The Tallahatchie Bridge Incident

Thursday, June 2, 1955

Heat mirages rose in waves over the field in front of us, blurring my view of anything above

the horizon.

The cotton plants had broken the surface in late May, and the stalks were now up to my ankles.

They cast a green blanket over the fresh dirt as far as we could see, all in perfect straight rows that

made me think of lines on notebook paper etched in the earth's surface. It was beautiful. We hurried

across the cotton field to get to the sawmill. It would be hot there too, but the roof over the mill would give us some

shade. Billy Joe McAllister and I had been hired by Ben Stewart to work in his sawmill. There was

no work around Money, Mississippi in those days, and we took anything we could get. We had driven to Greenwood the day school let out

and looked for work for two days. Mr. Mack, Billy Joe's father, had loaned us his car. He wanted

us to find work. I think he was afraid we would lay around all summer and not make good use of our

time.

Neither of us needed encouragement.

We both wanted money in our pockets too.

I didn't have a girlfriend at the time, but I was open to all prospects.

Billy Joe and Bobby Lee had been together since they were 12 when Bobby Lee's family moved to town.

They became friends right away.

It was not common in those days that boys and girls formed close friendships at that

young age, but there were no other girls that lived close to us, so Bobby Lee became one of the

boys in a way. Everyone at school liked her.

She was a good sport, laughing and teasing us about various things. She fit right in.

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