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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

 

GEORGE C. JACOBSEN

I was born on March 8, 1900 at Exira, Iowa to Mr. and Mrs. Peter Jacobsen. When I was eleven years old in September of 1911 we went to Beach, North Dakota on the Northern Pacific train. From Beach we went by horse and wagon to a homestead on Cabin Creek in Montana. Our neighbors were the Olhrichs and the Sieferts. There were six children in our family. Lora, the youngest one, was the only one born in Montana.

My father was a carpenter. He built most of the houses in Plevna and the schoolhouse. Mother stayed on the homestead while he was out working. We had a cow and some chickens and four horses. We only farmed a little bit and cut prairie hay. Our barn and chicken house were made of sod. We had a good dog so we weren't troubled with coyotes.

We children only went to school one year at Cabin Creek, then Dad took us into town for the winter so we could go to town school. My sister, Eva, went to high school for three years and then taught school three or four years. She taught the Rife school and a school south of Baker. My sister, Esther, married Frank Yonash in 1918 and they lived in Montana until 1928 when they moved to California.

I never went to high school. My father died when I was fifteen, and I stayed home to help my mother. Mother took a loan on the place in 1916 and moved back to Minnesota where she ran a rooming and boarding house with my help.

The mortgage was foreclosed and we stayed in Minnesota. I went back from time to time to work as a farm hand. I met my wife in Montana in 1930 when she was teaching school on Pennel Creek. We tried farming during the depression, but didn't recover our seed, so we went back to Minnesota where I worked on road construction. Then money got scarce and 1 was let off. We drifted back to Montana where I worked on the roads there under the W. P.A. My son, Peter, was born in Westmore, Montana. Things didn't improve so we went to Seattle, Washington where my wife's folks lived. I took what work I could get until I got work in the shipyard. From then on things began to look up and our outlook for the future improved.

Jake Jacobson in front of his mail truck which ran between Baker and Ekalaka, 1918. Alex Lindquist, a Willard homesteader, is on the running board. He was later killed in a coal mine.

BERNT C. JACOBSON

by Mrs. Francis Jacobson of Galt, California

Bernt C. Jacobson was a seaman born in Norway in 1866 and came to the United States at the age of 21 years. He married Mina Graft also from Norway. They settled in Madison, Minnesota where they farmed. In 1907 they came to Montana by train and settled on a 380 acre homestead east of Baker. Jake or Jacob was 16 years old at the time. The youngest child was Norman age one year. Children in the family were Jake, Sophie, Jona and Norman. Custer and William were born on the homestead.

Ben remembers his dad buying horses at Ismay, Montana and had them loaded on a boxcar and shipped to Kingmont, Mont. which was 1 1/2 miles from the homestead. He said they had to build a platform to load the horses on the train.

Their cabin was a large room with curtains built by Bernt and his children.

Fertile Prairie Hall was across the road from the homestead where dances and church services were held. Ben remembers the minister traveled to the Hall serving several areas. Their services were the "Holy Rollers" type as he remembers. Jake's sons, Francis and Richard, were baptized there.

Most of the neighbors were bachelors and Bernt and Mina used to cook for them. They recall having sage hens for their first Thanksgiving. They ate a lot of cottontails, jack rabbits and sage hens those first years. They raised grain and hail cattle.

Jake left to work for the Milwaukee Railroad. Henry married Selma Flo. They had a beautiful daughter born to them who lived only a short while. Henry was serving in the Armed Forces when his child and wife passed away. He married again and raised 4 sons. He worked for the railroad in and around Roundup. He is now retired and lives with wife, Edna, at Seattle.

Stella married Carl Jones from Sioux Falls. Both passed away leaving Florence 10 and Fern 6 who were raised by Sophie. Belle or Kiza married Tom Judkins from Aberdeen. She had two sons and a daughter. She also passed away when they were small- 10,8 and 2. Tom remarried and lives in Oregon.

Ben married Edna Schiviesau of Aberdeen , South Dakota. He worked for the Jackson Hardware for many years and moved to Maywood where he worked for a foundry until he retired. They had three children, Layard, Sandra, and Colleen all married and have children living in the Los Angeles area.

Sophie married Kenneth Naylor. She lived in Lewistown for many years and is now retired and lives at Conrad. They own several Auto Parts stores in Montana. Their son, Kenneth and grandson run the stores. Stella's daughter, Florence Woods, lives at Roundup and Fern married a minister and now lives in Oregon.

Jona, deceased, remained a bachelor and worked on many ranches in Montana.

Bernt and Mina Jacobson moved away from Baker in 19-18 to Hitchcock, South Dakota.

Jake left Montana at age 18 to work for the Milwaukee Railroad for 4 years. He met and married Edith Sterling and moved back to Montana. He worked for his Dad for a year with a partnership. They lived in a small cabin west of his folks. Their first son Francis, was born on his grandparents homestead.

Jake left his father's homestead after getting his own. He worked for ranchers while his wife cooked for the ranchers. They had a cook car where the help was fed. Their second son, Walter, was born in the cook car. He lived about three months. He was the first one buried at the Willard Cemetery.

