Text of Ziebach Co., SD History (1982) - pages 540 - 560 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, . PITSOR by Velma (Pitsor) Hughes My grandparents Fred W. and Lulu Pitsor first settled in Redelm, South Dakota in the latter part of 1917 or early 1918. They had eight children, Ralph, Vera Pitsor Burns, Harold, Roy, Doris, Viola, Irene and Ray. All were born at Gascayne, North Dakota, their former home, with the exception of Irene and Ray, who were born at Redelm. Fred was section foreman at Redelm until the mid 20's when he moved to Faith and bought the Faith independent newspaper. He published that until his death in 1933. After Lulu's death in 1935 it was published by co-owners Ralph, Sr. and Paul Byrne. In 1937 Paul Byrne became sole owner. My parents Ralph Sr. and Edythe Sipma Pitsor first settled in Faith, South Dakota from Rhame, North Dakota in 1917. My father opened a barber shop in Faith and remained there till 1937 when he moved his family to Dupree. He purchased the Ziebach County News and opened the barber shop and beauty shop which was called "Pit's Barber and Beauty Shop." My parents were blessed with 3 children--Valera born January 16, 1919, died April 1919 from the flu. Ralph, Jr. was born February 4, 1920. He attended the Faith schools, graduating in 1937 from Faith High School. In 1937 he came with his family to Dupree and ran the newspaper with his father. He married Doris Jeffries in early 1939. They had two children Larry and Eileen. In 1944 Ralph was inducted into the Army, and served until early 1946. He resumed publishing the paper until 1948 when Edythe Pitsor and Ralph sold out. He moved his family to Ritzville, Washington where he was employed on the weekly paper. Ralph is retired from the State Printing of Carson City, Nevada and making his home in Mariposa, California. Velma was born November 16, 1924 in Faith attended the first 7 years of school in Faith, moving with her family to Dupree in 1937, graduating from Dupree High in 1942. Velma attended the National School of Business in Rapid City, South Dakota from September 1942 to February 1943. In February 1943 she left Rapid City for a job at the Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah. In April 1943 her mother Edythe, sold the barber shop and moved te Ogden where she also was employed at Hill Field. My father, Ralph, passed away in February 1942 and always had a dream of moving to Oregon. He had visited relatives in Aurora, Oregon as a very small child and was impressed. Mother and I fulfilled his dream by moving to Oregon. Mother came to Portland in November 1943 and I in February 1944. Mother worked at Nubora Soap Company from November 1943 until 1953. She married Rudolph Krause in January 1953 and moved to Tualatin, Oregon where they built their home. After his death in 1969 she sold the home and moved into a mobile court in Tualatin where she still resides. Velma worked for American National Insurance Company from 1948 to 1956. She married Stanley Hughes in January 1954 and they had two children, Karen Hughes Moore and Lori. They moved from Portland in 1958 to Tualatin, Oregon where they built their home and still reside. THE POGANY FAMILY and THE ISABEL COAL COMPANY by W. J. (Bill) Pogany Section 12 Township 16 Range 21 The first signs of the Big Depression were being felt in the eastern states as early as 1930, where I will begin our story. I am the second of nine children born to Joseph and Caroline Pogany, and we moved from Youngstown, Ohio to South Dakota in 1931. During the summer of 1930, jobs in Youngstown were getting scarce. My father, sister Carrie, and brother Paul were laid off, leaving me to support the entire family as my older brother had married in 1930. A colonizing agent for the Milwaukee Railroad approached three of my uncles in Ohio in regard to locating in the coal areas of North or South Dakota as we had all had experience in the mines of Ohio. The south 1/2 of Section 12-16-21 in Ziebach County was purchased. There was already a mine known as the Raymond Mine. Our family of ten, plus some relatives, joined a caravan of eight cars and started west from eastern Ohio in March, 1931, on an adventurous journey. At Huron we experienced our first South Dakota snowstorm and were forced to stay at the Marvin Hughett Hotel two days until the roads were opened. The next night we stayed at the Brown Palace in Mobridge, arriving in Isabel on April 1st, after eight days of travel. Our furniture was shipped in a boxcar with half of the car being filled with hardwood lumber. We moved into