FOREWORD

 

            Elisha Kane Sanders, a cattleman, sat tall in the saddle as he rode about the countryside where he lived.  He was known far and wide, and friends waved as he passed by, often inviting him for a cold drink of water and a visit.

            He was my grandfather, and in my memory of him, I see a tall man with a bushy white moustache, wearing a white cattlemanÕs hat.  Chances are he wasnÕt as tall in my memory because everyone looks tall to a very small seven-year-old girl.  I remember that his hands shook with Palsy – or ParkinsonÕs – as he reached down in his pocket for a small coin to give me along with a pat on the head when he came for a visit.  I was so sad when he passed on, and I was told that IÕd never see him again.

            He was one of the good guys.  People told me so then and years later whenever his name came up, for everyone who lived in the area for any length of time knew the story of his father and mother both dying during the Civil War, leaving him an orphan.

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As I learn more about the Civil War, I believe it was the most devastating and painful time in the history of our country.  It is a blot on our past that should never have happened.  It was fought for a noble cause, but there should have been a better way of solving the slavery issue.  It is said that more than 600,000 soldiers died, and 200,000 civilians due to sickness, hunger, and various causes.  It left the country much poorer in health, wealth, and spirit;  and although it took many years, the people managed to claw their way out of the rubble to become a better nation in the long run.