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O’Fallon Flashbacks

Copyright 1975 O'Fallon Historical Society, Baker, Montana. ALL RIGHTS RESEVED

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Copyright 1975 O'Fallon Historical Society, Baker, Montana. Printed by Western printing & Lithography

 

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The first of 22 young men and women to go west in April 1909 were Albert Fost, Ted and Henry Bergstrom. They went to Miles City but liked the looks of the land they had come through 80 miles to the east. At Lorraine, now called Baker, they engaged Frank and Fay Becker, locaters, and went by wagon 15 miles south. The three found land that cornered one another and squatted. They built shacks before the land was even open for homesteading. Fost's land would have been railroad land but since he had a building on it he was allowed to keep it. Bergstrom's sister Hattie followed shortly. She found a homestead a mile south of them, but spent most of her time keeping house for her brothers. Albert was one of nine children born to John and Mary Fost at Murdock, Minnesota. He was born on January 7, 1881. The family were farmers. He spent his young life skating, working, trapping, and attending an Agricultural Seminary at Benson, Minnesota.

 

Albert Fost’s Homestead in the Willard Community-1909

Neighbors, who filed on homesteads at the same time as Fost, were Hosea Cate and Frank Stanhope. Both had families.

Ella and Matilda Roget were attending a birthday party where one of the guests was encouraging the young folks to go west and make a new home. Others from Murdock, Minnesota who came the first of June 1909 were Elmer and Fred Anderson (brothers), Alfred and Sabin Berg (brothers), Edger Nelson and Oscar Swanson.

The oldest of eight children of Jacob and Elizabeth Roget, Ella, was born on September 6, 1885, on a rural Murdock farm. Her mother came to the United States from Norway and when only nine years old had driven cattle behind a covered wagon through Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Her grandfather, who had served in the Royal Navy before entering this country as a learned officer, later froze to death coming home with a load of logs from the forest. Ella and her sister picked out homesteads. The first was on railroad land so they had to pick another one two miles away. The men hauled out lumber and each helped the other. The ladies then went to Baker and worked in Mate Lloyd's restaurant. They didn't take any pay for their labor until they quit and went to the lumberyard and paid their bill. While they were there Anna Blanchard came in and pressed her wedding gown. Drunks had to be moved from the back steps of the restaurant so they could get in to work in the mornings. Dancing to pistol shots was a sport often encountered in the general store.

 

Ella Roget-Hattie Bergstrom Homestead-1909

Albert worked the first summer breaking sod for M.A. Shreve. He also handled the horses, so he took his first pay in a pair of work horses. He walked from his shack five miles each day to work. 1910 was a dry year but 1911 was good. He bought a threshing rig and hired George Staff to run it. They put in 70 days the first year. Aside from the cost of gas and 011, only ten cents was spent on tacks to fix the belt. The next year Staff bought his own outfit.

Albert Fost Crew-1912

Previous to coming to Montana, Ella had learned the dressmaking business, having made wedding gowns and done family sewing from farm to farm. She also worked in a Garment Factory in Duluth, Minnesota and being the oldest she helped on the family farm.

Her first paying crop on the homestead was hay that she put up trading her time and using Fred Anderson's team and mower. Dave Martin, who lived five miles away, bought all she put up for $20.00 a ton and sold it at Ekalaka for $50.00.

Albert had gone back to Minnesota and returned in an emigrant car of machinery, a cow and some chickens. His mother even packed curtains for him so his home would be more homey. After five years of batching and getting to know the girl that came from Minnesota the same year as he did, he married Ella Roget, his neighbor. They were married on March 5, 1914 at Miles City. Returning on the train and going right into the fields as it was early spring. The next year they took in the San Francisco Exposition.

Andy Breckenridge had a halfway house two miles south of the post office which Fred Willard Anderson had set up as Willard after his middle name. Ella Roget had spent her first winter as his cook. He was a widower with a daughter and two sons at home. Blanche Breckenridge later taught school near Medicine Rocks and later married Howard Cook.

Overnight guests numbered anywhere from three to twenty. There were land seekers and travelers to Ekalaka. Breckenridge was a rancher before the homesteaders came in.

It was not unusual in those days to come home and find that someone had been there, fixed themselves a meal, washed up the dishes and filled the wood box before leaving.

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Breckenridge Ranch-He ran a Halfway house situated where the Sportsman’s Dam now is.

Sometimes they were still there. This was the law of the land and all were privileged to do so where ever the place.

A sod barn, a root cellar, a windbreak of tree cuttings from Minnesota and the draws, made his home a center for other bachelors to drop in for a social visit. Potatoes and garden were planted along the firebreaks. Fence posts were cut from the draws. Very little time was left for play, as there was always a great deal to be done. Married families built a little larger homes then invited the single folks in for dancing. Picnics at Medicine Rocks, Sunday drives in a buggy to Bracket Butte east of the Willard community six miles or berry picking time picnics were good entertainment.

There were church services now and then when a traveling pastor was brought out from Baker. T.T. Lunder, Gregor Gregorson, who had older children, made arrangements for him to spend the night and return to Baker the next morning. Baptisms were often performed on his visits.

World War I arrived in 1918. Albert being a farmer and married and with a family did not have to serve. Had it lasted longer he and others would have had to go.

The Fost family consisted of two children, Marion and Raymond. They attended the Willard School. The parents were 4-H leaders when their children were old enough. High school was completed in Baker and the son attending the Agricultural College at Bozeman, and returned to become a farmer-rancher. Marion, the daughter, married Harry Hanson in 1949 and became the postmaster at Willard.

Albert with several other men helped organize the Baker Co-op Elevator and served on its board for 40 years. He spent many years on the Fallon County Fair Board. One year when he and Homer French attended a state meeting at Billings they were given the Bridal Suite at the hotel.