the Hartman house in Isabel, and commuted to the mine in a topless Model T touring car, angling southwest from town as Highway 65 had not been built. We purchased six head of horses and began stripping overburden from the coal, hiring local men and teams to help with the dirt work so that by fall we had about 1500 tons of coal to sell and we were considered the second largest coal mine in South Dakota. I might add that we moved from 10 to 37 feet of dirt to uncover a five foot vein of coal. One of the local men we hired was Howard Doescher, a large man who laid claim to being the biggest farmer in Dewey County (he weighed about 300 pounds). He was not able to walk much, so he built an 8 foot wide fresno complete with wheels, seat, and eight horse hitch. If, while taking a break, any horse stepped out of the tugs, he would saunter up, pick up the horse by the hind legs, and put it back in the right place. In 1935, we purchased a Crawler tractor and a LeTourneau scraper for stripping, doing our own work. However, because of the increased demand for coal, in 1937 we hired O. E. Miller (the contractor who built the five mile stretch of road from the Ziebach County line west) to do the stripping. We used an elevating grader and dump trucks. The standard wage for the years 1931 to 1937 was $2.00 per day or little more than 10 cents an hour. Yet as operators, our income was minimal. With tight money we did a lot of bartering. Al Tibke supplied us with gas. He in turn traded coal to ranchers and businesses in that area. In Isabel we traded coal to the grocery stores who in turn traded the coal to the bakeries and wholesale houses in Mobridge. During the drought years 1933 to 1936, coal sold for as little as $1.25 per ton at the mine. In the fall of 1937 we began trading coal for corn. Truckers from eastern South Dakota hauled loads of corn into the West River area, taking lignite coal back on the return trip. In the 40's more and more families began using fuel oil and propane, and by 1950 lignite was almost a forgotten fuel. 1935 was an eventful year. I married Sybil Price of Isabel, and we began our married life by purchasing the Ehly house south of Firesteel. We moved it on wooden rollers for 14 miles to its present location on the northeast 1/4 of Section 12, along Highway 65 and 5 miles southwest of Isabel. While remodeling the house, a shingle was found in the wall dated December 5, 1911, bearing the following inscription: I've reached the land of drought and heat, Where nothing grows for man to eat, The wind that blows with burning heat, Across the plains are hard to beat. We do not live, we only stay, We are too poor to get away. Another shingle read--"John and I put on the screens today. It is a lovely day. December 5th, 1911." During the summers we moved buildings as a supplementary income. The crowning achievement was moving the Reese Douglas (former Dupree banker) home from Marcus, South Dakota to Dupree in 1937. Big Gene Smock supplied the huge timbers and steel wheels; Albert Frankfurth was our handy man, and I used our T 40 International Cat to pull. Total time spent was three weeks. Seldom a day passed that a steel wheel or two did not have to be taken to Faith to have spokes welded. The house was extensively remodeled and still stands in Dupree. (Jim Frame home) Being the only Hungarian family in the area, Mother missed her relatives in Ohio, so in 1937 my parents and their four younger children moved back to Ohio. Mother passed away in 1940, and in 1941 Dad and the children returned to South Dakota. We had purchased the Melhoff house near Athboy and moved it just south of our house for the family to live in. In 1946 I became manager of the Isabel Co-op Store. In 1949 I resigned and devoted full time to the farm. In 1954 Sybil returned to teaching at the Wilson and Liebelt schools. Her school won many honors; one was the Best Rural School Exhibit in the State of South Dakota as judged at the State Fair. We were active in many church and community activities. I served as clerk of the Pioneer School District for 25 years and on the Ziebach County Draft Board for 15 years. In 1959 we served as counselors at Jr. Camps at Placerville Camp in the Black Hills. Those two weeks changed the pattern of our lives. We were asked to become resident caretakers, and managers of Placerville, the Congregational Church Camp, for the next 15 years. We loved the children and adults with whom we had contact and in return were given their love. Sybil became a 3rd grade teacher at Garfield school in Rapid City and for the next