Richard, the third son, was born on Jake's homestead. Jake took over the mail route from Ekalaka to Baker. He later moved to Baker and in 1918 left for Aberdeen, South Dakota. He was a teamster for the Crane Plumbing Co. Then in 1930 he moved to Sioux Falls where he was employed at the Sioux Valley Hospital as Stearnheat Engineer. In 1936

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they moved to Artesia where they operated a cafe until he retired in 1943.

Jake loved Montana with it's wide open spaces and the excitement of the times. I am sure that he always regretted leaving there. Montana was always a favorite topic.

Jake passed away Dec. 31, 1952 at Galt, California. His wife still lives there also a son, Francis. Another son, Richard, lives in Los Angeles; a daughter, Dorothy Olson, lives at Lodi, Elmer at Downey and Jacob, Jr. in Galt. Clyde is in Houston, Texas and Robert is near his mother in Galt.

OAKLEY JAMES

1, Oakley James, was born March 23, 1894 to Sarah and Edwin James near Coon Rapids, Iowa. My father farmed in Iowa until the fall of 1903 when we moved to Canada, where my father took a homestead. I was only nine years old at the time, but had to go in an emigrant car with another man. My parents came later. One of my cousins and I worked on a threshing rig all fall taking the straw away from the threshing machine. In the winter I went to school.

We sold out in Canada and in May 1910 we started overland with team and wagon. My mother drove a horse and buggy. On the way down we camped out every night and were in several snowstorms before we arrived at Baker June 10, 1910. We were neighbors of the Beckman family in Canada and neighbors here in Montana as well. My father homesteaded thirteen miles north of Baker.

I worked around at different jobs, then in the spring of 1915 1 started farming for myself on the Charles Russell homestead.

For our social activities we had ball games, dances, picnics. We would travel miles on horseback just to go to a dance. I often played the banjo for dances.

I married Hazel Giles February 6, 1918 at her folks home north of Plevna. We farmed until 1945 when we had a sale of all our farm assets and moved to Miles City where I drove the Laundry Truck until I retired in 1961.

HAZEL GILES JAMES

I, Hazel Giles James was born near Algova and Burt Iowa in Kussuth County at my grandparents’ home, to Effie and Homer Giles on February 22, 1901. When I was three years old we moved to Rice Lake, Wisconsin, then in 1911 we moved to our homestead seven miles north of Plevna. My father, my mother, my sister, Mabel, and I came out in an emigrant car on the train. We brought all our household goods, horses, cattle and lumber to build a house with hardwood floors. Our nearest neighbors were the Wheelers.

We attended church on Sundays at the Sanburn home where a minister from Baker came to have services. The first school I went to was the Coal Springs School about three miles north of our place. Mrs. George Warner was our teacher. Then a few years later they built the Clark School. Since the new school was closer to our home we changed and went to it.

There were a lot of dances at our place because we had the largest house with a large living room with hardwood floors. Of course, there were picnics, ice cream socials around at the different neighbors. The community would usually gather at one of the neighbors for potluck at Thanksgiving time.

We had two children. Our daughter, Elaine, was born Feb. 22, 1919 and our son, Oakley, Jr. (Bud) was born November 7, 1921.

We have lived in Miles City since 1945 and since Oakley retired in 1961 we have enjoyed ourselves and have traveled some.

MR. AND MRS. GEORGE JENNER

George Jenner was a native of Port Washington, Wisconsin; a matter of about 30 miles or so from Milwaukee. There he received his schooling and then went to work in a store. After a time, he went westward to Dickinson, North Dakota where he again worked in a store.

While in Dickinson, he became acquainted with Henry Jensen, and after the Milwaukee Railroad became operative in this area, these two young men came to this vicinity where they took up neighboring claims about 8 miles east and a little north of Baker. There they " batched " for a while. In the meantime George was employed in a store in Baker run by two brothers, Ed and Emil Lentz.

Henry planted a patch of flax and while it was growing he, along with George, made a trip back to Dickinson with a team and wagon. Henry had an uncle there from whom he could obtain a binder to harvest his flax. They got the binder. They also got caught in a severe hailstorm enroute. Not only that, but, on arriving home, discovered that the hail had also swept through here, and that the flax was already harvested!

George had chosen a small, fertile flat beside a draw, and sheltered on the north and northwest by an area of low rolling hills, for his building site. Here he built his boxcar roofed, tarpapered dwelling and dug a well closeby. For a while he continued working in the store while -holding down the claim; then took up full time residence and proceeded to take up farming in earnest.

In the spring of 1917, he made a trip back to the hometown in Wisconsin, where he was married to Miss Margaret (Gretchen) Netting, on Feb. 14, 1917. She was also a native of his hometown of Port Washington. She had grown to womanhood there and received her education there, and was also employed in a store in Milwaukee. Though a city girl, she very handily took up the challenge of western rural life with pleasure.