The Fost Farm grew registered seeds and he was Fallon County Corn King for two years, only to be beaten out by Bently Sinclair. In 1920 a carload of certified seed potatoes was sent to Idaho.

In 1934 a four acre Crested Wheat field was the only cash crop harvested at the Fosts. It had been seeded, hoed, cut and threshed by hand. The income was $800.00. This was a year when both children were in high school. A garden produced a little. Everything that could be canned or dried or stored in root cellars was put up for the family's winter use. Tom Lunder had a truck and hauled a few sacks of wheat to Sidney where it was exchanged for white flour and coarse flour for cereal. Neighbors went together and exchanged butchering during the year. All families had a few chickens and milk cows. Bedding, dresses, curtains and tablecloths were made from the feed sacks.

 

Albert Fost-Fallon County Corn King-1925

If a window in a house or car broke people put in a cardboard one. They were called "Hoover Windows".

The depression years of the 30's brought poor crops and lots of grasshoppers. If a woman had a wash on the line, she stayed out there until it dried or there wouldn't be much to carry back in. Dust was so thick that a person needed face masks. The thistles were so big between the fences. Some of them were cut green and put up for feed. A lot of cattle died and at the Fost's only a small herd was maintained.

Coyotes were so numerous that they would come up in the yard and carry off the chickens. Very few deer and antelope were seen in those days.

Albert purchased his first car in 1916. From then on there was more social life at Willard Hall, built in 1917; political rallies, dances, community suppers and ball games on a Sunday afternoon. All through the years the members of the family kept active and were leaders in the community.

While Ella Fost kept her hobbies of gardening and sewing, with many fancy quilts to show, Albert worked in his lovely orchard of apples and berries, improving them over the years. He had a side hobby of rock collecting, too. This came to an end in 1969 on his passing.

 

Building a chicken house at Albert Fost’s-1925

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By 1925 Montana had been organized into counties. Some counties had one county agent while others shared one such as did Fallon and Carter Counties. J.0. Hembre was the first one to serve. As in all new systems many things were tried out. Many of the people were interested in chickens so Mr. Hembre ordered plans from Bozeman and during the summer of 1925 Albert Fost had the lumber on hand. A day was set and folks from Webster and east of Baker showed up along with Elmer Anderson, carpenter, and J.0. Hembre who read the blue prints. Several days of work resulted in a modern chicken house.

Four "A" Leghorn hens were purchased from Washington. After a time Miss Harriet Cushman from the State Office at Bozeman came and culled them. The eggs were candled through a little hole in a piece of cardboard held in front of a lamp. They were sold to the Baker Hatchery or sent to a Miles City hatchery.

The County Fairs were held during those years in the building now owned by the American Legion. Fowl of all kinds were displayed along with eggs. Miss Cushaman usually was the judge. George McHose, Roy Mengel, Homer French and Albert Fost were on the Fair Board at that time.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Otto Fost.

 

OTTO AND LEILA FOOTE FOST

Land in eastern Montana was being taken up fast by homesteaders from 1909 until Otto arrived from Murdock, Minnesota in 1916. He had come to visit his brother, Albert and liked the country. He with Andrew Ellendson, a neighbor of his, drove to Carter County where they homesteaded. Otto's parents were John and Mary Fost of Murdock, Minnesota.

Leila Foote was eight years old when she arrived in Montana with her parents Henry and Mary Foote by train in 1909. They located 14 miles south of Baker. A home had to be built for the family. A school called the Hidden Water School was two miles away. Their neighbors were the Cates, the Kreigers, the Stanhopes, the Hubers, and the Lewis Bechtolds.

During the early years crops were good when the rains came. The electrical storms were a worry for fear of fires. The winters were long with lots of snow.

As a young girl she hired out as a Mother's Helper and took over the household and cared for many a new mother and baby.

Social life of a young family included many picnics in the Chesmore Gulch, dances at the neighbors and school affairs.

Otto Fost went into the Army in 1918 and on returning home he bought a farm in the Willard Community just south of the T.T. Lunder ranch. In 1922 he married Leila Foote. They were the parents of six children; Vivian, Ralph, Harry and Harvey (twins), Richard and Wayne. There are 19 grandchildren.

The older children attended the Lunder School. The men folks walked five miles to The Little Beaver Creek many Sundays to fish. The neighbors at that time were the T.T. Lunders, the Ed Burkes, the Walter Mangolds, the William Bergstroms, and the William Shreves. Sundays were times of visiting. The family attended the Lutheran Church.

Fourth of Julys were spent at gatherings at the Willard Hall, or at the Webster store. Ball games and horse shoe pitching were favorite entertainments.

The family moved to California, then to Oregon and then to Laurel, Montana where an irrigated farm kept the family busy. Otto's arthritis forced him to retire and they moved into town. In 1970 he passed away.

 

Emil and Clara Klos Fried-1936

MR. AND MRS. EMIL FRIED

Mr. and Mrs. George Fried came to Montana and homesteaded 26 miles southwest of Baker and 17 miles south of Plevna in 1912. Their son Emil was born at Plevna on September 3, 1913. Their closest neighbor was Arnold Heldt and family.

As a boy Emil worked on his folks' farm helping with the milking, the haying and the harvesting. The winters were very cold and they had to haul lignite coal for heat. They had to go twelve miles to the coal mine with team and wagon-dig the coal by hand and haul it home.

Emil attended the Medicine Rocks School when he was a boy

 

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Mr. and Mrs. Christ Klos- Parents of Clara Fried.

 

On April 4,1937 Emil Fried and Clara Klos were married at Plevna.

Clara, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Christ Klos, was born at Plevna on October 10, 1914. The Klos family had homesteaded south of Plevna in 1909.