fourteen years drove the 19 miles each way to Rapid City during the school term, besides meeting the demands of camp. She was named as an Outstanding Elementary Teacher in 1972. Sybil retired from teaching in 1974 and we retired from camp April 1, 1975. At the present time we live about 5 miles west of the city limits on Highway 44. We still own our land in Ziebach County. The coal mines still furnish an unlimited supply of water. There is still coal to be mined. The future of energy holds the answer to our well-being as a nation, and coal will play an important part as a vital source of energy in the years ahead. The Isabel Coal Company no longer exists but was once vitally important to Ziebach County and surrounding areas. Almost 50 years after our arrival in South Dakota, five of us have established permanent homes here. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JACK POLLARD I was born on the Cherry Creek Road ... on it, June 7, 1916. I remember it well. When Pop learned that Mom was pregnant he tried to run away from home and Mom caught up with him on the Cherry Creek Road and there I was. Pop immediately started a paternity suit, denying he could possibly be the father of anything like me. Mom countered with a "maternity suit", denying that she was the mother. My sister, who was ten years old at the time, was so pleased to have a baby brother she gave me my first rattle--with the snake still attached and alive! Things got worse. Pop had a horse fall on him, breaking his ankle and leaving him crippled for life. They moved to town after that. It took me several weeks to crawl through the cactus and sagebrush to catch up with them but I finally arrived in Dupree. It's never been the same since. We lived in a little house on the east side of town. Sis got me to crawl under the bed with her where she lit a match and set the place on fire. She ran outside only to find me sitting on the lawn with my usual wet diapers. Dad started a cream station. We lived in the back of the building. He used sulphuric acid to test cream so one day he left a glass of the acid near the edge of the table. Sure enough, I came along, thirsty as usual and grabbed the glass and downed it, I've had a penchant for strong drink ever since. They used to let me play in the street figuring that if a car didn't get me a runaway team would. No luck, Plenty of runaway teams ... they'd see me and run away. By the time I was three years old I had a strong urge to swim. The creek was only beyond the railroad track and I'd head that way on a hot day, shucking my clothes before I started so they wouldn't get wet. Unfortunately the urge might hit me at a different place each time and I could never figure out why my thirteen year old sister was so embarrassed to go catch me, drag me around town till she found my clothes, amid the jibes of the pool hall jockeys. Started school in 1922. After two years my teacher died. Then I got osteomyelitis. Anybody who lived in Dupree those days could tell you exactly how I got it ... no two stories the same. To this day I don't know. After a couple of years battling what at that time was a sure-fire killer, I lost only one leg to the disease and wound up using a piece of lumber for a leg. Forty years later I was talking to a person who had known me as a kid and said "You used to have a wooden leg." "Yes," I replied, "As a matter of fact I still have." I was pretty obnoxious as a teenager but it was only after I grew up that people realized just how obnoxious I could really be. We had a rather small high school and I found out just how small when Superintendent Merton Reynolds put it to me that there wasn't room for both of us and he didn't think he wanted to leave. Charlie Rogge was kind enough to put up with me long enough for me to get a diploma. As Walt Menzel handed it to me he made the encouraging remark that he never thought he would see this day. Pits the barber bought the Ziebach County News and I went to work for him. We didn't put out much of a paper but we had a lot of fun. Pits was perhaps the only person I ever knew who wrote more illegibly than I. I'd complain I couldn't read his notes to set the type and he'd say "don't ask me. If they are more than 15 minutes old I can't read them either." I ran the dance hall for several years and had a continual fight with the school because they used the same hall for basketball and my dance wax made the floor too slick for basketball. They would run around in their smelly sneakers until the floor got so gummy no one could dance on it. Before every dance