Eastern Pennington County Memories  -- Peno Basin


	This information is from "Eastern Pennington County Memories", 
	published by The American Legion Auxilliary, Carrol McDonald Unit, 
	Wall, South Dakota and is uploaded with their kind permission. 
	Pages 350 - 371

	Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net, 1999. 

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St. Paul Lutheran Church
in Peno Basin

Mrs. Rose Denke

	In early homestead days of 1906-1910 homesteaders came from Hutchinson 
County and many emigrants from Germany and Russia, all of whom were German 
descendants. They were all God fearing and loving people and were of Lutheran 
denomination.

	They would gather at homestead homes where Jacob Geigle, an elderly man, 
or Gustav Willuweit, who were Lutheran school teachers, would read some words of 
Scripture and sing songs, as they all were good singers and loved to sing their 
German songs.

	In the summer of 1907 a missionary pastor from Philip, visited the area 
and conducted services once a month as he traveled with a team of horses. Then 
in the summer of 1910 the Rev. Richard Shamber helped organize a congregation 
and then they built this little church, just northeast of Jacob Geigle's house 
on his land. Also the same summer Mr. Geigle's daughter, Mrs. G. Reib, died in 
childbirth, so they started a cemetery near the church, and up to the present 
time some 20 grown and small babies were buried in this cemetery.

	The charter members of the St. Paul's Lutheran Church were Jacob Geigle, 
Sr., John Denke, Gustav Willuweit, E. H. Helms, William Rippert, August Denke, 
Jacob Geigle, Jr., Jonas Huber, George Schuler. The first Elders were G. Reib, 
Gustav Willuweit, John Denke, and E. H. Helms. Many younger men of the 
congregation built the church, as money was not so plentiful in those days. Also 
a house for the pastor was moved and repaired next to the church.

	A number of pastor serviced this congregation. They were Schamber, 
Schwarting, Schaeffer, Klienhans, Eggert, Kraft, Dubbe, Predoehl, and 
Kieschnick.

	During Rev. Schaeffer days, World War I broke out and the church suffered 
a hardship when Germans were not allowed in the U.S.A. and German service was 
only preached here. With the help of God and willing Rev. Schaeffer went from 
house to house with team and buggy and read the gospel to his people in their 
homes, because of a general fear of assembly as a large group of KuKlux Klanners 
were burning crosses and threatening the German citizens. This kept the 
congregation going until after the war.

	During Rev. Eggert's days came "Prohibition Days" when they could not get 
wine for Holy Communion. With the help of God, two members, William Peppert and 
E. H. Helms went and got some wine from Father Connolly, the Catholic Priest, as 
the Catholic's were able to get wine. We had Holy Communion on Good Friday 
before Easter. This showed willingness and trusting in God and so this 
congregation still pushed on through all these difficulties.

	Next came Rev. Kraft when the congregation enlarged the house for the 
pastor, as his family needed the room. Then came the drought and 1930's and 
everything stood still, no money anywhere. But Rev. Kraft with his family 
stayed, and lived like the rest of the congregation. He got very little money, 
but members always brought food, such as meat, cream, eggs, wood, corn cobs, so 
he had food and fuel.

	Trusting God, times did get better, Rev. Kraft served this congregation 13 
long years. In Kraft's time, when times got better the Ladies Aid gave dinners 
and with the men raised money and added 10 feet to the church in 1942 and made a 
very nice looking church.

	In the summer of 1949 the congregation celebrated their 40th anniversary 
with 18 of the original members of the church still here.,

	In the year of 1946 the Rev. Dubbe moved to Wall where he also served a 
new congregation which was larger than St. Paul's at Quinn. Our congregations 
was getting smaller because of the new means of travel, better roads, and better 
cars.

	In the winter of 1658 St. Paul Lutheran Church closed its doors as only 12 
members and their families were still here. The members went to Creighton and 
Wall.

	The last elders of. St. Paul's church were H. A. Denke, William Geigle, 
and Wm. Diewitz. In the spring of 1959  the church and parish house were sold at 
an auction sale. Reinhold Denke bought the church and moved it to his ranch 
where he uses it for a warehouse and Edwin Sieler bought and moved the parsonage 
to his ranch in Peno Basin.

	This Lutheran Church had served the community for 48 years.



Peno Basin

by Joy Hauk

	Peno Basin breaks down off Lake Flat on the eastern edge of Pennington 
county, and in homestead days it was a lively little community with its own ball 
team and male quartet, and at times the Fourth of July was celebrated there with 
races and refreshment stands and a ball game, with a bowery dance at night.

	Peno Springs, from which the basin got its name, probably was the earliest 
inhabited spot between Fort Pierre and Deadwood. Balboa Pynaux, a French and 
Indian squaw man, lived at the springs for many years and the springs were 
called after him, Peno being the Anglicized version of Pynaux.

	It is said that Captain Reynolds stopped at Pynaux Springs in 1859, and 
that the Gordon Expedition was there on their way to the Hills in 1874.

	An old journal of an 1830 exploring expedition up the Missouri in 1830 
mentions Balboa Pynaux and also calls him Pynaux the Yanktonais. He was a hunter 
for the group and there is frequent mention in the journal of his bringing in a 
good supply of deer and buffalo.

	Old maps of early explorations through this country show Pynaux Springs on 
them. It is possible that Pynaux settled at the springs soon after 1830.

	Unquestionably Pynaux and his wife lived in a dugout in a hillside, at 
least when they first settled down at the springs. The dugout was quick and easy 
to build, excellent protection from the elements, and was the accepted dwelling 
on the prairies in beaver trapping and buffalo hunting days.

	In the hillside near one of the springs there is a dent that is hard to 
explain by erosion; it looks exactly as the site of a long-abandoned dugout 
would look. Maybe that is where Pynaux and his wife lived. There is no proof 
that it is. But there's no proof that it isn't. Anyway it's nice to believe it 
is.

	Early settlers found Indian graves near the springs; the fine water of the 
springs must have made the area a popular one with the Indians.

	After the Deadwood Trail was established between Fort Pierre and Deadwood, 
Peno Springs was a favorite stop with the freighters and the ruts of the old 
trail are still visible up the hill from the springs onto the flat above.

	Shortly after this area was opened to settlement in 1889, the U Cross 
cattle outfit under C. K. Howard took over Peno Springs and Peno Basin and 
flourished there on the good water and bountiful grass for some 15 years. But 
the coming of the railroad, bringing hundreds of homesteaders to take up the 
free land, was the doom of all the big cattle outfits. In May of 1906 Howard 
ordered a last great roundup and trailed all his cattle down to the Rosebud 
reservation, and the U Cross vanished from Peno Basin. The corrals and some of 
the buildings survived for many years. The house still stood in 1965. There are 
still vestiges of old dugouts, old wells, old corrals.

	Edwin Sieler owns Peno Springs now but no one lives there. It is deserted. 
The Indians were driven away from its sweet waters by, the freighters and the 
cattle. The brief generation when the U Cross flourished there was cut short 
when the homesteaders came. Most of the homesteaders left within a year or so 
after they came. Still more of the homesteaders gave up and moved out when the 
drouth of 1911 starved them out. Others left during the dry '30's.

	Now Peno Basin is an area of large farms and comfortable homes. But the 
pasques bloom on the hillsides and the chokecherries and wild plums ripen sweet 
fruit in the draws, just as they did a thousand years before Balboa Pynaux was 
born.

[Photo - Peno Basin Ball Team in early days.  Back: Gus Knodel, Forrest Humbert, 
Don Kennedy, Rusty Kezar.  Front: Ole Lathrop, Chet Rickard, Lin Lathrop, Ed 
Lathrop and Myrie Rickard.]



Henry and Edgar Schreiber Families

by Edgar Schreiber

	One of the first settlers in Peno Basin north of Quinn, South Dakota, was 
Henry Schreiber and his brother-in-law, William E. Pippert, who came to South 
Dakota from near Plymouth, Wisconsin. They worked on the Chicago- Northwestern 
Railroad tracks near Wasta along the Cheyenne River, rip-rapping the roadbed 
along the river. From there they went to Rapid City where Mr. Schreiber worked a 
few days in a bakery and at other odd jobs. This was about 1905 or 1906.

	In 1907 he made homestead entry on the S.E. of Section 20 1. N. 17. E. B. 
H. N. In January 1908 Mr. Schreiber was married to Anna M. Pippert of Sheboygan, 
Wisconsin. Then they emigrated their possessions to Quinn, South Dakota by 
railroad. For a time they lived in an old rock house located one mile east of 
their homestead. While they lived there they were working on their own house, 
which they built of rock. A mixture of mud, water, and straw was used for 
plaster and mortar. They were working on this house on Christmas day 1908. A 
board blew off the roof and hit Dad on the nose, breaking it. There being no 
doctors he didn't have it set and it always was a bit crooked.

	On January 5, 1909, their first son, Edgar, was born in the house where 
they first lived. As the years went by they had five more children, Arle (Mrs. 
Raymond Watson of Quinn), Evangeline (deceased), Karoline (Mrs. Wilbur Pecka of 
Denver, Colorado), Warren of Hinton, Iowa, and Gertrude (Mrs. John Storkel of 
Imperial, Nebraska).

	The first years were very hard on the settlers. Dad used to go up to the 
Cheyenne River breaks where many people out posts at that time. He would take a 
team and wagon, drive up one day, sleep out in the open or wagon, cut a load of 
posts the next, and drive home the third day. Sometimes he would trade or sell 
these posts to help out on living expenses. He also broke up considerable 
prairie land for some of the more wealthy settlers for which he got $1.00 per 
acre. This was with a walking plow pulled by four horses. Dad was a great lover 
of horses and did much of his haying with them up until he was unable to do his 
own work.

