Feb 21, 1930: "Dear Ma, I am going to Montana ..." With postcard notification, 14-year-old 'Riding Kid' Carl Mayer left home to follow his cowboy dreams--declaring his independence from dreary Depression-era St. Louis and from his family dominated by much older siblings struggling to pay the grocery bill, face with no jobs for Papa, the carpenter. Slipping past school, Riding Kid caught a streetcar to the city limits, and hitched a ride going west. The post-card initiated a series of adventures--from Texas cattle ranches to the battleship Arizona, from riding the rails to encounters with Hollywood's most glamorous stars, from swabbing decks to the christening of ships--all the while courting his bride to be, whom he met at age 15. And all were reported in scores of letters home, each carefully saved by his mom. Centenarian Carl Mayer is a splendid example of those whom Tom Brokaw called 'The Greatest Generation'--those who made it through the Great Depression, served victoriously in WWII and returned home to build a prosperous America. Here is Riding Kid's story, written in his own words--and one might add, with his own unique spelling