I would have to hire someone to mop the floor so we could put dance wax down. A vicious cycle. One thing, we did have some good orchestras and Dupree had a reputation for getting the bigger bands. We had people from as far as Rapid City, Mobridge, Gettysburg, Pierre attending. About 1939 I left for school in Minneapolis hoping to learn to be a printer. I am still hoping after forty years of trying. Went to Buffalo, South Dakota and worked a few years on the Times-Herald before moving to Deadwood to work on the Daily Pioneer Times. At Deadwood my paychecks were no better than my work so December of 1943 Mother and I came to Portland. During the War I worked in the shipyards and she clerked for Newberry's. At the end of the war I bought my own printshop which I still operate. In 1960 I attended the National Public Links Golf Tournament in Hawaii. Watched the hula skirts swishing and returned home still a bachelor. With that kind of luck I felt perfectly safe going to Alaska where the men outnumber the women. Wouldn't you know it .. I met the girl of my dreams. We married in 1964 but she won't go to Alaska again. Says once was enough! We visited Dupree in 1980 for the reunion. POLLARD FAMILY HISTORY by Effie Pollard Hall John Joseph Pollard and Gertrude Florence Pollard were pioneers in the settlement of Ziebach County. They were not of the first vanguard of settlers to accept the government's offer of cheap land. Uncle John and Aunt Effie Leake had been among those. In fact, their residence there was the lodestone that brought John to South Dakota to file on his claim in September 1914. My mother and Aunt Effie had always been very close and were now the only remaining members of their family. Although city raised, the Pollards were both of pioneer stock, and country born. John's parents had migrated from Ireland during the potato famine when in their late teens. Mother's parents were pioneers of the local American variety. John was the youngest child in his family, born on a farm out of Papillion, Nebraska, a little town south of the growing town of Omaha. Gertrude was the youngest of her family, was born on her family's ranch in Hamilton County, near Phillips, Nebraska. When both grew up, their families became next door neighbors in South Omaha and the young people met and fell in love. John moved to Mandan, North Dakota and went into the meat business with an older partner. Later he returned to Omaha, married Gertrude and they started housekeeping in Mandan. Their first child, Effie Margaret, was born there. After several years, Mother became very lonely for her sister. For a couple years Dad had been out of the meat market, having sold his share to his partner, and was now a traveling salesman. Thus the decision to put the family furniture into an emigrant car and head for a claim in Ziebach County was not difficult. So early April found mother and daughter arriving on the doorstep of the John H. Leake's farm about three miles northwest of Dupree. This was 1915, that famous "wet year". Dad and Mother had poured over books on dry farming, which was what they had been told they would need to know. Spring was one long drizzle. Those already established on their claims had planted fall wheat and reaped a bumper crop. Those who started that spring, just didn't, especially not with wheat. Mother and I spent some weeks with the Leake family while Dad got a claim shack in liveable condition. I remember that muddy period with my cousins as a wonderful time of learning a whole new way of life and loving every minute of it. With the help of the Leake boys, corrals were built, the house and store Dad had purchased from Mr. Chase, were moved to our place and one part became the barn, the rest became the north half of the house. On the seventh of June in 1916, the first Pollard son was born and named John David. The following winter saw a succession of blizzards that banked snow over the corral fences. When the blizzard let up a bit at one point, Mother and Dad and the baby went into town for supplies, leaving the school teacher, Maude Cutter, and I at home. That night another blizzard set in and lasted a week. Every morning the neighbor would struggle over and cut a little wood for us. Maude and I would crawl out of our warm bed, cook us a few potatoes and onions to eat (that was all that was in the house), then she would have me recite my lessons so that she could get credit for having school open. When that blizzard tapered off a little, Dad broke the road the twelve miles from town and got home with groceries and a