	As time went by they bought more land until they owned 960 acres of their 
own. They bought their first new Ford touring car in 1919 for $490.

	In 1925 they bought their first tractor, a Fordson. When they threshed 
their first crops they had a threshing machine run by horses, not operated by a 
tractor as the later ones were. This machine also had to have a man stack the 
straw as they had no blower. Later on they used the steam rigs, one owned by 
David Stephens, a neighbor whose land is now part of the home place.

	Mother always had chickens and had pretty good luck getting eggs in the 
winter when eggs were high. She also had to wash clothes by hand for many years. 
One of the first washers she had was one that you pulled a handle back and forth 
until they were washed. I also remember a barrel churn in which they made their 
own butter.

	The school where the five older children went to school was located about 
one and one half miles southwest of the homestead and was known as the Beadle 
School. Some of the children that went to this school were the Kellys, 
Hildebrandts, Rehders, Johannesens, Johnsons, Klingbiles, Guethleins, and 
Steeles.

	Dad and Mother lived in the old rock house until 1931 when they built the 
house that is now on the place.

	One of the things I'll always remember is the empty water barrel. There 
being no well near the house, the water was hauled on a stoneboat in a barrel 
from a well about 1/2 mile away. One was generally lucky if one got a half 
barrel back to the house due to splashing out and sometimes upsetting when a 
small rock or obstruction got under the runner of the stoneboat. They also had 
to pump all the water by hand until about 1920. In the thirties when it was so 
dry that all the wells went dry much time was spent digging wells and hunting 
new supplies for cattle as well as house use.

	In 1917 they had a telephone put in. This was a telephone that hung on the 
wall and was operated by batteries. You rang the ring for the party desired and 
if you wanted some one long distance you called the operator. My folks ring was 
one short and three long rings. The others were similar, for instance the 
Kelly's had three longs. This phone line went out of existence in the early 
thirties when severe drought hit the area.

	In the 1930's, especially 1934 and 1936, there were many grasshoppers and 
dust storms. Russian thistles and other weeds were the main sources of hay and 
pasture. Quite a few cattle were sold to the government for $15 to $20 per head. 
By 1937 crops were much better and herds were again built up.

	While their son, Warren, was in the Armed Forces, many of the neighbors 
and myself helped with farm work and trips to town. Dad never learned to drive a 
gear shift car. Once he drove a tractor for several hours while I made a trip to 
town for supplies. When I got back he got off and said, "That's enough tractor 
for me." Even though I thought he did real well, you could never get him back on 
a tractor.

	In the fall of 1951 their daughter, Arle, and her husband, moved onto the 
farm and operated it. As Dad was in poor health, in 1954, he was taken to a 
hospital at Yankton, where he passed away in December, 1959.

	Mother lived on the farm until 1959 when she entered a hospital at Rapid 
City and passed away in December, 1959.

	My wife (the former Anna Kjerstad) and I live on what was known as Lost 
Draw. Maybe that's why no one can find it!

	We were married August, 1932, and have six children, Alvin, born in 193 6, 
who married Christine Franks, has two children and is in the Air Force in Idaho; 
Elnoris, born in 1938, is at home; Linda, born in 1940, is Mrs. Dennis Garrison 
and has four children; Rose, born in 1942, is Mrs. Dennis Sloan and has two 
children; Elain, born in 1945, is in beauty school, and Lawrence, born in 1949, 
is a junior at Wall High School.

[Photo - Edgar Schreiber family]

[Photo - Old Settlers picnic at L. G. Hildebrandts.]




Henry Schreiber History

by Mrs. Ray Watson

	During the years of 1904 and 1905 Henry Schreiber and brother Ernest 
Schreiber of Plymouth, Wisconsin settled near Ft. Pierre on the Lower Brule and 
went into the sheep business. This venture failed, so Henry Schreiber and Tony 
Madson struck out on horseback to Montana to round up wild horses and ship them 
east to sell. Mr. Schreiber saw the May blizzard of 1905 and had many of his 
horses frozen to death; also saw Cox's frozen cattle that went over walls of the 
Badlands. Also during 1906 Henry freighted homesteaders supplies from Pierre to 
Philip and Grindstone area. During 19 0 7 Henry Schreiber together with William 
Pippert of Howard Grove, Wisconsin helped lay track on the Chicago Northwestern 
Railroad to Rapid City.

	About this time land was being taken for homestead and each filed on a 
claim. At this time they were living in a shack in the Peno Basin area. In 
December of that year both Schreiber and Pippert returned to Howards Grove, 
Wisconsin to get their brides. Henry Schreiber married Anna Pippert January 12, 
1908 and came to Quinn, South Dakota by train together with Mr. and Mrs. William 
Pippert, who were married January 11, 1908. They brought with them all their 
household goods. Mrs. Schrieber told of sleeping on boards that were on two saw 
horses until their household goods came from Wisconsin. Freight came much slower 
than passenger service.

	Mrs. Schreiber rented land for a couple years, what is now known as the 
Emil Sieler place. During this time Mr. and Mrs. Schreiber worked on building a 
stone two room house, which was to be their new house on the homestead. While 
working on this stone house, Mr. Schreiber got his nose broken on Christmas day. 
There were no doctors available so he carried a broken nose to his grave. On 
January 5, 1909 their first son, Edgar, was born. Late in January they moved 
from the Sieler place to their own new home. All of the rest of their five 
children were born in this house.

	Mrs. Schreiber, our mother, told of the good rains, abundant crops of oats 
and spettz, and deep grasses. All prairie with no fences and lush grazing 
beckoned many people to come west.

	In 1911 a very dry year came along and their first moisture of the season 
was a severe hail storm in August. Their corn, which they had planted early, 
then came up and made pretty fair feed before frost.

	On May 1, 1912 their first daughter, Arle, was born. There being midwives 
in attendance, as there were no doctors available. On December 20, 1914 
Evangeline was born.

	About this time St. Pauls Lutheran Church was founded, Mr. and Mrs. 
Schreiber were charter members.

	During the years of 1915 and 116 it was very wet in western South Dakota. 
Mrs. Schreiber took her first train trip east to her old home in Wisconsin with 
her children and also attended the wedding of her sister Emma. When returning 
from Wisconsin, near Pierre, South Dakota floods had washed out the train tracks 
and Mrs. Schreiber with three small children and a baby were laid up in Pierre 
many days before she could come on home to Quinn. It was a great hardship to get 
milk for her baby in Pierre at this time.

	On August 6, 1918 Karoline was born. She was the first baby to be born 
with Doctor Mesiron in attendance. During these years the homesteaders were 
getting along quite well and we purchased our first Ford touring car. When the 
roads were dry we could get to town much faster than with the horse and buggy to 
get our supplies.

	About this time Mr. Schreiber purchased quite a lot more land, which was 
then known as the Stelle place. A new large barn was on this place and 
Schreiber, together with a bunch of carpenters, sawed this barn down and hauled 
it two miles with horses, erecting it where it still stands.

	In the Spring of May, 1922 Warren C. was born and on July 21, 1924 
Gertrude was born.

	In 1925 we purchased our first gas driven tractor, a Fordson. It did a lot 
of work when it ran, but you spent a half a day cranking it.

	In the Spring of 1927 we had many late snow storms. Ranchers were short on 
feed and turned cattle out early to graze. This was our first big hardship, as 
we lost many cattle because they were too weak to get up. In 1928 we lost one of 
our biggest small grain crops to a destructive hail storm. On July 6, we also 
lost a large field of flax.

	This year Gertrude entered high school and graduated from Rapid City. She 
enrolled in Michael Reese School of Nursing in Chicago on March 1, 1943 under a 
Rothschild Scholarship and graduated March 8, 1946. Her nursing career included 
one year in United States Navy Nurse Corps. She was married November 4, 1951 to 
John Storkel of Franger, Pennsylvania. They reside in Imperial, Nebraska with 
their three children.

	In June 1941, Evangeline, who then was employed in the Hartman Drug Firm 
in Chicago, was married to Nick Hartman. They moved to Baldwin Park, California 
where they lived on a chicken ranch until her death in September 1955.

	Then in 1930, Mr. Schreiber started digging his own basement for a new and 
larger home. He skidded all the rock from out of the hills on ranch and laid up 
this complete basement himself, 26 x 26, in 1931. This house was completed and 
we moved in, in January of 1932. This summer we had the bin buster crop of the 
life time in this area. There were good rains all season. We had threshing crew 
two solid weeks with three meals a day including two lunches. All to be cooked 
on wood stoves.

	In August Edgar was married to Anna Kjerstad and they moved to a quarter 
section of land Anna then owned northeast of Quinn. In the following spring in 
May, Arle was married to Raymond Watson of Cedar Falls, Iowa, who was on highway 
construction work in this area. Then in the Spring of 1943 they moved to Iowa.

	Karoline graduated from high school at Quinn in 1936 and entered St. Marys 
School of Nursing at Pierre. About this time there was a depression on and no 
crops were being raised in this area due to no moisture and high winds. People 
called it the dirty thirties or dust bowl and grasshoppers ate what little 
vegetation existed. Many people were losing their farms and moving away to seek 
work elsewhere. Karoline graduated from Nurses Training in 1939 and entered Army 
Nurse Corps October 20, 1942. She was on flight nurse duty and discharged as 1st 
Lt. December 2, 1945. She married lst Lt. William Pecka at Ft. Dix, New Jersey, 
July 21, 1945, a navigator serving on B17 Flying Fortress. He was shot down over 
Biemen, German and was taken prisoner. He was then liberated by the Russians. 
They have one son, Jeffry, a senior in high school in Denver, Colorado where he 
and his parents reside.