Clara attended a rural school, the Prairie Rose School and helped on the farm as a child. The family always attended church on Sundays.

Emil and Clara got married during the depression so Emil worked for a year for $40 a month to get enough money to buy a few pieces of second-hand machinery.

The couple lives about six miles south of Baker and over the years have been a great help to their children in 4 H clubs. Mrs. Fried was a 4 H leader for twelve years. They have seven children: Arlee, Raymond, Delilah, Linda, Dennis and Colan. There are five grandchildren.

 

The Emil Fried house on ranch.

WILLIAM FULTON

William Fulton was born July 30, 1870 at Beth, Aryshire, Scotland to Alexander and Mary Stevenson Fulton. His father's folks had been farmers for generations and his mother's family was in the woolen mill industry. One of eleven children, William was the only one to come to the

 

Willian Fulton, Sr. Photo by L.A. Huffman of Miles City.

 

 

United States to live. After being in school to the age of thirteen, he worked and saved his wages to pay for the trip to America.

He landed in Philadelphia while still in his teens and worked in several areas. He worked in Florida and later was in St. Louis, Missouri for a while. Then he got a job at Marissa, Illinois and still later worked for the Mackays of Mount Corroll, 111. Duncan Mackay had an interest in a ranch on Milk Creek in what is now Fallon County, but then of Custer County. William Fulton came to the Mackay ranch in February of 1890. He worked for wages and was paid $45.00 a month. Montana was then one of the best wage states in the Union. In Illinois, Mr. Fulton's first wages as a farmhand were $12.00 a month.

When he first came to the ranch, the mail address was Terry and people just got their mail occasionally. Anyone in Terry from the area would bring the mail for all. Later a stage road crossed O'Fallon Creek at what was later the Albert La Bree place, and mail was left at a mailbox, northwest of the ranch buildings. The mail address was Tee Dee. The Tee Dee post office was on O'Fallon Creek on the T.D. Ranch, and this location was later the Emmet Glidewell ranch. The Tee Dee post office was later moved to several different locations before it was closed. Then the Stage Route was changed and went west of the ranch. Caton's on O'Fallon was the stage stop. Soon after this, Johnny Mackenzie bought this place and the Mackenzie post office was established there (Caton's built up another place a few miles up O'Fallon).

William Fulton saved his wages and within several years bought an interest in the ranch. Duncan sold his interest to a brother Dan, and the outfit was then known as The Mackay-Fulton Ranch. They ran both sheep and cattle. William Fulton had bought a small bunch of cattle and these were turned in on the deal when the partnership was formed. They first used the D2 and later the KO brand. This partnership continued until 1928 when the owners divided and each continued in the ranching business.

William married Miss Bertha Fluss at Minier, Ill. June 25, 1903 and they lived. in the same location on Milk Creek.

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Original Log Building at Fulton Ranch-Latter part of the 1890’s.

He was an organizer and stockholder in The First National Bank of Ismay and the Baker State Bank. He was a contributor to the pioneer telephone line from Miles City to Ekalaka, to the creamery and grain elevator in Ismay, he subscribed to the first wool house built in Miles City and was a member of the Elk's Lodge there.

William Fulton died May 1, 1929 and his wife and eldest son, Dan, continued with the ranch operation until they sold out in the nineteen fifties.

The Four Fluss Sisters. In Back-Left to right-Bertha-Mrs. William Fulton, Sr. Carrie-Mrs. David Bickle, Sr. in front-Mrs. George Burt, Emma Lancaster of Minier Illinois- She never lived in Montana.

 

 

BERTHA FLUSS FULTON

Two of my sisters came to Montana in the eighteen nineties. Della was married to George Burt, and he had purchased land along O'Fallon Creek in the Ismay area. My sister, Caroline, came with Della when she joined her husband in Montana. Here "Carrie", met David Bickle and they were married in 1899. In April 1901, 1 came to visit the Bickles and help my sister with the ranch housework. In November, 1902 1 returned to my folk's home in Armington, Ill. The next year on June 25 1 was married to William Fulton. I had met him while living with the Bickles. From then on Montana was my home.

Our ranch home was on Milk Creek near O'Fallon Creek. My husband had been living in the original log building, but had a Mr. Atkinson build a frame house and here I came as a bride.

The first place east of us, as I remember, was the 101 ranch and west of us Sibley La Bree's. Dan Mackay (a cousin to my husband's partner) on Lame Jones was north and east and the Bickle ranch was also north of us. The Caton ranch was the nearest but Mrs. Caton was then living in Miles City so her children could attend school. Other neighbors at that time were the T.D. and Kenneth McLeon Ranch on O'Fallon Creek and on upper O'Fallon the Lorin Gilmans and Walter Maxwell ranches.

From the first I liked the country and its fresh bracing air. When my father and mother came to visit in 1904 1 had a beautiful vegetable garden.

Our main entertainment was attending the dances at ranch homes in the area, and of course we traveled with a team and buggy. As well as my two sisters mentioned earlier, I had a brother, Lon Fluss in Ismay area. Later he had a ranch on Powder River. We would visit them once or twice a year. At one time all three families came to our ranch, we went in two rigs to the Medicine Rocks and had a picnic.

 

Mrs. William Fulton, Sr. with some of the children. Left to right- Vivian [Mrs. Lee Castleberry], Ekalaka, Mont. Helen [Mrs. Bob Askins, deceased], William Fulton Jr.- Miles City, Montana. Mary [Mrs. WarenSt. John] Spokane, Washington.

 

 

We moved to Montevideo, Minnesota when our oldest child was ready to start school. I did not like the climate there and we returned to the ranch after school closed. That summer we moved into Ismay for school and the next year, 1912, we bought the house we had rented from my sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. George Burt. All of our children attended elementary and high school there. We belonged to the Presbyterian church there.

