East to the Dawn by Susan Butler Page A

himself. “He bore on his nose the marks of one raid, after some chasee, during the heat of the battle, had tried to push shut the sliding door to the hayloft just as the Chief Indian had poked his head through the opening.”
    Other times Edwin took his girls fishing, as he had in Worthington, only now they caught perch and catfish in the Des Moines River.
    Within a year Edwin was in charge of the Rock Island claims department, and as a result there came “an end to the pinchpenny days of waiting for small legal fees to be paid.”
    Because of the nature of Edwin’s work, traveling by railroad had always been a free perk for the Earhart family. As a result, as Amelia remembered fondly, she never paid for a train ticket until she was sixteen and looked forward to “the joyful interruptions” when Edwin “used to pack the family off when he made a trip of any consequence”—at least once taking them as far as California. For now that he was more important, Edwin rated the use of a private railway car equipped with its own kitchen, dining facilities, and Tokimo, a “superb” Japanese majordomo. It was truly a mark of privilege. “Bring the girls and Sadie [the maid] and meet me at ... ,” he would wire Amy. The Ozarks were one part of the country they saw in such luxury. Since Edwin was so genuinely fond of Amelia and Muriel and wanted them to be happy, on some trips, Amelia remembered, they were even allowed to invite friends to travel and dine with them.
    Once the private car and Tokimo were put solely at the disposition of Amy, Amelia, and Muriel. They traveled in it to Atchison, picked up Katch and Lucy Challiss and Ginger and Ann Park, whisked them back up north to Des Moines for a visit of a few days, and then Amy and the three sets of sisters in the private car continued north all the way to Worthington, Minnesota. Each leg involved an overnight in berths made up by Tokimo and meals he cooked. It was a grand adventure for the girls.
    After his years of snubs at the hands of the Otises, Edwin had the exquisite pleasure of showing off his new status by taking Amy and his girls to visit his in-laws in Atchison in the private car. During their stay he invited the Judge and Mrs. Otis to dine with them, and Tokimo cooked and served a sumptuous dinner that included lamb chops and charlotte russe. Muriel was so proud and so impressed, she never forgot it.

    Edwin’s new affluence enabled Amy to hire a cook as well as a maid. In a move that matched his father-in-law, Edwin became a warden of his church. Their final move in Des Moines was into an impressively large classic American “foursquare” house—a style fashionable at the time—one block from Drake University, at 3002 Cottage Grove Avenue. It was a definite step up. The Cottage Grove area was “the” place to live. It was an enclave of stimulating people, active in their community, and successful in their professions, including bank presidents, judges, lawyers, doctors, newspaper editors, businessmen, and various educators associated with Drake University. The same year the Earharts moved to Cottage Grove, the governor of Iowa, Beryll Carroll, whose term had just ended, also moved into the neighborhood.
    One of the house moves in Des Moines precipitated the first recorded instance of Amelia’s penchant for climbing. In the midst of a move Von Sol, Amelia’s moody gray-and-white cat, wandered off just as they were taking the last load; they departed without him. Later, under cover of darkness, Amelia, equipped with a gunny sack, and accompanied by Muriel, sneaked back to their old house. They found Von Sol, but when they tried to stuff him into the sack, he jumped up into a birch tree near the house. Amelia shinnied up the porch post, climbed onto the roof of the house, crawled to the edge and into the tree, finally got Von Sol into the sack, and hauled the cat home.
    Both Edwin and