	Warren graduated from Quinn High School and spent two years in Army Air 
Force as Crew Chief Member in China, Burma, India Theathre. He married Celia 
Harrison of Hinton, Iowa, February 14, 1951 and has one daughter, Melody. All 
reside on a farm in Iowa.

	In 1951 Mr. Schrieber began to have failing health, suffering a stroke in 
September. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Watson returned to the ranch to help Mrs. 
Schreiber operate the ranch. Mrs. Schreiber was deceased on December 9, 1959 and 
Raymond Watson then took over the ranch in 1960. Mr. Schreiber passed on from 
this full and rich life November 18, 1961 at the age of 85 years, two months and 
26 days.

[Photo - H. Schreiber]

[Photo - Mrs. H. Schreiber in front of old stone house]

[Photo - Mr. Henry Schreiber]




The Krebs History

by Rudy Krebs

	Christian F. Krebs was born in Swancreek, on August 7, 1876. His wife 
Louise Blum was born near Menno, South Dakota.

	In late September or early October, in the year of 1906, Christian F. 
Krebs, his wife Louise and two small sons, Herald age two, and Rudy, age six 
weeks, joined a group of three other families of Tripp, South Dakota and began a 
journey westward in quest of a homestead. Their journey began by railroad, with 
an emigrant car to carry their necessary equipment and household goods.

	The end of the railroad was at Murdo, South Dakota. There the men set up 
their covered wagons and the four families set out on the long trip across the 
prairies to eastern Pennington County. The town of Quinn, South Dakota was just 
coming into being then and was to be their future trading center.

	The four families were the Sielers, Knodels, Warnkes and Krebs. They each 
filed on a quarter section of land in Peno Basin, seven miles southwest of the 
Grindstone post office. They worked together and built their shanties. They had 
to go to Rapid City with wagons to get material to build with, which took 
several days each way. The quarter section of land which at the present time is 
the Emil Sieler farmstead, is the land that Christian Krebs homesteaded. When 
these four families of homesteaders had their shanties completed and had moved 
into them, Chris Krebs drove to Grindstone one day a week to barber, which was 
his profession in Tripp, before he came to Pennington County to homestead. in 
the spring of 1907 the men drove back to Tripp, South Dakota to bring out a load 
of provisions. This was quite an experience for the women, who were left here 
with their children, during the absence of their husbands. They were afraid of 
the Indians and cowboys. That spring Chris Krebs broke up about forty acres of 
his land. In June 1907, after proving up on their homesteads, the Krebs and 
Warnke families, journeyed back to Tripp, by way of team and wagon. The Sielers 
and Knodels remained on their homesteads.

	Chris Krebs reopened his barber shop again in Tripp, and followed that 
trade there until 1919. During those years, three more sons were born into the 
Krebs family. Tony, born on September 6, 1909; Ray, November 19, 1911 and Wilson 
on January 27, 1914. During the years the Krebs lived in Tripp, Chris Krebs 
built and lived in four different homes. In 1917 he traded his latest home in, 
on some more land in Peno Basin. He also traded Henrich Sieler his homestead for 
a 160 acres which joined his previous purchase. Now he owned 480 acres of 
unimproved, eastern Pennington County prairie.

	In early March 1919, Chris Krebs and son Herald, boarded a freight train, 
with two cars loaded with the entire personal property of the family and left 
Tripp, South Dakota for good. They arrived in Quinn, South Dakota and were 
assisted by the old homestead neighbors, to move their goods and animals to the 
Seiler farm. The rest of the family came about three weeks later by passenger 
train. As there were no buildings on the Krebs land, they moved into two old 
homestead shacks which were pushed close together, and were located on a quarter 
section of land which joined the Krebs land on the east side. There were also a 
couple of old barns or sheds to house the livestock and chickens.

	A suitable location was picked for the family's new farmstead, and soon 
the entire family was busy building and breaking up the prairie, to plant 
alfalfa and corn. Herald, who was in his second year of high school in Tripp, 
South Dakota, did not attend school anymore out here in the west, but the other 
four boys attended at the Richard School which was about 2 1/2 miles from the 
Krebs farm. Team and buggy furnished the transportation problem, while there 
were four boys going to school. Later when there were only three, they rode 
horseback. They took their noon lunches with them and stayed all day.

	As the years went by more land was purchased and there was an increase in 
cropland and also livestock. The main source of income was the sale of wheat, 
cattle, hogs, cream and eggs. Everything seemed to go nicely until the 
depression of the thirties struck. Along with the depression came the drought 
and dirt storms. Although there was a good crop in 1932, it was practically 
worthless. Prices were so low that one could hardly afford the expense of 
transporting his goods to the market. There was plenty to eat however as home 
butchering was practiced and there was plenty of milk and eggs, to eat, plus a 
good variety of home canned vegetables and fruits in the cellar. The greatest 
problem was to get enough money to supply the family with the needed clothing, 
to buy some coal to heat the home in winter, and last but not least, to pay the 
taxes. Some folks lost their holdings to the county because they could not pay 
their taxes. But some how, during the Roosevelt administration with its various 
work programs and a sound banking system, and era of advancement and improvement 
began. The Krebs family and many of their neighbors, lived through that long 
depression, never losing faith in the Almighty, and with a strong determination 
to hold on to what they had until relief would come.

	After the depression years of the early 1930's and the extreme drought of 
1936, times again became better and prices began to rise. Crops were much better 
also and it was much easier to make a fair living. Mr. and Mrs. Chris Krebs 
remained on their farm until October 1943. They moved to Quinn, South Dakota and 
retired from active farming. In 1947 Mr. Krebs built a new home in Quinn. In 
1955 he became ill and he died in 1958. Mrs. Krebs followed him in 1963. The 
five sons still live in and around Quinn. Four are engaged in farming and 
ranching and one is a rural mail carrier out of Quinn. This is the history of 
the Krebs family, who homesteaded in eastern Pennington County in the year, 
1906.

[Photo - Krebs wedding picture]

[Photo - Grandma Chamberlain, Mrs. Krebs, Daisy Chamberlain, Mrs. H. Sieler, 
Henry Sieler, Joe Chamberlain, Mr. Krebs sitting.]

[Photo - Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Krebs]

[Photo - Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Krebs in front of the Lincoln cabin in Illinois]

[Photo - Peno Basin stock farm]



Henrick Sieler

by Mrs. Bertha Sieler

	Henrick Sieler and Kathryn Knodel were married at Tripp, South Dakota on 
August 11, 1901. They lived there for several years then came by covered wagon 
with four children, Edwin, Henry, Bethina, and Emil, to homestead in Peno Basin 
thirteen miles north east of Quinn in 1906. Conditions were unsuitable so they 
returned to Tripp for a year while a home was being built on the land. They 
moved "out west" again in 1909 into the new ten room house where Ida and Harold 
were born. The lumber for this house was hauled from Rapid City by team and 
wagon. Each trip took several days as there were no roads or bridges across the 
creeks and river. Four to six horses were hitched to one wagon to pull it up to 
the top of the hills. They forded the Cheyenne River at Smithwick. The neighbors 
and carpenters helped to build the house before the winter of 1908. A house 
warming was held when it was completed.

	There were no roads or fences so stock ran at large. It was a hazard 
during the winter snows to travel as there were no markings to follow. Many 
people were lost and wandered for hours before finding shelter.

	The six children all attended grade school at the Rickard School north of 
the farm. Ida went on to high school and college and taught several years in the 
neighborhood. Harold went to a mechanics school in North Dakota. All six were 
confirmed into the Lutheran faith at St. Paul's Lutheran Church which was in 
Peno Township. Later all married and live in or near this community.

	Like all pioneers "Hard work and perseverance" was their motto. Through 
good and bad years with faith and trust in God, they were able to build and own 
one of the finest farms or ranches in Peno Basin.

	Mr. Sieler served on the school board for several years. He was an officer 
in the St. Paul's Lutheran church board. He served as one of the first officers 
in the Farm Program. He helped to get the telephone into Peno Basin. Many times 
he was called upon to write wills for some of the first homesteaders. One day in 
late 1941 he was helping the family pick turkeys. It was just after Pearl 
Harbor, and conversation that afternoon included the recent bombings. That 
evening he complained of a headache. It did not cease and before morning he 
passed away.

	Mrs. Sieler was known as Grandma Sieler to many of the neighborhood 
children. She was often called upon to serve as nurse and midwife, delivering 
many babies and caring for the sick. One small girl was given up by the doctor. 
Mrs. Sieler asked if she could try and with onion poultices saved the child. She 
had many home remedies that worked. Her good deeds throughout the community were 
endless and without pay. Her hobbies were many. Among them entertaining in her 
home, cooking, gardening and quilting. In her later years she became a rock 
collector and she had many fine specimens some of value, that were collected 
from several states.

	In the fall Mrs. Sieler loaded a lumber wagon with pumpkins, squash and 
carrots and went around the neighborhood giving it all away. Her flowers were a 
wonder since the gardens were not irrigated then. Double bachelor-buttons were 
one of her specialities.

	The Sielers both took pride in their community and were always willing to 
do their part in helping others to promote the general welfare in various 
enterprises.

	Mr. Sieler was called upon many times to hitch his high spirited team to 
the spring wagon and race for the doctor. In one instance the person died before 
the doctor arrived. Since there was no undertaker near, Mr. Sieler had to take 
the body to Murdo which was the nearest railroad town where the body was 
prepared for burial and shipped to eastern South Dakota. One time it was 
necessary to build a coffin for a young mother who died in child birth.

	They lived to enjoy twenty grandchildren and several great grandchildren.

