Text of Ziebach Co., SD History (1982) - pages 459 - 478 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 , final editing by Joy Fisher, . THE JOHN LEMKE FAMILY HISTORY by Mercedes Lemke I was born about 18 miles south of Glen Ullin, North Dakota in Morton County south of the Heart River, February 6, 1913. I was the oldest child of Maurice and Mary (Yusko) Tracy. My next sister Mrs. Alvin (Rose) Griffith was also born at the same location. When we were quite young, our parents pulled stakes and left their North Dakota homestead moving south to Coal Springs, South Dakota. Another sister Mrs. Alvin (Josephine) Denton and brother Major Thomas T. Tracy (de ceased) joined the family. Later our parents acquired some land closer to Faith, South Dakota where they hoped to build a new home and send us to school. Our father was graduated from an engineering school and expected to work on the railroad. It wasn't in the cards however, for both he and our mother contracted the flu in 1918 and both, along with an infant son, passed away just before Christmas. They were the first buried in the Catholic Cemetery at Faith, South Dakota. Our maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. George Yusko, took us into their home which already had six members at home, making ten of us in all. My grandmother was the only mother my youngest sister and brother ever knew. I received my formal education in Soliday and Rosene schools in Ziebach County, my high school education in Lemmon, and one year and summer sessions at Northern State Teachers College. John was born the youngest member of Mr. and Mrs. William Lemke (our closest neighbor) March 8, 1915. It was a cold winter with snow above the fence lines, so even with the help of neighbors, it was very difficult for the family doctor, Frank H. Creamer of Dupree, to make his way to the Lemke home in time to save Mrs. Lemke's life after complications of childbirth. But the miracle was performed. Other members of the Lemke family are Mrs. Lurinda Perkins, Mrs. Harold (Virena) Rasmussen (deceased), Mrs. Carmine Albert and an only brother Orville. John also attended Soliday School his first two years. His parents and family moved back to Wisconsin where he attended one year at Wausau and one year at Abbotsford. They then moved to Minneapolis where they lived two years. From there his family moved to Santa Clara, California where he completed his 7th grade. The following year the family, just with the two brothers now, moved back to their original homestead in Ziebach County, which they had rented out while they were gone. John completed his 8th grade at Soliday School. He started high school at Eagle Butte. Due to many complications and hardships in those days he decided against completing high school and remained at home where his parents needed him. When work was slack at home he obtained many outside jobs besides breaking horses, and playing for dances and parties. We started dating after my first year of teaching and intermittently over a few years, during which time we each traveled out the eastern and southern United States and Canada. The SDEA convention was being held in Hot Springs, so we asked John's sister and brother-in- law, Mr. and Mrs. Lou Perkins to be our witnesses at our wedding. We left early the next morning for Newcastle, Wyoming where we had a civil wedding October 23, 1941. We chose Wyoming mainly because they did not require blood tests which took time. We made it back to Hot Springs in time for dinner and the first session of the convention. We didn't have fancy weddings in those days, we were happy to be able to pay the officials and buy the necessary items to set up housekeeping. The first few months we rented and lived on Howard McDaniel's ranch. I kept on teaching school, while John ranched and broke horses. In February of 1942 we bought a house from the Olson family at Lantry and moved it near John's parents home as John's father was in poor health and needed help. John farmed and milked cows and I helped during the summer months while school was not in session. There were anxieties during the war years, we didn't know from day to day if John would be drafted or not, until they decided they needed the farm boys more at home. Maurice was born May 6, 1945 at St. Mary's Hospital in Pierre. In January 1946 we purchased the Ed McGill farm and moved there that following June. A good crop of barley helped us to pay the balance of the transaction that fall. The first part of October of that year John's father William Lemke passed away from a stroke. On July 28, 1947 John D. joined the family, then Alice on Mother's Day, May 1949. Jim was born the following year on September 16. He was two weeks old when we lost our Grandmother Yusko with a heart attack. As time went on we enlarged the acreage of our farming and ranching operation. Until the boys were big enough to help us we had hired help. In the fall of 1952 John's mother came to live with us. That year we got REA, and the Lantry Telephone Company was organized, which was quite an asset. On June 26, 1954 our youngest son Clayton was born. The older children were delighted with a new baby, including the neighbor children. In February of 1959 Grandma Lemke passed away at 85 years of age. We missed her very much. Our children received most of their elementary education at Soliday school. Maurice went his first year at Lantry and Clayton the last four years at Dupree. They all graduated from Dupree high school except Clayton who completed his last two years at Eagle Butte. Maurice and John D. were graduated from SDSU at Brookings. Alice completed an IBM course in Kansas City, Missouri and one year at Northern State College. Jim went one year at Black Hills State and completed an IBM course at Sioux City, Iowa. Clayton decided against attending college. John D. enlisted in the Headquarters Battery of the 147th Field Artillery group of the South Dakota National Guard at Pierre. He took his basic and advanced training at Fort Ord, California in the spring and summer of 1970. All of the family is now married. Maurice married Jeri Burgee July 26, 1969. They have one son Kiel, 6 years old. John D. married Judy Marx on June 26, 1971. They have three children: Duane, 9 years; Martin, 6 years and Brandon Jon, 4 years. Alice married Carl Olson August 24, 1968 and has a daughter and son: Shawn Marie, 12 years and Travis, 9 years. Jim married Charlanne Rogers on June 24, 1972. They now live at Biddle, Montana. Clayton married Betty Johnson January 26, 1974. They have three girls: Randi, 5 years; Robyn, 3 years and Misti, age one. The late 70s were unkind to us, as John found he had a kidney disorder; so we sold our farm-ranch to Maurice, John D. and Clayton. In 1977 I discovered I had a malignancy and had a mastectomy, followed with a month of radiation treatment in August at Rapid City, South Dakota. In early December I fell and broke my hip and had surgery again to insert a pin. In May of 1978 John had to resort to hemodialysis, until last August when he was fortunate to get a kidney transplant. He is now feeling better than he has in the past ten years. After her separation from her husband, Alice is in her last year at SDSU, and hopes to complete her MBA next year. We just celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary and it was a great day for us. We have much to be happy for. Over the years John served on the district and county ASC committees as well as the FHA county board he also served on the Board of Directors of the Dupree Co-op Oil Company for 7 years. After teaching school, I served approximately twelve years on our district school board and on the County Board of Education of Ziebach County for 17 years. We both worked with 4-H leaders and project leaders while our children were members. (Mercedes passed away September 22, 1982.) [photo - John and Mercedes Lemke Our wedding day, October 23, 1941] [photo - Our first rented home. The Howard McDaniel homestead. South of Lantry] [photo - Our first home we owned. Bought from Olsons and moved near John's parents home] [photo - Taken on our fortieth wedding anniversary in 1981. Our family Maurice, John D., Alice, Jim and Clayton] [photo - John and Mercedes Lemke taken on their fortieth wedding anniversary. 