but it all began with the purchase of those four thousand acres , and they explored them in mccutcheon 's truck , cruising the woods roads and the pulper 's tracks , grinding along in first gear for the most part , shuddering over washboards and splashing through washouts , mccutcheon at the wheel part of the time , my uncle otto at the wheel the rest of the time , two young men who had become new england land barons in the dark depths of the big depression .