	Their family is not scattered far. Edwin lives in Peno Basin on the old 
Rickard place. Emil owns the original homestead. He had remodeled and added many 
improvements. Betty married Benhard Denke. Ben passed away and after several 
years she married Gus Salee and lives in Rapid City. Ida married Alvin McClure 
and they live on the McClure place near the old post office of Grindstone. Henry 
also lives near Grindstone after marrying Lily McClure. Harold married Maxine 
Johnson and farmed near Kadoka. He was killed in a car accident but his family 
still lives in or near Kadoka.

[Photo - The Henrick Sieler Ranch Home]

[Photo - 1941 - Mr. and Mrs. Sieler, seated; Henry, Harold, Ida, Betty, Emil and 
Edwin.]

[Photo - Henrick Sieler Home]




Rickard School

by Mrs. Ruth Knodel, a former teacher
Mrs. Kathy Clark, a former student

	The Peno White School No. 50 was originally located on the McCay homestead 
but was soon moved a couple of miles east and then called the Rickard School 
since it was near the A. R. Rickard place.

	Sometime in the summer of 1910 or 1911 a new schoolhouse was built very 
close to the site of the old one which was on Nellie Anthony's homestead. Dave 
Stephens was the carpenter who built the school.

	The first record of school beginning October 26, 1908, consisted of the 
following pupils: Bennie, Roy, Maud, Earl, Muriel and Myrtle Eby; Bernice, Teddy 
and George Blood; Max and Bennie Shapiro; Louie and Ruth Sinykin; Jake, Lavona 
and Israel Chesen; Ruth, Annie and Harry Margolin; the two Kosbergs and Jake 
Miller. The teacher was Lulu Calloway.

	Later teachers included Emylon Brown, Ellen Snyder, Lulu McCabe, A. D. 
Machamer, Ida Knapp, Berneta Balch, Ira Bullis, Alvina Freiberg, Janetta 
Gillies, Marietta Crittenden, Bessie Dorothy, Margueritte Green, Viola Criswell, 
Mabel Seifert, Inez McDonald, Zerma Fisher, Violetta Stahley, Patricia 
Harrington, Leona Strasser, Esther Anderson, Ruth Knodel, Dorothy Smith, Kate 
Harrington, Hope Hambert, Phillis Thorson, Maurine Melvin, Barbara Wentz, 
Gertrude Palmer, Jackie Paulsen and Marjorie Willuweit.

	During the 1942-43 and 1945-46 terms there were only one and two pupils, 
so private school was held for these pupils by Mrs. Ruth Knodel and Frances 
Guethlein Poste, respectively. In the past 56 years three generations often from 
the same family have attended school there.

	These writers can remember many a morning spent huddled around the wood-
burning stove--quite a contrast to the gas stove used now. Of course, 
transportation has changed a lot too, from horseback and wagon to the warmed 
family car of today. We guess the only things that hasn't changed are the kids.

[Photo - Rickard School, May, 1965: Back: Bruce Renner, Peg Geigle and Diane 
Geigle; middle: Darwin Geigle, Esther Kay Carmichael, Wendy and Cheryl Kjerstad, 
Laurie Clark, Ted Kjerstad; sitting: Jeff Clark, Scott Pippert.]

[Photo - Rickard School before the addition was made.]

[Photo - Rickard School - 1965]





A.R. Rickard

by Joy Hauk

	A.R. Rickard was called "Pop" by everyone who knew him. He was a sociable 
man, and a fine man for the community, public-spirited, always in for anything 
that was fun or for the betterment of the neighborhood.

	He was on the school board of the Rickard school for many years, was 
township assessor, and always was active in the church, where he sang in the 
choir. He also was the bass in a quartette which sang for local entertainments 
and celebrations.

	Pop was amused by the foibles of humanity, including his own, and he got a 
lot of entertainment out of observing people.

	He and Mrs. Rickard, who was always called "Ma", originated in Iowa. Pop 
attended Grinnell college there. Around l905 he and Mrs. Rickard moved to 
Tulare, S.D., where they ran a hotel and restaurant. In 1908 they moved to the 
place now owned by Edwin Sieler. They had three children; Myrle, Chet, and 
Cecile. Myrle and Chet died around 1960. Cecile married Harold Groff and lives 
near Caldwell, Idaho.

	After Ma died in 1931 Pop stayed on the place until ill health struck him 
down and he was taken to a nursing home in Idaho, where Cecile lived.

	When he died he was brought back and buried in the Quinn cemetery beside 
Ma. The funeral was not sad. Pop had lived his life and got a lot of good out of 
it, and done a lot of good, but his last years were miserable and his friends 
were glad he was free of his suffering.

	It was a beautiful day for the funeral and the old neighbors lingered at 
the cemetery, visiting about the weather and the crops and talking a little 
about Pop. Some of the men filled in the grave, one shoveling a while, then 
another. When they had finished one said a little sadly, but trying to be 
cheerful, "Well, I guess that's the last thing we can do for Pop."

	Said another, "Well, it was nice to get together. It was just the kind of 
occasion Pop enjoyed. It was too bad he couldn't have taken a more active part 
in it."



The Alvin Rickard Family

by Lathrop

	Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Rickard and two sons, Chester and Myrle, came from 
Tulare, South Dakota, to homestead north of Quinn in 1908. A few years after 
staking their claim, a daughter Cecile, was born to the Rickards.

	Alvin Lathrop and his family were the Rickard's closest neighbors. The 
family lived on their claim until the early thirties when Alvin and his son, 
Chester, moved to Rapid City. Mrs. Rickard had passed away in 1931, and the two 
other children were married. Mr. Rickard suffered a stroke in 1952 and died the 
following year in a rest home at Nampa, Idaho.

	Mrs. Ceicle Groff is the only member of the family still living. She 
resides near Caldwell, Idaho, and is the mother of one daughter, Shirley Mae 
Roberts, and has three grandchildren.

	Merl Rickard was married to Mabel Seifert of Apple River, Illinois August, 
14, 1923, and lived on the same yard where Myrle's parents lived. In later years 
Myrle and his wife moved to a farm they bought 14 miles north of Cottonwood. 
They moved their small house to this place and built up their farm.

	In July of 1951, Myrle's wife, Mabel, passed away, suffering from cancer. 
On February 14, 1953, Myrle married Violet Rehder. They lived on the farm till 
February 1957, when Myrle's health failed and they moved to Wall, South Dakota. 
On July 25, 1963, Myrle passed away from a lingering illness. His wife Violet 
still lives in Wall. She works part time at the Wall Drug Store.

	Chester never married, he was crippled and was on crutches since he was 23 
years old. He worked quite a number of years in the Clerk of Courts office in 
Rapid City as Deputy Clerk. In November of 1960 he suffered a stroke and was in 
the Quinn Hospital till June 16, 1961, when he passed away.

	Cecile and her husband both work, her husband works in a lumber mill and 
Cecile has a job at a fish equipment factory where they make all fishing 
supplies. They live on a farm 10 miles from Coldwell, Idaho and do some farming. 
Where they live they do lots of irrigating on the land.

[Photo - The Rickard ranch]

[Photo - Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Rickard, Chet and Ceicle - 1916]

[Photo - Mr. Rickard, Joe Chamberlain, Mr. Lathrop, Ceicle, Mrs. Rickard, Mrs. 
Lathrop]

[Photo - Chet Rickard, driving; Myrle Rickard, Mr. Bradfield, Mr. and Mrs. A. R. 
Rickard, unknown lady, Ceicle.]



John and Emma Guethlein

by Emma Guethlein

	John Guethlein was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1882. He left home at an 
early age and worked in various places. He worked one year in Chicago for Sears, 
Roebuck and Company, which then was a small establishment. He came to eastern 
South Dakota at the age of twentyone or twenty-two and worked around Yankton and 
Platte before coming west and buying a relinquishment in Peno Basin for $300.00.

	I, Emma Peterson, was born in Tracy, Minnesota in 1892 and came to Ash 
Creek, South Dakota, with my folks at the age of sixteen. I met John in 
Grindstone, where we both worked for the Browns who ran a store and post office, 
also a roadhouse for traveling salesmen, the mail carriers and others who had 
traveled and needed rest for their horses. Those were horse and buggy days. John 
had the mail route from Cottonwood to Dowling in 1911 and 1912.

	I was working for the Browns in 1915, the year of the flood. It was in 
late May. The cloudburst came shortly after midnight. Three persons were drowned 
near Grindstone that night. The house they were sleeping in was swept away by 
the flood waters. A fourth person in the house managed to survive by clinging to 
a tree. At Grindstone, the water came into one of the barns but didn't reach the 
house. When morning came, and we could see around us, it was just like a lake. 
Only the tops of the trees were visible. The current past the house and store 
carried a lot of debris, including clothing, boxes, and even a small shack. Mr. 
Brown had his summer's supply of ice put up in a sidehill and it was all washed 
away.

	John and I were married in 1916. We lived in a two-room shack for three 
years and added another room when the third child arrived. After fifteen years, 
in 1931, we built the house I am now living in. For twelve years I did all my 
washing by rubbing the clothes on a washboard and heated my irons on a wood-
burning stove to do the ironing. I didn't mind as I was young. And we didn't 
have water suitable for clothes washing. John made a stone boat and hauled our 
water from neighbors in a barrel on the stone boat pulled by horses. I think our 
well took the prize for having the hardest water in the country. John never 
would drink it. Even our cattle and horses refused to drink it at times. One 
fall when we were threshing, the crew got sick from drinking it. Chris Willuweit 
once made the remark that he didn't have to drink it to get sick, just driving 
past the well made him sick.

