Reaching an Understanding

Surveying her corner of the wild Montana landscape, Grace Lena Buck (Frank's mom) took a sweeping exhausted look around  her garden and knew she had to make a plan:

Packing Trip to Glacier Park
James M. Houser (Buster) is in the back
with his over his face.
 About 1918

On the east portion of the Houser ranch, Grace had a carefully tended vegetable garden that was fed by a little crick. The short growing season meant that every day above freezing was spent cultivating in her garden.  Cold tolerant vegetables like turnips, parsnips, potatoes, carrots and rutabagas grew the best on the natural lush ranch land.

To keep her vegetables as pristine as possible, she had a pest deterrent fence surrounding her garden.  Most of the time she was quite tolerant of the native animals that would jumped over or burrowed under her fence.  However, one summer she'd had enough!

Surveying the mess that was left behind by the deer, she did the only thing a woman could do in those days!

She got her small gage shot gun!

Over the span of 2 or 3 days she hid amongst the wild growth and startled those fence jumping deer with buck shots from her shot gun.  After those few days, the deer and Grace had an agreement:

Deer were not welcome to feast and trample in her garden or else they risk being filled with buck shots!