Both the Jenners loved the out-of-doors and truly possessed green thumbs. The fertile flat rapidly became a scene of beauty. Water was available as needed. They planted apple trees as well as some low-growing type of cherry, currant and raspberry bushes, along with a bed of strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb, and of course a garden. They also had hotbeds and cold frame for cabbage, cauliflower, kohl rabi and tomato plants. There were lilac bushes and rose bushes and beds of many varieties of flowers, both annuals and perennials.

The small home was draped by a huge vine spreading over much of the south wall and shading a small arbor, built to the east end of the dwelling where one could relax in the air and shade as desired.

Small "fry" from around the neighborhood found it a place of wonder when their parents visited there, albeit posed somewhat of a challenge to the parents to see that depredations on the flowerbeds did not occur.

The Jenners both farmed and raised stock and a large flock of chickens along with milking cows, and for many years they supplied customers in Baker with dressed chickens, eggs, cream and butter. They often made gifts of fruit or flowers, and cabbage and tomato plants from their hot beds and also roots from their lilac and rose bushes to friends and neighbors.

After many years, when the Fairview School was no longer in use, they purchased it and moved it home, tearing down the old original homestead dwelling. They put in a basement and moved the school house on to that and added

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needed rooms, thus converting it into an attractive and comfortable home. The entry on the south was converted to a planetarium.

They had no family but were fond of children. They both enjoyed dancing and card parties, box socials, 4th of July celebrations, neighborhood picnics, branding bees and County Fairs. They took part in all neighborhood activities and church affairs at St. John the Evangelist church of Baker and often visited and entertained friends.

In later years, as age advanced, they began spending winters in Miles City and finally after a few years, they sold the place and retired to their hometown in Wisconsin. Neither was in very robust health and they were among relatives there.

Mrs. Jenner passed away rather suddenly in 1969, and Mr. Jenner continued living on in their home there until the early spring of 1972, when he also passed on.

The farm home was sold and moved into Baker where it underwent further remodeling and is now a modern home standing opposite the L. Price home on the old "Green Store" site on the east side of 1st St. West.

Jesfield twins, Austine and Christine, drove 4 1/2 miles to Ollie High School, 1926.

Austin and Christine Jesfield family at Lodgepole, South Dakota, 1911. Left to right; Mrs. Jesfield, Bennie, Christine, Austine, Minnie and Mr. Jesfield

 

AUSTIN J. AND CHRISTINE JESFIELD

By Austine Jesfield Steen

Austin J. Jesfield was born December 10, 1876 near Stavenger, Norway to Jens and Martha (Steensland) Jesfield. He came to the United States in 1893 and worked near Canton and Winona, South Dakota. He later purchased a ranch near Lodgepole, South Dakota. He married Christine Enervold on March 13, 1908.

Christine was born in Hjelmeland Stavanger, Norway on January 13, 1883. She came to the United States in 1903. The Jesfields had four children; Minnie, Bennie and twins Christine and Austine.

In 1912 they moved to Fergus Falls, Minnesota and in March of 1918 they moved to Ollie, Montana where they ranched until 1951. They lived in Baker until 1952 when they retired to Spearfish, South Dakota. Here they spent much time fishing with old time friends - the Fay Shepherds - and sight seeing in the Black Hills.

Mrs. Jesfield passed away March 5, 1967 and Austin came back to Baker to make his home with his daughter and son-in-law Austine and Henning Steen. Austin died December 3, 1972, lacking one week of being 96 years old.

They were preceded in death by a daughter Christine Mengel who passed away on December 20, 1962 of cancer.

A.J. Jesfield ranch, near Ollie, Montana, 1938.

Jesfield Grove where many picnics were held, 1926.

MARY JULIA JESPERSON

Many years ago, Thomas and Emily Sanders left England and migrated to Chicago, Ill. Here a daughter, Mary Julia, was born to them on August 24, 1883. She grew to young womanhood there, spending her youngest years "just playing". She received her grade and high school education there, and was later employed in the grocery store business, but her health became affected and when she was 31 years of age, her Doctor strongly advised her to "get out and rough it". So she came to Montana in 1914, by train, and then by auto, to the vicinity of Medicine Rocks, where she

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Julia Jesperson - 1957

homesteaded about 3 miles away. It was 42 miles to Baker and her post office was Webster.

Here she proceeded to "rough it", and among other things, she slept in a tent for several years during the summer months, while her health rapidly improved, aided, it seemed, by the rigorous living, for there were the times of drought, destructive hailstorms, very severe winters and times of depression and low prices with her eggs selling one winter at 8 cents a dozen. Later on, there was the chore of getting her son to Baker to go to school during the winter months.

Bill Jesperson Riding The Pig

It was a looked forward to event when they attended Church at the Webster Hall once a month during the summer months.

Mrs. Jesperson felt that Montana's greatest gift to them was the family's good health and they were happy and contented.

Julia And Chris Jesperson And Their Home.

On Mar. 7, 1916, she married Christian Jesperson at Plevna. Her health continued to improve as she rode horse back a great deal. She also milked cows, raised flocks of turkeys, ducks, and chickens along with a large garden from which she canned numerous jars of surplus vegetables and also she canned meats, so that the family was always well nourished, albeit there were times when money was in rather low supply, when came the years with low prices for their products.

