Welcome To
FALLON COUNTY
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
EDWARD [ EDDIE] JOSEPH NELSON
I was born at Maitland, South Dakota on August 6, 1907, the son of William and Augusta Wagner Nelson. My father was a miner at Deadwood, South Dakota until a close friend of his was killed in the mines; after that he didn't want to work in the mines anymore. He went to work for the Railroad.
I grew up and attended both grade school and high school in Deadwood. After graduating from high school I went into the clothing business.
In 1935, when I was 27 years old I got a position at the Martin Russell Clothing Store in Baker, Montana. 1 bought myself a 1933 De Soto Coupe and drove to Baker from Deadwood.
Eddie Nelson and his 1933De Soto Coupe, 1938.
When I first came to Baker I lived at the Dean Sinclair boarding house. A group of young bachelors and a couple of young girls roomed there. Some other young people just ate there. Some of those who lived and ate there were: R. T. (Doc) Joyce - a dentist, George Sanderson - a teacher, Chauncey (Chan) Sorenson, employed by the Midland Lumber Co., Pete Peterson - manager of J.C. Penny Co., Bill Coey - Coach, John Parker - teacher, Tom Neilson - a teacher, Jim Harter - a teacher and Florence Reid, Rhoda Saterthwait, Betty Basket and Jessie Hodges (Price) all school teachers. Lila Celander (Smith) and Mary Hauzvicka both did the cooking for several years.
One can imagine the "shenanigans" that went on with a bunch of young bachelors around. Mr. Sinclair was not a drinking man so he was always puzzled that he wasn't invited in to meet some of the fellows' "Old Grandad". Every once in awhile some one would invite the others in to meet their "Old Grandad ". At times Betty Baskett would play the piano after supper and we would all gather around and sing. I think that Mr. Sinclair enjoyed this. Other recreations were going to dances on weekends and playing ball. I played basketball with the Town Team from 1938 through 1941.
The Nelson's wedding picture, July 14, 1940. Left to right, Rue Potterton, Marjorie, Eddie and "Doc" Joyce.
On July 14, 1940 Marjorie Kochel, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Jim Kochel, and I were married in the St. John's Catholic Church in Baker. We have three children: Joseph Edward, Virginia Ann and Martin James.
I served in World War 11 with the 158th. Combat Infantry from June 1943 to November 1945. Was wounded in combat at Sarmi, New Guinea. After the war I returned to Baker to become a partner with Martin and Eugene Russell in the Clothing Store. I was in that business until I retired in
"Doc" Joyce and "Chan" Sorenson, two of the bachelors at the Sinclair Boarding House, 1938.
The E. J. Nelson Family, 1953. Marge holding Marty, Eddie, Jenny and Jody in front.
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MARGARET SCOTT NELSON
I was born at Forest River, North Dakota on March 2, 1905 and at the age of 23, 1 went by car to Baker, where I took up residence at the Ed Lake home opposite the East Side School (now the Washington School.)
My parents were William and Margaret Scott. They homesteaded in Wibaux County, Montana in 1907, so I was but 2 years of age when we came to this area. They were stockmen and I can remember the bitterly cold winters and getting to rural school and later to high school in Wibaux. I did enjoy riding my horse during my childhood on the ranch.
After high school I attended four summer sessions in Miles City and then taught 4 years in the Wibaux County schools. Times were financially hard during those years.
Then I completed a 2-year course at Dillon, Montana, which at that time qualified me to teach in Montana City Schools, so in 1928, 1 went to Baker to teach at the East Side School. I remained there until 1936, when I went to Billings to teach in the Garfield school. While there, I obtained my B. A. degree from Rocky Mountain College. I also did studying at Missoula and took graduate courses at the University of Chicago. Later, I took a year of Social Graduate School at the Seattle University of Washington and earned my Master's Degree in Psychiatric Social Work.
Next, I supervised Child Welfare Services in 22 counties of Montana before I was appointed as the Director of Child Welfare Services. While I held this position, I worked in legislative sessions for laws to give better protection to dependent and neglected children and to upgrade our State Institutions and for improved means for adoption and foster home selection. I worked hard to get The Mental Health Bill passed in 1947.
I was married to Roy 0. Nelson at Plentywood in June 1947. We had one daughter, Margaret, in 1948. She is now a Librarian at the Hamilton, Montana High School (1973).
During my 15 years at Plentywood, I served 13 of them on the State Welfare Board under Governors Ford, Bonner and Aranson, also doing much community work.
After the death of my husband I left Plentywood and went to San Francisco, I spent two years there where my second husband passed away after nine months of marriage, then I returned to Billings and to my beloved Montana where I again took up my work for the Welfare Department for 5 years and then 2 years on the Head Start Program.
I am presently retired (1973), but I still enjoy being involved in community and church activities.
During my years at Baker I was a member of the Congregational Church (Community Church). I have many pleasant memories of dances enjoyed there and of many picnics, especially at the Medicine Rocks and of traveling to Miles City to the rodeos.
EDNA CRAGEN FARWELL "AUNTIE" NEWBARY AND CURTIS DANIEL [C. D.1 NEWBARY by Grandson John H. Gilman
Edna Rosella Cragen was born close to La Crosse, Wisconsin, November 1, 1849. At the age of thirteen she came to Virginia City, Montana by wagon train drawn by oxen. She earned her fare by cooking for the master of the train. They left in May of 1864 and arrived in October. The trail across the plains went by Omaha and Salt Lake City. The ox-train split, some went on to California and the rest
came to Virginia City, Montana. After reaching Virginia City, she cooked for the miners. One of the early day experiences was the fact that she used up 100 pounds of flour each day in making bread for the miners. The cost of flour was $100 per 100-pound sack.
"Auntie Newbary"
She continued on as cook for the miners until her marriage to George Farwell, Sr. They made their home in Virginia City. From this union were born three children. Hatty, George, Jr. and Sarah. Their marriage ended in divorce. In years to come, George Farwell, Sr. died of pneumonia at the age of 53. Their youngest daughter, Sarah, died at the age of four. The father and daughter are both buried at Nevada City, Montana.
Now I will tell about the history of C.D. Newbary. C.D. was born Oct. 21, 1849 at Jonesville, Wisconsin to Henry and Catherine Otto Newbary. He lived to be 70 yrs., 1 month and 20 days old. Over this period of time he lived a life cherished by his family and every one who knew him.
His father was in the sawmill business at Portage, Wisconsin. (C.D. was a direct descendant of Saxon nobility through his mother, Catherine Otto. The first Otto, Franty Otto, came to America, arriving in New York City from Baden-Baden, Saxony, in 1742 and settled on a 100-acre farm near what is now Albany, New York. Franty Otto was the second son of Duke Rudolph Otto, one of the Royal Ministers of Saxony. He had been educated as a physician and surgeon.)
