Person:Elijah Barnes (10)

Harry was exposed to hard work at an early age. He said that bumps on the inside of his forearms were broken muscles caused by too much hard farm work as a young boy. All the grand kids noticed the bumps and asked if they hurt to which he replied "No."

Harry said he attended school through the 8th grade. While living on Horsefly Mesa in Colorado as a boy, Harry said they attended school just 3 months of the year because of the long winters and heavy snow.

About 1918 or 1919, when Harry was 16 or 17 years old and living in the Montrose, Colorado area, he said he went with David Cairns on a prospecting trip. David was the father of W. O. "Bill" Cairns, husband of Harry's sister, Georgia, known as "Georgie." David was searching for the location of where he had once found an ore sample of such high grade he said the railroad stated they would build a spur right up to the site. This was an area called Squaw Hill, across the Black Canyon, near an Indian burial ground. It was here they came upon what Harry said was a ruby bed, right on the surface of the ground, the size of a washtub. They chipped off a sample of it, but were later told that it was of little or no value.

Many years later, Harry's son, Gene, as well as others, asked Harry to try and find the location again, but he was never able to attempt it. Harry told this story many times. Did he tell the story to relive his interesting and unique adventure? Had he always questioned the analysis of the sample, feeling that a second opinion may have found it to be valuable? Then again, stories of lost treasure have a mystery and allure that is all their own.

Family stories say that Harry either rode a mule or walked from Rodney, Arkansas to Mountain Home, Arkansas to get a marriage license, a distance of over 36 miles round trip. He filed for the license on August 7, 1924 with Mary's brother Garland "Pete" Hall as a witness.

Ellen (Cairns) Alger said when she was a child, Harry would play a guitar and sing for her and her brothers when they lived in Colorado. She said Harry also played the harmonica.

In the 1930's there were still farmers using horses instead of a tractor. So was Harry, with horses named Buck and Tuffy.

The Great Depression caused the price of farm products to fall drastically, so far in fact, that when Harry brought a load of his produce to market he received so little money that he didn't see how they could afford to continue to farm.

Upon completing that house, Harry and family moved to Wichita where Harry worked as a carpenter for R. H. Owens finishing the interiors of new two-bedroom houses where his only power tool was a table saw. Working by himself, Harry was expected to finish one house a week and was paid 44 cents an hour. Harry was on the run between the table saw and the house. Owen's son was soon sent to work with Harry, but Owen now wanted two houses completed per week. After a short time, Harry told Owen that his son was not qualified. Harry quit that job and went to work as a finish carpenter for Herb Gogswell Construction where his first assignment was at the offices of Boeing Aircraft in Wichita. Also with Cogswell, Harry worked on the construction of the building located on the n.w. corner of Harry and Hydraulic Streets in Wichita. Years later, his daughter Elnora would work at a grocery store located in this same building. In 2015, the building still stands.

In Wichita, Harry and his son, Gene, formed a construction business and called it, "E. H. Barnes & Son Construction Company." They built houses, housing additions, and did various types of remodel work on local small businesses. One of their largest and most recognizable projects was "Toc's Coffehouse," located on the northwest corner of Harry Street and (1519 S.) George Washington Boulevard in Wichita, and was connected to the other "King's-X" restaurants, started by Jimmie King.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Find A Grave.

   Harry Barnes