If not for a toothache.
It was Dec. 19, 1952, winter and a cold one. Bill and Joann Mosley lived on the Kincaid Ranch west of Green River, known now as Ten Mile. Joann was pregnant with their first child and was up with a very bad tooth ache. Bill was sleeping. Joann sat up with the kitchen light on walking the floor.
Late into the night, Joann heard a knock at their door. She slowly and carefully opened it, as they are some distance out of town and would normally never have visitors that late at night. As she opened the door, she saw two men and a small boy, who were have frozen to death. She rushed them in the house and went to get her husband. They stoked the fire and Joann put on some soup. They wrapped the three in blankets. Joann sat the boy on her lap and fed him soup and cuddled him to warm him up.
The men began to tell the story that they were on their way to Green River and had tried to drive on a section of the frozen Green River but their vehicle broke through the ice. They were lucky to get out and escaped before the vehicle went into the icy water. They walked by foot, about five miles. Luckily, they saw a light on at a house and headed for it. It was good luck for them, that Joann had such a bad tooth ache.
Once morning dawned and they were fit to travel, Bill warmed up the truck and headed with them to town. On the way in, they ran into the local rescue crew that had organized and had started looking for them. There were no telephones at the ranch at the time, so until they ran into each other, there was no word that the small group was safe.
The sheriff and his group then took the two men and boy into town to the relief of their families.
Years later, our mom would bring up this story often. She always wondered what ever happened to the young boy. She never forgot his little face. She also always said, she was glad just that once for a toothache.
Our mom died Sept. 27, 2017. She asked that I write this story and share it, with the hope that boy who would now be a man of around 69 years old, would possibly see it and know that she never forgot him and was very glad they were able to help out.
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