C.D.'s father died when he was nine and his brother, John Clarence, was seven. The mother re-married, a man by the name of Crawford. In 1858 his mother and step-father with the two boys started across the plains for the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada. While traveling through Iowa the mother became very ill and died that night. She was buried there by the trail. After the mother's death we have no definite record of what happened until C. D., 16 years. and John, 14 yrs. came to Virginia City, Montana in 1865. During the period from 1865 to 1877 the boys were Bull Whackers. They freighted from Virginia City to Salt Lake City during the gold rush days. C.D. had many experiences with the Indians when freighting.
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The two boys later married. John and his wife, Jennie, lived on a ranch. They had four children when they moved west to New Era, Oregon. They bought a store, including the post office. John succeeded as post master. Ten years later after the fifth child, John passed away and his 34 year old widow faced not only the job of being a mother but also the jobs of breadwinning, keeping the store, feeding boarders and serving as post mistress as well as agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad and Wells-Fargo. After five years she married W.D. Dastin and received her commission under her new name. She served fifty years and received recognition from Washington D.C.
In the year 1877 on January 18, C.D. married Alice May Wilton at 4: 00 in the afternoon near Virginia City or " Doby Town" in Madison County, Territory of Montana. She was the daughter of Mrs. Martha Alice Wilton. Her father died shortly after serving in the Civil War. They lived on a ranch on or near Ruby Creek for 15 yrs. This is when C.D. was manager for the S. R. Buford Horse and Cattle Co. The horses numbered up to 250 head. During those years they had six children. Catherine, who died in infancy, Carrie, Adele, Otto, Henry, and Alice.
The spring of 1889 on May 20 the mother, Alice passed away on the ranch from a bad cold and whooping cough. She was just 28 years old and baby Alice was two months old. Mrs. Alice Newbary was buried at Nevada City, Montana.
After the death of his wife C.D.'s household was very sad. A neighbor lady, Mrs. George Farwell, who had been like a mother to Alice, became the housekeeper. She had her two children, Hatty and George, Jr. with her.
As the years went by the grass for the horses and cattle was getting scarce on the ranch on Ruby Creek, so the company had C.D. scout around for a better place. He came east and located on a place north on Chalk Buttes, about 20 miles south and a little west of Ekalaka, Montana.
Before C.D. moved, Mrs. George Farwell's daughter, Hatty, married Jim Shoemaker. They had two children Jim and George. George died at Mullen, Idaho.. He worked on the Alder Gulch dredge as an electrician. Jim and his wife, Bessie had two daughters, Laura and Vurda. They are married and live at Ennis, Montana.
In the year of 1891 C.D. left Ruby Creek and started for Eastern Montana in the early part of the summer. They had two wagonloads of furniture and food. They arrived here on the fourth of October. The cattle were shipped down the following spring.
The children, Carrie, 13, Adele, 11, Otto, 9, Henry, 5, Alice, 2, and George Farwell, 13, helped as much as they could all the way down. Mrs. George Farwell helped with everything on the trail. She had had good experiences way back when she trailed from Wisconsin to Montana. The children thought it was a great life. My mother, Adele, told me that they had to eat wild meat three times a day. When they got to Miles City they hired a ferry to get the wagons across the Yellowstone River. The horses had to swim across. Then from Miles City they were on the trail again and finally they came to the ranch near Chalk Buttes. Mrs. George Farwell became Mrs. C.D. Newbary in Miles City in 1893.
The children always called her "Auntie" even before their own mother died. Then later it was "Auntie Newbary." It also got to be that all the cowboys called her that. C.D. at that time had five or six cowboys working for him. "Auntie" was a good teacher for the girls to learn to become good cooks from. The children were very thankful to have such a lovely stepmother. Her son, George, was always regarded as another brother in the family.
C.D. and "Auntie" Newbary leaving for their ranch with a load of oats from her son's, George, ranch. George by wagon.
The years from 1891 to 1909 the S.R. Buford Horse and Cattle Co. ran their stock on this ranch. The company sold out and C.D. was on his own. He started in cattle and horses and later added some sheep. Besides being an active rancher he served as a Republican Member of the Seventh Legislative Assembly in 1900. He belonged to the Odd Fellows and the Elks Lodges. "Auntie" belonged to the Rebekah Lodge.
C. D.'s health had been failing during the last year, he commenced to fail fast in September and on November 11, 1919 he passed away in Ekalaka. He was buried by the IOOF Lodge and lies at rest in the Ekalaka Cemetery. His daughter, Alice Newbary Hedges, passed away in 1918 at the
George Farwell, Jr., dressed for his wedding in 1901.
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age of 28. Carrie married Billy Burger, Adele married Lorin Gilman, Otto married Anna Sjoblom, Henry married Lizzie Kimball and George Farwell, Jr. married Clara Alpha Parks on Dec. 30, 1901.
Clara Parks came to Montana with her folks from New York. Their ranch is on Speelmon Creek east of Box Elder. Besides their cattle they raised oats and rye for feed. Their family consisted of two children, Georgia and Sherrill. George served as County Commissioner for Fallon County before there was a Carter County. When Carter County was formed he again served as a Commissioner for Carter County. They lived on a ranch until they retired and then moved to Ekalaka. Mr. George Farwell, Jr. passed away Feb. 26, 1971. Mrs. George (Clara) Farwell, Jr. is living at her home in Ekalaka. She was 92 years old August 21, 1972.
Georgia Farwell Nitzel and brother, Sherrill Farwell at the ranch.
At the George Farwell ranch, 1960. Left to right, Mrs. George Farwell, Sherry Farwell, Mr. George Farwell, Mrs. Sherrill Farwell holding George, Mr. Sherrill Farwell.
After C.D. passed away his wife Edna or "Auntie Newbary" bought a home in Baker. The ranch was leased out and later sold as the Newbary Estate.
"Auntie" Newbary" wasn't necessarily an early day pioneer of Baker, but an early day resident of the original Custer County before it was divided into more counties. She spent her later years in Baker, a highly respected lady and in every sense of the word a pioneer of pioneers. "Auntie" took an active part in the community affairs. She belonged to the Naomi church group. She lived in Baker until she became ill after which she went to live with her son, George, and his family on the ranch. She died May 31, 1935 at the ranch. She is buried in the Newbary family plot in Ekalaka. She was 86 years old at the time of her death. She was a lady of ability and good will who worked hard a greater part of her life to make the world a better place for others. All the C.D. Newbary children thought of her as their mother. She was loved by all of the family.
ELMER & ALICE NEWELL
When Elmer Newell came to Montana with his mother from Cresbard, S.D. he was only two years old. He was the only child his mother brought when she decided to take up a homestead. Her brother, Albert Hansen and family, had moved here earlier and this probably had much to do in her deciding to come to Montana.
