school in the Midwest, built of logs by the fathers of the pioneer children. Do you know what that noise is? It's the sound of the children studying their lessons. Schoolmaster Higgins makes each one talk good and loud, so he can tell who is really studying. Anyone who doesn't study may feel the touch of the whip. This is Lucy Wilson. She is studying her numbers. The sum of three and three is six. The sum of three and three is six. This is Wilbur Black. He never had a chance to go to school where he lived before, so he's just beginning. A B C D Don't you think it would be hard to teach different things to so many children at once? This is David Wilson. Lucy Wilson's brother. and write and try to learn and try to learn with all their might. Boys must learn to spell, read, and write and try to learn with all their might. Then they will be David is lucky. His mother can read and she has taught him some reading at home. whale, tiger whale tiger Schoolmaster Higgins will teach here for several months and then move on to another frontier school. He has few books and things to teach with. His pen is a quill from a goose feather. [Music] All right, school's out. [Music] Mr. Higgins does the best he can for these children whose fathers pay him. Some children cannot go to school because their fathers have no money to pay the schoolmaster. Public school is not yet free. David Wilson is going off by himself. His sister Lucy is going home and Mr. Higgins will go with her. Part of the schoolmaster's pay is his keep and he will sleep and eat at the Wilson house for 2 weeks. One week for each child, Lucy and Dave. Dave is on his way to his favorite fishing place. He told his mother he'd try to catch some fish today for the family to eat. But on the way, there's much to see. Look, there's a porcupine. Better not get too close to him. Dave knows the forest. He sees things that others might miss. Now, what do you think he has found? It's an opossum, a baby all by itself. How did it become lost? Where can the mother be? If Dave could catch the mother, his family would have roast possum for supper and father could use the skin. Maybe she's up in a tree somewhere. Or maybe down by the stream. Where is old Mrs. Possum? There's Mrs. Possum. She's easy to catch, not fast like rabbits and squirrels. What a bundle of meat and fur to bring home and surprise the family. But what will happen to all the baby possums if their mother is taken? Should he take her? There you go, baby. Maybe Dave will catch another possum, one that doesn't have any little ones. Hang on this time, baby. Here's where Dave likes to fish. He has no fishing rod, but he'll use a fresh green vine from a tree and a bent pin. That's something a pioneer boy learns early, to make do with what he has. To know just how to use a twig on the vine and how to tie a knot in it without breaking it. He learns the best place to find bait, a grub or a worm. He hopes to catch a big catfish to take home to the family. The family lives in this log house about a mile from the school. Dave's father built it from logs in the forest and Dave helped to fill the cracks with mud. Dave's mother is making soap pouring water through the lye in the wood ashes. There's Lucy with Schoolmaster Higgins, home from school in time to help with the work. Mother needs some water. Not creek water she uses to make soap, but spring water for drinking. Mother knows that Mr. Higgins is moving in with them today. She will show him where he is to sleep. And after school hours, he too will help with the work around the farm. On her way to the spring, Lucy passes along the Wilson wheat field. A few years ago, this was part of the forest. Father chopped down the trees and pulled out the stumps. Father must work hard to raise enough crops for a growing family. And he wonders if he should move the family farther west where they say there's better farming. Lucy tells father that Mr. Higgins is going to come out soon to help him with the work and that David has gone to the stream to try to catch some fish. But the fish don't seem to be biting today. What's that sound? It sounds like Yes, it is, a swarm of bees. Where do you think Dave is going? He's trying to follow the bees. Can you hear them? No, but there's a blue jay calling. Is it a blue jay? Or could it be an Indian making the sound of a blue jay trying to bring David closer? [Music] But no, Indians left this part of the Midwest a few years ago. Or did they? There, that's no Indian. That's old Mr. Blue Jay himself. If only he'd be quiet so Dave could hear the bees. Is that Yes, there's the sound of the bees. That way. No, not that way. Not past that rattlesnake. Better go any other way, even if it means losing the trail of the bees. What's that? Yes, there they are. Dave can see them now. And you know what's in that bee tree. So does Dave. He can almost taste the honey already. He can't do much today by himself, but he'll mark the spot. Later, he can bring father and Schoolmaster Higgins, too. They can drive the bees away with smoking torches. And when they cut down that bee tree, they'll have heaps of sweet honey. What's more, they'll have beeswax for making candles. But that's for another day. By looking at the sun through the forest, Dave can tell how low it is. It's getting late in the afternoon. He'd better be getting home. Father will disapprove if he's late. But now what? Berries. The family needs fresh fruit at home, but it's late. He should be home by now. The berries are too good to miss. This won't take long. He won't be very late getting home. At the Wilson house, father is just coming in from the wheat field. Schoolmaster Higgins has been splitting rails for a fence to keep the sheep in. Father appreciates Mr. Higgins' help, for last week the wolves got one of the lambs that belonged to a neighbor. Mother has sent Lucy to tell them to come in to supper. Mother knows that if she didn't, her husband would be apt to start another job. There's always work to be done on a pioneer farm. Lucy has helped mother fix a good meal in honor of the visitor. There's deer meat stew bubbling in the iron pot. And cooking on the flat stones, there's Johnny cake made of ground corn. Corn is plentiful and is part of almost every meal as hominy, corn mush, or scrapple. Everything is ready for supper. Everyone is ready for supper. Everyone except Dave. Where can he be? Here comes Dave with his cap full of berries. So, Dave arrives home as father is saying, "And make us thankful, oh Lord, for the goodness of thy forests and thy fields. Amen." "Well, David." Dave knows he should have come home sooner. He was really thinking of the family. They need the berries and the honey from that bee tree, too. They all feel better now that Dave is home. After supper, more wood is needed for the fireplace. And that's one of Dave's responsibilities, from Schoolmaster Higgins, who knows forest lore as well as book learning. Dave is making a small animal trap. The woods are full of rabbits, squirrels, raccoons. There's no need to waste the family's scarce bullets if the animals can be trapped instead. Dave knows that. Already he is learning the way of life on the frontier, where while a man can always get help from a neighbor, he must stand on his own feet and make his life in the wilderness by his own strength and courage and wit. Thus, our American democracy found new meaning and vigor in the life of a pioneer boy of the Midwest. [Music]