1981] WILLIAM LEMKE written by Lurinda Perkins My parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Lemke and their four children, Lurinda, Virena, Orville and Carmine were residents of Wausau, Wisconsin. My father was employed in a sash and door factory. Having taken a trip to some of the western states earlier, he could never forget South Dakota with its vast barren prairies, wide open spaces with no trees, and where crops were raised and harvested without having to clear the land of trees and stumps, which he had been accustomed to doing on his father's acreage. One day in the fall of 1910 the inevitable happened. He became excited over the news that at Aberdeen, South Dakota one might register for a homestead. He heard that literature was being handed out at railroad stations advertising this new land. At once he secured a pamphlet from the Chicago Northwestern Railroad in Wausau. His foreman gave his consent to a leave for a few days that he might register for 160 acres or a quarter as it was commonly called. His neighbor, Mr. Klade, decided to go also. After registering and receiving a number, both men returned to Wausau to await the outcome. Within a few weeks Mr. Klade received notice by mail that he had drawn a lucky number. My father, however, was not this lucky. Mr. Klade and his family made plans to leave for South Dakota. His homestead, which became a part of my brother John's spread, was south of Lantry about a mile and a half. Finally my father received word from his friend that there was some vacant land near his homestead which could be purchased. He decided to leave for South Dakota again. Upon arriving at Eagle Butte, he was given instructions to follow the "Old Wagon Trail" or Indian Trail and he would arrive at the McDaniel home. They would direct him to the Klade home which was about twelve miles from Eagle Butte. My father started walking. It seemed to him that the farther he walked, the fainter the trail became in the tall buffalo grass. He decided to return to Eagle Butte, but as he looked around, he saw that someone was following him. This man finally caught up to him and explained that he was a "walking preacher," and that he knew the country well. Together they walked until they arrived at the McDaniel home and later the Klade home. This quarter section of land was located by a neighbor whose name was Ben Jones. Since it was close to his friend's home, my father decided to buy it. He was then taken to the town of Dupree where the necessary down payment was made. He paid $2.50 an acre for it. On March 11, 1911, my mother and we four children left Wausau by train while my father left with an immigrant train and the necessary lumber and livestock and a few possessions. In a short time our frame tar-papered roof, sod siding "shack" was completed. My father started to break his new soil, after going to Dupree with two of the horses he brought from Wisconsin to buy a walking plow for himself. Another requirement of a homesteader was to build a fence around his quarter of land before "proving up". It was also necessary as a protection for his new grain fields and his few head of cattle. Buying posts and wire was a big item, so the new homesteaders found a way out by venturing with their lumber wagons down to the breaks to pick up broken-down ash trees. Most of the homes were of one room construction and represented what the government required to prove up on a claim. After years of continuous drought and destruction by hail and tornadoes, no farmer could afford the luxury of a new home. These "shacks" or homes became the pride and joy of all the pioneers. They became a common meeting place for social gatherings and a place where Indians and whites came together to do their bartering and exchanges. The only amusement they had was that which they made for themselves. They sometimes gathered for dances, often going miles in a wagon, taking the entire family and staying all night. It was here the latest news was heard, plans for protection were made, letters passed to friends to be mailed, and a discussion as to where the next dance would be held. These dances were something to look forward to for many weeks and discussed for weeks later. My folks were proud of their two-story home built with the lumber they brought from my grandfather's wooded acreage. A nicer home would never have withstood the surprise parties and dances. Sometimes fifty to seventy-five people would attend. Many were total strangers. They would call at your home without previous notice, bring their own lunches to be served at midnight, and furnish music for dancing. On these occasions, all furniture was placed outside. A new life was created among the settlers by their social gatherings, through which life-long friendships were made. The first or early pioneers in South Dakota were "tough" The years of 1911,'12 and '13 were dry, and it wasn't until 1914 that my parents were able to harvest any grain. This gave some of the people a small chance to recover. It was these years that the pioneer spirit wavered. Taxes were due as were payments on their land, they needed farm equipment and also wished for additional cattle and horses. The first school in our vicinity was built on the Soliday quarter- section of land and therefore was known as the Soliday School. The school was later moved to the south to accommodate more children. It was destroyed by fire and a new modern school was then built. It is still known as the Soliday School. My brothers, sisters and myself received our early education at Soliday school. [photo - Lemke homestead, 1911] [photo - Mr. and Mrs. Bill Lemke in their home on their original homestead. Taken in their later years] AFTERNOTE by Maurice Lemke Lurinda Lemke married Lou Perkins and they lived south of Lantry, South Dakota. They moved to Deadwood, South Dakota in the late 1940's where he worked as a commercial sign tradesman until his death. Mrs. Perkins returned to college and was a teacher for several years. She now lives in Faith, South Dakota as does their daughter, Mrs. Duane (Alice) Thomas. Virena Lemke was educated in Wausau, Wisconsin. She married a career Army officer, Harold Rasmussen, and they lived in Kenosha, Wisconsin until her death in 1957. Orville Lemke worked for many years at the American Motor Company as a test engineer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He and his wife, Margaret, have since retired and live in Park Falls, Wisconsin and Titusville, Florida. Their sons, Rudy and Ronald, live in Titusville and Seattle, Washington, respectively. Carmine Lemke received her education in Wausau, Wisconsin but later moved further west to Nevada. She married Eddie Albert and together they bought, refurbished, and resold older homes in California. Their son, Steve, teaches in Hawaii. Albert died in 1979, and Carmine now resides in Palm Springs, California. John C. Lemke married Mercedes Tracy, the daughter of Maurice and Mary Tracy, in 1941. Lemke's father died in 1947, his mother in 1959; Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Tracy were victims of the flu epidemic of '18. THE LIBOLT HISTORY Clyde Libolt and four brothers, Clair, Jess, James and Cass, came to Ziebach County in 1910 and filed on claims 12 miles south of Eagle Butte on Rudy Creek. In the spring of 1911, the boys and their parents, Charles and Nettle Libolt, moved by teams and wagons from Nebraska to their claims. Charles could not file as he had already filed on tree claim in Keyapaha County, Nebraska in 1881. Clyde was the only son married and he brought his family of four children, Bert, Lorraine, Pearle and Lydia with him. Eldon was born that December. They built up their claims. Bert and Lorraine rode horseback to Sciford school in 1912 where Harry Perkins of Lantry was their teacher. The Libolt boys were all musically inclined. Clyde, Clair, and Cass played banjos, Charles, James and Jess played violins. They played for many a dance and James and Clyde continued to play for dances after the rest were gone. Clyde and Clair went to North Dakota, near Jamestown, in the fall of 1913 to thresh with six head of horses. Then in 1915, Clyde moved his family up there where they lived until 1918. A hired hand exposed the family to smallpox and all of the children had it. In 1916 Charles and wife, with sons Jess and Cass, moved on to Montana, then near Wapato, Washington. Charles and wife passed away in 1927, within nine days of each other and buried at Yakima. Jess and Cass also died and were buried there. Clair and wife lived in Washington too and had four children but moved back to South Dakota in 1947 with the two youngest children, Jack and Arletta. Clair died at Lantry and