Amelia Newell-Twiford had first married William Owen and had one son, William. When only a young man, her husband died while being operated on. Some years later she married Elmer Newell of Cresbard, S.D. There three children were born, Clyde, Etta, and Elmer. When her youngest child was only a few months old her husband was killed in a tractor plowing accident. It was after this she decided to come to Montana. Leaving her oldest children with relatives at Cresbard, she and her small son came to Montana in the spring of 1912. She filed on a site near her brother, about 25 miles south of Baker, in what later became known as the Bisher community.
However, circumstances didn't allow her to "prove up" on her holdings and later she relinquished her rights. For sorne time she worked for the E. Mulkeys on the 101 Ranch. There she was able to keep her son with her. Later her older son came to Montana but soon the first World War broke out and he joined the service. In a few short months he was in the thick of battle and he lost his life in the battle of the Argonne Forest in France, by then the mother had married Hiram Twiford, a nearby neighbor. Her older children were nearing their teens before she had a permanent home for them, then only to have it broken again by her death. She died in the spring of 1923. She had one son, Ralph, while married to Hiram Twiford.
Elmer attended the Chimney Creek School and later High School in Baker. Living in an active community there was entertainment for the young and old. The school often joined with other schools in the district and put on programs and socials. Picnics, card parties and dances were also included in the form of entertainment. It was a community of many young people but when they became of high school age it was necessary to go to Baker and after that many of them scattered to the four corners of the earth.
Ties had always been closely kept with kin in South Dakota and from time to time Elmer would return and eventually attended an Automotive School in nearby Aberdeen. By then the depression had started and jobs were scarce.
In the winter of 1932 Elmer and Alice Myhre, oldest daughter of Odin and Oline Myhre, were married. The thirties
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were difficult years for everyone and especially for young people trying to get a start. If a job was to be had the pay was small. That first year Elmer was fortunate enough to get a job at one of the neighbors which paid $30.00 a month. In 1935 when road construction opened near Baker he found employment there and moved his family to town. Later he was able to make use of his mechanical ability when he was hired by C. H. Duppler Implement. This business was later sold to Bernard Martin who some years later sold it to Elmer Henderson and it became Tri-State Equipment.
Five children were born to Elmer and Alice Newell:
Leon, who is employed with MDU, has four children and is married to Susan Stickney. Calvin, lives and is employed with an accounting firm at Kalispell and is married to Lynda Sieler. Carren is married to Bob Coldwell, they have two children and live in Rudyard, Montana, where Bob teaches. Russell is employed with KFLN Radio in Baker, is married to Geraldine Gunderson and they have three children. Juline is married to Richard Kosmicki and they live in Billings.
Elmer died in June in 1966. Alice lives in Baker and is Librarian at the Fallon County Library.
SAM AND ANNA NOFTSKER
A MONTANAN
by Belva Keech
We are the sons and daughters of the soil.
We know the freedom of the four winds, that is also known by the high soaring eagle
We hold the lofty ideals of the Rockies.
We are endowed with the hearty courage of the fighting pioneer.
We have the courage of our own wind swept plains.
We are humble as our own drifting tumbleweeds, yet have the quiet strength of our own changing landscape.
Our thinking is clear like our clean prairie air, pure and uncluttered.
We have the perseverance of our slow moving streams.
We are blessed with the determination known to those living close to nature.
We have the ability to take life as it comes, like the rolling hills of our wind swept plains.
We are able to make quick, true decisions, like the rushing, dashing pace of our mountain streams.
Our heritage rich with hard fought battles, rich with untold, unfound wealth.
Yes! We of Montana have a rich heritage left by our fore-fathers and one which
our land demands of each of us, so our sons and
daughters may also be proud to be called a
Montanan.
I am going to try to tell the story of the Noftsker family settling in Fallon County by calling it "my remembering," as some of the things happened before I was born and I remember the folks telling about them.
My parents, Sam and Anna Noftsker, came to Montana from Minnesota in the spring of 1910 with my grandparents, Charles, Sr. and Emma Noftsker, along with some of my father's brothers and sisters, but just which ones I'm not sure.
My parents had two children when they came to Montana, Charles was 2. His birthday is the 21st of July, he was born in 1907 near Wells, Minn. and named after his grandfather Noftsker. Elnora was also born in Minn. on Sept. 9th 1909.
1 can remember my mother telling of her introduction to Montana. My mother, grandmother, Aunt Laura (Noftsker, Kreager, Schutta) and Uncle Bill Young (grandfather of Denzil Young, now practicing law in Baker) got off the train at, a switch station and started walking across the gumbo to Uncle Bill's and Aunt Elizzie's, (Uncle Bill was a brother of my grandmother Noftsker). It had rained, it was night and anyone familiar with gumbo knows it's like walking on grease. They set off across the prairie to Uncle Bill's home in the Fertile Prairie community, carrying the children and a few belongings. Mom thought they would never get there as the distance was somewhere around 4 or 5 miles, but of course in due time they did arrive.
My parents and my grandparents settled on the south fork of Hidden Water about 14 miles south of Baker on the 101 road. My Grandfather did the homesteading and my folks helped work the land, living in their own shack in the same yard.
My uncle, Albert Wetzel (my mother's brother) also homesteaded 3 miles south and I mile east of where my grandparents homesteaded, but just what year I am not sure, I do know it was about the same time and if later, not many years later.
I can remember my folks speaking of how the community was settled with mostly folks from Minnesota. My relatives came from around Matawan and Wells, others Came from around Hawley, some from Browns Valley and others came from other parts of Minnesota, so the community became known as Minnesota Valley, now it's called the 101 community.
Our neighbors were the Bill Bruces, the Bill Wagners, the Art and Odin Myhre families, the John Greens, the Kreager families, the Cates, the Homer Youngs, the Jim O'Conners, the Jordans, the DeGrands, the Fosters, the M.ulkeys, of the 101 Ranch, the Footes, the Brownsons, and many more I know I have failed to mention.
Life in the new land was harsh, they toiled hard and with a lot of perseverance, for they were of a pioneering nature. They loved the land and were proud to be helping mold a future home for their children, proud to be helping mold a new county such as Fallon County.
I can remember my father telling about when he and others went to Ekalaka to get some court records from the courthouse and bring to Baker. I think it was around 1913 or 14. Anyway, Carter County, if I remember right was formed from a part of Fallon County, which had been formed from a part of Custer County. Anyway, Ekalaka had been designated as the county seat because it was the most centrally located. Baker thought they should have the honor because Baker was located on the railroad. My father with others went for the records not expecting trouble, but Dad said when they got there it was like driving into an armed camp. Needless to say they quietly put their teams up in the livery stable and were very careful not to start trouble. They came back to Baker the next day without the records. Just how the records were gotten or when Fallon and Carter were divided I don't know.
