A Kansas Memory Podcast

Eastern Cowboy - Harry Boehme Fine

The documents used in the Harry Fine podcast are available on

• Harry Fine Letters
  These postcards and letters were written by Harry B. Fine to his parents, Mr. And Mrs. John B. Fine, Princeton, New Jersey, while he was working on the W. J. Tod Ranch, Maple Hill, Kansas. Harry worked on the ranch from October of 1915 to June of 1916. While working on the farm, Harry wrote letters describing his experiences on the ranch. He had just graduated from Andover High School in New Jersey at the age of 15. His father, John, felt that he was too young to start college and thought that a little work experience would do the boy good. The letters describe the year in the life of a teenager who is away from home and in unfamiliar surroundings for the first time. He provides detail about his chores and the people with whom he works.