In America Firsthand, described his experiences during Reconstruction in the following way, "After we settles on that place, I never seed man or woman, 'cept Govie, for six years, 'cause it was a long ways to anywhere...We didn't plant cotton, 'cause we couldn't eat that. I made
bows and arrows to kill wild game with, and we never went to a store for nothing. We made our clothes out of animal skins."