The mode of travel when the folks first came to Montana was by train, horseback, team or walking. By the time I was born in 1920 there were a few cars around.
There were 5 children born to my parents after coming to Montana, so there are 7 in the family and all living today, at the time of this writing early in 1973.
Charles lives in Custer, Montana. He is married to Gladys, a daughter of Clara and Hosea Cate, another family of early settlers in Minnesota Valley. They were married in 1941, Gladys had been previously married and had 6 children at, the time, Clara Lee and Arah Bell (twins), Nioma, Wilson, Margret, June and Lloyd Long. Three more children were born after they were married. Charles, Jr. was killed in California leaving a wife and 3 boys. David who died at birth
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and Gladys. All of the children are now married and have families of their own.
Elnora lives in Baudette, Minnesota. She is married to Presley Williamson formerly of Indiana. Presley came to Montana to teach school at the Colbo School and work for George Colbo. He and Elnora were married in 1927. They left Montana in 1932 and farmed near Wells, Minnesota for a time. They then owned a grocery store in Frost, Minn. before going to northern Minnesota to go back to farming, in the fall of 1947. Four children were born to Presley and Elnora. Viola and Helen were born before they left and Walter and David were born in southern Minnesota. The children are all married and have families of their own. Viola is at New Folden, Minn. Helen is near International Falls, Minn. Walter is in Texas. David is in the Air Force so he and his family move all over.
Raymond was born Feb. 1, 1913 after the folks came to Montana. He is married to Margaret Drager of Wells, Minn. They were married in 1938. They are living in Baker as are their three children, who are married and have families of their own, the children are, Carol, Delores and Roger.
Irvin was born April 24th, 1915. He is married to Evelyn Myhre, daughter of Art and Julia Myhre another homesteader in Minnesota Valley. They were married in 1935. They have three children all living, married with families of their own, Julia Ann is in Wisconsin, Royal is in Florida, Fern is in North Dakota. Irvin and Evelyn are living in Williston, North Dakota.
I (Belva) was born in 1920 in the log house. Clara Cate helped bring me into this world as she had helped so many in the neighborhood at that time. A doctor was very seldom called for childbirth in those days.
I was married to Ralph Keech formerly of Mankato, Minn., in 1942. We have four living boys, our one daughter died a few days after birth. Clayton, Wayne and Allen are still living at home. Wayne spent a year in Vietnam with the Special Forces in 1968 and 1969.
Richard is making a career of the army. While he was serving in the armed forces in Korea from 1968 to 1970 he met and married a Korean girl Kim Kurnmyo. They have one son, William.
Pearl was born after the folks moved to the Gus Schuetzle place, I was born in August 24, 1920 and they. moved there in November. Pearl was born February 14, 1924. The Schuetzle place was 1/2 mile south of the homestead, the place is now owned by Mrs. Wayne Traweek.
Pearl is married to Clifford (Swede) Hanley, of I think, the Milk Creek area, if it's not it is close to there. Pearl and Clifford were married in 1945, they have 4 girls, Evelyn Ann, Jean, Sharron and Judy. Evelyn Ann and Jean are married and have families, Sharron and Judy are still home. Jean is living here south of Baker. Pearl and Swede moved to Whitefish, Montana in the fall of 1947. They are still living there.
Kenneth was born January 24, 1932 on the farm. It was a bad winter and the roads were almost impassable. I don't remember who went for Dr. Barr but he did make it out from town in time, after, I'm sure, much shoveling. He is married to Dolores Hart of Auburn, Washington. They have 1 pair of twin girls Leta and Rita and another girl Pamala, who are still at home. They are living in Auburn, Washington.
My father died in 1943 and my mother is still living, at this writing. She is in the Dahl Memorial Nursing Home at Ekalaka, Montana.
Life had its humorous moments as well as having its harsh moments. I can remember going by team to the Willard Hall to church on Sunday. In those days a dance was held on Saturday night and church on Sunday. This was the Wesleyan Methodist Church, before the church was built up
on the hill in 1929 1 mile south of Mrs. Wayne Traweeks. The church has since been moved to Baker.
Much of our social activities centered around the church. We went to church on Sunday, Revival meetings were held and always the Christmas programs were special and looked forward to, as we all looked forward to the sack of candy that was passed out after the program. I remember one Christmas program when Vernold Jordan was small he had a piece to speak. He marched up the platform, put his foot up on the altar rail, tucked his chin in his hand and proceeded to recite much to the amusement of us younger folks.
We, also, like children of all generations, would get restless sitting still. We had quite a system worked out. Not having rest rooms inside the church (but then everyone had the outdoor kind) we would slip out one at a time until there were several of us outside, we would then play games until someone would come out and herd us all back in again.
I can remember, one year the annual young people’s conference was held up on the hill. Three days of church services were held. The cooking was done in a large tent and the ladies took turns doing the cooking, feeding and furnishing the food, as there were people from many places. This day it was my mother's turn to help and we knew mother had brought a cake that we especially liked. We, as usual slipped out and went far enough away we knew no one would come after us. Well, kids being kids, we got hungry, so we talked Larry and Berry Cate into going up and stealing mom's cake, Boy! That tasted good! Mom couldn't figure out where her cake went and didn't know until years later, when we told her.
My older brother and sister went to the Hidden Water school when it was 1/4 mile north on the south fork of Hidden Water. That school closed down for some reason. The rest of us started going to the Myhre School 2 miles south of our place. It was a one-room school where all 8 grades were taught. The 7th and 8th graders in those days, in order to pass, had to take state exams in the spring. How we envied the Odin Myhre kids for having only a 1/4 mile to go to school. We either walked or rode horseback to school. There is only one year I can remember having a link bedspring fastened to a buggy frame and pulled by one horse. This was in the fall and spring. During the winter of that term we had a horse that pulled the front runners of the bobsled, but I can only remember doing this one year, the rest of the time we either walked or rode horseback.
We went to school with the Myhres, the Kreagers, the Henry Bergstroms kids.
Later they moved the Hidden Water school farther north just up on the hill north of the north fork of Hidden Water. Both schools were in district 36. My sister, Pearl, and I and younger brother, Kenny, went then to that school. The hills weren't so numerous and we would often get rides from people going to and from town if we were walking. Here, we went to school with the Youngs, the DeGrands, the Weyerbackers, the Jordans, the Engstroms, the Kreagers and many more I'm sure I've forgotten to mention.
School was both fun and study, our wants were simple and I'm sure no one felt deprived or under privileged because we went to a one room school.
We always had games we played like pump-pump pull away, May I, Red Rover, Anti-I-Over, Hide and Seek, and many more. In the fall and spring there was always work up baseball, in the winter there was always a fox and goose ring and forts made out of snow to play cowboys and Indians or some other war game. When it was too cold to go outdoors, there were always games to be played inside like Poor Pussy, Musical Chairs, Upset the Fruit Basket plus many more, besides the blackboard games such as Tic-Tack-Toe.
