This file is the text of the book, "South Dakota's Ziebach County, 
	History of the Prairie", published in 1982 by the Ziebach County
	Historical Society, Dupree, SD

	Permission to publish this book in electronic form was given by Jackie Birkeland,
	member of the Historical Committee. This book is copyright, 1982 by the Ziebach
	County Historical Society, Dupree, SD.
 
	Scanning and OCR by Terri Tosh <chipnter@lnd.com>, final editing by Joy Fisher,
	<sdgenweb@yahoo.com>.


Chapter 16 
FAMILY HISTORIES
LEO ABELT FAMILY  by Connie Abelt Burke

     Leo Abelt and Mary Ann Thomas were born in Wisconsin in 1887 and were married 
in 1911.
     In the spring of 1911 the couple homesteaded in northern Ziebach County. They 
returned to Wisconsin where Connie was born in 1914. The family then moved to 
Aberdeen, South Dakota, where Leo worked for the railroad for about two years. About 
1916 the Abelts returned to their homestead to make it their home. It was not easy to get 
a start living about 18 miles from the nearest town of Isabel, South Dakota. Team and 
wagon was the only means of transportation for them. Leo and Ann were hard workers 
and good managers.
     In 1921 Loreta was born. Dr. Matter, living near Glad Valley, was the attending 
doctor.
     Attending school meant a number of miles to travel, or room and board away from 
home. When the drought and dust storms of the 1930's hit the area, the family was 
forced to leave their home to live on a rented farm near Clark, South Dakota. Leo 
mowed road ditches, sloughs, etc, to get enough feed for his cattle for the winter of 
1936. Connie married in 1935 and remained at Glad Valley, South Dakota. Loreta met 
and married Wilbur Junlavy in 1938. Loreta and Wilbur had 6 children. Wilbur passed 
away in 1972. The Junlavy family live near and around Clark, South Dakota.
     In 1944, Leo and Ann sold their farm machinery and livestock and moved into Clark. 
There Leo worked for a chick hatchery. About two years later they moved to Watertown, 
South Dakota. Both Leo and Ann worked for North American Creamery and bought a 
home.
     On August 27, 1950, Leo passed away. Ann continued to work at the creamery until 
she retired. The last 18 months of Ann's life was lived in Jenkin's Nursing Home. She 
passed away October 12, 1973.

[photo – Leo, Ann, Loreta and Connie. Taken in 1927 – their first car, and new.]

ADOLPH ABRAHAM (taken from the Faith Country book)
     I first came to Faith in March 1917. I shipped an immigrant car out with cattle and 
machinery. I homesteaded south of Redelm. In August 1917, I was called into the armed 
service and served two years, after which I returned to my homestead and started 
farming. I was one of the charter members of the Legion Post at Faith. I also worked on 
the road that was built into Faith. In the fall of 1930 I left and went to Elk Point, South 
Dakota.

JACOB ACHEN
by Veronica Achen Messersmith   and Kay Achen Wojcio
     Our folks, Rose Boeding and Jacob Achen, were married in Leola, South Dakota in 
1911. They homesteaded in Ziebach County with their address as Pickersville.
     Dad (Jacob) was born in Germany and came to America when he was 6 years old 
and settled with his parents near St. Lucas, Iowa. Mother (Rose) was born in West Point, 
Iowa. She worked in St. Lucas before moving to South Dakota. There were five children 
in our family -- Minnie, Catherine, Veronica, Nicholas and Mathew. Minnie died in 1932.
     In the early homesteading years, Dad would go with a threshing crew that would take 
him as far away as Jamestown, North Dakota.
     During the years in Ziebach County, Dad farmed and raised cattle. Some years were 
good and some were dry, with no crops or feed for the cattle.
     One year there was a grand migration of Army worms. They literally covered the 
ground, taking all that was in their path. We survived. Then came the year of the 
grasshopper. They harvested for us, leaving us with bare food for the cattle. Then there 
was the year of the great dust storm. Dad owned about 1800 acres at one time. We 
remember summers herding the cattle between the fields and along the creek.
     We went to the country school three miles north of Glad Valley. On cold winter days 
Dad would take us to school in a sled. In the spring and fall we would usually have to 
walk or ride our horses. One spring us kids set the clock ahead one hour so we could 
get to school early to play ball -- worked out fine and we had fun until the folks found out 
what we did.
     All of the children received an education through high school. Catherine and Veronica 
graduated from Isabel High School. We lived in a rooming house while in school. Many 
Saturday mornings we would go to the post office and catch a ride home to Glad Valley 
with the mailman and Dad would have to bring us back Monday morning.
     After high school, Ray went into Nurses training at St. Mary's Hospital at Pierre, 
graduating and moving on to work in Chicago. She spent 3 years in the service during 
World War II.
     In 1936, Dad shipped his cattle and horses to Jackson Junction, Iowa, where his 
brothers and sisters lived, and Dad returned to Iowa to farm. In the fifties Dad sold the 
last of his land in South Dakota.
     Mother died in April 1946 and Dad in January 1970 at age 94.
     Reuben Messersmith and Veronica were married in 1941 in New Hampton, Iowa. 
They have two sons: Mark in Los Angeles, California and Bob in New Hampton, Iowa.

LAWRENCE and PAULINE ACKER         by Ruth Edwards
     Lawrence Acker, son of Tony and Philomena Laundreaux Acker, was born 
September 24, 1917. He grew up in the Thunder Butte and Dupree area. He was the 
youngest of the family. George (deceased); Elizabeth (Mrs. Carl Petersen) deceased, 
Eagle Butte; Frank, Collinsville, Oklahoma; Josephine (Mrs. Ed. Huston) deceased.
     Lawrence moved with his parents to Spearfish in 1926. He went to school in Dupree, 
Spearfish and Lead. He worked for the Homestake Gold Mine and when World War II 
broke out he joined the Army and after basic training at Camp Robin, Arkansas, he 
served in the South Pacific. After discharge in Portland, Oregon, he worked for the 
Northwest Natural Gas Company for thirty-one and one half years.
     Lawrence married Pauline Jones in Portland, Oregon in 1965. They returned to South 
Dakota in July 1977 and now live in Eagle Butte.

TONY and PHILOMENA ACKER       by Ruth Edwards
     Tony Acker was born in Ashton, Wisconsin July 4, 1865, son of George and 
Josephine Acker. George Acker came to America in 1851, from Germany. Josephine 
Acker came to America in 1854, also from Germany. George passed away September 
16, 1910 and Josephine September 28, 1909. Children of George and Josephine Acker 
were: John, Tony, Mary, Lena, twins Rose and Josephine (Rose died at 4 months), 
George, Frank and Rose.
     Tony came to South Dakota at age 19 years and worked at construction, building the 
first telephone line west out of Aberdeen. Later he carried mail for the U.S. Government.
     Tony married Philomena Laundreaux of Promise, South Dakota, December 9, 1900. 
To their union five children were born: George (deceased 1978); Elizabeth (Mrs. Carl 
Petersen) deceased, Eagle Butte; Frank, Collinsville, Oklahoma; Josephine (Mrs. Ed 
Huston deceased); and Lawrence, Eagle Butte, South Dakota.
     Tony and Philomena ranched, raising cattle and sheep, living near Promise, Thunder 
Butte and later Dupree. In 1926 they moved to Spearfish, South Dakota where later he 
became ill with cancer and died in Dupree April 11, 1933. After her husband's death 
Philomena moved to Dupree and passed away at the Cheyenne Agency Hospital 
September 23, 1942. They are both buried in the Dupree Cemetery.

AFRAID OF LIGHTNING   
OR CIRCLE BEAR
     Bull Man (Number 2, 1841-1925) was the son of Sitting Eagle and Brown Rainbow. In 
1867, Bull Man took plural wives, who were sisters: The Earth or Julia (1854-1929) and 
Fearful or Mrs. Bull Man (-1911). To Bull Man and Fearful were born Thomas Eagle Staff 
in 1878, Brings Plenty who died at age 10, before allotment, and Agnes Her Good 
Horse. Thomas Eagle Staff was the father of Adam; Dianne (Thomas); Esau; and Sam 
Eagle Staff.
     To Bull Man and Julia The Earth were born Afraid of Lightning who died at the 
Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, at age 19; Elizabeth Bull Man (1886-1908); Mary Bull 
Man who married John Blackman or Little Star; Brings Plenty who died at age one, 
before allotment; and White Eagle Woman or Sarah (-1951) who married James Ree in 
1890.
     James Ree (Afraid of Lightning) was born on the Rosebud Reservation, the son of 
Blue Hatchet and Iron Antelope. His mother, Iron Antelope, was a Rosebud Sioux. Both 
of his parents died before 1924. James Ree went to Carlisle Indian School in 
Pennsylvania.
     James and Sarah lived in the Bridger area, to where some survivors of the Wounded 
Knee Massacre returned. Sarah's family gave James Ree the name of Afraid of 
Lightning for their son who had been killed at Wounded Knee Creek.
     In 1891, James and Sarah's first son, Moses, named Circle Bear by Sarah, was born. 
In 1896 Moses went to school in Rapid City. He and his parents received their allotments 
along the Cheyenne River, up to where the present 
new housing is. In 1905, his sister Mary was born. She married Henry Red (Breath) Bear 
and had one surviving daughter. Mary died before 1951. Bessie Afraid of Lightning 
(1908-1929) married William War Bonnet and had three daughters: Josephine, Dollie 
Inamongst, and Goldie Iron Hawk. Two other daughters were born to James and Sarah 
Afraid of Lightning; Lillian (1913-1933) and Louise (1914-1915).
     Moses Circle Bear/Afraid of Lightning told the following, "When I was a young boy, I 
was at Cheyenne Agency Boarding School. That was in the time when that big epidemic 
of smallpox spread among the whole Cheyenne Reservation, so we all have to stay 
away from all the towns and everything, even the churches. We didn't go there for quite 
awhile, then that summer, and that spring there was a call for school at Rapid City Indian 
School. There was a bunch of us Indian boys from this district, they took us to Rapid City 
Indian School.
     "I was at the school for twelve years. After my 12th year, I came back from there. 
While I was there, I was a drum major and after that year I was in the band again."
     Moses graduated from the school in Rapid and in 1923 he married, in Rapid City, to 
Amelia Bisonette from Pine Ridge. She was the daughter of John Bisonette. They lived 
in Bridger, south of where the present housing is. Moses could play the violin, sax, 
guitar, and harmonica.
     To Moses and Amelia Circle Bear or Afraid of Lightning were born: 1924, Vera (Mrs. 
Chauncey Dupris); 1929, Mary Herrald; 1931, Regina (Mrs. Merle Lone Eagle); twins in 
1932, Raymond who married Pearl Mexican and Roy who is married to Mollie Lone 
Eagle; 1944, Virjama or Esther (Mrs. Dale Hale); 1948, Shirley (Mrs. Brian Dupris); and 
1938, James Circle Bear.
     In 1933, James Afraid of Lightning gave land for the school that was to be built, for he 
wanted the children to go to school. In 1944, he died. His wife, Sarah, died in 1951, 
while her granddaughter Vera Dupris' husband was working on the hospital in Faith.
     Moses and Amelia's children went to school at Bridger, Old Cheyenne Agency, and 
Eagle Butte schools. Mary attended Stephan. After his wife, Amelia, died in 1956, he 
served as Councilman for four years. "I was elected Councilman of Bridger district. 
Before that I was general/junior judge of the same district."
     "I was lay reader of Cherry Creek (Congregational Church) for quite a while. After that 
I came back home, then I lived with my children."
     Moses Circle Bear or Afraid of Lightning sold ten acres of his land to the tribe for new 
housing in Bridger and passed away there in 1980, at the age of 89.

[photo – James Ree or Afraid of Lightning and daughter]

  FRED ALBEE by Verena Albee Habeck
     My parents, Fred and Margaret Albee, homesteaded south of Eagle Butte in 1911. 
After they proved up their homestead they moved to Eagle Butte where my father was 
with the Anderson Lumber Company. He transferred to Dupree and we lived there in 
1916 and 1917.
     I remember a prairie fire that burned into the south city limits of Dupree. Both parents 
were fighting it. They had put valuable papers and some clothes in a pillow case. After 
the house was saved and the fire out, they found the pillow case still on the kitchen table 
and the bread dough nicely wrapped to raise on the back seat of the Model T Ford -- to 
be saved. They never agreed who did it and I honestly don't think they knew.
     We moved to Cuthbert and then back to Eagle Butte in the spring of 1919 and my 
father sold the homestead to Margaret Hell Becker's grandparents.
Albee school has been moved several times.
     My father was born in Illinois and raised in Iowa. My mothers parents, Michael and 
Bridget Halen, came from Ireland. My mother was born in New Jersey and came-with 
her parents to a homestead near Wessington.
     I am an only child. I was raised in Eagle Butte and taught schools in Ziebach County 
Busy Bee in 1928-29 and Johnson School in 1930-31.
     I have two children -- Ianita Wagner who has three daughters, Suzie Fields and Linda 
and Peggy Boyar. My son, Gerald Habeck, has two daughters, Dana and Lori Habeck.
     My husband Ruben and I have lived in California since 1937.

OTTO ALBERS FAMILY   by Anna Albers Keegan
     Otto Albers came to Ziebach County from Nebraska as a trapper. He married Mattie 
Woodward in 1922. They lived seven and one-half miles southwest of Lantry, South 
Dakota, which was homesteaded by Mattie's father, Herman Woodward. Dad had farm 
land, raised cattle, and trapped in the winter months.
     Otto and Mattie had five children -- Mary Ellen, Anna, Cecil, Orvel, and August. We 
all attended the Rosene School. Most of the time we walked the two and a half miles. In 
the winter time, if the snow was deep, Dad took us to school with the team and sled.
     I remember the dry years, with the grasshoppers, government buying cattle, but also 
the fun times, like the card parties and dances which were held at homes in the 
neighborhood.
     Otto passed away in 1959. Mattie married Ben Haugen. She is now in the Sturgis 
Community Nursing Home at Sturgis, South Dakota.
     Mary Ellen graduated from Dupree High School, married James Fluharty, raised four 
children, and now lives at Escondido, California.
     Cecil married Ida Simon, has two children. Cecil passed away in 1972.
     Orvel graduated from Eagle Butte High School, married Mary Lou Farrell, raised six 
children, and lives at Las Vegas, Nevada.
     August graduated from Eagle Butte High School, married Sonja Bell, has two sons. 
He also has two sons from a previous marriage. He now lives at Spearfish, South 
Dakota.
     I married James Keegan in 1940, had three children -- Jimmie, Judy and Sandy. Jim 
worked for Lawrence Vance, Marion Smith and Adolph Silverman. In the late 40's we 
bought the Tom Blue Eyes place from John Bigler. Jimmie and Judy went to the Sinkey 
School, Sandy went to Rosene School. We bought the Marion Smith place from Jerome 
O'Leary and moved there in 1960. In 1965 we bought the Cherry Creek Trading Post 
from Hollis Barker. We were there until 1970.
     Jimmie graduated from Dupree High School, married Joyce Miller, and they had five 
sons, LaVern, Bruce, Jamie, and the twins Kevin and Kelly. Jimmie passed away in 
1972.
     Judy graduated from Dupree High School, married Bill Longbrake, and they have four 
children, Eddie, Mike, Jackie and Raymond. They have a ranch at Bridger and live in 
Dupree during the week when the children attend school and Judy teaches at the Head 
Start.
     Sandy graduated from Eagle Butte High School. She is married to Dan Moritz, has 
three children, Darwin, Sirra, and Stephanie, and they live at Stanwood, Washington.
     I now make my home at Dupree.

[photo – Otto Albers family: Mary Ellen, Anna, Cecil, Orvel and August]

ELMER ALLEY HISTORY     by Mildred Alley
     Elmer is the son of John and Catherine Alley and I (Mildred), was the daughter of 
John and Laura Harmel.
     Elmer and I were married August 6, 1940 in Isabel. Our first home was east and north 
of Isabel. In the spring of 1942 we moved to our present home 15 miles northwest of 
Isabel. It was known as the Rogers homestead.
     We are the parents of five children, of which four are living. They are: Ronald Alley of 
Isabel who lives with his family on the home place; Karen, Mrs. Bernard Beer of Faith; 
John of Timber Lake, South Dakota; and Kenneth of McLaughlin, South Dakota. Our 
eldest daughter, Joanne, was a victim of polio. She passed away on March 25, 1968. 
     Elmer passed away April 11, 1981.

PAUL and ANTONIA ALWIN FAMILY
     Paul Alwin was born July 20, 1890 at Moorhead, Minnesota, the son of Peter Alwin 
and Marianna Sarneski. As a child he accompanied his parents to a farm near Webster, 
South Dakota in 1892. Here he attended school and grew to manhood. In 1918 he 
enlisted in the army and served overseas. On June 16, 1919 he received his discharge 
at Camp Dodge, Iowa and returned home to help operate the family farm.
     Antonia Bertha Kriech was born October 8, 1897 at Webster, South Dakota to Jacob 
Kreich and Martha Oollnick. She attended school and grew up near Webster and later 
moved to Aberdeen where she was employed. Paul and Antonia were married 
November 27, 1920. To this union four children were born: Lambert Paul, who now lives 
in Mobridge; Arlene, now Mrs. Clinton Thomas who resides in Dupree; Duane Nicholas, 
also from Mobridge; Mary, who passed away at birth.
     The Alwin family lived on a farm near Webster until the fall of 1925 when they moved 
west of the river, to a farm near Firesteel. They lived there until 1929 when they moved 
to a farm in Ziebach County, about ten miles south of Eagle Butte. They later moved to 
the Ritter place which was just north of Joe Zorc's, and lived there until the fall of 1935 
when they moved closer to Eagle Butte.
     Lambert was always interested in building roads so after graduation from Eagle Butte 
High School in 1939 and serving in the Army Air Corps, he worked with construction 
crews for many years, including work on Highway 212 from La Plant to Faith. He also 
worked for Civil Service as a safety engineer when the new bridge was built near 
Mobridge, and he is retired in Mobridge.
     Arlene graduated from Eagle Butte High School and then returned to Ziebach County 
where she worked at the Farmers State Bank for nine years. She has played the organ 
in church, given a few piano lessons and was Treasurer of Dupree School District for 
twelve years. She met Clinton Thomas when she moved to Dupree, and married him 
four years later, in 1949. They had three children: JoAnn Marie, David Paul, and Daniel 
George. JoAnn married Donald Jordan from Faith and they live in Benton, Arkansas with 
their three children.
     Duane liked the farm and worked at home for a while after his graduation from Eagle 
Butte High School, then farmed near Mobridge until the Oahe flooded the place he was 
on. Then he became the manager of the Country Club and later moved to Seattle, 
Washington where he worked for Boeing Aircraft for a couple years. He returned to 
Mobridge where he managed the Moose Club for many years and continues to make his 
home there. He married Lois Guenther and they have two daughters.
     Paul and Antonia lived on their farm two miles northwest of Eagle Butte until their 
family was through high school and then Paul sold the farm in 1964. He passed away 
March 20, 1965 of a heart attack.
     Antonia lived in Mobridge until 1975 when she passed away in the Mobridge Hospital.

[photo – Lambert, Antonia, Paul, Arlene, Duane]

[photo – Paul and Antonia Alwin – 1920]

BASTIAN ANDERSON FAMILY   by Virginia Anderson Woodward
     Bastian Anderson was born February 15, 1862 at EidsKogen, Norway and came to 
the United States with his parents when just a young boy. He married Thea Carlson, 
who was born April 1, 1864 at Romsdal, Norway, on December 1, 1882. They made 
their home at Brandt, South Dakota. They had nine children -- Selma, Carl, Selmer, 
Bertine, Mable, Olaf, Alfred, Benhard and Edna.
     He farmed and did some cement work, helping build silos, etc. Carl, Benhard and 
Selmer located around the Dupree area and Mable came out and worked in the Keller 
Store for a while and then returned home.
     After Thea passed away November 14, 1907, he married Minda Sater in 1916. 
Having three sons living around Dupree, Bastian, Minda, and Virginia moved from 
Minnesota to Dupree in 1931.
     One interesting story we remember Bastian telling about is when he went with a 
group of men to help decide on a permanent location for the State Capitol. He never had 
the opportunity to see it after it was built.
     Neither Bastian or Minda ever owned or drove a car, so always had to go by horse 
and buggy, until we moved to Dupree and then one of his sons took us.
     Olaf came to Dupree in 1951 and did a lot of building and carpenter work around the 
area. Bastian passed away in 1941 and is buried at Brandt, South Dakota. Minda moved 
into the Dupree Manor in 1973 and passed away at the age of 90, in 1976, and is also 
buried at Brandt.

[photo – Minda Anderson]

[photo – Bastian Anderson]

BEN AND LONA ANDERSON    written by Lona Anderson
     Ben Anderson came to Dupree, South Dakota on July 4, 1942 from Bowdle, South 
Dakota. In November he brought his family, two daughters and l 1/2 year old son, Terry. 
The daughters were Betty and Bonney. All three children graduated from Dupree High 
School.
     We lived in several places, finally buying the Fuller house here in Dupree.
 It was a busy, happy time. The people were wonderful and the town was small.
     I baked cakes for everyone on the reservation for any occasion. Ben was City Clerk 
for 20 years. He also operated his own barber shop.
     Betty married Ed Heckel, a rancher. They do not have any children.
     Bonney is a R.N. and is married to Les Bork who is Director of Audio Visual at South 
Dakota State University and they live in Brookings. They have three children. 

[photo - Ben and Lona Anderson]

     Terry graduated from South Dakota State University in Brookings and went in to the 
Air Force as a navigator. He went to the Pentagon for four years and now is Lt. Col. 
Anderson, Commander of a squad of 300 persons in Germany, where he lives with his 
wife Bitsy and three children.
     Ben passed away the day before Christmas in 1975, at the age of 81.
     I lived by myself for four years, and two years ago moved into the Dupree Manor 
where I live a quiet life.

BENHARD and EDNA (REICH) ANDERSON
     Edna Reich was born in Lansing, Illinois and came to Ziebach County in 1910 with 
her parents who homesteaded northeast of Dupree. She attended Clover Leaf School 
and two years of high school at Dupree. In 1921 she attended summer school in 
Aberdeen and taught the Longbrake School in 1921-22. She taught Pretty Creek in 
1922-23 and Cloverleaf in 1923-24.
     Benhard Anderson was born in Deuel County, South Dakota and moved to 
Minnesota in 1915. He came to Dupree in 1923 and worked on farms for a year. He then 
bought a tractor and started farming. Benhard and Edna were married November 15, 
1924 at Dupree. They lived in a log house on the Moreau River the first winter. They 
moved on the Hulth farm in 1925 and bought the Burke farm and moved there in 1946.
     They built a new home and retired in 1955, celebrated their golden wedding 
anniversary in 1974 and also their 55th anniversary in 1979.
     They have two children. Roy married Shirley Sprague in 1955, they have two 
daughters and three sons and four grandchildren. Evelyn married Ronald Bierman in 
1954, they have two boys and a girl, also two grandsons. Edna passed away in March, 
1980.

[photo – Evelyn, Roy, Benhard, Edna Anderson]

[photo – Mr. and Mrs. Benhard Anderson]

CALVIN ANDERSON FAMILY
     On January 28, 1924 Dr. Creamer came to the homestead of Carl A. Anderson to 
deliver Calvin. As a boy growing up, his life was much like his father's. Breaking sod and 
planting crops with horses. Helped his father and neighbors thresh, hauled bundles with 
high wheeled wagons. He experienced the dirty thirties, grasshoppers, army worms, 
dust storms, and raging blizzards, and saw fires burn down a whole block in Dupree and 
buildings in
another block.
     Calvin went all eight years of grade school at the Clover Leaf School. He attended 
high school in Dupree, and graduated in 1941. Went to college at Northern in Aberdeen, 
South Dakota for one year. The following year he came home to help his parents farm 
and ranch. He continued in partnership with his Dad until he took over the farm in 1955, 
when he married Evelyn Rae Thomas, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George William Thomas 
of Dupree. Calvin and Evelyn were married September 3, 1955 at the Sacred Heart 
church of Dupree.
     Evelyn was born July 14, 1936 at the Creamer Community Hospital in Dupree. She 
got her education at the Dupree School District No. 12, and graduated in 1954.
     To this union three children were born:
     Lonnie Dean, born March 4, 1958 at St. Mary's Hospital, Pierre, South Dakota. 
Lonnie attended all 12 years of school at the Dupree Public School and graduated in 
1976. He owns and operates his own ranch.
     Vicki Ann, born May 27, 1960 at Faith Memorial Hospital, Faith, South Dakota. Vicki 
received her 12 years of education at the Dupree Public School and graduated in 1978. 
Attends college at the University, Vermillion, South Dakota. She will graduate May 15, 
1982 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and a Major in 
Accounting. At the present time is doing her internship at Sayler-Thorstenson 
Accounting firm in Rapid City, South Dakota.
     Perry Alan was listed on the births at St. Mary's Hospital, Pierre, South Dakota, but 
had really come into the world before his mother arrived at the hospital July 21, 1964. 
Perry was born in his Grandpa Anderson's new Dodge car about twenty miles out of 
Pierre on Highway 14-83. His mother had put clean sheets in the car and without cutting 
the cord she wrapped the new babe in a clean sheet and sat in the back seat holding 
him for the remainder of the trip. With the temperature of 108 degrees the Andersons' 
did well. The Sisters at the hospital named Perry "Prairie Boy Anderson". This is how 
Perry was named. Perry has gone all 12 years of school to the Dupree Public School, 
will graduate in May, 1982.
     Calvin and Evelyn have been active in the church and community projects. Calvin 
was 4-H Leader, Community Club Chairman, County Farmers Union President, served 
on Clover Leaf School District, Farmers Co-op Elevator Board, Federal Land Bank 
Board and Farmers Home Administration Board. In 1968 he was awarded best Soil 
Conservationist.
     Evelyn is an active member of Clover Leaf Club, American Legion Auxiliary and 
Sacred Heart Altar Society. Has done solo work and sings in the Community Choir.
     In spite of the ups and downs, the good years, the bad years, the severe blizzard of 
'66, (one that Lonnie will always remember, he celebrated his eighth birthday during this 
storm. Because of no electricity we could not cook with the stove. So for the party, we 
used the bottle gas branding iron torch to roast hot dogs and had one quart size bottle of 
coke),the drought and the worms in the eighties, the homestead of Carl A. Anderson is 
still in operation and still in the family.

[photo – Calvin Anderson farm home, 1978]

[photo – Calvin and Evelyn Anderson, Perry, Vicki and Lonnie. 25th Anniversary, 
September 3, 1980]

CARL ANDERSON and FAMILY
     "Dupree, South Dakota (County Seat of Ziebach County). The Heart of the Famous 
Fox Ridge, The Last Best Homestead Country, Land of Fertile Prairies, Pure Water and 
Untold Oportunities." by L. Kruckman.
     It is such publicity that attracted an adventuresome Carl A. Anderson, the eldest son 
of Bastian and Thea Anderson, to leave Brandt, South Dakota and come to this area. 
Carl, born in Winona, Minnesota of Norwegian ancestry, had moved with his family to 
South Dakota in 1889, just prior to statehood.
     In 1908 a bill had been passed in Congress providing for the opening of the larger 
part of what was known as the Great Sioux Reservation. Some ten thousand claims 
became available on the Cheyenne and Standing Rock reservations in 1909. Drawings 
were made in Aberdeen, and in 1910 the era of the "homesteader" was at hand. Carl 
had drawn his number along with a cousin, Gust Anderson, and Casper Texley. The 
three spirited young men set their homestead shacks on adjoining land corners, the 
shacks so close together that they could call out in the morning, "Are you going to have 
ham and eggs or flap jacks for breakfast?" These corners form the hub of the settlement 
known as Clover Leaf. As the area population grew the need of a school became 
evident. Gust Anderson provided the land and plans were soon underway for a school, 
to be known as the Clover Leaf School. The school became a center for community 
activity, among them: church, card parties, dances and picnics.
     Starting a new community involved hard work -- building, breaking sod, digging wells, 
cutting trees from nearby creeks for fuel, etc. The sense of community was strong. There 
was a need to get together for work, entertainment and the sharing of experiences. Carl, 
Gust and Casper were members of the Clover Leaf baseball team, a common Sunday 
afternoon sport. There were card games, box suppers, pie socials and dances. Carl 
played a harmonica and an accordion so had his turn in providing music for Saturday 
night dances.
     Carl, an experienced carpenter, had a neatly painted claim shack and was able to 
supplement the meager income of homestead life by using his skill as the townsite of 
Dupree was becoming a reality.
     This land of opportunity was to become the home of Carl for 67 years. His visions 
and expectations never dimmed as he worked for, and tenaciously supported, a 
community which he had played a significant role in shaping. Through natural, economic 
and physical set-backs, he doggedly plodded on, always looking to a brighter horizon. 
This was his community -- his life.
     In the meantime an adventuresome Hazel Martin, born and raised in Greensburg, 
Indiana had likewise felt the call of the west, and in 1907 accepted a teaching position in 
a ranching community of the Green river near Kemmerer, Wyoming. Her brother, Robert 
soon joined her. Hazel and Robert became acquainted with J. C. Penney. While Hazel 
continued to teach there until 1911, her brother accepted a position clerking for J. C. 
Penney in his first store.
     In 1911 Hazel, the eldest daughter of William and Hattie Martin, joined her parents in 
Greensburg, Indiana, with their three younger daughters; Grace, Mabel, and Lillian. 
They, too, were seeking a new horizon and settled one mile south of the Anderson 
claim. Quote from the Leader, "Have you seen the big house and barn of William 
Martin's? They are well painted and cost Mr. Martin $2000. He has three purebred jersey 
cows." Among the equipment brought by the Martins on their train trip to the Dakotas 
was the large castiron kettle used over the years in making stew for the annual 
Nebraska Day picnic. This was the home of the Martins until 1925 when they moved to 
Portland, Oregon to live out their remaining years. The youngest daughter, Lillian, 
resides with her husband, Darwin Clifton -- a Dupree native -- in Springfield, Oregon.
     Frank Carson, cousin of Kit Carson, was to become the first government teacher at 
Cherry Creek. A school for the non-Indian children was located on the grounds of the 
government school. In 1911, Hazel was hired to teach the Carson children. She lived 
with the Carsons and their five children: George, Catherine, Franklin, Henry and Philip.
     In the meantime a romance had blossomed between Carl and Hazel. The 
Greensburg News carried this article on June 27, 1913. "Former resident of Greensburg 
apprises friends here of her wedding which will be on July second to South Dakota Man. 
Friends in this city of Miss Hazel Martin, of Dupree, South Dakota, this morning received 
invitation announcements of her approaching nuptials. The wedding has been set for 
July 2nd, and the groom will be Carl A. Anderson, a prominent Dakotan. Miss Martin will 
be remembered here as the daughter of William Martin and wife, who moved to the west 
just a few years ago." The Dupree Leader, July 3, 1913 carried this account, "Pretty 
Home Wedding -- Last night at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Martin was solemnized 
the marriage of their daughter Hazel H., to Carl A. Anderson, Rev. H. M. Bissell 
officiating, in the presence of a large number of friends together with three auto loads 
from town being present. The bride was attired in white and the groom in conventional 
black. Mrs. Wm. Aldridge played the wedding march. After the wedding ceremony a 
sumptuous repast was served which was given due justice by the many participating. 
The bride and groom are well known here and have a host of friends who wish them a 
happy wedded life. They will begin housekeeping on the grooms farm northeast of town."
     The pioneer spirit of Carl was well matched by that of his chosen mate. Together they 
met the challenges of the new frontier.
     To this couple five children were born, all delivered by Dr. Frank H. Creamer -- the 
first, a son, lived only three days. As the family grew, additions were made to the 
homestead shack. Kerosene and gasoline lamps were replaced by carbide lights, and 
eventually, electricity. Lignite coal hauled by team and wagon from the mines of Isabel 
and Firesteel was used for heating and cooking. Perishables were cooled in a wooden 
ice box supplied by ice, cut and hauled from nearby rivers and reservoirs or frozen in 
galvanized vats and stored in an underground ice house between layers of flax straw. 
Meat was cured in a smokehouse. A castiron bell, brought by the Martins on their train 
trip from Indiana, served as a means of calling the family at mealtime.
     The original house was replaced by a modern two-story structure in 1946. It wasn't 
until 1956 that the Andersons built a new home and moved into Dupree leaving the 
farming operation to their son, Calvin.
     During this time Carl and Hazel were loyal supporters of the community, actively 
engaged in community affairs, serving on boards and committees. Among them: Carl 
was a member of the first board of directors of the Farm Security Administration, helped 
organize the Dupree Farmers Elevator, served on community hospital board, Cloverleaf 
school board, numerous farm organizations, United Church of Christ and Cemetery 
board. In 1964 he was honored as a South Dakota Eminent Farmer. He was also active 
in the IOOF Lodge. Hazel was active in the Cloverleaf Extension Club and the United 
Church of Christ, as well as the Community Club.
     The Andersons continued to live an active life after retiring and moving to town. This 
union continued for 56 years -- Hazel died on August 25, 1969. Carl lived on in his home 
until his death in April of 1977.
     The four Anderson children grew to adulthood.
     Carol, married to Willis Thomas, taught school and worked in the Farmer's State 
Bank until her death in 1959. Two sons: Jewell living in Dupree and Terry who died in 
1977.
     Thelma, married to Harry Dykstra, taught school, served as County Superintendent of 
Schools, Ziebach County, and presently is a secretary at the University of South Dakota. 
Her husband, a long time South Dakota educator died in 1979 after 23 years as 
Professor of Educational Administration at the University of South Dakota. Two children: 
Frances of Providence, Rhode Island and Robert of Vermillion.

[photo – Carl Anderson family. Carl, Hazel, Carol, Thelma, Ethel and Calvin. January 26, 
1940]

[photo – Carl A. Anderson homestead shack 7 miles northeast of Dupree, township 13, 
range 21, NE Ό of Sec. 10. 1910]

[photo – Carl and Hazel Anderson, 56th Anniversary. July 2, 1969]

GUSTAVE ANDERSON   by Gertrude Tomac
     Gustave Anderson was born August 24, 1857 and Carrie Ingham was born 
November 30, 1861. They were raised and married in Sweden. They came to America 
and lived in Minnesota for a time before coming to South Dakota.
     They homesteaded in northern Ziebach County, in the Glad Valley area, about 1911. 
There they farmed a little and milked a few cows to try to make a living.
     They raised six children who were all born before coming to South Dakota. Their 
names were: Gustave, Anna, Minnie, Mabel, Harry, and Ruth. They are all deceased 
except Mrs. Val (Ruth) Hampel.
     Harry Anderson married Helen Hoyt in May of 1925 and lived on the place with his 
father. They lived in a three-room house which was shacks put together. Later they 
added on another room and raised a family of eleven 
children. They are: Clifford in Isabel; Mrs. Emil (Gertrude) Tomac of Keldron, South 
Dakota; Mrs. Rhinie (Ruth) Roesler of Mobridge; Roy of Isabel; Rozella (deceased); Mrs. 
Donald (Ann Marie) Hedges, Belle Fourche; David of Portland, Oregon; Mrs. Lee (Alice) 
Hedges, Belle Fourche; Mrs. David (Gladys) Zielauf, Rapid City; Mrs. Gary (Mary) 
Herber, Belle Fourche; and Mrs. Douglas (Darlene) Wahl of Sioux Falls.
     My grandmother passed away in March of 1934 but Grandpa continued living there 
for several years. Although he was blind he carried his own water and coal and did all 
his own cooking (except for a little help from family members occasionally). He later 
moved into a nursing home in Isabel where he passed away in October, 1943.
     We walked three and a half miles to the Glad Valley School, which held grade and 
high school at that time.
     Dad worked on W.P.A. during the "Dirty Thirties" like most of the farmers did, to help 
raise the family. Mother went back to teaching school in 1946.
     Dad passed away in December 1946 at the age of 54. Clifford took over the farm and 
Mom continued to teach until her children were all through school. She taught at the 
Gopher, Bloom and Glad Valley schools and in the Black Hills area. She later made her 
home in Isabel, South Dakota. She passed away October 1976.
     Some of our closest neighbors were: Clint Harris, Ralph Garnett, Art Mortenson, 
Ernest Kornman, Charley and Elmer Swift and a bachelor (Gust Grammer) who lived 
across the road who was just like one of the family.
 Clifford and Roy spent time in the Army in the 1940's and 19S0's.
 Gertrude married Emil Tomac in June 1947 and lives on a ranch south of Keldron, 
South Dakota. We have three children: Lois (Mrs. Gary Burch), Belle Fourche; Don and 
his wife Rhonda live on the ranch with us, and Diane (Mrs. David Hussey) of Oral, South 
Dakota. We have three grandchildren.

SELMER and CORA ANDERSON
     Selmer and Cora Anderson came to Ziebach County from Deuel County in eastern 
South Dakota in 1921. They bought the Charles Denham homestead about thirteen 
miles northeast of Dupree. Selmer came in February bringing his horses, cows and 
machinery in an emigrant car. His brother, Alfred, and brother-in-law, Albert Stroschein, 
came also and rode in the emigrant car. Cora and daughter, Helen, came in March. 
Selmer and Cora lived on the farm thirty-seven years, then moved to Dupree in 
September, 1957.
     Selmer was active in community service and served on the Pretty Creek School 
District board from 1923 until 1957. He served on the Moreau-Grand Electric Coop 
board from 1953 until 1957. He was a member of the County ASC Board from 1933 until 
1956 and served on the Ziebach County Extension Board for more than twenty years. 
He and others helped organize the Farmer's Union Oil Company. He served on the town 
board from 1958-1962.
     Helen married Donald Schad of Lantry who passed away in 1971. Cora and Selmer 
had six grandchildren and there are eight great-grandchildren. Selmer passed away in 
July, 1977. Cora lives in her home in Dupree and keeps busy raising flowers and 
entertaining her friends.

THE VIRGIL (TARZEN)  ANDERSON STORY
     My father, Isaac Collins, and my oldest brother, Otto, came from Independence, 
Missouri in the spring of 1910 and homesteaded on a quarter of land about IS miles 
south of Eagle Butte, South Dakota. My sister, Bessie and husband, Clint Thompson, 
had gone there about a year before. She wrote and told the folks what a wonderful 
country it was so they decided to come out too. That fall my mother and the rest of the 
children; Della, Inez, Kenneth (Shorty) and myself (Gladys) came out.
     In August 1912 Otto and the horse he was riding were killed by lightning on Highway 
63 just about straight east of where Ethel Nielson now lives. My father was away at the 
time (he was a carpenter contractor). Mother had wired him, but he didn't receive the 
wire, so he didn't know of Otto's death until he got off the train in Eagle Butte about two 
months later. It was a terrible shock to him.
     Virgil Anderson was born in September 1904 in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota -- his father 
Charles I. Anderson died in 1908. Virgil's mother remarried in 1914 to Sully Morgan. 
They moved to Eagle Butte with Virgil's youngest sister, Thelka, and homesteaded one 
mile from the Collins home. Virgil and his sister Velma stayed in La Crosse, Wisconsin 
with their mother's parents. They didn't come to Eagle Butte until the winter of 1916. 
They arrived by train and a Mr. Chalmers, the Eagle Butte blacksmith, took them to their 
mother's home by team and wagon, some 15 miles.
     Virgil Anderson went to work for the Diamond A when he was only 16, in 1920. He 
worked for Bob Rose at the Rudy Creek camp. He was still working there when he and I 
(Gladys Collins) got married on October 22, 1925. Virgil had bought a two room house 
from Beth Till and had it moved about 200 yards north of the Diamond A house. It was 
on my brother, Shorty Collins, land. On February 15, 1931 our house burned and we lost 
everything we had. The two children and I moved in with my brother Shorty for the rest 
of the winter. He was living in the old Badger house, which was large enough to 
accommodate all of us. That spring Virgil bought a one room house from Thomas Bear 
Fly. We moved it where the old one was.
     Virgil quit the Diamond A in the late summer of 1933 and we moved on Fred Lickel's 
place for the county until they had a sale. We lived there part of the winter. This was 
about two and one half miles south of Rudy Creek camp, which at that time was being 
run by foreman Bob Stapert. He married Mabel Blatner while he worked there. 
     Virgil made a deal for the John Ganje place one mile east of Keller's place. The 
Game farm had been taken over by the Rural Credit. Mr. Ganje moved off of the place 
as soon as the crops were harvested that fall. He had three huge straw stacks so Virgil 
and my brother, Shorty, bought them for cow feed. Just before we moved there Virgil 
took out a Federal Land Bank loan and bought 25 cows that would calf in the spring. We 
moved into the Ganje house Thanksgiving day. Alice was only four weeks old. The 
children and I stayed with Mrs. Casper (Katie) Fisher while Virgil, my mother and Casper 
moved our stuff. It was such a beautiful day, we had Thanksgiving dinner with the Fisher 
family that evening. We had a lot of snow and bad weather from then on. There was so 
much snow that Shorty couldn't get feed to his cattle. The three straw stacks were close 
to our barn. The second week in December we looked out our north window and saw a 
hayrack coming with a long string of cattle behind it. Shorty had half filled his hayrack, 
put his family with all their bed clothing and all the grub they had and headed for our 
place where the stock feed was, which was about a five mile trip. Shorty and his wife 
(Myrtle) had four children at that time and we had five and Mother was also with us. 
They stayed until April and we all got along real fine.
     We had thirteen living children, a very happy and contented bunch of kids. Virgil and I 
always talked about how good God was to us. And though we no longer have Virgil (we 
all miss him greatly) I thank God for his goodness for I still have my 13 children and 40 
grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren .
     Three of our boys worked for the Diamond A. Cal worked from the time he was 15 
until he was called into the service. Tom worked for three years and Bill also worked 
about three years.
     We left South Dakota on May 27, 1966 on account of Virgil's health. Mary and her 
husband came out with his semi truck and moved us out to Oregon. We arrived in our 
new home in Falls City, Oregon on June first 1966.
     Virgil died February 11, 1976. Hope, our youngest and her baby Christina were living 
with us then. He died in a Dallas, Oregon hospital on Christina's second birthday. He 
was laid to rest in our own family cemetery on our property February 14, 1976.
     In February 1981 I sold my ranch in Ziebach County to Perry Dupoy. I hope they are 
as happy there as Virgil and I were.

[photo – Virgil and Gladys Anderson on their 25th Wedding Anniversary]

[photo – The Virgil and Gladys Anderson family. Back row: Guy, Billy, Alice, Tommy and 
Cal. Sitting are: April, Eva, Gladys, Virgil, Virginia and Mary. Front: Katherine, Alexia, 
Jack and Hope]

JOHN ASKIN
     John Askin arrived in Dupree by train in 1911. He worked in Pinnecker's Store part-
time in 1911 and 1912. He proved up on a homestead in 1912, and then lived in 
Nebraska for 3 years. He and his brother, Pete, returned in 1915 to ranch south of 
Dupree at Chase, then moved to a ranch north of Lantry on Bear Creek. He served one 
year in the army in France during World War I. He then returned as auditor for the J. F. 
Anderson Lumber Company. He resigned to work at the Dupree State Bank, spent some 
time at the Veteran's Hospital, then he was manager of Central Lumber Company until 
they moved from Dupree. He then managed the lumber yard at Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. 
He retired in 1951. The Askin children were: Jack, Jean, Margaret and Alice.