There were two children: William C. and Emily Ella, who passed away as a small girl in 1927.

The Jespersons attended the Box Socials, dances, and neighborhood picnics at rural schools and neighboring homes. Their neighbors were the Emerson, Weiss, Johnson and Soper families. They attended a rodeo at Willard in 1917 and later, at Ekalaka and also Baker. On the 4th of July there was a picnic at "the Pines".

Some Baker laides dressed up for Baker's Fiftieth Anniversary - 1958 - Mrs. Hudson, Julia Jesperson and Christine Mengel.

In 1957, they left the homestead and moved into Baker, where Mr. Jesperson passed away later that same year. Mrs. Jesperson continued to live in their home in town. She was a member of St. John's Catholic Church and a member of the Altar Society for many, many years. She also belonged to the American Legion Auxiliary and to the Baker Woman's Club for 30 years. She passed away on Jan. 14, 1970 and is buried in Bonnievale Cemetery. Her son, William and wife, now occupy the homestead. There are 5 grandchildren and one great grandchild.

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HAROLD W. JENSEN

Harold W. Jensen, son of Henry and Anna Jensen although born Dec. 1918 in Iowa, has lived all his life at the place his father homesteaded east of Baker, Montana in 1910. He went to the Golden Valley rural school and high school in Baker. In 1947 he married Lillian Klouda of Chicago, Illinois and they continued to reside at the home place.

The usual mode of travel to school was by walking a minimum of a mile and a half. In wintertime a horse drawn sled could be used or in very rare instances an automobile. Visiting was done on horseback and a trusted steed was a necessity. Good times were had at the Fertile Prairie Hall located on the old Yellowstone Trail (later re-routed as U.S. Highway 12) which is still standing (in 1973). Whist parties, box socials and dances were held with local people providing the music. People stayed to the wee hours of the morning. The babies and younger children were placed in a loft-like bunk bed behind the large wood and coal stove to keep warm and sleep.

In the hard days of the drought and depression, his father had to look for outside employment and the running of the ranch was left to Harold. An older brother, Earl, also worked and later served in World War II. A younger brother, Louis, was in school at the time, and later he too served in the armed forces.

It was an uphill fight against drought, grasshoppers and storms but gradually things got better and little by little the farm and ranching came up to a paying basis. The biggest upset was the storm of December 1964. The day started with thawing weather and the next morning the thermometer read-42 degrees. The heavy snow that fell and the accompanying savage wind that raged that day and through the night and the next day took its toll on the livestock. So many died that day. By early spring the death loss from the effects of the storm (frozen legs, mouths and lungs etc.) amounted to two-thirds of a hundred-head herd.

But the good days are remembered too. The warm spring rains, a new calf being born, kittens playing by the back door, a ride in the badlands to see the deer and antelope. The ripe grain being combined and hay being cut for winter feed, wild berries ready to be picked for pies and preserves are all happy remembrances.

Harold held offices on the school board, the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee, the Little Beaver Soil Conservation District, Fallon County Sportsmen' s Club the City-County Planning Board and the O'Fallon Historical Society.

HENRYJENSEN

Henry Jensen arrived at Helsingor, Denmark and began living at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Jensen there on April 25th of 1888. And there he made his home, receiving his boyhood training and education until, at the age of 20, he migrated to the United States.

He traveled west to Dickinson, N.D. where he had an uncle living, and then, in 1910, he decided to hit still farther west. So, in the company with his brother, Walter, and a friend, George Jenner, he came on the Northern Pacific Railroad to Terry and then changed to the Milwaukee Railroad and so on to Baker.

He homesteaded 8 miles northeast of Baker and built a one-room shack in which the three young men batched it the first year. Henry later declared that they lived mostly on cottontail stew! Ha!

Henry planted a field of flax on the freshly turned sod, and, as there was rain, it throve. His uncle at Dickinson had a binder he could obtain, so he and George hooked up a team and wagon, and took off for Dickinson after it. It was a two-day trek and proved to be a rather dampening experience as it not only rained, but hailed enroute. However, they got the binder home okay. Only to discover that the hail had touched down here, also and that the flax was already harvested! But he had the binder for the next crop.

Neighbors of those early days were George Jenner, Berry Morris, Charlie (Shorty) Shear, Sidney Golden, Dan Phillips. Several other neighbors were somewhat farther away.

In 1912 he was married to Miss Johanna Anderson at Dickinson, N. D. They continued to farm and also raised stock. During the years they had three sons: Earl, now deceased; Harold and Louis, both of Baker. These sons still have the original homestead sites.

The family underwent and overcame all the tribulations and satisfactions of the ensuing years, common to this vicinity. Eight miles is quite a distance by team to town; there were toilsome excursions over into the Buttes to get out lignite and wood, but Henry stated that their biggest problem was getting the boys to school. For a time Mrs. Jensen had to move to town during school terms. Then, after a struggle, they did get a schoolhouse not too far from home. Later, however, it was into town again for High School and, again, the transportation problem had to be met. All 3 sons graduated from Baker High School.