load of coal in the wagon. It was still another week before the weather warmed enough so he could go back and get mother and Jack. By the following spring most of the little money Dad had saved in North Dakota was used up and we had eaten all of the chickens (they hadn't layed many eggs anyway), and the pig, and had only the horses and a few cows left. Time enough had passed and the other government requirements had been met to prove up on the claim, so we moved to town to try to find work Dad could do to earn a living. After selling the stock he took us to Dupree along with all of the furniture in the house. He remained a week to help settle the house and tend to business matters before returning to the farm to get the items stored in the attic. He was too late. Everything had been stolen. Most of it consisted of mother's teaching music, that was very advanced, old photographs and other personal items. Dad rented a building on main street where he could run a cream station and we could live in the back. He also sold the Sexton Company line of groceries. Mother baked and sold bread, and also took in sewing, taught piano lessons and played for dances to help out. Soon after, Mother put her little nestegg from Grandpa Parkhurst's estate into the purchase of the old Dupree Hotel building. Jim Shelton kept the title to the land but we lived there for a while. Jim fixed up the old Fox Ridge Hotel on the corner and it became the Dupree Hotel. The lower floor of our building was bisected for about two-thirds of its length by a partition, and a front entry gave access to two doors. Another partition created a good sized room on the south, and a back door to the living quarters made it convenient and also compatible with the State Health Department rulings regarding the separateness for cream station use. So Dad moved his station into it. On May 4, 1920, the second Pollard son was born, James Edward. Unfortunately about the end of the school year the town suffered a very severe epidemic of whooping cough which snuffed out the life of the baby on June 20th. Our folks next bought the vacant lot, where the Headley garage had been, and hired Gene Smock to move the house the block and a half to the new location. We moved into the Van house, a little building north of Mosher's Hardware store, where we lived for nearly a year while the house was moved and readied for living again. Long interested in the political scene, Dad now decided to enter the political fray and prepared to campaign for County Auditor. He had enjoyed the office of Justice of the Peace for a year or so. He ran successfully for Auditor in 1922, taking office in 1923. George Hall and I were married on November 27, 1924. In 1926 mother ran for county auditor and was elected. She took office in 1927. When the folks left office in 1933, they moved partitions around in their house and made over the front into a store, which they just called Pollard's Store and from which they dispensed groceries and some variety items until the summer of 1942. In late summer of 1942, they sold their store and all their household goods and moved to Spearfish. At that time, Jack had finished printing school in Minneapolis, and had been working for the Buffalo Times Herald in Buffalo for a few years. On June 11th, after several weeks of illness, Dad died in the Deadwood hospital. In 1964 Jack married a lovely Nebraska girl named Genevieve Jablonski, whom he had met while they were both on a tour of Alaska. They now live in Tigard, Oregon. Jack is still in printing, Gen is a medical technician with the Red Cross in Portland. Gertrude celebrated her one hundred first birthday last July 8th, still lives in her own home, reads her two daily papers and pretty well keeps on top of things in spite of a "pinned" hip that was broken a couple of years ago, and slows her down a bit. Gertrude Pollard died in 1982. [photo - John and Gertrude Pollard at home, Taken about 1932] [photo - Gertrude Pollard and William Oschner (Ochsner?) on the old Pollard claim. Summer of 1954] [photo - The old and new courthouses taken in 1930] [photo - View taken from the new Courthouse looking northwest. Pollard’s house on right. The top of Hall’s two-story garage showing on top of Tupy’s house right of center (this is the liquor store now.) Picture taken in 1932] POOR BUFFALO Matthew Poor Buffalo was a medicine man. He lived on the Moreau River above Bear Creek. Everyone lived out then, but later they all moved into communities. A granddaughter had the bowl that Poor Buffalo used to make his medicine. He carved