was buried at Eagle Butte. Charles' two daughters lived in Washington and Montana and both died there. James married Cecile Meacham in November of 1913. They moved to Iowa and raised nine children. One boy was killed in World War II. Clyde and family, with two more children (Leola and Willis, born in North Dakota) moved back to South Dakota. They left on May 3, 1918, and reached their claim June 21, 1918. They moved with three wagons, with 36 head of cattle and 14 horses. They calved along the way and hauled the calves in a wagon. After camping at night, they milked the cows, separated the milk and cream, churned the butter while traveling the next day. Della "worked the butter", and sold it in towns they passed through. They ferried across the Missouri at Wakpala. They settled on three additional quarters at 15-10-24 in Ziebach County and built a two room frame house with a car roof. Later they got up two homestead shacks and put them on their house, making a five room house, heated by stove in living room and cook stove in kitchen, two bedrooms without heat. Here their last three children were born (Aleta, Mary and Jack). They leased and bought more land and 48 cow-calf pairs and 70 head of southern heifers, but lost 30 head. They were broke and worked themselves back up, through blizzards and drought, sickness and all. All children finished 8th grade at Olson School, which was built 1 and 3/4 miles north of their place. Lorraine, Lydia, Pearle, Leola, Mary and Jack all graduated from Eagle Butte High School. Bert broke broncs, worked for CBC horse company, Diamond A cattle ranch, besides putting up hay on contract and helping his folks. They bought the Olson School and made it into a nice home in 1947 where they lived the rest of their life. Clyde passed away in 1958 and Della in 1959. Eldon still lives on the home place and raises cattle. Lorraine taught school, married Gerritt Likkel, moved to Grangeville, Idaho, where she passed away in 1935. Lydia also taught school, married Harry Vanderpol and moved to Lynden, Washington and raised a family of three girls and one boy. Willis was in World War II. He married Johnna Vanderpol and moved to Lynden, Washington and raised a family of five boys. Pearle married Lee Konkler, raised a family of six girls and finally settled in Mitchell, South Dakota, where Pearle passed away in March of 1978. Leola worked in Pierre, married Gene Wright and raised a family of three boys and two girls. They moved to Englewood, Colorado, where Gene passed away November 1, 1980. Aleta married Harlan Meyer and had a girl and a boy. Harlan was in World War II and killed in action April 8, 1944. Aleta married Ted Minor (Harlan's buddy in war) and moved to Bandon, Oregon, and raised five more children, four boys and one girl. Mary taught school and married Harold Smith after he was discharged from the Army in World War II. They moved to Lynden, Washington and raised three girls and one boy. Jack served in the Korean War and after returning, married Gladys Schwahn and moved to Cody, Wyoming, then settled in Lynden, Washington, raising one girl and three boys. Bert married Laura Ernst, whose folks and grandparents homesteaded in Dewey County a mile east of the Ziebach County line. She had taught school for seven years, three at Olson School, one at Aldridge School in Dewey County, and one at Cloverleaf School and two at Sciford School. They lived in a shack south of his folks for two summers and one winter, where the rattlesnakes slept under the house, in the cellar and haystack. Coyotes came out of the breaks at night and got the turkeys that roosted on haystacks. Grasshoppers came and were so thick they covered the fence posts and moved around the post so they could stay in the shade. They moved east of Eagle Butte and had to cut thistles to feed the livestock along with soybean meal, which was bought. They moved to the Fred Hunter farm and worked on WPA building dams during the drought. Then they moved to Ernst farm, near Dupree, and helped thresh that fall and milked cows. They bought the Siebold place in 1941, moved there and raised their two girls, Velda and Joyce. Velda went to summer school one summer. She taught Haines School by Maurine one year and Main School one year. She married Leonard Edwards. Leonard went to the Army for two years. When he got home, he went to college, got his Doctorate Degree and is now head of the Industrial Arts Division at Black Hills State College in Spearfish where they still live. They raised three children, two girls and a boy, Laura Ruth, Rodney and Marla. Laura is married to Paul Ausderan, has a little boy, Hens, and lives near Piedmont. Joyce went to college at Aberdeen for two years, taught at Mobridge for two years, went back to Aberdeen and got her B.S. degree, then to the Air Base near Rapid City and taught for five years. She married Art Reichert, had two boys, Arthur and Dudley, went back to summer school at Spearfish and got her M.S. degree in elementary education, back to the farm and had two girls, Joy Lyn and Jodi, and is still living on the place they bought from Art's folks by Isabel, South Dakota. Bert and Laura rented their farm to Robert Ernst in 1974, had a sale and moved to Spearfish, South Dakota on October 18, 1974, where they had bought a duplex in 1973, and are still living in Spearfish. WILLIAM J. LIECHTY FAMILY Mr. and Mrs. William J. Liechty came to Dupree from Polk City, Iowa in August of 1910. They got as far as LeBeau, South Dakota, with their goods and there met Mr. Haagen, who had a hardware store and was going to Dupree to a town lot sale. They took care of the Haagen store in LeBeau while Mr. Haagen was gone and on his return he let them use a team to haul their goods to Dupree; where they put them in a tent on their homestead 4 1/2 miles north of Dupree. The next day they got lumber to start building their house, which was 12 x 16 ft. Mr. Liechty resigned as assistant cashier of the Polk City Savings Bank to come to Dupree to homestead. While in Dupree he also worked for Mr. G. A. McGarraugh in the Bank of Dupree during the winter of 1910. He also worked some at the carpenter trade while in Dupree. The Liechty's named their place Midway Farm as it was on the trail from Dupree to the government school on the Moreau River. The Indians would stop in the summer to get a drink of water and in the winter to get warm. Mr. Robert Straight Head was especially good to stop and give Mr. Liechty a ride to town until he bought a horse in January 1911. After settling up on their homestead the Liechty family moved back to Iowa. The Liechty's had one son, Noel J. Liechty. ALFRED and REGINA LIGHTFIELD Regina Ehli was born August 28, 1915 in Selz, North Dakota to John and Rosalia Ehli. She grew up and was educated in Eagle Butte, South Dakota (south of Eagle Butte). She married Alfred Lightfield, Sr. on February 8, 1937 in Dupree and lived in the area until 1947, when they moved to Boise, Idaho. She worked for 20 years at Daly Company and three years at the Imperial Plaza. Alfred and Regina had three daughters: Martha (Mrs. Zon Lloyd) of Ronan, Montana; Bertha (Mrs. Darrell White) of Kuna, and Coleen (Mrs. Don Kateley) of Garden City. They had five sons: Robert of Santa Clara, California; Alfred, Jr. and Ralph, both of Boise, Idaho; Albert of Meridian, and George Albert (deceased). Regina died in November 1981. Alfred is still living in Donnely, Idaho. EMERY and LENA LIGHTFIELD Emery A. and Lena D. (Beguhl) Lightfield, originally from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, came to South Dakota in the year 1917. They first lived on the Till farm along Bear Creek, about two miles east of Dupree. At the time of moving to South Dakota, they had two boys, Ernie, age 14 and Alfred, age 9. Emery had formerly been a street car motorman in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, before moving west to South Dakota. On July 16, 1918, their daughter, Florence, was born. The family farmed on the "Till Farm" until about 1921 when they moved to the Fred Beguhl Farm about 7 miles northeast of Dupree. They farmed there for several years. Fred Beguhl (Emery's father-in-law) and Emery ran a threshing machine for several years, threshing for several of the neighbors. On September I, 1927, another son, Vernon was born. In 1942, Emery purchased a farm four miles east of Dupree (known as the Brush Place or the Jim Bowling farm). He farmed there until the fall of 1950, when they moved into Dupree. He