The Jensens always enjoyed going to dances, picnics, brandings, 4th of July celebrations, neighborhood card parties and school affairs. They enjoyed visiting with and entertaining neighbors. They both enjoyed dancing and Henry was an expert on the "Hop Polka". They liked music and got pleasure from the dance music of violin and guitar as played by neighbors Tom Phillips, Shorty Shear, Walter and Harry Evers.

They farmed the place until 1936, when Henry went to work at the Fort Peck Dam. He worked there for the next two years; then worked for the Federal Government. Fish and Wildlife, as a construction foreman at Game and Elk Refuges. He then returned to Baker in 1943, where he was employed as a building contractor until his retirement in 1960.

Mrs. Jensen preceded him in death in 1949 and the eldest son, Earl in 1958. Henry passed away on Nov. 5th, 1972.

The Jensens were members of the American Lutheran Church. Henry was also a member of the Baker Chamber of Commerce and a Charter Member of O'Fallon Historical Society.

There are 4 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren in the family of Henry and Johanna Jensen.

Bull Johnson, 1910.

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BULLJOHNSON

A friendly, jolly story telling gentleman by the name of Bull Johnson, homesteaded on Beaver Creek. He spent a good many hours spinning his yarns at the Tom and T.T. Lunder farms. He farmed with steers. Family consisted of two daughters and during school years his wife lived in Baker.

 

Roy and Hattie Johnson, Joy and Don and their 1934 Ford V 8 car.

 

MR. AND MRS. ROY JOHNSON

By Monte Johnson Sipma

Roy Johnson was born October 22, 1891 in Freeborn County, Minnesota to Mr. and Mrs. Eric Johnson.

In 1899 he moved with his parents to Hartland, North Dakota where he grew up and received his schooling.

He came to Baker, Montana in the spring of 1913 and homesteaded twenty-five miles southeast of Baker.

Roy and Hattie Egtvet, who was also from Hartland, were married in Miles City, Montana in December, 1913. They spent about six years on the old homestead then moved to the former Chapman homestead.

 

Among their first neighbors were Jim Nessett, Bob Wilson, Bill Ross, Millie Clark, Lewis Stempgues, the Albert Hansens, Clarence Northup, the Hi Twifords, the Varners and the Dan Gundersons.

Roy and the family moved from the Chapman place to the Cap Zinc place, which was the old store and post office of Bisher, about 1926 or 27 where they lived until 1936 or 37 when they moved to the former Mann place.

Hattie Johnson and three oldest children at the old homestead.

The Johnsons had ten children; Ione Coldwell, Earl (killed in World War 11), Irene Wiman, Monte Sipma, Lloyd, Helen Tennant, Don (deceased), Mary Lou Wells, Betty Jo Migratti and Joy Hayden.

The first three children were born on the old homestead with the assistance of Mrs. Katie Clark.

With our big family and the five Hansen children, who lived about a half mile east of us, many happy hours were spent playing together, especially in old vacated homestead shacks where we plaved house.

Playmates. Left to right; Hansen twins, Milford and Mildred, Clark Stempgues, Ione and Irene Johnson, Edward Varner and Earl Johnson.

Roy Johnson and oldest daughter, lone, and Millicent Clark furnished the music for many dances at Webster Hall, the Chimney Creek School and other social gatherings.

Community dinners were held almost every Sunday in the summer at the Webster Hall with a baseball game in the afternoon. Among the early ball players were Roy Johnson, Martin Tommerdahl, Ray and Roy Corey, Holger Trandurn and the Norman Boys. D.K. Rice was at the Webster Store and Post Office at the time which was located on the corner where the John Smith farm is.

We children attended school at Chimney Creek through all the grade school years.

Roy and George Emilson, a widower who lost his wife and two children in the flu epidemic of 1918, had two of the first trucks in the community and we would all pile in the back to go to a dance. We filled it half full of hay and had blankets to keep us warm, as the dances lasted until dawn. I remember one time coming home from a ball game in an old car when it started to rain and we had to stop and put on the side curtains.

In the winter we traveled by team and sled. Twenty below zero weather didn't stop anyone from hitching up the team and driving 10 or 15 miles to a card party or dance and then returning home the next day.

Hauling water was always a chore as it was either bail it up and carry it up hill, or haul it from the nearest dam for washing clothes and such. One time we girls took the team and wagon, loaded with two or three barrels, and went to the dam. Backing into the dam we filled our barrels and then decided to go for a swim. We left our clothes in the wagon. The horses got tired of waiting for us and took off for home. Needless to say, we girls were glad the neighbors were few and far between as my sister ran across the sagebrush and cactus calling "Whoa" to the horses. She caught them about half way home. We refilled the barrels, which had lost some of their water, and made it home a little wet but a lot wiser.

Hattie Johnson passed away in June of 1953 and Roy Johnson, by then retired and living in Baker, passed away in

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November of 1970. His farm holdings are still in the family, as they are now owned by Merle and Joy Hayden.

Roy Johnson's barn at the old homestead. It filled with snow in the winter of 1919 and several horses died.

