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O’Fallon Flashbacks

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

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Elizabeth married Jerry Smeltzer. She is a college graduate, and has taught school in Baker for several years and Jerry farms. They have one son, Robert, who is also a college graduate. He is married to Joan Quandt. On December 5, 1972 we celebrated Betty's and Jerry's Silver Wedding with open house at the Eldon Rasmuson's.

Dorothy married Lee Leischner a barber (now retired) and she is bookkeeper at St. Peter's Hospital in Helena, Montana. They have two boys, Gene and Dale, and three grandchildren, Scott, Cheryl and Jennifer.

Larry was married to Judith Helm June 9, 1961 and in July of that same year he volunteered in the Air Force and left for camp on November twentieth. He served in the Air Force for eight years and was a Staff Sergeant and an AirCraft engineer on a Hercules C-130 Cargo Transport Plane. He was stationed at Tachikawa, Japan for three years and spent most of this time in Viet Nam and various places. His family was also in Japan for three years. They have two children; Lori and Douglas. Larry is now working for the Air Force as a Training Supervisor.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Shepherd and children, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Dorothy and Larry.

In 1969 Charles and I celebrated our Golden Wedding. Our children had open house for us on May 11 at Betty's and Jerry's home in Baker.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Shepherd at Golden Wedding reception held at the home of Jerry and Betty Smeltzer's, May 11, 1969.

It was a very special occasion as Larry and his family had just returned from Japan and Viet Nam and this was our first family reunion.

Thanksgiving 1970 we had our second family reunion at our place in Baker and all the children were at home. December 20, 1970 we had a birthday party for Charles 77th birthday. He enjoyed this last birthday so very much. He passed away August 8, 1971.

Charles belonged to the 10 0 F Golden Star Lodge #126 of Ollie, Montana and then later to the 1 0 0 F Lodge at Ekalaka. He also belonged to the American Legion Post # 111 at Ollie, later at Baker and also at Nashua, Iowa.

I belonged to Daisy Rebekah Lodge #122 of Ollie and the American Legion Auxiliary of Ollie.

In 1970 we bought a home in Baker where I still live.

Favorite poems spoken often by Charles F. Shepherd

Three Monkeys

Three monkeys sitting under a coconut tree,

Talking about things as they should be.

When one monkey says to the other two

There's a certain story that can't be true.

That man descended from our noble race

To me and you now that's a disgrace!

Whoever heard of a mother "Monk"

Leaving her young ones with another to bunk?

And passing them around from one to the other,

Till they scarcely knew who was their mother?

And another thing that a "Monk" won't do,

Is go out at night and get on a stew

And use a club, gun or knife to take another Monkey's life.

And did you ever see a monkey

Put a fence around a coconut tree?

Causing all other "Monks"

To starve or steal from you?

Yes sir he descended! You ornery cuss,

But brother he never descended from us!

The Man in the Glass

When you get what you want in the battle for self,

And the world makes you king for a day.

Just go to the mirror and look at yourself

And see what that man has to say

It isn't your mother, your father nor your wife,

Whose verdict upon you must pass,

But the man looking back from the glass.

You may think you're Jack Horner and chisel a plum,

And think you're a wonderful guy, but the man in

The glass says you're only a bum if you

Can't look him straight in the eye.

He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,

For he's with you clear down to the end.

And you've passed the most difficult test of your life,

If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of life,

And get pats on your back as you pass.

But your final reward will be heartaches and pains,

If you've cheated the man in the glass.

Author unknown

MR. AND MRS. ELI S. SHEPHERD

Mr. and Mrs. Eli S. Shepherd, two sons, Floyd and Fay, and daughter, Verol, arrived at Ollie, Montana about mid-March in 1916, in their move from Richland County,

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Wisconsin. They shared an emigrant car with another family that was moving to the same area. Their temporary home was on the Carl Crosby place about six and one half miles southwest of Ollie. Later that spring they purchased the Frank Riggs place a quarter mile to the south and this became the Shepherd home.

Mr. Shepherd had accompanied a land excursion party to Montana in 1915 and viewed the magnificent wheat fields that prompted him to invest in some land. Little did he realize that crops in southeastern Montana were unpredictable, nor did he know until later that the crop that looked so wonderful in 1915 was damaged considerably by rust.

The years that followed were not very productive. Mr. Shepherd bought more ranch land. One section was known to the older settlers as the Stuart Ranch and was considered a landmark in earlier years. This was an attempt to combine farming and ranching in the hope that something could be worked out, but the hard winters, the dry summers and grasshoppers were playing a big role in shaping these years. By the early thirties many people had moved away. Mr. Shepherd passed away in March 1928, before good crops and prosperity returned again to this area.

Verol, age 8, at the time the family arrived, was the only one to attend school in Montana. She rode an old wind broken, cattle trained pinto horse named "Paint" the mile and three-quarters to the Preston School. It was a totally new experience attending school with boys and girls ranging in age from six to sixteen. It wasn't until years later that Verol learned that her mother had watched from a kitchen window until she saw her ride through the gate at the school yard. One recollection stands out and that was the time Verol took two additional passengers onto old "Paint" to give them a lift the first half mile from school. Each girl hung onto the one ahead of her. This worked fine until the hind most passenger started to slip sideways and each one pulled the girl she was holding onto off balance and all three girls plopped to the ground. Old "Paint" took a little side hop and just stood there waiting for the three to pick themselves up from the ground. No one was hurt, but a pretty shook trio continued on its way home. A bent up dinner bucket with dirt in it called for an explanation at home.

Harvest time was exciting to a kid who had known only corn shredding and silo filling. The arrival of the threshing rig with water wagon, bundle teams, the cook car and grain wagons resembled a caravan approaching and the place was jumping with activity for the next few days.