the bowl out of bark and used a bear claw to grind up the medicines. He used it so much that he made a hole through the bottom. Poor Buffalo went to Montana a lot. People were always requesting his services. He was payed in horses and had so many that they called them 'the wild bunch' and 'the tame bunch'. Poor Buffalo was married to Lucy/Grows in a Day, the daughter of Fights the Thunder and a sister to Paul Red Bird and Amos Clown. The Poor Buffalos had four daughters: Mabel, Eliza, Sarah and Rosie and one son, Esau. Sarah, Rosie and Esau never married. Mabel and Eliza married Douglas Dupris, a son of Edward Dupris. They raised their children north of Bear Creek near the present day Curley Johnson ranch. Mabel was the mother of Aurelia (Rave; Reddest); Helene (Rave); Wilmer Dupris; Marie (Jusice); and Alberta (Black Bull). Eliza was the mother of Wilbur Dupris and Eunice (Larrabee). After Douglas Dupris died, the women kept their land. They always felt that if you had land then you had something. At that time there was no A.D.C. or S.I. and lots of people sold their land. The government kept track of how much each old age person received and then tried to get them to sell their land to pay their debts. Grandma Lucy Poor Buffalo owed $3,000 and about the time that she would have had to sell her land to pay the debt, she got an oil lease and it was for $3,000. So she used that to pay her debt and kept her land. Aurelia Dupris became a school teacher. She would teach until she had enough money to go back to school. When her money would run out, she would go back to teaching. She finally got her degree. In those days, they didn't have grants like today, but her last year she got a $1,000 grant. Aurelia taught in many places, wherever the BIA sent her. In 1946, none of the children were going to school in Bridger and they were having trouble, so they (BIA) sent Aurelia to Bridger as she spoke both English and Lakota and they thought she could settle things down. In those days they didn't talk English except at school. Everyone talked Indian. Aurelia taught in Bridger for seven years and things settled down. She showed and always told them of the importance of education. Aurelia married James Rave and later Francis Reddest. She died in 1959 on Pine Ridge. Helene Dupris went to school in Nebraska and to a two-year institute. Then she went to Santa Fe to study crafts. She heard about a scholarship being offered to an Indian girl that wanted to study nursing. So she got that and went to Cook County Institute in Chicago. She was the only Indian and said she had no lack of invitation to Sunday dinner as everyone wanted to have an Indian come and they wanted her to tell of her experiences on the reservation. Helene was married to Curtis Rave. She now lives in Eagle Butte. Wilmer Dupris married Cordelia Iron Lightning. They live in Eagle Butte. Wilbur Dupris married Edith Iron Bird and lived in Iron Lightning. They had seven children. Marie and Eunice went to Haskell. At that time it was just a high school. It is a good school. Marie married a Justice. Eunice went on to school for two years at an institute, a good school for secretaries. Eunice married Joe Larrabee and was on the Tribal Council for many years. She has made many trips to Washington. Other tribes sometimes want her to present their cases for them. Eunice lives in Bear Creek, north of Lantry, South Dakota. Alberta married Paul Black Bull, raised four children and lives in Bridger. MATT PREBYL Matt Prebyl was one of Redelm's early settlers. He homesteaded one mile west and 1/2 mile north of Redelm. He lived on his claim in a small shack until the very early thirties. On a cold day in January, he slipped on the ice while feeding his cattle. It was about 25 degrees below zero. He managed to crawl into his house. There he lay, helpless and with no fire until P. S. Day found him. Old Matt was a jolly, good fellow and well liked. After his accident he was never able to walk again. He spent about five years in bed at the home of Pete Lannen until his death in the mid-thirties. S. L. PRICE by Mrs. William Pogany The S. L. Price family arrived in Isabel in October, 1916, coming from the Werner, North Dakota area. Mr. Price's son, Kenneth, and brother-in-law, John Comstock, trailed the horses overland traveling horseback, team and wagon. Mrs. Price, her sister, Mrs. Comstock and four small children traveled in a Model T Ford while the furniture and other livestock were shipped to Isabel in an immigrant car. With the approach of winter, the Price family settled in