 

Jones family. Bert B. and Maggie Jones, sitting. Bernice and Lloyd Jones, standing.

BERT AND MAGGIE JONES

Albert Byron Jones was born on August 12, 1870 at Sechlerville, Jackson County, Wisconsin and was the son of David R. and Juliette Letson Jones. He married Margaret Ellen Hoonsbeen on May 10, 1899 at Winona, Minnesota. They were the parents of three children; Lloyd, Bernice and Arthur. Arthur died in infancy. Their first home was in Hixton, Wisconsin along the banks of the Trempealeau River with living quarters upstairs above a barber shop, pool hall and meat market.

In 1908 Bert B. Jones came, with the first homestead excursion to the Fallon County area, on the Milwaukee Railroad. He filed on a 160 acre homestead about nine miles northeast of Ismay, Montana, and then returned east for his family. They resided on the homestead until 1924 when they moved to Los Angeles, California. He died in California on July 19, 1955.

Albert (Bert) Jones was skilled in several trades, among them barbering, butchering, farming for fifteen years, repairing the neighbors clocks and watches, cobbling shoes and was a carpenter in Los Angeles. His hobby later in life was the knitting of miniature articles, and he took great pride in his baked beans.

 

 

Bert B. Jones farm before second addition to house.

Margaret (Maggie) Hoonsbeen was born on February 27, 1880 at North Branch, Jackson County , Wisconsin the daughter of C. F. Hoonsbeen and Ada Miria Stearns. After the death of her husband she continued to make her home in Los Angeles.

B.B. Jones home when finished.

"Commie" Jones.

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The children of Bert and Maggie Jones are; Lloyd, born August 28,1900 at Hexton, Wisconsin. He married Charlotte Eva Lieurance. Bernice Irene was born November 24, 1901 at Hexton, Wisconsin. She married Gale Cooper.

Commodore (Commie) Jones was a brother of Bert B. Jones and was born July 22, 1872 at Sechlerville, Jackson County, Wisconsin and died on March 26, 1951 at Miles City, Montana at the age of 79. He spent his boyhood on the family farm south of Sechlerville. During the early 1900's he worked in the logging camps near Spokane, Washington and Sand Point, Idaho. He later homesteaded 320 acres on Whitney Creek, Custer County, Montana. He engaged in grain farming at which he prospered. Ill health overcame him, and he was an invalid for years.

Carlton C. Stoltz, half-brother of B. B. Jones, was born in 1886 in Wisconsin. His parents were George Stoltz and Juliette Letson. He homesteaded 320 acres in Fallon County, Montana. This land was the north half of section 12, township 9, north range 56.

 

MONTANA MEMORIES

by Charlotte Lieurance Jones

I was born in a log cabin on a farm near Viroqua, Wisconsin in the last year of the "Gay Nineties". I have no memories of this home because my father, Charles E. Leiurance and my mother, Minnie, and their children, Flossie, Hugh, Ada and Charlotte, soon moved to a larger farm nearby. A sister, Lola, and a brother, Victor, were added to the family later.

Early in the year of 1912 my father decided to go west to file on a homestead. My brother , Hugh, brother-in-law, Forrest Munyon (Flossie's husband), his brother, Frank Munyon and two other young men followed in an emigrant car arriving at Ismay, Montana in April 1912. Frank Munyon had already filed on a claim in Lame Jones country about 30 miles from the one my father chose in the Pennel Creek district. Mother, Flossie, and her one year old baby (Myrtle Munyon), Lola, Victor and I went to Montana in May. Ada stayed with our great-aunt in Wisconsin.

Meanwhile Father and Hugh, who was then eighteen years old, had been very busy building a tarpapered and sodded cabin, a barn, chicken-house, fences and etc. Father was a hard worker and a firm believer in the rest of us helping as much as we could. One of the first tasks I remember doing in Montana was dropping seed potatoes in a newly plowed furrow so they would be covered by the next sod furrow as father continued plowing the new land.

Thinking of it in later years, I realized that moving to a homestead in Montana was not a pleasant experience for Mother. She had been in poor health for a number of years before we left Wisconsin. Now it was the life of a pioneer for her. The first summer and fall most of us slept in a tent which was almost as large as the house. When cold weather came we had to move into the house. Space in the house was very limited until a new three-bedroom house was built in 1918. The well was far enough from the house to make water carrying a chore. The water was alkali which created problems, especially for washing clothes. We would fill two barrels with water from the well, put lye in it, let it stand overnight, then take the scum off before it was fit for washing. Then it had to be dipped from the barrels and carried to the house. In those days we couldn't go to a store and buy water softeners.

Wood was scarce. The men would make trips to the Cedars about 15 miles north of us where they could get fence posts and corral poles and bring home some wood for kindling. Stove fuel was mostly soft coal that could be mined nearby. Unless a trip was made to the Cedars shortly before Christmas we had no Christmas tree.