Growing up in the twenties holds many pleasant memories. Folks made their own good times with get togethers in the homes, community picnics in the summer, the 4th of July dances on the open air pavilion and dances at the country school houses in the winter. Live music was very much a part of the action. For more sophisticated dancing young people occasionally drove to the Wildwood dance hall west of Baker. In the wintertime there were dances at the Masonic Hall almost every Saturday night until it was made over into offices in 1929. This was the hall over the old Bank of Baker building. Old time dances were held in the old Hubbard Hall over the Hubbard Hardware Store. Sometimes there was a dance in progress at both places on Saturday night.

The Shepherd's eldest son, Charles, joined them later in 1916. First for a visit and then he decided to make it his home. He married Dessa Prouty late in 1919. They had three daughters, Charlotte, Betty and Dorothy and an adopted son, Larry.

Floyd Shepherd went to Seattle sometime in 1919. His fiancee, Melva Pugh had moved with her family, the W. W. Pugh, to that city. The Pughs were early day settlers and ranched south and east of the Big Hill. Floyd and Melva were married in the summer of 1920 in Seattle. They returned to Fallon County in the spring of 1926 to help his parents with their farm and ranch operations. In the fall of 1941 they returned to the Seattle area. They had six children, Gladys, Bud, Robert, Shirley, Patty and Jimmy.

Fay Shepherd married Lorena Carter in the fall of 1921. Lorena was the youngest member of the J. B. Carter family. They lived a little north and east of the Big Hill. The flu epidemic in 1918 claimed Lorena's mother and she made her home with her sisters for the next few years. Fay and Lorena had five children, Doris, Ralph, Dale, Ferne and Ronald.

Verol Shepherd met Bob Corbitt in her senior year in Baker High School. They were married in October 1931 and had two daughters, Ashley and Myra.

Mrs. Martha Shepherd lived in Baker with her daughter, Verol, after Mr. Shepherd passed away. In 1929 she bought a little home on First Street West, a half block from the old Elizabeth Hospital, and lived there her remaining years. Mrs. Shepherd was always busy. Many expectant mothers waited in her home until time to go to the hospital. Quite a few babies were born in her home. Several elderly ladies made their home with her from time to time. She spent many hours piecing quilts and quilting for herself and others. Her hands were never idle. She passed away January 19, 1953.

PETER AND GERTRUDE SHISHKOWSKY

Peter D. Shishkowsky was born in Kiev, Russia on December 22, 1892. He was the son of DemitrFand Marpya Shishkowsky. In 1910, when he was 18 years old, Peter came by railroad to eastern Montana and located in the Webster Community south of Baker. His parents wanted to own land of their own so they filed on a homestead in the same vicinity in 1912. Their closest neighbors were the Malenowskies.

After leaving the farm Peter had the dealership and ran a Bulk Service Station in Baker, Montana.

On December 3, 1921 he married Gertrude Varner at Baker. Gertrude's parents, Edward and Melissa Varner, were also settlers in the Webster Community. She was born at Ekalaka, Montana on August 8, 1899.

The couple had five children; Thomas of Billings, Montana, John who died in 1946, Rosalie Shaffer who passed away in 1973, Laura Koenig of Casper, Wyoming and Betty Osnes of Lakewood, Colorado. There are eleven grandchildren and one great grandchild.

Gertrude Varner Shishkowski passed away in 1950, but her husband survived her by 19 years. He died in 1969.

MR. AND MRS. M. A. SHREVE by Mrs. Art Tronstad

My grandparents, Annie Jane and Morris Alexander Shreve settled in the Ekalaka area in 1902 south of where Willard is now located.

My grandfather was born in 1858 near Salem, Ohio, the second of three boys. His father died in 1864 and some time after his mother moved with her three sons to Kansas near White Cloud where several relatives had settled. He married my grandmother there in February 1882. Before 1890 they and their two small boys, William and Curtis, moved in a covered wagon to Decker, Montana on Tongue River. They had the Decker Post Office and general store there for a number of years. My mother, Grace Anne Shreve, was born there in August 1891.

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Grace Shreve, Burke Richardson, daughter of Morris and Annie Shreve, 1968.

In 1902 they came to the Ekalaka area "settling" on a desert claim, where every forty acres put under irrigation was given to the settler.

After moving to the Ekalaka area grandfather surveyed and constructed dams and irrigation ditches. The best known dam and irrigation project constructed by him, for Mr. Mulkey, is on the 101 Ranch.

They moved from their farm to California and lived a few years, then moved back to Baker just after World War I started. Grandfather bought and ran the creamery in Baker, and grandmother took maternity cases. In the flu epidemic of 1918-1919 she had flu patients everywhere. They moved back to the farm in the twenties and lived there until his death in 1932. Grandmother lived there by herself awhile, later selling the place to grandson, Curt Shreve.

Grandmother died at the Christian Rest Home in Dillon, April 1951 at the age of 84.

Mr. and Mrs. William Shreve, 1914.

 

NELLIE ADAMS SHREVE

Nellie Adams, the great, great granddaughter of President John Quincy Adams, was born at Sandborn, Indiana on October 5, 1892. Her father, James Adams, had bought land in Indiana from the government for two dollars per acre.

She attended elementary and high school in Indiana. As a girl she had to learn to do housework and learn to cook. She also had to help with the family garden.

In 1914, at the age of 21, Nellie boarded a train and came to Baker, Montana where she was married to William Hanna Shreve in his parents home, which was about twenty miles south of Baker. Morris and Anna Shreve had come from Eureka, Kansas after William was born on November 25, 1883.

The young married couple settled on land two miles north of William's folks. Some of their neighbors were the Strummond, the Lunder and the Ondrasik families. They practiced farming and ranching until 1935 when they moved to a farm near Salem, Oregon. They lived on the farm until about ten years ago when William was killed in an accident. He was on a tractor along side of the road when a car hit him and caused his death. After his death, Nellie sold the farm and moved into Salem where she now resides. She is 81 years old and isn't able to work any more but she is alert in mind even though she is an invalid.

