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Donna

I was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. My mother was born and raised in Boise and her father was born in Boise in the 1880’s. My grandfather, known as ‘Uncle Vern’ to the neighborhood, started prospecting at the age of 12. He believed that ‘gold fever’ was passed on in the blood and didn’t want us kids to catch it so he wouldn’t talk too much about his adventures as a miner. Eventually he had a successful silver mine in Pearl, ID, which he sold so he could move back to Boise to marry my grandmother. My mom’s mother, Nelly, started teaching school when she was nineteen and took care of her mother and younger sister. Nelly had her first and only child (my mom) when she was in her 40’s. My Granddad was the first motorcycle policeman in Boise in the 1920’s. During the depression, Granddad worked for the IRS. Mom remembers him burning the stacks back taxes in the living room fireplace because he knew that folks couldn’t pay.