If we were underprivileged, I, for one, did not realize it. Life was wonderful! There were new kinds of flowers, birds and animals, a saddle horse to ride and a half section of land with a draw winding the whole length of it besides all the additional wide open spaces to be explored. Of course, we missed the big orchards we had in Wisconsin and the hazel nuts, black walnuts and butternuts we had been able to gather but along the draw we could find wild gooseberries, plums, choke cherries and buffalo berries, also hordes of hungry mosquitoes.

At first we could see no buildings other than our own but we did have neighbors and very good ones, we soon learned. The other half of the section had been homesteaded by Mrs. Kate Hoffman who after her husband and daughter died in Wisconsin came, at the age of 65, to take a claim in Montana, where she lived for 15 years. She was an aunt of Jesse, Ira, and Harve Cooper who had claims about 2 miles north of ours. She was always cheerful, courageous, friendly and witty. A truly unforgettable character, called "Aunt Kate" by all who knew her. The road to Westmore went along the west and south sides of her land but soon there was a more traveled road that went through her place and past her house. She always waved at people going by and tried to have them stop for a cup of tea and a bit of visiting or maybe to help her with something that she could not do for herself.

Besides the Cooper families, there were the Bert Jones family, the Joe Riley family, the Bill Hoffman family, the Fred Gratz family, the Ross and Park Householder families, the Paul and Mina Nofholz, brother and sister who had filed on adjoining claims and later the Fred Isaak family, who bought land just north of us and built a house that we could see.

Mina Nofholz was the first teacher of the Pennel Creek or Riley school. For a number of years she rode a horse from her claim to the school, a distance of about five miles, getting there early enough in cold weather to have the schoolroom warm by the time the pupils arrived. She was a good teacher, well liked by children, parents and neighbors.

I was the first eighth grade graduate of that school. The next term Mina asked my parents if I could come to school to help her with some of the lower classes. In return she would help me to study Algebra and I could review 8th grade subjects with the class of that year. At that time it didn't seem likely that I would be able to go on to high school. I had always enjoyed school so this arrangement pleased me very much. It was also beneficial to me later.

After I had been out of school for two years some representative of the Westmore School canvassed our district to see how many scholars would attend their high school at that time. My parents said I might go if I would ride horseback from home. I was happy for the chance. The school was a two year accredited institution. Three others from our neighborhood also started high school that fall. They were Arthur Cooper, Lloyd and Bernice Jones. They also went on horseback but traveled a different road to Westmore so usually I rode alone. I didn't do home work but I did do lot of on-the-way-home work. I think most of my Latin assignments, as well as other things to be memorized, were learned while riding. Two other things I like to think of on those rides were the beautiful Montana sunsets and the ride through Smoky Swamp, with it's legend of a "Wild Woman" that might be encountered. My horse, Topsy, always traveled through there as if there were ghosts on every side. She was ready to shy at every noise or movement. It was while I was riding home from school that I saw my first aeroplane. What a thrilling sight that was and I could watch it for a long time.

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Smoky Swamp from the air. Picture by Carol Karch.

Smoky Swamp from the ground. Good hunting country.

During the worst winter weather I stayed at the Premo Hotel and Restaurant and worked for my board. Mr. and Mrs. Premo were an admirable couple. They became my good friends.

Fred Ward was our teacher when we started to high school. He resigned to take another school and A.E. Landis came to be principal and teacher. He was also a minister and when no other minister was there he conducted the church services. He was a wonderful person, a true friend to all of the pupils. Through his hard work Westmore gained a four year accredited high school. He remained our teacher through all of that time. At the beginning of our senior year there were only four left in the class. Helen Riley dropped out to begin teaching, so in May, 1920 Lloyd, Bernice and I were the only four year graduates that Westmore High School ever had.

When my younger sister, Lola, was ready for high school my mother took over the Premo Hotel and later moved into the larger building between it and Hahn's store. My father ran the livery barn in Westmore and also farmed the homestead.

A branch of the Miles City Bank had opened in Westmore under the management of P. B. McClintock. He took a position somewhere else and was replaced by Mr. Helbera. I was offered work in the bank after school and on

September, 1919, senior class of Westmore High School. Front row: Charlotte Lieurance, Bernice Jones and Helen Riley. Back row: Professor A.E. Landis and Lloyd Jones. Three in the class graduated in 1920, the first and only 4 year Class to graduate from Westmore High School. They are Lloyd, Bernice and Charlotte.

Saturdays when in my senior year. Banking hours were different in those days, at least in Westmore. When Mr. Helberg moved elsewhere the next summer I was alone in the bank for a few weeks except when some one from the Miles City Bank came to stay for two or three days at a time. Later Paul Kruger came to stay for several years. I think he was there until the bank was discontinued.

In November 1920 the teacher of the Lundis School, later called the Durheim School, resigned. I applied for the school and was accepted and found teaching to be more interesting and challenging than bank work. My pupils were Mildred Durheim, Esther and Walter Huston, Lois and Lucille Everson, Vilma Helen and Kenton Stickney. After passing the State Teacher's Examination, I spent the next summer attending Normal School at Miles City.