ran a small cafe in Dupree for a couple of years before retiring in 1954. In 1957, they moved to Caldwell, Idaho, where they bought a small place near their daughter's fruit ranch. About ten years later, Emery and Lena sold their place near Caldwell and moved in with their son, Alfred, who lived in Boise, Idaho. That year (1967) Lena contracted cancer and passed away on December 14, 1967, at the age of 81 years. Emery lived another eight years, spending the last part of a year of his life in a manor house in Boise and passed away on October 1, 1975, at the age of 94 years. Of their children, Ernie passed away in 1964, while living in Boise, Idaho. Alfred lives in Boise, Florence lives in Caldwell, and Vernon lives in Rapid City. FRED LINN FAMILY by Leonard Linn Our dad, Fred Linn, first filed on a homestead in Wyoming, but was not satisfied there so returned to Nebraska. Grandad, Aaron Main and Uncle Claude Main wanted to come to the Dupree area to look the country over. After investigating they liked it much better here and decided to make the move. In the year 1918 the two families loaded two emigrant cars and came to Lantry. The Claude Main family located north of Dupree and the Linn family located five miles north of Lantry, across Bear Creek. Leonard was born in Nebraska, in a sod house, which was the first home for Fred and Alice. Raymond, Elva, Floyd and Barbara were all born in the home near Lantry. The first bridge across Bear Creek was made of long cottonwood logs with planks nailed across, and would wash out whenever the water was high. One fall, the county said they would build a new bridge, so the planks were ripped off the logs and Ray, who wasn't yet school age, decided he would walk across one of the logs, he slipped and fell in. Ernie Olson jumped into the water and rescued him. On a high bluff northeast of home an older Indian who had been in the Custer Battle at the Little Big Horn, would go up on the bluff and patch his pants. Also, one of the ladies who had been in the battle made Elva her first doll of tanned cowhide and it is one of the things that was saved. There are very few of these dolls left anymore. In the spring of 1929, the folks bought the Mrs. Jake Halverson ranch on Bear Creek two miles east of Dupree, so we would be closer to high school. This home still stands and is an old landmark, the north three rooms were built of cottonwood logs and the large south room, which was added on later, is made of cedar logs. In the fall of 1948, Alice and Fred sold the ranch to Lawrence Woodward and spent their remaining years in Dupree. Mother passed away in 1958 and Dad in 1977. We all attended the Elm Creek country school until that closed and then we went to Dupree. When going to school we either rode horseback, walked or caught rides. There were times when days would go by with no cars parked at the Dupree School. Both Raymond and Floyd served in World War II. Raymond, Leonard and Violet purchased the Lars Petersen place northwest of Dupree and have added to it as the years went along. Floyd and Irene have owned the Lantry store and post office for many years. Elva and Gene Straight have lived in Minnesota and North Dakota, and are now retired and live in Sturgis. Barbara Capp raised her family and lives in Rapid City. Photo - Fred Linn family. Standing, back row: Floyd, Leonard. Barbara, Elva, Mrs. Linn, Raymond, Mr. Linn] LITTLE CROW Little Crow (1844-1916) was the son of Mashes His Nails/Iron Bull and Ziti (1827-1917). He was a brother to Hump (1850-1908) and White Cow (Mrs. Fish). In 1876, Little Crow married Cheyenne Woman (1861-1928). (Cheyenne Woman was later married to Long Mandan.) Little Crow and Cheyenne Woman's children were: Industrious/Charles Little Crow (b. 1876); George (b. 1878); Crane Woman/ Sarah (1889-1917: Mrs. Harry Bear Eagle); Brave on Both Sides/Lee Little Crow (1892-1965); Joseph Little Crow (b. 1898); Annie (b. 1894: Mrs. James White Bear); and twins Joshua and Lucy, born in 1902. Joshua died in 1915 at Rapid City Indian School and three other children died in infancy. Crane Woman/Sarah (Mrs. Harry Bear Eagle) was the mother of May (Mrs. James Buck Elk Thunder); Winnie (Mrs. Slow); and Noah Bear Eagle. Leo Little Crow married Frances Eagle (1878-1936; daughter of Red Fish) in 1908. They were the parents of seven children, of whom Mathilda survived. Mathilda Little Crow married Wallace Charging Cloud and later Jacob J. Red Bull. Leo married Lizzie Blackman in 1937 and became the father of Mark Peter Little Crow, Florence (Dubray, Harris) and Clarinda (Hart). LITTLE WOUNDED James Little Wounded was born in 1871 in Montana. He was five years old at the time the Custer Battle took place. During the skirmish, he was shot in the leg. His family were all killed but he survived through the help of others. He was thereafter called Little Wounded, though his real name was a different one. His parents were Hunts the Enemy and Real Woman. He died January 4, 1944, and is buried at Cherry Creek. He married Delia Center of the Camp about 1889. Delia was born in 1869 at Bear Creek, died May 29, 1943. Her parents were Blue Cloud and Mary Never Tires, also known as Pockets the Moccasin. James and Delia lived eight miles south of Dupree. They had a family of 2 boys Jonah, born 1898, and Edward, and 3 girls, Zoe Little Skunk, Annie Eye and Mary Condon, born 1907. They raised an abundant garden including potatoes, corn, watermelon, etc., and traded their produce to neighbors. [photo - Jonah Little Wounded is a retired Congregational minister from the Dakota Association] LITTLE SHIELD Edward Little Shield, 1883-1968, married Julie Cane, 1888-1959. Ed and Julie celebrated their fifty-second wedding anniversary on September 22, 1959. The next day Julie passed away. They always kept horses and Julie liked to make pets of animals. She had a pet raccoon, an owl and a porcupine. They also raised chickens. Their children are Phoebe White Magpie, Edith Waloke, Clyde and Theophile. Theophile is fifty-five years old and the only surviving member of the family. He married Myrtle Hale and they have a large family. LONE EAGLE or KILLS ALIVE John Lone Eagle or Kills Alive (1873-1904) was the son of Lone Eagle (1873-1929). In the Congregational Church in 1901, John married Excited or Maggie Red Horse (1874-1940; the daughter of Red Horse and Black Shawl). James Kills Alive/Phillip Lone Eagle/ Wounded in Winter (1903-1943) was the only child of John and Maggie. This family lived on John's allotment, having 'everything they needed there, hay and all'. John Lone Eagle had a large herd of horses that ran the draws of Cherry Creek with Barthold's sheep. Bill Smedley, Sword and Dagger wagon boss, rode Silver. Silver, 'as sharp as a fox,' was a palomino horse raised by Lone Eagle. One month after John died, Maggie got sick and was taken back to her father, Red Horse's. Maggie could not ride well, and after her husband's death, the horses scattered and were lost. James/Phillip lived with Maggie's oldest brother, Frank Red Horse, until he was four. In 1907, Maggie married Charles Red Bull(d. 1930) and her son lived with them. They lived for awhile on John Lone Eagle's land, then went to the Cheyenne River and started a place on Red Horse's allotment. James Kills Alive attended Rapid City Boarding School. By age 20, he married Frances Knife (1898-1941), daughter of Charles Knife and Nellie Yellow Shield). To James/Phillip and Frances were born: Kenneth who died a minor in 1933; 1924, Mollie or Catherine (Mrs. Roy Circle Bear); 1926, Margaret (Mrs. Pete Bear Stops); 1928, Merril Lone Eagle; 1930, Harlan Lone Eagle, and in 1934, Hildred Louise (Mrs. Doug Widow). Their mother, Frances, died in early 1941. Phillip later married Sarah/Stella New Black Bear, the widow of James Buffalo. Their daughter, Violet Colleen (Mrs. Eldon Clown) was born in 1942. In 1943, James Kills Alive/Phillip Lone Eagle died. Today, his descendants still live in the Bridger, Cherry Creek and Red Scaffold area. [photo - Old Lone Eagle house] ISAAC LONG Isaac Long was born in 1908. He went to school on the flat, south of the river for a primary year. Then at age 7 or 8, he went to Rapid City Indian School. He took the train from Philip to Rapid City, then walked six miles to the government school. He went there eight or nine years. After graduation, Isaac went into the National Guard and went to Huron for camp. In 1931, he went to Santee Indian School in Nebraska and graduated an honor student. Then he