=====================Page 33 =========================== Breaking Sod On The Prairies - Taber (The Following Is A Reference To Hughes County In This Book) Behind the little village, which we learned was named Blunt, massive hills rose one over the other. The road seemed endless, as we wended our way upward to the summit of hills that, following the Missouri river, spread eastward until merged into the prairies. When we reached the top, we found ourselves facing a country almost as flat as a table, which extended north and east as far as we could see. We had no trouble in following the road, as it was the only mark of man or beast in evidence. Not a house, not a barn was in sight; not a furrow of plowed land. Mile after mile we drove, and hour after hour! Often, we would stop and get out of the buggy to rest and to pick prairie flowers; blossoms that we never before had seen. But what interested us most were the many buffalo skeletons, laid out, as it were, to bleach like white sheets upon the green prairies, mute evidence of an almost extinct form of life. Some of these skeletons were almost intact; the teeth in the jaws were unloosened, while great mats of coarse hair still clung to the skulls between the horns. At one stop in particular, the feeling that perhaps the foot of white man never had trodden these virgin plains took possession of us and we felt that we were on holy ground. The prairie grass, swaying in the summer wind gave the wide expanse of the country semblance of a vast ocean, the waves of which never were at rest. I trembled with fear at the immensity of it all and wondered what this strange country held for us. I seemed in danger of losing ann sense of personal identity, merged, as it were, into the eternal vastness of space. The Besancons H. O. Besancon was one of the real pioneers of Hughes county, coming west from New York in 1883 for his wife’s health, and locating at Harrold where he established the Harrold Star, a live paper that contributed its full share toward attracting settlers to this county. Mrs. Besancon did not regain her health and died that fall, being the first woman buried at Harrold. In 1893 Mr. Besancon moved to Blunt and bought the Advocate from W. S. Ingham who had been preceded as publisher by George Schlosser. He continued as publisher of the Advocate until his death in 1915, when the work was taken up by his son, C. E. Besancon who continued as editor and publisher until 1927 when he was succeeded by Harold Felhaber, and the following year C. E. and his wife (formerly Fern Dristy) and their children, Betty and Clark, moved to Rapid City where Claire has since been engaged in commercial printing until the first of this year when he became deputy auditor of Pennington county. H. O. Besancon married Mrs. Lucinda Helm in 1886, and a few years ==========================Page 34================================ after her death married, in 1908, Mrs. Mary Holmes, a pioneer woman who located in Hyde county among the earliest settlers. Mrs. Besancon spent the last six years of her life at the State Soldiers’ Home at Hot Springs, from where she frequently visited the Besancon home in Rapid City. She passed away March 17, 1936. There were few projects of a community nature that required attention in the early days of Harrold and Blunt that did not receive an impetus from the ready pen and the helping hand of H. O. Besancon. The Barbecue (Written by Regina Hoefer from information given her by Mrs. E. F. Mercer) In 1885 during the boom days in Blunt a big celebration was held at which one of the main attractions for the interested immigrants from the East was an Indian War Dance. Over fifty Sioux braves took part in the dance and while many of the warriors wore white and Indian scalps on their belts they were not on the war path. As pay for the part they took in the celebration the Indians were given a beef by the town people. After killing the anima,l the Indians cooked it and partook of the feast. The Unfinished Railroad (Written by Mary Schroer from information given her by Mrs. E. F. Mercer) For a few years during the “Eighties” Blunt was thrilled with the prospect of having a second railroad build a line through the city. A group of men, believed by some to be carpetbaggers, organized the Duluth, Pierre, and Black Hills Railroad Company to build a railroad from Duluth through Aberdeen, Blunt and to Pierre. The company hoped to get money and grants of land from the United States government. The grade was actually completed most of the way from Aberdeen to Pierre but no rails were ever laid, either because the boom broke or the road was given up. The old grade still stands, rising in some places like long hills behind which stock find kindly shelter from wintry winds, and making in other places deep cuts in the hills. The Garver Family The Garver family came to Dakota and to Blunt, May 26, 1883. The morning of the 27th, snow fell and during the day we had several inches, which was rather a dismal welcome to strangers in a strange land. We obtained a quarter of land as our preemption two miles north of town. It was covered up by another settler who intended to homestead it later. We had a two-room house and a good well and altogether we felt very prosperous. We knew full well what pioneering meant, though we never suffered, we had hardships to endure. =====================Page 35======================= Blunt was a busy little town. All lines of business were well represented. We had near neighbors on almost every quarter of land; water was a great draw-back - many had to haul it a long distance. Our land was near the Sully county line, and the mail route over which all freight was hauled to Sully and Potter counties. We