PETE ASKIN
     Peter F. (Pete) Askin first had a "claim" in the Slim Buttes country where he lived for 
several years. About 1910 or 1911 he moved to Dupree. He married Byrdie Geesey and 
they had two sons, Wayne and James. He died when he was about 50 years of age, in 
1940.
     Pete and his brother John (Jack) had a ranch in the Chase area, south of Dupree. 
Later, they moved to Bear Creek, north of Lantry where they ranched for several years.
     Pete and Byrdie lived in Dupree in the house now owned by Marie Edwards. John 
was manager of the lumber yard for several years and lived in the house now owned by 
Della Jones.
     Pete and Jack were both well-known as baseball players and were on the Dupree 
team for many years.
     When Pete and Byrdie left Dupree in the very early thirties they went to Whitewood, 
South Dakota where Pete started the first sale barn of its kind in the Black Hills area. 
(From West River Progress)

NELS BABCOCK HISTORY   written by Nels Babcock
     I was born at Lower Brule, South Dakota on November 8, 1909, where my parents, 
Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Babcock were employed by the U.S. Indian Service.
     When I was five years old, in 1914, my parents resigned from the Indian Service and 
bought a ranch on the reservation, up the Missouri River some 25 miles from Lower 
Brule, where I grew up to young manhood.
     In the spring of 1933 times were very hard and I needed a job. I went to work for the 
Diamond A Cattle Company at Eagle Butte for $30.00 per month as a regular hand. 
Hans Mortenson was foreman at that time.
     The next spring, 1934, Hans put Kirk Myers and myself to breaking saddle horses at 
the Willow Creek Camp, south of LaPlant, where we got a number of young horses 
started before the roundup wagon pulled out for spring work.
     1934 was the driest year of the 30's. There was no new grass and most all the stock 
reservoirs were very low or dry. Early in July, Hans and Cap Mossman decided to ship 
all the cattle out due to the severe drought conditions. We started gathering cattle with 
the roundup wagon crew shipping them out of the Mossman, Ridgeview and Lantry 
stockyards. These cattle were sold to the U. S. Government for $20.00 per head for the 
best ones, $12.00 per head for the older cows and $8.00 per head for the calves. Many 
of the thinner and weaker cows were shot as they were too weak to stand shipment.
     It took us 60 days or more to gather all the cattle and by that time there wasn't hardly 
any grass left any place.
     After the cattle were shipped, the Diamond A laid off a lot of their men, but I was 
lucky enough to be kept on the regular payroll. A few of us went back over the range 
gathering the few cattle that were missed. These were taken to some of the winter 
camps where there was some leftover hay.
     The Diamond A operated at a bare minimum for the rest of the drought years. They 
shipped in some 1500 head each year to Midland, South Dakota and summered them 
on the old O'Neal ranch north of there. In the fall we would trail them to winter camps 
where they could be fed.
     During the winter of 1939-40, Hans Mortenson got sick and passed away on March 
21, 1940.
     After his funeral, Cap Mossman came out to the Twenty Four Camp north of Lantry 
where I was camp boss and told me that Hans had recommended me for his job before 
he had died. This was a big surprise to me and I wondered how I would ever handle the 
job.
     That spring, there was good rains and the Diamond A got some of their big 
reservation leases back and shipped a lot of yearlings in from their three New Mexico 
ranches.
     This all took a lot more help and I was busy repairing fences and water reservoirs that 
had not been used for several years. There was also a lot of hay to put up with 
machinery that was in need of repair.
     During the early 40's, the country came back in good shape enabling the Diamond A 
to get back in full operation again, using the roundup wagon at branding times and 
shipping in the fall and when moving cattle to various parts of the range.
     In April of 1943 I married Gertrude Henderson. She has helped me in many ways and 
we have had a lot of good years together.
     During the summer of 1944, Cap Mossman decided to sell the Diamond A as he was 
not a young man anymore and had been general manager for many years. So it was 
sold to Leon Williams of New York City. Mr. Williams knew nothing about ranching 
business and I found it very hard to run the ranch under his management.
     I quit the Diamond A the first of July in 1946 and took a foreman job with W. J. Foxley 
running the Horse Shoe Ranch some 20 miles up the river from Mobridge.
     The fall of 1951 we moved to the old Mike Dunn ranch southeast of Eagle Butte, in 
Ziebach County, where we operated for a time before moving to a ranch we bought in 
North Dakota, just west of Ft. Yates. After living there for 12 years, we moved to Faith 
where we had an interest in the sale barn with Lawrence Vance. I sold my interest in 
1973 to Gary Vance and have been retired here in Faith since. I enjoyed my time with 
the Diamond A and the men I worked with while there. That was the best years of my 
life.

[photo – Nels Babcock at Lovelett line camp in 1935]

[photo – Diamond A cowboys at Ridgeview stock yards. Russell Keckler, Barney Lyons, 
Nels Babcock, Kirk Myers, Leo Hagel, Shortlog Tibbs, John Hagel and John Holloway]

[photo – Diamond A saddle bronc I broke in the new round corral at Willow Creek]

  GOTTLIEB BACHMAN (taken from the Faith Country book)
     Gottlieb Bachman and sons came here in 1909 and filed claims about 8 miles south 
of Faith with John and wife Hilda, and the older son, Gottlieb, Jr., filed on an adjoining 
claim. He returned for the family in the spring of 1910, consisting of 9 children. One 
daughter remained there. Those who came were Gottlieb, Jr.; John and wife, Hilda; Ted; 
Philip; Lena; Katie; Louise and Lydia. He picked a clear, flat homestead as his interest 
was farming -- however the next few years proved to be hazardous for this and he took 
up cattle raising. While in the old country, he taught in the German-Russian area.
     He held religious services wherever possible for his family and community. He was 
known far and wide for this and continued until sufficient clergy began appearing in their 
neighborhood.
     The children attended school to Miss Frost, who later became Mrs. Charley Seager. 
Another teacher well remembered is Miss Ceclia Samuelson.
     John and Hilda raised four children Erwin, Albert, Eddie and Leah. They retired in 
Faith until both were killed in an auto accident in January of 1959.
     Philip married Anna Geiken and remained in the nearby area of the first homestead. 
They have three children, Bernard, Leonard and Ronald.
     Lena became Mrs. Oscar Sederstrom and they had two children, Manfred and 
Edythe.
     Katie became Mrs. Paul Beyers and they had one son, Leon.

THE BACON FAMILY
     Florence, daughter of Emerson and Ada Henderson, moved to Dupree in 1919. She 
was married to Arthur Bacon; they had seven children: Ada, Vera, Audrey, George, 
Irene, and Merle and Alvin who were born in Dupree. Arthur was a mechanic and 
worked in a garage -- Bentley's Garage -- which is now the Dupree Jack & Jill Store.
     In the late 1920's they moved their family to Reeder, North Dakota.
     They are buried in Hamilton, Montana.

HARRY B. BAILEY FAMILY    by Lorena Bailey Taylor
     Harry and Mary Bailey were born and raised near Columbia and Duncannon, 
Pennsylvania. They moved to Illinois, Iowa, and then to Dakota, near Virgil and 
Highmore.
     In 1926 they arrived with their six children and one daughter-in-law, in Ziebach 
County. It was in the month of March, 1926, when they pulled into the driveway of the 
Leake place on the highway south of Dupree. They were welcomed by the Carl Johnson 
family, who drove in behind them. It was a good feeling to be welcomed so soon upon 
arrival.
     My brother, William, and his wife, moved onto a place neighboring the Orson Gage 
family east of us. They returned to eastern South Dakota a year or two later.
     LeRoy farmed with Dad a year or two and then sought work in Hettinger, North 
Dakota.
     Beatrice married in 1930 and also moved to Hettinger.
     After graduating from the 8th grade Hosleth joined LeRoy and Beatrice to attend high 
school.
     Beatrice, Hosleth, Norman and myself (Lorena) attended the Gage School. Dad 
served as a board member for the Gage School and it was his responsibility to keep the 
coal bin full to keep us warm.
     As those were depression years, Dad sought extra employment to supplement our 
income. That job was with the County, operating a horse-drawn grader, smoothing the 
ruts after rains, and keeping the road clean. He took pride in his work.
     In the fall of 1932 we moved to the Spike ranch on the North Grand River, south of 
Hettinger, North Dakota. Five years later we moved to Lemmon, South Dakota for one 
year. From there we joined the rest of our family in Billings, Montana.
     Dad passed away in 1944. Mother passed away in 1958 in Medford, Oregon. Both 
are buried in Billings.
     William and his family live in Billings. LeRoy is in Arizona. Beatrice is in Idaho. 
Hosleth passed away in 1978 and is buried in Billings. Norman and I live in California.
     Dupree will always hold a spot in our memories. They were vivid years for us 
children. We had miles to roam in, and roam we did, amid cactus and rattlesnakes. 
Many a cactus spine we pulled from our feet and legs, but never once were we bitten by 
a rattler. Dad and Hosleth each had a close call. For Mother and Dad it must have been 
a time of concern, trying to feed and clothe their family. They were the kind to not 
complain in front of their children.

LEO and PATTY (EDWARDS) BAKEBERG
     Leo Bakeberg, son of August and Josephine Docel Dunn Bakeberg, was born in 
Dupree. He went to school in Sioux Falls and graduated from Dupree High School in 
1946. He attended Brookings State College and Augustana College in Sioux Falls.
     Leo married Patty Edwards, daughter of James (Edd) and Ruth Maynard Edwards. 
They lived in Sioux Falls where their first daughter, Ruth, was born, before coming to 
Dupree in 1951 to be custodian for Dupree High School for about 27 years.
     Patty graduated from Dupree High School in 1947 and attended Northern State 
summer school, took her test and taught Clover Leaf School in 1948 and '49, before 
working in the A.S.C.S. office in Dupree. She worked for the A.S.C.S. for over 20 years.
     Leo and Pat moved to Spearfish in 1978 where he became maintenance man at the 
Black Hills State College. Patty works for the A.S.C.S. in Belle Fourche.
     The Bakebergs have a family of 10 children. Ruth married David Slaughter and they 
have two sons, John and Joe. Ruth graduated from Saint Martin's High in Rapid City, 
went to Vermillion 1 year, 1 summer at B.H.S.C. and graduated from Brookings. She 
taught Fairview rural school 1 year. They now live in Rapid City and Ruth works for the 
First Federal Savings and Loan (Bank).
     August graduated from Dupree High School and Black Hills State College. He 
married Nancy Bockwoldt Larson. They have three sons, Brian (Nancy's by a previous 
marriage), Andy and Brandon. August works as Assistant Manager at the Safeway Store 
in Belle Fourche.
     Debra Rose graduated from Dupree High School, married Herb Grueb and has one 
daughter, Corrin. She works for the Safeway Store in Rapid City.
     Leo Jr. graduated from Dupree High School and went 1 year to Black Hills State 
College. He married Trudy Bosley. They have three children, Amy, Leo Anthony and 
Alan James. He works for the Safeway Store in Rapid City.
     Donald graduated from Dupree High School and Black Hills State College. He 
worked for Safeway in Spearfish for several years. He married Connie Claymore and 
they have 1 daughter, Sarah Kay. He works for a construction firm and they live in 
Columbus, Montana.
     Mary Jo graduated from Dupree High School and went 1 year to Black Hills State. 
She married Darrell Jundt and has 1 son, Matthew, and lives in Wichita, Kansas. She 
works part time for a large grain elevator.
     Alan graduated from Dupree High School and entered the service. He spent 2 years 
in Germany. He married Debbie Jundt. He is enrolled in the School of Mines and Debbie 
works as a secretary there. They live in Rapid City.
     John graduated from Dupree High School. He lives in Rapid City and manages a Mini 
Mart.
     Todd and Shelly are still at home.

DANIEL and BERTHA BAKER      by Nellie Baker Ross
     Daniel Baker filed on a claim in Perkins County in 1909 and moved his family there 
by 2 covered wagons and 4 horse teams in 1910. They crossed the Missouri on a ferry 
at Whitlock Crossing near Forest City.
     Daniel and Bertha and their youngest daughter Nellie moved to the Red Elm area in 
1923 renting the place now owned by George and Bertha Lammers. Later he built a new 
home on the west edge of Redelm (this house was bought by Eva Fields and moved to 
Dupree, remodeled, and she lives in it).
     Mr. Baker was a blacksmith and well driller. Mrs. Baker was a seamstress and also 
made hats. She made riding skirts for us girls as we did not have jeans. She and Mr. 
Baker had a loom and did custom weaving of rugs. She
raised chickens and a large garden which took most of her time and balanced our diet.
     The children were Ralph, Mable and Nellie. Mable is deceased. Ralph lives in Bison. 
Nellie married Lawrence Ross in October 1925. Lawrence is deceased and Nellie has 
lived in Faith, South Dakota since 1970.

HARRY A. BAKER
     Harry A. Baker was born at Hoffman, Minnesota on August 9, 1903, the son of Homer 
and Cora Baker. They moved to a ranch northwest of Faith in 1906. Harry married 
Orgena Bauman in 1928 at Dupree. Baker operated a creamery, worked for the State 
Highway Department and had charge of the commodities at the Courthouse, besides 
being Ziebach County Courthouse custodian for 25 years.
     Mr. Baker had a magic touch in repairing anything mechanical or electrical and many 
a housewife in Dupree has enjoyed the magic of his ability to make her kitchen 
equipment operate. Harry died in April 1975. The Baker children are Reese Baker 
(deceased) and Alta Mae McConnell.

  MR. and MRS. MARTIN BAKEWELL
     It was in the summer of 1910 that Martin Bakewell crossed the Missouri River at 
LeBeau, South Dakota. With Otto Minker and V. J. Smith of Redelm, and an Indian 
locator, he came by team to look over the area. After viewing his quarter section which 
was about 5 miles northeast of Faith, he returned to his job with the Chicago, Milwaukee 
and St. Paul Railroad Company, in the eastern part of the state.
     In the fall of 1910 he came to Lemmon, South Dakota where he hired a freighter to 
haul lumber to his homestead. He constructed a 12' x 24' building. His son Leo came 
into Faith on the first train in January, 1911. He lived on the claim and built an additional 
room. Martin's wife, Ella, and two daughters Laura and Florence had moved to Ashton, 
South Dakota from Lansing, Iowa in the fall of 1910. In the spring of 1911 the family 
moved to Faith on a crowded and slow train. All walked the five miles to their new home.
     An incident that could have been tragic, happened on the day Martin left to return to 
his job. Mrs. Bakewell walked to Faith with him to see him off on the train. There were no 
roads or fences, but they lived on a creek and Ella never worried about finding her way 
back to the new home. However, on her return home she became lost and wandered 
aimlessly on the prairie for hours. Finally, in the distance a team and buggy appeared. 
She waved her handkerchief frantically. The driver spied her, and came to her rescue 
and took her to her home. He was Mr. Miner, who was working as a "Locator." Martin 
stayed with his job on the railroad until the fall of 1915. He lived on his homestead 
raising grain and livestock until 1929 when he sold his place. Mrs. Bakewell passed 
away in 1928. Mr. Bakewell made his home with his daughter, Florence, until his death 
in 1934. Florence had married George Higgins and Laura had married George Ulrich. 
Both daughters are deceased. Leo had a homestead nearby which he sold to nephew 
Gene Ulrich. Leo at age 94 is living in Los Angeles, California.

JOHN M. BARRON FAMILY      by Ethel M. Riede
     John M. Barren and Priscilla Henderson were married on September 2, 1908 in 
Pipestone, Minnesota. They returned to Rushmore, Minnesota where he farmed with his 
father. On August 4, Ree Henderson Barren was born.
     Our father decided he wanted to homestead in South Dakota. They stayed for a few 
months and then returned to Rushmore where I (Ethel May Barren, December 17, 1910) 
was born. We went back out to South Dakota to live on the claim. We lived in a little sod 
house long enough to own the homestead. We then returned to Rushmore. We stayed in 
Minnesota for several years. On January 27, 1914, Robert M. Barren arrived and two 
years later, Margaret Ruth Barren was born on January 7, 1916.
     In 1917 we moved out to Dupree, South Dakota permanently. There our father built a 
home 1/2 mile south of Dupree where we farmed and raised cattle. We had a good life, 
we were active in church and community life. Our father was on the school board and 
was a County Commissioner. On November 6, 1920, a sister, Priscilla, was born and on 
October 5, 1923, Gordon was born.
     Things were going fine, crops were good. We all led healthy, active lives.
     In 1930, I married Thomas E. Riede. We lived and farmed and raised cattle in 
Dupree. We have two daughters, Patty May Riede and Virginia Ethel Riede.
     In 1933, things started to go bad. No rain, hot winds, drought, dust storms, and no 
crops.
     In 1936, things were real bad. We decided to move to Oregon, arriving in Corvallis 
July 17th. Our father worked at several jobs -- at a feed store and then caretaker of a 
bank until his retirement.
     Tom and I lived in Albany, Oregon for a few months. Eventually we came back to 
Corvallis. Our girls went to school in Corvallis, went to Oregon State University, 
graduating from the University of Oregon Medical School as Registered Nurses. They 
are married and each have three children. We (Tom and I) have one great-grandson. 
We have six grandchildren.
     Ree and Robert finished their education at Oregon State University. Ree went to 
Portland and then on to Washington, D.C. as a draftsman for the government. He 
married Doris Leake on December 14, 1941 in Washington, D.C. Their first son was 
born there. In 1945, they returned to Oregon and settled in Beaverton. They have two 
more sons, Jerry and John. They have five grandchildren. Robert went into the service 
after graduation. He married Grace Robinson on June 5, 1945. They returned to the 
west coast and lived in Longview, Washington. They have one daughter. Barbara is a 
lawyer and single. Now they are living in San Diego.
     Priscilla graduated from Corvallis High, attended two years at Oregon State 
University and then married Bill Hand, now passed away. They have three children. 
Priscilla now lives in Bakersfield, California and is in the oil business.
     Our sister Margaret stayed in South Dakota. She was working in the Courthouse. She 
married a classmate, Vernon Oliver, and has one son and two grandchildren.
     Gordon is a vice principal of Eugene Junior High. He is a graduate of Corvallis High 
and Oregon State University. He was in the service during World War II. He finished his 
education after he came back. On September 14, 1947, he married Alice Franklin in 
Corvallis. They went to Eugene. They have six children and two granddaughters.
     Our father passed away June 25, 1955. Our mother passed away April 8, 1958.

FRED and JOHN BARTHOLD (taken from the Faith Country book) (written by Helen 
Wilson Lackey)
     In 1894 the Bartholds moved their headquarters to Thunder Butte Creek, where John 
and Fred, in partnership with their father, Ernest Barthold, merchant at Sheridan, 
Pennington County, built up the well known Barthold ranch.
     By 1901 or 1902 the EB outfit numbered close to 1500 head of cattle and near 500 
head of horses, which were thrown on the range to be gathered by the roundups. Fred 
was the cowboy, while John ran the ranch.
     After both boys married, the livestock was divided. Fred kept the horses and the 
home ranch, and John took the cattle. About 1915 or 1916, John built a large cement 
block house on his ranch a short distance from the old ranch. Both brothers closed out 
their cattle and horses and went in the sheep business.
     Fred sold his sheep, about 4500 head, which he ran north of Isabel, to Ed Lemmon 
and John Barthold in 1915 and with Jim Lemmon as a partner, he formed the Dakota 
Livestock and Investment Company. The main headquarters was in Lemmon. W. L. 
Lackey, who had been his sheep foreman, became the Faith salesman, while John 
Hawley was kept as salesman in the Lemmon territory. Fred moved to St. Paul where he 
handled that end of the business.
     In 1918 Fred bought the Big Stone Ranch at Four Corners bridge across the 
Cheyenne River, where he ran both cattle and sheep. He ran about 6000 head on his 
reservation lease southeast of Faith (he took over the Staple M `lease after that 
company folded up). He also ran about 1200 head of cattle north of his place on the 
Cheyenne, besides his breeding cattle at home.
     Although Fred kept the same old log house built by Duff Quinn during the 90's, he 
modernized it, by putting in running water and both internal and exterior repairs and yard 
work, until it became one of the most picturesque ranches in western Dakota. He also 
kept a herd of buffalo and deer which were confined to pastures.
     For the reason it was hard to keep good help, Fred closed out his stock and leased 
his ranch to the Chicago Cattle Company. In 1957 the ranch was sold to Hanson 
Brothers. That spring Fred purchased a place in Florida, where he died a short time 
later.

BEAR EAGLE
     Mate Wanbli or Bear Eagle (1842-1908) married Beaver/Elizabeth (1844-1910). They 
lived near the Big Spring south of the Cheyenne River, where Bridger residents found 
safety when a fire swept down from the north in 1870.
     Bear Eagles also lived on the flat west of Bridger, on their allotment.
     Seven of their children survived.
     Annie or Nellie (1857-1939) married David Blackman. Two of their four children lived 
to adulthood: John, born in 1887, and Howard Blackman (1889-1913).
     Henry Slowly (1870-1950) married Annie Marion. Seven of their children died before 
1916 and Louise L. Slowly, born in 1911, survived.
     George Bear Eagle lived from 1874 to 1955. He married Annie. Their children were 
Agatha (Mrs. Andrew Little Moon); Eva (Mrs. Isaac Long); Emily and Wallace Bear 
Eagle.
     Good Feather, a daughter, lived from 1876 to 1893.
     Harry Bear Eagle (1882-1965) married Sarah Little Crow or Cane Woman in 1906. 
They were the parents of: Mary May (1907-1943 Mrs. James Buck Elk Thunder); Winnie 
(1910-1960 Mrs. Thomas Slow); Noah Bear Eagle born in 1912; and Mabe1(1916-
1917). In 1917 Sarah died. In 1923 Harry Bear Eagle married Fannie Hunts the Horses 
(1899-1979) of Rosebud. To them were born: Spray Louie (1920); Zouie (Lone Eagle); 
and Celesta (Belt).
     Carrie Bear Eagle (1891-1914) married Matthew Yellow Hawk. They had two sons: 
James (1901-1911) and Leslie (1912).
     Stephen Bear Eagle, the seventh child of Bear Eagle and Elizabeth, married Marcella 
Lyman, daughter of Ed Lyman. Their children are Major Bear Eagle born in 1921 and 
Leona (Red Bull; Holy) born in 1926. 

BEAR LOOKS RUNNING
     A lady named Iron Lodge married Finger Ring. Their children were Grass Top, Kills 
Twice born in 1842, and Many Spotted Horses.
     Many Spotted Horses married Jumper. Their two sons were Brings Them and Bear 
Looks Running, their daughter's name was Chief Eagle.
     Bear Looks Running married Eagle Body. Their children were Yellow Iron; Sacred 
Blanket, and Frank Hard to Wound.
     Chief Eagle married Oglala and was the mother of Eagle Boy, also known as Eugene 
Motley. When he was young and went to the boarding school he was given an English 
name as most Indian children were at the time. There was a doctor there named Eugene 
Motley. Eagle Boy was given the doctor's name. Eugene lived east of Cherry Creek 
Station.
     Survivors of this family today include Frank Bear Running, who later changed his 
name to Waloke. He married Edith Little Shield, 1908-1979. Frank is eighty-three years 
old this year and likes to visit about his bronc riding days in the 1920's. Their children are 
Franklin, Clementine Big Eagle, Irene Traversie and Sylvester.

  THE RAY BECKERS written by Margaret (Heil) Becker
     My grandfather, (John Heil) came to Ziebach County in 1910 to homestead 12 miles 
south of Eagle Butte. As far as I know Grandpa came from Russia on September 10, 
1901. He lived in Harvey, North Dakota until 1910 when he came to South Dakota. They 
had an only child, a daughter named Barbara and an adopted son named Peter who 
served in World War I. Grandma got sick around 1912 and came to North Dakota to stay 
with us where she passed away. As mother was an only child, she felt she should come 
to South Dakota to take Grandpa. So, Dad, Jacob Heil, sold his elevator in 1917 when I 
was 12 years old and we moved to South Dakota. Farming came hard for my Dad. I can 
remember the first summer we were on the farm. We had a good crop. Wheat was cut 
with a binder at that time. I was sent out alone to shock grain on a forty acre field. You 
can imagine how fast the binder got away from me. I'd set up a shock, sit down and cry, 
and go on again. I remember an Indian man named Charlie Face came by and pitched 
in and could he shock grain! At that time my folks didn't know Indian people very well 
and they said he had to come in and eat. After he'd eaten his fill he went home and 
again I was left alone. The next day Mom and Dad both came out and the grain was 
soon shocked.
     But, about our trip out here, my mother and six of us children came before Dad. My 
older sister stayed with Dad. When we got to Eagle Butte, we had to stay in the only 
hotel. My mother was afraid of bedbugs so we slept in our clothes. The next day, Mr. 
Naeve took us in his Model T twelve miles to the farm. About halfway a creek had to be 
crossed. We all had to get out while he drove across and then we waded across and 
went on.
     Then, after two years in South Dakota Grandpa remarried and moved to North 
Dakota and we were left alone on the farm.
     The first year when they had the Indian Fair, the Indians would come past our place, 
a caravan maybe two miles long, wagons, horses and what have you.
     We kids didn't get to the fair as it was too far.
     One thing I remember is taking grain in a three top wagon box with four horses to 
town to sell the grain and bring back supplies. I had to drive one wagon when I was 
about fourteen years old. At the time we had a high hill that we called High Elk Hill, and 
believe me, coming home down that hill was no fun with a load. Somehow I got down 
without mishap but with lots of praying.
     We were here about three years when a few of Dad's friends also moved here. There 
were the three Ganje brothers, Gabe, John and Tony, then came Joe Schatz, later Mike 
Keller, John Ehli, Doschs, and Heck brothers. As I remember Frank and Jack Niegel 
homesteaded south of us across Rudy Creek before we came. Shoeners were also here 
before us and they lived 1/2 mile north of us. As we were all Catholics, Father Vogel and 
Father Golden were priests who would come by horse and buggy two or three times a 
week to say Mass. Most of the time at our house, as we were in the center. It must have 
been in the early 30's or late 20's that people got together and decided we needed a 
church. For a couple years we had a basement church and then finally built a church. 
Now we had a Church and school so everyone said we needed a name. Father Golden 
and Dad came up with Pleasant Valley so that is how it was named and still is. As time 
went on and times got bad, people began to think land was better around Eagle Butte. 
One by one they moved. My family stayed until 1937 when they moved to Rapid City. 
The Church was no longer needed so it was sold to Frank Zacher. He moved it to Eagle 
Butte and made a pool hall out of it.
     There are nine children in my family. I am the only one left in South Dakota. I now 
have 32 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.

[photo – 1927. First home of Ray Beckers]

[photo – Taken in 1926 before Margaret Heil and Ray Becker were married.] (Wedding 
date, October 4, 1927]

[photo – The Ray Becker family]

AUGUST and KATHERINE BEER
     August Beer, son of John and Anna Lederer Beer, was born in Germany in 1905. He 
came to the United States in 1924 to Plankinton, South Dakota. In 1927 he came to 
Ziebach County and worked for his brother, Fred Beer, near Isabel, South Dakota. 
August married Katherine R. Diebert on April4, 1932 at Glad Valley, and lived on the Vic 
Matter farm until 1935, then moved to a farm in Brown County. In 1940 he moved to a 
farm he bought near Westport, South Dakota, and still lives there. Mrs. Beer says her 
only memories of Ziebach County are the "Dirty Thirties".
     August worked for the Milwaukee Railroad for 20 years and is now retired on his 
farm. August and Katherine have five children.
     Marson (Marty)- married Bonnie Yates of Mobridge and both are teachers in Rapid 
City. Their children are Leo J., going to School of Mines; Teresa, a freshman at 
University of Minnesota at Morris, Minnesota; Mary, a junior at Stevens High School in 
Rapid City.
     Joanna M. -- married Ronald Jones, a dentist at Britton, South Dakota. They have 
two daughters, Roette M., a freshman at Concordia College; Suzanna, a sophomore at 
Britton High School.
     Monica -- married Glenn Gondeiro. They live on a ranch at Geyser, Montana. They 
have six children. Anita married Mark Cross of Nebraska and they have one son 
Brandon; Mike lives on a farm near Geyser, Montana; Robert is also of Geyser, 
Montana; Andrew at home, a senior at Geyser High School; Phyllis, at home and a junior 
at Geyser High School; Charles, at home and a sophomore at Geyser High School.
     Mary -- married to James Vodicka of Black River Falls, Wisconsin. They live at 
Morango, Illinois where he works for United Airlines. They have three adopted children -- 
Jennifer, Dorothy and Robert, all in grade school.
     Charlotte -- married William Boldt of Isabel, South Dakota at Rapid City, South 
Dakota. Bill works for a pulp mill at Frenchtown, Montana. They have two daughters, 
Christina and Katrina.
     August Beer died January 22, 1982.

FRED BEER FAMILY  by Mary Boeding Beer
     Fred Beer was born in Weiden, Germany, February 24, 1896. After serving in the 
German Army from 1916 to 1919 he came to the United States in the fall of 1923. He 
settled at Plankinton, South Dakota. In 1925, he came to the Isabel area and on June 
15, 1926 married Mary Boeding of Glad Valley. They began their married life on a farm 
11 miles west of Isabel and are presently living on the same homestead. They will 
celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary this summer. They are also anxiously awaiting 
the arrival of their first great-grandchild in July.
     The Beers are members of the St. Mary's Catholic Church of Isabel. Fred served 16 
years as County Commissioner of Ziebach County, and many years on the school board 
in his district. He enjoyed hunting and fishing. Mary has been active in St. Mary's Altar 
Society and the Helping Hand Extension Club. She enjoys crocheting, tatting and 
cooking.
     Eight children were born to Fred and Mary Beer. They are: Louise, now deceased; 
LeRoy, who lives at home and sells Milbank Insurance and prepares income tax returns; 
Adolph, who married Margaret Alley, farms and ranches on the home place. They have 
5 children, Craig, Edward, Cathy, Douglas and Nancy. John, who married Maureen 
Oarrow of Havana, North Dakota, farms and ranches south of Timber Lake, and has one 
son, Kevin. Alice married James Hulm and they farm and ranch and are in the dairy 
business southwest of Timber Lake. They have 5 children, Cindy (Mrs. Benji Dollarhide), 
Debra, James, Jr., Fred and Jenifer. Mary married William Alley and they farm and ranch 
north of Isabel. They have five children, Louise, David, Thomas, Lisa and Suzanne. 
Fred, Jr. married Karen Ginther of Lemmon, and they own and operate the Keldron 
Store and Post Office. They have 3 children, Michael, Ryan and Jeanna. Bernard 
married Karen Alley, and he is employed by the Farmers State Bank of Faith. They have 
9 children, JoAnn, Cheryl, Patty, Barbara, Carolyn, Kenneth, Mary, LeAnne and Bradley.
     Fred's brother August also came to this area in the spring of 1926. He worked for 
various farmers and married Katherine Diebert in 1932. A few years after that they 
moved to the Aberdeen area. August passed away January 22, 1982.

THEODORE BELL FAMILY     by Sally Bell Fuhrer
     My grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. John Spellman who homesteaded about six 
miles west of Isabel. My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ted Bell homesteaded 12 miles west of 
Isabel in 1916, where they farmed and Dad worked in the coal mine. Some of the older 
brothers and sisters went to the Bloom School. In the year 1927, they moved to the farm 
that was originally the John Spellman place, across the road from the Charlie Youngs. I 
was born in 1930 and Dr. Matter and Mrs. Nels Jeppson (neighbors to the east) 
delivered me. I think they named me after her -- Myra Kathryn -- my Dad didn't like the 
name so he called me "Sally" (probably easier to remember when s ten). Dr. White 
delivered the last of the "litter" when baby sister, Bonnie, came along in 1933. I can't 
remember the older brothers and sisters being at home. They had either married or else 
were working out. Ted, Bob, and I attended Center School approximately 4 miles north 
of us. We either walked or rode horses everyday. I froze my feet so many times that they 
are cold to this day. Sometimes we got to drive the team with a sleigh or buggy. My 
teachers were Marjorie Standish, Violet Ochsner, Selma Eliason, Mrs. Ostby, Ruby 
Ostby, Colletta Boeding, Myrtle Reynolds and Glenna Dougall. Classmates were the 
Klingmans, Morris boys, Calvin Ehly, Frank Millers girls, Jeanie Iverson and after the 
Drageset school closed, Myrtle Drageset and Paul Manthei for one year.
     My dad passed away on my 10th birthday in 1940, leaving Mom and 3 youngsters. 
World War II broke out and Ted and Jack were in the service. We moved to Isabel so I 
could attend high school. We let the farm go back for taxes. I remember the Spelling B's 
and declam contests at the Liebelt School and if you won, it was on to Dupree in the 
spring. Helen Brammer was the school superintendent and signed my 5th grade 
diploma. I remember Lewis Schetnan before that. The picnics were so much fun with lots 
of homemade ice cream and games that the young and old enjoyed together.
     My mom and dad went to all the school and barn dances. Baby sitters weren't in 
existence at that time, so us kids went along and danced until we got tired and retired for 
the evening on a bench under a pile of coats. Roger Young and John Rest used to play 
for so many of the dances. I remember when they built the road past our house. The 
road crew parked across the road from our house and got their water from our well. Boy 
what excitement!!! The week before and after July 4th was really exciting. There would 
be one caravan after another of horses and wagons of Indians going to a celebration.
     My brothers herded sheep for various sheepmen so we got to visit them every so 
often. Don't know why, but it always fascinated me to drink the water from a tin cup 
dipped out of the old cream can.
     We had a two-story house heated with a cook stove and coal heater. I remember one 
cold night I was going to warm my pillow before going upstairs to a cold bed. I put the 
pillow in the oven and forgot about it -- ever smell the "aroma" of scorched feathers?
     We attended the Lutheran Church about five miles south of us.
     Three of the older brothers had their homes and families in Ziebach County. They 
were: Arnold who married Elva Rosander, now living in Belle Fourche; Jack, who 
married Edna Manthei, now living in Eatonville, Washington; and Dutch, who married 
Doris Roggenkamp, now living in Houghton, South Dakota. Ted married Pat 
Donnenworth of Faith and they live in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Bob is deceased, also 
mother within the last two years. I am the only one of the five girls that is still left in South 
Dakota. I am married to Floyd Fuhrer. We have two sons who are Vietnam veterans. We 
have two grandchildren.

CHARLES and ELIZABETH BENNET
     Charles (Chuck) Bennett was born in July, 1900 at Clinton, Iowa, the youngest of four 
children born to Virginia Wintrode and Clinton Bennett. The family traveled by covered 
wagon to near Philip, South Dakota in 1906, where they sold machinery and ran a Post 
Office from their ranch home on Milesville Flat. When Chuck was 21 he attended a 
mechanics school in Sioux City, Iowa. Later, he decided that the open prairies suited his 
lifestyle better.
     Elizabeth Marienau was born in July, 1907 at LeMars, Iowa, the youngest of nine 
children born to Ernest Marienau, born in 1859 in France, and Elizabeth Osterbury, born 
1867 in Germany. Tragically her mother died at the age of 43 when Elizabeth (Shorty) 
was fourteen years old. She lived with sisters and in 1921 accompanied her sister and 
brother-in-law in a Model T car when they moved to Philip, South Dakota. It was there 
that she met and later married Chuck Bennett in LeMars, Iowa on November 12, 1924.
     The following summer they bought the homestead of Chuck's brother, Walter, twenty-
three miles south of Dupree. Mr. Marienau gave them some cattle and chickens, so with 
Chuck and Walter driving the cattle, Shorty followed with the team and wagon. They 
crossed the Milesville flat and arrived at the Cheyenne River near the Emst Eidson 
place. The river was higher than usual and they nearly lost the wagon box -- chickens, 
personal belongings, Shorty and all.
     They followed Hump Flat and crossed Cherry Creek near the headquarters camp of 
the old Sword and Dagger Cattle Ranch. They followed Ash Creek for quite a while, then 
the Cherry Creek road near the homestead.
     Home would be a 14 x 16 frame building with shingled roof with a dugout basement 
beneath. The pole barn was covered with dirt, straw, and hay. The wide-open and lonely 
prairie country was the picture viewed by the young bride and was quite a contrast from 
the rich farming country of Iowa. She had left good neighbors, modern homes, electricity 
and running water.
     Within a few days, Chuck rode to Dupree to see the town and to get a few groceries. 
On the way home he met another rider who introduced himself as Bert Wall. They lived 
six miles away and there began a lifelong and close friendship. They were both far from 
their respective families and would spend many holiday celebrations together. Shorty's 
relatives visited in the summertime, coming by train to Philip and the kerosene lamps 
were something the cousins would never forget.
     In time, a storm cellar was dug and in it was kept canned and fresh vegetables from 
the garden, jars of canned meat, cured pork and fruit.
     During the depression years Chuck was forced to move his cattle out as there just 
wasn't enough feed for them. He worked on WPA, hauling rocks with his '28 Chevy 
truck, and Darrel Sprague worked with him building the Campbell and Herren dams.
     In 1927 nine year old Vernon (Mike) Winters came to live with them; he was one of 
the first students to attend Sunnybrook School when it was moved from Tipperary Butte 
near Owen Shedd's in 1932. He attended his first year of high school there. He recalls 
neighbors who borrowed the cream separator at weaning time and milked all those cows 
in order to get a cream check. Cream checks bought groceries in most homes during 
those years, including the Bennett household.
     In wintertime the neighbors gathered the ice to fill the ice houses with huge blocks, 
packing them in straw. How delicious those gallons of homemade ice cream were in the 
summertime!
     Chuck and Mike Winters dismantled the Carson Day School building on Cherry Creek 
in the early 30's and hauled the lumber to the Ferman Ohnemus place on Ash Creek. 
Chuck also bought the old William Griffith's store at Cherry Creek Station and moved it 
to his place in 1951.
     Music was an important part of the Bennett family life and Chuck taught all of his 
children to play one musical instrument or another. Music and storytelling would come to 
fill many hours in their life, both at home and at school house dances.
     Chuck served as County Assessor from 1948 until 1970 and Shorty ran the Dew 
Drop Inn from 1949 until 1951.
     Chuck and Shorty's children are:
     Mrs. Rex (Doris) Heidelbaugh; she was a '44 graduate of Dupree High School. Her 
children are Donald, Walter Lee and David Pesicka and Wayne and Wesley 
Heidelbaugh; they make their home in Watford City, North Dakota.
     Maclyn (Mac) was born in Iowa in 1929. He graduated from SDSU at Brookings, 
South Dakota in 1960 and is a popular high school chemistry teacher at Richland, 
Missouri. He and his wife, Katherine Howe, a former Ziebach County teacher, have 3-
children and home is in Stoutland, Missouri.
     When Donald was born in 1935, Ira Strong lived with the family, and because he was 
such a good carpenter, he made many improvements in the house for Shorty. Donald, a 
'53 graduate of DHS, is married to the former Joan Sprenger. They have four children 
and live in Kalispell, Montana.
     Mrs. Claude (Jackie) Speker is the mother of six chidren, is a '57 DHS graduate, and 
is employed as an aide in the Dupree School system.
     Mrs. Dallas (Connie) Sever has three sons, is a '57 DHS graduate, ranches/lives near 
Dupree.
     Beatrice (B.K.) was born in 1951 and attended the Redfield State Hospital School for 
several years but now makes her home with her sister, Connie.
     Shorty passed away in 1960. Chuck was married to Angeline Hamley; Angeline died 
in 1970 and Chuck in 1975.

[photo – Chuck Bennett house – 1920]

[photo – Chuck Bennett barn, 1920]

[photo – Chuck Bennett family. Back: Connie, Donald, Mac, Doris, Jackie. Front: Shorty, 
Chuck and B. K.]

LOUIS D. BENTLEY FAMILY
     The Bentley family lived in Ziebach County in 1900 on land just below the bridge on 
Highway 65, which at that time was known as the Scarleg Crossing. In 1905 they moved 
further up the Moreau River where a post office named Louis was established in the 
Thunder Butte area. At that time the Dakota's and Montana were Butte Territory. Mrs. 
Bentley was the postmistress and a son, Art, was the mail carrier, delivering mail once a 
week by team from White Horse, South Dakota. Bentley's also operated a store at their 
ranch home in connection with the post office. About 1904 the government established a 
substation at Thunder Butte and Bentley's built a log building there and operated the 
store and post office in this location until 1907 when the mail was changed to Coal 
Springs.
     There were four Bentley children -- Arthur C., Roy L., Estelline G. Holt, and L. D. 
Bentley, Jr.
     Louis D. Bentley, the son of Anson Bentley and Louisa Foote Bentley of New York 
State, came from Flint, Michigan during the year 1875-76 and was engaged in freighting 
machinery, food and clothing to the Black Hills area along with his father-in-law, Arthur 
C. Van Metre, and a brother-in-law, Charles Waldron. Bentley and Waldron provided 
most of the machinery and related needs for the Homestake Mine at Lead, South 
Dakota, and hauled in the first stamp mill and associated pieces of equipment.
     Mrs. Bentley was Viola Van Metre, born March 14, 1877 to Arthur C. Van Metre and 
Mary Angle. She was a very active and intelligent woman throughout her life and was 
relied upon as a source of significant and historical information at a time when regarding 
important events was not an easy task. She was a descendant of one of the true pioneer 
families in South Dakota and their contributions to settling Dakota Territory and the state 
are many.
     Mrs. Bentley's father, Arthur C. Van Metre, was orphaned by age 10 and was sent to 
live in Missouri with relatives. At age 16 he joined the expedition of General Harney as a 
teamster and driver of the general's private ambulance. Harney, his expeditionaries, and 
Arthur Van Metre, arrived in Dakota Territory at Fort Pierre and built the old Fort. Later 
Van Metre was commissioned to carry the government express to Fort Randall and he 
had many hazardous experiences.
     In 1858, Arthur married Mary Angle, who was the daughter of Henri Angle, French-
Indian interpreter for the American Fur Company. The young couple moved to Dakota 
Territory and located on the Vermillion River where Vermillion now stands. Their eldest 
child, Viola, was the first white child born within the limits of Dakota Territory, but it was 
not recorded because of her Indian heritage.
     Van Metre was a man of both enterprise and vision. He built a ferry system across 
the Vermillion River. He built the first school house in Dakota Territory, a little log house 
that was available to all children besides his own. He was fluent in the Sioux language 
and was influential at the signing of the treaty opening the Sioux Reservation at the 
Cheyenne River Agency in 1889. In 1883 he moved his family to Fort Pierre and 
established a ranch on the Bad River. He was a successful and wealthy man. Mary 
passed away in July, 1894, and Arthur died in 1903.
     The Louis Bentley family are all deceased now. Arthur, the eldest, died in 1917; Roy 
in 1946, and L. D., Jr. in 1947. L. D. and Lydia Bentley had a son, Loren Dale Bentley, 
who married Isabel Oliver of Dupree.
     Estelline Bentley married Tom Holt and they owned and were editors of the Isabel 
News for many years. They had a daughter, Winona, and a son, Bentley. Winona 
married Elza Moore and they operated a road construction business. They had three 
sons, of which Louis Moore of Pierre is one. Bentley Holt lived on the old home place in 
the 50's and presently lives at Rosebud, South Dakota. Estelline made her home in 
Isabel, South Dakota until her death August 27, 1970.

ANDREW BERGLIN
     Christina Svenson Berglin was born January 19, 1863 to the John Svensons at 
Holtburg Soken, Sweden. She came to the United States in 1892 and was united in 
marriage to Andrew Berglin on December 6, 1892 at Elkhart, Indiana.
     The Berglins moved to South Dakota in May of 1915 and lived in Ziebach County the 
rest of their lives. Mrs. Berglin died on February 22, 1940 at the age of 72.
     The Berglins had a farm west of Dupree and then moved into Dupree and ran the 
movie theater for a number of years. They had one son, Jack, of Walkerton, Indiana.
     The present theatre was known as Berglin Hall.