	We used to have some very cold and stormy winters when the children were 
small. I remember one night the three oldest girls, ages ten, nine, and seven, 
had to stay all night at the schoolhouse. Mrs. Charlotte Estes was the teacher. 
They were the only pupils who had come to school that day, and we wouldn't have 
sent them that day either had we known it was twenty degrees below zero, but we 
had no thermometer at the time. It was a nice, calm morning and didn't seem cold 
when they started to school but a genuine blizzard started up shortly after 
dinner. John started out on foot to get them from school but after going just a 
rod or two had to turn back as the storm was so bad that he couldn't see but a 
few feet ahead of him. We were glad we had the telephone and could talk with 
Mrs. Estes, telling her that the children would have to stay there all night as 
John was unable to get there and help them home. Mrs. Estes lived in the 
teacherage with her two children, Bud and Estelle, while teaching.

	In those old days it was hard to get to a doctor as he was so far away and 
the only means of transportation was horse and buggy. The children would have to 
be pretty sick before we called the doctor to come. One winter all five girls 
were sick with scarlet fever and we called Dr. Cowan to come from Cottonwood. 
Another time they were sick with measles and we had the same Dr. Cowan. We 
always kept a bottle of Watkin's linament on hand and that seemed to cure any 
small ailment that they complained about. At least they never seemed to need a 
second dose of it!

	We managed to have a small garden every year in those early days and I 
would can three or four hundred quarts of vegetables, also fruit from the creek. 
One fall I canned two hundred quarts of jelly, jam, and preserves. We really 
enjoyed going down in the creek to pick fruit. The whole family would go, even 
the baby.

	John always had a melon patch. It seemed like that was the only thing we 
had in 1935. One day he took three hundred and fifty muskmelons to Philip and 
sold them for four cents each. They were small, but oh, so good. We traded the 
melons for a hundred pounds of sugar, a bushel of pears, a bushel of peaches, 
and other groceries. John would get up before sunrise and hoe in the melon patch 
till it was time to start milking.

	The winter of 1936 was particularly severe. The snow was so deep that no 
one from Peno Basin got to town for six weeks, then Mr. Sieler drove in with his 
team and sleigh and brought out groceries and mail for the community. There were 
grain sacks full of mail that had been piling up in the post office. Helen was 
staying at Strassers in Quinn that winter going to high school and it was many 
weeks before she got home. One day Dorothy rode horseback two and a half miles 
to Albert Hildebrandts to mail a box of extra clothing to Helen. Though it was a 
fairly decent day when she started out, the going was slow and the wind came up 
when she started back. Her fingers and toes were frostbitten before she got 
home. The roads had been plowed out a few times, but each time they would be 
filled in again by the next day.

	School was closed in Quinn sometime in February because of lack of fuel. 
Trains were snowbound so they couldn't bring in coal. Karrie Schrieber and Helen 
caught a ride with Todd Kelly who was taking a load of feed to his stock in the 
country. A tough trip as the horses even got stuck in the snowdrifts and had to 
be shoveled out and it was way below zero. It took all day to get to Rehders 
where they spent the night. Next day the weather was better and they walked the 
rest of the way home.

	With all the cold weather that winter it was hard to keep the house warm. 
Somehow we managed to stay comfortable, though, by shutting off extra rooms and 
just heating what we needed. I remember talking one day with a neighbor and 
discussing how hard it was to stay warm at night, even with hot water bottles 
and heated flat irons in our beds. She said that she and her daughter had been 
arguing about which one of them had the coldest bedroom. They had a good house, 
but those icy winds seemed to come right in anyway. Finally, to settle the 
argument, they brought in the thermometer and it registered eighteen degrees 
below zero in the downstairs bedroom. They then took it upstairs to the girl's 
bedroom and again the reading was eighteen degrees below zero.

	Our son, Jack, was born in March of 1936 and I was glad that by then the 
cold and snow had begun to let up. At least we had no more of those forty-
degreesbelow-zero days, and the roads were open. When John took me to the Martin 
Eggen home, where Jack was born, it was our first trip in the car since the bad 
weather had started.

	I have lived in this country fifty-seven years and have killed only one 
rattlesnake. I was scared of them and would always run away if I saw one. I was 
helping out at a neighbor's place one fall, and one evening as I was helping the 
two little boys bring in the milk cows, we saw a big rattlesnake crossing the 
road. I hated to see him get away, but I knew the little boys couldn't kill him 
so, happening to spy a fence post lying near by, I picked that up and threw it 
at the snake and then ran away as fast as I could. When the men came home later 
in the evening (he had been up in the brakes getting posts), I told him about it 
and just where it had happened, so in the morning he walked over there, and 
found a dead snake. He said I must have hit him just right. I really felt proud 
that I had at least killed a rattlesnake all by myself. I was eighteen years old 
at the time.

	John and I had five girls and one boy. All five girls taught school and 
two of them are still teaching. The girls are all married and have families. I 
have twenty-one grandchildren, including two sets of twins. The girls are 
Marjorie Willuweit of Wall, Helen Rittberger of Hermosa, Dorothy Burch of 
Gillette, Wyoming, Maxine Smith of Owanka, and Frances Poste of Cottonwood. The 
boy, Jack, who is the youngest in the family, is not married. After finishing 
high school and serving two years in the Army, he was at home from 1956 to 
January, 1965. He is now living in Valentine, Nebraska. John passed away in 
August of 1960 at the age of seventy-eight years. I am alone now on the home 
place and intend staying here as long as I keep well and can take care of 
myself.

[Photo - John Guethlein's Homestead Barn]

[Photo - John Guethlein on Roanie, who carried the children to school for 15 
years, and Rover who saved Maxine from a rattlesnake.]

[Photo - John Guethlein's Homestead shack]

[Photo - The tile barn built in 1925]

[Photo - House built in 1931-32. Jack, age 2]

[Photo - The pea patch that yielded hundreds of quarts for neighbors and 
friends.]

[Photo - The Guethlein family in 1920. The children are Helen, Marjorie, and 
Dorothy.]

[Photo - The Guethlein Family: Top row: Frances, John, Jr., Dorothy, Helen. 
Bottom Row: Maxine, Mrs. And Mr. Guethlein, and Marjorie.]



William E. Pippert

	William E. Pippert came from Sheboygan, Wisconsin in 1906 and started 
working on the railroad at Wasta. Later he moved to Rapid City and worked for a 
while digging ditches and such things on the new buildings that were being built 
there. It was while they stayed in Rapid that they slept, ate, and worked to 
"Waltz Me Around Again Willie."

	William worked on the railroad again around Belle Fourche. Here they lived 
seven miles from where they got their mail. For excitement a couple times a week 
they'd walk these seven miles in an evening after work and be ready for work the 
next morning.

	When land was opened for homesteading, William filed a claim in Peno 
Basin. It was on this claim he built a 2-room rock house, plastered with mud and 
manure.

	In late 1907, William Pippert returned to Wisconsin. On January 12, 1908, 
he married Anna Rehm. Soon after this, William and his bride returned to Peno 
Basin to live in the rock house.

	These were typical homestead days with much hard work to be done. Land had 
to be fenced. Posts were a necessity and trees were scarce. So William and 
neighbors went to the Cheyenne River brakes to cut cedar trees to make posts. 
These trips were made by team and wagon and often took two or three days.

	Entertainment and excitement were just as scarce. So on occasion there 
would be a dance in someone's home. This called for loading all the children in 
the wagon, hitching up the team and going. The children played, older folks 
danced and talked and a good time was had by all.

	Churches had not been built or organized, but church was held in homes 
also. In 1911 the first church, Saint Paul's Lutheran, was organized and built.

	To William and Anna were born eleven children, of whom seven are living. 
These seven are: Viola Schuler of Creighton, Violet Hook in Philip, Opal Ritzman 
near Quinn, Helen Lynch lives in Rapid City, Wilma Lynch lives north of Wall, 
Elmer and Ervin live on the home place.

	The family lived in the rock house, but as the family grew, the house had 
to be added on to. However in 1947, a house was purchased from Doc. Heinneman in 
Wasta and moved onto the home place. This was the Pipperts home then until Mrs. 
Pippert died August 6, 1949.

	William kept living on the farm until he passed away on November 19, 1952.

[Photo - Pippert's stone shack]

[Photo - Building St. Paul's Church]

[Photo - St. Paul's Lutheran Church]

[Photo - St. Paul's Lutheran Church]

[Photo - Elders and officers at the close of the church in 1958.]

[Photo - Pedro Rough Riders: :eader Shirley Davies, Jeff Davies, Jerry 
Willuweit, Leland Denke, Donald Denke, Marvin Denke, Billy and Larry Sinykin]

[Photo - Site of Sinykin dam]

[Photo - Beginning of the WPA dam on the Sinykin place]

[Photo - Larry Sinykin by the dam sign]

[Photo - Pipperts going visiting]




Ernest W. Hankins

by Mrs. Raymond Corey

	A way of life he enjoyed was what Ernest W. Hankins established for 
himself on a tract of land located in the Peno Basin.

	Born in Ripon, Wisconsin on April 11, 1869, the son of Chester P. and Mary 
(Small) Hankins who were typical pioneers of their day. Accounts tell of them 
leaving Ripon, Wis. and traveling over parts of Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota, 
before settling on a 320 acre tract in Turner Co. On this claim in June of the 
year 1872 he began the long, arduous task of developing it. Having worked as a 
carpenter in his early life the erection of buildings and fences soon changed 
this wide tract into an estate surrounded by many cultivated acres.

	Consequently their son, Ernest W., though very young was a part of this 
adventuresome life.

	Approximately two years after the death of his mother in 1907, Ernest W. 
Hankins and his father in quest of more expanses as well as adventure took up 
claims to certain lands in Pennington County near Cottonwood. It was here that 
he established his home with his wife, Wilhelmina Smith whom he married back in 
Turner County on Feb. 12, 1912.