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Daniel F. Fulton now living at McLeod, Montnan.

We had eight children: Daniel A. (married Mary Ann George): Helen M. (Mrs. Bob Askins, deceased); Vivian L. (Mrs. Lee Castleberry); Mary M. (Mrs. Warren St. John); William F. (married Davena Pedan); Louise (Mrs. Louise Riley, divorced); Robert B. (deceased) and Frank (married Loretta Leirdahl).

 

Louise Fulton Riley, Ismay, Montana

 

Helen Fulton Askins, holding brothers Frank [on the left] and Robert [on the right].

JOAN JOHNSON GABE

Richard Johnson, better known as Dick and wife, Ida, set up shop in Baker in its very beginning. They owned the Baker Mercantile from 1909 until 1928. Because of ill health they sold out and ranched at Plevna. In 1932 Dick purchased the Custer Trail Ranch four miles south of Medora. Joan and Richard were born during their years in Baker.

Joan tells that she attended all her eight grades in Baker and then in 1936 she graduated from Dickinson High School and that ended her education. She worked in the office of the Coco Cola Co. until she married James E. Gabe in 1940. Their three children were all born in Dickinson. When James returned from the Air Force he set up several flying schools. He then went into Life Insurance. His company sent him to Worthington, Minnesota in 1950 where he and his wife still live. Joan says in 1957 she went back to work as cashier and book keeper for the Gas Company and is not ready yet to retire.

Dick and Ida Johnson both died on May 28, 1948 at Dickinson. Brother Richard is married and lives in Los Angeles, where he is an engineer for North American Air Craft.

The Gabe's are members of the First Lutheran Church at Worthington.

James E. Gabe, Jr. is married and teaching English at Metropolitan Jr. College Minneapolis, Richard John is single and just completed four years in the Navy, Virginia Jean Gabe Ireland is married and also is an English teacher in Jr. High at Dallas, Texas.

Joan hopes to come for the 40th reunion of the class of 1936 where she had spent several years in the grades with Rae Potterton, Virginia Baker, Jack Lawler and Marjorie Kochel. Bud Price was also a neighbor of theirs and Miss Edwina Eichenberger was her 8th grade teacher.

CORTLAND K. GAER AND EVELYN V. GAER FAMILY

I, Mrs. Cortland K. Gaer was born Evelyn V. Anderson, daughter of Elmer and Matilda Anderson, Feb. 15, 1914 on the homestead south of Willard store. Some of the years were pretty lean, with dust storms and drought. There were good

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times too, ladies aid and gatherings at Willard Hall. Sometimes the young people gathered to put on plays and other programs. My brother Alden would play the guitar and my sisters and I would sing.

I married Cortland, in Iowa in 1934 but came to live on the homestead for a few years. In 1936 1 remember uncle Albert Fost walking several times a week to visit us and said that both his and our thermometer registered 65 below, at one time.

 

Courtland Gaer, Evelyn Anderson Gaer and son, Dennis.

 

Elmer Anderson Family, Left to right- Alden, Evelyn Gaer, Edna Wells, Lois Barrington, Darlene Kochel, Jack Westrope.

Cort was born in a covered wagon on its way from Sansark, South Dakota to Iowa, July 21, 1910. He bought the Baker, Ekalaka Mail and Freight route in 1946 and had the line until 1949. Often Cort had to battle blizzards, and the

snow covered the roads so only the tops of the fence posts were visible. Somehow he managed to get the mail through. After selling the mail route the Gaer family moved to Miles City where they lived for 13 years. Dennis and Cheryl graduated from Custer County High. The Gaer family now resides in San Diego, California.

Cort is associated with a Cleaning Co. Evelyn is busy with her paintings and has a dressmaking business. Dennis is a Mechanical Engineer with a large firm, and Cheryl is married to a well known musician, Marco Zottolo, they have a son Andre and a daughter Gina.

DARRYL GATZKE

I was born at New England, North Dakota on May 26, 1935. My parents Henry and Rosella Gatzke were ranchers in that vicinity. As a child I helped with the farm chores and went to a country school near Amidon, North Dakota. I received my high school education at New England, North Dakota.

Arlene Pladsen and I were married at Bowman, North Dakota on October 26, 1961,

We rented the Ervin Freier farm, seven miles west of Plevna, for five years. Then in 1970 we bought the Edward Quenzer farm which is six miles southwest of Plevna.

We attend the Peace Lutheran Church at Plevna, Montana. Our two sons are Duane Arnold, and Allan Darryl.

DAVID AND ELLA GOOD

 

David Good was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Ella Rose Bast was born in Shannon, Illinois.

They were married at Freeport, Illinois, and to this union were born six children; Ira George Good, of Fedora, South Dakota; Bessie Ringen of Des Plaines, Illinois; Ethel Minor of Mt. Vernon, Illinois (deseased); Esther Cox of Raymond, Washington (deceased); Bertha Evers of Moxee, Washington and Marian Livingood of Plevna, Montana.

The Good family came to Montana on March 16, 1916 and rented a farm from Elmer Cate. This farm was located just a bit north and east of Willard, Montana.

The Goods farmed this land for about two years and then they bought their own land, which was five miles west of Baker. They moved onto their new place in 1919. This was their home until David's health became so bad that he could not carry on the vigorous activities required of a farmer. He retired from farming but they lived on their own place until David died in October of 1952. Ella then sold the home ranch and moved into Baker where she resided until her death in December of 1957.

 

GREGOR & GEORGINA GREGERSON

By Drury Gregor Phebus

Gregor Gregerson was the son of Gregor Mohn Gregerson and Annie Gregerson who immigrated from Norway in the early 1800's. They settled in Rochester Hills which is near the present City of Rochester, Minnesota.