 EPHRAIM and LYDIA BERNDT written by Magdaline (Berndt) Van Asperen
     Ephraim R. Berndt was born on the homestead of his parents, Michael and Anna 
Marie (Radack) Berndt, west and north of Tyndall, South Dakota.
     Ephraim homesteaded in Ziebach County about 1915, 8 miles southeast of Eagle 
Butte.
     We still have his papers where he was allowed lots 1 and 2 and the south half of the 
Northeast quarter and Southeast quarter of Section one (1) in township 11, North of 
range 24, east of Black Hills Meridian, containing 320.27 acres more or less. This was 
allowed June 9, 1915, and on October 6, 1920 made final proof.
     On January 18, 1917, he married Lydia Hubner, daughter of Andrew and Magdaline 
(Newhart) Hubner of Avon, South Dakota. I am Magdalene Marie, Ephraim and Lydia's 
first child. I was born in March of 1918 out on that homestead, some eight miles south 
and east of Eagle Butte. Dr. W. J. Jacoby was my doctor and Mrs. William Shannon my 
nurse. Mrs. Shannon's son's name was Otis. I first met Otis in 1934 when I was in Eagle 
Butte to visit my aunt and uncle, Emma and Emil Berndt and family and my uncle Ed 
(Kelly) Berndt, who was a carpenter there for many years.
     I remember our frame house, a barn or cattle shed and a cave as the main buildings. 
I remember Dad telling about the trouble he had getting Dr. Jacoby across the creek the 
day I was born. The doctor fell in, and they had as much trouble getting him dried out 
and warmed up, as he had delivering me.
     I don't remember much about that country, but I sure won't forget the rattlesnakes. I'm 
still scared stiff of snakes, and even hate a tiny worm if it crawls like a snake.
     Dad always said there was a prairie dog town on the next hill near our home and that 
prairie dogs and rattlesnakes lived together, so I was never left alone outside to run and 
play.
     I remember the folks talking about all the good neighbors they had, some of the 
names I remember were Meyers, Holloways, Kecklers, Pearlefines, Darlings, Pritzkaus 
(Adolph Pritzkau's folks), Hinzmans, and Albert and Francis Berndt, Jack Burbeck and I 
remember Dad talking about the Diamond A Cattle Company, Archie Wells and Ernst 
Eidson.
     There was a store in Eagle Butte, known as Cady and Austins and Naeve's. We 
traveled there by horse and buggy.
     I remember riding in the train back to Avon to visit my grandparents. The train 
traveled so fast and had red plush seats.
     Dad dreamed of a big ranch someday. Mom got so homesick they had to leave for 
her healths' sake.
     Our biggest hardship was on March 18, 1921 (I believe that was the year) when a 
mean wet kind of blizzard hit. The day had been beautiful and warm, the cattle were 
bedded down near the shed and during the night the storm came up. The cattle drifted 
with it, their eyes and noses were covered with the wet snow and then froze and 
smothered the whole herd.
     In June, my sister, Carol June was born, and in November my mother's father died, 
so during that fall or winter we moved back to Avon to run the farm for Grandmother 
Hubner.
     My brother Michael was born in 1925; Donald in 1933 and Freddie in 1935.
     Our mother died May 11, 1936 at the age of 37 years. Little Freddie died in 1938.
     In 1960 Dad and Uncle Emanuel Hubner made one more trip back to Ziebach County 
to attend the Golden Jubilee. Dad took his two grandsons with him and they had a grand 
time seeing the old homestead land and staying with Uncle Adolph and Aunt Margaret 
Hubner in Dupree.
     Dad remained on the farm until 1963 when he retired and moved into Avon where he 
died in 1969. He was a wonderful father. We were so fortunate to have such wonderful 
parents.

     PAUL BEYERS (taken from the Faith Country book)
     Paul Beyers homesteaded five miles east of Faith, South Dakota in May of 1911. In 
March of 1913 Katie Bachman homesteaded nearby.
     In July of 1913 Katie and Paul were married. They had one son, Leon. The Beyers 
lived on their ranch for twenty-five years.

FRED E. BIERMAN  by Mrs. Bierman
     William Bierman and Lena Bittner came to South Dakota in 1886 and were married 
February 8, 1888. On February 15, 1889, Fred E. Bierman was born at Mansfield -- what 
was still territory. But, South Dakota was admitted to the union as a state that fall. Fred 
often joked saying that South Dakota became a state because he was born.
     He grew up on his father's farm and attended a public school not far from their home. 
As a young man he attended the Brookings college, taking a course in steam 
engineering. In the fall he ran a neighborhood steam engine for threshing.
     As the west river country was opened for settlement, he decided to launch out on his 
own. He came west and filed on a homestead 15 miles west of Isabel on March 14, 
1914, on the NW1/4 21-17-20 in Ziebach County. He then returned to Mansfield and put 
in his crop. In June he loaded a farm wagon with a few tools and necessities and 
returned to the homestead. There was no wagon bridge across the Missouri River at 
Mobridge so he rode the ferry boat which operated there to accommodate settlers. Fred 
bought a 16'x12' claim shack, moved it on his place, built a 40'x60' barn, and put up a 
fence. He went back to harvest his crop and work the steam engine. In November he 
came back again shipping out an emigrant car loaded with several cows, 6 heifers, and 
some farm machinery.
     In the spring of 1915 he broke up 10 acres and raised a fair crop of corn. That same 
fall he went back to thresh. To run a steam engine was real work -- the day beginning 
between  3:30 and 4:00 a.m. The engine burned coal and Fred had to clean out the 
ashes and also fire up the big boiler to get up steam. At 6:00 when the outfit was hot, 
they blew the whistle and farmers would come from all directions to start the 12-16 hours 
of threshing. First it was pitching the grain from the stacks but later when grain binders 
came into use, bundle wagons were employed. Then there were usually 4 to 5 men 
hauling the grain away.
     I, Bertha Jost, was born at Pembroke, South Dakota, a little village 30 miles south of 
Mobridge, on April 12, 1895. My parents were Francis and Julia (Haftle) Jest. I grew up 
on my parents farm and attended rural school near home. I worked as a domestic and 
wherever help was needed. My father passed away in 1910. We had a good crop -- but 
no one to harvest it. An acquaintance of my father, through a church conference, sent 
Fred Bierman to help us. I was just 15 then but we kept in touch. We were married 
December 6, 1916 at Lebanon, South Dakota. The weather was beautiful but that night it 
got colder, the wind raised and it began to snow. There were no cars -- everyone 
traveled by team. We went to Mansfield to visit Fred's people and on December 18th we 
came home on the train from Aberdeen. It was cold and a neighbor had come to town to 
meet us with a team and bobsled. We arrived in Isabel at 4:30 p.m. and started out. Half 
way home the team refused to go, as there was little snow and the team pulled the sled 
on dry ground. We got as far as the Olaus Njos place. They took us in, thawed me out 
and gave us a warm meal. At 10:00 p.m. we were on the road again arriving at Fred's 
place at 12:00. Fred put the team in the barn and started a fire in his laundry stove. A 
neighboring bachelor had stayed during his absence to do chores. The next day Fred 
went to town to get our furniture and the cook stove which he had bought.
     It snowed a lot and kept it up most of the winter. He had added a 14'x16' room on his 
shack the previous summer saying the place was too small for him and his dog. Anyway, 
we started to set up our home and everything went well in spite of the excess snow and 
cold.
     Fred's sister had come out the fall before and also filed on an adjoining quarter. She 
proved up on the land and went back -- Fred had more land now.
     In 1917 we planted 200 trees -- 100 American Elm and 100 Norway Poplar. All grew 
and were beautiful. 1917 was a dry year but we did raise a nice garden, not much grain 
but the corn was nice. Our first child, Viola, was born in September.
     The snowstorm of the century hit on March 14, 1920. First a nice warm rain, then 
snow, and the wind raised -- blowing from Sunday night until Wednesday morning. 
People lost cattle and sheep -- but my husband had ours all penned up. It took many 
days to dig out.
      About that time our herd increased and Fred was able to rent other land adjoining 
ours. We prospered and our little place took on a real picturesque scene. Then on June 
14, 1924, a black cloud came out of the northwest. Fred had gone to Isabel as he was 
secretary to the Farmers Equity Elevator. Seeing this cloud, I called our children in and 
as I stood at the door waiting for Viola, the rain, hail and wind hit. Everything was black 
as night, which seemed like hours even though it didn't last more than 10 to 15 minutes. 
But -- the destruction was unbelievable! The strip was a mile wide and went east only a 
mile and a half. It did not hurt our neighbors to the south 1 mile nor to the north 2 miles. 
It took our 40x60 barn, a 12x24 chicken coop, a garage, car shed, and the top of the 
windmill. It did several other freakish things too. It took a 200 gallon water tank 2 miles 
east and smashed it flat. There was so much water, the creeks were running over the 
bank. Fences were washed out and cattle scattered all over. Fred could not get home 
because the bridge was washed out. He did get home at 11p.m. and was surprised to 
find the damage. There were no phones then and he did not know about the storm nor 
the damage it had done.
     Most of that summer and fall was taken up repairing and rebuilding. But, we could not 
replace it all. Then in 1925 it looked as if we would have a fair crop. But -- on July 25 a 
devastating hail storm hit us. The grain that was shocked was thrashed out. Again, I was 
alone at home with our children, but there was no damage to the house. Again, we 
picked up and went forward. Our trees were battered so badly that time that we lost most 
of them. Those trees that lived were bare of leaves.
     Then there were a few productive years and things began to pick up once more. On 
October 5, 1930 our then only son, Robert, died.
     The years following were dry and hot winds took what little grain came up. 
Grasshoppers came in hordes and ate the grass. The thistles thrived and Fred put them 
up for feed. We had quite a few turkeys but they were so filled up, they sat in the shade 
and just watched the hoppers.
     Roosevelt's WPA days came and dams were being built. Fred swallowed all pride 
and took his dinner pail and went to work.
     In 1936 there was no rain and no grass again. That fall saw Fred shipping his cattle 
east of the river for the winter. Spring came and the rains started.
     Fred kept farming until June 1954 when we moved off the farm to let our son, Ronald, 
take over. It was 40 years to the day that Fred came to live on his homestead.
     Fred worked in a small shop in Isabel repairing and refinishing furniture. He passed 
away October 15, 1962 in his sleep. I still live in Isabel.
     Fred served as a member of the local school board for over 25 years. During the 
drought he served as county commissioner for a term of 4 years but had to refuse a 
second term because pay was in registered warrants and expenses on the job had to be 
paid.
     Our four girls all became teachers. Ronald still lives on the home place.
 We seemed to have had our illnesses and disappointments. Leora was bitten by a 
rattlesnake at the age of 2 but Fred saved her by rendering first aid.
     But, in spite of all the disappointment and frustrations, we had our good times too. 
We enjoyed neighborhood card parties, pie socials, and dances at various school 
houses music being furnished by local violin, accordion and piano or sometimes just 
plain phonograph records.

[photo – Fred and Bertha Bierman, 1940]

[photo – Neoma, Bertha, Viola, Leora, Paula, Fred and Ronald]

[photo – Fred Bierman homestead after storm hit, 1924]

CLIFTON BIRKELAND    by Inga Birkeland
     Clifton Birkeland has lived his entire life in Ziebach County. He was born on the family 
homestead 2 1/2 miles south of Dupree on November 2, 1911. We now live 3 1/2 miles 
from there on the Cherry Creek road, where we have lived since October, 1942.
     We were married November 17, 1934. I, Inga Olson, was born just east of Lantry, but 
moved to North Dakota with my parents, Mrs. and Mrs. Ole Olson and sister Marian, 
when I was a year or two old. I attended various country schools in Steele County, North 
Dakota and High School at Portland in Froill County. I graduated in 1931.
     We have farmed and ranched all our lives and have three sons doing the same. We 
raised six children: Fern Meyer took nurses training in Rapid City and is now surgical 
supervisor at Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach, Florida. She has 3 children: Erica, Patty 
and David.
     Russell attended Springfield College one year taking cabinet making and upholstry 
and he married Beverly Ann Woodward, and they live in Dupree. They have two sons 
Clinton and Douglas.
     Gary, John and Ken are the ranchers and farmers. Gary spent two years in the U. S. 
Army and while stationed at Ft. Lewis, Washington met and married Sonja Calborn. 
They have 3 children: Jay, Ramon and KelIy. They live southwest of Dupree.
     John married Rita La Plante from White Horse. They ranch near Thunder Butte and 
have one girl and one boy, Monnie and Clayton.
     Ken lives on the home place with us. The three work together most of the time, or 
whenever and wherever the job requires it.
     Our youngest, Cathy, married Melvin Eaton and both graduated from Black Hills 
State College after marriage. They now live in Belle Fourche where Melvin has a 
construction business. They have two little girls, Marty and Jaime and one boy, Wayne.
     All six are graduates of Dupree High.

LEONARD and JACKIE (JEFFRIES) BIRKELAND
     Leonard was born at Willmar, Minnesota in 1905, and came with his parents, Ole and 
Olina Birkeland and six sisters, to the homestead three miles south of Dupree in the 
spring of 1911.
     He attended the Fairview School until eighth grade, then went to Dupree. His school 
years were short as he helped at home in the spring and fall.
     Leonard started farming for himself in 1928 and a good crop was hailed out. The next 
year prices had tumbled, then came the depression years.
     Florence Ethel "Jackie'' Jeffries was born in June, 1918, the daughter of V. W. 
Jeffries and Ruth (Cunningham) Jeffries, on her father's homestead near the G. I. Towne 
residence in Haakon County. The Leslie Post Office was then in the Towne residence. 
They moved to Ziebach County in 1921 and she grew up near Cherry Creek.
     They were married in August, 1936. Nothing grew that year but thistles. They went to 
the state of Washington, then returned and took over the Birkeland homestead in 1937 
when the parents moved to town. Through the years they purchased the place, added 
more land and paid off the feed and seed loans from dust bowl days.
     Their children all attended school in Dupree and graduated from Dupree High School. 
Four graduated from college. Betty, Mrs. Ronald Lawrence, has four children, home is 
Mobridge. Bruce married Leota Starr, she lost her life in 1970, leaving Sherrie, Dean and 
Rhea. Bruce married Beverly Capp and their home is in Faith. Nancy and Neil were the 
twenty-ninth set of twins delivered by Dr. Creamer. She married classmate Billy Fields, 
their home is in Cedar Hill, Texas. They have two sons. Neil continues the farming and 
ranching operation. He married Vicki Williams Dahl, their children are Darci, Kari, Kelli, 
Jacki and Jace. Bart married Karen Ross, sons are Jeff and Jason, home is Timber 
Lake.

[photo – Neil, Bart, Bruce and Leonard Birkeland]

[photo – Leonard and Jackie Birkeland]

OLE E. and OLENE (LENA) BIRKELAND by Jackie Birkeland
     Ole E. Birkeland was born on the estate of Birkeland at Hagesund, Norway on March 
25, 1868. He was the son of Endre Lund and Anna Martha Birkeland. He took the name 
of Birkeland upon arrival in the United States in 1885, when he was seventeen and 
unable to speak English. The name indicated the land area from where he came. He 
was sponsored in this country by a man in Minneapolis for whom he worked near there 
for four years to pay for his passage to this new land of great opportunities.
     Ole and Olene Marie Greenfield (born June 9, 1878), the daughter of Benjamin and 
Maren Greenfield, were married in 1897 near Willmar, Minnesota, where they were to 
live until 1911. He became a naturalized citizen on June 22, 1906. He worked as a 
section foreman on the Great Northern Railway for ten years.
     When Ole was 43 and Lena ten years younger, a decision was made to homestead, 
and in 1910, Ole made a trip to Kalispell, Montana in search of land. He found the 
desirable tracts taken and came back to Aberdeen, South Dakota, and thence to 
Dupree, where he chose a quarter section three miles south of Dupree. That year a barn 
was put up as a required improvement for homesteading. In Ole Birkeland family and 
Martin and Ludwig Peterson, 1912.
April, 1911, the family moved by immigrant car on the railroad. They stayed with Mr. 
Halverson on the quarter north of them until a house was built. Halvorson and two 
bachelor brothers, Martin and Ludwig Peterson, helped with that, and lived with the 
family. The buildings were across the creek, east of the present homesite, where they 
lived for a few years. Norwegian was the language spoken in their home, but even that 
was left behind when they moved.
     These were difficult times, especially for Lena. Besides separation from her family, 
she missed the trees and beauty of Minnesota. But no doubt, most of all she missed the 
convenience of running water and plentiful wood, for by this time six daughters and a 
son had been born to this union. She told me of her "crying tree" when overcome by 
loneliness and deprivation, she would go quietly and share with nature her frustrations. 
She was not alone. Those were drought stricken and lonely years. Many called it a 
mistake, sold out and left. Certainly the productivity of the land was misjudged and 
oversold.
     Ole borrowed money and bought ten cows and a bull from a discouraged 
homesteader north of town. At first the scant farming done was hired, then there was a 
blind horse used to cultivate corn, ridden by son Leonard, with Ole guiding the cultivator. 
Then a team, the blind horse and a mule, was used. Ole never farmed with a tractor. He 
worked on county roads in the area at times. He also worked for the railroad, walking 
back and forth to town.
      He was on the Fairview District School Board for many years. Also on the board 
were W. E. Smock and Vern Oliver, all of whom were rather scant of hair, to put it mildly. 
One of the patrons, with himself a massive head of hair, in a confrontation with the 
board, referred to them derisively as "that baldheaded school board"! They laughed 
about it and took comfort in the old adage, "grass does not grow on a busy street".
     Ole played the accordion for the many good times the neighbors enjoyed in their 
homes and at the school house. Travel was by foot, horseback and by buggy. There was 
someone living on nearly every quarter section.
     Lena took in washing for many years and baked bread for neighbors to augment a 
meager income. The children carried water, she scrubbed the clothes on the washboard 
and the girls did the ironing. Eventually she was able to deliver them to town by horse 
and buggy. The cream check from milking cows played an important part in their 
economy.
     Ole and Lena were members of the Lutheran Church but later joined the 
Congregational Church and took an active part there as well as in political affairs.
     Three more sons were born into this family in South Dakota. They had left two babies 
buried in Minnesota so they were to raise ten children. Five girls and one son became 
teachers and all were a credit to the perseverance and bravery of the spirit of their 
pioneer ancestry.
     After twenty-six years on the homestead, Ole and Lena moved to town in 1937. Ole 
passed away in May 1939. Lena continued to live there until her death in May 1959, 
when she was 80 years old. Two rooms of the original house are still in use on the 
homestead today.

[photo – Ole Birkeland family and Martin and Ludwig Peterson]

[photo – Lillian, Mildred, Clara, Esther and Alice. The Birkeland girls]

[photo – Leonard, Clifton, Harold and Russell Birkeland]

RUSSELL O. BIRKELAND and BEVERLY ANN (WOODWARD) BIRKELAND HISTORY
     Russell O. Birkeland's parents were Clifton and Inga (Olson) Birkeland and 
grandparents were Ole and Olene (Greenfield) Birkeland and Ole and Myrtle (Thomas) 
Olson.
     Beverly Ann (Woodward) Birkeland's parents were Lawrence and Virginia (Anderson) 
Woodward, and grandparents were Herman and Ella (Nicholson) Woodward and 
Bastian and Minda (Satter) Anderson.
     Both Russell and Beverly were born at Dupree Community Hospital, Russell on 
August 16, 1939 and Beverly on March 26, 1940. Russ attended country school at White 
Swan and Beverly attended Main School, and graduated from High School in Dupree in 
1957 and 1958. They got married on November 15, 1958 at Dupree and have lived in 
Dupree since then, first in a trailer home and later building a new home in 1962 where 
they lived in the basement and completed it in 1972.
     Russ has done carpenter work in and around Dupree since graduation, after 
attending one year at Southern State College. Beverly started working at the ASCS 
office in September after graduation and is still working there. They have two sons. 
Clinton was born in 1959 and Douglas in 1961, and both graduated from Dupree High 
School -- Clinton in 1977 and Doug in 1979. Clint, who is a carpenter, married Lee Anne 
LeBeau July 2, 1982. Doug is attending the South Dakota School of Mines and 
Technology in Rapid City to become a mining engineer. He married Melody Stapert on 
June 26, 1981 and she has a year old daughter, Tiffany.
     Russ has served on the Volunteer Fire Department since 1959 and Clint went on in 
1980. The Fire Department has made a big improvement over the past years and is one 
of the better ones in the state now.

[photo – Russell, Beverly, Tiffany, Melody, Doug and Clint Birkeland. Taken June 26, 
1981]

SIGURD BJORGUM FAMILY      by Frances Hanson
     Sigurd Bjorgum (1872-1946)was born in Hegre, Norway. He liked to tell the story that 
he was born in Hell. And you could say he was, as Hell is a station in the area where he 
was born. Being of an adventurous nature he ventured, to America at the age of 18. He 
went to Portland, Oregon where a brother lived, and went to work in a sawmill. Labor 
troubles developed and a depression came on. There was no work to be had so he 
returned to Norway. It was then he met and married Singrid Arnstad (1873-1942). 
Farming was the main source of livelihood in Norway. There was little industry at that 
time so other work was hard to find. In Norway the eldest son got the family farm, so 
there wasn't much for the younger son or sons to look forward to. Dad heard that in 
America there was free land to be had, so in 1903 he set out again for America, now 
with a family which included a wife and three children, Elbjorg, Olav and John. The North 
Sea crossing was very rough and many were frightened and seasick. They landed in 
England and then were herded onto a train for Liverpool, where they bearded the ship, 
Ivernia, for America. They left Liverpool on June 9, 1903 and arrived in Boston, 
Massachusetts on June 15, 1903. Their destination was Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where 
mother had two uncles living. They were veterans of the Civil War. Six more children 
were born: twins Sigurd and Anna (Anna died at ten months), Anna, Ernest, Frances and 
Dagny. We left Wisconsin in 1918 after surviving the flu epidemic of that year.
     Oscar Hegre had urged Dad to come to South Dakota and so he went there. He filed 
a homestead 13 miles south of Redelm, south of Rattlesnake Butte, between Red Coat 
and Rattlesnake Creeks. He built a tarpapered shack and then went for the family. 
Elbjorg, Anna and Ernest came by train and the rest of us in the Model T Ford. We 
farmed, milked cows and gardened to keep food on the table. One had to be of a hardy 
nature to exist as there were many lean years. Five families composed our 
neighborhood: the Hollands, Oscar Dokkens, O. O. Valles, Carl Christersens and 
bachelor Amund Amundson. It was law that homesteader's children should be provided 
with schools. Dad, with the help of neighbors, hauled lumber and got busy. Soon it was 
built and it was called the Bjorgum School. Elbjorg was the first teacher and my 
(Frances) first teacher. Following teachers were Rate Johnson, Louise (Mrs. Lloyd) 
Orvedahl, Helen Lackey and Adella Amundson. After grade school, only Dagny and I got 
to go to high school (Dupree).
     In 1933 Mother suffered a severe stroke. In years before, Dad and John had worked 
on Slate Creek in the Black Hills and during that time Dad filed a gold mining claim and 
built a log cabin. In 1937 we left the farm and moved to the mining claim. Anna took care 
of Mother and Dagny, and I taught school. In 1941 we moved Mother to Rapid City in 
hopes of helping her condition, but in 1942 she suffered another stroke and passed 
away. She is buried in Rapid City. Dad came to California and died in 1946. He is buried 
in Santa Monica, California.
     Our farmhouse was moved by Charles Fuller to his ranch on Red Coat Creek and 
had been in use until 1970. I (Frances) visited the homestead in 1971. The elm tree that 
Sigurd had planted near the house was still growing and the cistern that Dad made to 
catch rainwater was still intact. It was a thrill to see the old homestead site and the 
terrain we knew so well. We left our mark with rock monuments and drawings and 
names carved in the sandstone, which no doubt have crumbled and eroded away. The 
many daring and scary moments of homesteading was a very important experience in 
our lives.
     ELBJORG (11/24/96-     ) was the first teacher of Bjorgum School. Married Nels 
Orvedahl in 1926 and lived on a farm south of Faith. They had three sons -- two died in 
infancy. She taught school for 30 years. She is widowed and lives in Golden Valley, 
Minnesota near her son Roger and family.
     OLAV (1/11/01-August, 1923) became ill while doing farm work and died soon after 
returning home. He is buried in Dupree.
     JOHN (10/01/02-10/06/57) rode for the Diamond A and Staple M cattle outfits and for 
sheepman Fred Barthold. Married Louise Orvedahl in 1933 and had four sons: John, 
Alfred, Keith and Kenneth. Made their home near Deadwood in the Black Hills. Worked 
in the Gilt Edge gold mine and then became a timber faller. Moved to Pondosa, 
California in 1941 and worked in timber until his death.
     SIGURD (2/13/06-      ) did roadwork and other jobs in and around Dupree and 
herded sheep for Fred Barthold. Went to the Black Hills and worked in the gold mines 
and then went into logging. Married Clara Orvedahl and went to California in 1941. 
Logged until his retirement in 1979 and now resides in Placerville, California. They had 
three sons: LeRoy, Robert and Donald. Donald died in 1965.
     ANNA (11/14/09-      )was the main hand on the farm and took care of Mother during 
her long illness. Married Bob Flanagan of Mystic, South Dakota and had two daughters, 
Lillian and Bonnie. She is widowed and lives near daughter Bonnie near Spokane, 
Washington.
     ERNEST (3/28/11-5/14/74) herded sheep in South Dakota, last working for Ted 
Butler. Came to California and worked at many jobs in and around Dunsmuir. He never 
married.
     FRANCES (5/15/14-      ) attended Teacher's College in Aberdeen for one year. 
Taught the White Swan School the first three years. Boarded at the Floyd Frames. 
Married Carl Hanson in 1940. His family (Oscar Hansons) built and lived in the large 
white house on the hill just south of Redelm from 1910-1919. Moved to Long Beach, 
California in 1941 and to Azusa in 1948 where Carl was Firechief for the Naval Test 
Center until his retirement in 1973. We have two sons: Lyn, a fireman in Rancho 
Cordova, California and Jon, a postman in Glendora, California.
     DAGNY (6/27/16-    ) attended Teacher's College in Aberdeen for one year. Began 
first year of teaching near Plainview, south of Faith. Married Fred Wuennecke whose 
family were homesteaders southwest of Dupree. Dagny and Fred made their home in 
Priest River, Idaho. They had three children: Virginia, Daryl and John. She is widowed 
and remains in Priest River.

[photo – The Bjorgum family at their home near Rattlesnake Butte in 1923. Back row: 
Sigurd, Elbjorg, Olav, John, Anna, Ernest. Front row: Dagny, Mr. and Mrs. Bjorgum, 
Frances]

BLACK BULL FAMILY
     Eugene Black Bull lived near Eagle Butte. John Black Bull, his son, worked for the 
Diamond A Cattle outfit. He married Lillian Dog With Horns of Bridger and moved to 
Hump Flat, north of Bridger. Four of their seven children survived and were raised by 
their grandmother, Sara Turtle Dog With Horns, after their mother, Lillian, died.
     The children rode to school from Hump Flat. At that time, classes were taught near 
the Congregational Church, in what is now the YMCA building.
     Paul Black Bull went through sixth grade in Bridger and then went to Rapid City 
Indian School. He greatly encouraged his children to get a good education.
     John Black Bull's three sons each spent almost four years in the Army. During World 
War II, Paul served in Alaska and Germany and Luke served in the Philippines. Evan 
served in the Korean conflict.
     Emma Black Bull married Baine Swan.
     Paul Black Bull married Alberta Dupris. Their children are Marcella (Miner), Lillian 
(Eagle Chasing, 1948-1980), Duane Paul Black Bu11(1952-1971), and Pauline (Miner).
     Luke Black Bull married Lucy Strikes Enemy (-1978) and they had seven children: 
Inez, Mercy, Lee, Arthur, Sylvia, Alma and Bernard Black Bull.

BLUE ARM
     Charlie Blue Arm married Kate Laura Swift Dog. His father was Two Shield 
(Minniconjou). Her mother was Hattie Swift Dog, the daughter of Running Carefully 
(Hunkpapa).
     Charlie and Kate had three sons John William, Pete and Walter and four daughters 
Martha Eagle Horse, Lacie One Skunk, Irene and Ethel. Pete, Walter, Irene and Ethel 
are deceased.
     Bill's family is Art, Burdell, Uris, Molly, Wanda, Sandra, Lola and Brenda.
     Pete's family is Leonard, Buford, Kenneth and Gary.
     Martha's family is Eunice, Rosina, Ralph, Harry and Matthew.
     Lacie's family is Armanda, Irvin, Lucinda, Delores and Kevin.

REVEREND THOMAS BLUE EYES West River Progress - Thursday, July 8, 1948
     Billy Circle Eagle of Red Scaffold wrote the following eulogy over our old Indian 
friend, Reverend Thomas Blue Eyes, who passed away a month ago at a Pierre 
hospital.
     "Old Cowboy passaway first part of the June. Rev. Thomas Blue Eye passway at 
Pierre hospital, he was born in state of the Canada year 1869. He was back in United 
States when he was young he was working for old Nercell when he was 16 year old at 
Goat Lodge. Two year after he was cowboy cooking for L-7 outfit round Bad River 
country. After that he was working for Circle D outfit, Mr. While Bill Collens wagon. Year 
1898 he was married Miss Allme Dupree she owner all tham Circle D. A on shoulder 
cattle and horses. Rev. Thomas Blue Eye make own ranch side of the fox ridge country. 
Mrs. Thomas Blue Eye, she passway long year ago. Rev. Blue Eye has was 78 years 
old when passway in June.
     Long years ago Mr. Indian attacked cover wagon on California trail take three white 
girls. Mr. Indian brought tham white girl into indian village, some young indian boy 
married tham girl short time later one of these girl she have baby girl. When thes girl 
growing up she married Mr. Red Fox, that was Rev. Thomas Blue Eye father and her 
mother. Rev. Thomas his right name is Red Fox but he have white man eye, blue eye, 
so well know him by Rev. Thomas Blue Eye, tuwe to sui yelo.

WILLIAM BOCKMAN
     In 1970 Martha Elizabeth Bockman wrote down many memories of her early 
experiences near Faith in Ziebach County. The story of joys and hardships of raising a 
family on this frontier reads like a novel.
     She married Bill Bockman of Brooklyn, New York at her mothers home at Yorktown, 
Iowa, June 19, 1917. They came by train to Bill's home northeast of Faith, where they 
lived until 1936.
     The friendliness of their neighbors, especially the Delehan's, eased her adjustment to 
this new lifestyle. Mrs. Rate Davis and her son Mark, were part of the Delehan's 
household. They came from Edson to live with Rate's daughter Leah, when Ed Delehan 
died as a result of an accident.
     In 1918 Bill was called to serve in the army. Mrs. Bockman accompanied him as far 
as Lane, South Dakota where their first child, a daughter, was born. She was a blue 
baby and did not survive.
     Bill was stationed at Fort Omaha, Nebraska. His wife was a cook in the home of Col. 
J. Wuest at the same camp.
     After the war they returned to their home north of Faith, South Dakota.
     Their children, Bill, twins Irving and Irene, Artemus and Herbert attended Junker rural 
school. The older children went to high school at Faith.
     The drought finally drove them from their Ziebach County home. They left for Iowa 
October 3, 1936. Mr. Bockman passed away in 1966.
     Mrs. Bockman's positive outlook on life was summed up in these words, "The good in 
our sometimes hard life outweighs the bad."

BOEDING FAMILY by Mary Boeding Beer
     The Boeding family immigrated from southeastern Iowa to the Ipswich-Leola area in 
1905. Not having much success in farming there, my father and his two sisters decided 
to go west and homesteaded in the Glad Valley area, in Ziebach County, in 1911. My 
Dad filed on land 2 1/2 miles northeast of Glad Valley and made his living hauling 
lumber, building homes, and breaking the required acres for his neighbors, as he 
brought with him 3 horses, plow, wagon, etc. They lived for many years in a small one 
room house, sodded up on the outside, and always mined their own coal in the 
surrounding country. In the summer time we often burned cow chips we picked up on the 
prairie.
     There were thirteen of us children. We all received our 8 years of schooling in the 
Glad Valley School (Pickerville School in the early days). In the dirty thirties most of the 
family moved back to Iowa. George, John and myself still live in South Dakota. Herman, 
Genevieve and Leonard are deceased. Mother passed away in 1959 and Dad in 1963.

[photo – Boeding’s first homestead house, 1911]

LOUIS T. BOELSEN FAMILY
     Louis T. Boelsen, son of H. C. and Catherine Boelsen, was born in Woodford County, 
Illinois on November 8, 1885. He was the eldest of seven children. In 1902 the family 
moved to Missouri where his father had purchased a farm in Carroll County, near Miami.
     As the custom was in those days, when a young man became of age, he set out "to 
see the world" and seek work, first in the lumber camps in Colorado and then to 
California, working in the orchards near Visalia. Later he went to San Francisco where 
he was first a motorman on the now famous cable car, and later a conductor.
     In 1910 he returned to his home in Missouri. At that time he heard of the opportunity 
of homestead land in South Dakota. He related that he bought a round-trip ticket on the 
railroad for $21.00, his destination being LeBeau, South Dakota, where the price for 
registering a claim was 25 cents. He described LeBeau as a wide-open town with slot 
machines, etc. After his claim was located he returned to Missouri to make preparations 
for taking supplies and equipment to establish his residence.
     Later he returned with an immigrant car loaded with a team of mules, grain and hay, 
and all sorts of supplies, including a bicycle and about 4000 young trees to set out. He 
took a young neighbor boy, Mile Bossart, as a helper, who spent some time there. He 
told of buying another team of horses and of breaking the sod for himself and some of 
his neighbors.
     After two years of residence he returned to Missouri and did not return to South 
Dakota for nine years.
     On the 25th of March 1914, he was married to Miss Helen Campbell of his home 
community. They established a new home on the Boelsen farm where they lived for 10 
years. At that time they bought a farm in Livingston County, Missouri. They were the 
parents of two daughters. Lucille was a graduate of William Woods College at Fulton, 
Missouri and was a teacher. She married Irvin F. Ellison, a High School Superintendent. 
They have three children. Mr. and Mrs. Ellison now reside in Northridge, California. 
Marjorie, a graduate of Chillicothe Business College, was a legal secretary and worked 
in Kansas City, Missouri for several years. She married Loren J. Ellwein of Bridgewater, 
South Dakota. They are the parents of two children. Mr. Ellwein was a veteran of World 
War II and later was a State Patrolman in South Dakota. Their home was in Sioux Falls. 
After his retirement they moved to Deming, New Mexico, where they now reside.
     Even though Mr. Boelsen did not stay in the Dupree area, his interest was always 
there. He and his wife made regular trips back to see about the farm. They enjoyed 
meeting and visiting some of the friends of homestead days. The Hurst family, the 
Andersons, The Fuhrers and Railes were among the people they always looked forward 
to seeing.
     Mr. Boelsen passed away April 25, 1975. Mrs. Boelsen still maintains her home in 
Missouri but spends much of the time with her family in California and New Mexico.

[photo – L. T. Boelsen homestead, 1911]

[photo – Andy Anderson, George McDonald, Louis Boelsen]

TOM BOLANDER
     Tom Bolander was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He came to South Dakota to the 
Centerville area with his parents, and after his father died, to the Cottonwood area in 
western South Dakota. He later went to Saskatchewan and lived on a farm near Maple 
Creek.
     Allie Vernie Scott was born in Des Moines, Iowa. She and Tom Bolander were 
married in 1909.
     In 1928 Tom and his wife and three girls, Laura, Pearl and Irene left Canada and 
came to Dupree, South Dakota where they lived in a small house at the home of Toms' 
brother-in-law, Floyd Frame. The children attended the White Swan School.
     In 1932 they moved to the Jim Davis place near the Campbell School. They also lived 
near there on the Zacek place for a time.
     In 1936 they moved to a place north of the Moreau River and in 1939 to Pine River, 
Minnesota.
     Mrs. Bolander died January 19, 1963 and Tom Bolander died April 19, 1965.
     Laura lives in Minot, North Dakota where she cares for elderly people in their homes.
     Pearl, who graduated from Dupree High School in 1939, lives on a farm near Aurora, 
Minnesota.
     Irene lives in Omaha, Nebraska.

THE ELMER JESSE BRAMMER FAMILY
written by Helen Brammer Pederson
     Elmer Jesse Brammer was born at Getaway, Ohio, August 11, 1886. The family 
moved to Illinois when he was very young. In the winter of 1908, he joined a tour to 
Galveston, Texas on a prospective land-buying trip sponsored by a fruit company. There 
he met Robert French of Frankfort, South Dakota who offered him a job helping with the 
farming. Elmer accepted, and in the spring of 1909, he went to Frankfort to work for his 
future father-in-law. While there he went to Aberdeen and signed up for a lottery number 
which would make him eligible to stake a claim for a quarter of land on the Cheyenne 
River Reservation.
     In May, 1910, Elmer came to the Dupree area with his belongings in a covered 
wagon pulled by four grey horses. He staked a claim to the NW1/4 of 15-13-21 and with 
the four grey horses broke the first sod in what is now Ziebach County. He removed the 
wheels from his covered wagon and set it on the ground for a home while he proved up 
on his claim. He had an Eastman Kodak and took and developed many pictures that 
recorded the progress of the area.
     Baseball was always his favorite sport and in May, 1911 he broke his leg while 
playing baseball with the "Cloverleaf Tigers". Dr. Creamer sent him on to Aberdeen to 
have the leg set but he always walked with a limp after that as the broken leg was a little 
shorter than the other. Elmer proved up on his claim and on February 21, 1912, he 
married Nancy French at Frankfort, South Dakota. Nancy May French was born at Afton, 
Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) on February 18, 1894 and moved to Frankfort, South 
Dakota with her family in 1898. She graduated from Frankfort High School in 1912 and 
passed the Teacher's Exam and received her certificate on her 18th birthday.
     The couple moved back to Illinois where Elmer's family lived and there the four older 
children were born. In 1920 the family moved back to South Dakota. Nancy and the four 
older children came out by train in March, shortly after the big three day blizzard. They 
saw hundreds of dead cattle buried in the snow along the cuts made by the railroad 
snow plows. Elmer had driven out earlier in his Overland car which he traded for four 
milk cows, a saddle horse, a single harness and buggy and a four year old steer. They 
settled down on the Cane place which was one mile northwest of where the Bednar Dam 
is now. That fall they shipped the steer to market in, Chicago where it brought $80. At 
that time, that was the highest price ever received for a critter from that area. Gordon 
and Hillis and later Kenneth and Helen drove the three miles to the Lone Tree School in 
the buggy pulled by a single horse.
     Those early years were hard and Nancy told of putting the smaller children in a 
wagon box nearby while she mowed hay with the team and horse drawn mower. She 
always raised a huge vegetable garden and chickens and canned most of the food 
supply but her hobby was raising flowers. Elmer was a good farmer and often got up 
early on Sunday morning and walked a mile or more checking on the crops.
     When Elmer sold his claim to Herman Eulberg, he bought a half section of land four 
miles west and two miles north of Dupree and one mile east of the Lone Tree School. 
(Dick Bigler now owns the land.) In 1926 the family moved there. Elmer was on the 
School Board of the District for 20 years and the five older children graduated from the 
Lone Tree School. They walked the mile in the spring and fall and usually drove a single 
horse on a small homemade sled when the weather was too bad in the winter to walk. 
(Hugh graduated from Dupree Grade School.) All six children graduated from Dupree 
High School.
     There were few fences in those days. One winter day when there was about two feet 
of snow on the ground, Elmer and Robert Petrick went to Dupree with a team and 
bobsled to get groceries. While they were gone, the wind came up and a real Dakota 
blizzard developed. The two men had left Dupree but were unable to see the road. They 
finally turned the horses loose and the loyal team brought them safely home. As was her 
custom when someone was away, Nancy had lighted the Alladin kerosene lamp and set 
it in the window. To quote Robert, "I never was so d--- glad in my life as I was to see that 
light. I sure thought we was goners! ''
     The "dirty thirties" were hard on everything and everyone -- the grasshoppers were 
worse than the drought. They ate every spear of green vegetation and there was nothing 
left to anchor the dry soil. The incessant winds picked up the dirt and deposited it in piles 
in fence rows or wherever something stopped the force of the wind. The stories of the air 
so filled with dust that you couldn't see to drive were not exaggerated and the pictures of 
the grasshoppers so thick on the shady side of the fence posts that you couldn't see the 
post were a grim reality. In spite of the drought, Elmer never missed threshing a single 
year although some years there was barely enough grain for seed.
     In 1937 Elmer started work as manager of the Farmer's Cooperative Elevator at 
Dupree where he worked until 1946. In 1939 the family moved to Dupree and five years 
later they sold the farm and built a home on Bear Creek just north of Dupree.
     In 1965 Nancy suffered a severe heart attack and was taken to the Eagle Butte 
Public Health Hospital where she was admitted as an emergency patient. Three weeks 
later she was flown by ambulance plane to Aberdeen. Later that fall, Elmer sold the 
place at Dupree and they spent the winter in an apartment in Aberdeen. The following 
summer they moved to Absarokee, Montana where they spent their remaining years.
     In the fall of 1969, while on a visit to South Dakota, Elmer passed away at Aberdeen 
at the age of 83. Nancy went back to Absarokee and passed away there in 1975. Both 
are buried in the Dupree Cemetery. Elmer served as Ziebach County Commissioner for 
four years and they were active in the Odd Fellows and Rebekah Lodges, Community 
Club, Royal Neighbors, Congregational Church and Nancy was an Extension Club 
member from the time it was first organized. Both worked hard for the betterment of the 
community. When family trees became fashionable back east, Nancy said, "Out here 
people aren't interested in where you came from, they want to know where you're going!"
     The Brammer children are: Gordon Brammer of La Mesa, California; Hillis Brammer 
of Aberdeen, South Dakota; Kenneth Brammer of Mead, Washington; Mrs. Ralph 
(Helen) Pederson of Firesteel, South Dakota; Mrs. Ambrose (Eugenie) Heimer of 
Absarokee, Montana; and Hugh Brammer of Absarokee, Montana.

[photo – Sod house in the Clover Leaf area]

[photo – E. Brammer in 1910]

[photo – E. Brammer in his Overland]

BRAMMER--DOMINA
     Hugh Brammer is a former resident of Ziebach County. He was born there, the son of 
the late Nancy and Elmer Brammer. He graduated from DHS, class of 1949. He served 
in the Marine Corp in the Korean War.
     Hugh married Alyce Domina, member of the DHS graduating class of 1953. She is 
the foster daughter of the late Otis and Edna Domina of Glad Valley. Hugh and Alyce 
lived for a time in Dupree where Hugh was employed by the State Highway Department. 
Later they lived in Springfield and Lemmon. They now live in Absarokee, Montana and 
have two children, Janet and Jesse.

  SOFUS BRAMS by Wallace and Eva Brams
     In 1903, Uncle Sofus kissed his mother good-bye, left his native land of Denmark and 
sailed for America -- to die. And he did, 69 years later.
     Sofus was born December 1, 1885 at Hilberskow, Denmark. He was 18 years old 
when he came to the United States. He first worked at Ruskin, Nebraska. Later he lived 
at Council Bluffs, Iowa where he worked for the Rock Island Railroad before moving on 
to Clifton, Illinois.
     In 1909, he came to South Dakota and lived near Salem. In 1910, he was one of the 
first homesteaders in the Ziebach County area and drew his allotment at Yankton, 
drawing allotment number 96. His homestead was 4 1/2 miles north of Dupree which is 
now owned by Lawrence Woodward.
     During the '30's, Sofus built roads and dams with a large horse outfit and was 
considered an expert in this line of work. He built U.S. Highway 212 from Faith to 
Sturgis, South Dakota, S.D. Highway 63 from Eagle Butte to the Cheyenne River, 
Highway 8 in the Timber Lake area, the Durkee Dam south of Faith, the Whitehorse 
Dam southeast of Timber Lake and the Rattlesnake Dam on Cherry Creek south of 
Dupree. An incident was related by a passenger friend who was riding with Sofus. Much 
to his concern Sofus kept driving at a high rate of speed on the wrong side of the road. 
Finally he could stand it no longer and told Sofus he'd better get over on the right side of 
the road. Sofus reply was, "I built this ??? road, I'll drive on it anywhere I please!"
     In the late thirties, he began ranching north of Dupree on Sand Creek, which he sold 
to the Ford Brothers from Kansas in the 1940's. He then ranched two miles south of the 
old Pretty Creek School.
     On September 8, 1949, he and Josephine Pop were married at Pierre. They had one 
daughter, Grace, Mrs. Henry Neubaumer, who lives at Hillsboro, Washington.
     In 1964 they retired from the ranch and moved to Dupree where they lived until April, 
1973. At that time they moved to the Mobridge Manor.
     Throughout his life, Uncle Sofus had many narrow escapes from death due to his 
involvement in several serious accidents. But he seemed to elude the illness that had 
caused him to leave his native land. He had what was thought to be an incurable 
affliction. His widowed mother was an invalid and he wished to spare her the sorrow of 
watching him die. He passed away at the Mobridge Community Hospital, October 31, 
1973 at the age of 87 years.
     Sofus will be remembered mostly for his colorful stories, sense of humor, and his 
favorite expression, "I yust about ... .!"

