Naomizoe
The time I spent with Bud out on the farm , aging cattle, putting up fence, running the land on the side by side and especially sitting around our little campfire right there at the lower pastures on his slice of heaven , listening to his Tales of Family and His History. Wayne was born on that land in a small log cabin that was still standing as well as the home his grandparents and then his folks built. He married the neighbor girl whose folks had a fine home on the adjoining land and he loved her dearly. Together they famed every bit of some 300 acres of the most beautiful part of the Niangua one could ask for. We spent many sun soaked days out there touring the land and the water, Bud told me attending the one room school across the river , (he had continued to care for it for life until it's closing and beyond). He told me of his Pa riding with Wild Bill Hickock and how they came upon some men in the woods who meant to rob them . When the bandits ordered the travelers down off their horses Buds Dad complied. Wild Bill sat his horse and the Bandits again ordered them down. Pa said the 3rd time they told him to come down off the horse that to his amazement , Wild Bill rolled backwards off the horse and come up underneath it's belly just as quick as you please with his pistols drawn and shot both the bandits right off their horses. Dead. Said Bill just got back on their horse and they went on their way.
He remembered hearing his Pa tell the story.
He also sat around the fire with me and said he hadn't been down to the river in many years at that point. He was so tickled to be getting out on the land in the sun , he recalled coming down every day to shoot squirrel but his little girl had begged him not to and he had never shot one since in 20 some years . Bud was a Kind and Loving Soul that had a smile that just made you want to smile right along with him. He was so most proud of his Grandson JP who returned from the Military to work the farm and carry on the Randleman legacy. Bud loved to come out and watch JP on the tractor tilling the garden, making sure Grandpa had the fixins' for his daily salad that he made so carefully each and every morning without fail. Mealtime was always full of great conversations and Bud loved to see the treasures that JP and his helper recovered and won back from the land . Every day We would explore a new area from the old log cabin to the Main Original 2 story farm house or the Indian burial site up by the " lovers hollow" where he told me of the trysts between a widow and a neighbor man who would cross the property to meet in the middle once upon a time long ago. He loved explaining what our daily finds were and what purposes they served and after a years hard toiling by JP , We had put together a collection from that century farm worthy of a museum. I often wonder what became of those treasures. From tools to equipment , hand and horse drawn, milking stools to manure wagons, antique tins and furnishings , to traps and lures and every kind of rod and reel one could imagine. I know JP and I put a lot of love sweat and grit into fighting vines and roots and brambles to recover and rescue what became a truly amazing collection that represented not only farm and cattleman life but also true pioneer and settler life. It was a joy to discover it all. I pray it was saved like Grandpa wanted it to be. I know it's saved forever in my memory and I will always remember how he beamed with pride and his eyes sparkled with life when JP breathed new life into the farm and Grandpa was like a kid again getting to go through the loads of memorabilia , tack , tools , toys and treasures that all had direct meaning and remembrance of a life well lived by generation after generation of Randlemanns and Sturdevandts and especially by Wayne, "Bud" Randleman. I was so thrilled to have been allowed to share the campfires , meals, our evening cigarette , and every other minute I got to spend with the Randleman Men. I will treasure that time always. Thank you JP and Linda, and most of all You Grandpa Randleman, may you always be remembered for the wonderful Father , Grandfather and Farmer you were. And Rest in Peace my dear friend. Love You!