	Ernest's father was now an old man of seventy-nine years. Yet he built a 
house for Ernest and Wilhelmina. They were justly proud of it but the builder 
was destined to enjoy it for only a short time after its completion as death 
called him on Oct. 3, 1912.

	The raising of beef cattle came to be the chief farming enterprise of this 
area with abundance of prairie grass. Carloads of cattle were shipped to Sioux 
City.

	In that day as now progress was being made. Land was plowed and put under 
cultivation for domestic hay crops, especially alfalfa. The production of 
alfalfa seed was found to be a valuable enterprise. 

	As is true of any type of agriculture "farming in the west" meant long 
hours of hard work. Hours which seldom became monotonous as they were filled 
with either anxiety or just "moments to remember".

	The writer recalls a summer tornado in early afternoon just in haying 
season. How the wind lifted the hay rack from the wagon injuring the neighbor, 
John Guethlein, who was helping on the Hankins Farm.

	Evening times when the call of the coyote or prairie dog would echo over 
the silent prairie are memorable recollections. Indians camping in the distance 
were common scenes of that day.

	There was the ever-present fear of being bitten by rattlesnakes. A 
collection of rattlers taken from snakes killed by Ernest Hankins were safely 
stored in the back of the old eight-day winding clock which he brought to 
Michigan.

	In 1920 Ernest and Wilhelmina decided to leave the west, partly for health 
reasons and probably in quest of broader experiences, too. They moved to 
Southern Michigan in 1920 with their daughter, Marie, age 4, and son, Ernest, 
then a baby.

	Here they lived on and owned an eighty acre farm just one-half mile from 
school or church and neighbors within the sound of ones voice. This was a 
definite contrast to life in Dakota.

	Although the family was never able to visit South Dakota fond memories had 
been stored for re-telling.

	Writing this as I am, the daughter, Marie, these early childhood memories 
are very precious tome. On occasions I have related them to my mother who 
verified them as being correct even though I was only four when moving to 
Michigan.

	Of his life in the Peno Basin I'm sure my father "Wouldn't have missed it 
for the world."

	One very vivid example is a memory of my mother preparing a noon lunch for 
my father who was mowing hay some distance from the house. After walking with 
her to meet him he said to me "Reach into my pocket for my pipe." To my 
amazement a very soft, warm cottontail was therein.

	My father passed away at his farm home in October of 1933, from a heart 
ailment. Mother lived until September of 1956. Both are buried in the cemetery 
at Litchfield, Michigan.

[Photo - Ernest W. and Wilhelmina Hankins]

[Photo - $3,150 in Alfalfa seed raised and threshed on 15 acres of land at 
Quinn.]




Willis Chesshir

by Mrs. Pearl Peterson

	Willis Chesshir came a few years after the first homesteaders, but he was 
able to file on a relinquishment close to his half-brother, James Carmichael. He 
was best known as the garden man.

	He had wonderful gardens. He worked so hard at it. He would be at work 
with the dawn in his garden. Because, "I have to work during the day," as he 
would tell us children.

	I used to think I never tasted such good melons.

	I believe it was the fall of 1936 or 1937 before his daughter could get 
him to see that it wasn't safe for him to live alone any longer.

	He left to live near his daughter, Mrs. Lloyd Long, of Norfolk, Nebraska.

[Photo - "A South Dakotian and his Grasolene Car"]

[Photo - Home of Willis Chesshir]

[Photo - Willis Chesshir]



Carmichaels

by Mrs. Pearl Peterson

	James M. Carmichael, upon the advice of his young son's doctor, came to 
file on a homestead in eastern Pennington County in the spring of 1907. He then 
went back to Iowa to make arrangements to bring his wife and young son to his 
homestead, eight and one half miles northeast of Quinn.

	At the time Jim, as he was called, had come to homestead there was no 
North-Western Railroad west of Pierre. Jim therefore had to come by wagon from a 
location on the Milwaukee. He spent his first night in Pennington County at the 
Furnas Post Office, north of what is now the present site of Quinn.

	By the time he got back to Pierre with his family and a nephew and family, 
the Sherman Triggs, they had just about finished the Northwestern bridge at 
Pierre. They waited a few days, then the ladies and children rode the first 
passenger over the new Pierre bridge, and the men rode the first freight across 
in their emigrant car. This was in the fall of 1907.

	They immediately prepared their claim shacks. Sherman Trigg's claim was 
near Grandpa Wood's, and James Carmichael's was in Peno Basin.

	The Carmichaels enjoyed the mild South Dakota winter. It was so different 
than the ones they were accustomed to in Iowa. In the spring a little daughter 
came to join the Carmichael family.

	Sherman Triggs soared out and left with the rest of the people that 
couldn't take 1911. The Carmichaels stayed because their son had recovered his 
health as their doctor had said he would.

	To help out with the expenses that the dry year would not afford them, 
they went back to Iowa to visit and Jim picked corn. As soon as corn picking was 
over the family came back to their claim.

	Four more children made their acquaintance to the world on that claim, but 
not the small claim shack that Pearl had arrived in, as the Carmichaels had 
purchased a larger house from one of the neighbors that was leaving. The two 
houses were put together making what was then a nice large home.

	The Carmichaels lived on their claim until the fall of 1917, when the 
family moved into Quinn where Jim had bought a hardware store from Nelson. 
Another daughter was born in Quinn.

	Some of the things that can be remembered about the homestead days are 
very interesting to recall.

	Carmichaels were more ranchers than farmers, but I do recall Dad saying 
that his wheat, in 1911, did not come up until August, which of course is too 
late for spring wheat to mature.

	Matt Smith and Dad were in partnership for awhile and did cattle buying as 
a side line.

	Another thing that I remember is that in berry time, Mother and two of her 
neighbor ladies, Mrs. Matt Smith and Mrs. Ed Johannesen would gather up some 
pails and their children and, of course, the baby buggies. Off they would trudge 
to the berry patches. Boy! Did we have fun! I remember picking, but for some 
reason, I doubt if the children with their little pails added much to the supply 
that was gathered.

	Did you ever wash clothes down by the well? I can remember Mother doing 
that, especially in the spring when the winter bedding was being cleaned to be 
stored for the summer. The well was quite a ways from the house so it seemed 
more reasonable to take the washing equipment to the well than to lug the water 
to the house. A bonfire was built to keep plenty of water hot and to boil the 
white things. The bushes made very good clothes lines, or so we youngsters 
thought.

	The three oldest youngsters started their education in Peno Basin in the 
old Peno School. Jim Carmichael was on the school board for some time. Having 
had some training in Morningside College, he was sometimes called upon to do 
substitute teaching until a teacher could be found to take a school.

	His brother, who was a Medical Doctor gave Jim many pointers on what to do 
in case of emergencies out so far from a doctor. Dad didn't save all this 
knowledge for himself. He answered many calls for help and was given the credit 
of saving some lives.

	The folks were active in the little community church. When I look at the 
picture I wonder why they called it little. There seem to be more people than 
some of our churches can boast of now.

	No, we children did not have all the things the modern children have, but 
I can't ever remember being bored with life.

	One of our prize possessions was our wonderful swing. Dad had gotten an 
old bed spring at one of the sales. He fastened it up in the trees not far from 
the house. We could all get on it and have a high old time or relax and sleep.

	Mother had brought her organ to the claim. She and Dad both liked to sing 
so naturally singing came in as recreation. We also liked to get Dad to read us 
stories.

	We did a lot of walking and enjoyed it.

	Mother generally had a garden so we spent some time in that.

	Neighbors had time to visit then. Sometimes we walked to each others 
homes. Sometimes the buggies were used or maybe even the lumber wagons. No 
matter how we went we had time to visit.

	Yes, we had time for picnics and parties, and they were enjoyed by all.

	I believe our first mail carrier was Alfred Johnson. I remember seeing him 
riding one horse, leading another as a pack horse; which of course carried the 
mail. He moved south of Quinn, and Ira Bullis took over the north route. He used 
a closed in buggy that looked something like a milk wagon.

	The Carmichaels spent nearly all the rest of their lives near Quinn.

	Jim worked as a bridge constructor the last years of his life, and had 
lived at Blunt about a year when a heart attack took him away from his beloved 
South Dakota.

	Mother tried many ways of travel in her well filled life. Her first trip 
into South Dakota being the first train into Quinn, and her last trip was flying 
in from California after spending the winter with her daughter and family, the 
George Kings.

	The children are all living, Shirley at Belle Fourche; Pearl Peterson, 
Cottonwood, South Dakota; Leota Custis, Independence, Missouri; Mary Crown, 
Artie Kitterman, and Orrey King all in Garden Grove, California, and Guy 
Carmichael who lives on the Ed Johanneson homestead but has Dad's homestead in 
his pasture.

[Photo - Carmichael children: Shirley, Pearl, Leota, Mary, and Guy.]

[Photo - Shirley and Pearl Carmichael]

[Photo - Guy Carmichael, owner of both the Carmichael and Johannesen 
homesteads.]

[Photo - Beedle School in 1922: Shirley Carmichael, Irene Hildebrandt, Pearl 
Carmichael, John Kelly, Pat Kelly, Lenora Estensen, Edgar Schrieber, Roberta 
Stephensen, and Albert Steele.]

[Photo - Beedle School in 1923: Helen and Marjorie Guethlein, Leonard Black, 
Evangeline Schrieber, Leona Hildebrandt, Arlie Schrieber in front row. Back row: 
Harry Johannesen, Miss Dopp, Ruth Johannesen, Violet Rehder, and Pearl 
Hildebrandt.]