William and Nellie had six children: Wayne Morris, Roy James, Ralph Benjamin, Edith Mae, Earl and Clyde. There are 19 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren.

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Sieler and children, Walter, Edwin, Arthur, Hulda, Leo, Emil, Edward, Tony, Simon, Hable, Ruth, Benjamin and David.

EDWARD SIELER FAMILY

by Mrs Art Sieler

Edward Sieler came to Fallon County, Montana from Java, South Dakota with his wife and four children.

Edward was born in Scotland, South Dakota to Adam Sieler and Christina Klernmer January 5, 1880. His wife, an immigrant from Russia, was born July 25, 1886 to Philip and Catherine (Gutiahr) Huber. He came to this vicinity in 1910 at the age of 30 and the following year brought his family here by train. They located 10 miles south of Westmore on Pine Creek. Here they established their home and 9 more children were born to the family. In all there were 13 children that grew to adulthood, namely; Walter, Edwin, Arthur,

 

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Hulda, Leo, Emil, Edward, Tony, Simon, Hable, Ruth, Benjamin, and David.

The Sieler's early day mode of transportation.

The Sielers operated their farm until 1939 when they moved to Plevna so the younger children could go to high school.

Life on the homestead had many hardships. Sage hen and wild rabbit often furnished the meat. The fields were plowed with walking plow and horse. The home was a simple tar paper shack. Means of travel was horse and buggy or sled. The ten-mile trip to Westmore was seldom made and only for food and medical needs. Edward was the proud owner of one of the first threshing machines in the neighborhood, but lost it through fire Sept. 2, 1924. This was a hard blow as several stacks of wheat burned also.

Watermelon time at the Sieler farm.

Times were hard on the family's only outside entertainment was visiting the neighbors, the Pete Christmans, the Fred Livingoods, the George Follmers, the Christ Kraus and others nearby. Even on cold winter evenings the children were bundled up and packed into the sled for a sleigh trip to the neighbors. Oft' times traveling missionaries stopped overnight at the already overflowing home and encouraged the family. Whenever possible they attended the little Congregational country church four miles away where singing and prayers were the program. In the absence of a pastor one of the laymen filled the pulpit. In later years the family attended and were members of the Baptist Church of Plevna where Mr. Sieler was Trustee for many years and where his family grew up and took on responsibilities in the church.

During the depression years of the 30's the dust storms were so dense that Mother Sieler often had to use a shovel to remove the sand from the home. Times were hard and flour was number one on the grocery list. The only income they had was the coal they mined, sold and delivered at two dollars a ton. This was possible because they were fortunate to have their private coalmine, a 12 ft. vein, several hundred feet from the home.

On November 17, 1932 tragedy struck the family. A coalmine cave-in claimed the life of Leo, age 20. One of the brothers, Arthur, was also completely covered but was miraculously saved by his 14 year old brother, Tony, who scraped away the earth from his face with his bare hands. March 1938 tragedy again claimed another son when Edwin, who was deaf and dumb, was hit by a train and died several hours later in Peoria, 111.

During World War II, four sons served in the armed forces, two of which served in the Infantry overseas. Edward, Jr. was one of the first draftees from Fallon County and was on his way to Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked. He served with the 161st Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division. He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action on Luzon. He served during the entire war. Benjamin, an infantryman, served in Hawaii. Tony and Simon served as Military Police in the United States.

Heart attacks claimed four members of the family. Father Sieler died August 29, 1949 at the age of 69 while fishing at the Weinschrott Dam. His wife died at her home in Plevna Augst 25, 1955 at the age of 69. A son, Walter, passed away March 8, 1955 at the Baker Hospital at the age of 51 and a son, Edward, died at home on October 19, 1947 at the age of 43. Another son, Tony, died of leukemia on February 29, 1968 at the age of 51.

Four sons followed their father's occupation. Arthur, Emil, Simon and Hable farm in the Plevna-Baker vicinity. The eldest daughter, Hulda, Mrs. George Heuther, Jr., is a homemaker living in Baker. Benjamin is an Interior Decorator and David, the youngest son, is an Industrial Arts teacher. Both live in Billings, Montana. Ruth, the youngest daughter, is employed as Postmistress in Plevna.

Other members were added to the family as time went on.

Walter married Caroline Quenzer. They have 8 children namely, Emanuel, Frieda, Verna, Lorainne, George, Leona, Tabitha, and Carol.

Arthur married Rose Schopp. They have two daughters, Ruth and Naomi.

Hulda married George Heuther. They have four sons, Arnold, Victor, David and Spence.

Emil married Albina Straub. They have four children, Loretta, Emil, Jr., Thomas and Lanette.

Simon married Hilda Ehret. They have two sons, Steve and Mark.

 

Hable married Ida Graff. They have five children, Darlene, Daniel, Irene, Fred, and Betty.

Benjamin married Amalie Graff. They have two daughters, Monica and Dorothy.

David married Leah Weber. They have two sons, Nathan and David.

Altogether there are 29 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren

 

 

 

MR. AND MRS. DEAN SINCLAIR

Dean Sinclair and Anna M. Clark were married June 20,1895. They lived in Money Creek, Minnesota till the fall of 1909. They then took their three children; Harold, Reva and Quincy and moved by emigrant train to Beach, North Dakota. There they spent that first winter.

 

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Mrs. Dean Sinclair.

Dean Sinclair

They bought a relinquishment (a homestead not proved up on) northwest of Baker, where they built a tarpaper shack to live in until they could build a house. Mrs. Sinclair and the children lived on the farm and the boys did the farming. Mr. Sinclair worked as a blacksmith for Mr. Silvernale who had a shop in Baker.

Later they built a house in Baker, so that they would be closer to school.

Mr. Sinclair bought the shop from Silvernale and kept real active in it until he sold it to his son, Quincy, in about 1950.

Mrs. Sinclair opened their home to the single people who needed room and board while teaching or pursuing their various jobs.