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When the weather was good one of the boys favorite sports was to rope a fence post and see whose horse could pull the most. There was a contest to see who could get the most snowballs down the chimney so when they melted it would drop on the teacher, this was at the Myhre School.
At the Hidden Water school the teacher went home for dinner. Many a noon was spent racing our horses around even though the teacher had forbidden it. We also spent many a noon climbing up and down the steep banks across the road west of the school, but we always kept a look out for the teacher so by the time she arrived we were all back in the school yard. In the winter we would go down the hill and slide on the ice near the bridge. One noon we didn't hear or see the teacher come back and time slipped away so it was close to 2 o'clock by the time we got back to the school so we lost all of our recesses for a time, but I don't remember just how many anymore.
I remember a pie social that was held at the Myhre School and the proceeds went to buy an Edison cabinet phonograph with the thick records. The Myhre and Hidden Water schools took turns having the phonograph to use. Anyway, I remember I took mincemeat pie, mom wanted me to take a cream pie and I couldn't figure out why until it came time to eat my half. I didn't realize how filling it was. School was also a place where many community activities took place. There was always the Christmas program, often others throughout the year.
Our homes have also changed much over the years, from tar paper shacks or dugouts with kerosene lights to modern homes. Our cooking was done on a coal and wood range, that served for heat in the winter as well as the coal heater that was set up in the fall and taken down in the spring, a few had furnaces but very few. Our work and play along with studies was done by kerosene lamps after dark, a few were lucky enough to have Coleman gasoline lights, but very few. Our evenings were spent playing checkers, cards, reading or some other simple kind of entertainment that we made ourselves. I don't recall ever being bored because we didn't have a radio, T.V. was unheard of at that time. We received one newspaper a week but we did get magazines through the mail, like the Country Gentleman, Montana Farmer and others, some no longer in print. There were no phones in the country then either like there are now, but it was a way of life and people were as happy or happier than they are now. We made good use of the checkerboard, we not only played checkers we also played flat iron. Flat iron was played in this way the checkers were placed so they came to a peak in the center of the board in a v shape. The players then moved or jumped until all of the checkers from each side were on the opposite side. The first one to get his checkers in place won. We also played Fox and Geese and of course give away checkers.
During the spring and summer our entertainment was different than in winter. In the winter we went riding scoop shovels down snow banks and sledding usually with a home made sled or ice-skating.
In the summer many hours were spent riding horseback or looking for wild flowers and bird nests, but we all had our chores to do. It was usually one of the younger kids jobs to ride on the cattle or take water or what-ever was needed in the field. Or we would ride to the neighbors after some thing we wanted to borrow. We usually had to pump water for the stock when water was unavailable, otherwise, it would be a hot job in the summer and the pump handle would be terribly cold in the winter. We didn't have a windmill like most of the people had, so pumped by hand.
Winter, strange as it may seem, was more a time for socializing than in the spring or summer. Everyone was too busy then except for special occasions like weddings, etc. but in our neighborhood in the winter we would get together and have whist parties or sleigh riding parties. What fun we would have! We would gather at one of the neighbors on Saturday night where we younger folks would ride down the hills on our sleds until we would get cold or wet. Then we would come in, where as a rule, one room had been cleared as much as possible and we would play games such as Snap and Catch em, Blind Mans Bluff, Ruth and Jacob, Going to the Show and many more. The older folks usually joined in with the younger folks on the games. If there was a piano or organ often there would be a songfest. Around midnight a lunch would be served, usually potluck, and if lunch happened to wind up all cake or all sandwiches no one cared. We all looked forward to the next party. I don't remember any of us being clothes conscious as long as we were clean. There were dances held for those who liked to dance and had the price of a ticket, at the Willard Hall, or over the Webster store and many school houses as well as different places in Baker and Plevna.
Both farming and housekeeping have changed over the Years, with the coming of rural electricity the homes now have many labor saving devices that were unavailable a few Years back. We carried our water in, in pails and the wastewater out. Bathrooms in the country were unheard of, so everyone had the little house in the back. Our ironing was done with sad irons heated on the stove. Our washing was done on the board or by a hand operated machine, where you stood and pulled a handle back and forth to turn the gyrator. Then came the gasoline motored ones and what a blessing for the homemaker. The gasoline iron when it became available also saved many a step while ironing. Many a housewife became very proficient at gauging the temperature of the sad iron and the heat of the oven by the way they sizzled when touched by a wet finger, to tell if they were too hot or too cold.
Farming has become mechanized, but when the folks first came and for years the farming was done with horses. I can remember the folks having anywhere from 20 to 30 head of horses in the field at the same time pulling the different kinds of machinery. Grain used to be cut with a binder or a header then stacked or shocked waiting the time a threshing crew was available. I can remember going to town with my father when he was hauling grain to the elevator in the 20's, I suppose around 25 or 26. We had a ‘24 model T truck and he needed someone to go along and block the wheel on the long hills, so he could get a fresh start. I suppose the low band would get hot and start slipping or something. I can always remember going up Devils slide, a hill on the original 101 road along the edge of the badlands about one mile south of the John Long place, now owned by Bill Fried. I could visualize going down over the bank and to a small child it looked a long ways down.
In later years tractors and combines made their appearance and fewer horses were needed. Time to put in the crops and to harvest became shorter and the farms began to be larger than before.
The fuel used to heat and cook with was generally lignite. The bad thing about lignite was it made so many ashes and clinkers. Some wood was used in the summer for cooking but mostly wood that was of no use for other things as wood was scarce. A lot of people burned buffalo chips in the summer as they were plentiful and made a quick hot fire. It was us kids' job to go pick them. Sometimes we took a gentle team and went farther from the house, but anywhere within a 1/4 mile we would take an old tub or boiler to carry them home in. If we were near the road, how we would pretend to be looking for flowers or something else as you see buffalo chips were nothing but dried out cow dung.
My folks combined farming and ranching like so many did. I can remember when the drouth came in the early 30's there was little feed. The government bought up the cattle at
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$20 per head top price. Dad had built up a good herd of Herefords but he sold most of them, keeping around 30 head. We did have some hay from the hay meadow we had on Hidden Water but not enough to sustain very many. We, along with many others, put up Russian thistles for feed. I can still feel the stickers on my ankles. Unless one has seen or experienced a true drought it is hard to imagine the truth about the way things really are. As crops were planted, nothing came up, the wind and dust seemed to go on and on with the dust creeping into everything and everyplace. In 1935 we were fortunate to get rain and things were growing in abundance, but a disastrous hail storm hit on the Fourth of July in our community wiping out everything over a large area. We had been to Andy Kreagers for the day. Their place was 2 miles south and 1 1/2 miles east. They were wiped out too.
