May 28, 2012 Haigler, Nebraska

May 29, 2012, Haigler, Nebraska - population, 157.  We made it to Judge Wright's birthplace today.  Our hosts were the Carlocks, Stan and his wife, LaNeta and brother Marv with his wife, Mary Ann.  They could not have been more gracious.  Marv happened across Scott in 2006 when Scott got lost trying to find the old home place.  Marv and Stan adopted Scott for the day and gave him the grand tour.  Three hours later, Judge Wright and the Carlocks were best friends.  It turns out that Scott attended the first grade with their mother at District School 67 South.  Her name was Harriet Long.  Scott says she got him in a lot of trouble by telling the teacher that Scott was using bad words.  That hasn't changed. 

The home place once consisted of several thousand acres covering several miles.  There was the stone farmhouse and a complex system of outbuildings including a grand old barn, blacksmith shop, chicken house, outhouse, bunkhouse for the farm workers and a separate house for the farm foreman.  Scott's parents lost the farm in 1933 due to the ravages of the Great Depression.  It was then that they moved to Missouri.  The buildings have been neglected for decades and have fallen into great disrepair. 

The Carlocks were raised on a farm outside of Haigler.  Stan and LaNeta lived in Omaha for forty years before retiring from their jobs and moving back home.  Marv and Mary Ann never left Haigler.  It was the Carlock brothers who dismantled the old schoolhouse and moved it two miles into town.  Over several years, they rebuilt it.  It is now the social hub of the tiny community.  

Annie and I spent four hours in Haigler.  Stan and LaNeta invited us to stay in the "White House," an adjacent dwelling - painted white, of course - which they use as a guest house.  We declined, but appreciated their kindness. 

I told the Carlocks that we would see them again when we bring Scott back home.  They have a grand ceremony in mind.  Among other collectibles, they have an old army jeep.  They plan to load Scott's ashes aboard, affix American flags to the vehicle and drive slowly out to what they now call the "Wright Place" with flags waving in the wind.  There, Stan will make a short speech and the ashes will be scattered across the land that Scott loved so dearly. 

But, I can wait.  I am not ready to give him up.