[photo – Josie and Sofus Brams]

[photo – Sofus and Walter Brams]

WALLACE AND EVA BRAMS        by Eva Brams
     On January 16, 1945 Wallace and I were married in Dupree. During those first years 
we lived in Dupree. I continued to teach school and Wallace tended to the ranching 
interests and kept the sheep together. Many weekends were spent at the sheep wagon 
and the summer months were busy ones -- mowing, raking, stacking hay and preparing 
for another winter.
     During the summer of 1948 we moved to the ranch on Pretty Creek. The sheep and 
horses were sold and we stocked the place with cattle. Our first winter at the ranch 
proved to be an eventful one. After a beautiful fall, on January 3, 1949 a severe blizzard 
struck western South Dakota leaving highways blocked and the hay stacks covered with 
mountains of snow. Without modern snow removal equipment people were snowbound 
for weeks and months. Even though we lived near Highway 65 it was many weeks 
before I got to town. The weather moderated by early March. On March 8 our first 
daughter, Patricia, was born in Rapid City.
     During the early 1950's the combine crews from the south started coming to the area 
for the harvest. In most cases the crops were harvested faster and it was much easier 
for the men than threshing. But the work load for the women was far from lighter. During 
this time the farm wife was expected to cook, wash, and find lodging for the combine 
crew. How well I remember the harvest season of 1951. As the combine crew arrived at 
our place it started to rain and it rained for two full weeks. The grain was too wet to be 
cut but it didn't dampen the appetites of all those extra men. One day during their stay, 
Patty and I went to the garden to gather vegetables. As she trotted down the rows to 
help gather tomatoes, she came upon two huge rattlesnakes basking in the sun. Too 
frightened to tackle the pair, I threw a red kerchief between them and with Patty in my 
arms ran the mile back to the house for help. This was a big day for the two boys from 
North Carolina, who were with the combine crew, for they were able to go on a 
successful rattlesnake hunt. This time the old-timers theory of leaving something near a 
rattler worked, as neither had moved from the spot.
     The winter of 1951 and 1952 proved to be longer and almost as severe as 1949. In 
some places hay was flown in and dropped to starving cattle -- also food and medicine 
to people in distress.
     On May 29, 1952 our second daughter Kathy was born at Faith. Four years later, on 
June 19, 1956, Carlene was born at Faith, also.
     Since there were not enough students in the area to reopen the Pretty Creek School, 
in the fall of 1955 we started our twice daily drives to and from Dupree when Patty 
started to school. These trips lasted for twenty years until Carlene graduated from high 
school and for another seven years until my retirement from teaching. All three girls 
graduated from the Dupree High School. They also attended and graduated from South 
Dakota State University at Brookings. Pat received a degree In Secretarial Science, 
Kathy's degree was in Child Development and Elementary Education and Carlene 
received a degree in Pharmacy.
     Pat is married to Marlin Main. They live on a ranch 27 miles southeast of Lemmon, 
South Dakota. They have two children, Jeff and Juliet.
     Kathy is married to Michael Moorman and lives on the home ranch. They have one 
son, Matthew.
     Carlene is pharmacist at the Shelby Rexall Drug and lives at Shelby, Montana.
     Wally and I still live on the Pretty Creek Ranch and are semi-retired with traveling in 
our future plans.

[photo – Wallace and Eva Brams and family, December 1981. Standing in back are 
Marlin and Patricia Main, Kathy and Michael Moorman. In front are grandsons Jeff Main, 
Matthew Moorman, Wallace, Juliet Main, Eva, and Carlene Brams]

[photo – Pretty Creek Ranch, 1944]

WALTER AND THEA BRAMS    by Wallace and Eva Brams
     In the early 1900's, Walter arrived in the United States from his home in Hilberskow, 
Denmark. He settled in Council Bluffs, Iowa and later found work in Marion, Iowa, and in 
the area of Aberdeen, South Dakota.
     In 1910, he came to western South Dakota with his brother Sofus, who had 
homesteaded north of Dupree. Walter was too young to homestead at that time but he 
found employment in the area. Some of the jobs he reminisced about included hauling 
lumber by team and wagon from Isabel to Dupree, running the drayline in Dupree and 
serving as Deputy Sheriff under Hayes Milton. Many colorful stories were related about 
those early days when Dupree was a typical young, early day western town.
     After a few years he returned to Council Bluffs and sometime later married Thea 
Buskness on May 20, 1914 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Thea had come to the United 
States from her home in Kristian Sund, Norway in 1909 and was living in Council Bluffs.
     They made their first home in Rochester, Minnesota until 1916. At that time Walter 
brought his wife, Thea, and young daughter, Pearl to Ziebach County. They 
homesteaded ten miles north of Dupree which is now owned by the Mraz brothers. In 
1919 their son Wallace was born at the homestead.
     Five years after homesteading in Ziebach County they returned to Council Bluffs 
where Walter worked for several years for the Union Pacific Railroad. While working 
there he was seriously injured in a railroad accident which left him with a limp for the rest 
of his life. When he had recovered enough to travel, in 1932, they moved back to South 
Dakota and settled on their ranch north of Dupree. With all the hardships to endure in 
Ziebach County during the depression, drought and grasshopper years of the 1930's, 
they still found it to be a more abundant and fulfilling life than what they had left behind 
in the city at that time.
     During the middle 1930's they ranched for several years in the LaPlant area. In 1943 
they moved with their son Wallace, to the former Billy Van place on Pretty Creek twelve 
miles north of Dupree. In 1945 Wallace and Eva Main were married and took over 
management of the ranch.
     In 1955, Walter and Thea retired and moved into Dupree. After moving to Dupree, 
Walter continued to travel to the ranch nearly every day. They enjoyed watching their 
three granddaughters Patricia, Kathy, and Carlene grow up and became known as 
Grandpa and Grandma Brams to their friends also.
     During their retirement, the Brams' traveled extensively and spent a great deal of time 
with their daughter, Pearl Coffelt, at Lafayette, California, although they never returned 
to their native homeland.
     Walter was active most of his adult life in the Masonic Lodge and the Shriners. Thea 
passed away in 1972 and Walter in 1975 shortly after his 85th birthday. 

[photo – Thea, Pearl and Walter Brams]

[photo – Walter Brams and Oliver Jewett at the shearing pens]

BRIDWELL FAMILY
     Oscar Word Bridwell came to Ziebach County from Texas after having served in the 
Spanish-American War during 1888-89. Oscar was born on July 18, 1872 in Decatur, 
DaKalb County, Georgia. His parents were Francis Marion Bridwell and Marietta Word. 
Oscar was the youngest in his family, having three older sisters. He left home at age 14. 
He came to this country with the Sword and Dagger outfit and remembered bedding the 
large herd of cattle they trailed from Texas right where Dupree town is now located.
     For a time he worked for Benthiens at their Road Ranch on Plum Creek. In 1904 he 
married Fannie Sitting Eagle at the First Congregational Church in Cherry Creek. They 
made their home on Rattlesnake Creek and their four children -- Carrie Fisherman, 
Marietta Longbrake, Francis and Arthur were all born there. They lived in the Black Hills 
in 1916 for about three years and the girls attended Rapid City Indian School. They 
moved back to this area in 1919 and lived on Ash Creek. Evelyn, a foster daughter, 
joined the family there.
     Oscar worked with dam building and road building and lived at LaPlant for several 
years. He bought the Lafferty house in Dupree in the forties and lived there. On February 
22, 1946, Fannie died as the result of a car accident. Oscar left Dupree in 1948 and 
moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He married twice, survived both wives, and lived to the 
grand old age of 91. He would return to Dupree for the summers in his later years to live 
among his children and grandchildren. He passed away March 8, 1964. He and Fannie 
are buried in the Dupree cemetery.

BRINGMAN FAMILY
     An immigrant train arrived at the Timber Lake railway station in 1910 carrying with it 
John and Minnie Bringman, two step-sons by John's previous marriage and one child of 
their own. John came originally from Pennsylvania where he spent his childhood years. 
His family had lived not far from where the Battle of Gettysburg was fought and he 
retained memories of hearing the guns fired during the battle. Some time later, his 
younger brother, Will, found a shell on the battlefield, brought it home and proceeded to 
take it apart in his father's old shop. His greatest success was in remaining alive when 
he accidentally set it off and blew the entire end out of his father's shop. It left him intact 
but with a severe hearing loss.
     John traveled to Fanning, Kansas where he met and married Minnie Whetstine in 
1905. She had been raised in that area by her parents. John was twenty years older 
than Minnie and was left with two young children to raise when his former wife had died. 
Because of this, Minnie's parents were against the marriage and tended to hinder rather 
than help the couple. They finally struck out on their own, after a new son, Harold, was 
delivered to them, and headed for South Dakota to homestead. During their train trip, 
Minnie ran into an old friend who, in the course of a friendly visit, wanted to know if this 
was her father she was traveling with. Needless to say, John became a tad put out and 
the visit came to an abrupt halt.
     Arriving at Timber Lake, they set out to their claim four miles east of Eagle Butte in 
Ziebach County. Minnie drove a buggy with her baby and two step-children, while John 
drove a team and wagon loaded with their supplies and necessities. Some of their 
neighbors here were Charlie and Ida Holloway, Barbers, and Albert Austins. Their first 
house was a four room tar paper shack and heated, as most all houses were in those 
days, with wood and coal. They later acquired a second house that was much nicer than 
the first. The remainder of their children were born here, three or four of which she 
delivered herself. These included the twins, Len (Fat) and Glen (Tiny). Added to 11 of 
these was one more baby boy Minnie would raise -- her grandson, Carol. His mother, 
Karie, had died soon after his birth, leaving him in the care of her mother, Minnie. In all 
she raised thirteen children -- two stepsons, Clyde and Jay, eight sons of her own, 
Harold, Frank, Gordon, Earl, Bert, Melvin, Len and Glen, two daughters, Karie and Neva, 
and one grandson, Carol.
     Minnie not only delivered some of her own children, but became a midwife and 
delivered babies for many of the local families, receiving $25.00, or whatever the family 
could spare, per delivery. Some of these families were Holloways, Jochims, Johnsons, 
and a set of triplets born to the Casper Fischer family. She was also called upon from 
time to time to travel as far as Green Grass where she would be needed for a delivery.
     They remained on the homestead until the 1930's when, due to drought conditions, 
taxes couldn't be paid and the county took over their property. They then moved into 
Dewey County onto a place that had originally been the old Bassfield homestead. Most 
of the children were gone by this time with the exception of Neva, Melvin, the twins (Fat 
and Tiny), and her grandson, Carol.
     In Minnie's later years she told many stories of her homesteading years and 
especially during the hard times of the 30's. She told of her kids jumping on and riding 
pigs when they came out of old hay tunnels with other kids in hot pursuit, followed by 
Dad with a big switch. Stories were told about the kids riding horseback to school in the 
dead of winter, tragedies happening such as Neva being burned in a coal-oil lamp 
accident so badly, when she was just fifteen, that she lingered near death for several 
months, finally rallying due to her mother's nursing and her own strong will to live. The 
Bringmans have always been said to be a "stubborn, bull-headed" family once they set 
their own minds, and there have been occasions over the years when this has helped 
when nothing else would.
     I remember stories about the hobos who traveled through and always stopped for 
something to eat. Minnie always baked bread on wash day and shared some of this with 
those who came. One day as she was washing, a hobo came to the door wanting food. 
She gave him part of what she had, and thinking she was alone, he turned ugly and 
demanded more. John, who had been in another room, heard the whole thing and came 
out so mad that he kicked him in the seat so hard his toe was broken and the hobo went 
flying out the door. Minnie would always laugh when she got to this part and we could 
just see it happening. She was not only a memorable person but a memorable story 
teller as well, the best part being that her stories were true ones.
     Most of the children attended school at least part of the time, except when they were 
needed at home. Frank, Bert, Karie, Neva and the twins attended the Kingman School 
and have memories of teachers Robert Standard and Della McDaniel. If word of mouth 
has any strength, these teachers definitely earned their money because the Bringman 
kids were some of the orneriest kids in that part of the country!
     Minnie stayed in the country for many years after her family was all married and living 
their own lives, but she finally moved into Eagle Butte during her later years. Her 
grandchildren took turns staying with her and enjoyed her to the fullest until the time of 
her death in 1958 of a heart attack.
     John, her husband, had preceded her in death many years earlier and they both now 
rest in the cemetery northwest of Eagle Butte.

BROWN THUNDER  by Faye Longbrake

[photo – Raymond Brown Thunder, 18 years old]

     According to a relative of the Brown Thunder family, the name Brown Thunder was 
acquired through an incident with the Crow Indians. A Crow war party came to raid a 
Sioux encampment of the Wakinyangi band. In the ensuing battle the Sioux killed two 
Crow braves and for his act of bravery, was given the name of Brown Thunder. He 
married Old Red Woman, who died September 17, 1912. They had a son, also named 
Brown Thunder, who was born about 1853. This Brown Thunder was married to Rosie 
Holy Leaf and they had seven children. They camped along the Cheyenne River around 
1888-89, later settling at Cherry Creek about 1890, after being moved out from Fort 
Bennett. One of their sons was Raymond Brown Thunder of this generation. Raymond 
was born in 1887 or 1889.
     Raymond attended the Oahe Mission School near Pierre when he was only five years 
old and later the Pierre Indian School. He went to about the fourth grade altogether. He 
had a Christian upbringing and was a life-time bible teacher and member of the 
Congregational Church. He married Mae One Skunk in 1924 and they had ten children. 
Raymond Blown Thunder, 18 years old.
     As a young man, Raymond worked on a horse ranch for Pete Culbertson, who ran a 
lot of horses on Pine Creek in Meade County. Raymond said that people always called 
Culbertson "Indian Pete", probably because he nearly always hired Indian boys for his 
cowboys or horse handlers, and he was always a friend to the Indian people in the 
country. Raymond worked on other ranches, also. He told of working for Mike Dunn and 
when Billy Dunn died during the winter of 1916, Raymond helped bury him at the 
homesite. Later, in the spring, the body was moved to Fort Pierre.
     At one time Raymond had cattle of his own, acquiring them through the government 
replacement program. He said the coyotes were plentiful in the country and he made 
money trapping them. He was a good trapper and also trapped a lot of beaver. Before 
the 1930's, he worked on road construction inside the reservation and with dam building 
for cattle outfits. He worked at many different things to earn a living. He was a respected 
and dependable person.
     In 1970 he broke his hip and suffered a stroke which left him somewhat handicapped. 
Mae died September 17, 1972 and Raymond spent his remaining years at the Mobridge 
Care Center where he passed away December 20, 1974. He continued to hold church 
services in his home throughout his lifetime and always sought to spread Christianity 
among his friends and relatives.

PHILLIP BROWN WOLF from story of Oliver Brown Wolf
     Phillip Brown Wolf was a warrior, medicine man and lieutenant to Sitting Bull. He was 
Mate Wapeya.
     He died of old age, in 1941, when he was eighty-seven. He and a twin were born in 
the year 1854, sons of Owl King.
     Phillip Brown Wolf had plural wives. In 1877 or 1878, he married Edna 
Chase/Hunkpapawin/Comes a Hunkpapa Sioux (1859-1932). She was a sister of Cloud 
Grows (1869-1887); Follows Him; Oscar Half Red (1878-1940); and Julia Half Red 
(1882-1901), the children of Chase/Comes a Hunkpapa Sioux (d. 1884) and Cetan Sina 
Win/Hawk Blanket (1840-1915).
     In 1880, he married Mary/Follows Him (1867/74-1943), a sister of Edna.
 At that time they were in Canada, where Sitting Bull and others lived after the Custer 
Massacre.
     Edna was the mother of Dewey(1892-1907), Fidelia (1897-1910), and twins, one of 
whom survived: Passed On/John Brown Wolf (1902-1943).
     Mary was the mother of five children, three of whom survived: Sadie/Shot At (1891-
1930, Mrs. Charles Red Horse, mother of Orpha (Mrs. Moses White Wolf)); Edith (1908-; 
Mrs. William War Bonnet); and Giles Brown Wolf (1898-1952.
     Sioux people went by Indian names, not by their English names. The English names 
were given to them by white people just for records.
     After peace was declared and there were no more battles, the U.S. Army brought the 
Indians who had returned from Canada, down the Missouri River by steamboat towards 
St. Louis. The Indians knew the area so they came down the river until they were directly 
east of their old homes. Then they would sneak away from the boat and head west over 
land.
     Phillip Brown Wolf lived about seventeen miles south of Dupree. It was a good 
neighborhood, living with white people. He was a good medicine man. He used to go to 
a hill about two miles west of his place, where he would
pray.
     If you would go to that area today, there is a rusted cream can just north of this place. 
He used different colors of cloth in his prayer: black, white, red, yellow, green and blue.
     The white neighbors had a lot of respect for him. They knew he was praying and 
never did come to that hill. They would travel around it.
     There was also another place east of Rattlesnake Dam, where he lived in the winter 
months, that he would go to pray. In the summer he lived on Girl Creek where he was 
close to his two sons, John and Giles and their families.
     John Brown Wolf married Mabel Lee (d. 1979, the daughter of Ike Lee) and had four 
children: Charlotte, Oliver, Leroy and Kay Ann.
     To Giles and Bessie War Bonnet Brown Wolf were born Rodney, Grin and Laverna 
(Long).
     Some of the families in the neighborhood were: Thunder Hoops, Charging Eagles, 
Owl Kings, Laffertys, Frames, Longbrakes, Lees, Bowlings, Ohnemus and Bridwells.
     Phillip Brown Wolf came from a big family. Few of them are still living but they all 
miss his Indian medicine which he gave freely to them all.
     People at Faith knew him well. He used to haul poles there with a team and wagon, 
accompanied by his wife, Edna, and his grandson.
     Mary was crippled, so stayed at home and kept the others in line while they were 
away.

[photo – Rodney Brown Wolf with Sullivan White Wolf, Giles Brown Wolf, Bill War 
Bonnet, Emmet Shoots Off, Ed Owl King, and unidentified. Bessie Brown Wolf with Kay 
Knife, Edith War Bonnet, Orpha White Wolf with Jaycelle, Elaine Owl King, Lucy (Mrs. 
Ed) Owl King, Alice Dog Arm, and Laverna Brown Wolf]

THEOPHILE BRUGUIER
     Theophile Bruguier, a French-Englishman, was born in France or on the St. 
Lawrence River below Montreal in 1813. Well educated, he loved the outdoors. He was 
engaged to a Frenchwoman who died of cholera around 1834. Theophile soon left that 
country, coming through Green Bay, Wisconsin to the Mississippi River and down to St. 
Louis where he began to work for the American Fur Company. He came up the Missouri 
River to Vermillion. At times he worked for the American Fur Company and at other 
times traded on his own or with partners, at one time being in charge of the trading post 
at Fort Vermillion.
     Theophile Bruguier married two/three daughters of War Eagle, a chief of the Yankton 
band of the Dakotas, who had grown up on the Minnesota River.
     In his old age, War Eagle lived with his daughters and Theophile. He was buried at 
the mouth of the Big Sioux in Sioux City, on a high bluff, where two of his daughters and 
some grandchildren are buried. War Eagle was given a cane made of wood from Mount 
Vernon, home of George Washington. War Eagle's treasured cane was passed on to 
Bruguier and is now in the museum of the Sioux City Academy of Science. Today, a 
statue of War Eagle faces the Missouri River in Sioux City.
     Theophile Bruguier was a trusted and respected man. His bold, instant courage 
greatly impressed his associates. He was adopted by the Sioux as a warrior. In 1849, he 
left Fort Pierre and located his family near the mouth of the Big Sioux. His wives died in 
1857 and 1859. Bruguier died in 1895.
     Two of his children died in infancy. Victoria died in childhood. Charles was educated 
at Ann Arbor, served in the army during the Rebellion and was killed by Indians in the 
Black Hills after he perhaps avenged his brother Joseph's murder by Indians.
     Andrew was stabbed by a fellow student at college in St. Louis. John was a scout for 
General Miles, and was killed at Poplar Creek on the Missouri.
     As a scout for Custer, John Bruguier was actually working for Sitting Bull and the 
other Sioux. While John was scouting for Custer, he would drop notes for the Sioux to 
find so that the Sioux always knew where Custer was going. It is said that two scouts 
survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn -- John Bruguier was one of the two survivors. 
When John rode into Sitting Bull's camp wearing his military uniform, the warriors 
wanted to kill him but Sitting Bull would not allow it.
     Sam Bruguier lived on the Missouri River. Eugene Bruguier married and lived on 
Standing Rock. Rose married Odillon Lamoureaux and later a Dubois. Julia married a 
Northrup, then a Conger. One of the youngest girls married a Foster.
 Mary Bruguier married Paul Traversie and raised 11 children. (See "August Traversie".)
     John Bruguier was the father of Oliver Bruguier, born April 14, 1911 at Greenwood. 
He spent his early years at Greenwood on the Yankton Reservation. In 1930 he worked 
in the CCC camps, and for a while followed the rodeo circuit. He also worked in the coal 
fields at Firesteel, during World War II.
     On March 17, 1941, he married Dora Shoots Off at Cherry Creek and they made their 
home on a ranch south of Dupree. In the late 1950's he became a police officer with the 
Cheyenne River Tribal Police. He was the Tribal Trial Judge in 1975, retiring in 1978.
     Oliver and Dora were the parents of: Emmett and Earl, deceased; Ivan; Theophile; 
and Esterlyn Bruguier.

NEWTON BRUMMET   by Nola Seymour
     My Dad, Newton Brummet, came by immigrant car in the spring of 1918, to a place 
near Lantry. In June he returned to Nebraska to bring his family to their new home. The 
children were: Willard, who now resides in Ventura, California; Nola Seymour who 
resides in Dupree; Marjorie Leach who lives in Sutherland, Nebraska; and Wayne 
Brummet, now deceased. Another daughter was born 4 years later, Betty Kampman who 
lives in Liberty, Missouri. We later moved 12 miles south of Lantry, to Grandpa Long's 
claim. At first we had school in Omar Badger's house and then we had school in my folks 
house for one year. We then got a school house a mile from our home, so we three kids 
walked to and from school (Nicholson School).
     My Dad and Happy Seymour helped build the Cheyenne River Bridge.
     In 1924 we moved to the A. A. Karley place six miles northeast of Dupree. We went 
to the Clover Leaf School.
     We then moved to the farm twelve miles northeast of Dupree, which my folks bought. 
It is now owned by Rollin Eulberg.
     In 1943 my folks moved to what is now the Pius Jochim place and upon retiring in 
1955, they moved to Dupree.
     My mother, Myrtle (Long) Brummet, belonged to Cloverleaf Extension Club. She 
received her 25 and 50 year pins and was Grand Lady for the county in 1972. She 
belonged to the Royal Neighbors, Rebekah Lodge and was a member of the United 
Church of Christ.
     My Dad, Newton, was a member of the I.O.O.F. Lodge in Dupree.
     They celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary before my fathers death in June of 
1976. Mother passed away in March of 1978. They are buried in the Dupree cemetery.

[photo – Myrtle and Newton Brummet]

GUY BUFFALO
     Reverend Guy Buffalo was the first ordained Indian minister in the state of South 
Dakota. He was born near Bear Butte in 1889, the son of William Buffalo. Guy went to 
school at Old Cheyenne Agency two years and   through eighth grade at Rapid City 
School. His brother was James Buffalo. After Guy returned from school, his father died, 
so he went to work, so he went to work.
      He rode for the HO Ranch, the Diamond A for five years with Willie Circle Eagle; the 
Big  Cattle Company; FAE cattle outfit; the Silver Dot; and the L Bar 7 near Lemmon. He 
drove cattle to LeBeau and to Fort Pierre.
     Guy Buffalo was a good bronc rider. In those days they didn't have rodeos but they 
did have riding contests.
     "They have stock growers' meetings in Rapid City in 1910, and 1909. I went up there 
with 3 cowboys at the first stock meeting and I rode the hardest bucking horse that time. 
They call him HO Roan. And they give me number 5 horse. They saddled him up for me 
and so I walk around and when they got through I got on him easy. And they turn him 
loose. That horse take off dead run, about 50 yards, then it hit the ground and turned 
back again. That's a sunfisher they call it. I took the second money and Montana kid, he 
got the first money."
     He also rode at Wall, Phillip, Timber Lake and Fort Pierre. He quit riding in 1916 
when he married Emma War Bonnet.
     When the government issued cattle to the Indians, Guy and his brother went into the 
cattle business and did well. They became citizens and gained full rights. But when the 
drought came everybody had to sell out.
     Guy and Emma Buffalo attended Santee Normal Training School and got special 
mission training. Guy also attended colleges at Yankton, Brookings, in Wisconsin and 
New Mexico. He worked with Reverend Thomas L. Riggs and served as a 
Congregational minister for forty years, serving 27 churches in Little Eagle, Cannonball, 
Rosebud, La Plant, Cherry Creek and Red Scaffold. From 1948 to 1956 he served at his 
home church in Bridger.
     His son Dennis Buffalo married Mary Widow and lives in Bridger.
(from South Dakota Oral History Center, Vermillion, A.I.R.P.)

[photo – Emma and Reverend Guy Buffalo with Reverend Daniel Counting, 1938]

SARAH BUFFALO
     We live(d) east of Cherry Creek so my grandma and I always walked to Cherry Creek 
and my folks were in Cherry Creek too.
     My father's name was Eugene New Black Bear and my uncle was Joseph White Bull. 
He was a chief.
      Sitting Bull, that's my mother's mother's brother. My grandma's brother. And my 
mother's uncle. That's my grandpa.
     My uncle got to live until he was 103. That's why I know him.
     I was baptized in the Episcopal Church down in Cherry Creek.
     I was taken to school at Rapid City when I was eight years old.
     Spring of 1917 was the last time I went to school at Rapid City. I was in the seventh 
grade and that summer I got married. My husband was in seventh grade too.
     When I was married, we stayed with this brother-in-law of mine for one year and then 
my husband built a house and so we moved in and ever since then I have my own 
home.
     When I got married, I came up to this community and after that I joined my husband's 
church, the Congregational. Ever since 1918, I'm a member.
     Twenty-three years we were married and we had five children.
     In our time, we have to provide for ourselves. We have cattle and I have chickens, 
turkeys and geese and that's where we get our meat every now and then and eggs and 
so we had cattle and horses, too.
     I had an incubator and I hatched the turkeys and some chickens and so I didn't have 
to worry about food.
     I jerk meat and I can a lot of food and we always have a good garden you know, 
really good garden. And one time we have 350 bushels of potatoes in our cellar. We had 
too many so we have to share with the people around here.
     My husband was a judge, the first superior judge in Cheyenne River.
(from South Dakota Oral History Center, Vermillion; A.I.R.P.)

BUILDS FIRE FAMILY
     Builds Fire was the father of Iron Lodge; Charging Hawk; Brown Thunder; Nancy 
Rattler; and Her Cane/Her Brown Cane.
     Iron Lodge (female) married Finger Ring and had Grass Top (no issue); Kills Twice 
(b. 1842); and Many Spotted Horses. Kills Twice lived on the Big Cottonwood, downriver 
from Cherry Creek Station in 1915. Many Spotted Horses (female) married-Jumper and 
had two sons; Brings Them (no issue) and Bear Looks Running and one daughter, Chief 
Eagle. Bear Looks Running married Eagle Body and was the father of Yellow Iron (no 
issue); Sacred Blanket and Frank Hard to Wound. Chief Eagle married Oglala and was 
the mother of Eagle Boy/Eugene Motley.
     Charging Hawk had plural wives: Good Looking and Makes Tracks as She Walks. 
Good Looking was the mother of First Eagle (male); Buck Elk Thunder who married 
Hard Woman and was the father of Elijah and James Buck Elk Thunder; and Her Flying 
Horse (Mrs. Eagle Thunder). Makes Tracks as She Walks was the mother of Beautiful 
Bald Eagle (#1); Beautiful Bald Eagle (#2 d. 1912), the husband of Good Woman/Cora 
and the father of Taylor Bald Eagle; and Iron Beaver Wing, the wife of George 
Fisherman.
     Brown Thunder was the leader of the Wankiyagi band. Brown Thunder was married 
to Old Red Woman (d. 1912) and to White Buffalo. Old Red Woman is known to have 
been the mother of Jacob Widow (1863-1924) and of Brown Thunder (1854-1915). 
Brown Thunder's other children include: Her Iron Shield (1845-1914/5, Mrs. Catches the 
Enemy Sister); Joseph Little Dog (#2, 1859-1919); and Charlie Inamongst (1865-1901).
     Snagela/Nancy Rattler (1826-1908) was the wife of Ankle/Little Chief, the father of 
Little Chief who had White Girl by Old Woman Butte and Jimmy Butchers Rabbit/James 
Little Chief and Gilbert Little Chief by W'oman. Nancy Rattler was also married to Buck 
Elk Eagle, the father of Bear Eagle (1852-1906) who married Blacks without issue and 
who married White Head. Bear Eagle adopted White Head's twelve year old daughter, 
Emma Thankful, in 1880 and gave a feast at the mouth of Ash Creek.
     Her Cane/Her Brown Cane (d. 1899), a second wife of Finger Ring, was the mother 
of Needle/Mrs. Stands Straddle of Standing Bear who lived at Thunder Butte. Her Brown 
Cane also married Jumps Over Bucksin Horse/Job Running Bull/Running Buffalo (1835-
1923). Of their children, Chief Woman had no issue and Lone Woman/Jessie (1862-
1932) married Iron Hawk/Abraham (1859-1916).

JOE BURESH
     Joe Buresh arrived in October 1910 and settled on his homestead, NE 7-10-24, in 
March of 1911. He tried farming in 1916 and then went into ranching, and retired in the 
fall of 1948. Joe wrote that in 1913 he helped issue cattle to the Indians at La Plant and 
then took 96 head of rejects to his place 10 miles south of Eagle Butte. In 1917 he trailed 
30 head of horses from Jordon-Tri-County to his homestead, and that was in February, 
the time of deep snow. It took him 6 days. Mr. Buresh retired to Eagle Butte, South 
Dakota and served 3 years on their Town Board.

HENRY"HANK"BURGEE     by Jeri Burgee Lemke
     The hands of a man -- generally used in plying the trades of carpentry and farming 
served as "hands of the law", defended his country in time of war, greeted both old and 
new friends with his Missouri earthiness, punctuated the air regaling listeners with fishin' 
stories or defending his politics, cajoled the earth into bearing floral beauty beyond 
belief, were also used to cradle small creatures, neighborhood children or a friend down 
on his luck; those gnarled, tobacco-stained hands were never known to be raised in 
anger, at either friend or foe. More often than not, those hands were raised in thanks to 
his God, or to wipe away the tears of a grandchild.
     Those same hands could describe, not only a Sunday dinner done up in Missouri by 
his mother, but the smells coming out of that kitchen as well. His hands could conjure up 
an evening spent raiding a neighbor's garden in his youth.
     Later in life, the hands would wave away the worries of supporting a wife and four 
children through the threes of a depression deeper than the windblown topsoil of the 
Dakota prairies, the tragedies of three more wars, the passing of sixteen U.S. 
presidents, the difficulties of making a round on a rural mail route in a raging blizzard, 
and even waved away the buzz of mosquitoes while fishing with his grandchildren.
     The hands also welcomed the rain, snow, and sun as eagerly as a knock at his door, 
signalling visitors to his home.
     Those were the hands of Henry "Hank" Burgee, born January 20, 1897 in Perryville, 
Missouri to Robert A. and Amelia Denizet Burgee. He spent his early years in Missouri 
and moved to Faulkton, South Dakota in 1915. He served in the U.S. Army, returned to 
Faulkton, and married Laura A. Hand, the school-teacher daughter of Emma and James 
Hand, at Orient, South Dakota on April 20, 1920. They farmed in that area for five years 
before moving to a farm north of Dupree.
     There were literally dozens and dozens of Burgee's ancestors who served as 
legislators, postal workers, lawyers, peace officers, judges, and soldiers in his native 
state. So it surprises not those who read his family history and remember that in 1932 
Burgee was elected Sheriff of Ziebach County for six years, or that for decades he was 
the Justice of the Peace, as well. It surprises us not that, coincidentally in 1942, he 
became the rural mail carrier on the Cherry Creek Star Route, serving for 24 years.
     In 1968 he was named Maintenance Foreman for the Cheyenne River Housing 
Authority, an occupation undertaken at age 71, that once again utilized his talent as a 
carpenter and his willingness to help those around him.
     He once maintained Dupree's electricity generators, was Chief of the Dupree 
Volunteer Fire Department, and performed other civic duties that time and talent 
permitted him.
     His affinity for people soon earned him the title of "biggest tall-tale-teller this side of 
Missouri" and generously peppered his stories with "expletives deleted". His capacity for 
coffee was equally well-known!
     He was a 50-year member of American Legion Post #124 and in 1979, was 
recognized for his long years of service to his adopted community and was named 
"Citizen of the Year" by the Dupree Community Club.
     His wife, Laura, was, by no means, an idle person throughout these intervening 
years. She was mother first, then school marm, and later, was employed as a long-time 
retail clerk in various stores in Dupree, retiring in the 1970's.
     In the course of nearly 60 years of married life together, this French-Irish couple 
amassed much good fortune, and Burgee, well known for his homespun colloquialisms, 
was often wont to gloat that, "I'm proud of my work, I'm proud of my family, and I'm 
proud of my life; I regret nothing".
     "Grandpa Henry" died March 14, 1980 and is survived by his wife, Laura; sons, 
Robert and Roland, both of Dupree; daughters, Mrs. Jewel (Mary) Wickliffe of Ft. 
Wayne, Indiana; and Mrs. S. R. (Beverly) Hayward of Billings, Montana; brother, Lloyd of 
Bloomsdale, Missouri; sister, Ella Porter of St. Louis, Missouri; 12 grandchildren and 17 
greatgrandchildren.

[photo – Henry and Laura Burgee’s 50th Anniversary, 1970]

[photo – The Henry Burgee family taken on their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Mary 
Wickliffe, Robert Burgee, Laura Burgee, Henry Burgee, Roland Burgee, Beverly 
Hayward]

CONNIE ABELT BURKE and CLARENCE BURKE by Connie Abelt Burke
     Connie Abelt, daughter of Leo and Ann Abelt, married Clarence Burke in 1935. 
Connie went to high school in Isabel, South Dakota and was graduated in 1931. She 
went to school for a year in Aberdeen to receive a First Grade Certificate and taught in 
Ziebach County nearly 5 years.
     Clarence and Connie lived in Glad Valley, South Dakota from 1935 until 1939, where 
Clarence operated a service station and garage, owned by by Dave Unterseher. Connie 
taught her 5th year in the Glad Valley Consolidated School. Lyle was born in 1935 at 
Dupree. In 1939, Beverly was born. The family moved to Vienna (Clark County), South 
Dakota in the fall of 1940 where Clarence bought a service station and garage. It was 
very difficult to build up a business in a new area. In 1945 Rita Kay was born.
     Because of ill health, Clarence was advised to get out of garage work into the open 
and, fresh air. So in 1947, the family moved back to the Isabel area, in Ziebach County, 
to buy the Lars Endahl farm. It wasn't easy going but the family managed the bad 
winters and liked their life on the farm.
     Robert was born in January 1950 during a blizzard. Connie had gone to Mobridge 
about a week before the baby was due. As it was blizzarding and the winter severe, 
there was no mail service on the Rural Route. Connie knew that the families usually 
listened to the evening news broadcast over WNAX Radio, so Clarence was told by 
neighbors who listened, that he had another son. WNAX often gave such 
announcements, which was much appreciated by snowed-in families.
     Beverly fell off her horse while coming home from Bloom School (same school house 
her mother had taught in in 1932). John Gebhart rode horseback across the country to 
have John Walenta, who had a plane with snow skis, to come take Beverly and her 
father to Lemmon, South Dakota to a doctor and hospital. Many families were snowed in 
that winter. In spite of difficulties, the family always managed to find a way with the help 
of God, and everything turned out O.K.
     The family was so happy with their farm home and enjoyed the simple life they lived, 
but Clarence slipped a disc in his back. A farmer needed a strong back, so in 1958 the 
family had a sale and moved, reluctantly, to Watertown, South Dakota. Leaving so many 
friends was not easy.
     In 1958, Clarence started a Dairy Equipment Store in Watertown and operated it until 
1970.Then the business was sold to Clyde Morrison, who had married Beverly. Lyle died 
in a car accident in 1978, which was the most difficult blow in the life of the Burkes. 
Beverly married Clyde Morrison in 1960 and lives near Watertown. She and Clyde have 
3 boys and 1 girl. Clyde is a salesman for John Deere and raises registered sheep for 
show and sale. Bev is a teller at First National Bank.
     Rita married Robert Schiefelbeim in 1965. Bob is a dairy farmer and has bought his 
father's farm near Clear Lake, South Dakota. Rita is assistant trust officer at First 
National Bank in Watertown. After 15 years of marriage, she and Bob had a baby girl.
     For the past 8 1/2 years, Robert (the blizzard baby) has been employed at Quadee 
Rubber Company as a molder. He is still single and lives at home with his parents.
     Life has dealt some blows to the Burke family but it also has been a good life. The 
good outweighs the bad.

MARY and JOHN BURKE   by Frances Burke Dunn

[photo – Mary McGillick – John Burke, Golden Wedding, 1939]

     November 2, 1889 was a big day for Mary McGillick and John Burke. In the Nation's 
capitol, President Cleveland had just announced South Dakota's admission to the Union 
and in Ipswich, South Dakota, Father Stevens had just pronounced Mary and John 
husband and wife. There was no marriage license on which to record the ceremony 
since the machinery of the new state had not yet begun to function.
     John, a native of Holbrook, Iowa, had come to the Dakota Territory with his maternal 
grandparents, the Mansfield's, in September, 1880. They erected a sod shanty on the 
Spink-Brown County line. Later the town of Mansfield was started near that site. John's 
uncle, Mike Mansfield, was a railroad contractor and John worked with him as the rails 
moved westward toward Seattle.
     Mary McGillick was born October 1, 1869 in Camp Grove, Illinois. When Mary was 
seven years old, her Irish immigrant parents, Catherine and Patrick McGillick, moved the 
family by covered wagon to northern Iowa. An immigrant car brought them and their 
belongings to Dakota Territory and they settled on a farm near Northville. A short time 
later they moved to Edmunds County where they filed on a homestead and tree claim.
     John and Mary lived with the Mansfield's for a year after their marriage, then moved 
to a farm in Cass County, North Dakota. Two years later they returned to South Dakota 
and settled on a farm near Cresbard.
     In 1910, John filed on a quarter section of land in Ziebach County, about twelve miles 
northeast of Dupree. The nearest land office was in Aberdeen and the railroad ended 50 
miles southeast of the homestead. The family followed in 1911, their belongings 
freighted in by horse-drawn vehicles. For the first few years they lived in a tar-papered 
house on the banks of a stream called Pretty Creek. Later, on a rise at the southwestern 
corner of the homestead, they built the house which still stands.
     They watched the prairies change gradually into fertile fields and towns spring up as 
the railroads moved westward. They watched wagon trails give way to gravel roads and 
saw automobiles replace the horse and buggy. At first there were misgivings about 
settling so close to Indian Reservations but these disappeared as soon as they got to 
know each other.
     Mary and John had nine children, eight of them still living in 1939, the year of their 
Golden Wedding Anniversary. There were 28 grandchildren, including five sets of twins. 
The children were:
     Mrs. Pete (Catherine) Maloney; Mrs. Ellsworth (Ellen) Brush; John P. Burke; Leo 
Burke; Mrs. Frank (Esther) McDaniel; Mrs. Ted (Alice) Tallerday; William Burke; and 
Frances Burke Dunn. Thomas, the eldest son, was killed in a railroad accident in 
California the year after his return from World War I. Catherine, Ellen, and Leo have 
passed away; John is living in California; Esther in Spearfish, South Dakota; Alice in 
Dupree, South Dakota; William in Lantry, South Dakota; and Frances in Rapid City, 
South Dakota.
     In spite of what might be called "poverty level conditions" by today's standards, the 
Burkes never felt poor. There was a lot of happiness in that tar-papered shack and a lot 
of love. It was that love and happiness that allowed them all to tolerate outdoor plumbing 
and kerosene lamps. There were neighbors to share the good and bad times.
     Nellie and Esther were the teachers and very much in demand. Rural schools were 
the center of community life in those days. There were box suppers, pie socials, dancing 
and Christmas programs.
     John Burke died on May 16, 1941. He had only a glimpse of what spring was bringing 
back to the prairies after the long years of drought. Mary passed away on January 20, 
1944.
     Among the good friends and neighbors during those early days were the Ed 
Hoffmans, the Aldridges, Fred Judsons, Chauncey Johnsons, Dochnahls, Hursts, 
O'Donnels, Al Martins, Ortmayers, Hagans, Davis' and Denmans.
     I wrote the story of Mary and John for the Ziebach County News and the Aberdeen 
Newsback in 1939; as I researched for the Ziebach County History project I found the 
pre-1939 memories still fresh and later memories as precious as the old. It's been a long 
time since I've seen the splendor of a prairie sunset, heard the sweet sound of running 
water as the spring thaws arrived or enjoyed that special fragrance of fresh-turned earth. 
In my heart they are as real as ever.

LEO BURKE
     Leo Burke was born November 13, 1899 at Cresbard, South Dakota to John and 
Mary (McGillick) Burke. In 1911 the family homesteaded near Dupree. Leo attended 
Globe Business College in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1927 he formed a partnership with 
Frank McDaniel and operated a garage in Lantry, South Dakota. He served as Dewey 
County Sheriff from 1931 to 1935. Leo married Blanche Miller on December 30, 1932 
and they had one son, Lee, Jr. He sold the garage in 1958 to Frank McDaniel and 
moved to Spearfish.
     Mrs. Burke died March 7, 1954. On November 5, 1955, Leo married Emma Leeper of 
Spearfish. Leo passed away on September 26, 1977.

WILLARD (BILL) BURNETT (taken from the Faith Country book)
     Bill was born in Prairie City, Iowa, November 10, 1885. In 1910 he was married to 
Beryl Shope and they moved to South Dakota in April of 1911. That same year he 
operated a cafe in the West Hotel in Faith.
     In 1912 he filed on a homestead nine miles northeast of Faith, and resided there until 
1923.
     His early day experiences were varied. He was a cook for a crew working on the 
Milwaukee Railroad in 1913. He was also a cook for a number of the early day cattle and 
sheep companies. He was well known by both young and old as he rode horseback to 
play his violin, banjo, and guitar at the country dances.
     To this union were born four children: Leonard, Ray, Ruth, and one that passed away 
in infancy. Mr. Burnett passed away suddenly at his home near Redelm, South Dakota 
January 27, 1937.

