Learning Maturely Through a PCS.

The cool breezes of spring in Kansas are rapidly transforming into sunny, warm days punctuated by intense storms.

The first pastel flowers have gradually been replaced by lush trees and verdant plains.

For military families, these signs of the approaching summer months are also harbingers of summer’s all too familiar companion – PCS season.

Even more than one hundred years ago, the Army made use of the warm weather months to move families to new duty stations.

Many written records left by Army wives reveal the mishaps and adventures that occurred during these moves, but in this post I would like to focus on one of Frances M. A. Roe’s moves and the maturity she learned through the challenge. 

PCS Challenges

Frances and her vivid letters recounting her experiences as a frontier Army wife might be familiar to you from the post about her Thanksgiving at Fort Lyon.

A few months later, she and her husband, Faye, received the news that they would to move to Camp Supply (Roe, 23).

Camp Supply was located in what is now Oklahoma, but was then know as Indian Territory (Wikipedia; Roe, 28).

To Frances, the idea of moving there filled her with fear. In a letter dated April, 1872, Frances listed this upcoming move as the first amongst a host of “the most dreadful things” she would describe in that letter (Roe, 23).

Adding to her frustration, she and her husband Faye had only ten days left in which they had “to sell, give away, smash up, or burn about everything we possess, for we have already been told that very few things can be taken with us” (Roe, 23).

Most distressingly, a little greyhound puppy she had been eagerly waiting for was not allowed to accompany her, due to limited space in the ambulance in which she and other women were to travel (Roe, 25). 

Moving to Camp Supply

All of these factors – moving to a feared place, leaving behind many of her belongings, and the loss of “the dear little greyhound puppy” – added to Frances’s “misery and mortification,” but yet she demonstrated a plucky character (Roe, 23).

After shedding many tears “until I am simply hideous” and reflecting on all that she would miss at Fort Lyon, Frances and the others set out on their journey (Roe, 25).

But by the time of her next letter, Frances had managed to get her puppy after all! In another April, 1872, letter, she described this little victory.

Having camped only five miles from Fort Lyon on the first night of their travels, a few soldiers went back to the fort to retrieve forgotten items.

When Frances learned of this, she asked one of the soldiers she knew to bring back her puppy, to which he “heartily” agreed (Roe, 25-26).

When Faye saw the puppy the next morning, his “face was funny, and after one look of astonishment at the puppy he hurried out of the tent – so I could not see him laugh, I think” (Roe, 26).

Frances believed Faye was actually quite happy to have the little puppy with them, and Frances proudly wrote that her puppy, whom she named Hal, was “certainly much better behaved…than either of the small boys” who were also traveling in the ambulance (Roe, 26).

An “Army Welcome” on a Stormy Night

The same plucky nature that Frances exhibited in obtaining her dog was much needed throughout this move.

Their campsites featured rattlesnakes, tedious scenery that led to melancholy reflections, aggravation with her traveling companions, and fears of Indians (Roe, 25, 27, 26, 29).

One of the most notable challenges, though, was a “terrific rain and electric storm” that occurred while they were camped at Fort Dodge, Kansas, in May (Roe, 27).

This storm began one evening “without a moment’s warning” and was a frightening and intense experience (Roe, 27).

Fierce lightning and torrential rain sent Frances and her puppy to the bed in her tent to avoid getting too wet. However, the “water was soon two and three inches deep on the ground under the tent” (Roe, 27).

Even worse, Faye was out in the storm with the guard and Frances was terrified that he would be struck by lightning, since he carried both a sword and a bayonet (Roe, 27-28).

Her fears were relieved, though, when Faye “came to the tent on a hard run” to transport her to the major’s house, where she would be much safer (Roe, 28).

On their way there, Frances fell into the water briefly, and so did her little puppy. She pulled Hal to safety and soon the major and his wife gave them “a true army welcome” (Roe, 28). Frances’s night was a sleepless one, as the fall into the storm water caused little Hal to fall dreadfully ill.

The kindly major helped Frances nurse her little puppy, even though they feared he might die; but, by the morning, Hal was “a limp bunch of brindled satin, …, wrapped in flannel, but we hope he will soon be well” (Roe, 28).

Thankfully, Hal was indeed restored to health and arrived at Camp Supply with Frances and Faye. 

Learning to “be a woman”

While traveling to Camp Supply, Frances endured much and learned much, not least of which was how to care for a sick puppy!

She also learned how to assert herself by finding a way to bring Hal with them, a decision that brought her much happiness and companionship as her other letters demonstrate.

Although she was initially distressed by relocating to Camp Supply, she wisely wrote, “I have made up my mind never again to make myself so wholly disagreeable about a move, no matter where we may have to go” (Roe, 25).

This mature resolution was at least partially inspired by something her grandmother told her.

Frances remembered that upon saying goodbye to her grandmother, that wise woman said, ““It is a dreadful thing not to become a woman when one ceases to be a girl!”” (Roe, 25).

Frances took these words to heart, and resolved to “try to be a woman” (Roe, 25).

I find inspiration and encouragement in Frances’s willingness to admit her shortcomings, and in her brave resolutions to face future trials with strength and maturity.

Every PCS is an opportunity to grow and learn as individuals and as families, and I am grateful for the example Frances set of embracing these opportunities.

Editor’s Note: We wish Anna and her family a safe PCS across “the pond”. May your boxes be sturdy, your dishes in tact, and may you have a short stay at the base hotel!

Bibliography

Layer, Anna Fitzpatrick. “A Frontier Thanksgiving.” Mission: Milspouse. November, 22, 2023. https://missionmilspouse.org/a-frontier-thanksgiving/.

Wikipedia. “Fort Supply (Oklahoma).” Wikipedia. Last edited November 7, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Supply_(Oklahoma)#:~:text=Fort%20Supply%20(originpually%20Camp%20Supply,was%20then%20the%20Cherokee%20Outlet.

Roe, Frances M. A. Army Letters from an Officer’s Wife, 1871-1888. Teddington, Middlesex, England: Echo Library, 2007.

Utley, Robert M. Review of Army Letters from an Officer’s Wife, by Frances M. A. Roe. Great Plains Quarterly (Fall 1982): 249-250. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1630.