[Photo - Shirley, Pearl, and Leota Carmichael.]



Homesteading in Southern Peno Basin

by Esther Carmichael and Ella Wahl

	Ehard Johannesen, better known to his many friends as Ed, was born March 
17, 1884, in Tromso, Norway. Coming to America in 1904, he worked on the Crouch 
Line being built from Rapid City to Hisega. (Ed lived to see this railroad taken 
out). It was on this job that he met Addora Larson of Hisega. On April 22, 1909, 
they were married in her folk's home. Bringing his bride back to the homestead, 
he continued working for the railroad for a short time with Jim Carmichael, who 
had a homestead about a mile and a half southwest of him. Their wives didn't 
like being left alone so they spent most of their time together while the men 
were gone working. It has been said Ed marked his fence lines on Sunday and with 
Addora holding the lantern at night, he dug his post holes.

	In the year 1911 the drought came; nothing grew. They put their walking 
plow, their prize possession, in the house and locked it up. Taking their 
livestock they moved to Hisega where Ed got work in the timber along with his 
half-brother, Carl Steen.

	The spring of 1912 saw Ed returning to the homestead, (Addora and their 
daughter, Annie, had stayed behind at her folks to wait the arrival of another 
daughter. On May 4th Ruth was born.) On Ed's arrival home he was shocked to see 
the lock had been removed from his shack. Upon entering he found shack and plow 
were in order as they had left them. One of the neighbors had been caught in a 
blizzard and had removed the lock so as to get out of the storm. This had 
happened only a short time after they left and the house had been unlocked ever 
since. Ed had remarked had he known this he would have been back sooner. It just 
went to show the early settlers were good, honest people.

	When it was time for Addora and the girls to come home again, her sister, 
Oleanna Larson, went home with her to help her out for awhile. When Ed met them, 
Addora handed the baby to him and upon taking her he remarked, "Are you sure she 
hasn't fallen out?" Ruth was a small baby, weighing only four pounds.

	It was this spring that Ed set out the pine trees upon the hillside 
southwest of the house. He had brought them with him from up in the Hills where 
he worked. His children can remember how for years later, on Sunday he would 
walk up there and pull the tops over against him to measure them to see how much 
they were growing. One day he came back and said, "Addora, I'll have to start 
measuring myself by the trees as they are taller than I am now."

	This was also the year they added three new rooms to their shack.

	It has been told that although the places of Jim Carmichael, Matt Smith 
and Johannesens were a mile or two apart, this didn't keep Onney, Amanda and 
Addora from visiting each other, even if they didn't have cars and each had a 
couple of children. The baby was put in the baby carriage, while the other 
tottered along beside her mother hanging on to mom's skirt, and away they'd go 
across the prairie.

	The spring of 1919 Ed bought a 1915 model T car from a minister, for which 
he traded two cows. It had no battery and burned kerosene in the lights. The 
family can remember many a time not being able to have power enough to make it 
up a hill. All the older children and Addora would get out and push. Sometimes 
it wouldn't have gas enough to run to the motor when going up hill so Ed solved 
this by turning around and backing up the hill. Even though it didn't have a 
horn that worked, this didn't bother Ed; when he wanted to pass or if something 
was in his way, he would just call out, "TootToot", and this really worked. They 
drove this car until 1928. One day shortly after Ed had bought it he met the 
minister again and was asked how he liked the car. And he replied, "Fine". Then 
the minister told him he'd had nothing but trouble with it, so Ed said, "You 
probably didn't use the right kind of language on it!"

	July 4th was always a big day for everyone. They gathered at the U Cross 
Ranch for a big celebration. Races were run in the morning and a small country 
rodeo and a ball game were held in the afternoon. The bowery dance at night kept 
everyone there until almost daylight the next morning. July 4, 1914, this was 
changed somewhat, when Harry arrived so Mrs. Emil Kjerstad, Sr., stayed with 
Addora. She always jokingly said, "That's one 4th of July Harry spoiled for me."

	One familiar sight in the winter after Harry received his skis for 
Christmas, was to see Ed put Hazel (who was about four) on his back, her feet in 
his hip pockets. Taking a pail of milk in each hand he would get on the skis, 
and go down through the gate to the hog house, never once taking a tumble. 
Skiing was something Ed had learned in Norway as there was a good slide behind 
their house.

	Ed and Addora were very strict and raised their children well, but 
children will be children. One night when Harry, Ella, and Esther came from 
school, the folks were in town. Harry was to start the evening chores, one of 
which was to haul some hay from the hay lot to the barn for the team and two 
saddle horses. So he hooked the team to a stone-boat with a box on it and the 
girls would hang on to the back and run along to see if they could keep up--
which they could. When the load was loaded, Harry said, "You had fun running 
down, now one of you drive and let me see if I can keep up." So Ella agreed and 
took the lines. After being whipped up, off the team went. They were going too 
fast to stop at the barn, so went by, past the chicken coop, running over a 
leghorn rooster, which came out squawking and minus a few feathers, around the 
granary they went and back in front of the barn where the team stopped. Needless 
to say, Esther and Harry hadn't hung on, but Esther had climbed on. Harry came 
walking. When he was asked why he hadn't hung on, he said, "You fools, didn't 
you know the team was running away?" Neither one of the girls had thought of 
that so they hadn't been scared. He never let either of them drive again, nor 
did the folks ever find out.

	Addora was often called on, day or night, to be a mid-wife, so a number of 
children knew her as "Grandma Johannesen".

	A while back one of the school board members got to checking records and 
found Ed had served the longest consecutive years for Peno District.

	One of the best wells in Peno Basin was Ed's well near his house and 
neighbors came from miles around to haul water. This well is still in use today.

	Together they worked to make a home and living for their family. They even 
withstood the grasshoppers and droughts and like everyone else sold cattle to 
the government in 1934 for little or nothing. For nearly 40 years they toiled on 
the old homestead and accumulations of other land from homesteaders who had left 
and sold out to Ed. Among some of these were Dannly, Hatton, Steen, Carmichael, 
Smith and Wright. They raised a family of five girls and one boy. Annie Sasse, 
who had made her home in Battle Ground, Washington, passed away January 2, 1958, 
Ruth Minor of Seaside, Oregon, Harry of Quinn, Ella Wahl of Union Center, South 
Dakota, Esther Carmichael of Quinn, and Hazel Karstens of Mason City, Iowa. 
Addora passed away October 19, 1949 and Ed on March 30, 1953.

	Friendship between the Carmichaels and the Johannesens went beyond 
homestead days with the marriage of Guy Carmichael and Esther Johannesen on 
August 7, 1938. They now own and operate the place along with their family, 
Lyle, Dennis, Esther Kay, and Tommy. They have two married daughters, Mary Jane 
Doyle of Wall and Arla May Olson of Rochester, Minnesota. Mary Jane has a girl 
and boy, Barbara and Jimmie, and Arla May has a son, Douglas.

[Photo - Johannesen ranch]

[Photo - Ella, Hazel, and Esther Johannesen]

[Photo - Carmichael farm and Peon Basin]

[Photo Ed Johannesen in 1904]

[Photo - Esther Johannesen}

[Photo - Hazel Johannesen]

[Photo - Harry and Ella Johannesen]

[Photo - Ed Johannesen and Carl Stein by Carl Stein's homestead]

[Photo - Quinn Intermediate room: First row: Leo Hilbert, Donnie Balch, Florence 
Stephensen, Artie Carmichael, Violet and Viola Bloom. Second row: Cecil Gotham, 
Ted Johnson, Lyle Bloom, Guy Carmichael, Olive Johnson, Erma Strasser, Verle 
Stephensen. Third row: Maurice Vick, Teacher Miss Groff, Maurice and George 
Ritzman, Stanley Bullis.]

[Photo - Jim Carmichael and Ed Johannesen]

[Photo - Ed Johannesen and Carl Stein while working in the Black Hills]

[Photo - Jim Carmichael digging a well that is still in use]



Wilhelm G. Geigle

by Mrs. Edward Geigle

	Mr. Wilhelm G. Geigle came with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Geigle and 
three brothers and five sisters to Tripp, South Dakota on November 20, 1906. 
They had left Bessarabia, Russia October first that same year. His brothers were 
Jacob F., Emmanuel and Albert. His sisters were Johanna, Gottlibena, Pauline, 
Martha and Rosie.

	His father homesteaded north of Quinn, February 7, 1907. Later in the 
spring--on May 2--he brought his family out. They built a rock house 20x4O feet. 
It consisted of three rooms. Until the house was completed August first the 
family lived in a tent. He and his brother Jacob slept under a wagon box on hay 
because there wasn't enough room in the tent. Part of that original rock house 
still stands on the homestead which is now the E. G. Geigle ranch. In the summer 
when a hard wind and rain storm came up it would blow the tent over.

	His father and the boys broke up some ground for a garden. Their main food 
that first summer was radishes, coffee, butter and eggs. Later on they had their 
own chickens and ducks, which they raised. They didn't get to eat very many 
ducks because someone stole most of them. They planted seven acres of oats June 
l7th from which they got 300 bushels. To get their oats threshed they cleared a 
clean place on the ground and spread the oats on it. They walked their horses 
over it until it was trampled fine. They piled the chaff and waited until a 
strong northwest wind came up. They then took their pitchforks and threw the 
chaff against the wind. In that way they threshed their oats. They fattened two 
pigs from that oats. That was meat for the winter for the family. They were 
given one-half a beef from a neighbor, Mr. Rock Perry. Beef at that time was 
worth 2 1/2 or 3 cents live weight. Cattle were trailed to Fort Pierre to be 
shipped.