The next fall I became the first teacher at the new Dry Fork School. There I had fifteen scholars. They were Myrtle, Lawrence and Evelyn Munyon, Richard, Virgil and Clarence Jinkerson, Albert, Emma, Harold and Florence Young, Fred, John, Mary, Daniel and Philip Fuchs. That term I stayed on the claim with Dad, riding my saddle horse 2 1/2 miles to school. There was a bad snow storm that winter. My road to school went through section 1, a railroad section where there was a herd of cattle but no buildings. The snow became so deep and lasted so long, the cattle were starving. It was heartbreaking to see them. I made inquiries about the owners and was told that a man from the East had leased the land, turned the cattle on it and then gone back to his home. No one seemed to know his name or how to contact him. People nearby couldn't care for them. They were having a hard time taking care of their own stock.

My father still spent part of the time in Westmore. He still had the livery barn there but hired someone to help with that. It was more pleasant for me when my brother, Hugh, his wife (the former Edith Cooper) and two small girls came to stay at father's place until they moved to California some time later.

The next school term I taught again at the Durheim School and boarded again with Mr. and Mrs. Homer French.

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This time there were 14 scholars: Esther, Walter and Olive Huston, Mildred and Ralph Durheim, Hugo Zable , Richard and Gene Davidson, Elmer and Ethel Babcock, and Richard, Virgil, Clarence and Edna Jinkerson. The Jinkerson children came quite a distance by horse and buggy.

Lloyd and I were married December 27, 1922 by Mr. Landis at his home in Baker. Lloyd's father had gone to the West Coast to work as a carpenter. Lloyd was farming the home place so that became my home.

Lloyd's sister, Bernice, married Gale Cooper in June 1923. Their first home was on Aunt Kate Hoffman's claim. In December 1923 my sister, Ada, married Ira Cooper. For a time they lived on the Hinkle farm east of Westmore, then they moved back to Pennel Creek and were there until they moved to Washington in 1934.

Pennel Creek Baseball team. Front row: Gale Cooper, Ira Cooper, Bud Cripps [mascot], Merle Cooper, Lloyd Jones and Park Householder. Back row: George Griffith, Lyle Shipman, Hugh Lieurance, Ed Eichman and Paul Stoltz.

In the fall of 1923 a young man who had been hired to teach the Pennel Creek School failed to pass his teacher's examination. The school board asked if I would take the school, so I did. The pupils were: Ian Householder, Lottie, Anna, Alice and Douglas Cooper, Elmer Babcock and Frederick, Charles and Lela Houzvicka.

In the meantime, Lloyd's father kept wanting his wife and us to come to the west coast where he thought there were better opportunities. Lloyd took a carload of horses to Wisconsin to be sold. When he returned my school term was finished. A few weeks later Lloyd, his mother and I left by car for Washington arriving just in time for the celebration honoring the Grand Opening of the planned city of Longview. After a few months we went on to California.

There were many interesting things to see in Southern California but after living in Montana it seemed far too crowded with buildings and with people who did not care to be friendly. The six years I spent there were saddened by Lloyd's illness and death and by that of my sister, Lola. Both are buried in California. I owe a debt of gratitude to Lloyd's parents. They were always so good to me and to our two children, Bob and Lois.

For the past 38 years my home has been in Washington. Most of those years I have worked as a bookkeeper.

My daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter live near Seattle. My son and his wife are in Kelso. It is nice to have them that near me.

Father lived to be 96 years old. He remained active to within three weeks of his death. Mother had died ten years earlier. Hugh's wife, Edith, passed away in 1965 the same year as Dad.

My remaining sisters and brothers, Flossie, Ada, Hugh and Victor are all living nearby so we can enjoy seeing each other and talking about the past.

I shall always think of Montana as a home state where I spent many happy years.

Mr. and Mrs. Emmett Jordan on 50th wedding anniuersary, February 20, 1958.

HISTORY OF

EMMETT AND MABEL [HUNTER] JORDAN

By Frances LaBree

Charles Emmett Jordan was born Nov. 13, 1882 at Boone, a little town between Des Moines and the college town of Ames, Iowa to Charles Peter and Mary Frances (McCoy) Jordan. There were seven children in the family, Emmett (his nickname was Stem) being the fifth. His father was a farmer who migrated from Wisconsin in 1862 and his mother was born at Clinton, Iowa.

Emmett earned his first money when he was 12 years old driving a horse hitched to a "sweep" on a hay bailer, this sweep being a device providing power for the bailer, the pay 25 cents a day and his room and board for 12 hours work. Later he drove a team of horses on a "slip " scraper on a railroad grade at $25 a month with board.

in the spring of 1902, with a cowboy companion, he left for Miles City, Montana traveling horseback with a pack outfit by way of Belle Fourche, Camp Crook, South Dakota and Ekalaka, Montana arriving here on April 27th. They ran across Bill Case, the foreman of the LU, one of the largest cow outfits whose range covered a lot of country over on the "drys" between here and the Big Missouri. This outfit was owned by L. W. Stacey and the Swift Packing Company at the time; Mike Dodge, a well known cowboy, was wagon boss for them. Emmett worked for the LU the next summer and fall, wintering in the Black Hills Country.

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