ELMER and LAVONNE BUTLER

[photo – Richard, Lavonne and Elmer, and James Butler]

     Natives of Ziebach County, Elmer Butler and Lavonne Graslie were married 
December 29, 1942. At the time, Lavonne was teaching the Lewis School in District 2, 
south of Red Elm. Elmer was engaged in the sheep business and lived in a sheepwagon 
on Rattlesnake Creek. They continued to herd their sheep until the fall of 1945 when 
they bought the John Leber homestead southwest of Rattlesnake Butte.
     In the spring of 1946 a son, Richard, was born and the spring of 1947 another son, 
James, was born. Dick and Jim rode many a mile in a basket on the seat of a pickup 
while their mother was herding sheep. Much of the time was spent in the wagon with the 
sheep, and the sheep dog guarded the boys from the plentiful snakes on the prairie. 
Each young boy had his own pony and was riding around the sheep before they started 
to school.
     Numerous narrow escapes were part of our life. Had Johnny Iron Lightning not had a 
pitchfork in his hands, Dick would have been mauled to death by a mad horned Hereford 
bull, and Jim would have been beaten to death by the wings of a gander goose had the 
geese not been so noisy to arouse my suspicion as to what was going on outside. He 
was very young and was badly bruised by the enraged goose.
     Lambing, calving, branding, and shearing called for many hired hands and meals on 
the Diamond L (sheep brand) or Quarter Circle N Bar (cattle brand) ranch. It was a lively 
place, and much work was accomplished.
     Times weren't always easy, as was the case with many other ranchers, but 
persistence paid off and Elmer and Lavonne are still in the ranching business with the 
help of Jim, who lives on the ranch near Rattlesnake Butte. Dick is married to Karen 
Henry of Darling, Mississippi, he maintains his interest in the ranch and is currently 
employed in the Ziebach County ASCS office.
     In 1969 Lavonne became editor of the Faith Independent newspaper; she later 
bought and published it until 1979. She was elected mayor of the town of Faith in 1981.

THEODORE JAMES BUTLER
     Theodore James (Ted), was the second son of Ashbel E. Butler and May Pennoyer 
Butler. He started school in Pierre and later spent three winters in Chicago attending 
school. After leaving school, he lived his life in the west river country of South Dakota 
working for several cow outfits. Among them, the Quarter Circle W horse outfit. 
Homesteading on Red Scaffold Creek in 1906, Ted began ranching for himself.
     In 1908, Ted married Nettie Reed of Brushie, in Sturgis, South Dakota. In 1909 
Theodore James, Jr. was born. Frances was born in 1911. In 1918 they moved north of 
Iron Lightning in Ziebach County with their band of sheep. They built up a ranch near the 
Moreau River. Elmer was born in 1920, Bryce in 1925, and Betty in 1927.
     With children to educate, the Butler's established the Butler School, serving the Iron 
Lightning community. The Superintendent from the Cheyenne Agency came out and got 
the school started, and it operated similar to an Indian Day School. The food for a hot 
dinner each day was furnished by the Indian Department, but Nettie served the dinners 
in her home. The older Indian girls did the dishes and quite often, the boys also helped. 
Dr. Creamer and Miss Shepard, R.N., would make monthly trips to the Butler School. 
Bob Browder of Mobridge was the teacher. One term Elmer was the only white child. 
The children also learned such crafts as fancy needle work and making quilt blocks. The 
little school was the beginning of the new day school on the Moreau River about two and 
a half miles down the river. The new school was later changed to the Iron Lightning Day 
School.
     There were few white people in the area. The time came when they had to find more 
land to run more livestock. The Butler's bought the former Even Stensaas place near 
Rattlesnake Butte, which had plenty of lease range available. Years passed and Ted 
increased his holdings and built a fine ranch; and he always ran a large number of 
sheep.
     Following his death in 1949, Nettie went into the Angus cattle business, taking son, 
Bryce, in for a partner. Farm land that she purchased near Dupree is kept in production 
by Bryce to this day.
     Nettie died in 1962 and Ted, Jr. died in 1963. Frances died in 1945 and she is 
survived by a daughter, Joan Culbertson, and five grandchildren of San Luis Obispo, 
California.
     Bryce, married to Shirley Jean Vojta, lives in Faith and is engaged in the trucking, 
farming and cattle trading businesses. Betty (Mrs. Drew Sutfin) lives in Spearfish, her 
husband is retired from the military service and they are currently involved in the real 
estate business. They had three children: David, Robert and Linda. Elmer, married to 
Lavonne Graslie, lives in Faith and ranches near Rattlesnake Butte. Their two sons, 
Richard and James, also live in the Faith area.

CALLEN by Margaret (Loeffen) Becket
     Saloma Callen arrived with her family March 10, 1916 and lived first on the quarter 
section south of Dupree that is now the ranch home of Linda and Erling Olsen. Saloma 
was born in Lindsay, Ohio on November 15, 1870. She was one of six children born to 
Jacob and Jane (Smith) Mowery, natives of Sandusky County, Ohio and of German-
English descent. Saloma was united in marriage at Arcadia, Nebraska to Leonard Willis 
Callen who was born at Verona, Wisconsin December 25, 1868, son of George A. and 
Eliza Ann (Dewey) Callen. Four children were born to Saloma and Leonard: Eva Viola, 
Anson Wilbur, Leonard Willis and Leona Harriet. 
     Mrs. Callen was a member of the Methodist Church in Arcadia, Nebraska, and 
became a member of the First Congregational Church of Dupree, a member of the Past 
Oracle of Pleasant Camp 9911 R. N. of A. She was also a member of Memento Branch 
Rebekah Lodge 159 of Dupree, and completed the office of Vice Grand in the Vesta 
Lodge 151, Arcadia, Nebraska.
     Saloma helped her daughter, Leona, through Yankton College by cooking in the 
school kitchen. She passed away February 19, 1938.
     Anson Wilbur Callen married Clara Kowalaskie October 12, 1915 at St. Paul, 
Nebraska. They had six boys: Edgar, Arthur, Leonard, Joseph, Marion and Vaughn. The 
baby Vaughn drowned at age four months.
     Anson and Clara lived and worked in the Dupree and Redelm areas for many years. 
Anson was a manager and played baseball for many years. He also was a barber and 
worked in elevators here. He played in and managed the Callen orchestra which was a 
popular dance attraction. Anson was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge and was Past 
Grand Master of State Encampment. He passed away June 10, 1972 at Superior, 
Wisconsin. Clara is now living in Baker, Montana.
     Edgar married Jane Pratt, they have sons Donald and Dick. They live in Sitka, Alaska 
where they do commercial fishing.
     Don married Erda Ann Smith, their children are Dawn Lynn and David Shawn. Dick 
married Sandra Howard, they have a Korean daughter.
     Arthur married Elsie Donnenwirth, their twins are Lanny and Lana. Arthur passed 
away in 1942.
     Leonard married Bernice Hanson. He teaches in the school system of Chicago. 
Bernice is a secretary. They adopted Greg and Debbie.
     Joseph married Betty Ketelhut in 1947, their sons are Wayne and Craig. Joe is 
Superintendent of Schools in Billings, Montana.
     Marion married Ruby North in 1948. Their children are Jerald Duane, Ronald James, 
Anson Victor and Mariann Marie. Marion and Ruby are managers of a new motel in 
Baker, Montana.
     Jerald married Carol Schaefer. Their children are Starla and Jeanne. Ronald married 
Renee' Semolke, they live in Baker, Montana. Anson Victor (Vic) is in service and 
Mariann lives in Denver, Colorado.
     Leona Callen married George Becket August 17, 1941. Their son is Arthur George. 
Leona grew up in Ziebach County, taught in country schools as well as in the Dupree 
School, was a member of the Callen Orchestra and was a member of Memento Branch 
Rebekah Lodge 159 at Dupree. She taught school at Nisland, South Dakota and was 
dean of the dormitory there. She was postmaster there for many years. Her death 
occurred May 10, 1976. George died in June, 1981. Arthur married Margaret Loeffen, 
their children are Diane Margaret and Mary Leona. Art and Margaret teach school in 
Mission, South Dakota.
     Leonard Willis Callen passed away when a young man, a victim of appendicitis.

CAMPBELL BROTHERS by F. M. Dunn for Aberdeen American News, 1939.
     The worth of the old saw, "Live and Let Live", is exemplified by the Campbell boys 
who live "down by the creek" 24 miles southeast of Dupree. At least it has worked for 
them, four brothers, whose combined ages now total 321.
     Believed to be unique in South Dakota from the point of age and combined age total, 
they are Jim, age 87, A. W. or "Eck", age 83, Charlie, 81, and Fred "the baby", 70. Jim 
lives at Geddes but visits his three younger brothers here long enough to be called "one 
of the family''.
     Fred came to Ziebach County in 1910 and settled about five miles east of Dupree. He 
is the last of the pioneers who came at that time and during the 29 years he has been in 
these parts he has made and lost (and given away) a couple of fortunes.
     The brothers all have been as free with their money as they are with their melon 
patch. When they get what they need, they love to have others come and help 
themselves. Charlie and "Eck" joined Fred later, and now the three of them live on Eck's 
farm, which they have turned into a veritable garden spot.
     Years ago Fred planted a few hollyhocks down among the trees. They have 
multiplied and grown up in such profusion that he has to cut them out every spring. They 
are a riot of color among the trees, some of them over seven feet tall. The blossoms are 
large almost beyond belief.
     Along the creek bottoms are the vegetable gardens. Each brother has his own, but 
Fred, being very young and spry, helps with all of them. It is hard for a visitor to believe 
he is not dreaming when he drives through miles of barren, dusty country and comes 
upon gardens like these. They have a grove of black walnut trees which are quite tall 
and have beautiful foliage. There are silver spruce and pine growing among the prairie 
ash and cottonwood.
     But it hasn't always been easy. Fred tells about a flood which destroyed their pump. 
They had planned to take refuge in a root cellar located south of the house on a high 
knell. On one of his inspection tours out front, Fred saw that a rushing torrent of water, 
converging from the two creeks, had entirely cut them off. When asked what he did then 
he replied: "I went back in and told the fellows to get their hats, it was time to leave." The 
water receded however, with no damage except to the gardens.
     Eck is almost entirely deaf but says he can't complain. "I'm 83," he says, "and I guess 
I've heard enough''.
     Jim has been crippled since infancy but at age 87, still runs his own farm and gets 
"spryer every year''. Charlie lived with his daughter, a mile away, until about two years 
ago. Then he decided "the fellers" were having too good a rime for him to miss, so he 
moved in with them.
     Every word and act shows the strong bond of affection which binds these old men 
together. The picture shows three of them standing in front of their little house which is 
kept as neat and clean as any woman could keep it.
     It would be difficult to describe these brothers in a manner to do them justice. They 
are fine and generous gentlemen, well read and courteous with a courtesy that comes 
from the heart. The long, white beards lend them a patriarchal dignity, and in their eyes 
is a kindly understanding and peace which makes one feel that there must be something 
fine in life after all, if these men, with the burden of their years upon them, can still find it 
good.

[photo – Campbell brothers – Jim, Eck, Charlie and Fred]

CLYDE CAMPBELL
     Clyde Campbell was born August 13, 1900 at Nelson, Nebraska. He served in the 
United States Army from October, 1942 to February, 1943. He was a retired farmer and 
had lived in Dupree for many years. He died March 15, 1975 in Dupree. His children 
were Jerome of Colorado Springs, Colorado and Mrs. Larry (Cleo) Martin of Rapid City, 
South Dakota.

DOUG and MARCELLA (DUPRIS) CARLIN FAMILY 
by Helen (Heddy) Briggs Laurenz
     My grandfather, Douglas Carlin, an Army officer, came to this area from St. Louis, 
Missouri and married Marcella Dupris, the daughter of Fred Dupris, Sr. Of their fourteen 
children, ten survived infancy, and nine grew to adulthood. The family lived continuously 
on Carlin Bottom or Carlin, which is on the Cheyenne River fifteen miles west of the 
Bridge on the south side of the river, until my grandfather's death.
     Doug Carlin was of Irish-Catholic descent and there were many nuns and priests in 
his immediate family. Grandmother Carlin was a Congregationalist, as were most of their 
children.
     Though my knowledge of dates and years is sketchy at best, South Dakota state 
history books will document that Douglas Carlin was one of the first State Senators in 
South Dakota.
     Carlin was given a very large dowry by Fred Dupris, Sr. when he married his 
daughter, Marcella, and they were considered quite wealthy for the times and 
circumstances. Carlin had, at one time, one of the largest cattle companies in this part of 
the state.
     My mother often remarked how odd it seemed to her that my grandparents seldom 
spoke to each other; she spoke Indian and he, only English. While they spoke little of 
each other's languages, it was a language of love. Grandfather was very good to his 
large, growing family.
     Story has it that he would ship cattle by rail to St. Louis and be gone for weeks at a 
time only to return with gifts and necessities for his family for the coming year. The 
daughters would receive entire bolts of silken fabrics, shiny ribbons for their hair, saddles 
and saddle blankets for all who needed them.
     We always knew our grandmother as "Unci", which in Lakota means grandmother. 
Quite understandably my mother was fluent in the Indian language and regrettable is the 
fact that we children never learned it. We picked up a lot of it by listening to Mother in 
later years, but not enough to communicate well, even with "Unci''.
     What I remember of Grandmother was the warm feeling you got as you entered her 
home. It was but a log house with a dirt roof and plain wooden floors and smelled of 
good things to eat. The table was set with blue and white enamel dishes and were quite 
often filled with 'wasna' and "wojapi" whenever we would come to visit.
     The odor of leather was everywhere as were small bowls of multi-colored glass 
beads. She produced exquisite beadwork and porcupine quilling and was content to sit 
for hours with her handwork. I recall quite vividly that she was the proud owner of a full 
buckskin and beaded costume. Again, she never taught us these almost forgotten arts.
     It is but the three oldest in my family who remember Grandfather Carlin. The only 
grandfather I ever knew was Sam Harrold, who was married to "Unci" after Doug Carlin 
died.

FRANK and LILLIE (CARLIN) BRIGGS by Helen (Heddy) Briggs Laurenz
     My mother, Lillie Carlin, the eldest of fourteen children was born June 19, 1888. 
When she was of high school age, she was sent to St. Louis, Missouri for school and 
music lessons. She was the only one of the children who, as a child, was baptized into 
the Catholic faith. Others would later become Catholic but most of her brothers and 
sisters remained in the Congregational Church.
     My father, Frank Briggs, was born June 14, 1888, which would later become Flag 
Day. He always told us that all the flags flew on that day because it was his birthday and 
I believed it until I was in high school and learned that they flew for yet another reason!
     Frank and Lillie were married in the early, 1900's. I have eleven brothers and sisters 
and two died in infancy.
     My parents lived south of the Cheyenne River in a log house built by my father, and 
six of the older children were born there. The only home I remember was 24 miles south 
and 8 miles east on Dupris Creek. We were all born at home except for my two youngest 
sisters.
     And though we were poor, (who wasn't hard-pressed in those days?) we were a very 
loving and close-knit family. We were raised on biscuits, beans, gravy, and love as were 
many other children in the area. Our door was always open to anyone who had no place 
else to go. Just recently a woman approached me to say, 'LI feel as though I'm related to 
you my parents made me leave their home over forty years ago and I was taken in by 
your family". Many others are still around to tell of their experience of living with our 
family at one time or another. Mother died in 1942 at the age of fifty-four, and Dad died 
in 1953.
     The six youngest children went to the Cheyenne Agency Boarding School. I went 
when I was five years old and completed my 10th grade there. (The decision was made 
in 1941 that anyone with less than one-quarter degree of Indian blood could no longer 
go to school there.) We went to school in the fall and stayed for the entire nine months 
except for Christmas vacations. We were in boarding school because it was the most 
convenient, but I have so many happy memories of my boarding school days.
     My dad always raised a large, irrigated garden on the Cheyenne River. It was the 
younger children who cared for it by picking weeds and the potato bugs. What a dreary 
way to pass the summer months. Our old beat up truck was used to haul loads of 
produce into Pierre to sell.
     Dad also made home-brewed beer during the Prohibition and kept it in a well a mile 
from our house. But I thought he kept it in there to keep it cold!
     We made our own entertainment -- my sisters could play the guitar and we'd sit out in 
the yard in the evenings, with smudge pots burning, to sing to the top of our lungs. Dad, 
at least, reassured us that we really could sing. Mom could play the piano and we spent 
many hours gathered around her, singing hymns.
     The closeness of friends, neighbors, and family was felt especially during important 
holidays. One such big event was always Memorial Day weekend. Everyone in the area 
would come, pitch their tents, and make a vacation of it. What a time we had picking wild 
flowers, digging turnips, and getting to know our "cousins" all over again each year! The 
sight of all that food and the smell of a campfire with coffee brewing is still with me.
     My dad worked on W.P.A.; consequently we spent a lot of our time living in tents. 
Ours had a wooden floor and Mother even had a shiny cookstove! The areas around 
Rattlesnake and Swan Creek Dams are the ones I remember most clearly. The 
summers were typical of South Dakota -- very hot, very dry, and lots of rattlesnakes. We 
were always warned, when heading for the outdoor plumbing, to "kick the sides and the 
door before you go in". I saw many snakes but never one in there! I suppose it's for that 
reason that I'm not particularly fond of "camping" to this day.
     I married August Laurenz, a Dewey County native, in 1945. We live in Eagle Butte 
and farm and ranch. We have six children and six grandchildren. Three daughters -- 
Sandi, Lit, and Peg -- live in Ellensburg, Washington; a daughter, Linda, lives in Sturgis; 
Rob and Shane are still at home.

RALPH and MYRTLE CARTER
     Ralph and Myrtle Carter came to the Dupree area in the spring of 1927. They bought 
the Holt farm six miles northwest of Dupree. Ralph was born and raised in Pattonsburg, 
Missouri. He was working near DeSmet, South Dakota and met and married Myrtle 
Halverson, daughter of Henry and Lizzie Halverson. They farmed near Pattonsburg, 
Missouri. In 1927 they and their family of five children: Eulalah, Eunice, Artlan, Wayland, 
and Edsel, moved by train to Dupree, South Dakota. The three older children entered 
school at Main School.
     Ralph, with the help of a good hard working wife and family, raised cattle, sheep and 
hogs and farmed and withstood the "Depression" and "Dirty Thirties". He bought more 
land to make his unit one of the best in the area.
     Ralph, Jr. joined the family on January 10, 1931. He later died of pneumonia at the 
age of 4. Coy, the youngest girl, was born in 1932. Eulalah married Edwin Maynard in 
1933. Eunice married A. J. Lewark of Mobridge, Artlan married Leone Chappell. 
Wayland and Edsel served in the Armed Forces during World War II. Coy married Steve 
Stephenson (now deceased).
     Ralph and Myrtle sold the ranch and moved to Cameron, Missouri in 1947, where he 
owned a small acreage near town. Ralph died in 1967. Myrtle lives in a nursing home in 
Missouri. Eulalah Maynard lives in Eagle Butte, South Dakota; Eunice Lewark lives in 
Seattle, Washington; Wayland lives in California; Edsel and Artlan live in Missouri.

ARTHUR and ANNA CHALMERS
     Art and Anna homesteaded the SW1/4 of Sec. 32-12-23 in Ziebach County in 1911. It 
is presently owned by Jerry Vrooman. They farmed until 1916 when they moved into 
Eagle Butte. Art operated a blacksmith shop from his garage for several years. He then 
built a new shop and operated there until selling it to Clif Ralston in 1942. Art was often 
called upon to take care of sick animals for ranchers. He was town marshall in the 
1930's.
     Art and Anna moved to Timber Lake when he was elected sheriff of Dewey County in 
1941. Art passed away in 1946 and Anna moved to California in 1951 to be closer to her 
relatives. She passed away in 1975.

CHARGING CLOUD/   WAR BONNET
     Charging Cloud (1849-1910) and First Woman/Flashes Red as She Walks (1842-
1930) were married in 1867. They had six surviving children: Eagle Horse No. 3 (1865-
1870); Wapaha/War Bonnet (1876-1911); Scares Him/Red Eagle/Francis Charging 
Cloud (1879-1912); On Top/Lizzie (1882-1897); Tatan Kamani/Richard Charging Cloud 
(1890-1920); and a daughter, Appears at Night who died at age two.
     In 1894 War Bonnet married Alice Ghost Horse (1878-1950), a survivor of the 
Wounded Knee Massacre. (See WOUNDED KNEE)
     That same year, Alice's widowed mother, Alice Her Shawl, married Jacob Widow.
     War Bonnet and Alice were the parents of: Amy/Emma Brown in Ears (1895-1948: 
Mrs. Guy Buffalo); Consecrated/Chief Woman or Bessie(b. 1900: Mrs. Giles Brown 
Wolf); Blue Heart or John William War Bonnet (1902-19 73; Brings Back or Susie (1905-
1918); and Doreen (1908-1911).
     After her first husband died, Alice War Bonnet married his brother, Richard Charging 
Cloud. They were married by Reverend L. R. Riggs in 1912.· The children born to them 
were Wallace (1912-1976), Mary (b. 1914), and Stanley (d. 1920) Charging Cloud.

[photo – Five Generations: Emma (Mrs. Guy) Buffalo; grandson Danny Buffalo; Alice 
(Ghost Horse; War Bonnet; Charging Cloud) Dog Arm; Alice (Mrs. Jacob) Widow; and 
Dennis Buffalo, standing]

[photo – Bill War Bonnet]

CHARGING FIRST
     Amos Charging First was born in 1861 and his name in Lakota is Ti-op ti which 
means "across the room". His wife was Nanie. 
     Charging First had a bunch of spotted horses and branded CF on the left thigh. They 
had no children and were prosperous people. They were always well-clothed, had a 
harness spring wagon, a heavy wagon, and a good saddle on a good saddle horse. 
They were ind6 pendent and self-sufficient. They were members of the Congregational 
Church and Amos and Nanie are buried in the Congregational cemetery at Cherry 
Creek.

ALBERT FAY CHASE
     Albert Chase arrived in the spring of 1911 and established what was formerly called 
Chase. Here he built and ran a small store and post office. His children were: Helen 
(Mrs. L. F. Echelbarger); Shirley (Mrs. Carl E. Wood); Jenn (Mrs. Jenn Fifford); Dorothy 
(Mrs. D. V. McClare).
     Helen writes "If Daddy were still living there would be many stories of the early days 
for he was a fine story teller."

CHASING HAWK
     Hawk Chasing (1830-1920) married White Pail/Her Iron Cane (1835-1907) before 
1863 by Indian Custom. They were the parents of four children.
     His Horse Chasing/Charging Horse (1854-1904) married Dancer and had two 
daughters.
     Follows/Louise (1866-1919) married White Weasel. They were the parents of Joseph 
Oscar White Weasel. (see White Weasel.)
     Their daughter was Two Spotted who married Worn Out Horn and had Ben and 
Lillian Little Horn.
     The fourth child was James Chasing Hawk who married Hannah Black Eagle(1872 
1941). Hannah was the daughter of Luke Bear Chasing and Her Black Horse. James 
and Hannah were married in 1890.
     James enlisted in the Cavalry at Fort Meade from 1891-1893 and was discharged as 
a First Sergeant. After he left Fort Meade, he worked and rode for Narcisse Narcelle on 
the Big Stone Ranch on the Cheyenne River. He rode broncs and broke horses for the 
NSS outfit.
     One time he was breaking a horse and he rode along a draw and through some 
rough ground. The horse fell with him and he lay there all day before he managed to get 
back to the ranch. He broke his collarbone and some other bones and was crippled up 
for a while.
     Narcelle moved his place up to the Cherry Creek (later Charles Steen's place). About 
ten men worked for him in those days. While Chasing Hawk worked for Narcelle, they 
once went almost to Lemmon for a round-up. There were nine wagons on that roundup 
and it was the biggest roundup ever, in this area.
     When allotment came, James Chasing Hawk wanted a section that Narcelle also 
wanted. Narcelle gave him cows for that section, so Chasing Hawk took his allotment 
west of Narcelle's. His son, Alex, says with a chuckle, "He sold the land that wasn't even 
his!"
     James' wife, Black Eagle/Hannah, received a half-section west of James'.
     At that time, people lived all along Cherry Creek on their allotments. They had 10 to 
15 cows and they gardened. Paul Alien Chasing Hawk was born in 1893; Moses was 
born in 1902.
     Alex Chasing Hawk was born in 1908. It was August and they were haying, so Alex 
was born on the flat across from his home.
     He went to Turtle Creek School neat the present 73 Junction. Families lived in tents 
near the school. Later he went to boarding school at the Old Agency.
     In 1913, Lizzie Chasing Hawk (LeBeau) was born.
     Paul Chasing Hawk married Esther Lyman and they had three sons and four 
daughters. Paul died in 1959 and Esther in 1963.
     Alex married Matilda Swan. They had three sons and five daughters. Their son, 
Robert Chasing Hawk, was elected Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in 
1980.
     After the Reorganization Act, Alex Chasing Hawk was a policeman for one year in the 
Red Scaffold area. Then he became a Councilman and was re-elected many times to 
serve on Council. He traveled all over, to New York, California and many states in 
between.

[photo – Alex and Matilda Chasing Hawk family, 1967]

[photo – Paul and Esther Lyman Chasing Hawk, Philamine, and Mary. Front row: Cecil, 
Josephine, Wilma and Allen]

CARL CHRISTERSEN
     The Redelm Record of April 4, 1919 had the following story:
     "On Monday afternoon of this week, Justice S. J. Jeffries, Sr. of Dupree united in 
marriage Mr. Carl Christersen and Miss Florence Morrissey, both of southwest of town.
     "The young couple on arriving in Dupree secured a license but there being no 
minister, justice of the peace or county judge in town, they hired an auto to convey them 
to the home of Justice Jeffries where the ceremony was performed by the jovial 
shoemaker in true style. After the ceremony Mr. and Mrs. Christersen returned to the 
County Seat and then on their way home on the grooms farm where they began 
housekeeping."
     Christersens lived on their farm straight south of Rattlesnake Butte until they were 
driven off by the drought of the 1930's.
     Their children Limer and Marie attended Bjorgum School, right near their home, until 
it closed. They boarded with the Floyd Frames, attending White Swan School several 
years and also went to Mud Butte School one year.
     Florence passed away in Wyoming.
     Carl was killed in a freak accident when a car left the highway and crashed into his 
home in California.
     Elmer and Marie still live in California.

THE PETER CHRISTIANSEN FAMILY   by Dagmar C. Paterson
     My parents arrived in Dupree in April, 1911 with four children and all their belongings 
on the same train that carried Ole Birkeland to the Dupree area. Both of my parents 
were born in Denmark but had lived in Fremont, Nebraska prior to moving to Ziebach 
County. They settled on a farmstead five miles south of Dupree, and the house we lived 
in was built by Bob Marple.
     I remember being frightened by the wild longhorn steers that would roam across our 
land, sending all of us children to the house in their wake.
     Of course, the times were hard and the weather conditions were most unbearable at 
times, but like others who came to Dupree when we did, we survived with the help of our 
friends and neighbors. The stories of life on the prairies around Dupree have spread 
throughout the land to mark the legacy of those who lived there.
     Three more children were born to our family after we moved to Dupree and our 
current addresses are as follows: Ejner Christiansen, Mansfield, Ohio; Dagmar 
Paterson, Seattle, Washington; Mary Christiansen, deceased; Victor Christiansen, 
deceased; Margaret Gage, Marblemount, Washington; Helen Christiansen, Vancouver, 
B.C., Canada; and Rupert Christiansen, Camano Island, Washington.

CIRCLE EAGLE
     Wanbli Congliska (Circle Eagle)/Peter Four (1855-1922) married Pretty White Cow/ 
Isabel/Elizabeth (1865-1934).
     Their children were: Yellow Hair/Four/William Circle Eagle (1885-1961); Brings 
Plenty/Annie/Emma (1888-1919); Iron Breast/Joseph Four/Circle Eagle (1895-1919); 
Agnes Four (1899-1913); and John Four who died in infancy.
     Peter and Elizabeth Four lived on their allotment on Red Scaffold Creek. They built a 
house, barn, corral and cellar there. After Peter died, Elizabeth obtained homestead 
rights on their land. She lived there with her son, William.
     Joe Circle Eagle married Lucy Two Bulls, an Oglala, and had no children.
     Annie Four married Alfred Fisherman and had two sons Fred (1909-1924) and 
Alphonse (1916-1925).
     William Four, better known as Billy Circle Eagle, married Rosa Ward.
     In 1902, Billy was working for the P Anchor outfit on Fox Ridge.
     In his own words, "George Pardis told me to cut my saddle string out and go over to 
help on the roundups. So Frank Corn and I caught our pack horses and rolled our beds 
and made ready to go. When we got to where Frank had some broncs, he cut out the 
best saddle horses and went to the Reverse 1,7 wagon. I think that Bird Rose was in 
charge of that outfit. I spent 4 or 5 days with the Cross S and Mill Iron wagons, and then 
went on to Reverse L7. Here I found Bob Horn and Dick Swan, NSS Reps. We soon had 
contact with an NSS wagon, Ed Lyman in charge and the L7 wagon, run by Jess Knight. 
Charley LaPlante was foreman of the LaPlante pool wagon, which was working through 
the Fox Ridge country. The NSS wagon covered between Fox Ridge and the Cheyenne 
River; the L7 worked up the Cheyenne River handling cattle from both sides.
     "That is the first time I ever saw flap chaps, -- one of Carson Williams' cowhands 
wore a pair."
     Billy and Ford Annis later rode for the Diamond A.
     Billy and Rosa Circle Eagle's children are: Beven (b. 1921); Pressler (b. 1926); and 
Clarence (1915-1940), who married Helen Roach, and was the father of Joyce Circle 
Eagle Hill.
     Bevin Circle Eagle married Cecelia Cook.

[photo – Elizabeth Four/Circle Eagle]

[photo – Rosa and Billy Circle Eagle]

[photo – Bevin Circle Eagle, Jr., a well-known Fancy Dancer]

H. J. and MABEL CLIFTON    by Ione Stevens Clifton
     In 1910, H. J. Clifton homesteaded on the northwest 1/4 Of Section 32, Range 20 
and moved his family there from Gibbon, Nebraska. On September 17, 1910 they 
reached Isabel, South Dakota by rail. From there they hauled their possessions by 
wagon to their land on September 20.
     There was a violent thunderstorm that first night and a flood of water passed through 
the tent, but such was the life of a homesteader.
      The family lived there until 1918 when moved to a farm 1/2 mile west of Dupree. 
elder Clifton served on the Dupree School Board, and was Justice of the Peace. passed 
away in 1927 while serving in the capacity of Ziebach County Assessor. His wife Mabel 
A. Clifton, was appointed to complete his term and was later elected to the same office.
     Their sons, Darwin E. and William graduated from Dupree High School in 1920 and 
1922 respectively.
     Darwin married Lillian Martin and in 1926 moved to Portland, Oregon. They now live 
Springfield.
     William was married to Ione Stevens lived on the farm west of Dupree until 1936 
when they moved to Portland, Oregon as well. They now reside in Corvallis, Oregon.

FIGHTS THE THUNDER     told by Ed Clown
     Fights the Thunder was a Medicine Man could understand the wolf, the coyote, crow, 
and the martin. They warned him when the Crow or other enemies or storms coming.
     Before he was born he went all over. Later he told them all about what he had seen 
and a girl were chosen. They went to the Black Hills and on top of the hills. They were in 
a cave and went to the other end of it. The was cave very hot and the opening had been 
closed up. The cave was one of which the buffalo went to by the thousands when an 
Indian killed another Indian. When that would happen, the people would have to hunt 
rabbit deer for a month for there would be no buffalo. The buffalo would disappear into 
hills and stay in the caves.
     Fights the Thunder was also taken further west, to where water boiled up out of earth. 
There was a man there who kept that place and he had a room there. He told Fights the 
Thunder to trust him, that the boiling water would not hurt him. He took him down 
through that water and down below there were rooms without any water in them and 
were painted all colors.
     And they took him to the oceans, down to the deepest part and he saw where the 
biggest whales stayed down there.
     They took him to all of the continents and he saw everything. 
     When they came back, then they were born. They were not brother and sister. The 
girl had just been chosen to go with him. She died later, because she was supposed to 
make ten little dresses, as doll dresses, out of buckskin and she did not do it as she was 
supposed to. She waited and then made all ten dresses at once, and so she died.
	In the old days, they would all come together in the summer and camp. They 
would have the Sun Dance and other ceremonies and the chiefs would decide where 
they would camp for the winter. They would all stay in a place that had a lot of wood. In 
early spring, the bands would go their different ways to hunt. In June they would meet, 
and then the bands would separate until the fall. This was their range, from here to the 
Black Hills, but later they would go south and west into Montana and north.
Mi ye yi lo/Fights the Thunder was born in 1828 to Red Thunder and Iron Branch/Melt 
None. His sister, Iron Branch (1827-1897), married Six Feet.
     Fights the Thunder (James) had two wives. Pazala/Thin Out/Rail/Rotation was the 
mother of Cega/Paul Red Bird (1861-1933); Amos Clown (1862-1943); and Grows in a 
Day/Lucy (b. 1872: Mrs. Poor Buffalo). Fights the Thunder died in 1916 at Thunder 
Butte.

AMOS AND JULIA IRON CEDAR CLOWN from notes of Raymond Clown
     Amos Clown, Cega/Paul Red Bird and Grows in a Day/Lucy (Mrs. Poor Buffalo) were 
the children of Fights the Thunder/Mi Ye Yi Lo (1828-1916) and Pazala/Thin Out/Rail/ 
Rotation.
     Amos Clown was born around 1864 in Montana. He was 12 and took part in Custer's 
battle. His brother, Paul Red Bird, is 15 years at that time. Both have seen lots of action. 
They tell lots of eyewitness stories. It lasted about 30 minutes, they said.
     Iron Cedar/Julia Clown was born at Powder River, Montana around 1864.
     Her parents are Women's Breast/Corn and Red Leg (d. 1905). She has three 
brothers: Chief Crazy Horse (half-brother, b. 1850); Peter Wolf and Leo Combing. 
     Women's Breast/Corn was also the father of Iron Between Horn (f) and Bull Head 
(m).
     Julia's father died or was killed in battle in 1874 when she was 8.
 At age 10, she was not at the Custer battle as they moved out before the battle.
Amos Clown and Julia Iron Cedar were married in 1884 by a Congregational minister. 
     Nine children were born to this union:
     Moses Clown/Running Eagle was born in 1891. He served in World War I and was 
killed in Germany in 1918.
     Joseph/Peter Clown (1894-1963) married Emiline Did Not Go Home and they lived 
north of the Moreau River, across from Amos Clown's.
     Nellie/Mollie Clown (1896/7-1930) married Samuel Butcher.
     James Clown (1901-1969) married Mary Red Bear and later married Anna Red Bird.
     Lillie Elizabeth Clown lived from 1903 until 1917.
     Her sister, Lilie Clown (1903-1942) married James Makes Trouble.
     Louise Clown, born in 1905, married Henry Red Bear. They now live in Dupree.
     Edward Clown, born in 1908, married Amy Talks. They raised their children west of 
Iron Lightning, and now live in Dupree. Raymond Clown (1914-1981) married Sarah 
Marrowbone and raised six children in Thunder Butte.
     Julia and Amos Clown are buried 3 miles east of Thunder Butte Community at the 
Clown Family Cemetery.  She died in 1936 and Amos died in 1943.

[photo – Mr. and Mrs. Amos Clown. (SDSHS)]

[pedigree chart – Clown family tree]

RAYMOND CLOWN
     Raymond Clown was born February 5, 1914 at Thunder Butte to Amos and Julia 
Clown. He attended grade school at Thunder Butte and attended high school in Oregon. 
In 1935 he married Sarah Marrowbone, the daughter of Luke and Emma White Hawk 
Marrowbone. Six children were born to Ray and Sarah Clown: Zerilda (Iron Lightning; 
Boone of Keyanta, Arizona); Arnold; Eldon; Ronald(d. 1965); Imogene (Mrs. Wesley 
High Elk); and Kermit Clown, who died in infancy.
     Ray Clown enlisted in the United States Navy in 1944 and was discharged in 1945 as 
Seaman First Class, serving on the U.S.S. Farragut.
     He was a Councilman for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe for 20 years representing 
the Thunder Butte district, and he was also a lay reader for the Episcopal Church. He 
was a Community Aide for the Elderly Manpower Program for the Cheyenne River Sioux 
Tribe, retiring in 1977. He died at age 67 at his home in Thunder Butte.

GLADYS MAYNARD COEN      by Ruth Edwards
     Gladys V. Maynard, daughter of Claude and Gertrude Preston Maynard, was born 
January 20, 1919 in Faulk County, near Orient, South Dakota. She moved with her 
family to Ziebach County, 9 1/2 miles northwest of Dupree, on May 1, 1919.
     Gladys attended Lone Tree School and graduated from Dupree High School in 1937. 
She worked as a waitress for a while in Larson's Cafe, Weaver's Cafe and worked for 
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Shaner, Sr., of Faith, South Dakota caring for Mrs. Shaner who had 
arthritis. During World War II she married Joe Shaner, Jr., and was with him during 
training in several training centers in the United States. After the war was over, they 
were separated and she moved to Cut Bank, Montana, where she worked as a waitress 
in a cafe and later became a telephone operator.
     She married Robert Dean and they had two sons: Paul and Maynard. Robert was 
killed in a home explosion. Later she married Donald Coen. They had a daughter, Judy 
Mae. Gladys passed away October 10, 1976 and is buried in Cut Bank, Montana.

[photo – Gladys and Mable Maynard, 1920]

THE DON COLEMAN FAMILY
     Both born and raised in Faulk County, east of the Missouri River, one would say we 
became western folk in 1949.
     After Don graduated from Law School at the University in Vermillion, we moved to 
Deadwood, purchasing a law office from an old timer, John T. Heffron. After six months , 
Don could see no future with sixteen to twenty other lawyers already established there, 
so he knew he would have to look for something better to support his family.
     The County Judge's office was vacant here in Ziebach County at that time (1949) so 
we packed our few belongings with the two children, Marsha, 4, and Tom, 3, and rented 
the old yellow telephone building on Main Street. (Now the building has been moved to 
Thunder Butte). There was no running water but we made out the best we could.
     In March, 1950 our third child, Jim, was born in Faulkton, as we had no hospital or 
doctor here. It took me and the family three weeks to return home as each time we tried, 
we found roads blocked due to huge amounts of snow that year.
     Don's first job in Ziebach County was taking the 1950 census, which at that time 
meant a living for the family. Soon after, he was appointed County Judge by the 
Governor and moved his office to the courthouse.
     In the spring of 1950 we moved to the Vance house and there I operated my first 
beauty shop in one of the bedrooms.
     In 1952 we moved to the Creamer house, now the house for the school 
superintendent.
     There Bob was born and I managed the beauty shop run by Ruth (Hersey) Schutz. 
By that time Marsha had entered school.
     In 1953 we bought the Bednar house and again I established a beauty shop in the 
front porch.
     About this time Don was elected States Attorney and for many years thereafter Mr. 
Wanous and he would hold their office for two years and then the next two they would 
change.
     Soon after, I established and managed Ann's Beauty Shop on Main Street for five 
years which I finally sold. After many owners the building now has been sold to Ray 
Kintz where his law office is now located.
     After a year of college, Marsha married Gary Frame and after living in Minnesota and 
Tennessee while Gary was in the Naval Reserve, they moved to California where they 
have resided for the last twelve years. They have two children, Amy, 4 and Marina, 2.
     Tom went to SDSU and married Laurie (Linn). After graduation they spent three 
years in Okinawa, where their oldest child, Nicole, was born. Cody was born three years 
later at Kadoka. Tom and his family now live in Pierre where he is Hughes-Stanley 
County Conservation Area officer.
     Jim graduated from Black Hills State College, married Sheila Enger and they live in 
Rapid City. He is the Loan Officer for the American Indian Consortium with headquarters 
in Denver, Colorado.
     Bob has lived in Redfield for the last 25 years.
     At present I am the Ziebach County Clerk Magistrate and have been for the last six 
years.
     Don still sits in the same office chair in his office (as States Attorney) in the 
Courthouse which he has occupied for the last 31 years.

WILLIAM FRANKLIN COLLINS FAMILY written by Mildred Collins
     William F. Collins (Frank), son of Luther W. and Leanna Collins was born January 3, 
1904, at Rockford, Ohio. He had two brothers, Marvel and Ledra, both deceased, and 
one sister, Mildred (Mrs. Jack Foster), who resides in Salem, Oregon.
     Frank Collins moved to South Dakota with his parents in 1910 and homesteaded on a 
farm near Timber Lake, South Dakota. He was graduated from Timber Lake High School 
in 1922 and then attended the State Agricultural College at Brookings, South Dakota.
     On August 6, 1937, Frank married Mildred Birkeland at Timber Lake. Mildred, 
daughter of Ole and Olena Birkeland, Dupree, South Dakota, was born March 12, 1907 
at Willmar, Minnesota. She was graduated from Dupree High School in 1927 and then 
attended Northern State Teachers College at Aberdeen. Mildred taught in the Ziebach 
County rural schools and the Indian Day Schools at Bridger and White Horse prior to her 
marriage.
     After their marriage Mildred and Frank moved to Motley, Minnesota, where they 
ranched and farmed for two years. From Motley they moved to McMinnville, Oregon, 
where their first child, Connie Kay, was born on September 18, 1940. In 1941 they 
moved to Forest Grove, Oregon, where a second daughter, Donna Mae, was born on 
November 2, 1941. During World War II Frank was employed at the Kaiser Shipyards at 
Vancouver, Washington. It was here that their third child, a son, William F. Collins, Jr., 
was born on September 18, 1944. After the war ended, the family moved to a dairy farm 
near Gaston, Oregon.
     In 1947 Frank moved his family to Dupree, South Dakota. Their youngest child, Jean 
Lucille, was born November 17, 1949, at Mobridge. Frank was engaged in farming and 
ranching near Dupree until his death at the age of 59 on December 28, 1963 at 
Aberdeen, South Dakota. Mildred continues to live in Dupree.
     The Collins children all attended Northern State College with Donna, Bill and Jean 
graduating with a degree in secondary education.
     All the Collins children are married. Connie and William N. Jones live in Milbank, 
South Dakota with their three children, Terri, Jeff and Susan. Bill is a salesman for 
Dakota Granite. Donna and Doug Stanford reside in Lemmon, South Dakota where they 
both teach at the Lemmon High School. They have two daughters, Karmen and Marci. 
William Jr., (Bill) Collins and his wife, Joyce Miller Collins, have five sons: Laverne, 
Bruce, Jamie, Kevin and Kelly Keegan, and two daughters, Teresa and Jennifer. Bill 
farms and ranches at Dupree. Jean and Alien Reede live in Spearfish, South Dakota, 
where Alien is service manager for Brekhaus Chevrolet and Jean teaches math at 
Spearfish Junior High School. They have two sons, Michael and Matthew.

