Star Valley, Dallas, and a Rifle

Fifty years ago at 5 AM in the dark morning my dad, Jim Hillyard, got up, dressed in his red flannel shirt, rubber boots, and canvas outer coat. He grabbed his rifle and headed out to his borrowed truck. It was hunting season in Star Valley, Wyoming, and he had come with is newly wed wife, Carol, 1,500 miles from Houston, Texas for the deer/elk hunt. Carol having spent the last 5 or 6 years in Houston, Texas, had Texas winter clothing--a light sweater; consequently, she didn't go hunting with Jim. It was a bit early in the morning as well.

Carol wasn't happy to spent the day with her new mother-in-law, Ada Hillyard. This mother-in-law was not happy to lose her youngest son to a beautiful, young girl from southern climes. What would this young woman know of taking care of her Wyoming son? This cherished son came home in the late afternoon from his hunt empty handed.

The next day, November 22, 1963, Ronny, Jim's older brother, directed Jim to a more fertile hunting spot near Palisades Lake. Leisurely walking in a field near the road just north of Etna was an ancient six point deer. Jim says that a Utahn counts the points on both sides of the deer and a Wyoming hunter counts only one side. This deer dropped conveniently near the road and Jim was able to drive up and load it into the truck with help from his hunting buddy. The result is pictured behind Carol in the back of a 1950's pickup. The next day Jim celebrated his 28th birthday

On this same day at noon Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States.

There was no newscast from CNN which began broadcasting in 1980. Radio and t.v. existed, but the connectedness we have now through internet, cell phone, and wifi devices was unheard of, even maybe undreamt of. The Star Trek communicator didn't come along until 1966.

So, while a crazy, nobody rocked the world by assassinating Pres. Kennedy, Jim cleaned a deer. Carol cleaned the lunch dishes, and Ada ate a bit of white bread in a glass topped with honey and milk.