I can remember coming home and scooping up 2 tubs of water off the kitchen floor. Every window on the west had been knocked out and the wood on the house looked like someone had taken a small ax and hit it all over enough to splinter the wood. So between the drought, the depression and the hail it took a hearty type of people to survive and carry on. The saying in this country is "maybe next year". It's a very good "next year" country.
I can remember another Fourth of July when disaster struck in that area in the form of grasshoppers. I was out cutting wood to build a fire when I heard a rustling like a breeze in the trees only there were no trees around. I looked up and the grasshoppers came in clouds. They settled over everything, the plants and grass became alive with grasshoppers. When they left a few days later everything was stripped, they even ate the onions down in the ground. It was something that had to be seen to be believed. However they came early enough we did get some hay and crop that year.
The Fourth of Julys were generally a time of neighborhood gatherings, the men pitched horseshoe, the kids played, the ladies visited or an impromptu rodeo was held. We were usually at John Greens or Andy Kreagers or Brownsons. In later years they became more of a family affair.
As a family we had our share of sickness and accidents through the years. My father had his leg crushed at the knee and it had to be amputated in 1929 the night before Thanksgiving. This happened at the Deep Creek Bridge on the old Ekalaka, Baker highway, a part of the highway no longer in use. He was coming home from town after dark and his lights went out. He pulled across the bridge and fixed his lights. He was out cranking the truck and it was snowing hard. Pat Crow came along and ran into him and the truck. The impact threw Dad into the ditch. A short time later Everett Sleeth and his wife came along and took Dad back to Baker, then came out and told Mom. They gave Dad first aid in Baker then Mom and Aunt Laura Kreager put Dad in the baggage car of the Passenger train and took him to Miles City where they amputated his leg above the knee. He got around from then on with a peg leg.
My brother, Raymond, and sister, Elnora, along with Elnora's son, Walter, were in the bad passenger train wreck that the Milwaukee railroad had in 1938. That wreck happened east of Miles City in a usually dry wash. At that time it was the worst wreck ever experienced on the Milwaukee Railroad passenger service. It was due to a cloudburst that washed out or weakened the bridge so that it was gone or collapsed when the train came, around midnight or shortly thereafter. Many lives were lost. Elnora and Raymond were among the lucky ones. Some, as far as I know were never found. Others were found many months later on sandbars in the Yellowstone River many miles from the site of the accident. Elnora and Raymond happened to be in a
coach that wasn't completely submerged in water. Just one end was. Elnora said it was a horrible feeling to be in total darkness and have the water creeping up and know one was trapped. She held her son, Walter, on her shoulders for around four hours before they were rescued. Many articles were written about the tragedy in different national magazines. There also was a movie made called Four Girls In White.
Our son, Clayton, has a crippled arm due to an arm he broke in 1947, when he was 5 years of age.
My uncle, Albert Wetzel, never was married, he worked for different people after leaving his homestead in 1935 before retiring to Baker. He passed away in 1964.
Many things have changed over the years, from the different faces seen to the way of life, so I'm closing with this poem, for to me these things don't change.
PRAIRIE HERITAGE by Neva (Noftsker) Keech
When I hear the Whipper-will a 'callin'
on a quiet moonlight night,
When I hear a coyote howlin',
Somewhere out of sight,
When I can smell the lovely fragrance,
of the prairie rose in bloom,
When I hear the lowly cricket,
Sing its happy little tune,
When I hear my horse a 'nickerin,'
Kind of soft and kind'a low,
When I can see the smoke a 'trailin,'
Into the evening's after glow,
You may think it's sad and lonely,
When the prairie sings its song,
But it's welcome every evenin,
cause I'm where I belong,
For every evening on the prairie,
To me is heaven here on earth,
For there's peace and quiet solitude
In the land of my birth.
JOE AND LOUISE GOLOB NOGADE
In the 1880's the parents of Joe and Louise and their families came to Pennsylvania from Austria to work in the coal mines. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Golob brought only their eldest daughter, Mary, and little son while Louise and sister, Anthony, had to remain in the native country, Austria.
Work in the mines shut down. It was heard that there was work in Arkansas. Louise's father and her future brother-in-law, Lawrence Poderjay, along with many others walked all. the way carrying their picks and shovels. After the family was finally established in Arkansas they sent for the two girls in Austria. They welcomed a new sister, Augusta.
Joe Nogade and Louise Golob were married in Arkansas In the fall of 1909 the family and four little girls left Altus, Ark. for a new life in Montana with barrels of meat and canned fruits. Friends of theirs had settled at Wibaux so that was their destination. Land around there was all taken up for homesteading. Joe started freighting from Wibaux to Ekalaka and along the way looked up a homestead on Horse Creek near Mill Iron. He moved his family out to a tar paper shack, supplied them with coal and wood and left them most of the winter by themselves while he freighted.
In the spring a large garden and lots of potatoes and yellow turnips were planted. Everything grew well. Snow came early while the potatoes were still in the ground. Mrs. Nogade and little girls picked all they could in the snow. The next day the weather turned nicer and they finished up and put the potatoes in the cellar under the house. The father was working that fall in the harvest fields around Beach and came home after the work was done.
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Neighbors were far apart. The Crit Feelys and the Harry Williams were their closest and with four Nogade girls, two Feely girls and one Williams boy it was decided a school was needed. A log house was built and the teacher hired had only an 8th grade education. School lasted only three months the first year. All the children completed all 8 grades there.
One more daughter and three sons were born on the homestead. Hattie and Mabel, the two oldest, found the most enjoyment on the prairie by dressing up in light clothing and going away from the buildings. The antelope would come right up to them. They never did see any little ones to catch and keep. When they moved the antelope scattered. Every day during the hot summer they would come to the creek to drink.
The first summer Mr. Nogade planted a 40-acre field of oats for the one cow and calf they had staked out to butcher. When the grain was ready to harvest the rancher neighbors cut the wires and during the night both the oats and the calf were gone. That winter meat was wild and the family resented the large cattlemen and those nice looking cowboys.
A prairie fire gave the family quite a scare. Mother and daughters, Hattie and Mabel, took shovel and hoes and made a fire break around their house and the girls Julia and Vi with the younger ones with the family Bible and Cross were sent across the creek. Smoke was choking them as they worked. Several cowboys rode up and told them it was about burned out. They appreciated the kindness of the cowboys after that.
Wild fruit was abundant. They soon learned that whipping the Buffalo Berries off onto a tarp, was easier than picking from the thorny bushes. Leaves were blown off in the wind or skimmed off the water when the berries were washed. Wild plums were also put up for the large families' winter supply.