Mr. and Mrs. Dean Sinclair were active in church work and Dean helped organize and establish the First Baptist Church in Baker.

Mrs. Sinclair passed away in March 1948 and Dean passed away in November 1956.

 

 

QUINCY AND MARY LEE SINCLAIR by Mary Lee Sinclair

We were married August 31, 1924, in Baker, Montana. The Reverend Arthur Seebart officiated, in the study of his home.

The Quincy Sinclair family, 1955, back row, left to right, Carol Ann, Gladys, Harold, Dorothy and Lloyd, front row, Mary Lee, Roger and Quincy.

We lived with Dean Sinclair that first winter and moved to the Sinclair farm early in March. We lived there one year, raising mostly wheat, but we did have some corn and barley.

Then we moved to George Sinclair's farm, where there was more farmland. We farmed there for three years, then moved back to the home place.

We stayed on the farm, fighting drought and grasshoppers and managed to get by until we lost our water well. When Helena, Montana had the earthquake, there was a lot of disturbance even this far east. It caused our well to become so muddy we couldn't use it anymore. It was a deep well 218 feet.

We moved to Billings in 1937 where we lived until 1943. From there we went to Vancouver, Washington where Quincy worked in the Kaiser Ship Yards until the end of World War Ii.

In October 1945 we returned to Baker and Quincy joined his father in the Blacksmith Shop; later we bought the business from him.

We lived with the folks, caring for Quincy's mother until her death in 1948. We made a home for Dean until his passing in 1956.

Our three youngest children were schooled in the Baker schools. Four of them graduated from the Baker High School.

CLARENCE SIPMA

I, Clarence, was born at Gascoyne, North Dakota on November 13, 1913 and came with my parents and six older brothers and sisters to the homestead located in southeast Fallon County when I was six months old.

Times were hard and in the winter of 1919 my folks lost many of their horses.

I got my first horse at the age of seven. I rode horseback to the Gallager School until I was in the sixth grade. Then I went to the Prairie Rose School.

Hauling coal from the Schuyler Most mine, hauling water and driving the header box were among my first jobs.

By the time I was sixteen or seventeen I was breaking horses in my spare time. I planned to have one ready to return to its owner every Friday or Saturday so I could collect the fee of five dollars; as I needed the money in order to attend the dances which were held at the Coal Creek School near Mill Iron, the Willard or Knobs Halls or at. some other school house.

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Clarence and Monte Sipma, 1971.

Clarence and Monte Sipma's home, 1947

Clarence Sipma's farm and ranch home, 1966.

In June 1937 1 married Monte Johnson at Miles City. We spent the next four years working on different farms.

In 1942 we bought the Chapman house and moved it to an 160 acre piece of land that my mother had given us near to my parent's old homestead, where we still live.

We bought a few sheep and started ranching and farming in a small way. We sold the sheep in 1947 due to losses from coyotes and then we bought a few head of cattle. Thus, with much hard work, hard times and many good times and with the help of our good parents and good neighbors such as the Petersons, the Celanders, the Lovecs, the Meccages, the Traweeks and my brothers, Jake and John, we established our present farm and ranch home.

MR. AND MRS. RICHARD SIPMA

Richard Sipma was born Oct. 17, 1868 at Pella, Iowa to Mr. and Mrs. Sjoird Sipma (Holland pioneers) who a year later moved to Sioux County, Iowa where they were original settlers.

Richard Sipma, 1926.

Mr. Sipma married Anna Baas (who also came from Holland at the age of thirteen) at Orange City, Iowa in 1892. Nine children were born to them. Stuart of Hull, Iowa, Martha Montgomery, (deceased), Bertha Nassett, (deceased), Jake, (deceased), John and Oscar of Darby, Montana, Lillian Hansen of Moscow, Idaho, Annetta Hansen, (deceased) and Clarence of Baker, Montana, who lives near the old homestead.

Anna Baas Sipma as a young woman.

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Richard Sipma and son, Jake, came to Baker in 1913 and picked a homestead in the Knobs area, built a shack and spent the winter. In the spring of 1914 the family came by team and wagon from Gascoyne, North Dakota where they had first stopped.

The closest neighbors at that time were Garner Vaughn, Jim Bakus, George Mennis, Dan and Jess Williams, Toni Noslin, Carl Iverson, Joe Donskey, and the Bowers.

Hauling water at the Sipma Homestead, about 1925, Clarence Sipma driving, Annetta standing, two Nessett children seated.

The Sipma children first attended the Gallager School, a homestead shack deserted by the Gallagers. School was held only four months of the year due to the distance and the lack of funds.

Many dances were held at the Mennis house with Big Frank Ondrasik doing the calling and Tony Noslin playing the accordion. Later they also danced at the Knobs Hall, the Mayfield and the Kraft houses and at some of the larger homes including the Sipma kitchen.

Some of the sad events that took place were the death of the twelve year old son of Garner Vaughn, whose horse ran through a gate after dark throwing the boy, and the seven year old daughter of Jess Williams, who became lost and died of exposure on the side of a butte near the Howell place. Her lonely grave is located on the old Williams homestead. Richard Sipma and Frank Ondrasik made the casket and Mrs. Sipma sewed the little dress for the burial. The death of Mrs. Bowers at their homestead leaving two small children was sad. Mr. Bowers then pulled up stakes and left.

After the death of their daughter, Bertha, Mr. and Mrs. Sipma took their three small grandchildren and raised them along with their own. Richard Sipma passed away in Miles City following surgery in 1934.

Mrs. Sipma fell and broke her hip in 1934 and was on crutches the remainder of her life. She lost her home by fire in 1936. Grandma Sipma as she was known to all who knew her was a kind and loving person. She passed away in 1953 at the age of 79. A tribute in her memory was written by one of the neighbors Mrs. Donald Most (Jean Prichard) which I am enclosing.