were all happy and contented. Our chief enjoyment was going to town Saturday and going to Sunday school in a rural school house. We were not blessed with an abundance of wealth. We were just one great family willing to help each other in every way possible. Times were hard and trying. We could usually raise vegetables. We called the little purple top turnips, Dakota apples, and ate them with great relish. We were never annoyed by Indians; it was a rare treat to come to town the 4th of July when they would put on some kind of entertainment for us. -As dictated to Robert Tjomsland, a student Adventures of William Hopkins William Hopkins arrived in Hughes County Mar. 12, 1883. Blunt at this time was a very small town with only three buildings and one small tree. Two buildings were owned by N. E. Westover, one he used as a storage place for a small amount of lumber which he sold to settlers, the other was a post office. The other building, making the third in town, was owned by “Ol” Riggle, and he used it as a drug store and hotel, if you wished to sleep in a chair, on the counter, or on the floor. Mr. Hopkins wanted a place to sleep, finding all the best places on the counter and in the chairs occupied, he had to sleep on the floor. In the morning he had a breakfast which consisted of a piece of beef and a slice of bread; he paid a dollar for bed and breakfast. When Mr. Hopkins came he brought 2 mules, 1 cow, 1 horse, and 2 chickens. As he had to go to Pierre for lumber to build his house, he hired a young man to take his cow and horse to his brother’s ranch three miles north of Blunt. Taking his two mules and a wagon he started on a two day’s journey to Pierre for lumber. When he came back, he started at once to build a dug out. First he dug a hole 14 feet square and 3 feet deep. Over this he raised a sod top and relined the whole house with the lumber. When he had completed the walls and ceiling, he had only a few boards left; so he covered the floor with straw and rag rugs. One heavy door was the means of entering, and one window high in the wall, was the only way of lighting. The Hopkins family had to go to Pierre to obtain food and clothing. When money became short, Mr. Hopkins rented his mules to Mr. White who was breaking sod between Pierre and Blunt. He received seven dollars and twenty cents a day for their use. In 1885 there were many wild animals: badgers, deer, antelope, coyotes, wild cats, and other animals. =======================Page 36======================== Very early in the morning on May 5, 1887, Mr. Hopkins and Arden Shipley started in a wagon, drawn by mules, to the Black Hills in search for a better place to settle. When they were just a few miles from Blunt, a terrible blizzard came up before they could get to shelter, they turned their wagon over and lay under it. The blizzard left so much snow that the crude road to the Black Hills was blockaded; so they returned to Blunt. -Extracts from Evelyn Nesheim, Alma Trueper, and Ellen Nesheim Experiences of Ed Carey In the fall of 1882, Mr. Carey brought his family and worldly possessions to Blunt. At that time, Blunt consisted of a depot. Mr. Carey and his family solved their difficulty by sleeping all night in the box car containing their furniture. The next morning they went to Harrold. There they lived in a dugout. Nevertheless, the Careys called this “home” for three months. They built a new home southeast of Blunt - a sod house with a wooden roof and real windows! They constructed a rickety framework of 2 x 4’s and built a roof of planks, extending it over the sides. Then they piled blocks of sod along the walls upward to reach the roof leaving space for windows. This was much better than a dugout. It was comparatively warm, although Mr. Carey tells of how they had to twist hay for fuel. Mr. Carey, although he did not actually fight the Indians, was thoroughly frightened by them. One day, word came to him that Indians were near, holding a series of war dances. Mr. Carey took his wife and children and as many personal belongings as possible and stayed concealed in a nearby dugout overnight. Fortunately, the Indians didn’t molest them, but their nearness to the wild redskins had caused terror to reign in the Carey family for a while. Kerosene lamps were not very common and the Carey family had a device that they used in making candles; they would kill a beef and melt the tallow then pour it into the device used, and in this way, they could make nine candles at one time. Mr. Carey tended fifty head of cattle for a man in Sioux City; after a short time he started into the cattle business for himself; he shipped in over four hundred head of cattle. He let them graze on land that is now part of Blunt. The Carey children received their high school education in Blunt, and all of them attended college. Mr. Carey bought a big house in town, and the Carey family moved into this home about 1920. It was in this home that Mrs. Carey passed away. Grace Tennyson and Laura Albertus When Mr. Fred Pigney Moved to Blunt In the year of 1885 Fred Pigney moved to Blunt. He came to the city by train. Blunt had been settled two years. ======================Page 37============================= A great amount of snow fell in 1888. There was so much that the trains were unable to run. It was impossible to travel by horse and wagon. Whenever anyone wished to go any place he had to go by horse and sled. Mail was carried from city to city by the section men. Many people had to burn hay. Mr. Pigney, however, was fortunate enough in having coal to burn. What Happened to J. W. Pyne J. W. Pyne cane from Danville, Ill. To Blunt in 1883. While here he met with many hardships, finally being forced to make his living