Gregor Gregerson was married to Georgina Forland at Kasson, Minnesota in 1892. Glen, Selma, Georgiana, Gilbert, Emmet, Harry and Leaphy were born into the family while they resided at Hayfield and Lake Park, Minnesota. Poor health and a doctors advice to Georgina Gregerson prompted Gregor Gregerson to move his family to the higher altitude of the west.

 

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Wedding picture of Gregor and Georgina Gregerson-1892

 

 

In the fall of 1910, Gregerson rode the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific railroad to Bowman, N.D. in search of land to homestead. The area in and around Bowman, N.D. had already been settled up and there was no land available, so he continued by rail to Baker, Montana.

He rented a livery rig and drove out to the Hatty Bergstrom homestead where he contracted with Ted Bergstrom, Hatty's brother, to show him land which might be available to homestead. A tract of land which had been filed on by a doctor who resided in Minnesota seemed the best possible site. The doctor agreed to relinquish any rights he may have in the land for the sum of $50.00. Gregerson filed on Section 2 Twp. 5 Range 58 and this was the beginning of a wheat and cattle ranch which remains in the Gregerson family to this day.

Gregerson returned to Minnesota in about a week in order to sell much of his livestock and other property at auction. Gregerson understood that cattle could not be wintered in Montana unless hay was available and so sold nearly all of his livestock. That same fall, an emigrant car was loaded with four horses, three cows, a crate of chickens, one pig, a cat, a dog, a gang plow, a drill, a grain binder, a potato planter and other household goods. Gregor Gregerson and his oldest son, Glen rode in the car to tend the livestock and guard their possessions on the trip. Glen was not old enough to be allowed to travel in the emigrant car and several dollars and a rooster were used to bribe the "Railroad Bulls" to overlook the infraction of railway regulations.

Lumber was hauled from Baker to construct a barn which served as the first dwelling. Heat was provided by a kerosene stove.

In the spring of 1911 Georgina Gregerson and her children, Gilbert, Emmet, Harry, Georgiana and Leaphy rode the "Milwaukee Railroad" out from Minnesota to join her husband and oldest son, Glen.

In the summer of 1911, Mrs. Gregerson contacted Pastor Skenlos of Spokane, Washington and prevailed upon him to come and conduct religious services in the area. One of the first services was held at the Gregerson shack with the Arthur Myhre, T.T. Lunder, Elmer Anderson, Albert Fost, and Charles Anderson families in attendance.

Florence and Kenneth were born into the family on the homestead, and Ray was born in Baker.

Charles Anderson, Axel W. Linquist, and Saben Berg were early neighbors with the William Moscript and Boyd Spaulding families moving into the area a little later.

A schoolhouse was moved from the William McKay ranch to a location about one and one half miles directly west of the Gregerson homestead. The building was moved on two lumber wagons and as it bogged down in the creek crossings, Albert Fost was contracted to help move it with his tractor (one of the first in the area). The school was known as the Gregerson School and its first teacher was Sadie Sandberg followed by Betty Northrup.

Mail and staple groceries were secured from Fred Anderson who ran the post office and store at Willard, Montana. The Willard store was then located about one half-mile west and a little south of the present location. Butter and eggs were hand carried to trade for canned goods and staples as the horses were usually busy in the fields.

Selma Gregerson married Flace Smithen Phebus in Baker, Montana on June 7, 1922. Six children were born to this union: Drury Gregor, Gloria Mae, Beverly Joyce, Romana Selma. Joan June and Sharon Raye.

Glen Gregerson married Charlotte Plummer. Their one daughter is Marlene.

Emmet Gregerson married Bernice Clark. Harry Gregerson married Irene Freimark. Their one daughter was Tania. Leaphy Gregerson married William Peck. Florence married Carl Manke. Three children were born to this union: Byron, Carla and Kenneth.

Kenneth Gregerson married Edith Peterson. Their two children are Keith and Neva. Ray Gregerson was married to Arlen Murdy. Georgiana was never married.

The Gregor Gregerson children attended the Gregerson School near the homestead and some of them attended the Baker High School.

Georgina Gregerson passed away in Baker in 1930 and Gregor Gregerson passed away in Baker at the age of 82 on July 21, 1955. They are both buried at Baker.

MR. AND MRS. AMOS GREENLEE

By Genevieve Greenlee Leischner

[Mrs.

Isadore Leischner]

My father, Amos McPhearson Greenlee, was born at Commings, Kansas in 1872. His parents, James and Mary Lambert Greenlee had homesteaded in Kansas and raised livestock and ran a farm.

As a boy my father shucked a lot of corn and was the Champion Corn Husker in Kansas. He got his schooling at Commings, Kansas and could have taught school but preferred becoming a farmer and a rancher.

Father first came to this part of the country in 1910, at the age of thirty-eight. He arrived on the train and settled southwest of Baker in the Lame Jones Community.

My father and my mother, Helen Ethel Molstad were married at Miles City, Montana on May 19, 1914.

My mother was the daughter of Edward and Wilhelmina Thompson Molstad who lived at Fosston, Minnesota at the time of her birth on September 22, 1894. In 1910, when she was sixteen years old, she came to Montana with her folks. They came by railroad train and took a claim on land in the Webster Community close to the Traweek ranch. Mother had received her education in Minnesota so after coming to Montana she worked on the homestead with her folks and then later when she was a little older she worked for Johnny "Kid" Lambert.

After their marriage the young couple continued living on my father's homestead. They reared all their children on

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the ranch. There were three of us; Harold, Le Roy and myself, Genevieve Wilhelmina Greenlee Leischner. Arlene Sidney Molstad Kope, my cousin, also lived and grew up with us. Her mother had died when she was just a little baby so my folks took her in as a member of our family.