There was never anything wasted. In the winter the girls helped their mother make quilts. There was no sewing machine so all was done by hand. The backings were bleached flour sacks. The sacks had red hearts and lots of black lettering. They were washed, kerosene was put on the lettering and the sacks buried in a snow drift and by spring they were nice and white. Another washing, starching and pressing and they were ready for the backing on the quilts. The batting was wool taken off of dead sheep, washed and carded. The family was warm and snug in the "comfey" homemade quilts.
Joe once remarked, "I wonder what mother will invent with the squeal of the pig. Besides preparing the meat in many ways she also pickled the ears, tongue and heart.
In 1918 the family all had the flu. There were no doctors, but the mother nursed them. Babies arrived - still no doctors. Good home cooked food and plenty of it and loving care brought all eight children through.
Louise's sister, Mary, Mrs. Lawrence Poderjay, lived about half way to Baker on a homestead with her family. Her sister Anthony, Mrs. Hans Hanson, came in 1916 and her sister, Augusta, Mrs. Joseph Munday, came to Baker in 1918.
The family moved to Red Lodge and Joe worked in the coalmines and the family received a higher education.
Fifteen grandchildren joined the family. Joe died in 1955 at 76 years of age and Louise died in 1966 at 80 years.
The family scattered. Hattie lived in Wibaux County a number of years. Mabel went on to be a teacher, married and also lived north of Wibaux. Her husband died when their two children were little. She went on to be County Superintendent of Schools in Richland County for 20 years, retiring in 1972.
She remarried and another daughter, now also married, blessed the Mike Ernesters at Savage. The oldest of the Nogade sons, Harry, is a farmer in the St. Philips community south of Wibaux.
Harry Nogade was born to Joe and Louise Nogade on their homestead in the Mill Iron community on what is known as Horse Creek on Oct. 17, 1911.
During his early childhood helping in the garden, chores and school took up most of his time. With eight children in the family, family games were invented.
Farming didn't prove very profitable for the family and they went to Bear Creek, Montana and again went into the coalmines, the kind of work his father had done in Arkansas when leaving there in 1909.
Neighbors, he recalled, were the Crit Feeley's, the Harry Williams, the Wilkensons, and the McNarys.
Ruth Baer , a neighbor girl of his sister's, Mrs. Guy Frisinger, in the Wibaux country, became his wife while they lived in Bear Creek. A daughter, Lois, and two sons, Clinton and Larry, joined the family. All are married and there are eight grandchildren.
During the war years the family lived on the coast and worked in defense plants. They came back to Montana near Ruth's family, bought a farm and his farming was well organized. He served on the Agricultural Committee. He improved his cattle herd and found good market for them.
All three children graduated from Montana State University and went on to get further education at other colleges.
They have belonged to bowling teams and have traveled all over with square dancing groups. Hunting for big game has also been a hobby of his. Winters now are spent in warmer climate and visiting their children.
Hattie Nogade came to Montana on the train to Beach, N. D. in Oct. 1909 at the age of five. She was the eldest of four daughters of Joe and Louise Nogade. Her father worked in the coalmines until work shut down in Arkansas. Her mother didn't think much of having her family pick cotton. Her father took a homestead on Horse Creek in the Mill Iron community 40 miles south of Baker. One more daughter and three sons were born on the homestead.
Her childhood was one of hard work, helping with younger children, carrying water and coal in and helping prepare for the long winter. School was in a log cabin built by her father and Feeley and Williams who also had children.
Another neighbor was John Bairds, together two trips a year were made to town for supplies, spring and fall.
In 1922 she was married to I.G. Frisinger at Beach. They farmed and ranched south of Wibaux for a number of years. He passed away when his second son was a baby. She continued to farm with the help of her brother, Harry, and neighbors. She moved to Wibaux for her sons, Abe and Ira, to attend high school. She cooked in a restaurant and also clerked in a drug store. She was a widow thirty years before she married Frank Gonskorwski who also ranched in Wibaux County. They now make their home at Santa Rosa, California where they have an apartment house. She retired from clerking in a department store in Oakland in 1970.
One of her dear teachers, Lucille Wilkenson, in the Mill Iron school is alive and she corresponds with her.
Abraham L. Frisinger, her eldest son, lives at Richey, Montana. His family consists of two sons and a daughter, and he and wife, Sally, have one grandchild. Sally is a R.N. and the family has a large farming spread.
Ira Guy Frisinger and wife and three sons live 4t Austin, Texas. Ira is on the Police Force. They have one grandchild.
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Niccum Barber Shop, late 1920's. Left to right; Chair No. 1: Barber Bud Butler. Man in the chair is probably a Zimmerman. Chair No. 2: Mack Niccum the barber and Larry Busch, Sr. in the chair. Chair No. 3: Slim Niccum is the barber and William Moscript in the chair. Bud Butler was later found murdered and his body was stashed on the Bill Ohlrich farm.
HENRY E. NICCUM [SLIM]
I was born at Trenton, Missouri on November 14, 1888. I was 22 years old when I came to this area in 1910. 1 located on a homestead 2 miles north and 7 miles east of Baker - right close to the Bad Lands. I established my claim, had a few cattle and did some farming during the three years I was proving up on the claim. Among my neighbors were: the Henry Jensens, the Ora Blanchards, the Berry and Bob Morrises, the George Jenners and the Thomas Hanratties.
During the homestead years there were many dances and some rodeos. I, myself, didn't dance but I did play baseball.
Left to right; Charles Dunham and Slim Niccum in front of Dunham's Barber Shop at Lavina, Montana. Dunham barbered in Baker in 1915; had a homestead between Baker and Plevna. He barbered for both Slim Niccum and Ora Blanchard.
There was always the challenge of the weather on the land good summers and poor ones, cold winters and milder ones. Travel for a good many years was by team and buggy or wagon.
My education had been restricted to a period of 6 weeks back in Missouri, but I had gone to a School for Barbers and learned the trade. At the end of the three years I left the farm and moved to Baker where I went to work in a barbershop owned by Ora Blanchard, who had been a neighbor of mine out on the claim. I had decided that shearing heads and chins might be more profitable than living on the land.
On Labor Day of 1910, 1 was married to my elder brother's widow, Minnie Mack Niccum, at Bowman, North Dakota. We had the one son, Mack Francis Niccum, who was my nephew as well as my stepson. Our son, Mack, received his education in the Baker Schools.
I was very interested in baseball, so after moving to Baker, I belonged to the "local nine" for quite some time. Baseball was popular and the Baker Team played other small town teams. We played many games on Sunday afternoons and on holidays such as the 4th of July.
I had many good years of life in Baker and enjoyed them all. I still like Baker and believe it to still be the good business town it was way back then.
Slim Niccum and sister, Mrs. Branum. She was a practical nurse during the flu
epidemic that hit during World War 1.
I was married for the second time in 1939 to Matilda Talkington at White Sulphur Springs, Montana.