by putting up hay. Later he moved to Canning but here the problem of earning a living was not much easier than in Blunt. However, in 1884 he secured a contract from George Harris giving him the right to build a first class flour mill. Because there was no power to run his mill, he had to build a dam. This dam was built near a large spring which furnished the water power. John Kramer shoveled the first dirt for the structure. In order to complete this, it was necessary to tunnel about 400 feet through a hill. This was done entirely by hand. The dirt being carried out of the tunnel with wheelbarrows. When the mill was completed in 1885, it was a substantial frame structure, five stories high. It remained in operation 2 months. One night a severe rain storm loosened the bluff and a landslide destroyed the mill. Estal Pyne was in the building when it collapsed but escaped with a few minor scratches. In the place of the flour mill Pyne built a small feed mill which operated several years and finally was struck by lightning. Pyne left Canning in 1893 to go to Leavensworth, Kansas, where he died destitute. -Russell Samco. [photo - Ree Pottery] ===========================Page 38======================== Childhood of Blunt Lady Recalls Yankton Capitol Mrs. Anna Marsh, one of Blunt’s oldest and finest citizens, relates that her grandfather, Melancthon Hoyt, built the building at Yankton which housed the first meeting of the Territorial Council which was held in 1862. It was used as a meeting place of this group until the first capitol building was erected. It was also used as a residence, for school classes and church services. From the picture she has, the building would not appear to be over 20x28 feet, a story and a half high, with a small leanto built on the rear. Mrs. Marsh, then 5 years of age, arrived in Yankton in the spring of 1865, making the trip from Sioux City by boat. She recalls with amusement that the trip took several days. One reason for the snail-like speed was that the owner of the boat was under contract with the government at $100 per day and was in no great hurry to terminate the journey. Dr. William Jayne, family physician for Abraham Lincoln, was the first territorial governor of Dakota. L. J. Walker Comes for Two Weeks; Stays 25 Years Last Saturday night, L. J. Walker completed twenty-five years as Agent for the Northwestern Railroad. Mr. Walker tells us that when he came here he was to stay for two weeks and then be sent on to some other town, but it looks like it has been a long two weeks. We think that Mr. Walker has set a record for some of the younger men on the road to look up to and try to better it if they can. During Mr. Walker’s stay here he has taken active part in all the activities of the community. He has served on the City Council and at the present time is the Mayor of Blunt. Two of his children have grown up and graduated from the local school and are now attending the U. S. D. We hope that Mr. Walker and his family will stay in Blunt as long as he is in service with the Northwestern Railroad and that he will make this city his home when he retires. The Advocate joins with Mr. Walker’s many friends in wishing him many more happy years in Blunt. -Advocate, 1936. Workmen Demolish Old Hotel, Landmark The Blunt Advocate - Oct. 1, 1936 Workmen are busy this week tearing down the old Blunt Hotel building, which is one of the oldest landmarks in Blunt and incidentally, in Hughes County. Erected during the ‘land boom’ in 1883, the old hotel building was among the very first substantially constructed buildings in Blunt. During the early 80’s this rooming place had the reputation of being one of the finest along the railroad, offering city accommodations at a reasonable rate. ======================Page 39========================= A few years after its erection the Blunt Hotel came under the able management of A. D. Tilton and it flourished in prosperity up until some dozen years of the 20th century when railroad travel began to decline. Year after year saw less patronage until about eight years ago it housed its last customer, unless for an occasional wayward tramp. Since that time the effects of time and weather have taken toll on the old landmark until it had become an eye-sore to Blunt’s main street. The county having taken title to the property by virtue of tax deed, sold it recently and the lumber is being salvaged. See-Back-Agraph From Blunt Advocate files, Sept. 22, 1883 Locals The Christianized Indians at the camp meeting in Peoria Bottom last Sunday partook of the Lord’s Supper and soon after joined in a dog feast. The corner stone of the court house at Pierre is to be laid this afternoon. The Pierre Recorder says hereafter claim-jumpers will do well to give Blunt a wide berth. In the ads we find mention of: Full Suits for $3, $4, and $6. Sugar 10c per pound, Bacon 10c, Coffee 17c, and so on. Opening The Opera House The event in Blunt this week has been the formal opening of Stebbins’ Opera House Monday by the Peerless Dramatic Company. A grand Ball followed Tuesday night’s performance. The dress and manners of the people showed wealth and refinement with all patrons appearing in full evening dress. The curtain contains a life size painting of a Roman chariot drawn by three foaming steeds. [photo of a prairie dog - An Early Denizen of the Prairie] ==============================Page 40======================= PIERRE CHRONICLES City of Pierre History: Long before Pierre was settled, the site was a playground and battleground for Indian tribes. First the Arikaras, or Rees, camped near the river and around the present site of the State Capitol. Then when the Sioux tribes invaded the region, driving out their predecessors, the