Mother was a good housewife and mother. She enjoyed going to church services in the country school and belonged to a Mission Circle in the 1930's.

Mother passed away August 19, 1972 after a lingering illness. She was a wonderful homemaker and a good neighbor back when they lived in the country and later when they lived in Baker. While my parents lived on the farm mother raised turkeys and milked cows to help earn the living. She used to tell how during the depression, the grasshoppers came in clouds, and how poison was put out to kill the grasshoppers. Her turkeys ate the poisoned grasshoppers and she lost her whole flock of turkeys. During mother's years in Baker she was always sewing on quilts, embroidering, knitting, tatting and crocheting. She was always willing to lend a helping hand wherever and whenever needed by family or neighbors. She believed in the old adage "A friend in need is a friend indeed".

My father, Amos Greenlee, was probably one of the oldest "Old Timers" ever to live in Baker. He lived to be 100 years old which birthday he celebrated on December 20 1972 He was active up until he was 97 years old when he suffered a third stroke that left him paralyzed on the left side. Up until that time he walked to the post office every day to get his mail. In his later years he was a gardener. His garden and flowers made their home the show place of the neighborhood. Although he was handicapped by poor hearing, his eyesight was good and he was an avid reader until he suffered his third stroke. Amos was well known and liked by everyone. He passed away in April, 1973 at the age of 100.

The Greenlee's had eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

GEORGE AND ELSIE GRIFFITH

Taken from an article written for the Mondakonian By Elsie Griffith in the April 1959 issue.

THOSE 50 YEARS

Where have they gone, those 50 years?

Years of strife, of joy, and yes, a few tears.

One by one they have hurried by,

Charting the course of George and I.

Some of those years were not easy to take,

Then there were those mostly "honey and cake."

It was always a pleasure at each year's end,

When - richer or poorer- we could count a new friend.

We cherish your friendships-your good wishes we treasure.

And we will remember you all with great pleasure.

By Elsie Griffith

February 25, 1959 George and Elsie Griffith celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Today, as the Griffiths sit in their cozy home, viewing TV and enjoying modern conveniences, they have time to reflect on their 50 years of marriage. They remember the days before electricity and before there were other conveniences, such as thermostatically controlled furnaces, in the shacks of the homesteaders who were brave enough to pioneer the western prairie.

In the spring of 1910 George and Elsie moved to Montana and took a homestead in Custer County (now Fallon County) 35 miles northwest of Baker. There they built their home in the wide open spaces. Their new home was quite different from their first home in the wooded hills of the beautiful Kickapoo Valley in Wisconsin.

 

George and Elsie Griffith on their 50^th Wedding Anniversary-1959

 

The Griffith Homestead 35 miles northwest of Baker-1910

Before their marriage in 1909 George was employed on a farm and ranch and Elsie was a teacher in the grade schools. After their marriage they farmed for a year in Wisconsin and then the exciting west lured them to Montana. George found work on a ranch near their homestead. After a few years they had built up a ranch of their own. The 0 ranch was the scene of many happy years for George and Elsie. It was there that their son, Ralph, was born on April 3, 1914. He grew up on the ranch and assisted with the many duties involved in ranch work. He graduated from Ismay High School in 1933.

Things went well for the Griffiths until the fatal 1930's. Then, with the drought, grasshoppers and depression, they, like many other farmers and ranchers were forced to seek other means of livelihood. In 1934 George was employed by the government as an appraiser of livestock.

In 1935 George went to work for the Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. on the pipeline. In the spring of 1937 he was transferred to Cabin Creek as plant operator and Elsie was in charge of the MDU telephone switchboard. She held this job for nine years. George was promoted to chief operator of the Cabin Creek plant in 1944.

George and Elsie enjoyed their pleasant years at Cabin Creek and it was their privilege to work with and for many fine people whose friendship they have valued through the years.

The Griffiths saw many changes at Cabin Creek during the years they spent there. The area around the company owned houses changed from dusty, windswept yards to an area filled with grass, trees and bushes. They watched the interesting and exciting developernent of the oil fields and saw the change from sagebrush and cactus to oil derricks.

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Cabin Creek 1937

Cabin Creek 1957

 

 

In the fall of 1957 the Griffiths moved to Dickinson where George took charge of the new compression plant.

The Griffith's son, Ralph, now lives in Baker and works for the MDU. George and Elsie are the proud grandparents of five girls and one boy. George and Elsie are members of the Congregational Church. He is a past Worthy Patron and Elsie is past Worthy Matron of the O.E.S. George is past master of the Masonic Lodge, and he is also a member of the Al Bedoo Shrine.

Long time friends of the Griffiths planned a reception to celebrate their 50 years of marriage at the Masonic Hall but George became ill and was hospitalized for several days. The reception was postponed and held later.

George is retired now and he and Elsie live in their home in Baker where they are near their son and family and their many friends.

JOHN AND JOHANNA GUNDERSON

By Ida Wild

Solar, Norway was the birthplace of my father, John Gunderson, on June 26, 1881. In 1904 he and his youngest brother left there and settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota where Dad went to work as a stone mason for a local contractor. The hours were long and the work was hard. Nearly all the crew was Norwegian, so he did not pick up the English language very fast.

