(scroll down to read the story of this piece while the image is loading)

Serial #0206

Above the Flood Wall Cabinet 

One branch of the Lipscomb County, Texas and Ellis County, Oklahoma pioneering family--the Waltons--homesteaded in the Wolf Creek valley northeast of Shattuck, Oklahoma. About 112 years ago, as part of their first homestead improvements, they planted a pear tree. The tree thrived in the rich sub-irrigated soil. And the Waltons managed to make a go of it and raise a large family.

Disaster struck the family one night when Wolf Creek roared down from the west and flooded the valley. Seeing that escape to higher ground was impossible, and that the house would soon be swept away, the entire family managed to climb into the branches of the pear tree and ride out the flood.

In later years, insects and a small twister finally brought the old tree down. A high branch with a nice arch to it survived the great fall. Now resawn and sanded, it braces the Above the Flood Wall Cabinet. Scrap portions from an old bedroom door have a new use as drawer front and top door panel on the cabinet. The bottom panel and drawer backplate are cut from a purple Mystik oil drum lid.