location was again popular. Skeletons of Indians, together with remains of pottery, implements and arrowheads, have been found within the city limits. The grounds of the Government Industrial School for Indians, bordering the city limits to the S. E., has yielded many relics and skeletons which are on display in the museum of the State Hist. Society. [Drawing by Mary B. Giddings - Verendryes Planting Plate in 1743] ===========================Page 41=========================== As early as 1743 the Verendrye expedition looked down upon the present site of Pierre from the hill above Ft. Pierre on which they planted the famous Verendrye plate. (East wing, museum of State Hist. Soc.) The Lewis and Clark expedition passed by in 1804, stopping across the Missouri River. In 1811 Manuel Lisa, Spanish fur trader, visited the region; whether he actually camped on the site of Pierre is controversial. [photo of monument - Erected by Historical Society and Ft. Pierre Commercial Club, 1923. Inscription reads, “HERE ON MARCH 30, 1743 THE VERENDRYES BURIED A LEAD TABLET TO CLAIM THIS REGION FOR FRANCE. THIS TABLET FOUND FEB. 16, 1913 IS THE FIRST WRITTEN RECORD OF THE VISIT OF WHITE MEN TO SOUTH DAKOTA. ERECTED BY STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND FT. PIERRE COMMERCIAL CLUB, 1933”] Indians: Although families having Indian blood are few within Pierre, a group of Sioux families live the year around in tents and improvised shacks near the Indian school (Lewis and Clark trail, S. D. 34, extending S. E. from Capitol). These Indian families have children in the school and wish to be near them. Lines of “jerked meat” near the tents may be seen from the highway. There are 260 boys and girls in the “School for the Sioux,” many of whom are breeds. Strange cases of hybridizations may be seen there as occasionally red haired and nearly blonde Indian youths will be found in attendance. Early Settlement: The original site of the city of Pierre was once the squatter’s right claim of Joseph Kirley who, with Napoleon Duchneau, operated a ferry to carry wagon trains across the river from 1878 to 1880. A double-barrelled shotgun and $1,500 offered by the Chicago, Northwestern R. R. was received by Kirley for his claim along the river in 1880. The Kirley family, now living near the Cheyenne ========================Page 42================================ River in Stanley county, still have the breech loading gun. It is in good condition. To J. D. Hilger may go the honor of naming Pierre. In the spring of 1880 Hilger, a resident of Bismarck, N. D., drove by team to Fort Pierre, already a bustling town on the west side of the river. He had his lumber and household goods shipped by boat, billed “Pierre on the east side of the river opposite Ft. Pierre.” The lumber shipped by the J. D. and Anson Hilger brothers, was used to build the first frame house on what is now Highland avenue. In addition to the frame house there were sod huts and a log cabin. The Hilger residence was used as a clothing store, postoffice, church and saloon at various times. On the level bottom land near the river the town grew (Missouri avenue. The low frame house behind City Hall is an original building.) Among the “firsts” were Hilger’s clothing store, J. E. Carpenter’s grocery store, M. P. KinKaid’s bank, the Albright and West lumber yard, C. W. Richardson’s drug store and a saloon. Two newspapers were also established in 1880, the Signal and the Dakota Journal. There was no postoffice for C. J. Haines, first commissioned postmaster, so he used a house on wheels, drawn by oxen. Three hotels, the Pierre House, Stebbins and Northwestern, were built to accommodate the settlers, wagon train crews and adventurers. With varied rumors flying about where the railroad bridge would be built, land promoters divided the new city. W. S. Wells, a promoter, sold lots in what is now East Pierre (east of the Capitol.) A newspaper, hotel, business district and homes sprung up in East Pierre, opening a strong rivalry between the two adjacent towns. The Park Hotel (which is now the old hospital building on Dakota ave.) was a compromise between the two young towns. On Nov. 4, 1880 the first train (C & N. W. R. R.) reached Pierre, bring more homesteaders. Becoming the most westerly railroad point in the region. Pierre was the center of freighting and passenger activity. Passengers and freight headed for the Black Hills were transported on ferry boats across the turbulent Missouri from where four-horse coaches and long oxen-drawn wagon trains stated daily trips to the Black Hills. Folklore: Pierre in 1880 was the mecca for bull whackers, soldiers, gamblers, prospectors, ranchers and settlers. To this frontier town came such infamous characters as Calamity Jane, Nigger Nell and Arkansas. Arkansas, a desperado, twice claimed the spotlight in Pierre’s colorful history. The bewhiskered cardsharp and gun toter caused considerable trouble to law abiding citizens in the early ‘80’s. He was run out of town by the Vigilantes, a volunteer law and order body, but returned with the announced intention of killing the leader of the Vigilantes. Arkansas, after being chased by armed men out of a saloon, hid in the brush near another saloon, waiting his chance for a good shot. But before his chance came a bullet from a Vigilante’s gun killed him. After =========================Page 43============================== the shooting, members of the self-elected posse took up a collection, bought Arkansas a black suit and made a wooden coffin. Not until workmen were excavating the basement for the present Capitol building was Arkansas more than legend. At that time (1904) an unearthed skull was identified as that of Arkansas and now