	After the farm was built up, Mr. Geigle went back to Tripp in the fall of 
1908. He was then 16 years old. He worked for $18.00 a month. In the fall of 
1910 he came back to his father's farm. They seeded grain in the spring of 1911. 
It didn't rain all year until October and then it was a hailstorm. The grain 
came up two or three inches but was good only for cattle grazing.

	In 1912 he went to Parkston to work as a farm hand for six months. He then 
returned home and worked on the Hugh Estes ranch for a year, He took a homestead 
near the Estes ranch and was married on March 19th, 1915 to Beata Denke. They 
stayed there one year, They sold that homestead and bought cattle and rented a 
farm from Rufas Campbell for five years. They ha( four children. Their first 
child, a son, died at birth, Wilhelm E. was born July 18, 19 20 and Betty was 
born April 11, 1925. He then bought a farm north of Quinn from Jim Anthony. He 
stayed on this farm until his wife's death, July 21, 1947. That fall he went to 
Delmont, South Dakota and in January of 1948 he was married to Mrs. Elizabeth 
Denke. They moved to the city of Wall in November of 1948. He ran the Conoco 
Station for six years. In November 1954 his wife Elizabeth passed away. In March 
of 1955 he was married to Miss Klara Strehle. She had come to Wall from West 
Germany in 1952.

	His oldest son Wilhelm is married to the former Annette Eisenbraun and 
they live on a farm two miles from the home place. Their address is Pedro, South 
Dakota. They have four children. His son Edward is married to the former Lucelle 
Rasmusson of Howard, South Dakota. They live on the home place and have five 
children. His daughter Betty is married to Dale Randolph. They have three 
children and reside in Rapid City.

	At the present time he and his wife Klora own and operate Bills Motel in 
Wall, South Dakota.

[Photo Geigle's original homestead.]

[Photo - Wilhelm, John Denke, son Willie and daughter Betty]

[Photo - Stone house where Wilhelm Geigle and his parents homesteaded. It still 
stands on the E. G. Geigle ranch today.]

[Photo - The Wilhelm Geigles and Betty]

[Photo - Mr. and Mrs. Wilhelm G. Geigle, Wilhelm E., Edward and Betty]



The Fisher Family

by Pauline Fisher

	In 1930 the Fred Fisher family came to live on the old Lathrop place 
northeast of Quinn. They had sold a nice farm near Tripp but were interested in 
Western South Dakota from accounts given by their friends Jake and Henry Sieler. 
The Fishers were married in 1907 in Hutchinson County. There were twelve 
children in all but four died in infancy. Elsie, the oldest girl, was married 
when the family made the move to Quinn. The remaining seven came to the new 
home. The family moved by car except Helmuth, who came on the train to look 
after the animals, machinery, household goods etc  This took several days by 
train although the trip isn't very long. The family stayed with the Henry and 
Jake Sieler families until the possessions came. There were buildings on the 
place so they didn't need to build a house or barn. There was a lot of cleaning 
to do in the house and all the out buildings. They were quite sorry that they 
had come after looking over the situation and more so in the next two or three 
years when the grasshoppers and drouth took the crops.

	The four younger children, Walter, Dorothy, Ray and Phyllis went to the 
Rickard school. Mr. Fisher bought the mail carriers wagon from Mr. Bullis, the 
mail carrier north of Quinn, at the time. Some years they went on horseback to 
school. Atone time the barn at the school was filled with horses and many a 
horse race took place after school. More than the parents ever knew.

	They did their trading in Quinn. One experience is still talked and 
laughed about in the family. One time Mr. Fisher stopped at the Farmers Union 
store for gas and air in the spare tire. He and the proprietor were visiting 
away when they were filling the spare. That was the time when the spare was on 
the side of the car. All at once the tire burst with such force it also blew off 
Mr. Fisher's pants. He said you very seldom saw many people on the street but 
all of a sudden the people came out of all the stores and buildings to see what 
had happened. He was lucky that he was by the Farmers Union store where he could 
go inside and buy another pair of pants.

	They were hauling cane from the field one warm day in late fall, Ray was 
helping. The ground was dry and he didn't see a rattlesnake that was by his 
feet. He wore oxfords. He was bitten on the ankle, at the time he was alone, he 
took his knife to cut the place but his knife was too dull. He drove over to 
Rudy Krebs I place and Rudy and one of his brothers took him to Wall where Dr. 
Mills gave him a shot and then they took him to the hospital in Underwood. He 
was very sick but got over the ordeal. Ray says that even to this day at that 
time of the year he gets sick.

	The Fishers were members of the St. Pauls Lutheran Church. The younger 
ones were confirmed in this church. Walter was the only one married in this 
church.

	Helmuth tells how much he wanted a car. Finally he saved enough money and 
bought a Model T Ford. His father raised the roof as he knew gasoline cost money 
in those depression years. Helmuth sold the car and bought a small bald face 
pony, This pony took him to many dances at Creighton, Quinn, Grindstone, and 
Cottonwood. His hay burner got him there as fast as conveyances run by gasoline.

	The youngsters liked music. They had an organ that the girls played. 
Helmuth had an accordion that was quite old. He patched it with rags and dough. 
This would last about one night and the process had to be done over. His mother 
finally threw it in the creek.

	In March 1941 Mr. Fisher passed away. Chris Willuweite, Mr. Fisher and 
Helmuth had gone to Rapid City. Chris and Helmuth had been called to take their 
physicals for the army. Mr. Fisher complained about not feeling good. He was in 
the court house to pay his taxes which he never got as he died from a blood clot 
on the brain. After about a year or so the place was sold and the family 
scattered. Mrs. Fisher moved to Quinn as Phyllis was in High School. Esther and 
Hattie were in California, Walter and Ray went to the armed service. Helmuth 
married Gertrude Enders who had taught the Geigle school. They lived a short 
time on the Fisher place and then moved to the Gotham place, then to the Doud 
place. When the Doud place was sold Helmuth bought the Batterman place and from 
there moved to Rapid Valley near Rapid City. They have been here several years 
now. Their daughter Geraldine attends a Hair Styling school in Sioux Falls. 
Helmuth has a business of his own and Gertrude is still teaching at the White 
Eagle school where she has been for six years.

	Walter married Grace Goodsell. They live in Wall where they run a cafe and 
filling station. Walter is County Commissioner.

	Phyllis married Ervin Denke and lives in California where her sisters, 
Elsie, Dorothy, Esther, Hatty and brother Ray live. Only Walter and Helmuth are 
in South Dakota. Mrs. Fisher lives in a trailer house in Helmuth's yard on 
Twilight Drive.



The Alvin Lathrop Family

by Edwin Lathrop

	My parents, Alvin and Kitty Lathrop, homesteaded north of Quinn in June of 
190 7. My father, two brothers and myself came to Quinn from Parker, S. Dak., 
and built a home on the claim. In July my mother and three sisters joined us. 
For the next four years my father worked in Parker as an interior decorator and 
painter and we saw him only on special occasions. In 1911 father joined us 
permanently and we ran cattle and milked cows on our claim. After World War I 
ended we began to farm our property. Two more children, a boy and a girl, were 
born to the family after moving to Quinn.

	Schools always have to have a beginning and in 1908 school was held in our 
neighborhood for one month. I don't remember the name of the first school 
teacher but I do know she was a sister of Frank McDonnell. One of my sisters was 
the only member of our family who attended this first school. There was no 
school in the winter, only in the spring and the fall, and of course, no 
schoolhouse. Each claim shack took its "turn" at being the schoolhouse. In 1912 
a schoolhouse was built and was named the Peno Basin School. All of us attended 
this school.

	One of our male school teachers, a Mr. Macamer, I believe, was responsible 
for starting the first Peno Basin ball team. As I recall he was courting a girl 
from Grindstone and he wanted to see the Grindstone ball team lose a ball game. 
So he told us if we would get a team together, held buy the ball, and that's 
just what we did.

	Our family had its good and bad times just like everyone else. I remember 
once when mother had Christmas dinner for a lot of relatives and friends. 
Besides the ten of us, other guests included the Hauk and Rickard families and 
Jack Dean. In all, I suppose, there were about 25 of us. In the afternoon a 
blizzard began and for two days everyone was snowbound. We took turns sleeping, 
eating and keeping the children quiet. Some played cards while others slept.

	We kids had a cave dug out near the house and many times we'd sleep out 
there. One good thing about it, you never knew what the weather was like when 
you were in that cave. Lots of times it was warmer sleeping in the cave than in 
the house.

	Sundays were big days for our family. We'd go to Grindstone to the 
Protestant Church, usually stay for pot luck dinner, and the afternoons were 
filled with ball games, horse and foot races and bucking broncos. We'd get home 
just in time to do the chores. Course it goes without saying that everywhere we 
went-dances, ball games and social events--was on horseback.

	My mother died in 1919 in the Pierre hospital and in 1925 father sold out 
and moved to Rapid City. Three of the children were still at home and they 
attended school in Rapid. My father died as the result of a car accident two 
years after moving to Rapid City. Only four of us are still living--James is in 
Igloo, Mrs. E~abe Coleman is at Cottonwood and Lois Knodel and I live in Philip. 
We'll always treasure our memories of the early days in Eastern Pennington 
County.

[Photo - Lathrop Place.]

[Photo - 1915 Ball Team: Back row: Ed Lathrop, Myrle Rickard, Lin Lathrop, Ole 
Lathrop, Chet Rickard.  Front: Gus Knodel, Don Kennedy, Forrest Humbert and 
Frank Hauk.]

[Photo - Mrs. Lathrop and their car - 1913]

[Photo - Myrle, Lin, Chet, and Curly before they left for the World War I.]

[Photo - Part of the ball team who shaved their heads: Ole, Chet, Ed, Lin, and 
Myrle.]