Grandma Sipma

When Grandma Sipma left this earth

Among the hearts that grieve.

Are many little children who hated to see her leave.

Her hand was always ready to pat a bobbing head,

Or hold a small one on her knee-of her it was said.

She truly loved the little ones, both little girls and boys,

And many are the children who possess the books and toys given by Grandma Sipma and often there were treats. Lollipop hearts for Valentines or Easter Basket sweets. Whenever children visited, some treats she'd always find. Now many earthly children will miss her kindly love, But, I know the Angel-children have welcomed her above.

JOHN SLIPER FAMILY

John and Karen Sliper moved to Ollie, Montana in 1924 where they settled with their 3 children; Ann, Peter and Karl. They lived there on a farm until they sold their farm in 1960 and moved back to Ulen, Minn. where they both were born. Their parents had settled there after coming from Norway in the 1800's. Karen passed away in 1962 and John in 1967.

Their son, Peter, joined the army in 1940 and served his country until 1945. He served 2 years in the Pacific Area during World War II. He married Gladys Ames in 1941 and after the war they settled in McMinnville, Oregon where they raised their 2 children; Michael and Debra. Pete now has his Electrical Contracting Corp. which he started in 1959.

Ann worked in Washington, D.C. during W. W. II. She was married to Raymond Foster in 1942. After the war they built their home in Dalton, Georgia. Raymond passed away in 1967.

Karl married Anna Mae Couser in 1941. They lived near Ollie until they moved their family of 4 children; James, John, Wade and Connie to Darby, Montana in 1959.

John and Karen Sliper are survived by 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.

Jesse and Mabel Smith and son Earl, 1913.

JESSE AND MABEL SMITH

Jesse Smith came to Montana from Wisconsin in April 1910. He took up a homestead about ten miles north of Plevna. He lived in a tent while building a 10'x 14' shack for his future bride. Later that same year he helped Robert and Mercy Rose erect their tar paper house just a mile south of his place.

He returned to Wisconsin to marry Mabel Towne March 21, 1912. Mabel came out to Montana by train, Jesse with an emigrant car. Mabel writes:

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"Everything was exciting to me as I had lived in a parsonage and everything was new.

There was a Sunday School at Sanborns so that gave us somewhere to go on Sunday and we all went. Greg Robinsons, Roses and we were only around 5 miles away and many times we went in a wagon together. In the winter we did ride to church with the sled. We used straw and horse blankets or quilts to wrap up in. Both families went in one sled. That meant one team of horses instead of two teams out

in the cold and it was pleasant to go together. We went to Sanborns then we met at Coal Springs Schoolhouse and later we built a nice church.

Jesse and Robert Rose used to go together to the "cedars" and camp out. It was a long ways but they cut cedar fence posts and fuel to help start our lignite fuel. I could milk so could do the chores. The trips to the coalmine they used to go with 2 wagons, too, but that wasn't so far. We went for it when the pile got low. I went with a neighbor one time when I needed some and Jesse was away. The neighbor did the mining and I loaded both wagons. The big chunks he loaded on his load and I handled the smaller ones, loading both wagons. Ours I drove up by the granary and opened up a door and put the load into a good dry place. We bought just two dollars worth of coal in the 8 years we lived there.

I don't know where the men got the ice but they found some and stored it at the Rose place. They packed it with lignite coal and it kept pretty good. I had an ice cream freezer. I forget how I happened to have one. My folks evidently saw to it that one got in my things. We had lots of ice-cream. I knew how to make it.

I don't remember the year but we had a telephone line. We each owned our phone and our men kept up the line. Ran it over the fence wire.

Ada and Arthur Thomas. Ada was a sister to Jesse Smith,

she and her husband homesteaded north of Jesse's place on

Lawrence Creek in 1910.

My father gave me Old Tom so I had a horse. We hauled water from Jesse's folks (on Lawrence Creek) for the house. We dug a well for the animals to drink from but it was too far to go. Finally Jesse and I dug a well closer home and I made the casing. We got a pump so we felt quite proud. I helped build fences and had a hand in every thing. We built a granary then another room as we were expecting Earl.

We all worked together at threshing time. It was a busy time and we had fun mixed in with work. We took down our granary door to use for a table. We had a big crew to cook for.

Jeannette Rankin and Ada Smith Thomas at a non-partisan league picnic near Wibaux in about 1918, Miss Rankin was the first woman to ever be elected to the United States Congress, she was elected from Montana in 1917.

We had picnics at Rose Park and all Coal Springs folks came. We went other places, too, where folks came. One time we got a turkey and had quite a time. The two families (Smiths and Roses, including Pauline and Isabel Hall) got together at Rose's. I imagine that large wishbone would be hard to break and we made fun out of anything.

Earl went to school the year Mrs. Rose taught in their house. He went alone after learning the way. He finished grades one and two. He now lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has six children-3 girls and 3 boys. They are a grand Christian family. Two girls are in college."

Mabel and Jesse Smith, 1955.

Frederick and another little boy, who died in infancy, were born to the Smiths while they lived in Montana.

In 1920 they moved back to Minnesota and then Wisconsin.

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LAURA STROUD,SMITH

Laura Sears was born in Ottumwa, Iowa on November 13, 1875, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Sears. She attended rural school there and married Charles Stroud on June 14, 1892.

They came to Fallon County in March 1909 and homesteaded north of Baker. In 1933 they moved into Baker where they continued to live.

Mr. Stroud passed away in 1939 and Laura married Frank Smith on October 16, 1949. He passed away in 1954.

Mrs. Laura Stroud, Smith passed away June 4, 1965 at the age of ninety.

She was a faithful member of the Baker Community Church and one of the first employees of the Baker Elizabeth Hospital. She was skilled in handwork of many kinds, making quilts and rugs for her many friends and relatives.

She had two sons; Leland and Thomas Stroud.

 

 

Bernetta Berry Sparks, 1969.