returned to Bridger. He served in the Army for three years and also worked on the construction of the Igloo ordnance depot. He married Eva Bear Eagle, daughter of George Bear Eagle. Their children are: Debbie (Mrs. Kenneth Day) and Clement George Long. LONGBRAKE FAMILY The Longbrake family came from Missouri by immigrant train in 1910, and located in Ziebach County. Dillman and his oldest son Emmett and brother-in-law William Couchenaw and his son Trix came first and built a 12 x 20 foot shack west of Hank Lafferty's store and cafe in Dupree. Molly and 4 other children and her sister-in-law came in April, 1911. Molly stayed in town with the children while Dil built on a claim 31/2 miles straight west of Chase post office. Clarence Ward's joined Longbrake's quarter on the east. Molly acted as a midwife throughout the area under Dr. Creamer's orders. She stayed alone with 6 children, 1 horse and buggy, 6 head of cattle and 3 milk cows while Dil went to North Dakota to thresh. She taught the first term of school in the Longbrake district in her front room. Elections were also held there until they finally got a schoolhouse. In 1925 Longbrake's moved to California in two Model T Fords and it took them 13 days to get there. They all remained in that area and built homes. Dillman died in 1949 at age 81. Molly returned every summer in her later years to South Dakota visiting her families here. She lived to be 97 years old. She died on December 27, 1975 and is buried in California. Their family consisted of 7 boys and 3 girls: Emmett, Delbert, Paul, Boyd, Ray and Frank Longbrake; Dorothy (Diermier Stangland), Orpha (Geier) and Mable (Patterson). Molly had 28 grandchildren, 74 great grandchildren and 11 great-great grandchildren. All of the Longbrake family moved to California, except Delbert. He married Marietta Bridwell in 1927, with whom he had grown up as neighbors. During the drought years Delbert worked for the CCC building dams. Later he acquired horses of his own and built dams throughout the area. Delbert and Mary had a family of eight children and lived 13 miles south of Redelm, South Dakota where they raised sheep and cattle. During the school months the children attended the Cheyenne Agency Boarding School, boarding the bus on Highway 212 in September. Delbert and his oldest son Jack were killed in a car accident September 21, 1949 and are buried at Dupree. Mary operated a cafe in Dupree for several years and later worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs until her retirement in August, 1975. Since then she has lived at Eagle Butte. PETE LONGBRAKE FAMILY Pete and Faye (nee Nordvold) Longbrake were married on horseback following the Timber Lake Days of 1910 rodeo on August 17, 1958. Their attendants were Beverly Berry and Jess Knight and Father James Rice performed the wedding ceremony at sunset. Friends mounted on horseback formed the aisle through the middle of the arena. They made their home on the former M-M ranch, or Hank Myers place on Ash Creek. Pete built a rodeo arena where friends and neighbors would gather often to try out broncs and to rope calves and steers. State amateur rodeo associations and high school rodeo clubs had been formed in the 50's and many young hands got in on lots of practice and coaching at Longbrake's. Pete rodeoed for several years, concentrating in the saddle bronc riding event mostly, and won several championships. There are four children in their family, three boys: Delbert, Jr., Jesse and Emmett, and a girl, "Charlie". They attended grade school at Red Scaffold and Cherry Creek and high school at Dupree Public School. All were active in high school sports, high school rodeo and 4-H club work. Longbrake's owned and operated the Cherry Creek Trading Post from 1971 until 1973 when it was destroyed by fire. Pete continued to operate the post office there in the last old log house left standing in Cherry Creek until 1980. Faye taught school at Cherry Creek and was later principal. Pete served on the Ziebach County election board for many years and on the Selective Service Board. They have always ranched on Ash Creek and raise bucking horses with which they operate a rodeo stock contracting business involving the whole family. [photo - Pete and Faye Longbrake at their wedding, August 17, 1958] ALBERT LOPEZ TELLS HIS STORY I was the third son of Elfido and Rebecca Lopez. I grew up in Los Animas County, Colorado. I was 15 years old when I crossed the Purgatoire River across the canyon from my father's ranch and went to work for the Diamond A outfit. They occupied a vast open range in Las Animas County, Colorado. We branded 15,000 calves that first fall. Mr. Bloom had around six or seven thousand (Circle Diamond) horses branded on the left shoulder. My brother, Joe, and I entered World War I in 1918. We were in for two years. I was in France for 18 months. When I came home in 1920, the open range in Colorado was gone. Homesteaders and dirt farmers from Oklahoma and Texas had moved in. The Diamond A's had closed out their major holdings in Colorado and had purchased the Wagon Mound Ranch in New Mexico. I worked there for two years. In 1923, Sam Stanton, Roy McClain and myself brought three trainloads of little steers to Mossman, South Dakota. I started breaking horses and riding line on 3400 head of steers. The grass was really good. I liked the country and I was interested in the people on the reservation. In the fall they put me to picking up poor cattle, and when it froze up for the winter, I opened water holes on the Cheyenne and Missouri rivers. When we went into camp that fall we never came out until the 15th of May. Tom Maupin, Walt Serbey, Lee Brown and myself stayed in the Brings The Arrow Camp that winter. Tom and Walt pitched hay to 1500 little steers all winter while Lee and I opened the ice and picked up the poor cattle. In those days we started opening water at daybreak and seldom got home until dark. It never got too stormy. If the cattle couldn't get water at an open hole it usually meant a loss in cattle as they would pile up on the ice. The Cheyenne Indian Reservation could be leased for about a four year period to the highest bidder. During my cowboy days on this reservation, from 1923 to 1950, the major leases belonged to the Diamond A's, the DZ's, the Chicago Cattle Company, the Peterson Brothers of Bassett, Nebraska, and the Holloway Brothers of Eagle Butte, South Dakota. I came to South Dakota with the Diamond A's and worked for them most of the time for 32 years. However, I worked for the DZ's from 1925 to 1927. That winter I was married to Luvisa Pelter. We spent our first winter on the Fred LaPlante Ranch. Winter set in the first part of November and we had a late spring. The snowdrifts were twenty feet deep and roads and railroads were blocked for three weeks at a time. The towns ran short of food and fuel. However we put in a good winter. We had plenty of cottontails to eat and I milked a cow. In the spring we went to work for Ed Sutton who ranched across the Missouri River on the east side. After several years we obtained a lease of our own on the Cheyenne River and later moved to the Goose Creek lease near Mossman, South Dakota. This was during the drought and everyone was on the move looking for water. I tested on top of the shale for water on Goose Creek and found water at about fourteen feet. I dug about twelve wells on the creek so when one went dry I could move to the next one. A well would pump dry about every two or three weeks. The first winter I was in South Dakota I went across the Cheyenne River to John Tibbs' for a dance. They were the parents, brothers and sisters of Casey Tibbs. Casey was the youngest child. He was ten years old when he started breaking horses for me. In about 1943 Casey had piled up quite a little bunch of broke ponies so we had a horse sale in Fort Pierre. We trailed about sixty head to the sale. We had sale bills printed and they misprinted his name. It read, "ALBERT LOPEZ AND CASEY FIBBS HORSE SALE". Casey got $15.00 a head for breaking my horses. In 1943 I'd gotten on my feet pretty good from the drought and depression. I had a little bunch of cattle and horses. I bought a house and moved it on my Goose Creek lease and I built a nice little barn. It was in November and Visa got the kids quite a little Christmas stuff and I got Visa a new Maytag washing machine. This was actually the first time since we got married that we had a few extra dollars for anything. I went over