reposes in the museum of the State Hist. Soc. Another episode of citizens taking the law into their own hands was enacted in 1885 when Jas. H. Bell was lynched from a flagpole in the courthouse yard. Bell, a Harrold attorney who was being held in the county jail for the murder of Forest Small, a rival lawyer, was taken from his cell by an estimated 40 men. His cries for help were fruitless and the men calmly hanged him from a ladder leaned against the flagpole. To expedite the strangulation some of the men pulled on Bell’s arms. A yarn of how Whiskey Gulch, the wooded ravine north of the railroad bridge which crosses the river, derived its name has passed down through the years. When J. D. and Anson Hilger landed their cargo on the unsettled river bank they immediately set out to look for a claim on which to take squatter’s rights. Ten-year-old Edward Hilger was left to guard the household goods in a gulch. The elder Hilgers met Napoleon Duchneau, N. Hathaway, Joseph Kirley and Hank Lafferty who directed them to a prospective location. Upon returning to their base of supplies, the Hilgers discovered that Duchneau, Hathaway and Dutch Mike had visited them during their absence, sampling a three-gallon keg of whiskey. The sample called for more and with a gallon apiece, the trio staged a jamboree in the gulch which became pungently named. A “jungle” in which tramps and transients cook and sleep under the stars is now located in the gulch. Ever since the first frontiersmen came into the region, wearing boots to protect them from rattlesnakes and the elements, boots and breeches have been commonly worn by persons whose business or pleasure takes the into the surrounding hills. Otherwise, except for a few Indians and cowboys, the manner of dress is the same as that of any Eastern city. Development: Following the eventful year of 1880 and spring of ’81 in which the new town was cut off from the rest of the world from mid- December to late April by heavy snow and resultant floods, the town developed rapidly. - Federal Writer’s Project, Pierre. Old Auditorium Talks By Cyril Van Hise, Jan. 8, 1936 I guess I was created just to be tramped in, for I have stood for nearly thirty years of tramping and crowding and shoving and surging. I was built back in 1907, wasn’t much of a building - quite a bit to folks that lived here then, but wouldn’t rate very high now. The up and coming business men of that time (respected old timers to you now) ===========================Page 44========================== had taken up a subscription - I don’t know much about money, but it was a sizeable amount - seems to me I heard say that Charlie Burke had put in five hundred - but anyway that’s the way it happened and these fine fellows built ma and turned me over to the city. I remember the building - remember it just as well as if it were yesterday - the carpenters started the floor in the morning - the sun was riding high and the robins a-twittering in the trees and it was a right happy bunch of young fellows that was working on me - Louie Hegglund and Frank Smith, and it seems to me that John Biewer was foreman of the job. I recall how Tony Hengel used to come over every day and inspect the job - had two little boys tagging him - think one of them has grown into that onery Al that’s on the city commission, and Ed was about two jumps behind him - don’t guess the rest of the bunch had showed up yet. Well, I was finished in the fall of nineteen seven - all painted and dolled up like Pluster’s ash mule, and did the gang put on a house warming for me - my - it sure was a good thing those carpenters had spiked me together good - called it the Gas Belt Exposition - it run big to parades, carnivals, a big stage show inside me, with agricultural exhibits all over the place (crops were plentiful them days) - ask Charlie Anderson about it - there were two or three of these Gas Belt affairs - seems something like that - I remember they had four dray loads of instruments and Hank Bloom nearly had a runaway when he was carting them up the back way and left his team standing below. Then there’s been soldiers parked inside of me almost since I can remember - last winter, you know, the CCC boys had to spend a few nights on my floors when the river was up - but old Battery "C" - say, I know every inch of that outfit - I can tell Archie Whiteman or Cocky Miller or McPherson the minute they set a foot on my floor - then there’s the white collar bunch from the state-house - isn’t it Dennison and Deweley, or Duel (I associate that one with a French breakfast party) and good Skipper Scurr and Dr. Stout and all the gang that used to loaf around inside me and tell stories and smoke - I really liked to house that bunch - I’m American and patriotic clear thru to the last shingle nail. Then there was them Democratic Rallies and the Republican Rallies - I could see right through those boys - after there were no more jobs they were like everyone else - that old party stuff was all front - right down inside those men and women were plain human beings and good old South Dakota stock at that - I liked ‘em but didn’t like the talks they made and didn’t mean. I couldn’t write this stuff without mentioning one of the very finest things that has ever taken place inside me - course I remember some mighty fine musicals, and exhibits, and one thing and another, but allowing for all that - the McClure Christmas Parties - say, when about five hundred youngsters get inside me at that happy time of the year and start running around and really enjoying themselves waiting for ===========================page 45========================== Santa Claus and Otto Linstad and Mrs. Bronte and a few more good souls to start dishing out