Isabel, moving to the homestead for the summer of 1917. They returned to town and in 1918, Mr. Price, who was a registered druggist, purchased the drugstore from W. A. Parsons. In order to buy the drugstore, he had to purchase the furniture store and undertaking business as well. He was engaged in the above businesses when the flu epidemic hit in 1918, and during this time he helped to nurse the sick and bury the dead. In 1919, the Price family moved to their homestead in northern Ziebach County twelve miles west of Isabel on Irish Creek. A two story, two room shack had been built, the lower story being dug into the hillside with living quarters above. Land was unfenced, cattle were herded, and an outcropping of coal along the creek bank was mined for the use of neighbors in the area. Ranchers living farther west trailed their cattle and sheep to Isabel to be shipped--our place, being about half way, became a stopping place. I remember my mother sending us children out to pick up cow chips and to gather the eggs so she could quickly fix a meal for the drivers while the animals were watered and allowed to graze. Water was hauled in a barrel on a stoneboat from a shallow well farther on down the creek. The blizzard of March 14, 1920 will be remembered by many of the old timers. The winter's snow had thawed, filling the creeks and waterholes. Sunday dawned bright and sunny, a balmy spring type day. In the afternoon the Joe Silk and Ed Boeding families came to visit us, dressed in their summer clothing. In late afternoon it began to rain accompanied by high winds, thunder and lightning. Before long the rain changed to snow, developing quickly into a genuine blizzard. For the best part of three days more than a dozen people were snowbound in the tiny two room shack. The men carried coal by following a rope to the coalshed. I have often wondered how that amount of food could be available and prepared. I do not recall that there was any grumbling or complaining but only thankfulness that friends and neighbors were not caught in the storm on their way home. The loss of livestock was great for stock on the open prairie drifted with the wind and many were drowned, causing some ranchers to lose almost entire herds. Kenneth and Sybil, later joined by Frances, attended the Irish Basin school on Leedom Pike, traveling about five miles in a buggy pulled by their faithful horse Fanny. A gunny sack of hay was always taken as feed for Fanny. On cold days, stones or bricks were heated in the oven and placed at our feet. Mrs. Weast and Mary Alspach, both residents of Ziebach County, were dedicated teachers meeting all the problems facing rural teachers without phones, electric lights, or furnaces. If my recollections are correct, I believe that our attendance certificates were signed by Mrs. Hortense Bagley, County Superintendent. A trip to Dupree for institute or business usually meant two days or a before sunrise to after dark day. The Gellner children, the Price children and Frances and Harold Alspach attended school here. Drill was an essential part of each school day; multiplication tables were practiced until they could be recited forward or backward. Spelling bees were usually held on Friday afternoon. Looking back now, the following incident seems very silly, but I well remember the terror of having a large bull owned by the late Jim Tidball come to the building, snorting and pawing. We were all certain he would break the door and enter, so desks were piled against the door. The older boys manned baseball bats while the younger children huddled in the coal bin. Experience tells me that there were many hardships, but they have been forgotten. Tribute must be paid to Otis Domina, the faithful mailman who traveled through rain, sleet and snow three times a week. He not only delivered the mail, but picked up cans of cream as well as purchasing the necessary groceries. He truly was a friend to all along the route and an avid baseball player. The Price family took an active part in all community events with Mr. Price serving on the school board for Pioneer District No. 5. Sunday School and church were held in the schoolhouse. Much concern was shown for friends and neighbors. I remember when my aunt, Mrs. Comstock, gave birth to a baby girl who lived a very short time. My father built the tiny casket, padded it with cotton and lined it with my mother's wedding slip. A grave was dug on an overhanging bank so that cattle could not trample the tiny grave. Late in 1922 we moved into Isabel so that Kenneth could attend high school. Mr. Price