BERNETTA A. SPARKS

I was born in Camden County, Missouri on July 30, 1891; the oldest child of Moses Grant Berry and Mary Angeline Robertson Berry, having two sisters and two brothers younger than 1. We were living in what is known as the Ozark Mountains. When I was about four or five my parents moved to Oklahoma (Waurika, Oklahoma on the Red River dividing Texas and Oklahoma). We moved there by covered wagon, this trip took about three weeks. Here, when I was old enough, I attended elementary schools at West Point and Courtney, Oklahoma. I attended for eight years and did not attend any high school or college.

It was here where I met and married my husband, George W. Sparks, on May 17, 1908. We traveled to Petersburg, Oklahoma in a buggy to be married.

We share cropped for R. A. Manton of Claypool, Oklahoma. The crops we grew for him were cotton and corn. After the cotton was picked, longhorn steers were turned in to fatten on the cotton stalks. These steers had to be herded and ridden on in the winter months to keep them out of the

quicksand bogs and to keep them from bogging in the Red River, which was so salty the cattle drank it and needed no salt.

We heard about the FREE homestead land in Montana and decided that it was for us, "A home of our own!" So in September of 1909 we were in Waurika, Okla. chartering an emigrant car to Montana. There were three families coming to Montana: my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Moses G. Berry; Mr. and Mrs. Ben Sheffield and we. If I remember correctly, it cost two hundred dollars for the car to Baker, Montana.

On September 14, 1909, our oldest son was born in Oklahoma.

My father and Mr. Sheffield came with the emigrant car, which had our household goods, plows, wagons, horses, cows and chickens. It took over a week for the car to reach Baker, it was held up in St. Paul for livestock inspection for two or three days. My mother and family arrived and worked for a Mrs. Loverage, who ran the only rooming house in Baker at that time. Her sons, Sam and George Pollock, ran a livery stable. When the emigrant car came in Mr. Sheffield and Mr. Berry unloaded and went to Box Elder. Mr. Sheffield had a friend by the name of Mr. Perkins there, who had come from Texas the year before and settled.

 

Mary Ellen Lambert and Ethel Berry, 1914. Mary Ellen, the granddaughter of Ekalaka and Dave Russell.

Mr. Rube Lambert (his first wife was a daughter of Ekalaka and Dave Russell) was visiting on Box Elder and talked my folks into coming to Lame Jones Community and look at homestead land. It was closer to town and to the railroad. So they did, and when we (my husband, son and 1) arrived in Baker they had left word with the Pollock's to bring us out to the Lame Jones area. That would be where our possessions we had sent on the emigrant car would be.

We took homestead rights on the east half of Section 10, Township 5 N R 57 E, my folks taking the west half. We started building on the line between so both families would be housed for the winter. We lived in Mrs. Hatton's house for one month while ours was being built. Our home was partly in the bank, three logs high making it approximately 28 x 40 feet. It had a shed over the door of boards with a window in the south side. There were shelves along each wall in the dugout where we could store many items. While we were working on the house, two weeks before Halloween some of

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the larger boys from the Lame Jones School came after school Halloween night and hid some of the tools. In Oklahoma Halloween wasn't celebrated so we didn't know what to think. My father and husband were quite bitter because they were working hard trying to finish the house so we could move in before winter set in. When the boys heard this they came and apologized which made everyone feel better. They still pull Halloween pranks here.

Homestead house

of Moses Grant Berry, Father of Bernetta Sparks. Logs were cut and hauled with horses in about 1910.

We took what was called squatters rights, as the land had not been surveyed. There were springs on this land; water then was just as important as it is now, maybe even more important since well drilling hadn't been heard of in this part of the country. We always carried water from these everlasting springs to the house. The stock went to them to water. We carried the water to wash clothes and even to do wash for some of the other women nearby.

During the winter of 1909, a kindly lady, Mrs. Bohr, organized Sunday school classes at the Rube and Amos Lambert homes, being the most children in these homes. She stayed at the different homes almost all winter, knitting wristlets for all, which were really appreciated because they kept the wrists warm. Mrs. Bohr also brought clothes for the needy, sometimes they were too short in the sleeves but they were still appreciated, and she was loved by all who knew her.

We got our house done and moved in. We bought a team of "broke" horses and started to build a dugout barn. The men cut poles and brush from the creek bottoms to cover it. The chicken house was built the same way.

When we first came here there weren't any weeds, just miles of grass, then people started coming in to take up homesteads, the first ones trying to get land with water on it. About a year after we came an implement dealer by the name of Lang came to Baker. We bought a walking sod breaker from him, it was pulled by three horses. The Homestead Act required so much land to be plowed the first year.

We needed milk for our family so we bought a cow from Amos Lambert. She was half buffalo, with a hump on her back; her calf didn't have this hump on her back. We had to keep the cow and her calf on picket so she would not run off. She gave about a half of a gallon of milk each day all winter long. We thought that was quite good at the time. The next spring she had another calf so we were in the cattle business. Sometimes she would pull the stake out and get away. It would take a long time to get her back again.

We bought two iron grey horses "unbroke", and a "broke" horse. My husband broke them while plowing the fields. Some of the other homesteaders had other machinery, so we exchanged work and machinery. We had brought harness and my husband had brought his saddle from Oklahoma. We didn't have a corral around our barn but sometimes we could coax the livestock into the barn with oats or hay.

Our plowed land was planted to oats the first year and when they were up and looked like a good stand we insured against hail. It came-the hail storm and really flattened the oats. My husband rode to Baker the second day after the storm to report the damage. The agent told him it should have been reported within twelve hours after the damage, so we lost the crop and still had to pay the insurance. That gave us quite a loss.

We continued to live on our homestead and raise our family. The years we lived there were both good and bad. My parents moved back South in 1916, but we stayed on. The years of World War 1 (1914-1918) were hard for us; then a flu epidemic lowered our resistance and we were a long time recovering, even the neighbors were hit by it.