the candy bags - well, I can just lay down happy, it was worth the chips. You know, when you look back - it’s been a mighty nice time - I think of the days when they used to heat me with wood and coal stoves - then a nice heating plant about the time Bill Pringle put those heavy timbers in my roof and raised particular thunder with my whole setup - and then a couple of years ago when his Honor (the best mayor that ever drew a breath) got me all fitted out with an oil burner that doesn’t need any dinner bell or anything else - you can just sit down and close your doors and rest - yes, but then that’s all right, but just when I was beginning to enjoy it all - I’VE BEEN CONDEMNED! That trial - those heart-rending court scenes when Ken Scurr fired the whole Legion post to get busy and help condemn me - me, the Pierre Auditorium - who has set back here and served and served and served until I’m blistered and cracked and weak and wobbly - but still serving, Mind You! - condemned to die - I can see that city commission - my jury - passing on my case - Godfrey Roberts, the dirty pup, saying “Gentlemen, it’s time that old building was wrecked and a modern structure erected that will be a credit to the city of Pierre” (and under his breath, “and the city commission”) - and Ran Bagby waking up long enough to say, “I’m for it!” - and Step Stephens bellowing out a last admonition to the jury before it passed, without deliberation, the sentence that condemns me to the last resting place of all old buildings. But there’s just one thing - buildings is queer things, and you’ve heard a lot about this reincarnation stuff - reincarnated, yet, I’ll come back - they’ve been holding dances every year with me for the last twenty-eight or nine years, and every one has been a humdinger except that time way back when the blacksmith shop caught fire about the time the dance was half over and there wasn’t anyone left in the hall excepting a man who’d lost a crutch - and they didn’t even come back to shut me up that night. But getting back to what I was saying, Friday night the firemen are going to hold their fifty-fifth annual ball and from what they tell me it'’ going to be the last dance or public gathering of any kind that’s held inside of me - I wish you folks - I’m speaking especially to the oldtimers, would come down - even if it’s just for a little while, and take ===========================page 46============================ a last look at me - in a few weeks I’ll be torn down and wrecked to give way for a youngster, a modernist - the one I’ll be part of - and I do so want you to remember my last party. Good-bye folks - I’ve liked so well to serve you. [photo - Photograph by The Miller Studio --- Pierre $45,000 Auditorium, Built in 1936] Capitol Guide Tells Of Past Experiences Showing visitors about the state house in Pierre is a far cry from chasing Indians across the prairie, but that’s exactly the case of Gen. F. Burke O’Brien, 89 years old, once prominent in South Dakota and Minnesota political circles. To walk into the lower corridor of the state’s capitol and have some one tell you that the mild-mannered gentleman who guides you about the building is approaching the four score and ten mark would sound something like a gross exaggeration. Steeped in the hard school of experience, O’Brien is a typical example of a self-made man, his staunch Scotch-Irish heritage standing him in good stead. With only three years of schooling to his credit, he rose to success, climaxed when elected councilman in Minneapolis. But the span of some 90 years is crammed with many other events. To begin with, he left home without his parents’ consent at the age of 16 and joined General Sibley on a long trip in pursuit of Indians, starting some 1,200 miles on foot. It was near Bismarck that he first saw a person die. An Indian had been dropped from his horse, a gunshot wound leaving him at the mercy of his enemy. While still alive white soldiers scalped the helpless brave, though no word of agony was breathed from his stoic lips. The spectacle never left O’Brien’s memory and today he can recall the incident as though it were yesterday. That was in 1863. The next year he enlisted in the Union army and served under Gen. A. J. Smith. Through the muck and mire of fettid Tennessee swamps he followed the colors, fighting side by side with hard seasoned veterans. Surviving five battles, including the battle of ===============================page 47========================== [photo - Gen. F. Burke O’Brien] ===============================page 48========================== Nashville, he stayed during the remainder of the war and was in Alabama when General Lee surrendered. The title of general was given him in 1933 when he was elected commander of the G. A. R. of South Dakota. He is the only living Civil War veteran in Hughes county and one of less than 40 in the state. O’Brien shook hands with Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and that year he voted for him when he was seeking the presidency for the second term. Besides voting for Lincoln he has voted for 17 other presidents, doubtless a record that stands unchallenged by any one living today. Coming to South Dakota in 1905, he worked for the Homestake Mining Company. His popularity grew and he was elected to the legislature from Lawrence county in 1909. He has lived in Pierre since 1920 and has served in several capacities. He was a member of the bonus board, worked as mail clerk at the state house, helped in the treasurer’s office and in the cigarette tax department. Numbered among O’Brien’s acquaintances, are persons from every walk of life. Once he met the governor of Siberia. Upon first seeing O’Brien, strangers unfailingly guess