[photo – Frank Collins family. Donna, Jean, Bill, Mildred holding granddaughter Terry 
Jones, Frank, Connie and Bill Jones]

JOHN COMSTOCK FAMILY written by Harriet Comstock Merritt
     Our lives in Ziebach County began in October, 1916. Our parents, John and 
Josephine Comstock, came from North Dakota. With the Sylvester Price family, they 
made the move in a Model T Ford that our mother drove. Accompanying my mother in 
the Model T was her sister, Lillian Price, Mrs. Price's three children, my sister and 
myself. The men trailed the horses overland and the livestock came in an immigrant car.
     We were pretty young to remember that trip, however we do remember our home on 
the prairie. It was a flat-roofed, tar-papered shack which our Dad built and it kept us 
warm in the cold winters. During a blizzard our Dad would string rope from the barn to 
the house so he could find his way back to the house. After the storm the snowbanks 
would be so high we could slide down from the roof of our house.
     Grandma Gillard, as everyone called her, was a neighbor who lived west of Glad 
Valley. She would walk to Isabel and spend the first night of her journey at our house. 
We lived in northern Ziebach County along the highway west of Glad Valley.
     On November 18, 1922, our brother John William, Jr. was born and Dr. Sargent came 
from Isabel with his black satchel.
     Our father taught school at Joe Bloom, Irish Basin and Grondahl Schools. We had a 
little house that we moved from school to school so we had a place to live in. Our 
parents homesteaded a section of land, did a little farming and had cattle and some 
horses that Dad broke to ride. When Dad couldn't teach, Mother would substitute for 
him. They were both our teachers until we moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota at the ages 
of 9 and 7.
     We remember Red Bird and other Sioux Indians. Red Bird visited our house and 
Mother would trade him some article of clothing for some berries. We also found many 
arrowheads that we should have kept.
     We remember the coyotes howling at night and many prairie dogs, the meals we had 
from jack rabbits since our Dad took his gun with him wherever he went, and neighbors 
by the names of Joe Silks and the August Schafers.
     Our move to Minneapolis, Minnesota was brought about by the very dry years and 
lack of water. We feel very proud to be part of the history of Ziebach County as we have 
many fond memories of South Dakota and feel it was our first home.
     Josephine Comstock Nelson was born in 1913 at Fargo, North Dakota; Harriet 
Comstock Merritt was born in 1916 at Halleday, North Dakota, and now lives in 
Menomonie, Wisconsin; John Comstock, Jr. was born in 1922 at Isabel, South Dakota 
and is deceased;  and Robert Comstock was born in 1925 at St. Paul, Minnesota and 
both he and Josephine currently reside in St. Paul.

   TOMMY CONDON told by Ellen Condon In the Woods
     Tommy Condon was born in 1875 in Yankton Territory and later left home and came 
to Ft. Pierre. He lived with a relative of his mother's. Tommy worked on the ferry boats 
on the Missouri River and became acquainted with the cowboys who were shipping their 
cattle from Pierre. Narcisse Narcelle brought "Irish" Tommy to the Cheyenne River when 
he was fifteen.
     Irish Tommy stayed with Narcelle and then worked for the Sword and Dagger and 
Diamond A cattle outfits.
     When he was 25, Tommy Condon married Josephine Little Eagle. Tommy adopted 
her sons, Andrew, who later lived in Buffalo, and Moses.
     Silas Felix Condon is Tom and Josephine's oldest son, born in 1900. He went to 
school in Rapid City from 1907 until 1916. By 1919, he was married to Mary Ward, 
daughter of Alfred and Nellie Hump Ward. They were the parents of Pat, Bernice 
(Lightfield), Angeline (Swan), Rose (Mrs. Percy Dupris), Willis, Andrew, Pearl (Hollow 
Horn), Rita, and Chester Condon.
     Silas later married Laura Between Lodges and had Eugene, twins Merle and Daryl, 
Bernadine, and Jeanette Condon. Silas adopted Sylvia, Cyrus, Madeline and Regie.
     Silas' brother, Felix, married Mary Little Wounded. Children: Cedric, Edward, Harold 
Lloyd, Isaac, George, Madonna, Frank Tilden, Cyril, Verna (Eagle Horse; Black Bear; 
Herrera), Delia (Fast Horse), Floyd, Lennis, Gloria (Ashley), and Rebecca (Lewis).
     The third son of Irish Tommy, Joe Rosco Condon, married Theresa Collins of Trail 
City. Their five children include: Thomas, Kathleen, Marilyn, Roger, and Terry Condon, 
who is deceased.
     Tommy and Josephine's children Rate, Edward and Gerald all died without issue.
     Their surviving daughter was Ellen, born in 1920. She married Joe In the Woods and 
they had thirteen children: Beverly Clown; Bernard, Blaine and Robert (deceased), 
Bessie (Moudey); Barbara (deceased); Burton; Bentley; Barney, Byron, Bryce, Bernita, 
and Belinda In the Woods.
     Bud Condon, the youngest child of Tom and Josephine, married Esther Between 
Lodges. They had nine children: Keeler; Julie; Lavonne; Gerald; Harold; Ira; Monte; and 
twins Bernice and Bernita.
     Tommy Condon was a stockman, a man of his own, an outlaw, and a good man.
     His wife, Josephine Little Eagle, had grown up near Bridger. Her father, Little Eagle, 
was a policeman working at the agency during the Ghost Dance. His wife was related to 
Big Foot but they did not go to Wounded Knee.
     Little Eagle or Spider Chases After Him, a nickname, came from the north. His wife 
was Her Horse is Sorrel, from Pine Ridge. Her name was incorrectly translated as Her 
Hair is Red. They settled on the reservation borderline, west of Bridger.
     Irish Tommy and Josephine Condon lived south of Cherry Creek Station on the 
Cheyenne River. There were four houses there: Eagle Chasing's (he was a cousin to 
Josephine); his son, Dan Eagle Chasing's; Tom Condon's; and his son, Silas Condon's 
houses.
     The Condons planted many acres of corn and crops to share with their relations and 
visitors. They milked from 17 to 20 cows and supplied people in Cherry Creek Station 
with milk, the kids hauling it on horseback. Two to three beef cattle were slaughtered at 
a time and canned or dried. Refrigeration was provided by a large dugout with a dirt roof, 
lined with 3 foot blocks of ice. The Condons taught their children to share in the Indian 
way and not to collect/save things as there was always someone in greater need of 
those things.
     People from the community helped with the planting, haying, harvesting, and hauling 
of wood.
     There was a long squaw-cooler by the Condon house with tables and benches for the 
family, visiting relatives and hired men.
     Men who worked for Tommy Condon included: Ruben Ward, Sam Eagle Horse of 
Lower Brule, who later married Martha Blue Arm, Wilson Eagle Horse, Jim White 
Feather, and Dan Brings Plenty.
     Jim White Feather was like an adopted son to the Condons.
     Irish Tommy became blind in his later years and while he still ran his place, his 
children and hired men had to do all of the work. Tommy would spend his days sitting 
and visiting at the Cherry Creek Station, often writing checks to people who needed and 
couldn't get credit.
     After his father died in 1933, Joe Condon moved the family into Cherry Creek 
community.
     Ellen was 12 when her father died. She finished the 8th grade at Cheyenne Agency 
and then went to school in Bismarck for a year before marrying Joe In the Woods.
     Josephine Condon died in 1943. She and Irish Tommy are buried in the Episcopal 
cemetery in Cherry Creek.
     Tommy Condon had been given the Indian name of Little Thunder, for he was a little 
man with a large voice.

COOPER SISTERS
     These four ladies were residents of Cherry Creek in the early 1900's. Suzannah, Mrs. 
S. C. Derby, was the wife of a former boss farmer there. They were eventually divorced. 
She was postmaster in the Wm. F. Griffiths store in Cherry Creek and cared for the store 
for many years.
     Miss Jennie Cooper came as a missionary teacher to a school on Plum Creek, 
across the Cheyenne River from Cherry Creek. She taught the Jeffries School for two 
years, then taught in the school at Cherry Creek shortly before Harold Schunk came 
there as a teacher.
     Miss Addie (Mary A.) Cooper came also as a teacher to the missionary school. She 
was a tiny, stooped lady and kept busy with her garden and flowers. Miss Hope Cooper 
was in a wheel chair for many years.
     These four ladies lived in the house occupied by the late Lucy Swan. They were very 
genteel ladies and always called each other by the names of Mrs. Derby, Miss Jennie, 
Miss Addie and Miss Hope. They always used linen napkins, folded carefully into napkin 
holders after each meal. Grace said before meals was an integral part of their lives. Miss 
Jennie and Miss Addie had known Jim Swan before they came to Cherry Creek. He 
attended a school where they were teachers. They were most happy to greet him again 
and retained him as a lifelong friend.
     Mrs. Derby finally gave up her milk cow, selling her to the Jeffries. The cow wore a 
beautiful, musical bell and there were few gates she could not open!
     Miss Hope was taken home for burial, Miss Jennie and Miss Addie (Mary A.) are 
buried in the Dupree cemetery. Left alone, Mrs. Derby retired to Texas where she lived 
out her life.

THE LEE CRANE FAMILY   by LeRoye Crane Carlson
     The Lee Crane family came to the Faith country in early 1927. They had spent all 
their married life farming on shares in Potter County near Lebanon, South Dakota. Lee 
decided they weren't getting anywhere by that route and anyway, he had the so-called 
Great American Dream syndrome. To him that meant someday owning a place of their 
own, complete with wood and water. In 1927 there were four children in the family, of 
which I was the oldest, and none yet in school.
     For some reason Lee felt that the Faith area was the place to make his dream come 
true. So, the Cranes had an auction sale, keeping back four horses, a couple of cows, a 
few chickens, a bare minimum of farm machinery and household goods for a start in a 
new location.
     On Groundhog Day in 1927 they loaded up, hitched the two teams to a hay rack and 
an improvised covered wagon, tied the cows behind, crated the chickens, counted the 
kids and "headed west''.
     The Missouri River at Whitlock's Crossing was too frozen to cross with the ferry and 
not firm enough to carry any amount of weight so the family trekked up to Mobridge and 
crossed via the bridge. Each day they covered only a few miles as the livestock had to 
be considered. It took about six weeks to make the trip as far as Dupree and Red Elm. 
The rear end of the covered wagon served as sleeping quarters, the front was for 
cooking and eating and somewhere in between was the "living room". My mother tells 
that they had 100# of potatoes in the wagon and the potatoes didn't freeze even though 
some of the nights got pretty chilly.
     When we arrived in Red Elm, the weather was cold, snow banks were high, and 
travel was difficult. My Dad found a box car to rent for about a month and the folks fixed 
it up to be quite cozy while we waited for a warming trend.
     Sometime in April we moved out north of Faith where we were to make our new 
home. Dad had bargained with Mr. A. J. Flannery for a piece of land 17 miles from town 
with the Moreau River running right through it, and trees along both sides. He had paid 
Mr. Flannery $1,000 down and the rest was to be on the crop payment plan. In those 
days that was considered quite a lot of money. There were no buildings of any kind, just 
land with wood and water!
     The first year we lived on Bert Lehman's place across the river from where our 
building site was to be. During the first` season, Lee plowed, planted, cut logs for the 
house, and worked on a partial dugout which would one day become the chicken house. 
The river bottoms became alfalfa fields and the uplands were plowed for corn and small 
grain. Around the buildings were such things as a large potato patch, a big garden and a 
root cellar. The crop was very good the first year, the hay grew tall and lush, the garden 
flourished, we picked wild fruit, Mother canned everything from chokecherries to pickles. 
My Dad knew he had made a wise decision. His dream had turned to Utopia almost 
overnight.
     We had wonderful neighbors, the nearest of whom were Charlie Knife, the Melvin 
McGinniss', and the Bill Bockmans.
     For the school year of 1927-28 we moved into Faith where Irvin and I attended first 
grade. I remember that it, too, was a bitterly cold winter. Dad ran a dray service or 
hauled coal from up north in order to make a living. From then on we lived out on the 
river and rode horseback five miles to the Butler School until we got a school closer to 
home, two or three years later. The student body in the new school was Roy and 
Norman McGinniss, and Irvin, Lorraine and myself. A man named Mr. A. A. Hines was 
the teacher. Mr. G. M. Drummond was county superintendent at that time. When he 
came to visit our school, he and Mr. Hines talked hard and fast. I suppose Mr. Hines was 
the only male teacher in the whole of Ziebach County.
     In January of 1929, on a cold snowy night, my sister Imogene decided to join the 
family as number five child. There was no way to get a doctor or even go for a neighbor. 
My Dad officiated at the ceremony because that was all there was to be done.
     After five years north of Faith, four of them dry, there was no way to make payments 
on the land. We moved twice to short-term jobs with a couple of other ranchers before 
Dad made a deal with Mr. Adolph Schultz for a place 17 miles southeast of Faith, on 
Mud Creek. This too was a crop-payment plan as we had no money. Once again our 
belongings were unloaded from a wagon or hay rack as we made a kind of Grapes-of-
Wrath entrance into a new neighborhood and a two-room shack. Faith goes with Hope 
and that's about all we had.
     Dad had to build a barn, repair the house, dig a cellar and all the rest. We 
accumulated some cattle and a number of horses. It appeared that the Dream had not 
entirely faded after all. We herded cattle for summer pasture, cut wood, hauled water, 
put up Russian thistles for winter feed, and worked very hard as a family to make ends 
meet. Once in a while there was a partial crop for forage and a little garden stuff to can 
or preserve. Wild fruit kept us in jams and jellies. We raised chickens and a few turkeys. 
If we hadn't "bugged" the potato vines by knocking the red bugs into a pan of kerosene 
every so often we'd have had no crop there either.
     I cannot emphasize enough that we had very good neighbors. Now and then we 
would get together for a rodeo or ball game or gathering around the piano with Kate 
Johnson at the keyboard; the rest of us would sing. I am sure that neighborly 
encouragement was sometimes the only reason people had for hanging on. I also know 
that out of adversity has grown some of the deepest friendships we've ever had. 
Everyone was POOR -- so poor that we didn't even realize we were poor!!
     After five years on the Schultz place and two more additions to the family, Harold and 
Cora Lou (who John Leber always called Lulu Belle), the economics had continued to 
worsen. I should insert here that Bill Isaacs went to town to summon Dr. Lister for 
Harold's delivery and even though the doctor was late, Harold was right on time. Martha 
Miller was on hand for Cora Leu's debut. By the time Cora Lou was born I was a 
freshman at Dupree High School. The year was 1934. Irvin worked summers herding 
sheep for John and Kate Leber. My Dad took jobs where he could get them, putting up 
hay for some, herding sheep for Bastian's or Parrot's, or building roads on WPA.
     The following year was no better and by the spring of 1936 the government began 
buying and slaughtering cattle, for $15.00 a head for the best. Today we pay that much 
for a Sunday roast. I think our Utopia dried up with Mud Creek.
     In the fall of 1936 we moved to Spearfish where we have lived since. All in all it was a 
good move. There were good schools here and we all graduated from high school. Six of 
us attended or graduated from college. Lorraine, Irvin and myself have earned Master's 
Degrees in education, and taken some post-graduate work as well. I believe we would 
not have achieved this if we had not seen hard times during the Dirty Thirties that 
nurtured an appreciation for school and instilled strong character and high values that 
came from the encouragement of our parents. Perhaps the Great American Dream 
materialized in Lee and Lula's children rather than from a piece of land with the potential 
of wood and water. And perhaps, now, I am speculating! Anyway, we are all trained for 
and hold responsible positions.
     Lee Crane passed away while visiting and working in Alaska in 1955. Lula passed 
away on April 1, 1982.
     The Crane kids are now scattered over half a continent from Alaska to Texas and 
from Washington to South Dakota and Kansas. Needless to say, we older ones have 
many wonderful memories of Ziebach County folks in spite of the ten low-income years 
we spent there. All riches certainly are not contained in the pocketbook, and Utopia is 
what one makes of where he/she is at the time.
     Note: For more information on the log house we had north of Faith contact one of the 
Capps. It was dismantled and moved south of Faith where it was reassembled and is still 
in use. Every log was hand hewn and fitted at the corners. It had to be put back up the 
way it came down or they wouldn't fit.

CRANE PRETTY VOICE  told by Ellen In the Woods
     Crane Pretty Voice had two daughters. The first was six weeks old when her parents 
took her toward Pine Ridge and Wounded Knee with Big Foot in 1890.
     The father was a policeman or a scout for the government, but they were on the trail 
with Big Foot anyway. He told his wife that it looked like they (the army) were going to 
get them together and surrender them and kill them. He told her that if the army started 
anything the women folk should run for the creeks and get out of sight.
     When the shooting started, that's what she did. When she was about a mile away, 
she said, her baby was crying and pretty soon it looked like something hit her from the 
back. And then the baby wasn't crying so she wrapped it up in a blanket and she left it 
and she kept running. There was a lot of them running. They got to Pine Ridge Station. 
The army headquarters was there. The next day the army came and they had found a 
baby. They wanted to know who it belonged to and it was theirs. The captain wanted to 
keep the child. They asked her and she said she was so angry because she thought 
they had killed her little girl, so she told them to just take her.
     The captain took the baby to Oklahoma and his family raised her.
     In 1941, Ellen was visiting her mother, Josephine Condon, when an old time Cadillac 
drove up to there, where Crane Pretty Voice and another older lady were also visiting.
     The lady got out of the car with two grown daughters and was coming, and here it 
was her mother. She came looking for her mother and they told her where she was.
     She went back. She just came and gave her mother $100.00 and visited her. Then 
she went back.
     Crane Pretty Voice was also the mother of Sadie Hale's mother.

DR. FRANK H. CREAMER taken from West River Progress November 15, 1956

[photo – Dr. Frank H. Creamer]

[photo – Creamer Community Hospital]

[photo – In Memory of Dr. Frank H. Creamer, 1956]

     Dr. Creamer came to Dupree on July 20, 1910, from LeBeau, South Dakota, where 
he had practiced his profession with a classmate, Dr. Clarence Olson for two years, 
crossing the Missouri River by ferry, and driving the old wagon trail along the Fox Ridge 
when this area of the Cheyenne River Reservation was opened for homesteading by the 
Government, and located at the old townsite near the Fred Prink residence. Here he 
assisted the carpenters to erect his own building -- receiving a few pieces of lumber as 
his share daily, that was transported overland from Isabel, some thirty miles to the north. 
It was after the Government lot sale in August that this building was moved to its present 
site, where it has remained ever since. Tllis was six months before the Milwaukee and 
St. Paul Railroad arrived in Dupree in January, 1911.
     He made his country trips by horse and open buggy. His town calls were made by 
walking, sometimes in pouring rain, sometimes in blinding snow, and sometimes in the 
heat of the summer prairies, but he never failed to see the beauty of the sunsets, the 
glory of the morning sun, and the thrilling mirages in the clear atmosphere of the Dakota 
skies. It was not until April, 1913, that he purchased his first Ford car, and through the 
years he wore out 15 different cars.
     Doctor Creamer was the youngest of nine children born to Simon and Dornia 
Creamer, November 20, 1885. During his fifth year in life, he and his little sister were 
victims of the once dreaded disease -- diphtheria. The family doctor told his mother that 
the lad could not live until morning. The sister died, but it was at this time and in his 
childish way determined to fight for life, and keep other children from this terrible thing, 
that saved him from this dreadful disease. All through his years of practice, and with his 
own struggle for health, he continued to make the welfare of children his own concern.
     His elementary schooling was in Hartwick and Belle Plaine, Iowa, and during his early 
school years, was unable to attend school more than half the time because of nose and 
throat conditions -- the effects of the diphtheria siege. He graduated from high school in 
1903 and from the State University of Iowa Medical College in 1908. In his senior year 
he was on crutches most of the year because of inflammatory rheumatism -- again the 
aftermath of the diptheria of childhood. The professors had advised him against 
continuing his senior work, but again his determination came forth. At two different times 
from 1915 through 1925, he suffered eye infection, commonly known as trachoma, at 
that time so prevalent among the Sioux Indians, and almost lost the sight of his right eye.
     In 1918 he enlisted in the United States Army and was commissioned a Lieutenant in 
the Medical Corps during World War I, and was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
     Dr. Creamer's practice extended many miles in every direction from Dupree, where 
he was the only doctor of medicine for many years. He did his work in the spirit of the 
West River Country -- the hard way -- and was happy with his lot. When he first came to 
South Dakota, it was only for five years, but at the end of that time his roots had grown 
so deeply, and the need of a physician so great, he could not break the ties and leave 
the people without medical attention.
     Vacation was a word stricken from his thoughts because of the pressing needs of 
others and he was always greatly aware of his responsibilities in this vast area. Only 
occasionally did he take time off to attend medical meetings of this district and State, of 
which he had been a member since 1908. But he kept abreast of the times and of 
medical progress. He always left a part of each day to read scientific publications.
     It was his greatest desire and ambition to offer a free vaccination clinic to the children 
of Ziebach County and surrounding territory, which he did for over 20 years. In the 
beginning he gave of his time from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the first Saturday of each month, 
but later as his health was impaired, every eight weeks, that the children might be 
protected against those diseases which man now knows how to prevent. He gave over 
7000 diptheria and smallpox vaccinations and many times would send his own car in the 
country ten miles or more for children who were unable to get in otherwise.
     Dr. Creamer was the first to greet some 2500 babies on their entrance into this world, 
including 29 pairs of twins. He has pictures of over 600, which were sent to him and are 
in his "Book of Baby Memories''. His first baby was Arthur Eastman, born on October 25, 
1908, at LeBeau. His last baby was Yvonne Ilene McLellan, born on June 25, 1949. 
Nancy and Neil Birkeland, born December 13, 1944, was the last set of twins he 
delivered.
     Dr. Creamer gave of his services without compensation each year, examining the 
school children and the athletes throughout the county.
     The Doctor's civic pride was untiring. He thought a community was only as good as 
the people who lived in it. He was always active in businessmen's organizations, also 
Fraternal orders such as the Masonic Lodge of which he was the Worshipful Master in 
1916 and again in 1929, and secretary for many years. He was also Past Patron in the 
Order of the Eastern Star -- Naja Shrine Temple at Deadwood in 1926. He served as 
secretary of the IOOF Lodge for many years. Also his patriotic and never-ending love for 
his American Legion, serving as its Commander, Adjutant and Historian for many years. 
He was a charter member of the local Post and held a life membership from this post, 
that was voted to him for his many years of outstanding service to the Legion. He was 
the first to give his World War I bonus check to start the building fund, and worked 
untiringly through the years. Everyone well remembers his pride in this community 
building and his efforts to always keep it in very presentable condition. He gave the first 
$100 for the building fund toward the building of St. Philips Episcopal Church at Dupree, 
and was a confirmed member of that church.
     He was the friend and the beloved "Pazuta We Choosa" (Medicine Man) of the Red 
People -- the Sioux Indian, and never showed any race discrimination in his practice, 
and doing everything he could for them -- sometimes giving medicine from his own 
private stock if need be, when the government supply was low.
     It was in 1912 that the Government recognized his interest and accomplishments and 
gave him a civil service rating and contract, aside from his general white practice. He 
won the respect and deep admiration of the entire Sioux tribe by his untiring efforts in 
administering to their many needs and welfare, especially his accomplishments with the 
young mothers in pre-natal and post-natal work. There is no way of estimating the 
pounds of candy given to the children -- or the dollars to hungry persons for a meal. Dr. 
Creamer always considered the Indians as "his people''.
     It was December 16, 1949, and after his retirement, that the U.S. Department of the 
Interior sent him a citation reading: "Honor Awarded for the Commendable Service. He 
gave unsparingly of his time in caring for both Indians and white people in his 
jurisdiction. Such devoted and continuous service has left its mark in the heart of his 
patients, and he is well deserving of this commendation of the Department. ''
     It was January 8, 1943, on a long call to Glad Valley, that he became aware of the 
disease he was to fight for 12 1/2 years, going to Pierre the next day to consult his good 
friends and physicians, Dr. Riggs and Dr. Robbins. They recognized the seriousness of 
the situation and sent him to the Mayo Clinic and to Dr. Emmett, where everything that 
was humanly possible was done to retard the terrible menace called cancer. There were 
many times when it seemed there was little hope, but with scientific treatment and the 
constant prayers of his people at home, he would make a come-back and continue to 
serve the community for 7 more years.
     In September of 1948, Dr. Creamer was honored by being nominated from the 5th 
Medical District as "Doctor of the Year".
     In January 1949, after having an unusually busy week, and working in the terrible 
blizzard of that year, he was discovered in his office with a severe heart attack, from 
which he was weeks recovering. It seemed advisable at this time to give up his practice, 
which he did in September of that year, moving with his family to Boone, Iowa. He 
continued his treatments at the Mayo Clinic, having made 34 different trips through the 
years.
     In 1952 it was discovered that his condition had spread to his lungs and from which 
nothing could be done and he made his "Triumphal Entry" in August, 1954.
     Believing that only a few times in a century does a town of the size of Dupree 
produce a man whose daily activities justify his name being written in bronze, the 
citizens of Dupree and surrounding countryside have deemed it fitting to dedicate this 
hospital to him for which he had given much of his time in supervising the attempts of the 
community in the matter of health.
     Dr. Creamer left only a moderate estate. No one knows how many thousands of 
dollars he might have charged upon his books, but did not; nor of the great amount of 
money which he wrote off his ledger, as he knew it was difficult for people to pay. The 
Doctor was the friend of all of the town folks. He brought many into the world and gave 
comfort to those who were passing out of it. His life was a benediction. The roads were 
never too muddy, the snow banks never too high, the day never too hot, nor personal 
affairs ever too pressing to prevent Dr. Creamer from making his humanitarian rounds.

CREEK
     Luke, or Walter Creek, was born in 1885 at Wakpala. His parents were Rebecca 
Medicine Woman from Standing Rock, and Henry Paul Creek from Sisseton. Other 
children in the family were Thomas, 1880; Bald Head (or Emma), 1887; and James, 
1874. Henry died in 1903. Rebecca lived to be ninety-two years old, she died in 1938.
     Maggie One Skunk was born on Felix Creek. Her parents were Josephine White 
Thunder (or Blue Eagle Woman), from Pine Ridge, and Peter One Skunk, 1865-42. 
Josephine's parents were Long Cat and White Weasel.
     Luke and Maggie were married. Their children are Cyril Creek and Amelia Morrison.

CROW and IN THE WOODS told by Ellen Condon In the Woods
     Buffalo Church, Buffalo Cemetery and the Buffalo Association of the YMCA were 
named for Buffalo Eater, the oldest member of a community on the Cheyenne River. The 
community was located about eight miles west of the present route #63 bridge. (Buffalo 
Church was moved up to the Dupris Cemetery in the 1950's.)
     Iron Lightning, Counting, Little Skunk, Butcher, and Slides Off, all cousins of Long 
Mandan, came from Rosebud and were registered and allotted on Cheyenne River 
Reservation. This group originally camped on the Cheyenne but later moved north to the 
Little Moreau.
     Long Mandan was the father of Buffalo Eater. Four of Buffalo Eater's children 
married. They were: a daughter who married Jim Axe and had Sophia Axe; a daughter 
who was the first wife of Albert Owl King and had Bessie (Mrs. Joe Bowker); Hard to Kill 
or Asa Crow(b. 1864); and Kill Woman or Sophia (b. 1862). Hard to Kill and Kill Woman 
were ages 12 and 14, when they were at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
     As a boy Hard to Kill was sitting on top of a hill. Eight crows were flying above them 
and he got up and came running and told them there were 8 Crows coming. They had 
better be prepared. One of his uncles said they had better go and see.
     It was Crow Indians coming to steal horses and the Sioux killed them. After that, Hard 
to Kill was called Crow Boy and later, Asa Crow. He was the father of Charlie Crow and 
the grandfather of Patrick and Lawrence Crow.
     Kill Woman or Sophia married Timber Bank, whose name was translated into English 
as In the Woods.
     In the Woods' parents were from Pine Ridge. His father had four wives: Jealous 
Dream was In the Woods' mother. His half-brothers included Eagle Heart, Short Steps, 
Oscar Good Shot, and Frank Short Horn, all of Pine Ridge.
     Sophia's allotment was on Rudy Creek, west of present route #63. Her and In the 
Woods' children included: Elizabeth (Mrs. White Horse, mother of Jerome); Bessie (Mrs. 
Walter Carlin, mother of Hazel and Catherine)' John, who was a Congregational minister 
and who married Mazie Blue Eyes; Joe, who married Ellen Condon; and Julie (Mrs. 
William Dupris, mother of Chauncey, Millard, and Percy).
     John and Mazie were the parents of Loveleah and Llewellyn.
     Joe and Ellen lived on Rudy Creek with Joe's mother until their third child was born. 
Then in the '40's, they moved to In the Woods land on the Cheyenne River, to be near 
water. They lived near the Buffalo Cemetery.
     Joe and Ellen are the parents of Beverly (Clown); Bernard; Blaine and Robert, 
deceased; Bessie (Moudey); Barbara, deceased; Burton; Bentley; Barney; Byron; Bryce; 
Bernita; and Belinda In the Woods.

TOM CROWLEY FAMILY
     Mr. and Mrs. Tom Crowley came to Ziebach County from Wimbledon, North Dakota 
in 1909 and homesteaded near Thunder Butte mountain, where they built a home and 
helped build a school, and also served on the school board for 13 years. Mr. Crowley 
passed away in 1951 in California where the family had lived since 1941. The Crowley 
children are as follows: Joe, John, Cecial, and Neal.

 DANIEL COUNTING from History of Cheyenne River by Noralf Nesset, Superintendent
     In 1868, Daniel Counting started his life on the Cheyenne Reservation and now in the 
twilight of his career he can look back with unusual clarity to an eventful life that has 
seen many changes. The people of the Lantry District recently (1950's) held a three-day 
celebration in honor of Mr. Counting. It was my pleasure to attend this celebration and 
have the privilege of visiting with the grand old man.
     Daniel Counting devoted fifty-two years of his life to Missionary work among his 
people. He expressed the conviction that his long life and accomplishments were 
possible through the help of a greater Power that has guided him during his lifetime. In 
reviewing some of the events of Mr. Counting's life, one cannot help but be impressed by 
the great changes that have occurred during the lifetime of one man. He saw the days of 
the Custer Massacre, the Battle of Wounded Knee, the days of monthly rations, the 
establishment of the reservation and the opening of the reservation to the homesteaders 
and the cattlemen. He witnessed the moving of the original agency headquarters at Fort 
Bennett to the present site which in turn must give way to the waters of the Oahe Dam. 
Many changes, some good, some bad, have taken place in the lives of his people. The 
wheels of progress grind relentlessly and his people find that many of the old ways must 
be discarded and replaced by more modern ways of living.
     (Daniel Counting died in 1962. He was the grandfather of Mrs. Ed (Delma) Widow 
and the father of Rosalie Eagle Dog, Amy Garter, and Simon Counting.)

PETE CULBERTSON   by Ann Fleming
     Pete Culbertson was a white man, called "Indian" Pete because he lived among the 
Indians. He had a place west of the reservation with a dugout barn and frame house. He 
wore his hair long and wore pearl handled pistols.
     Above the door to his house, he rigged an apparatus that held a pistol aimed at the 
head of anyone who knocked at his door. He may have been an outlaw. Alex Chasing 
Hawk remembers that he slept with his holster above his bed. Culbertson was thought to 
have come from Montana.
     Earnest Loves War, hung in Sturgis for murder, worked for Pete Culbertson on his 
cattle ranch. Culbertson was also known for his spotted horses.
     He was the suitor of one young lady who was encouraged by her relatives to marry 
Pete, so that they would be able to ride his spotted horses! 

[photo – Pete Culbertson]

B. R. GUSHING
     Mr. and Mrs. B. R. Gushing came by train to Isabel in 1910, then journeyed by farm 
wagon and horses to their claim south of Redelm. In 1913 they moved to Georgia and in 
1920 moved to Buffalo, New York where he worked for a construction company and did 
home missionary work. In 1934 they left for Barbados, British West Indies to do full-time 
missionary work. Due to illness, they returned to the States in 1944 where they received 
medical help and served as pastor of the Congregational Church at Eagle Butte, South 
Dakota for a year. In May of 1946 they were called to serve four small country churches, 
helping them until younger pastors could be found. In the spring of 1949 they were 
forced to resign as they could not stand the long drives necessary, and the severe 
winters, any longer. Their son, Samuel, became a minister and served the 
Congregational Church at Dupree from 1942, for about four years. The Gushing children 
were: Lawrence, Helen, Samuel, Frances and Ralph.

J. G. CUTTER FAMILY
     My father, Joseph Cellars Cutter, came to Eagle Butte in 1911 from Moreland, Ohio 
and bought 160 acres of land five miles west and a half mile north of town. He brought 
the family in April, 1912 by train. The emigrant car contained a new range, cabinet and 
their own furniture, Mother's organ, and the Collie dog, Watch. Of course there was 
much more. With the help of neighbors he had built a two room sod house. For two 
weeks we were split up and stayed at various places until the house was ready. 
Blanche, Mildred, Norma and Bill stayed at Gott's Hotel. Maude and Mabel, who was 
three years old and the youngest, stayed at Bengstons. Mother, Dad and I stayed at 
Oscar Swartzls which was two miles from our house where Mother and Dad worked 
during the day. I was very homesick for them until they came.
     We were the largest family in the neighborhood. There were two baby brothers buried 
in Ohio and one in South Dakota. Arlene was born in 1914 and the snow was so deep 
that Dr. Creamer couldn't come.
     Dad and neighbors built the Fox Ridge School. Etta Anna Hansen taught two years. 
Ruth Stock was teacher the next year, then Edna Drummond.
     On the prairie the grasses were tall and blowing in the wind, it looked like ocean 
waves. Mother missed the trees and the constant wind was wearing. The house was 
comfortable, cool in summer and warm in winter. We used cow chips for a quick fire.
     J. C. as he was known, was really not a farmer. He had attended Adin College, liked 
people and clerical work. He was also a carpenter. He served as clerk and assessor of 
Lantry township. He was county treasurer and county auditor of Dewey County. He and 
mother went to Washington for a visit in 1941 and the next year went there to stay. He 
worked in the shipyards at Vancouver during the war. Later he was a hotel clerk in 
Portland and retired in 1960 at age 86. He liked to visit and remembered people. He had 
a very keen mind until his death. How he did enjoy the South Dakota picnics! He had 
inflammatory rheumatism in 1913 and it left him with a bad leg. In 1960 we took him to 
Ohio for a visit and he certainly enjoyed it.
     They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary and Mother died at the age of 
seventy-eight; Dad at the age of ninety-three.

[photo – The Cutter sod house and family. Blanche, Maude, Mildred, Mother and Dad. 
Front row: Norma, Susie, Mabel and William]

[photo – Mr. and Mrs. Cutter, taken in Washington]

[photo – The Cutter family taken in 1964. Dad and Mom, Blanche, Maude, Norma, 
Susie, Bill, Mabel, Arlene and Mildred]

ALONZO G. DAVIS
     Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Davis and five children came to the Dupree community by team 
and wagon in June, 1910. The trip from LeBeau, South Dakota took 8 days and after the 
original supply of water was used up, the family drank the same water that was available 
for the livestock, but without any ill effects. During the month of July 1910, a very bad 
prairie fire started northwest of the Davis homestead and burned many acres of tall, thick 
grass, but no loss of human life was reported. The Davis family resided on this 
homestead until about 8 months before the death of Mr. Davis, when the family moved 
into Dupree. Mr. Davis joined the Odd Fellows Lodge as a young man and continued his 
membership until his death. He was a county commissioner of Ziebach County for 12 
years. The Davis children were: Hazel E. Davis, Herbert P. Davis, Hattie J. Burke, and 
George Davis.

MR. AND MRS. GEORGE DAVIS
     George and Nell Davis came to Ziebach County in 1910 and filed on a claim 3 1/2 
miles southeast of Lantry. They came overland by team and freighted their belongings in 
by train in the spring of 1911. Mr. Davis was a farmer and a carpenter. Elections were 
held in the Davis home for several years, which is the reason for the one voting precinct 
being called the Davis precinct. The Davis children are as follows: James Davis, Frank 
Davis, Zelma Zimmerman, and Aletha Troon.

JAMES DAVIS
     James Davis, in 1911, located 1 1/2 miles east and 2 1/2 miles south of where Lantry 
was later located. In 1918 he married Catherine Perkins of Lantry and homesteaded in 
1919 on Cottonwood Creek 17 miles southeast of Dupree. Of the many types of work 
during the years, he taught school, was a carpenter, cowboy for the Diamond A, and 
worked for the government as a cattle inspector. In 1944 he moved his family to 
Princeton, Minnesota and managed a feed mill. He bought a feed store in 1948, which 
he operated until 1955, and then operated a filling station and store near Princeton. The 
Davis children are: Catherine Fare, James, Ruth Ranch, Walter, Call, Shirley and David.

RATE POWERS DAVIS
     Kate Powers Davis was born in 1852 in Davenport, Iowa. In 1869 she married Mark 
Davis of Noblesville, Indiana. He passed away in 1902. In 1911, Mrs. Davis filed on a 
claim near Edson. In 1914 she left to make her home with her daughter Leah northeast 
of Faith in Ziebach County. Mrs. Davis was a greatly beloved pioneer and was very 
public spirited. She was keenly interested in folks and her life was most fruitful with good 
deeds. She was an ideal neighbor and most exemplary personality. She was kindly in 
thought and generous in purpose and action toward all within the wide circle of her 
friendship.

 ED DELEHAN by Leah Davis Delehan
     Ed Delehan was born in Pennsylvania. His father came from Ireland. Ed worked on 
many cattle drives and large ranches. For awhile he and his first wife lived in Lemmon, 
South Dakota, where he operated a livery stable. He and his partner, Ben Ash, bought 
and sold lots of cattle that they had brought up from the south.
     Later Ed moved to Faith where he helped start the first bank. He was still in the 
livestock business. In 1912 he married Leah Davis and moved out to her claim, building 
one of the finest log houses around. He ranched here two years until his death due to an 
accident while branding cattle. He was struck in the eye by a steer's horn, and passed 
away a week later while being operated on in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
     Leah Davis Delehan was born September 15, 1883 in Noblesville, Indiana, where she 
grew to womanhood. She came to Faith in 1910 and took up homestead north of Faith, 
in Ziebach County. In 1912 she married Ed C. Delehan. They had one son, Edward.
     After Mr. Delehan died, Leah's mother, Kate Davis and brother Mark Davis moved 
from Edson, South Dakota and worked the ranch there till they passed away.
     Edward Delehan recently sold the ranch to the Ulrich brothers and he now resides in 
Sturgis, South Dakota.

[photo – Ed Delehan ranch house]

THE ALVIN DENTON FAMILY
     Alvin Denton of rural Dupree and Josephine Tracy of rural Lantry, South Dakota were 
married in Dupree, South Dakota in 1936. They have made their home in Dupree since. 
Alvin has been engaged in trucking, farming and construction work over the years. He 
still owns and operates a farm north of Dupree.

[photo – Josephine and Alvin taken on their 40th wedding anniversary, 1976]

     They have five children, all who started and graduated from Dupree. James was born 
in 1938. He went to California after graduating from high school and was employed at 
Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, California. He enlisted in the Air Force which ended as a 
career. He was trained as a weatherman and was stationed in Japan and many other 
places in the far east. He married Takako Ishijima in Tokyo in 1963. They have two boys 
and live in New Baden, Illinois. He is stationed at Scott Air Force Base at the present 
time.
     Robert was born in 1941. After graduating from high school he was employed on the 
Minuteman Missile sites out of the Black Hills. He joined the army in 1964. He was 
stationed at Fort Walters, Texas and served eighteen months in Thailand. He married 
Mary Ann Jackson of Mineral Wells, Texas in 1965. They have five children and live in 
Dupree where Bob does construction work.
     Sandra was born in 1946. After graduating from high school she attended Black Hills 
State College for two years. She married Norman Erdman from Ralph, South Dakota in 
1966. They live on a ranch near Ralph. They have two boys and one girl.
     Galen was born in 1954. After graduating from high school he attended Black Hills 
State for a year. He is now engaged in construction work and cabinet making. He is still 
living at home.
     Monte was born in 1959. He is attending South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City, 
and is employed by Magnetic Peripherals in Rapid City.

[photo – The Denton family. Back row: Robert, Monte, Galen, and Jim. Front: Sandy 
Alvin and Josephine]

MOSE and ANNA DENTON FAMILY

[photo – Mose and Anna Denton. Their wedding picture, taken in 1905]

     Mose Denton was born in Denton, Kansas in 1881 and Anna (Odden) Denton was 
born in Chicago, Illinois in 1880. They were married in Denton, Kansas in February 1905 
and moved to a homestead at Herricks, South Dakota. Three of their children were born 
here -- Alvin in 1906, Beulah in 1908 and Lorene in 1910.
     In April of 1912 they moved by covered wagon to a homestead six miles northeast of 
Dupree, South Dakota, where they built their home. Here the three younger children 
were born -- Bernice in 1912, Ruby in 1914 and Doris in 1920. The children all attended 
Cloverleaf School which was located one mile east of their home, and the girls all 
attended high school in Dupree.
     Times were hard, money was scarce, but living on a farm there was always enough 
food for the family. Lots of canning of the food from the garden and wild berries from 
around the country.
     Our closest neighbors were Al and Ruby Martin, who lived about a mile and a half 
east and north of us. The Herman Eulberg's lived one mile south of us. Good friends and 
neighbors of ours were Carl and Hazel Anderson, A. G. Davis and his family, Frank and 
Mattie Ortmeyer and their five boys and one girl. We were all good friends and used to 
go to church together in Dupree.
     Living on the farm was a hard life, especially for the folks. There were lots of crop 
failures, hail, grasshoppers, dust storms, blizzards, but 1 would not trade those 
experiences for anything.
     In 1941 Mose purchased the Harry Mosher farm east of Dupree. They lived there 
until Mose died in 1951. Anna lived in Dupree and California until she died in 1957.
     Alvin married Josephine Tracy from Lantry, South Dakota in 1936. They have five 
children, and they now reside in Dupree. Beulah married Vernal Vance. They had three 
children. She is now married to Boyd Page and lives in Homeland, California. Lorene 
married Lawrence Vance, now deceased, and they had four children. Lorene now lives 
in a nursing home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Their oldest daughter died at the age of 
19 from a lingering illness. Bernice married Guy Landee. They had two daughters. After 
his death she married George Pittam and they live in Kamiah, Idaho. Ruby married 
James Goff. They have two children and live in Bellflower, California. Doris married 
James Clark. They have three children. James was killed in an auto accident. Doris lives 
in Downey, California.

[photo – Denton family picture taken in 1941. Back row: Doris (22), Ruby (27), Bernice 
(29), Beulah (33), and Lorene (31). Front row: Mose, Anna and Alvin (35)]

[photo – Mose and Anna Denton, taken in 1946]

ROBERT DEAN DENTON FAMILY
     I was born May 18, 1941 in the old Creamer building in Dupree, South Dakota to 
Alvin and Josephine Denton. I was the second of five children. I went to the Dupree 
School all twelve years. I graduated in May of 1959. After graduation I worked 
construction work mostly in Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and North and South Dakota.
     In 1963 I was drafted into the army. After basic I was stationed at Ft. Walters, near 
Mineral Wells, Texas. This is where I met and later married my wife, Mary Ann, on July 
11, 1965. In August, 1965 I was sent to Thailand for four months, where I helped build 
large fuel tanks at an air base there. I was discharged from the army in December of 
1965, then Mary Ann and I came back to Dupree where we still live.
     I've worked for different people since I came back, but in 1968 I formed my own 
construction business. I bought the old Hickenbotham building in 1975. We made an 
apartment in half of the building, where we live. It also houses the West River Progress 
and my shop and electric business. There also is an apartment upstairs that is usually 
rented to teachers.
     I have five children: Ronald, born in 1969 in Weatherford, Texas; Penni born in 1970 
and Kristi born in 1976, at Pierre, South Dakota; Karen born in 1978 and Stephen born 
in 1979 at Mobridge, South Dakota.
     My wife, Mary Ann (Jackson) was born in Midway, Oklahoma, to Harlen and Grace 
Jackson on June 29, 1946. At the age of two she and her family moved to Mineral Wells, 
Texas where her Dad was stationed during World War II. She has one brother, James, 
living in Killen, Texas, and one sister, Eugenia Nixon, living in Mineral Wells, Texas. 
Mary Ann went all twelve years to school in Mineral Wells and graduated in May of 1965.