Lame Jones School children, 1911, four boys in front, Frank Sparks, George Lambert, Delmer Hatton and Emery Berry, in the back, Ruth Morrison, Ruth Hatton, Hazel Stout, Ed Lambert, Mary Morrison, Sokra Hatton and Ethel Berry.

All of our children (eight) attended the Lame Jones School for each of their eight years.

In World War Il two of our sons were in the Army. One in the Philippines and one in Italy; the one in Italy was killed in action.

We survived the 1920's-1930's-1940's-1950's and soon the 1960's for me. My husband passed away in 1963 and a daughter was killed in a car accident in 1951, besides our son who was killed in action in 1944.

Previous to my husband's death we took a trip to Missouri and Oklahoma. It was different than when we lived there and we decided we didn't want to return there to live.

Very few of the people who homesteaded in this area are left. Most of them have moved away or have passed away.

Remembering those former years, God must have endowed us with lots of fortitude to survive it all; the tough winters, droughts, flu epidemics, long hard days of work and now to push a button and have light, without cleaning lamp chimneys and filling the lamps and lanterns with kerosene; turn a faucet instead of going to the spring after buckets of water; turning a switch to cook meals and not

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having to carry wood and coal to bake bread; every week go to town to buy groceries in an automobile instead of once a year for the next year's supply in team and wagon or sled. I think it was six years after we came to Montana before I got to go to Baker again.

Mr. and Mrs. Greenlee, Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Sparks taken at the Vernon Greenlee's, 1969.

 

 

Here are the names of our children.Herbert Alfred was born at Claypool, Oklahoma and married Gloria Peabody. Melvina married Fred Korneychuk. She was killed in a car accident. Lillie married Vernon Greenlee. Ernest is a World War Il veteran and is a holder of the Purple Heart.

George gave his life in World War II on battlefront in Italy. Mary married Andrew Maskell Holmes. James married to Goldie Collie. Robert married Olive Honstain.

Mr. and Mrs. Joe Smota, 1970.

MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH F. SMOLA

I, Joseph, was born at Pitin, Czechoslovakia, on October 18, 1895. My parents were Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Smola. I received my elementary education there and then I learned the trade of Tailoring and Cleaning at which time I worked in Czechoslovakia. After coming to America I practiced my trade in Chicago, Illinois.

On November 14, 1918, at the age of 23, 1 was married to Mary Louise Svoboda at Bismarck, North Dakota. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Svoboda and Tas born at Alexandria, Minnesota on November 15, 1895. Her parents moved west in 1905 and homesteaded south of Mandan, North Dakota. Here she received her grade school education and helped her parents on the farm. When she was older she attended the Bismarck Business College at Bismarck.

The Joseph Smola family home when they lived in Baker.

Several years after our marriage Louise and I journeyed by car to Baker, Montana, where we met no problems in getting established in the Tailor and Cleaning business. This was in 1925. We remained in Baker many years and all four of our children graduated from the Baker High School.

Joseph Smola in front of his building on Main Street, Baker.

Our children are; Helen Agnes (Ranstrom), Audry Louise (Wittmann), Charles Ray and Valaria Marie (Beek).

We were members of the Baker Community Church and Mrs. Smola belonged to and was an active member of the

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Ladies Aid. She was also active in the Rebekah and Royal Neighbors Lodge and I belonged to the Odd Fellow's Lodge.

We now live in Portland, Oregon but we do get back to Baker about once a year, as we still own our building there on Main Street.

ANDREW JACOB SPEELMON

1876-1964

"Saddling the Wild Horse, 1894. 'Andy' Speelmon, Ekalaka" is the title Photographer L. A. Huffman gave a picture which he took of the 18 year old cowboy, who was about to mount the large white horse. Andy was born in Cherokee, Iowa, January 20, 1876. He moved to Montana via covered wagon and saddle horses, with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Speelmon and nine brothers and sisters, in 1883. They first settled on the Powder River about 12 miles north of present day Powderville. They lived in a "dugout" the first winter and subsisted mostly on turnips and beef. In 1885 the family moved to Speelmon Creek where they established a ranch. A year later they moved to Camp Crook, South Dakota and constructed and operated the first hotel and blacksmith shop. They stayed there until 1888 at which time they moved to Ekalaka to operate a hotel and blacksmith shop. The old folks were not ranchers. They preferred town life. Boys grew up rapidly in those days and by the time Andy had reached the age of 18, he had worked on several ranches and became an all around cowboy. On December 8, 1897, Andrew Speelmon married Mary Ella Cleveland, who resided on a ranch near Ekalaka. They settled on a homestead one mile southeast of Ekalaka where they developed a ranch. To them was born one son, Arthur and three daughters, Elizabeth, Lela and Isabelle.

About 1903, Andrew Speelmon went into partnership with his brother, Moreau B. They specialized in raising cavalry and artillery horses which they sold principally to the U. S. Army and foreign countries. The brand used was C-S . About 1920 he disposed of his ranch and moved to Baker, Montana. He managed the Columbia Elevator until about 1940 when he retired. He continued to live in Baker until his death in 1964. Survivors include his widow, one sister, Mrs. Frank (Ida) Castleberry, three daughters, seven grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.

Photographer, L. A. Huffman spent about two weeks on Spring Creek, near O'Fallon in 1894, taking numerous photographs of all types of ranch activities.

FRANK AND CELIA STANHOPE

Frank Stanhope (1871) and Celia Kreager (1876) were both born and reared in Iowa. After their marriage they lived in Iowa and Minnesota before coming to Montana.

In the spring of 1909, Frank came to Baker by train to locate a homestead. Some relatives had come to this vicinity the year before and all were anxious to become landowners. Frank worked for the Breckenridges south of Baker, filed on a homestead (the present John Bechtold ranch) and returned to Minnesota for his wife and four sons; Aldie, Roy, Franklin and Robert.