his age at “about 70,” and after talking with him his keenness of wit and memory for details make them think they have guessed too high. An enviable record of clean living, coupled with a background of life in the West, have given him stamina to attain the age that most men never reach. - From Daily Dakotan, June 4, 1936. [map - Indian Trails, Military Trails, and Pioneer Trails] Freighting In The 80’s Mason Martin, one of the original settlers living here when the town was but a scattering of log houses and when firearms and whiskey were considered articles of trade, came to South Dakota in 1880. ============================page 49========================== The year of Martin’s advent into Dakota territory is recalled by two events: the coldest, most prolonged siege of winter the state has experienced and the building of the Chicago and Northwestern railway into Dakota as far as Pierre. In December of that year Martin set out for Deadwood with a load of freight, his chief cargo being about two tons of kerosene. Reaching the Cheyenne river he was informed that the merchant for whom he was freighting had offered a $50 bonus if he arrived in Deadwood with his cargo on a certain day, for the supply of illuminating fuel in the town had been depleted. When he arrived with the much-needed source of lighting he said he never had a chance to carry his cargo into the store. Residents surrounded his wagon and bought the entire cargo of kerosene at $2 a gallon. Martin had left Pierre for Deadwood in December but it was April when he returned. The pioneer railroad fared little better, he said, Pierre not having had a train all winter. - Capital Journal, Dec. 15, 1934. Old Tree Gone The big cottonwood tree trunk that stood in front of the Hank Hausman home on Coteau street, was all cut away today. This has been dismantled in part for sometime, but today it disappeared. This was a landmark, being a tree growing in front of the one business house that was located where it still stands in 1880. Mr. Hausman conducted a bakery and grocery store there 54 years ago, and this tree was finally taken down, for fear that its age might result in the tree or heavy limbs coming down on his building. - Capital Journal, Dec. 15, 1934 [photo - Photograph by The Miller Studio – St. Mary’s Accredited 100 Bed Hospital] St. Mary’s Hospital, Pierre, S. Dak. Early in 1899, Dr. Delorme W. Robinson, Pierre physician, having felt for some time the need of a hospital in Pierre, sent out inquiries to various Catholic Sisterhoods, inviting investigation with a view to open- ===============================Page 50========================== ing a hospital in what was then known as the Park Hotel. This building had been vacant for over seven years because of the transfer of the business section from East Pierre to its present location. A representative of the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Paul came out and looked the situation over but declined the invitation to establish a hospital here. Later in the year a representative of the Benedictine Convent of the Sacred Heart of Yankton looked over the situation and agreed to give the idea a trial. On Friday, Sept. 1, 1899, five Sisters arrived from Yankton with a combined working capital of $20. Imagine, if you can, the task of preparing a building, vacant for seven years, so as to be suitable for the care of the sick. At the back door was a large pile of dirt and rubbish and as this was cleared away, cups, plates, pitchers, knives and forks were unearthed. These were scrubbed and sterilized and, together with a bread baking tin, were used in serving the first tray to the first patient, Mrs. Eugene Rich, who entered the hospital the day after the Sisters arrived. Later in the year five other Sisters arrived and gradually, room by room, the building was prepared for occupancy. As the patients began to enter one by one, and surgical and other equipment had to be supplied, Dr. Robinson donated the first operating room table. Sterilizing was done in open vessels and not under pressure as now. On Thanksgiving day, the Sisters invited the public to inspect the hospital. A program was given for the entertainment of the visitors and a lunch was served. On Dec. 8th, 1899, the first Hospital baby was born - the baby was named Mary Woods and is now Mrs. Sheets of Chadron, Nebraska, the mother of several children. On January 6th, 1900, the first operation was performed - an operation for rupture, by Dr. Robinson with Dr. Lavdry now of Aberdeen as assistant. Modern equipment was gradually added as funds were available and many times the citizens of Pierre, because of their faith in the ultimate success of the venture, gave and loaned money to the Sisters and helped them during emergencies. In 1911 a modernly equipped operation room was installed with high pressure sterilizers. It represented the latest in hospital equipment. Soon after the power house was added; modern laundry machinery was installed and the bakery and diet kitchen electrified. An example of the growth of the Hospital is demonstrated in the fact that in 1906, 304 patients were admitted to the hospital; in 1916 - 722; in 1926 - 1827 and in 1936 - 3038. The need for a new, modern, fire-proof building had long been apparent to the Sisters and the citizens of Pierre and in 1929 a Committee composed of business men of Pierre and Ft. Pierre was appointed and plans laid for the erectionof a new St. Mary’s Hospital at a completed cost of approximately $250,000. The contract was signed on Jan. 2nd, 1930; the corner stone was laid on May 18, 1930, and Dedication ceremonies held on Nov. 5th, 1930. The new Hospital is rated as a 100 bed hospital, modern in every detail, is accredited