On a Tuesday morning in April 1978, a gleaming red semi-truck pulled onto County Road 14 in Marshall County, Iowa, hauling two brand new John Deere tractors that cost more than most people in the county would earn in a decade. The driver had delivery instructions to the Patterson farm, a 640 acre operation that had been in the same family since 1889.
He was supposed to drop off a new John Deere 4440 and a new John Deere 4240 $14700 and $38,000 respectively. Total value $85,000 before tax at the main equipment shed. The driver had done this route before. He knew the farm. He turned onto gravel drive that led through a tunnel of oak trees toward the white farmhouse and the big red barn.
But he never made it to the barn because standing in the middle of that gravel drive about 300 yd from a county road was a 73-year-old man named Earl Patterson. And Earl was holding up his hand like a traffic cop. The truck stopped. The driver leaned out the window. Mr. Patterson, I’ve got your delivery. Earl shook his head.
Not my delivery. my sons and you’re not bringing them onto this property. The driver blinked, confused. Sir, I’ve got paperwork here. Two tractors ordered by James Patterson. Delivery addressed this location. Earl’s expression didn’t change. I know what the paperwork says, “But this is my land, and those tractors aren’t coming on it.
