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Family Stories: One-Shot Stevenson When Thomas and Rachel were first married, they lived for the first year in Sweetwater, but when things became hard, they moved up to Kansas and spent several years on the prairie, using as their home an old military tent. Thomas had served in the military during the First World War. He was an excellent shot and was in a rifle company, but when his culinary talents were discovered, this outweighed his shooting ability and he was made the company cook.On the Kansas prairie, Thomas would go out for days at a time with a wagon and a 22 caliber rifle. He would shoot rabbits, skinning them and cooking them and storing them in the wagon. When the wagon was full, he would bring them home to their tent to sell the rabbit skins and eat the meat. In later years, Thomas was asked about his habit to make each kill with a single shot. He remarked that he did not want to spend more than a single penny for the cost of the bullet and that people who shoot with a gun that carries more than a single shot get lazy.
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