My mother, Johanna Birkeland was born in Kristiansund, Norway on December 21, 1879. She and her younger sister left there in 1902. They settled first in Baldwin, Wisconsin, where some of their mother's relatives had come earlier. Mother went to work for a minister with a large family and was paid $2.00 a week. She had all the cooking, washing, ironing and cleaning to do. She could go to church, but she had no time off. Before she left Norway she had attended sewing school for two winters, so she soon left her position and went to Minneapolis and got a job as a seamstress in a dress making shop owned by a Mrs. Casey. It was a very busy shop with many customers. She soon learned the English language even though she didn't ever have time to attend night school. Much of the time she had out of the shop was spent in sewing in private homes. This enabled her to get acquainted with many people. Later she went to work at the Dressmaking Shop of the Dayton Company. One of her favorite customers there was Beatrice Jurson who was an Opera Singer and sang for the Kaiser in Germany. Mother made many beautiful gowns for her. She offered to take Mother with her to Germany, but Mother refused because she felt it would be too difficult to learn another language, so she remained in Minneapolis until shortly after her marriage to John Gunderson on January 15, 1908.

John and Johanna Gunderson on their wedding day, January 15, 1908.

Homesteading was highly advertised at the time in all the news papers and everywhere there were posters urging people to go WE ST and get " FRE E LAND. " They did decide they would like to have a home and land of their own so Dad started out on his quest in February. He traveled on the Northern Pacific Railroad to Missoula, Montana. He didn't care for it there and came back to Beach, North Dakota. There he met a locator, Martin Malmin and after driving around with horses for a few days he decided to locate near a Milwaukee Railroad siding called Lorraine. My mother got word and early in March she and her 17 year old brother, John Birkeland, who had come to the United States some years later than Mother with the rest of her family, bought tickets to Lorraine. They rode one of the very first passenger trains to come west on the Milwaukee Road. When they were about to their destination the conductor told them the next stop was Baker and that was the place they were to get off.

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There was a bit of explaining to be done, and it finally came out that the name of the town had been changed after they had bought their tickets. There was one house here, a one room place used for a depot, home for the agent, post office and a place where one could buy some coal. Mother was hesitant about getting off in such a deserted looking place but when the train stopped my Dad was there, so everything was alright. Dad did not have the homestead shack finished and fit to try and live in yet, so they walked out a ways east and stayed at the Fred Hasty Halfway House for a few days.

That spring was very cold and Mother said it was a wonder they didn't freeze to death as the boards in the floor were so far apart you could stick two fingers between them. She and her brother had packed and crated all their household goods and shipped them before they left Minnesota, but it took three months before they arrived. All groceries had to be ordered from Terry, or one could drive to Beach with horses and wagon and do the buying. Late in the summer word was circulated that Bob Pearce would open his grocery store on a certain day. Mother had high hopes and walked to town to do some buying only to find the shipment of goods had not arrived.

Among the first things they bought were a cow and three chickens so they would have something for the table. They planted a garden and everything grew beautifully. They got enough potatoes to last all the next winter. Naturally they had dug a root cellar as with the shortage of wood and coal many a night in the house was below freezing.

When they first came they could only "squat" on a quarter section, but in a few weeks they could have another quarter so the Homestead consisted of 320 acres. The place was one mile south of what is now Baker. As soon as the town grew up it was a blessing to be so close as getting around wasn't very easy in those early days.

By late fall Mother was expecting me and as there were no doctors she decided to go to her mother who was then living in northern Minnesota. If she had stayed here I would have had the distinction of being the first child born in Baker, but a few days after my birth Gerald Hitch arrived on the scene and he has that honor. Mrs. Hitch had more relatives here and must have been braver than Mother.

In December Mother returned to Baker with me. Dad had been fixing the house, trying to make it warmer, and had plastered the walls and ceiling. The weather had turned very cold and the plastering had not dried so the house was very damp and uncomfortable resulting in a very cross baby. Mother told of keeping the fire going constantly. She finally got the house dried out and we all survived the cold winter.

Getting started on the homestead was very difficult. Dad worked extra on the railroad and they got some horses and machinery and raised wheat, oats and whatever possible. Baker did grow fast those first few years and whatever you were able to raise there was a ready market for it.

In 1909 more people came and settled near by, My parents were very happy to have more neighbors. Dad's brother, Gunder, came and settled next to our place on the west. Mother's sister and her husband, Olaf Selden, came and got their homestead about five miles to the southwest. T. 0. Everson owns that place now. Gunerious Gustafson and his daughter, Martha, and son Albert came to live about a mile to the west of us. Martha later married Gundar Gunderson. The Egbert Hinmans from Milbank, South Dakota moved in to the east of us. The John Coldwells were on their place to the south before my folks came. Within a year it seemed everything was buzzing.

Crops grew and everyone was busy. More children arrived. My brother George was born when I was only 14 months old. Another room was built onto the one room shack. Water was a luxury as few people could find water close to the surface of the ground. The first well we had was dug by Jake Johnson and it was 90 feet deep and that turned out to be alkali. Mother told about carrying water from a creek that was a mile away and where the sheep had been running in it. All of that had to be boiled before it could be used. Later the Hinmans got a shallow well with good water and Dad hauled water from there in a barrel on a stone boat. Soon another room built of sod was added to the house. It was all papered on the inside and was cool in the summer. I thought it real great. My sister Jennie was born June 1, 1912.

In 1914 another carpenter, a Mr. Ferris, moved to town and many new houses sprang up. Mom and Dad had one built -a 26'x 28' with four rooms. It cost $600.00. Dad had dug a basement and lined the walls with flat sandstone rocks which he had hunted up around the countryside, so that was not included in the price of the house. This house still stands and is part of the house my brother Martin lives in altho it has been remodeled many time in these 58 years. During the time we lived in the shack I became very attached to it as Mother had everything looking pretty with curtains on the windows, cut out paper on the shelves and rugs of the floors, nice bed spreads on the beds and with her sewing ability everything looked as good as the times would allow, so when we moved into the big house it just didn't appeal to me as it was too bare, but of course that was remedied in time.