to Joe Hiett's to help him gather some horses and Visa and the three kids stayed home. In the night the house caught fire and burned to the ground. We lost the clothes, beds, new washing machine, Christmas gifts and all. Cap Mossman, manager of the Diamond A's, heard about my home burning. He wrote to me and asked me to go back to work for the company. He told me to bring my stock with me, so I threw up my lease. We moved to the Rudy Creek Ranch in Ziebach County. The kids had four miles to ride to school. We lived there four years when the Diamond A's lost the lease and the Chicago Cattle Company picked it up. I went to work for the Chicago outfit in 1948 and was their range boss as long as they had the lease. My children and grandchildren are stock-growers. Most of my friends are horse-minded people. I've spent my life on a horse, following a cow, because I loved it. I've raised and sold lots of pretty horses because I love a good looking horse. I feel there is more friendship, concern for humanity, actual western hospitality, and self-respect left among the self-supporting stock-growers than any other type of people left in the United States. [photo - Albert Lopez, 70 years old in 1966. When he rode the range he saw it all] [photo - Albert Lopez family taken in 1970. Albert, Lee, Visa, Effie and Anna Belle] MY MOTHER by Effie Hunt Luvisa Delila (Pelter) Lopez was born October 9, 1897 at Hermosa, South Dakota. She attended school at Hermosa and Harney. She graduated from St. Martin's Academy in Sturgis, South Dakota in 1915. She married Jack Kaiser of Hermosa in 1916, and they had one son Carl. They worked for the Matador Cattle Company at Porcupine, South Dakota. They moved to La Plant, South Dakota with the Matador Cattle Company. They purchased the La Plant store and lived there several years. December 5, 1927 she married Albert Lopez at Timber Lake, South Dakota. They had three children, Anna Belle Mortenson, 1931; Effie Rebecca Hunt, 1934 and Albert Lee, 1939. All three were born in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Doctor Green and Muzzle Johnson assisted. Effie remained in Dewey and Ziebach County all of her life. Lee and Annabelle both live in Corson County on ranches (1957-1981). Mother's years in Ziebach County started in 1930 when she moved with our Dad and oldest brother Carl to the Cheyenne River. Carl rode across the river to Earl Sonnenschein's for school. Mama talked about the closest neighbors, Walking Hunter and the West family. Across the river on the south side they visited the Charley Kirley family and John Tibbs family. The dry years forced them to move to Ridgeview, South Dakota and again in 1943 we moved back to Ziebach County and lived on the Rudy Creek Camp until 1947. Mama kept a daily diary. Some of it went like this: (Written by: Visa Lopez) Rudy Creek Camp -- Ziebach County 1946 September 20, 1946 Virgil Anderson and Pony Rousseau finished haying today. September 24, 1946 Effie started 7th grade in Timber Lake. Lee 2nd grade. AB is in 10th grade in Eagle Butte staying at Muzzle Johnson's. Mike Schatz took Effie, Lee, Michael Schatz to Holy Cross School at Timber Lake today. October 24, 1946 Albert rode in with 800 head of cattle to winter on Rudy Creek. Home from round-up wagon to stay for the winter. October 28, 1946 Albert rode back to Sid Nordvold's after stray cattle -- home 30th. November 8, 1946 Chuck Martin and Jim Keegan came to haul hay. November 12, 1946 Put bull in with milk cows. November 13, 1946 Bob and Mrs. Rose and Ivan Fluhartys came -- stayed for supper. Nice visit. November 15, 1946 Started a big stack behind the barn using two teams. November 16, 1946 Tom Maupin and Nels Babcock for dinner. A perfect day. I went to help Albert fence the stack. November 20, 1946 Wednesday, Leon Williams came for dinner. Everything covered , with white frost. Jim Keegan finished hauling hay. Butchered a calf. Jim took half. November 25, 1946 Nick Ganje brought a tank of water from Circle P Spring. Mike Schatz brought Eff and Lee home from Timber Lake for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1946 Gladys Anderson and kids (Virginia, Mary, Gal, Tommy, Alice, April, Eva and Billy) all came for dinner -- nice day -- Gladys has been a grand neighbor. December 10, 1946 Tom Maupin came to get Albert to help him butcher. I'm all alone. Went to look for pigs. Found 3 sows, 22 live pigs. Rained a little pretty rainbow in evening. Awful lonesome here all alone. December 11, 1946 Ancel and Casey Tibbs came by to spend a few days. Tied up some paint colts to break. CHRISTMAS 1946 A beautiful day! Albert, our 3 children and Ray McLaughlin for dinner. In the evening Pood Rose came by and took us all to the dance in Eagle Butte. Home by 2 am. Saw a lot of neighbors. Beulah Jensen came home with AB for a few days. January 18, 1946 Lee is 7 today and Carl is 27 my 2 boys were born 20 years to the day apart. When I started high school in 1949 she took a job as cook and girls dean at the Eagle Butte Dormitory for 7 years. Well known by all the school kids as "Ma Lopez" she baked all the bread and rolls and fed an average of 35 to 40 kids and teachers with a coal cook stove. In 1955 Mama moved to the Hensley and Starr ranch with my Dad. I was 19 then. I'm still living on the same ranch in Ziebach County. Mama retired when she was 70 from cooking for cowboys and school kids. She had started cooking for the Matador Cattle Company when she was 19 and never stopped until she was 70. Mother passed away in 1978 after a lingering illness with cancer. [photo - Luvisa Pelter and Jack Kaiser taken at their wedding] [photo - Visa and Albert Lopez. Taken in 1946 on the Diamond A Rudy Creek camp] [photo - The Lopez children - Effie, Carl, Anna Belle and Lee] E. H. LOVELADY Mr. E. H. Lovelady came by immigrant car to Ziebach County in 1910 and settled on a homestead south and west of Dupree. The Lovelady family farmed on this homestead until December 1934, at which time they moved to Long Beach, California. While in Dupree they were members of the Congregational Church and Mr. Lovelady was on the school board in District #2 for 14 years. The Lovelady children are as follows: Ruth Ward, Elsie Burnett, Grace Taylor, and Fern Nicklaw. OSCAR LUND taken from the Faith County Book I was born on a farm near Juletown, Wisconsin, on December 15, 1883 and I was next to the youngest of 8 children. We were all born in a log cabin. When I was 2 1/2 years old, the whole family, with the exception of my oldest brother and sister moved to a farm near Mooreton, North Dakota. I lived here until I was 18 years old and went to Yellowgrass, Saskatchewan, Canada to prove up on a homestead. I wanted to get a homestead of my own and since you only had to be 18 in Canada, instead of 21 as in the United States, I tried my luck up there. It took three years to prove up on the homestead and you had to be there at least half of the time. So for the next three years I spent my winters in Canada and helped on the farm in North Dakota during the summer. During this time I had to become a British subject in order to own land. I kept my place in Canada after I had it proved up, but I returned to my folks' home in North Dakota where I rented the home place from my father and farmed about 400 acres. In the spring of 1910 I came to South Dakota with a cousin. We drove from Wahpeton to Faith with a team and buggy. We spent about a month looking around and finally located on a homestead about 18 miles west of Dupree. I did my own locating on this land, after which we went to Mobridge by team and on to Aberdeen by train to the nearest filing office for this land. We had to cross the Missouri River both ways by ferry. I now had to take out naturalization papers to regain my citizenship in the United States, so I applied for my first papers in the summer of 1910. I sold my homestead in Canada on a crop payment basis, but I realized but very little from this transaction. In the fall of 1910 I came back by train to Isabel and from there I hired a man to haul my supplies. These included enough building material to build a 12 x 12 shack, two trunks, one cook stove, bedding and a few other necessary supplies. In crossing the Moreau River, the load mired down and we had to hire a man with an ox team to help pull the load across. We stayed in Dupree that night and came on to the homestead the next day. It took just two days to put up the shack. In about April, I returned to Wahpeton, purchased 6 