Editor's Note: Later Mr. Niecum ran a barbershop in Baker with a partner by the name of Soper. They made the Ripley's "Believe It or Not" column. "Believe it or not! There is a Barber Shop in Baker, Montana run by partners named Soper and Niccum."
ING NORMAN
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Having received a questionnaire and a request for a sort of a biography of our life in eastern Montana, I will do my best at making up a report as the questions in the questionnaire bring back memories quite vividly. So here goes:
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First, I want to say that my early life spent in what is now Fallon County, Montana, always has and always will remain among my fondest memories. In those early homesteading days people were people as the good Lord intended them to be.
I was born in Minneapolis in 1896. My parents were Robert and Hannah Norman, both immigrants from Norway, but did not meet each other until after their arrival in America. My dad had a couple of distant relatives and friends in Minneapolis, so he figured it would be a good place to "anchor to." He was about twenty years old at that time, coming to Minneapolis in the late fall of 1880. The army at that time was making a big recruiting drive as they were still having plenty of Indian troubles in the west, particularly the territories of Dakota and Montana. My dad discovered that by joining the army for a three year hitch he would be given his citizenship papers, with $13.00 a month as pay, food, and clothing furnished by the government. It sounded like a goldmine to a young Norwegian immigrant that was unable to speak or understand the English language. So he enlisted and was sent to Fort Meade, near Sturgis, South Dakota.
In the winter of 1890 the Indian massacre at Wounded Knee took place. My dad served with Company C, US Infantry and traveled to Camp Mead, South Dakota Territory in April 1890 from Fort Snelling, Minnesota via mule train. During the winter of 1890-1891, their unit camped at the confluence of the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche Rivers.
My dad's Company had been ordered to Wounded Knee as a reserve unit. They were Infantrymen. The massacre took place on December 29, 1890. The Indians had already surrendered and were all unarmed. Men, women and children were shot down like dogs. It was bitter cold and the poor Indians were in a pitiful state. My dad and his Company took no part in the slaughter but it sickened him so that he never wanted to talk about it. I remember that as a child. The corpses laid where they fell and froze solid and later were buried in a trench like cordwood. I have been to Wounded Knee twice, its only 75 miles from here. They are now having new Indian troubles there again, as you probably know.
To get back to my childhood in Minneapolis. It might be stated here that most of Minnesota was being settled by Scandinavians, particularly Norwegians, but the city of Minneapolis was a melting pot for every country in Europe. You seldom heard any English spoken there, except for the Irish, who had a brogue of their own.
My dad was discharged from the army in 1891 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. He worked as a laborer trying several vocations until he got married. By this time he could speak and understand the English language. However, my folks spoke only Norwegian at home and I could speak no English until I started school at age six. It was embarrassing too, but we soon learned. By 1909 and 1910 the family was growing with many mouths to feed. Times were tough and there was very little money. I remember we kids would do most anything within reason to earn a penny or two to buy some candy. A five-cent piece or a dime was almost unheard of.
My dad worked for nine years as a street car conductor, but the pay was small, had to work ten hours a day, was never allowed to sit down, save for about five minutes at the end of the terminal. If anyone had mentioned an eight-hour day during those times he would have been considered "crazy". His back got to bothering him so bad from the continual standing that he had to quit. Shortly after the turn of 1910, my dad heard about free land being opened at Glendive, Montana. The Northern Pacific was putting on a big advertising campaign to attract settlers there. But they did not tell the whole story. The Company was the owner of the land. Anyway, Dad had accumulated about sixty acres of brush land about 75 miles north of Minneapolis.
We lived in a double family house in Minneapolis and the lady of the house (also Norwegian) had two newcomer fiends. It was planned they would go west with my dad They sure were land hungry, and real happy to be away from the old country. Real early in March in 1910 my dad put his sixty acres of brush land up for sale with a realtor. The land up there was of a good quality but almost worthless with
the brush that covered it. However, it was eventually cleared away and today is a prosperous dairy country. Well, the three of them left Minneapolis one night. They got reduced train fare as emigrants on the Northern Pacific bound for Glendive. I shall never forget the thrill we older kids got from the fact that Dad was going to find us a new home, and especially Montana, where we were sure cowboys would be in the flesh. Vie all hated the city with all its squalor and poverty. On arrival in Glendive they found out that the railroad was allotting 160 acres at $1.25 an acre and had to be proved up on and paid for in five years. That sure did not set well with the "Old Man". Glendive then was full of new land-hungry people.
Then they heard of a new town about 80 miles south of Glendive named Baker. This town was only a little over a year old and on the new main line of the Milwaukee Railroad. So the three of them caught a train to Terry where the two roads met, but to their dismay when arriving in Terry found out that a large part of the new right-of-way on the Milwaukee road had washed out, as the winter of 1909-1910 had been a very severe one with a lot of snow that caused a big run-off and washed away a lot of the right-of-way.
There was nothing to do but "hoof" it from Terry to Baker, which they did. It must have been anything but pleasant to walk that distance with their heavy overcoats and luggage. They got to Baker eventually. It was a new town with hardly a painted shack but about four or five saloons and "Lew Jim's Chinese Restaurant" where an excellent meal cost 35 cents, but 35 cents was 35 cents in those days.
Baker had a number of "land locaters" at that time. They had teams and rigs to take prospective homesteaders out and locate them. Most of them were on the square and would drive them around until they saw what suited them. The charge was $25.00 but that was fair enough as the people were all unfamiliar with the country. The land where Dad and his two friends chose was still un-surveyed so they took "squatters" rights. This was 25 miles south of Baker.
I forgot to mention that Dad's two companions were Hans and Elias Tronstad . Elias died in about one year, but Hans lived on and married a girl from Minneapolis and did real fine, raised a large family. Both Hans and Albina, his wife, are both dead, but the family sure is doing fine. Evelyn, the oldest, lives in Billings, has been a widow for sometime. Alvin the oldest boy farms near Kalispell. I met him up there once. He sure is a big fellow, just like his dad, but real good looking. Well, to get back to the homestead -- Dad, Hans, and Elias managed to get lumber hauled out to build a claim shack and plow a single furrow around the border of their claims, and drive stakes to protect their "squatters" rights. Dad had to get back to Minneapolis to prepare to move, but Hans and Elias stayed and got jobs as "lambers" as it was the season of the year. A lot of sheep and cattle were lost during that hard winter of 1909 and 1910. The Tronstads managed to earn a few dollars which was a big help to them. In the meantime the realtor had been able to sell Dad's brush land up north and while not much it gave him some capital to move on. He engaged an emigrant car on the Milwaukee Road. The entire train was mostly emigrants. We had all of our worldly belongings hauled to the railroad yards, also a cow. The rules of the road were that the owner was allowed to ride free in his car, especially where there was livestock - and
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