EDWARD DIERMIER FAMILY  written by Sharon Diermier Raile
     In 1910 William Diermier and his son Joe came from Bon Homme County by train to 
the Dupree area. Because it was so dry, they went back to Avon. The next year William 
and three of his children, Joe, Elsie and Ed came back to homestead 12 1/2 miles south 
of Dupree. Ed, our Dad, was about seven years old at the time.
     Dad spent his growing up years working for several different friends and neighbors. 
We remember most him talking about the time he worked for Ed Ritter.
     Dad met Mom (Martha Ehresmann) while she was staying with her brother and sister-
in-law, Henry and Laura Ehresmann, who had homesteaded south of Dupree also.
     Mom and Dad were married September 5, 1938 in Wagner, South Dakota. Their first 
home was located just east of the Lutheran Church in Dupree. This is where they lived 
when their first two children, Richard and Ronald were born. It was during this time that 
Dad worked for the WPA while the Dupree School and the Courthouse were being built. 
Then they moved to a place 2 and 1/2 miles south of Dupree that we remember as the 
Gray place. They then moved to a location we knew as the Lee place. Their next home 
was the Klinchuch place where the three youngest children, Shirley, Sharon and James 
were born. Sharon and James were born at home because the snow was too deep for 
the horses to get through, so they couldn't get Mom to the hospital in Dupree. Then they 
moved 2 and 1/2 miles east to the home where we grew up. They lived there for the next 
25 years. They lived in Dupree for the next five years, until they died in 1978.
     We all went to small country schools the same as all the farm family kids. Richard 
and Ronald attended the Whittler School for the first two years. They went the next six 
years to the White Swan School. Shirley, Sharon and James went all of their grade 
school years to the White Swan School, which was located 2 miles east of our home. 
We walked the two miles to and from school everyday. There was only one winter, when 
I was in the first grade, that Shirley and I stayed with the teacher at the school because 
the snow got too deep for us to walk through. Some of our classmates were, Cully Miller 
Family, Cliff Birkeland Family, Casey Miller Family, Donald Miller Family, Bill Fields 
Family and the Happy Herren Family.
     Our home was a two room house. At that time it didn't seem so small to us but I bet to 
Mom it was small. One room was a bedroom which had three beds. One of them was a 
rolla-way which we folded up each day for more room. The other room was the kitchen. 
One of the things we remember most about it was the gray paper ceilings which were 
replaced every year. It was heated with wood and coal. Then when Mom's family came 
for a visit from the southeastern part of South Dakota, there was never enough bedroom 
so all the kids slept on the floor. Sometimes we had kids sleeping from one end of the 
kitchen to the other.
     Wash day was always quite a day. It seems like the washing machine would never 
start. Mom would step on a handle to start the motor and sometimes it took all morning 
just to get it started. Then the exhaust hose had to hang out the window. I do remember 
Mom washing clothes on a scrub board. Then in the winter time there was always a 
kitchen full of frozen clothes hanging around until they were dry.
     The 4th of July was always a big event at our house. We would spend the morning 
hoeing and pulling the weeds out of the big potato patch. When we were done there was 
boughten ice cream and pop to celebrate.
     Richard, the oldest child, is married to Eleanor Freeman of Rapid City and they have 
three girls, Patty who is a freshman in high school, Jennifer in grade school, and 
Jessica, 1 month old. They live on the home place south of Dupree. Richard works at the 
Dupree Coop Station and does some farming and ranching.
     Ronald is married to Vivian Hall and they live in Albany, Oregon. They have 3 
children, Ronnie, Sheila and Kimmie. Ron does cement work and has a few farm 
animals. It seems like he is still a farm boy at heart.
     Shirley is married to Jake Schuler of Eagle Butte. They now live in Gettysburg, South 
Dakota. They have three children, Jimmy, who is planning to go to college at Northern 
State in Aberdeen, Jeanie and Debbie who are both still in school. Jake delivers Cass-
Clay products around Gettysburg. Shirley is a cook at the Gettysburg Memorial Hospital.
     I am married to August Raile of Ridgeview. We have four children, John who is now 
in the Air Force stationed in Italy, Mary plans to attend Northern State College in 
Aberdeen this fall, Andy and Danny are still in high school. August does farming and 
ranching and likes to do carpenter work when he can. I am a homemaker and assistant 
postmaster at Ridgeview.
     James is married to DiAnne Bown of Gettysburg. They have five children, Paula, 
Paige, Scott, Jamie and Andrea. James does construction work and they live in Ashby, 
Minnesota.

[photo – Jim, Martha, Shirley, Ronald, Sharon, Richard, Ed]

[photo – Ed Diermier home]

[photo – Martha and Ed Diermier]


JOE DIERMIER FAMILY
     Joe and Reka Diermier and son Ralph came to Ziebach County in September of 
1911. They came from Bon Homme County in eastern South Dakota, where Joe owned 
and operated a livery stable. They filed their claim on land located 121/2 miles southwest 
of the townsite of Dupree and began the task of building their home. In January of 1914 
this small family was joined by a baby daughter whom they named Myrtle.
     Those early years were very rough on the residents of the area as it was very difficult 
to keep afloat. But, I guess hard times is what helps to build character.
     Ralph and Myrtle spent their school years attending the Whittler School, which was 
located 2'/2 miles east of their home, on land belonging to a family called Leach. Also 
attending that same school were Jesse Miller, Henderson, Klinchuch, Wuennecke and 
Tupy children.
     They all endured the Dirty Thirties and then came the forties and World War II, into 
which Ralph was drafted and served for four long years. In 1944 Myrtle married George 
Gage at Pierre, South Dakota and they made their home on the family farm while Ralph 
remained in service. The Gage children are Harold (1945) and Mary (1946). Both arrived 
at Creamer Community Hospital and were attended by Dr. Creamer. Both Harold and 
Mary attended the Dupree schools.
     Joe and Reka retired from the farm in the 50's and moved into Dupree where they 
lived until their deaths, Joe (1957) and Reka (1975). Ralph and Myrtle operated the 
family holdings, which had grown into a sizable ranch, until their deaths in 1979.
     At the time of this writing, Harold is taking care of ranching interests which still include 
the family homestead and Mary has joined the world of high finance at The Farmers 
State Bank at Dupree.

[photo – Back: Myrtle, Ralph, Reka, Joe. Front: Mary Gage, Harold Gage]

DILLMAN--DOMINA
     Frances Domina and Mike Dillman were married in 1938 and made their home in 
Glad Valley. In 1942 they moved to Dupree where Mike was bulk station agent for 
Standard Oil for a year. They returned to Glad Valley and Mike served in World War II.
     Mike worked eleven years at the Elfrink General Store in Glad Valley, and in 1956 the 
family moved to Rapid City. He worked as service manager in several tire stores and 
finally for Pete Lien & Sons, Inc. Mike retired in 1975 for health reasons. He and Frances 
continue to live there.
     One son works in a bank in Denver, Colorado.

JOHN DOCEKAL FAMILY     by Lillie Lightfield
     In 1910, my dad, John, was taken up with the free land idea and home-steaded in 
Ziebach County, South Dakota. Dad came out alone and built a shack in early summer 
and my sister, Julia, came out in mid-summer to cook and help get the place in order. 
The Nebraska farm and equipment (where we had been living) was sold that winter and 
our household and personal things were loaded into an immigrant car. My brother, 
Raymond, traveled with the car and the rest of us went by train. What a trip! So exciting 
for school kids. I was ten at the time.
     We arrived in Dupree on December 28th, stayed in town overnight and drove out to 
the claim the next day. A gray, cold day.., not below zero, that came later, but not a real 
bright day that we might have appreciated. There we were, eight miles out from 
nowhere, it almost seemed.
     Dad got us unloaded and settled... packed was the better word. There were 7 people 
in a 2-room 10x12. Then Dad had to return to Dupree to wait for the immigrant car and 
my brother.
     They arrived December 3lst...a cold windy day, and that night the wind howled and 
snow drifted into the shack through every small crack. Mother and the girls tore up a pair 
of coveralls left by a carpenter and stuffed the strips in around the 2 x 4's where the roof 
came down, shutting out the snow and wind. The shack was covered with tar paper so it 
wasn't so bad once the air strips were closed off. On New Year's Day the men started 
moving out to the claim. Furniture was stored under a tent till spring and Dad built on 
another room. Then it was moved under a roof.
     Dad plowed a garden spot the next spring and broke out some acreage for crops. 
During the summer, the neighbors got together and formed a school district. The school 
house was built on school land, 2 miles north of our place and about 1/2 mile west. My 
sisters, Jane, Josie, and I walked to school to the Pretty Creek School. Lillian Jeffries 
was our first teacher. Her parents were also homesteaders and her father was a 
shoester in Dupree. Her younger sister, Ada, came to Pretty Creek also.
     I went there to school till I finished the 8th grade. Though the school house was 
struck by lightning and burned, the new school was built about a mile east on the corner 
of Fred Judson's ranch.
     There were, in my family, Dad, Mother (Marie), my sisters, Mary, Julia, Jane, and 
Josie, and one brother, Raymond. The older girls soon found employment in Dupree.
     Of my family, only Julia Frijouf (now living in Canada) and myself, Lillie (Ludmily) 
Lightfield are left. I make my home in Pierre where a doctor and hospital are available 
and cab service when family are all working.
     My oldest daughter, Mrs. Kenneth (Coral Jeffries lives in Ft. Pierre and she and her 
family take care of my many needs.
     My family all live in South Dakota except John (Wayne). He and his family are near 
Ijamsville, Maryland. Jim and Bernice live in Faith and have a ranch near Red Scaffold. 
Jim does trucking and Bernice is a dorm attendant at the Eagle Butte Boarding School. 
Emie and Viola live in Brookings. Both teach, Viola in the 4th grade and Emie in high 
school. Cora and Jeff are in Ft. Pierre. Jeff(Kay Jeffries) welds wherever the work field 
lies and Cora teaches. John (Wayne) works for the government and Ardath works in a 
doctor's office. Bill and Wanda live in Waubay. Bill is driving truck and traveling far 
distances. Wanda is Counselor at the Waubay School which burned in 1981. Now they 
keep school in any available place that is large enough to accommodate a class. 
Norman and Florence Schuler live in Eagle Butte where they operate a garage with the 
good help of their oldest son. Florence still works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and 
enjoys her work. The adults there work with the ambulance service.
     I have 33 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

DOG WITH HORNS parts from Charles Dog With Horns to A.I.R.P.
     Dog With Horns married Sarah Turtle and lived in Bridger. Their children were Lillian, 
who married John Black Bull; Nellie, who married John Red Bull; and Charles Dog With 
Horns, who married Esther High Hawk.
     Sarah Turtle Dog With Horns raised her grandchildren, Emma, Paul, Luke, and Evan 
Black Bull after their mother, Lillian, died. Sarah later married Owns the Bear. Martha 
Beard is their daughter.
     The following was taken in part from an interview with Charles Dog With Horns in 
1971.
     "Jonas Dog With Horns married Sara Turtle, a survivor of the Wounded Knee 
Massacre. At the time of 1900, they were up to Bismarck, North Dakota. They were 
hunting around, roaming around. The troops went up there and they got a steamboat. 
They put them in and hauled them down the river to the mouth of the Cheyenne River. 
So they camped there for a while and then they moved over there to Cherry Creek.
     They lived there for a while and then this reservation was surveyed for allotment at 
that time. My mother, her husband, my sister and myself, we got land on Hump Flat, 160 
acres apiece. So they moved over here on Hump Flat and lived on their own land ever 
since that time.
     My father died. Then my mother got married again.
     I was raised on the Flat and then I moved and I got married here.
     I went to Rapid City Indian School for about nine years. Then I went to Cheyenne 
Agency boarding school three years. I came back and became a stockman.
     I got this FID (Federal Indians Department) cattle. That's the first cattle program on 
the reservation. And then the replacement program came, I was on that too. And then 
this rehabilitation program.
     We have to pay for the cattle, that 100 head, so we replace them back, ten every 
year.
     I raised cattle and horses. We had a ranch on Hump Flat. After I retired I moved 
here."

DOMINA
     Otis and Edna Domina came from Valley, Nebraska in 1911 to homestead near Glad 
Valley, which was then known as Pickerville.
     In 1912 Otis became the mailman from Glad Valley to Isabel and served faithfully for 
eighteen years. His was the usual early day mode of travel, any way possible so that the 
mail could be delivered. Sometimes it was by horseback, or team and wagon, and finally 
in later years, by car.
     Otis was a kindly and generous hearted neighbor and was always willing to pick up 
grocery lists and money left in the patron's boxes, then deliver the box of groceries or 
whatever it might be, on the way home. In spite of snow, rain, wind or whatever the 
weather, the mail was delivered on all but three days during those years. Many times 
Otis came home late at night through deep snow and had to shovel a tunnel through the 
snow to get the team in the barn. Edna Domina often made the trips with team and 
wagon during the busy spring and summer seasons, taking the little children along.
     Edna Domina played the piano for dances in the early days. Her piano was loaded 
and hauled to the dance site. Some of the other musicians who played in the band were 
Carl Rest, a violin player, Chancey Beebe, and later, Jim Perlik, who was an 
accomplished violinist from Bohemia. Some barn dances were held at the Domina farm. 
In the early 1930's, Otis Domina and Dave Unterseher built a bowery at Glad Valley 
where dances were held for a time.
     Otis was a good and concerned citizen, active in soil conservation work in the County 
and served on District 13 school board for many years. He organized several baseball 
teams and played until later years. The first team was organized in 1912 and the Glad 
Valley team played Coal Springs on Memorial Day, 1912, their first game which they 
won!
     The three children, Lela, Frances and Shirley, rode horseback three and one-half 
miles to the Glad Valley School. At one time as many as fifty children attended. The 
school was the usual focal point for social activities. Community club meetings, dances, 
political rallies, card parties, pie and basket socials, elections and church meetings were 
held there. There were even a few funerals.
     The family lived and farmed on the ranch one and one-half miles west of Glad Valley 
until 1947 when they sold out and moved into Glad Valley. Edna Domina passed away 
suddenly in 1953 and Otis passed away in 1970.
     Their children are Mrs. Lela (John) Wilson and Mrs. Frances (Mike) Dillman, both of 
Rapid City; Mrs. Shirley (Harvey) Frederickson, Black Hawk; and Mrs. Alyce (Hugh) 
Brammer, Absarokee, Montana. Alyce is a foster daughter they raised from babyhood. A 
son, Walter, passed away in infancy.

[photo – Otis and daughter Lela plowing]

[photo – Mrs. Domina, Shirley, Frances, Lela and Otis Domina]

CHARLES DONNENWIRTH FAMILY
     Mr. and Mrs. Charles Donnenwirth came to Ziebach County in 1910 and settled on 
NE 10-12-21. Charles served as clerk and agent for the Milwaukee Railroad from 1912 
until 1947 when he retired and moved to Coeur d' Alene, Idaho.
     During the early days in Ziebach County, Mrs. Donnenwirth made bread for the 
bachelors in the area.
     Charles was very active in helping to organize Ziebach County from Armstrong. He 
was an active member of the I.O.O.F. Lodge and held a 50-year medal from that lodge. 
Both he and Mrs. Donnenwirth were active in the Methodist Church.
     The Donnenwirth children are as follows: Charles M., (deceased); Vernon, Faith, 
South Dakota; Edith Davis, San Gabriel, California; Evelyn Hogue, La Puente, California; 
Elsie Anderson, Hayden Lake, Idaho; Kenneth, Rapid City, South Dakota; Buzz, Rapid 
City, South Dakota; Bob, Lillian, Alabama; Lloyd, Tacoma, Washington; and Fatsy Bell, 
Coeur d' Alene, Idaho.

FAYETTE and CECELIA DOUGLAS     by granddaughter Jessie Young
     Fayette Douglas was born in 1882 at Fairmont, Minnesota. In 1906 he was married to 
Cecelia Siewerdsen at Sisseton, South Dakota. They arrived in Isabel in 1917 and 
located on a homestead southwest of Isabel, in Ziebach County. They brought with them 
one boy, Clarence, and four girls, Fern, Eloise, Gladys, and Evelyn. They lived in a one-
room claim shack until Grandpa was able to build a four-room house. The children 
walked 3 miles to the Grondahl School. Some others who attended the school at this 
time were the Grondahl's and the Lindskov's. One of the teachers was Miss Reine 
Prouty. On February 2, 1923, another daughter was born, Edna. They lost a lot of their 
sheep and some of their cattle when a bad storm hit the 18th of March. The drifts were 
tall and the kids enjoyed a lot of sledding and ice skating. Grandma and Dan Patch (an 
old Indian pack horse) took the Douglas's and the neighbor's kids on many picnics into 
the brakes to a place known as the "Hell Hole". Dan Patch didn't need a bridle or halter 
and once he spoiled dessert by stepping in the pie. They then left their homestead and 
moved on to the Gunder Pladsen place where they took care of a herd of milk cows. At 
this time the children attended the Wilson School with the Wenzel's and Stein children. 
The teacher was Sadie Van Gerpen. Sometime later Grandpa and Grandma lived north 
of Isabel. At this time Clarence passed away and Evelyn graduated from Isabel High 
School. They spent the remainder of their life in Isabel. I remember spending a week 
most every summer with them.
     The Douglas children are: Clarence Douglas (deceased); Fern (Prouty) Erickson, 
Portland, Oregon; Eloise Dearborn (deceased); Gladys Wright, Glenswood, Oregon; 
Evelyn Roesler, Mobridge, South Dakota; and Edna Isley, Greenleaf, Wisconsin.

[photo – Douglas girls and friends]

[photo – Fay and Cecelia Douglas]

[photo – Emma Norine; Irene, Alice, Clara Grondahl; Fern, Eloise Douglas; Ingeborg, 
Olga, Edna Rekstad. School mates, 1923]

EINAR DRAGESET (taken from Isabel Territory book)
     Einar Drageset was born in Norfjold, Norway in 1884. He was one of ten children. He 
completed ten years of education in that foreign land. In 1900, at the age of seventeen, 
Einar migrated to the U.S.A., drifting to South Dakota within a short time. He settled near 
Lane, South Dakota where he freighted out of Rapid City, South Dakota. This, of course, 
was quite a task as it had to be done with horse and wagon.
     On June 19, 1907, he was united in marriage to Agnette Endahl of Lane, South 
Dakota, who was one of seven children whose parents also came from Norway.
     At Aberdeen in 1910 the Dragesets filed on a homestead. Under this act the 
participants were given an opportunity to choose one quarter of land within a given area. 
In 1911 the young couple pioneered to an area northwest of Isabel where they 
homesteaded. They traveled to the location partly by train and the remainder of the way 
by wagon. After settling on the new location, they engaged in farming and ranching. 
They lived in a two room house constructed of a wooden frame.
     After proving up on the first quarter of land they were given the privilege of filing for 
another half section of land, thus adding to their spread.
     Seven children were born to them -- Ole, Agnes (Mrs. Christ Volden), Esther (Mrs. 
Frank Miller), Myrtle (Mrs. Ronald Waddell), Adolph, Orlando, and Stella (Mrs. John 
Opsahl).
     In 1926 they erected a new house. It was a seven room, two story building. This was 
a great improvement to their ranch. They also built a new granary and remodeled the 
barn.
     In 1929 Mr. Drageset went back to Norway to visit his family. He stayed in Norway for 
several months but decided he liked the newly settled country better. He traveled to 
Norway by boat, thus going to and from New York by train.
     During the early days the farming methods were quite different from those used 
today. Einar was one of the few farmers in the area to own more than two horses. He 
had four head. In order to prove up according to the Homestead Act, the homesteaders 
were required to break ten acres of land. This required the use of four horses. Einar, 
being one of the few owning this many horses, was hired to break many acres of land for 
his neighbors and people of the surrounding community.

[photo – Mr. and Mrs. Einar Drageset]

[photo – Drageset home]

[photo – Ole, Myrtle, Orlando, Agnes, Adolph, Esther, Agneta, Stella]

     One of the most threatening dangers during the early days was the prairie fires. The 
reason for them being so dangerous was because of the kind of equipment and 
knowledge of fighting and extinguishing these fires. The Dragesets experienced many of 
these drastic fires that would burn acres and acres of grassland. One of the most drastic 
of these was a fire which started three different days and burned for many, many miles. 
Neighbors gathered to cope with the fire as best they could. They hauled water with 
horses and buggies, used wet gunny sacks and rags to strike the flames. Women 
worked as well as men. Mrs. Drageset recalls tearing up a newly made quilt which she 
treasured dearly, to wet and fight the furious flames, as they had no other materials to 
use.
     When their eldest son was ready to begin school, they had to travel four miles. Their 
only means of transportation was with horses. During this period of time only seven 
months of school was required each term. Later on, a school was established near their 
home so the children could walk to and from school.
     Mr. and Mrs. Drageset maintained and operated their ranch with the assistance of 
their son, Adolph, until 1958 when they moved to Isabel. Adolph owns and is operating 
the old homestead.
     Mr. and Mrs. Drageset built a new home in Isabel where they resided until their 
deaths on May 4, 1965 and January 1, 1971, respectively.

MOODY DRUMMOND
     Moody Drummond was born August 21, 1888 at Afton, Ohio. He graduated from high 
school in Batavia, Ohio and attended Ohio Wesleyan University. In 1910 he 
homesteaded south of Eagle Butte and taught school near his homestead. In 1912 he 
was appointed County Superintendent of Schools for Ziebach County. He married Edna 
Ruth Walker in 1914 at Oacoma. He spent two years as Ziebach County 
Superintendent. He then went back to his homestead to engage in ranching. During this 
time he was re-elected Superintendent of Schools and later elected President of the 
State Organization. In 1962 he married Betty De Sheuquette in Rapid City, South 
Dakota. They lived on a ranch near Eagle Butte in Ziebach County, until May 15, 1973 
when they moved to Selby, South Dakota. Mr. Drummond died July 28, 1973 at the age 
of 84 years. 

LLOYD DUNBAR
     Lloyd Dunbar arrived in this area in the fall of 1912 and settled on a homestead 
southwest of Faith, in Ziebach County. He lived on the ranch from 1912 until 1940, when 
he moved to Dupree. In 1940 he was elected County Treasurer and moved to town at 
that time. He served in World War I for nearly two years, eleven months of which was 
overseas duty. In 1921 he was united in marriage to Daina Higgins at Dupree. The 
Dunbars have three children -- Mrs. Jeanne Shupick, Mrs. Muriel Reid, and William 
Dunbar.

[photo – Dunbar family. Lloyd and Daina 50th Anniversary. Steve, Jeanne, Chad, Muriel, 
Bill and Doris]

[photo – Marvin Russell, 1970 Citizen of the Year, presenting award to Lloyd Dunbar, 
1971 winner]

MICHAEL DUNN FAMILY     by Faye Longbrake
     In the midst of Cedar Hill Cemetery near Fort Pierre, along the old Deadwood Trail, 
visitors will see a burial plot fenced with a wrought-iron railing overshadowed by aged 
cedar trees from whence came the name of the cemetery. This particular plot contains 
four graves and has an interesting story behind it.

     The foremost headstone reads:
          Michael Dunn
          1861- 1865
          Oct. 23, 1845
          Nov. 25, 1921
          Ohio Vol. Co. F. 82nd Reg.
          Ohio Inf.

and this is my great grandfathers marker. Michael Dunn was born in Morashire, Ireland 
and moved with his parents to Dayton, Ohio when Mike was four years old. When the 
Civil War broke out in 1861, he ran away from home and enlisted in the Union cause 
with an Ohio regiment, but being only fifteen years of age at the time, his parents filed 
objections and he was released and returned home, remaining there just three months 
when he again ran away and re-enlisted. Upon enlisting the second time he gave his 
age as eighteen and remained until the close of the war, being in many of the noted 
battles of the great conflict, among which were the battle of Chattanooga, Battle of 
Lookout Mountain, Sherman's March to the Sea, etc.
     After the close of the war, he came west in 1868 and worked as a cowboy and was 
engaged in freighting over the Deadwood Trail with Scotty Philip. He clerked at Fort 
Robinson, Nebraska and while located there he married Julia Larvie, the daughter of the 
French-Indian voyageur Long Joe Larvie and Big Cheyenne. Scotty Philip married Julia's 
sister while there also. Throughout the years the Dunn's liyed near White River and Bad 
River running horses and cattle. They had 14 children, all but 5 of whom died in infancy.
     In 1910 when the town of Dupree was established Grandpa Dunn was among the 
first to erect a substantial residence in the new town. He was one of the first organizers 
of the Farmers State Bank of Dupree, the pioneer bank of Ziebach County, and was 
elected the first president of that institution.
     Sometime during his freighting days, Mike Dunn and James Dowd formed a lasting 
friendship and vowed they would always be friends and bury each other, depending on 
who succumbed first. Dowd died November 6, 1909 and true to his word, Grandpa Dunn 
buried his friend next to Julia who passed away May 3, 1909.
     In 1912 the widow of James Dowd and Michael Dunn married and later made their 
home in Fort Pierre. When they died, Grandpa Dunn on November 25. 1921, and his 
second wife in 1955, they were buried in the same plot with their first spouses. The plot 
looks like this:

Michael Dunn 						Mrs. Dowd
1861- 1865 
Oct. 23, 1845
Nov. 25, 1921
Ohio Vol. Co. F.   
82nd Reg.   
Ohio Inf.


Julia Dunn							James Dowd
Born 1850 							Died Nov. 6, 1909
Died May 3, 1909 						Age 71 years,
								8 mo., 24 days


A LITTLE TIME on EARTH 
THEY SPENT TILL GOD FOR THEM THIS ANGEL SENT.

EDWARD DUPRIS
     Edward Andrew Dupris was born in 1856, the fourth child of Fred and Mary Good Elk 
Woman Dupuis. Edward grew up along the Cheyenne River and was the only one of his 
brothers and sisters who learned to speak English. He attended Hampton Institute in 
Virginia.
     In the early 1880's, he may have accompanied his father and brothers on a round up 
of five buffalo calves.
     Ed married Amy/Her Horse Comes Out in 1884. A few years later, their son Charles 
Mixed Trouble was born. They divorced in 1888 and Amy married Charles Face. Charles 
Mixed Trouble died in 1897.
     In 1890, Ed Dupris married a Hampton graduate who was teaching school near the 
mouth of Cherry Creek -- Mary Traversie. They had four children: Douglas, born in 1891; 
Andrew, born in 1898; Marcella, born in 1899; and Olive born in 1905.
     Mary taught for a few years after their marriage and then they moved to Ed's 
allotment on Bear Creek (northeast of the present town of Dupree).
     Near their home (now Lawrence Woodward, Jr.'s) is Cedar Hill, towering over the 
creek. A bear den under the hill gave the creek its name: Mate Wakpala or Bear Creek.
     The Dupris' lived in a tent while they built their log home. They also built a barn and 
fences and Ed ran a profitable cattle business.
     In 1909 Olive died, possibly of appendicitis. Ed Dupris died that same year, leaving 
his wife, Mary, sons Douglas and Andrew, and daughter, Marcella, in the care of the 
hired man, Pete Talks. Mary later married Pete Talks and they moved to his allotment 
near Iron Lightning.
     Douglas stayed on the place, later marrying Mabel and Eliza Poor Buffalo and 
moving north of Bear Creek community.
     Andrew joined the army in 1914. He later married Helen Larrabee and they had 
seven children. Marcella married Moses Red Bird and they had two children.
     It is said that the town of Dupree is named for Edward Dupris.
 (See MARY TRAVERSIE DUPRIS TALKS and POOR BUFFALO.)

[photo – Ed Dupuis/Talo Yuta Sni, 1908 (SDSHS)]

FRED DUPRIS  by Mable Ross
     During the Civil War time, Fred Dupris had a trading post at Fort Sully. When the 
Texas trail drivers came up to the post with a herd of cattle, they would let old Fred have 
the calves. This started him in the cattle business and before long he had thousands of 
cattle and horses. His brand was the Circle D, which is still used by his granddaughter, 
Molly Dupris Annis Rivers.
     They located their ranch on the flats north of the Cheyenne River, in what is now the 
southeastern part of Ziebach County, not far from the Carlin Bridge. Fred raised the long 
horn cattle and used the brindle blue long horn bulls. By keeping only the best and most 
rugged for breeding, Fred's Texas stock was extra good and his four and five year olds 
sold near the top on the Chicago Market in 1896-1898.

[photo – Fred Dupris, son Pete? And wife, Mary Good Elk Woman. (SDSHS)]

[photo – Grave of Fred Dupris]

[photo – 1880’s Girls at Play. Standing in center are Kate Hunter, Ota Ktewin and 
Marcella Dupris. By the tent are Maggie and Amy Dupris and in front of tent is Bessie 
Flexible (SDSHS)]

[photo – Joseph White Bull, Narcisse Red Fox, Thomas Blue Eyes and Alfred 
Fisherman, Lillie Carlin (Briggs), Mazie Blue Eyes (In the Woods) and Rosa Ward (Circle 
Eagle)]

[photo – Harriet (Cadotte) and David Xavier Dupris. (SDSHS)]

FRED and MARY DUPUIS from 
“The First Dupree Into South Dakota”
by Calvin Dupree
     Frederick Dupuis came from Longueil, Quebec to Kaskaskia, Illinois and from there to 
the Cheyenne River area. One Dupuis brother, Pierre (known as Peter), went on up into 
Montana where he married an Assiniboin Sioux woman.
     A French-Canadian, Fred Dupuis arrived at Fort Pierre in 1838 and was in employee 
of the American Fur Company under Pierre Choteau, Jr. Letters from the winter of 1861 
were written to Charles Primeau from Fred Dupuis by M. C. Rousseau at the mouth of 
Cherry Creek. The letters were concerned with reports of the Indian bands and the 
number of buffalo robes Fred was sending in and a list of the materials he needed for 
trading and maintaining his small outpost at the mouth of Cherry Creek. The trader 
(Fred) was concerned that the buffalo were becoming scarce and that the Indians and 
their horses were "poor".
     By 1860, we must assume that Fred was married and busy with the affairs of a 
husband and father. He married a Minniconjou, Good Elk Woman, who became Mary 
Ann Dupuis. She had one son, Henry Makes Room, from a previous marriage who was 
adopted by Fred. Mary was the daughter of One Iron Horn and Red Dressing. Some 
elders in the family remember that Mary was from Cherry Creek. Mary and Fred had 
nine children. They were: Peter; Maggie (Fisherman); Esther (Ward); Edward; David 
Xavier; Alma (Blue Eyes); Fred, Jr.; Josephine (Vollin); Vetal; and Marcella (Carlin). "Not 
one of whom could speak English, with the exception of Edward, who was a student at 
Hampton, Va."
     After being an independent trader for some time (and probably as the buffalo 
dwindled and the Indians were put on reservations) Fred became a stock grower. He 
built the family home in a beautiful wooded flat on the north side of the Cheyenne River, 
thirty-five miles west of where it emptied into the Missouri. The patriarchal home was 
described as being 20 feet by 60 feet, and built of cottonwood logs. As each son or 
daughter married, a new small log house (called a tipi by the family) was built. These 
homes had dirt floor and gumbo roofs and were placed in a row near the main house. In 
addition there were usually a dozen tipis nearby, pitched by the full blood relatives of 
Mary Dupuis. The living arrangement was truly communal; the women had a large 
vegetable garden; the men worked the stock; all the cooking and eating was done in one 
cabin. One of the women baked all the bread, another cooked the meat and vegetables, 
and another made coffee and served the food. Three times a day 52 people ate 
together, along with any strangers or friends who might happen along.
     The Dupuis home was known as a place for sharing good times and good food in the 
true Indian way. This was the era of government ration dispensing and all 52 of the 
family members collected their share which was hauled home in wagons from Fort 
Bennett, even though Old Fred was reputed to be wealthy with "several thousand head 
of cattle and 500 horses, a small herd of domesticated buffalo and a large amount of 
other property.''
     The marriage of Marcella Dupuis, Old Fred's youngest daughter, to Douglas F. Carlin, 
a non-Indian, of Pierre must have been a noteworthy event since newspapers from 
Deadwood and Pierre covered the event. Mr. Carlin was noted as the issue clerk at 
Cheyenne Agency. The ceremony was performed at the Dupuis home on the Cheyenne 
River with many important persons from the city, including the Pierre City Council, and 
unknown numbers of Sioux present. Forty fat steers were to be roasted. All the wedding 
gifts were put on exhibition after the supper, the most impressive being five hundred 
head of cattle and fifty ponies from Old Fred, father of the bride, and a decorated buffalo 
robe from sisters of the bride. The Sioux dancing continued for three days with the only 
interruption being a pause for more eating every three hours.
     ...the Dupuis family's contribution to saving the buffalo. In 1883 (or possibly earlier) 
Old Fred and some of his sons and possibly Basil Clement (Claymore) went on a hunt 
for some buffalo calves in order to start a herd. By this time the great "surrounds" of the 
past were over and I can imagine that the desire to preserve at least a few of these 
animals, so necessary and so sacred to the Indian people, was strong. The group 
headed northwest from the Cheyenne River and was gone for many months and in 
Montana, or near Slim Buttes (reports differ), they located a small herd. They finally 
secured five calves (one report says nine), which were loaded into wagons brought 
along for that purpose. The calves were taken back to Cheyenne River.
     By 1888 from this small start the Dupuis had nine pure-blood buffaloes. By the time of 
Old Fred's death in 1898 the herd had grown considerably, and was purchased by 
James (Scotty) Philip of Fort Pierre. By 1918 (the herd) had increased to approximately 
500 head. The State of South Dakota purchased 46 of these buffalo and transferred 
them to the State Game Park in Fall River County. Hearsay has it that Scotty Philip sold 
buffalo to other states and parks also, spreading the original Dupuis stock back into 
many areas where the buffalo once roamed free by the millions.
     Old Fred died in 1898 at about age 80. Then, as now, a death was the occasion for 
sharing through a Give-Away of all the deceased's belongings. From Aunt Molly Dupris 
Annis Rivers, Old Fred's grand-daughter, I have heard the colorful story of how some of 
the Dupuis wealth was distributed. It is said that according to Lakota custom, any one 
who happened by was entitled to a gift and this even included a group of Crow Indians, 
traditional enemies of the Sioux since anyone can remember. The Crows were invited to 
join the other guests as they filed by a horse whose saddle bags had been filled with 
silver dollars. Each person took a silver dollar until they were gone; the next person in 
line was given the saddle, and the last person received the horse. And in this way, and 
probably by several other methods, Old Fred's money and property were shared with the 
people. None of his oft mentioned wealth was inherited by any of his family.
     Records indicate that Good Elk Woman, Mary Dupuis, died in 1900 at the home of 
her daughter, Mrs. Tom (Alma) Blue Eyes. One can only wonder about her life after Old 
Fred died, just as one wonders about her years of living, first as a child at Cherry Creek, 
then as a young wife of Makes Room and finally as Mary Ann Dupuis, mother of nine 
half French and half Lakota children. No stories about Mary have come down to me. Her 
life during the early time of tragedy and defeat for the Indian people cannot have been 
an easy one.
     Old Fred and Mary, and many of their descendants, are buried in the Dupuis 
Cemetery on the hill above the river flat where their family home once was. Nearby is the 
old ''Buffalo Church''.
     Old Fred and Mary may be gone, but South Dakota will not forget them. Dupree 
Creek runs into Rudy Creek and then into the Cheyenne River near the old home site, 
and the (town) of Dupree is located about 40 miles north of Cherry Creek where Old 
Fred carried on his fur trading. Just west of the Dupuis cemetery and the old church, in a 
draw filled with wild plums and chokecherries, the Dupree Spring (called the Circle P 
Spring, or Garrett Spring today) still furnishes clear, sweet water.
     Imagine the hundreds of trips made to this spring, winter and summer, to haul water 
for the Dupuis family living down the hill by the river in the 1800's.
      The name, though changed from Dupuis to Dupris and in some cases to Dupree, 
has been carried all over South Dakota and to probably every state in the U.S. by their 
hundreds of descendants.
     Calvin Dupree is the son of Adelia Fielder and Jonas E. Dupris; son of Sarah Red 
Horse and Frank Dupris; son of Harriet Cadotte and Xavier (David) Dupuis; son of Mary 
Ann Good Elk Woman and Frederick Dupuis. Calvin Dupree is presently a member of 
the faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada.

[Chart of Dupuis family descendents]

[photo – Pictured is Mary D. Rivers in the foreground on 5-24-59 at the old “Buffalo 
Church” near Dupree (Dupris) cemetery. (SDSHS)]

EAGLE CHASING by Jim Eagle Chasing
     I was born in the year of 1885, near the mouth of Plum Creek in the Cherry Creek 
country. When I was a boy, I sure liked to play and could always beat the other boys in 
games. One of my uncles, James Little Chief, made me a necklace out of a deer's feet, 
and he put it around my neck, told me that I would be a fast runner, and sure enough, he 
was right. I could make lots of scores in the shinny game played by the Indians, when I 
was young, because I was a fast runner. My father was an Indian Police at Cherry 
Creek, and he and my mother always taught me to be honest and to help other people. 
All my life, I have been a law-abiding citizen and have worked for both whites and 
Indians. When I wasn't herding cattle, or putting up hay, I would be breaking horses. I 
had two narrow escapes in my life, although I have ridden many tough horses. One time, 
my horse threw me and my foot got caught in the stirrup, and the horse dragged me, but 
I finally managed to break loose. Another time, I was crossing the river, which was high, 
when we got in deep water, the horse started to buck and threw me off over its head. But 
I managed to get to shore without being drowned. A few years ago, when the snow was 
deep in the winter, and the people at Cherry Creek were out of wood, I would go with my 
saddle horse and drag up parts of trees to those that were disabled and could not help 
themselves.
     In the early days, it seemed like I was a great friend of the morning star, because I 
was up when it was up, just peeping over the hill. In those days, if a cowboy was seen 
anywhere, he'd be riding a good horse, not a three legged horse, or a worn-out plug like 
they do nowadays. And the rider himself would be dressed in good high-priced clothing, 
not in a pair of oxfords or a straw hat, or ride in a military saddle and call himself a 
cowboy. A real cowboy is a good natured duck and generous and willing to help people 
out in case of need.
     The real wild west days have passed away. In the good old days, there were no 
newspapers and pictures, as we have today. Our pictures were men riding horses, and 
working on the prairie. My riding days are not over, for I go each day to help someone in 
need or do what I can for my neighbors.

EAGLE CHASING: PROUD OF HIS LIFE WITH THE LAND
     James Eagle Chasing has a story to tell, and it's a story worth listening to.
     It's the story of a man who has lived many years with a handicap, but has still 
managed to live with dignity and honor and make his own way in this world.
     He has worked long and experienced many hardships, but he has also enjoyed life.
     Until a few years ago, he danced every year in the Reservation Fair Pow wow. 
Although he lives in Cherry Creek, 43 miles away, he came on the only transportation he 
had, horseback.
     Eagle Chasing, at 91, is still fiercely independent. He has lived alone, because that's 
the way he likes it.
     In the following story, Eagle Chasing reminisces, in his own words, over events in his 
life:
     "In the year 1885 I was born on this reservation, a fullblood Sioux.
     "I rode on horseback when I was 4 and I rode broncos at the age of 12. I worked at 
different ranches, but I always got permission from my mother and father. They always 
told me not to do anything wrong so I took this advice and grew up with it.
     "When I was six years old my father had a job as a government Indian policeman and 
he brought beef cattle from Cheyenne Agency in whatever kind of weather it might be.
     "These beef cattle were slaughtered and issued to other Indians. He brought these 
beef cattle to our place, where I watered them. They were mostly longhorn steers, but 
one time there was one oxen in the bunch, he had a neck yoke scar in the shoulder.
     "When I was 16 years old my father was sent to work on a station where there were 
two stores and a big government police headquarters. There were also three churches.
     "The Indians lived on their places and gathered together every month for their rations. 
They received monthly rations every June, July and August. They had horse races, and 
they always sent me to ride at the horse races because I was light and a good rider at 
that time in 1918.
     "I took a job as a government Indian policeman until 1938. I had many hardships 
during the time I was on this job. Part of my job was to watch the government work 
horses, milk cows, and feed the bulls. I want to tell you this is hard work, especially when 
a bull would get into somebody's cattle herd and would not leave. I had to rope him and 
bring him back, and drag him sometimes. I would lead my horse and drive these bulls 
day and night without sleep or meals.
     "I had a very good cow pony and a good runner at that. I won often at cow pony 
races.
     "One time the pony got gored by a bull, and was bleeding heavily. He almost died, 
but I pulled him out of it and I took him to a rodeo. He bucked and pulled out from under 
his rider, and I gave him a name. I called him 'Cracker Jack'. In the year 1923 he was 
lost or stolen.
     "I continued to work building a jail and log houses, and working around the 
government police station. I had a good-looking pinto, a long distance runner and I had a 
spot wing chaperajos and chased runaway boys with it. I chased one runaway boy on 
horseback three miles before I-captured him and brought him back to jail, and I also 
chased another runaway boy through high grass.
     "The Boss Farmer would give me a sendoff, saying my work was satisfactory but 
some of the Indians were jealous of me and tried to make me lose my job, but they 
failed.
     "Before I entered the police force I had a good home and ranch and some cattle and 
horses. I lost all of it and now I am poor at present.
     "In 1910 I ate some poison root and nearly died and since that time I lost my hearing. 
After that the people didn't like me because I was different but the girls felt differently 
about me. They always said, 'I love that darling Jim.'
     "While I worked with the Indian police I took 12 head of fat steers to the Cheyenne 
Agency, and I took 50 head of steers from Bridger to Eagle Butte for shipment.
     "I also took 80 head of cattle to Eagle Butte from Cherry Creek. I put one of the weak 
calves in front of me on my cow pony and kept on driving the herd.
     "In my younger days, many of the Indians worked against me, saying I was the only 
one foolishly riding a horse for nothing, but I paid no attention to this. I did not drink nor 
loaf around like so many boys who spent all their time riding around after girls.
     "After I resigned from my job, I worked at different ranches doing a variety of jobs. I 
helped ranchers on trail drives, drove the grub wagon and stood guard during 
thunderstorms.
     "I slept wherever I found myself when night fell, with my saddle as my pillow, my 
raincoat as my cover and slept with my boots and spurs on, ready for anything that might 
happen during the night.''
     Thus ends the saga of James Eagle Chasing. Eagle Chasing recently gave his 
saddle, bed roll, and riding gear to a friend, Robert Kinning, who in turn took it to the 
Cultural Center to be displayed.
     At the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Fair and Rodeo over Labor Day, 1977, James 
was honored by having the rodeo dedicated to him. Tribal Chairman Wayne 
Ducheneaux presented James with a belt buckle during the rodeo. Bronco Jim was 
astride a horse to receive the buckle.
     James moved into the Eagle Butte Manor in January of 1981, because his heart 
pacer needed attention.
     James Eagle Chasing passed away in June of 1981.

SAM EAGLE CHASING
     Eagle Chasing Bottom, located west of Cherry Creek Station, is named for Joseph 
Eagle Chasing. He worked as a scout for the U.S. Army. He lived on this bottom when 
he settled on the reservation. His sons were Dan Eagle Chasing and Sam Eagle 
Chasing.
     Sam Eagle Chasing married Sarah Blue Eyes, the daughter of Red Fox and 
Skaskawia. They had a son Narcisse who married Grace Lillibridge and their children 
are Virginia White Feather and LaVerne Straight Head. Grace died and later Narcisse 
married Berneice Condon. Their sons are Pat and Ronnie Eagle Chasing.
     Narcisse served in the European Theatre during World War II. He died June 11, 1947 
and is buried in the Episcopal cemetery at Cherry Creek.

LEVI and LORETTA EATON
     Levi Eaton was born September 4, 1891 at Kimball, Minnesota. He was married to 
Loretta Bly on June 9, 1920 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
     They homesteaded north of Redelm and ranched until 1953 when they moved to 
Dupree.
     Loretta taught the Plainview School for the 1921-22 school term. She rode horseback 
25 miles north to the school each Monday morning and back again on Friday night. She 
was the highest paid rural teacher in the county that year, receiving $100.00 per month. 
She continued to teach, primarily in Ziebach County, for nearly a half-century.
     Levi was a World War I veteran and a member of the Masonic Lodge and the 
I.O.O.F. Lodge. He served for many years on the Redelm Township Board, the Farmers 
Elevator Board, and served as a District ASCS Committeeman.
     Their children are: Mrs. Rayford (Shirley) Horton, Mrs. Neal (Dorothy) Dow, Wesley 
and Robert.
     Levi passed away in March, 1970 and Loretta currently resides in Faith, South 
Dakota.