The Gunderson Homestead in 1915 showing a few of the stacks of grain in the background.

1915 was the big year. The crops were just the best anyone had ever seen. The 40 acres below the house to the west yielded 44 bushels of wheat to the acre. Photographers came out and took pictures of the many, many stacks of grain. All the neighbors helped one another to get the threshing done. They had large crews and the women were very busy keeping them fed. The children had a big time too. I remember eating breakfast early, about dawn, one morning at a table outside as there just wasn't room for everyone in the house. We had Corn Flakes which was really something new to us.

After the spring's work was done in 1916, my Mom and Dad had their first vacation. They took Jennie with them and went to Minneapolis. George and I stayed with our Aunt and Uncle, the Seldens. They had three boys and a new house by that time so we had a vacation too. We did get homesick as we'd never been away from home over night before. Sometime during this vacation we had a tornado. It did not do any damage at the Selden's but the windmill that had a wooden tower blew down at home. It was never repaired because the cows couldn't drink the alkali water. Another

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building that had been built for a place to store the machinery also blew down. Jake Johnson, who was staying at the place taking care of the livestock, said that when the wind hit he stood and pushed on the door with all his might or the house would have gone too.

In 1917 all the young bachelors in the neighborhood left for the War. We knew some who never did return. Mother's brother "Skeeter" did come back but he had been gassed and shell-shocked so he lived with my folks for the rest of his life. He died in January 1966. During the winter my sister became very ill and she had a ruptured appendix and was cared for by a local doctor in the Baker Elizabeth Hospital. The next winter she became very ill with pneumonia and my mother took her to Minneapolis. When they got home she seemed to be all right but in less than two weeks she was sick again and died on February 16, 1918. The weather was horrible. The funeral was at our home and a blizzard was raging, so they couldn't get to the cemetery until the next day.

Ida, George and Jennie Gunderson - 1917

My sister's illness and death was the first real sadness to strike our home. Our lives as a rule were very happy and carefree. Everything seemed to be wonderful. Our parents always seemed to be able to provide us with everything we needed. Sundays were always great. Usually we went to church and if a group of people wasn't coming to our house we were going to someone else's home. Holidays were always something special. Christmas was always looked forward to and so were the Fourth of Julys with all the flags and celebrations. I will always remember the first circus that came to Baker. I saw a dummy that could talk and move its lips and I just couldn't figure it out. Mom bought Jennie and me each a parasol which had been made in Japan. I had mine for years. Some friends were with us that day and we went to the Hildreth House for lunch. I think that was my first experience eating out in a public place.

It must have been sometime the summer of 1918 when a well drilling outfit came and drilled our well. It was 362 feet deep and we had an abundance of water. A bath tub was installed in our house. We didn't have running water, but that didn't matter. We carried water and heated it on the kitchen range for a bath in the tub. The tub did have a drain so we didn't have to carry the water out. A wash house was built close to the well, with stove and boilers in which to heat water. We had tubs and benches and it was wonderful not to have to do all the washing in the house.

Oh things were moving at our home. One day that summer of 1918, Mother told us she was going to town and buy a car. George and I waited in suspense. Sure enough, in a

A typical Sunday gathering in 1917 taken in front of the foundation for the new house the Melvin Larsons built. Standing L to R: Olaf Selden, Melvin Larson and Priscilla in his arms, Albert Gustafson, Ethel Brownson, Jake Johnson, Gunerious Gustafson, Olina Selden, next two and child unknown, Johanna Gunderson, Gunder Gunderson. Sitting: Phylis Larson, Jennie and George Gunderson,

Jennings, Sigurd and Arthur Selden, Ida and John Gunderson.

few hours she drove up in a Model T. touring car with side curtains, crank and all. She had bought it at the L. Price Company. She had never driven a car before, but with a few instructions given at the store and a short run out to the Carbon Black Plant and back she became a full fledged driver The next step was to build a garage attached to the granary.

1919 started out very good. The Gunderson's second son, Selmer usually called Sam was born January 12th. However during the winter the weather was bad and we had terrible snowstorms and blizzards. Many cattle and sheep died. When spring finally came my parents, who were always optimistic set out 100 or more trees for a shelterbelt. They were planted in check rows so they could be cultivated. The rest of the crops were planted, but no rains came. Nothing grew. The accomplishments on the homestead the first ten years had really been dramatic. By this time they had acquired quite a few milk cows and since the outlook for crops was bleak, they decided they would sell and deliver milk around town. So on June 10, Dad and Mother bottled four or five dozen quarts of milk, put them into the buggy and I drove Bird, our black horse, into town. I stopped at every house and asked if they would like a quart of milk delivered to their house everyday for 15c. We could also furnish good heavy cream for 60c a quart and fresh eggs for 75c a dozen. It didn't take long before I had sold my load of milk and in jubilation returned home with the good news that I had lots of customers. Thus we started on a new business venture. Every Saturday during the summer I collected the bills and as most people bought just one quart a day the bill was $1.05. One check would buy three gallons of gasoline at Price's for our Model T Ford. Oh! Our lives were really great. We splurged for gasoline quite often and drove many places even to Medicine Rocks for picnics. The Gundersons continued with the Dairy for 24 years. Many times during the dry years my father went to Minnesota and bought car loads of hay and feed. During the depression many people were unable to pay their milk bills even when the price dropped to 5c a quart Some people did come out to the farm and work out their bills. Dad raised quite a few pigs and butchered and delivered them around town for 5c a pound and some of those bills aren't paid to this day. In spite of alladversity we lived happy lives. Two more children were born to my parents in the twenties, Esther and Martin.

My mother's sister, Mrs. Olaf Selden, who with husband had homesteaded here but had moved to North Dakota in

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