They arrived in Baker on October 9, 1909 by "Emigrant Car" and that same evening they rode north over the prairie on a wagon load of lumber, about 12 miles to their new home. What thoughts must have filled the minds of the weary parents and the wide-eyed boys and one sleepy six-year-old.

Their first home was a sod house. It was replaced later by a two-story frame house. While Frank and Celia were living here two more sons were born; Howard in 1912 and Donald in 1916.

After 1919 the family decided to move, so they traded the homestead to Lewis Bechtold for a livery barn and moved to Baker the spring of 1920. This livery barn stood where the Farmer's Union Oil Company is now located.

In the fall of 1923 the barn burned, killing five cows and a team which belonged to Glen Doering. A saddle horse of Mervin Youngs was saved. The cows and team were tied in the barn.

Frank and Celia lived on several farms, among them were the Foote place and the Ted Olson place which was south of the present Baker Drive-in-Theater, before they retired to Baker in 1934. He worked at several jobs before poor health forced complete retirement. Celia died in October 1951 and Frank died in December 1954.

Aldie married Pearl Croniger and they now live in Joliet, Montana. Roy died in 1921 while the family was living in Baker. Franklin married Loris Gillian. He died in 1961 at Pasco, Washington after which Loris moved to Seattle, Washington. Robert married Betty Thomas and they live in Baker. Howard married Nellie Nalley and later married Ida Neary. They live in the Stanhope Addition east of Baker. Donald was married to Margaret Emerson. He now lives at Douglas, Wyoming.

ROBERT AND BETTY STANHOPE

Robert Stanhope was born at Beardsley, Minnesota on April 24, 1903. He remembers attending kindergarten at Browns Valley, Minnesota before the family came to Baker, Montana in 1909.

They arrived by train on October ninth and Bob remembers very little about their ride over the prairie to their home that night, but he has many memories of the sod house they lived in. Later the family built a two-story frame house on the homestead (now the John Bechtold ranch house).

Robert attended the Foote School and later the Bechtold School where he finished the eighth grade in 1920.

In 1916 when Bob and his father were taking Fred Minor and Frank Haagenson to the Box Elder Community to look for homestead locations for the two men, the 22 rifle that Bob was holding, slipped from his grasp when the wheel hit a rut and shot Bob. The bullet sped through his left leg and left wrist. He was brought to Baker to the doctor. There were no bones shattered so his recovery was rapid.

Bob worked for several farmers as well as helping at home and when the family moved to Baker he went to work for the Carbon Black Plant.

After Aldie, Bob's brother, moved to Cabin Creek in the 1920's, Bob homesteaded on section 2, township 10 north, range 57 E. The patent was signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt August 12, 1938. This is possibly the last homestead in Fallon County.

Betty Thomas, the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Turner) Thomas, was born in Casey County, Kentucky on June 19, 1907 and moved with her parents to Gentry County, Missouri in the spring of 1913.

She was graduated from Ravenwood High School and the NorthWest Missouri State Teacher's College with an Elementary Lifes Certificate. She taught school two years in Missouri before coming to Montana to teach the Mc Naney School in 1928.

The next spring she and Robert Stanhope were married and they made their home on his homestead on Cabin Creek until drought and grasshoppers forced them to sell all their livestock. They then moved into Baker.

Over the years Bob worked for the M.D.U., the

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Mountain States Power Company, Ross and Power Construction Company, Stern and Rogers, the O'Loughlin Elevator and later for the Speelmon Elevator and the County of Fallon as a patrol operator and as a carpenter. He also worked on the Lincoln School when it was being built and on various farms and ranches around Baker.

Betty returned to school teaching in 1950 and when she retired in 1969 she had spent 22 years in the classroom. She still substitutes a day now and then, "just to keep in practice". She is also an active member of the First Baptist Church, belongs to the Hospital Auxiliary and participates in the activities of an Extension Homemaking Club.

The Stanhopes have eight children; Ashley, who married Nina Dell Fisk, is manager of the local Farmer's Union Oil Company. They have 3 children.

Dale, a graduate of the University at Missoula, Montana, was married to Jaunita Cockburn and after her death to Jo Ann Berry. They have three children and live in Eureka, California. Dale is a partner in the accounting firm of Bean and Stanhope.

Lyle married Myrtle Hudson. They have two children and Lyle is the owner and operator of the L. and M. Welding Company-specializing in oil field welding.

Neal is married to Mary Lou Griffith and has one daughter. He is employed at the Anaconda Copper Plant at Yerrington, Nevada.

Janice is married to Roy Robinson who is employed at Basic Incorporated Mine at Gobbs, Nevada.

Roger is a pumper for Shell Oil Company in the Baker Field and is married to Judy Krook.

Lane was married to Sandra Thompson, has one son, and welds for Lyle at the L. and M. Welding.

All of the boys and one son-in-law were in the service, serving a total of 2 1/2 years for Uncle Sam in Alaska, Germany, Korea and Viet Nam as well as in the United States.

Bruce Steelman, 1914.

BRUCE AND CLYDE STEELMAN by Bruce Steelman

I was born in Montevedeo, Minnesota on January 7, 1894. My parents were Charles and Clara Steelman. They came from Springfield, Ohio. We received our schooling through high school in Minneapolis. We had no college education.

Clyde and I and two friends spent the summers of 1911 and 1912 exploring the canoe country of the Canadian border on the lakes and rapids of the rivers. It was real exciting for us "high schoolers!"

Steelman homestead cabin, 1914.

In 1914 we decided to homestead in Montana. Traveling by train in August of that year we both filed on land on section 20 northeast of Plevna. We also bought a section of Northern Pacific Railroad land on Coal Creek. Part of this land is rough bad lands-good mule deer country. We fenced our land with the first steel posts seen in this part of the country. Many thought we were foolish but after 56 years the fence is still good.

Side hill barn, Steelman homestead, 1914.

Underground barn, Steelman homestead, 1914.

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