EDGAR EBERHARD FAMILY    by Mrs. Edgar Eberhard
     In 1916 Edgar Eberhard filed on a homestead in Ziebach County, twelve miles south 
of Thunder Butte. We were married in 1917 and he was drafted into the Army. He was 
discharged in 1918.
     We came from the Lane, Wessington Springs area and outside of one and a half 
years, when we went back to Lane to try farming there, we lived on the homestead until 
1935. We then moved to a farm seven miles south of Lantry, what is now the Billy McGill 
place. We lived there until 1946 when we moved to Dewey County to a ranch four miles 
north of Parade, South Dakota.
     We lived in a claim shack, in which our seven children were born. My husband had 
greyhounds for hunting and their home was under the shack, and some nights they kept 
us awake with their scratching and growling. Allan, our oldest child, was born in 1920 
and our youngest, Daryl, was born in 1933.
     In those first years on the homestead it was not unusual to have horse thieves and 
cattle thieves stop by to water their animals and rest a bit, and a few hours later the 
sheriff would ride up hard on their trail. Teenage kids were sometimes arrested for horse 
stealing, and one time a neighbor killed another with the slightest provocation.
     Though we had a Model T Ford, much of the time it was broke down so we had to 
take a team and wagon or go horseback to Redelm or Faith on our business trips.
     To the west our neighbors included the families of Bill Bockman and Ed Bockman, 
Joe Cahill and Ken Cahill, Joe Brackett, Distler, and the Junker schoolhouse. To the 
north were the family of Ted Butler and the Iron Lightning (Butler) schoolhouse. To the 
northwest were the families of Mel McGinnis, and the Cranes. To the east were the 
families of Robb, Warren Knipfer, George Griswold, and Grant Iron Lightning. To the 
south were Walter Ankrum, Frank and Garnet Smith, George Wagner and the Ole 
Boehrs families.
     Teachers in the schools included Mr. Hatch, Damon Matter, Lorene (Denton) Vance, 
Mrs. Lathrup, Mrs. Palmer, Marge Butler and Bob Browder.

[photo – Mr. and Mrs. Eberhard, Ardis, Allen, Daryl, Wayne, Rodney and Wanda]

[photo – Edgar Eberhard homestead shack, 1918]

EDDY FAMILY by John W. Eddy
     This is a story of a family and a horse. I will start back at the beginning. In the fall of 
1917 my brother, Ralph, and I came to South Dakota from Custer County, Nebraska, 
and filed on homesteads down in the breaks about twenty miles south of Lantry. Due to 
World War I, we didn't get back to stay until the first of April 1919. Also, my sister, 
Anabel, filed on a half-section adjoining. She now lives in California, which is a long way 
from here.
     When we came to the country we needed some saddle horses badly. We attended 
an auction sale, I think in the fall of 1921, and bought three head of horses: one little bay 
filly, one buckskin lineback filly and one little bay gelding we called Barney. We broke 
him and the buckskin and they both turned out to be real good cow ponies. All but one of 
the offspring of these two fillies went to slaughter in a hog pen a few miles south of Faith. 
They went along with my neighbor's horses -- Cad Holmes. Bay filly and all. It's too bad 
some of us old boys didn't find out in time. There could have been a small Ziebach 
County war out on the prairie.
     This sale was held by Mr. Lange, Harold Lange's dad, some two miles northwest of 
the Johnson Little Wounded place. Mr. Shelton was the auctioneer, he also ran the hotel 
in Dupree in the early days. We had to do some hard riding in those days as fences 
were few and far between. We tried to keep our stock inside Ziebach County but about 
the only fence near us was the old G.S. and Staple M ranches. They had two townships 
well fenced. Anderson and Ellison were the owners of the Staple M and Grant Smith was 
the owner of the G.S. Herman Lake of Spearfish was foreman of the G.S. when we 
came to the country. He is now retired and does nothing but fish for the wily trout of the 
Black Hills.
     Well, this little buckskin filly in the spring of  '24 produced a golden colored colt. He 
was a maverick as his sire was never known. We brought him to the headquarters at two 
years old and broke him to lead and gentled him to ride a little. At three we rode him 
quite often and he got real gentle. That fall of'27 my oldest daughter, Lorraine, rode him 
to the Sinkey School five miles northeast of the ranch. From then on he was ridden 
plenty. I personally rode him many thousand miles. As the family grew they all rode him. 
They nearly grew up on him.
     'Twas there they grew up one big happy family. I remember they were wild as deer, 
every time anyone drove into our yard they would skin for the creek and hide until the 
stranger or neighbor would leave. We hardly ever got sick as there were few neighbors 
to mix with and we wouldn't get exposed. Here the children learned to ride wild ponies. 
Then came along school. That was a problem I'I1 never forget. Some of our school 
meetings sounded like ladies aid. We wrestled along with that for many years.
     I remember a flash flood we had one June afternoon when old Cottonwood went on 
the rampage. I got Pedro from the corral, got the family mounted along with tarp and 
some quilts and moved to higher ground alongside a big hay stack. It was getting dusk 
so Laura and I bedded the kids down. The clouds moved away and the moon was out in 
full. This little horse would graze a while and then walk to the edge of the bed and look 
them over as tho he were counting to see if they were all there. He did this several times 
during the night. I believe he knew they were all there.
     From here we will move back a few years. In the spring of about 1910 there was a 
family migrated from Illinois to Custer County, Nebraska. They lived there on a farm for 
about 8 or 10 years. They were Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Zimmerman and family. In the spring 
of 1918 they sold but in Nebraska and moved to South Dakota. They bought a farm near 
Lantry. One of their daughters was Miss Laura Zimmerman. She was my girl friend in 
Nebraska. I came to Lantry after her in the fall of 1918 and we were married in the 
parsonage of Reverend G. E. Stayton at Dupree, South Dakota. On the first day of 
October 1918 we drove to the Black Hills and Deadwood for a few days. Then on home 
to our little farm home in Nebraska. In the spring of 1919 we had a farm sale and left for 
South Dakota to stay. Quite a change for us young people into the broad prairie country 
of South Dakota where there was nothing but prairie and sky. But we learned the ways 
of the prairie and we learned the ways of our neighbors, the Indians. And we got along 
very well. Laura was one of the greatest persons I ever knew. A great and wonderful 
wife and companion. We raised a family of eight and they grew up with the little golden 
horse.
     Pedro seemed to be as fond of them as they were of him. When we sold the ranch in 
Ziebach County and moved to the Black Hills in Spearfish Valley, we brought him along 
by truck. He always wanted to go back. Always wanted to go east. He seemed to know 
the direction he came from although he was trucked out. It was on the morning of August 
the 12th I found him under a willow tree. He had passed away. He had put in his time 
and helped raise a family. He had lived 36 years and three months. May his soul rest in 
peace. -1963.

CLARKE AND MARIE EDWARDS        by Marie Edwards
     Clarke was born in Lorimor, Iowa, April 9, 1900 and moved with his parents and 
family to Dupree, South Dakota in August 1916, living south of Dupree on a farm until 
1920. At this time they moved 10% miles northwest of Dupree to a homestead his father 
had filed on before his death in 1919.
     I was born April 22, 1904 in Hand County, South Dakota, when my parents Claude 
and Gertrude Maynard lived on a farm about 20 miles west of Orient, South Dakota. I 
went to a country school called the Jessen School for my 8 years of grade school. It was 
located about 3 1/2 miles northwest of Orient.
     On May 1, 1919 I came with my parents, 5 brothers and 3 sisters, to our new 
homestead 9 1/2 miles northwest of Dupree. We came on a train bringing immigrant cars 
with our stock and household belongings. On September 3, 1921, Claude Lawrence, my 
youngest brother, was born.
     The first fall we were here our neighbors asked me to go with them to a box social 
and dance at Fairview School south of Dupree, as they were taking their daughter a year 
older than I, and we had become very good friends. This is where I met Clarke for the 
first time. Little I thought of him ever becoming my husband at that time although he told 
me he was going to be my neighbor as they had land near ours.
     I attended Dupree High School for about 2 years. The fall of 1922 I stayed with my 
brother, Clair, while he was going to high school. I worked for Pat Quirk in his restaurant, 
waiting tables and baking pies, cookies and local sales. Pat was a wonderful person, 
always sending goodies home to Clair.
     Clarke worked for Pat at the same time I did. He helped prepare meals, washed 
dishes and baked bread. Alfred Pedersen, from south of town, an old hand at bread 
making, showed Pat how to get started in the business.
     In April of 1923, I had to leave my work at the restaurant and go home to help with 
the family as my mother was seriously ill with cancer. She had to go for major surgery in 
Aberdeen. A month later Clarke went to work at the garage for Mr. Bacon until the fall 
when Ed got a good job and Clarke returned to his home.
     After my mother's recovery, on November 21, 1923 Clarke and I went by team and 
wagon to Dupree 10 1/2 miles and were married by Reverend Owens, minister of the 
Congregational Church at this time.
     Our first winter we stayed with his mother and grandmother and on March 1 Clarke's 
mother had a stroke and I helped to care for her, with the aid of our good old faithful Dr. 
Creamer, until May 30, when we had to take her to Aberdeen to have a leg amputated 
and she never recovered, passing away on July 10, 1924.
     While I cared for her, she used to have me read her verses from the Bible and always 
told me just where to find them. So after the clouds were lifted, a little bit of sunshine 
appeared we were blessed with a son September 12, 1924, Ray C.
     I must tell of a little experience of farming the first year of our married life. Clarke was 
breaking a piece of sod with a team and single walking plow and Ed and I were to plant it 
to beans and watermelons. A neighbor had sent over a lot of watermelon seed, so Ed 
and I planted a big patch of northern white beans and planted and planted that 
watermelon seed! Finally Ed said, "What about throwing the rest under that rock pile in 
the middle of the patch?" I agreed as we were both hot and tired. Years after we would 
tell Clarke about it and have a good laugh.
     Our first years I used to set incubators and raise a lot of baby chicks, sold fryers, 
hens and eggs. They also made food for the table. My chicken coop was one dug in a 
bank, sodded at the east with windows, poles on the roof with straw and dirt on it. It was 
a warm coop and we couldn't afford to build one from lumber.
     Clarke worked as deputy assessor at times. He was assigned to different districts and 
would go on saddle horse with his books in a canvas bag I made for him, tied on behind 
the old army saddle. One time when he came home from south of Dupree he brought 
me a lot of garden seed an Indian lady (Mrs. Oscar Bridwell) had sent me. I really raised 
some wonderful vegetables from her home grown seed. On September 10, 1926 we 
were blessed with another son, Gaylord W. Grandma Kagey dearly loved the children, 
she used to call them her little boys. While the boys were small she took terribly ill, so 
once again with the aid of Dr. Creamer, we got along real well. Doctor said she had had 
a stroke and told us just how to care for her and in 2 weeks she recovered no speech 
defect or any problems. She always said she had her second eye sight as she could see 
so much better than before.
     The winter of 1928 we lived in town as Clarke was working at the Broberg Garage 
and Grandma Kagey stayed with Ed and Ruth for the winter. She became ill and we took 
Doctor out to check her. The boys- and I stayed to help care for her and when she saw 
the boys she said, "I don't think I'll ever walk to see my little boys again." She passed 
away March 1, 1929.
     In 1933 we sold most of our chickens and started raising turkeys instead. Buying feed 
and having to dress and ship them wasn't too much of a paying proposition. The coyotes 
were bad in the brakes and you couldn't let them get out of sight. In the thirties we rented 
a farm about 2 miles south of our homestead so we were closer for our boys to attend 
the Lone Tree School. They had one mile from this place (the former Lewis Taylor farm). 
These neighbors like many others had gone in search of better living places. We, like 
some, battled out the drought, dust storms, grasshoppers, and WPA days. When the 
grasshoppers were so bad they took everything, we drove our flock through the garden 
morning and evening and saved a lot of the garden.
     On July 6, 1937, God gifted us with a baby daughter, Shirley Marie -- that brought 
smiles to all the family.
     In 1942 our turkeys were bringing a little more profit and I bought a quarter of land 
from the state that had been Echelbarger land in early years. That same year we moved 
on it and Clarke worked during that summer and fall for E. J. Brammer at the Farmers 
Elevator and bought the quarter of land to the west so once again it made the distance 
to high school shorter for the boys and Shirley only had l 1/2 miles to Main School, which 
she attended her 8 grade years.
     The boys graduated from school in 1944. Gaylord left for the Navy to serve 2 years in 
the Pacific Theatre during World War II. Clarke served on the Selective Service Board 
for a few years during World War II.
     In 1951 Clarke accepted a position as working foreman of the State Highway 
Department which he held for nearly 15 years, retiring in 1965. He also served as 
Justice of the Peace here in Dupree for many years. We moved to town in 1951. Shirley 
graduated from high school in 1955. Although living in town, I still raised some turkeys 
on the farm until around 1960. I also cared for our small herd of cattle and did a lot of 
farm work. I took Adult Education classes for a few months and received my G.E.D. in 
October, 1968.
     Clarke's late years found him crippled with arthritis and he had to be on crutches. In 
November, 1973 we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary and our children were all 
able to be with us, along with many friends and relatives.
     On August l8, 1975 Clarke had a serious heart attack and recovered to be home a 
few weeks when he had a second attack October 18, 1975 and passed away at the 
Mobridge Hospital. Masonic services were held in the United Church of Christ in Dupree 
with burial in the Dupree Cemetery.
     I have belonged to the Lone Tree Extension Club for 52 years and have many 
pleasant memories, especially of our early years when we would get together for picnic 
dinners on the Fourth of July and special occasions, have card parties and dances at the 
school house or someone's home. In those early years we made our own entertainment. 
I have also been a member of the Royal Neighbor Lodge Camp 9911 for 52 years. The 
children are all grown and married, so at present I live alone but still go to the farm and 
put in my gardens.
     Ray married Dorothy Horton in 1945. They have 4 children living -- Harlan, Judy, 
Russel and Jean; one deceased -- infant Dorothy Raye. Ray and Dorothy live in 
Spearfish, South Dakota.
     Gaylord married Georgia Rae Roberts June 28, 1960 (She passed away September 
28, 1960). He married Clarice Berret September 10, 1975 and they have one son, 
Donnie Gay. They live in Dupree.
     Shirley married Gerald Schmautz, September 16, 1961 and they have 5 children, 
Duane, Dale, Scarlet, Timmy and Danny. They too live in Dupree.

[photo – Clarke and Marie Edwards 50th anniversary]

[photo – Clark Edwards family. Gaylord, Ray, Clarke, Marie and Shirley. Taken in 1945 
when Gaylord was home from Navy over furlough and Ray was married]

GEORGE H. and NETTIE C.   EDWARDS FAMILY   by Marie Edwards
     George H. Edwards and Nettie C. Kagey were married November 29, 1894 at Des 
Moines, Iowa. Nettie C. Kagey was the adopted daughter of Henry and Margaret Ann 
Kagey. Nettie's own parents were Joshua and Catherine Brubaker. George's parents 
were Francis Marion Edwards, Sr., and Lucretia (Gaylord) Edwards.
     George and Nettie had two children, both born while they lived in Lorimor, Iowa. 
Glare Marie (deceased 12-31-1898) was born August 9, 1897. Clarke was born April 9, 
1900 and passed away October 18, 1975. In 1905 they were blessed with one month old 
James Edward Edwards, added to their family (never adopted) to raise as their very 
own. He was the son of John and Sarah Edwards. The baby's mother had passed away 
when he was only one month old.
     After living in Iowa for some time, George had health problems and guess they 
thought climate would be better in North Dakota and therefore moved there and lived 
until 1916. They managed a butcher shop in Rolette, North Dakota for a few years. They 
lived in a log house in the Turtle Mountains, close to St. John. There they managed a 
trading post, worked with logs, selling and trading posts and cord wood and lumber. 
They also farmed and had livestock.
     Mother Edwards kept a diary and will quote some of the findings -- 'August 3, 1915 -- 
I had a stroke of paralysis on left side. Clarke came up from the field to get drink of water 
and found me lying out in yard and went for help. Dr. came every day for 8 or 9 days. 
N.G.' (meaning no good). She made a pretty fair recovery although her arm and hand 
was not completely all right.
     So many times in her diary she speaks of Papa not feeling good today. She always 
referred to George as Papa.
     Clarke and James (Ed) learned to do a mans work very early in life. Nettie speaks of 
them going fishing, hunting and trapping, so they had lots of sports too.
     When they returned to Iowa in 1916 and George went to see his old doctor, he was 
very much surprised to see him still alive and told him to get himself back out of Iowa 
and advised him to go to South Dakota. They dealt for a farm south of Dupree from a 
man whose name was Millard.
     Once again I quote from the diary 'Arrived in Dupree, August 3. Come out to place 
August 5th-Sat. P.M. Quite windy. Mrs. Karker came to hotel to meet us. Clarke and 
Papa brought freight out last night and unloaded it today.
     Nettie brought her mother, Margaret Ann Kagey, with them to live as Grandma Kagey 
had lost her husband, Henry, in 1912. Henry was laid to rest in the Woodland Cemetery, 
Des Moines, Iowa.
     In her diary Mother Edwards tells of each boy helping to work for neighbors, seemed 
like one would be getting home and one going, then back helping the father with work at 
home. Sometimes when they worked for neighbors the boys would be paid fifty-cents or 
a dollar for a days work. Then too, they did exchange work in harvest and threshing. 
Some of the neighbors Mrs. Edwards mentioned were -- Barrens, Spies, Karkers, 
Birkelands, Smocks, Marples, Weavers, Petersens, Griffiths, Zeals, Schetnans, 
Longbrakes, Gages, Bogues, Cottons, Christiansens, Solmonsons, Roy Fishes, Jake 
Macas and Runyons.
     (From Nettie's Diary)-- 'In 1918 during World War I, Clarke joined the Home Guards, 
escorted soldier boys to Depot.' This same year Clarke's father filed on a homestead 
about 10 miles northwest of Dupree.
     On March 2, 1919, George Edwards passed away. Reverend Stayton was the 
minister and because George was a Mason it was a Masonic service. The snow was so 
deep the only way they could get to the Dupree Cemetery was with a bobsled and had a 
hard time to make it then.
     In 1920, the boys moved with Mother and Grandmother to a claim shack about 2 1/2 
miles south of their homestead while they were building their own home. This claim had 
been the home of the Russel Smith family. They moved to their own home as soon as 
the boys got a house built.
     Nettie C. Edwards passed away July 10, 1924. She had taught school for many years 
before they moved to North Dakota. She was also a member of the Eastern Star. Nettie 
was buried in the Dupree Cemetery.
     Margaret Ann Kagey passed away March 1, 1929 at age 90 years, 5 months and 15 
days, burial was in the Dupree Cemetery.

[photo – George and Nettie Edwards and son Clarke]

 JAMES EDWARD (EDD) and RUTH (MAYNARD) EDWARDS by Ruth Edwards
     James Edward (Edd) Edwards was born near Lorimor, Iowa, March 9, 1905, 
youngest son of John Gaylord and Sarah Berry Edwards. His mother died before he was 
one month old and his Uncle George and Aunt Nettie Edwards took him to raise. They 
had one son, Clarke, 5 years old. They lived near Lorimor several years before moving 
to North Dakota. They lived in Rolette, North Dakota and ran a butcher shop. Later they 
moved to Rolla, then to a farm near St. Johns, North Dakota in the Turtle Mountain area 
on the Canadian border.
     While Edd was very young he learned to row a canoe across the lake to school which 
was only in session in early spring and late fall. He worked hard at trapping fur bearing 
animals, fishing and cutting timber for fuel and posts. They sold posts and cord wood.
     Because of George's and Nettie's health, (he had an arthritis complex and Nettie had 
a stroke in the fall of 1915) they moved to a farm south and east of Dupree in 1916. 
Nettie's widowed mother moved to South Dakota with them from Des Moines, Iowa.
     Edd graduated from the 8th grade at the Fairview School in 1920. Some of his 
classmates were -- the Birkelands, Smocks, Marples, Christiansen, Runyon, and 
Schetnan. Some teachers were -- Mrs. Sam Talbott, Alice Birkeland Vance and Cora 
Wince.
     George died in March 1919 and is buried in Dupree Cemetery. This left Clarke and 
Edd to support the mother and grandmother. George had filed on a claim 10 miles 
northwest of Dupree in 1918, so they moved into a vacant house on a homestead about 
1 1/2 miles south of their claim in the spring of 1920 and built a house with the help of 
neighbors and moved there early in the fall. Clarke and Edd took turns working away 
from home to make money to buy groceries and clothes. Edd plowed and planted crops, 
took care of livestock besides building fences and digging wells. He shocked grain and 
shucked corn for neighbors. In the fall he worked with Sofus Brams building roads with 
four horses and fresno. Some of the roads he helped build were Leedom Pike, 212, 65, 
and several county roads. No way was there time for a formal education but Edd was an 
avid reader and he educated himself in that way.
     Edd received a violin for his 13th birthday and learned to play it when he was quite 
young. In the fall and winter, home and school dances and programs were the 
entertainment for all. Edd, along with Clair and Lester Maynard, Albert Picker, and Bill 
Thomas with either Mrs. Louis Taylor, Ruth Maynard or Freda Gawenit on the organ 
chording would play for dances in the Lone Tree community.
     Nettie passed away in July, 1924 and is buried in Dupree Cemetery. In the spring of 
1928 Edd decided to rent a farm south of Redelm from William Nelson and strike out on 
his own. December 15, 1928 Edd married Ruth Maynard, daughter of Claude and 
Gertrude Maynard. She was born November 28, 1910 near Orient, South Dakota in 
Faulk County and moved with her parents to a homestead 9% miles northwest of 
Dupree in 1919. They moved back to the Lone Tree community. Edd lived on the 
Edwards homestead and took care of livestock and farmed that summer. In the fall he 
was working away from home and we moved to the Foreman farm 2 1/2 miles north of 
Dupree.
     September 22, 1929, Patience Delores was born on the Foreman place. Doctor 
Creamer came to the home to deliver her.
     Edd built roads that fall with Albert Picker, George Pesicka and Sofus Brams. They 
worked until the ground was frozen too hard to plow and move with the fresno. Later that 
winter Edd worked for Pete Askins in the livery stable.
     In the spring of 1930 we moved back to the Nelson farm south of Redelm. The 
depression and drought the next two years made us decide to look elsewhere for work. 
We packed a few belongings into the back of our Model T coupe and headed for Iowa. 
Edd had picked corn and worked on a dairy farm in the winter of 1926 and 1927, so he 
headed for his father's and brother's place. He picked corn all winter and I helped to do 
the housework for the family. Because I became homesick, Edd decided to bring me 
back to South Dakota. In May 1932, we packed the Model T coupe again and with $30 in 
our pocket headed home. We spent one afternoon fixing a flat tire near St. Lawrence, 
South Dakota. Every time we got it fixed and started it would go down again. Finally we 
found a rivet in the spoke of the wheel was sticking through and cutting the tube. Nearly 
sundown found us heading west but nearly midnight found us too tired to travel any 
further. Near Agar we asked a farmer to let us sleep in the driveway of his double corn 
crib. We rolled out our feather tick and blankets and slept on the cement floor. We 
arrived in Dupree the next day.
     Leonard Dean was born July 17, 1932. We were staying with my parents and Doctor 
Creamer came there to deliver him.
     During the winter of 1932, Patience (Patty) became ill with scarlet fever and we 
moved to the Foreman farm again. We were quarantined for over six weeks. No one 
could come and we could not go anywhere. Ed could go off to work but not where there 
were any children.
     The spring of 1933 found us back in the farming business again. Crops looked fine 
and it was nearly harvest time when one day the grasshoppers drifted in. They cut the 
wheat heads off -- cleaned the barley and stripped the corn until only a slim stalk 
showed. The hoppers were on the sides of the building until you could not see the 
boards, on the fence post and made them look twice as large around. They came into 
the house and chewed holes in the curtains and clothes.
     Edd and a friend put up some hay together. He worked building the Bednar Dam and 
Highway 212 until he got a few dollars, sold the hay and packed everything we could in 
the Model T coupe and took off for Iowa on Thanksgiving with our two small children.
     We saved money enough to buy two cows and calves. We put in for a government 
farm loan in 1936 and we had to rent a farm before we could get the loan. We had to 
have the stock and machinery before we could rent a farm. We went along with a 
brother-in-law, rented an 80 acre farm. We got the loan for $795. We bought four work 
horses, seven milk cows, five brood sows, and 20 western sheep besides a few pieces 
of machinery to farm with. We lived on several farms in Union and Madison counties.
     Our second son, James Jr., was born June 10, 1937, only one-fourth mile from where 
his father was born.
     November 14, 1940 another son, Wayne, joined our family. Things were going pretty 
good financially but Edd's health began to fail. He had arthritis and because of the cold 
damp weather, he had pneumonia during winter and spring. In 1943 we had to make a 
choice. We would get a government loan and buy a farm but was Edd's health going to 
stand the strain? In December, we decided to buy land in South Dakota. We bought 320 
acres of Rural Credit land, 51/2 miles northwest of Dupree. The land had belonged to 
the Picker Brothers. During the 30's the buildings and fences had been sold. The only 
thing was the well -- without a pump.
     We had a farm sale and only brought canned goods, cured meat and furniture. We 
arrived January 25th and a blizzard hit the 27th. The roads to the farm were blocked and 
we never got out there until May. We lived in Dupree as Patty, Leonard and Jim were in 
school. We bought a house from George Ulrich of Faith and had it moved by Reede and 
Delker. We bought another 320 acres that fall. The next spring we bought 15 cows and 
calves. We built a barn in the hill side. Each year we would work up and plant a few 
more acres. I raised chickens and dressed and sold them in Dupree, raised a big garden 
and canned a lot for winter. Anything to help make a living. My motto has always been "If 
you can't make a living, live on what you make!"
     May 19, 1950 another son joined our family. Lloyd Marion was born in the Creamer 
Community Hospital. Doctor Creamer had retired in 1949 and Doctor White had only 
been here a couple months.
     In 1952 we moved from our ranch to the Holmes farm just east of Dupree so our boys 
could be closer to school. We lived there until 1960 when Edd's health was failing. We 
moved into Dupree and I babysat for three years for the coach and his wife, Wilbur and 
Rosemaye Steward. In 1962 we purchased the Lightfield house (Barnes). I still live 
there.
     Edd passed away Apri125, 1967 after several years of ill health. He is buried in the 
Dupree Cemetery.
     After working three years baby sitting, I worked four years at the Dupree school lunch 
program. In the fall of 1967 I became employed by the Head Start Program as an aide. I 
had the privilege to further my education and received my high school certification 
August 1968, the same year my youngest son graduated from Dupree High School and 
40 years after I left high school. I taught Adult Education at the Dupree High School two 
nights each week for three years along with my Head Start aide job. I took college 
courses in early childhood education by correspondence and extension from Black Hills 
State College. I advanced to teacher in 1970 and retired in 1973. I enjoy my retirement 
doing many hobbies, quilt making, quilting, sewing, crocheting, ceramics, gardening, 
caring for my home and yard. I still find time to do volunteer work for my church and 
Dupree Nutrition Center. I enjoy my 20 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
     Patty and Leo Bakeberg have 10 children: August, Ruth, Debra, Leo Jr., Donald, 
Mary Jo, Alan, John, Todd and Shelly. Pat and Leo live in Spearfish, South Dakota.
     Leonard and Velda live in Spearfish, South Dakota. Leonard is employed by Black 
Hills State College. They have three children: Laura, Rodney and Marla.
     Jim and JoAnn have three children: Kevin, Deni and Lisa. They live in Montana.
     Wayne lives in Kalispell, Montana -- he is part owner in a trucking company and an 
auctioneer.
     Lloyd and Carla live in Billings, Montana. He is employed by Keebler Cookie 
Company. They have four children: Tracy, Troy, Chris and Brian.
 Patty, Leonard, Jim, Wayne and Lloyd all are graduates of Dupree High School.
     Life has been good to me. I had a wonderful husband and family and enjoy good 
health. There have been many good things happened in my life. Highlights were in 1970 
when I was selected "Grand Lady" of Ziebach County Extension Clubs. In 19801 was 
awarded the "Citizen of the Year" award from the Dupree Community Club.

[photo – Ruth, Edd, Wayne, Leonard, Pat, Lloyd and Jim, 1965]

[photo – Ed and Ruth Edwards, 1928]

[photo – Ronnie Stout, Edd Edwards and Leonard Birkeland provided “Country Music” at 
Dupree’s Golden Jubilee celebration, 1960]

CHARLEY J. ELIASON by Mrs. Lennie (Selma) Eliason
     Mr. and Mrs. C. J. Eliason were among the early settlers. They arrived at Isabel, 
South Dakota May 3, 1911.
     Mrs. and Mrs. Eliason both came from Stockholm, Sweden. They were married at 
Underwood, Minnesota.
     Mr. Eliason came to Isabel to file on a claim in 1910. He returned to Minnesota to 
bring his family to Isabel the following spring. Their homestead was located 9 miles 
northwest of Isabel in Ziebach County.
     They had four boys and one daughter.
     Hilmer, Albin, Alma (Mrs. Slim Mullen), Gothard "Fat" and Lennie. They farmed and 
raised livestock for a living.
     The mode of travel in the pioneer days was either horseback or team and wagon.
     The Eliason place was considered a "HalfWay" place. Many who lived farther from 
Isabel would stop at Eliason's on their way to and from town and spend the night. The 
welcome mat was always out. Many a night there was hardly room for one more in a bed 
or on the floor, but if one more came, he was welcome.
     Many a time the furniture was pushed back or carried out of doors to make room for 
dancers. Hilmer played the violin and Alma played the guitar.
     The cowboys who rode the range often came by to "swap" stories, enjoy Mrs. 
Eliason's good cooking and spend the night.
     Mr. and Mrs. Eliason both worked for Jim and Nan Tidball. About 1920 they 
purchased an additional homestead on Irish Creek about 18 miles southwest of Isabel, 
in Ziebach County. Here they made their home until Mr. Eliason passed away July 3, 
1932. Mrs. Eliason then made her home with Gothard of Lantry and Lennie of Isabel. 
She passed away in March of 1935.

LENNIE ELIASON  by Selma Eliason
     Lennie was born at Tordensjeld, Minnesota on December 28, 1908. He came with his 
parents by immigrant train to Isabel. An interesting fact, both Lennie and I arrived on the 
same immigrant train May 3, 1911. I was born in Underwood, Minnesota and came from 
near Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
     Lennie got his education in the small country schools. Two of his teachers were Mr. 
Mitchell and Ernest Reber at Eliason.
     After the Eliason family moved down on Irish Creek he had Mrs. Ray Pinnell and Art 
Koch as his teachers at Grondahl School.
     The closest high school was eighteen miles away at Isabel, so he did not attend. 
Anyway, he was more interested in "Breaking Broncs" and riding in rodeos!
     Lennie and I were married July 16, 1930. We have one daughter, Mrs. Bierwith of 
Castie Rock, Colorado; a son Earl of San Jose, California; and a son Leon of Buffalo, 
Minnesota.
     In 1941 we moved to Richmond, California where we both worked for Henry Kaiser in 
the shipyards as welders. This was during World War II.
     We moved from El Cerrito, California in October 1946 to Rapid City, South Dakota. 
We were members of Trinity Lutheran Church. Lennie was engaged in construction 
work. He built many homes in Rapid City over a period of years. We left Rapid City in the 
fall of 1969 and moved to Buffalo, Minnesota.
     We moved to Spearfish, South Dakota in the summer of 1970. Lennie passed away 
in February of 1978.

FRED G. ENGLAND FAMILY       by Ken England
     My parents homesteaded in Ziebach County six or seven miles north of the Moreau 
River and about a mile south of Red Earth Creek in 1911.
     My father, Fred G. England, was born in Ohio in 1872. His father, Joseph England, of 
German descent, was a freighter for the Union Army during the Civil War. He moved his 
family to Missouri in about 1880, where my father grew up.
     My mother, Frances (Fannie) Hasten, was born near Springfield, Missouri. Her father, 
Jeremiah (Jerry) Hasten, of Irish and Cherokee descent, was a freighter for the 
Confederate Army.
     After the death of his first wife (my grandmother), Grandfather Hasten moved the 
youngest and as yet unmarried children with him to St. Joseph, Missouri where he and 
his sons were employed in the Hammond (later Armour) meat packing company. My 
father was also employed at Hammond's as what was then known as a stationary 
engineer, being responsible for the refrigerating equipment.
     My parents were married in St. Joseph in 1908. My brother and I were born in St. 
Joseph.
     In an explosion in the plant, my father received a head injury which left him unable to 
work there any longer.
     In 1911, my father moved his family to South Dakota. Although a house had been 
built on the claim, my father worked as a janitor at the Isabel School to earn enough 
money to purchase a small herd of cattle to get started in the ranching business.
     We moved to the farm in about 1914. The first one room house was added to and the 
whole structure was sodded up to the eaves to protect us from the bitter cold. We used 
lignite coal, mined locally, for heating and cooking. We had no electricity, our water 
came from a well dug with a drop-auger machine.
     My brother and I attended the Wilson School, usually riding horses so that we could 
tend livestock before and after school. For a year or so Arthur and Wesley Boldt and the 
two of us were the only pupils. My parents usually bearded the teacher. My father served 
on the district school board for several years.
     I graduated from Isabel High School in 1926 and attended a vocational school in 
Aberdeen where I began to learn the welding trade. I later attended the University of 
Texas at Austin and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
     My brother, Olan, died in 1933 and is buried in Isabel Cemetery. That same year my 
parents came to Texas to live with me. They are both buried in Roselawn Cemetery in 
San Antonio.
     I remember something of the flu epidemic during World War I, in particular, a man 
and wife by the name of Babb, they were at our house one Sunday afternoon, the 
following Sunday afternoon they were buried.
     I remember the severity of the winters, in particular one March, for a day or so a 
gentle chinook had warmed the country and most of the snow was melted, the 
thermometer stood at 70 degrees in the afternoon, by the following afternoon we were in 
the grip of a howling blizzard and the thermometer had fallen to 30 below zero, a drop of 
100 degrees in twenty-four hours.
     I remember the Sioux Indians traveling from Thunder Butte Station to Isabel and 
home again, they would camp at our place because of the abundance of good water 
from our well.
     Because our place was on a fairly well traveled trail, on stormy nights my mother 
would always see that a kerosene lantern was hung on a high pole as a guide to 
travelers. There was always room at our table and a place to sleep at night for those 
who could not make it home.
     I remember (Dad) Whitehead, who with his son, Joe, had a livery stable in Isabel. 
Dad died in the saddle while trailing a herd of cattle.
     My wife, the former Elsa Alberti, and I are retired from teaching school, although we 
stay active in church and civic affairs. She works part time as a volunteer in a nearby 
nursing home. I am an associate pastor of the Pond Springs Baptist Church with a 
ministry to older adults.
     We have two children: Joe is a research scientist at the University and Ruth is a 
teacher at Georgetown. Each of them has two children.

MERMAN EULBERG FAMILY       by Rollin Euberg
     Herman Eulberg came to South Dakota to homestead in Ziebach County in 1910. He 
was born at Alton, Iowa, December 24, 1887. He homesteaded NE 1/4 13-13-21 and 
built a house and barn at the age of 23. He planted a cottonwood tree for shade. The 
tree is still there although all else is gone. In 1911 he went back to Iowa to marry Anna 
(Victoria) Heying, August 22, 1911. She was born at Hospers, Iowa, December 19, 
1891. Their first son Albion was born August 12, 1914 at Hospers, Iowa. Virgil was born 
at Dupree February 14, 1917 and died March 12, 1917 of pneumonia. Cora was born 
July 18, 1918. They then sold the homestead and bought three quarters on which they 
built a home on the SW 1/4 of 15-13-21.
     In 1922 they built a new frame house, which still stands. The foundation is of native 
sandstone. A stonecutter by the name of Matt Stephenson cut the stones to fit. 
Neighbors helped build the house. One day pranksters put Matts' saddle on his horse 
backwards Matt got on the horse backwards and rode home.
     Rollin was born December 7, 1922 and the youngest son James was born March 11, 
1927. Albion now lives at Worland, Wyoming. Cora (Dosch) lives on a farm south of 
Dupree. Rollin lives in Dupree and James lives in St. Louis, Missouri. All of the children 
went to the Cloverleaf rural school and the Dupree High School.
     Herman, A. G. Davis, Al Martin and Fred Beguhl saw a need in this new farming 
community so they bought a threshing rig. This I believe was in 1912. It was a J. I. Case 
machine that was powered by a single cylinder Mogul stationary engine. They moved 
both the threshing machine and the engine with 4 horse teams. The first year of 
operation they finished thrashing near Cherry Creek the day before Christmas. The next 
year they equipped the threshing machine with a feeder and straw blower. This saved a 
lot of hard labor, as before they had to feed the bundles of grain by hand and stack the 
straw behind the machine with pitchforks. After about four years the other partners sold 
their share to Fred Beguhl. Although the old Mogul was retired after better power was 
obtained, the threshing machine was to continue threshing Herman's grain until 1942. In 
1943 he and his son Rollin bought a No. 5 John Deere combine. This shortened the 
harvest season considerably. It also discontinued all the fun we had following the 
threshing run.
     Herman's mode of travel was for many years by horse and buggy. The horse most 
remembered was an old gray mare named Grady. Grady hauled the Eulberg kids to 
school for many years. In 1928 Herman bought his first car, a new Model A Ford, the 
first one in Ziebach County. He drove this auto for 22 years. About the only problem he 
had with the car was -- It wouldn't stop when he hollered WHOA!
     During the 30's Herman was county supervisor for WPA and CWA. Those projects 
built a good number of dams that turned out to be our favorite fishing holes. Later, in '37-
'38 and '39 he worked in a grain elevator in Clyde, Oklahoma to help make ends meet. 
Then the dry years were over and the farm produced enough income that he was able to 
stay home and operate it until he retired in 1959. He then rented the farm to his son, 
Rollin. He and his wife lived on the farm until 1969, when he entered the hospital where 
he (Herman) remained for nearly five years. In 1973 his wife of 62 years entered the 
same hospital, where she passed away October 12, 1973. Herman passed away August 
17, 1974. He and his wife are buried side by side in the Dupree Cemetery.

MERMAN and VICTORIA EULBERG        BY Albion Eulberg
     My parents, Herman and Victoria Eulberg, homesteaded about eight miles northeast 
of Dupree. I think Dad signed up for his homestead sometime in 1910.
     The first time Dad came to Ziebach County, he went by train from Alton, Iowa to 
LeBeau. He traveled the rest of the way by horse and buggy.
     Dad was born in Alton. Mother was also born in western Iowa, in the late 1800's.
     My grandparents were from eastern Iowa. Mother's parents visited us in Ziebach 
County.
     The lumber for the folks' claim shack was hauled from Isabel by lumber wagon. As I 
remember it was a three-room house, heated by a coal stove and a 'Royal West' kitchen 
stove. I well remember the name because one time when I was taking a bath in the old 
washtub, I accidently backed into the stove and fully expected to go through life with the 
words 'Royal West' branded on my backside.
     I spent eight years in the old Cloverleaf School. As soon as I was able, we drove a 
horse and buggy to school. The old grey horse "Grady" logged a good many miles 
during the time we went to school. When I went to high school in the old wooden two 
story school, I rode a horse night and morning for the last three years. I have often 
wondered what has happened to my classmates in the Class of '33.

ALBION EULBERG
     I married Mavan Bonde, from near Aberdeen, South Dakota, in Whittler, California, 
while I was in the service during World War II. We now live in Worland, Wyoming. Our 
family of four is scattered across the western part of the U.S. Marny is a doctor in 
Denver. Bonde, the oldest boy, is a forest ranger near Flagstaff, Arizona. Vicky lives 
here in Worland where her husband is an electrician and James, the youngest, is in the 
service at Ft. Huchuca, Arizona.

ROLLIN EULBERG FAMILY      by Rollin Eulberg
     I came to this county December 7, 1922. I believe this is a very healthy place to live. 
When I came here I was so weak I could not walk or feed myself. I weighed less than 8 
pounds. Now 58 years later I weigh over 200. I don't remember too much of the first 
years, but in 1928 I started the first of eight ,years schooling at Cloverleaf grade school. 
In 1936 I started to Dupree High. I went until November then terminated formal 
education. The next three years I worked in Oklahoma during harvest, plowing and 
seeding winter wheat. In 1940 I worked in Rapid City for a transfer company, then came 
back to Ziebach County and worked for the Tri County SCS, and started to farm on my 
own. In 1944 I got an invitation from Uncle Sam. Two years later I came back and 
started farming again. I also learned to fly and operated a flying service for 23 years.
     A couple of memorable years in that business were 1949 and 1952. I should have 
kept a diary of those years, it would be interesting now. I was flying from Newell to 
Dupree January 17, 1949 when I spotted a SOS in the snow. The man seemed pretty 
excited so I landed and he wanted to go to Faith. He said he was a mail carrier and had 
got stuck in a snow bank. When we flew over his car, all we could see was the top. I 
guess he was stuck. Reading the Faith Independent 30 years later I found out the man's 
name was Ed Kavorik.
     One day I took a man down to Cherry Creek, there was a pretty bad ground blizzard. 
On the way back to Dupree I spotted something near the Cherry Creek trail. It turned out 
to be a couple of young fellows that were walking home. I think they were glad to see 
me, although I did have a little trouble finding them after I landed.
     I hauled everything in those machines those years that could be put in or tied onto, 
from cow cake to calves, kerosene (no REA then), food, tobacco, mail and even 
somebody to go over to visit the neighbor. In 1949 I worked for Western Farm 
Management part time. Oscar Markwed and I flew almost every day to one of their cattle 
camps. It was the only way that some camps could be reached.
     One day I took mail and some groceries out to Selmar Anderson, but I was in a hurry, 
so just dropped them in front of his house. The sack landed in a tree -- I guess he almost 
chopped the tree down before he got the sack.
     The thing that amazed the old timers the most about an airplane is that it only took 
five or ten minutes to go as far as a horse could go in a hard day of riding.
     In 1955 I bought a place owned by Charlie Leach. The homestead was Chauncy 
Johnson's claim. The claim shack still stands on the place. It was the first frame building 
built in Ziebach County. Chauncy moved it from its original site to where it is now, with a 
couple of issue wagons and two 4 horse teams.
     Frances Marple was born March 22, 1938 at her parents home (William Marple and 
Florence O'Donnel Marple)8 miles southwest of Dupree. She attended 8 years grade 
school at the Whittler School and 4 years high school at Dupree, graduating in 1956. 
She was employed at the Ziebach County ASCS office in Dupree from 1956 until April 
1961. On April 29, 1961 she became Mrs. Rollin Eulberg. After a 3% week honeymoon 
to the west coast, we made our home on the ranch 121/2 miles northeast of Dupree. In 
1972, we moved into Dupree and now live in a house formerly owned by Joe and Lorna 
Heimer.
     We have 8 children. Mary the oldest was born June 3, 1962. She is now attending 
North Dakota University, majoring in Aeronautical Sciences. R. Dean was born 
December 30, 1963 and is now a senior at Dupree High. Robert was born January 20, 
1965 and is a junior at Dupree High. John was born January 28, 1966 and is a 
sophomore at Dupree. Jeanine was born September 8, 1967 and is a freshman at 
Dupree High; Jeffrey was born May 1, 1969 and is in the 7th grade; Susan was born 
August 19, 1970 and is in the 6th grade; Diane was born January 7, 1972 and is in the 
4th grade.