head of horses, seed wheat, some machinery, furniture, and shipped out in an immigrant car which was unloaded at Arrowhead. Arrowhead had built up to a post office, lumber yard, two stores and a livery barn. By this time, too, the railroad had extended to Faith. The Arrowhead Post Office started on March 10, 1914. Minnie Henrich was the postmistress at Arrowhead. It was in the spring of 1911 that I met Mary Weinandy. We were married September 7, 1912 and moved to the Havedahl place just one mile west of Arrowhead. That fall I sold the homestead north of Arrowhead to John Johnson and leased this Havedahl place. I farmed here for three years. Our first child, Eudora, was born July 4, 1913. This farming continued to be a failure so we bought milk cows and earned our livelihood from them. On February 22 our first son, Eugene, was born. In this spring of 1915 we bought a home and moved to what is now our present home. Elizabeth Weinandy, my wife's sister stayed with us off and on while she was homesteading on a quarter right next to ours. Our second son, LaVerne, was born on January 12, 1917. In May 1919, my wife died giving birth to twin girls, Joan and Audrey. We struggled along for several years trying to keep the family together. My sister Clara stayed for a year, taking care of the three older children, while a friend, Mrs. Stroud, took the twins on her homestead and cared for them. In 1920 we moved to North Dakota to live with my brother-in-law John, and his sister Elizabeth Weinandy. I went into partnership with John in a coal mine for one year. Then in the spring of 1921 we all came back to the home place near Faith. While we were gone I had leased the place to Mrs. Stroud and her brother, so when we returned, Mrs. Stroud and her daughter Fern, stayed with us and kept house for us while Fern attended high school in Faith. In the fall of 1924 Mrs. Stroud and Fern left for Milwaukee so Fern could attend school and for the next three months we had a succession of housekeepers until Elizabeth (Aunt Lit) came to stay with us in November. She has made a home for us every since. In 1923 and 1924 I drove the school bus to what was the Katt School. This was practically a necessity so that the children could attend school as this was our closest school that was open. It involved 32 miles each day with a team of horses so that is almost all I accomplished during the winter days. From 1924 until just a few years ago when I resigned, I served on the school board of our district. In 1932 I was elected county commissioner in Ziebach County and served 4 years in that capacity. In 1934, in desperation, I invested in my first band of sheep. This involved long, tedious hours of care, but during the dirty thirties they proved to be the best money-making project on the farm. In 1952 I built a new home on the farm and believe that is one of the best things I have done. This past Christmas, 1959, served as a reunion for our family and my home housed all of us, although we were straining at the seams just a little. We reminisced, naturally, about the past, and all agreed that although we have come through hard times, the country has been good to us. [photo - The Lund family: Joan, Eudora, Audrey, Eugene, Oscar and Vern] [photo - Mrs. Vern Lund, Bill Ebert, Anna Bachman, Eugene Lund, Elizabeth Weinandy, Martha Lund, Joan Ebert, Audrey Gerlach] ED LYMAN According to records of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Struck-by- the-Ree was born at Calumet Bluff on the Missouri River on August 29, 1804. Struck-by-the-Ree was a Yankton Sioux chief. His daughter married William Penfield Lyman. W. P. Lyman (1833-1880) was the first white man to settle in Yankton County, bringing a ferry to the James River for the U.S. Government in 1857. In 1876, he left Yankton and headed west. He died of pneumonia in Red Lodge, Montana around 1880. W. P. Lyman's son, Ed Lyman, was born at Greenwood-Yankton in 1854, a grandson of Struck-by-the-Ree. Ed Lyman received his allotment along Cherry Creek on the Cheyenne River Reservation. He rode for Narcisse Narcelle and worked as a police chief. Ed Lyman's children by his first marriage were Esther (Mrs. Paul Chasing Hawk) and Marcella (Mrs. Stephen Bear Eagle). Ed Lyman's second wife was Agnes Walking Cow (a daughter of Spotted Bear), born in 1868 in Montana. Her family came from Montana with Hump's Cherry Creek Band. Ed and Agnes' daughter Bertha(Mrs. John Hump) was born in 1907 at Cherry Creek Station. She grew up on her father's section and her mother's half-section, west of Red Scaffold on Cherry Creek. Their house was log and frame and had three rooms, each 18' x 18'. There was a large cistern in front of the house that held rain water from the roof. Bertha Lyman went to Turtle Creek School, near what is now the Red Scaffold-73 Junction. Five families lived nearby in tents so their children could attend school. She attended Rapid City Indian School for two years. At age 28 or 29, Bertha Lyman married John Hump, son of Hump. Agnes died in 1935 and Ed Lyman in 1936. The Darrell Hump family now lives on the site of the Lyman house. GEORGE H. LYON George H. Lyon came to western South Dakota in 1917 and rented a place near Chance, South Dakota. He bought a relinquishment from Henry Johnson and in the fall of 1918, the family moved to Chance from Orient, South Dakota. They soon moved east of Meadow, then to the Buck Reeves place which is now owned by Ole Drageset. Harvey and Lela Lyon drove forty head of cattle forty miles when they moved from Chance. There was a sod house and a barn built in the side of a bank. Corn and flax were planted as well as a large garden. Cream from the Holstein cows was taken to Isabel, fourteen miles with a team of horses. Buyers were Jake Weber, then Butch Gower, Ben Rempher ran the store where shopping was done. Harvey, George and Lela attended the Bloom School from 1921-24, then the Rogers School until 1933. Marion also attended. There was always a big celebration on the 4th of July. During the depression many people moved away. The dust of plowed fields looked like a prairie fire. Those were hard winters and dry summers. Thistles were used for cattle feed. Lela married Rudolph Motis in April, 1932. The brothers Harvey, George and Marion left in 1936 and Mr. and Mrs. Lyon moved to Miller, South Dakota. Mrs. Lyon passed away in 1937. Three years later Mr. Lyon remarried and moved to Peoria, Illinois where he passed away in 1953. Harvey and his wife raised six children and have retired in Spearfish. George retired to Hillsboro, Ohio and passed away in 1980. The youngest son, Marion moved from South Dakota to Peoria, Illinois in 1947 and remains there. JAKE MACA Mr. Jake Maca was working as a cabinet maker in Chicago when a neighbor talked him into filing on a homestead as a vacation. This was in 1913. The vacation proved too long for them so they sent for their families to come and join them here. Mr. Maca recalls that they came to Timber Lake by train to file their claim, then by train to Dupree, and from here he hitch-hiked out to his claim nine miles southeast of Dupree. Mr. Maca said that every year they were going to go back to Chicago, but after 25 years they finally gave up! Mrs. Maca died in 1943 and in 1946 he left Dupree and moved to Hot Springs where his daughter, Sister Rachel, was a nurse in the hospital. During his years in Dupree, Mr. Maca was very well known for his cabinet making and did a lot of work along this line. MYRON MAHER Myron Maher was born December 8, 1910 at Athol, South Dakota. He homesteaded eight miles south of Eagle Butte, South Dakota. He was married to Mary Zorc in 1933 at Selby, South Dakota. The couple moved to a ranch ten miles south of Eagle Butte in 1949. Myron later married Rose Zorc. Myron was a Ziebach County committeeman for AAA (Agriculture Adjustment Act), a member of the Eagle Butte Township Board, Knights of Columbus and the All Saints Church in Eagle Butte. The Maher children are Mrs. Darrell (Mary) Forrester, Sturgis, South Dakota and Robert (Bud) Maher of Gillette, Wyoming. Mr. Maher passed away in January 1980 at the age of 70. AARON MAIN, CLAUDE MAIN AND FRED LINN by Hazel Main Stadel My father, Claude Main, my Uncle Fred Linn and my Grandfather Aaron Main, arrived in the Lantry-Dupree area in the fall of 1917 to look over the country and, hopefully, find a location. They ferried across the river at Forest City. They liked what they saw, so returned to Nebraska for the winter. In March, 