by the American College of Surgeons, assuring patients entering, the same service as an accredited Hospital in the Metropolis of any State in the Union. It is un- ===============================page 51======================== usual, indeed, that a comparatively small city can boast of hospital facilities comparable to those available to citizens of Pierre. St. Mary’s Hospital is the medical center for a territory with a radius of 100 to 150 miles from Pierre. Its success is in large measure due to the excellence of its medical staff and the complete cooperation of the people of Pierre and Central South Dakota. But above all, to the untiring devotion through the years of its growth, of the Benedictine Sisters. -Geo. Kienholz Farm Island Presenting a vastly different appearance than in 1804 when a party of the Lewis and Clark expedition hunted deer and elk there, Farm Island has been developed into an outstanding recreational point of central South Dakota through work done by CCC boys with the cooperation of the United States forestry service. So named because in early days soldiers and traders of old Fort Pierre used the sandy, three-mile strip for farming purposes, the island now reflects a combination of the modern and rustic. Building Community House Shelter cabins, boy and girl scout lodges, landscaped roads, picnicking grounds and a new community building, under construction, are among the additions to the land’s natural picturesqueness. Every year girl scouts from surrounding areas gather on Farm Island for an extended outing, their lodge and its attendant camping facilities constituting one of the best camps of this nature west of the Mississippi river. In addition to other uses, the island serves as a nursery ground for tree seedlings that are raised for later distribution in the shelterbelt area. Two million young trees, representing every kind raised in the shelterbelt area, were grown under irrigation last summer. Despite scourges of drought, grasshoppers and bugs, water supplied by two large pumps enabled the trees to survive. They were recently dug and shipped to Brookings for distribution next spring. Lake Named After Mayor First taming a fork of the muddy turbulent Missouri river in the face of skepticism of engineers, CCC boys joined the mainland to the island by a dam constructed of native materials. The result is a long, quiet stretch of water - Hipple lake, a popular fishing and swimming spot. The lake was named after Mayor John Hipple of Pierre because his energetic promotion of the island’s development. Farm Island’s dense stretches of trees and thick underbrush provide an excellent retreat for birds and has been set aside as a game sanctuary. -Sioux City Journal, 1936 ========================page 52=========================== [photo -CCC Camp] [photo - Airplane View] [photo - Shelter House] [photo Girl Scout Cabin] -From “Guide to Pierre and Vicinity” =====================page 53=============================== Hilts Grocery in Same Location as When First Opened A burning desire to live in Pierre despite seeming insurmountable difficulties has paid Mr. F. E. Hilts his reward and after thirty years in Pierre he points with pride to a business which was built from nothing. The foundation upon which he has constructed his business has been faith in Pierre and the unstinted service to his fellow townsmen and business associates. The Hilts Grocery was established in 1907, in the building in which it is now located. Mr. Frank Hilts was born in Spring Valley, Minnesota, in 1878 and moved with his parents to Milbank, South Dakota, in 1881, where his father established a home in the Dakota Territory. Mr. Hilts attended the Milbank city schools graduating from high school there in 1899. During vacations and at odd times he clerked and did other work in various stores in Milbank. In 1900 he enrolled in Brookings college and completed a business course there, graduating in 1901. For several years he was then employed by the Brookings Land company, of which Charlie Goodman was the manager. Mr. Goodman desired land of a lower price for his customers, than the land in the eastern part of the state, and so came to Pierre and secured quarters with C. H. Anderson, in a building less than a hundred feet from what is now the North Western freight depot track. In 1906, Mr. Hilts came to Pierre to serve as sub-agent for Mr. Goodman. He was employed in this capacity for one year, after which time Mr. Goodman retired from business and went to California. Out of work, with but little money, and hating to leave Pierre, Mr. Hilts rented the room in which the store is now located, and put in grocery stock, which he obtained from the Albright Company. Bert Garner went into partnership with Mr. Hilts, and in 1907, the Hilts Grocery store was established. In 1908, Mr. Hilts purchased Mr. Garner’s partnership, Mr. Garner leaving Pierre then and moving to California, where he since has resided. From that time, The Hilts Grocery occupied the same location, with additional space up to date. In June 1908, he was married, and during the following year made proof upon his 160 acres of Stanley County land. For years he has enjoyed his beautiful home, formerly known as the C. C. Bennett residence, and as a director of the First National Bank, and with his other well known holdings, he is recognized as successful in every sense of the word. Mr. Hilts attributes his success to the faithful service of those who have worked for him, and those who are now with him. His employees own their own homes and contribute to the welfare of our city, and have succeeded through the idea that, efficient service, plus a knowledge of the business, brings satisfactory results. -Marian Holst