1918, they returned with their families. They loaded their household goods, cattle, horses, chickens and machinery into two immigrant cars and came to South Dakota. They arrived at Lantry where they unloaded. For a short while they lived in a couple of homestead "shacks" until they found places to locate. The Fred Linn family bought a place about five miles north of Lantry and settled there. Aaron Main did not purchase a home for himself but lived with his children while in the area. In 1921, his son Jesse and his wife moved onto the Wright place which joined Claude's on the west. In 1922, his daughter, Mrs. Fred (Grace) Haskins and family located on Pretty Creek, north of Dupree. Their place today is part of Wallace Bram's pasture. Aaron was a well-liked, respected businessman. He acquired a considerable amount of land and owned some business places in Dupree. His wife, Rose, died in August, 1919 while they were visiting their son, Claude. Aaron passed away as the result of an automobile accident in Colorado, February 11, 1929. Aaron and his wife are both laid to rest in the Dupree Cemetery. Claude and Ella Main bought and moved onto the William Cody place five and one-half miles northwest of Dupree. It was here that their children, Earl (Bill), Hazel, Eva and Shirley were born and raised. When it was time for Earl (Bill) to attend school, there was none in the area so Dad built the first Main School. His neighbors, Joe Heimer and Andrew (Shorty) Gawenite, helped him erect the school. It was taught by Clair Maynard--his first experience as a teacher. He taught three terms there. When the Ralph Carter family moved into the neighborhood, it was moved one-half mile south of the Main place, and extended ten feet to accommodate 21 students. Mrs. Mildred (Birkeland) Collins, Dupree, taught the next two terms. This building served the purpose until 1930 when a new school building was built. In the spring of 1930, Dad decided to replace the buildings on the place. He sent to Washington state for two train car loads of lumber. Mr. Knudsen, Dupree, built the new barn that summer. In 1931, Mr. Orin Orbeck, Redelm, built our new house. The old house was badly in need of repair. How well I can remember climbing up the stairs with a warm flat- iron wrapped in a stocking to keep my feet warm during the night. Many times we kids would wake in the morning to find little piles of snow on our blankets. The night before we started tearing the old house down, we kids wanted to sleep just one more night upstairs where we could see the stars through the roof, so Dad let us. We neighbored a great deal with the William Birkenholtz, Elmer Brammer and Lars Peterson families. Many birthdays and anniversaries were celebrated with card parties and get-togethers. There was very little pasture for the cattle the summer of 1936, so Dad turned the cows out on the range north and west of the home place. It was a long way to trail them home to milk, so we rounded them up every other day and brought them home to a straw shed in one of the pastures one and one-half miles from home where we milked them. Lars Peterson liked to tease Dad, so when he saw him he'd always laugh and ask, "Is it today that you milk?'' The folks managed somehow and, Eva and I went on to high school and graduated in Dupree. February, 1939, held two memorable events for me. Mother was expecting our youngest sister, Shirley, so was staying in Dupree at Dr. Creamer's hospital. It was while she was there that the whole block of business places to the north burned down. February 9th was a bitter, cold night and a strong northwest wind was blowing, so the fire spread rapidly. Mother was moved to safety and on February 13th we were presented with our new baby sister. In August, 1955, Dad retired, leaving the farm to Earl (Bill) to manage. They moved to Mobridge, South Dakota where Shirley graduated from high school. Dad often returned to the farm to help out. It was while he was at the farm that he passed away on October 27, 1959 from a heart attack. He, too, is laid to rest in the Dupree Cemetery. Mother continued to live in Mobridge until June, 1977, when she sold her home. She now resides in a Manor apartment in Isabel, South Dakota. She likes to travel, so usually spends several months in California with Shirley and her husband. Except for Shirley, we have all continued to live in the area. Bill and Eva still live at Dupree, and I live at Isabel. [photo - Aaron Main family: Grandpa Aaron Main holds his daughter, Alice (who became Mrs. Fred Linn); Claude sits in front of his mother, Rose. Probably taken in 1897] [photo Mr. & Mrs. Earl Main] [photo - Earl, Hazel, Eva and Shirley, Ella and Claude Main] [photo - Glen Main] OTTO and EVELYN MANTHEI contributed by Mabel Manthei Kohlwey My parents, Otto and Evelyn Manthei lived in Ziebach County, South Dakota, the greater part of their lives, coming there from Boubon, Missouri to settle on a one hundred sixty acre homestead located nine miles northwest of Isabel. Their community was bordered on the north by Corson County and on the east by Dewey County. In early 1911 Dad traveled by immigrant car on the Milwaukee Railroad to break ground for the new home and to fulfill the filing requirements he'd made with the government in agreeing to build a suitable dwelling, dig a well, plow ten acres of sod, and to live on the homestead fourteen months. The price of the land ranged $2.50 to $6.00 an acre. Dad brought with him, a team of "Missouri mules", a mare, a one-horse plow, along with household articles and other necessities to see them (Mom was to join him later) through the residency requirements after which they fully intended to make their investment pay off and then return to Missouri. It didn't work out that way. My Uncle John Blomberg came with Dad and the two of them built a sod house and sod barn, plowed the sod, and planted a garden, getting things ready for Mom's arrival. Mom and two and a half year old Lillian arrived by train after traveling about four days and nights. In March 1912 my brother Milfred was born in the sod house. I was born the next year, also in the sod house, which gives my brother and me some sort of distinction, that of being born in a "soddy". Now with three children, my parents needed more room. They had fulfilled the residency requirements. They knew they were there to stay. They purchased a larger frame house and moved it onto their land. Along with the new house, a short time later, came a new baby girl, my sister Florence. Several additions were added to this house in the next few years. A large kitchen was built which also served as dining and living room. My parents reared six children on their homestead. Lillian, Milfred, Mabel, Florence, Edna and Paul. Little Pauline (Paul and Pauline were twins) died in infancy. By the time my sister, Lillian, was seven and other early settlers children were ready for school, a school district was organized. The Eliason School opened in the fall of 1916. I attended that school for eight years. Ernest Reber was my first teacher. In 1932 I received my teacher's certificate. That fall I began my first year of teaching at the same school I attended, the Eliason School. I also taught the Wilson School. (Some may remember it as the Wenzel School.) It was during the 1930's a drought, dust storms and depression occurred. Times were hard and many folks vacated their land. My dad had taken a second homestead and acquired other real estate increasing his land holdings to about a section of land. The rains came again in about 1937 and better times were on the way. But Dad's health began to fail. Milfred and Paul took over most of the farming operations. They had tractors now to replace farming with horses. Milfred married and was living on the former Eliason homestead just a quarter of a mile north of dad's place. Dad passed away in June 1952. We girls, all married, lived out of state. Morn and Paul remained on the home farm. When Paul married and moved to a ranch at Glad Valley, Mom was persuaded to leave her old home to live in a trailer on Milfred's ranch. She lived there until she suffered a stroke and passed away in January 1968. Where are all their descendants in 1981? Lillian (Mrs. Gust Mueller), deceased; Milfred (wife Bertha Roesler) both deceased; Mabel (Mrs. Fred Kohlwey), in Tacoma, Washington; Florence (Mrs. A. Brasco), in Lynwood, California; Edna (Mrs. John Bell), at Eatonville, Washington and Paul (wife Norena Grate), at Sturgis.