died in 1930, and Mrs. Price in 1957. Kenneth married Clarissa Pladsen and lived in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. Sybil married William Pogany and they lived in Zieba~h County until 1960 when they moved to the Black Hills. Frances married William Shillingstad and lived in Rapid City, and Charlotte is Mrs. Keith Ricketts and resides in Billings, Montana. Homesteaded on S 1/2, N.E. 1/4 Sec. 4, T 16, R. 20; N.W. 1/4 Sec. 3, T. 16, R. 20, Ziebach County. THE STANLEY PUGH FAMILY by Norman Pugh Stanley Pugh came to the Dupree area in the winter of 1922, as "boss farmer" at Thunder Butte Station. The following spring he sent for the rest of the family (wife and infant son Norman) from Martin, South Dakota. At the time, there were few automobiles at the area, no telephone connection to Thunder Butts Station, so it seemed far more isolated from Dupree than Sturgis is today. The practice of issuing "rations" to Indians was still in effect, so once a month or so food staples were issued from the "commissary"- protected from rats, mice, and unauthorized people, by a collection of sizeable bull snakes. Twice, “Doc” Creamer and his chief nurse/ assistant, Pearl Jewett, delivered a baby girl to Stanley and "Dot" in the succeeding years- Klaura Cecilia and Alys Mae. In 1928, the Pugh family moved to a location just opposite the lumber yard (operated by Jack Askin); in order to provide adequate education to the children. Stan and Dot were active in the Episcopal church and American Legion, as well as providing a wide circle of friends with hospitality and inspiration. In 1936 Stanley was reassigned in the Indian service, so after Norman's graduation from high school the family moved to La Plant, carrying life-long fondness to the town and people of Dupree. After Dupree Stanley worked in the old Cheyenne Agency for a few years, then during World War II moved to Browning, Montana; from where he retired in 1953. He and Dot lived in Sturgis from 1953 until his death in 1964. Dot remained in Sturgis, with occasional visits to the children, until her death while visiting Alys Mae's family in San Antonio, in 1968. Norman graduated from the School of Mines, and after service in the Signal Corps in World War II has worked in the Sears Roebuck Laboratory in Chicago for the past 35 years. He and Maurece (Durkee) have one son, 25. Klaura (Mrs. Forrest Gerand) has spent the last 25 years in the Washington, D.C. area, where her husband has had various assignments in the Indian service, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs. They have five children and one grandchild. Alys Mae (Mrs. Bob Janvier) accompanied her husband on various Air Force Hospital assignments in this country and abroad, till his retirement from the Air Force in 1968. The family has since resided in Spokane, Washington. Their two daughters have just been married, and their son is finishing college. WILLIAM RAILE FAMILY William Raile married Wilma Fuhrer on June 18, 1951. They lived at Ridgeview, South Dakota, with William's folks the first year. In the fall of 1952, they moved to Dupree and lived on the William Fuhrer farm where they have lived for thirty years. They have two daughters, Linda and Lou Ann. Linda was born March 21, 1953 at Dupree Community Hospital. She attended Dupree schools and graduated in 1971. After graduation she worked at Barker's Jack & Jill Store for three months and then she had a full time job at Oster's Grocery Store. On September 14, 1973, she married John Anders of Faith, South Dakota. They have one son, William Everett, who is seven years old. They live on a ranch 41/2 miles northwest of Faith. Lou Ann was born October 2, 1959. She attended Dupree schools and graduated in 1977. On October 15, 1977, she married George Foster of Meadow, South Dakota. On June 29, 1980 they had a daughter, Heather Lynn. They lived in Lemmon until February of 1981 where George worked for Riddles Jewelry. They then moved to Dupree where George was employed at the Farmers Cooperative Elevator until August 21, 1981, when he died from a heart attack. Lou Ann and Heather are living with her parents at the present time. [photo - William Raile family. William, Linda, Lou Ann and Wilma] RED BULL Red Bull (1842-1909) lived north of the Cheyenne River, across the river from present Milesville. The river crossing nearby was known as Red Bull Crossing. Red Bull had plural wives. Standing Rock Woman had no children. Sacred/Eats Her Lodge (1842-1897) was the mother of five children: Black Elk (1871-1896: Mrs. Charles Blue Arm); Brave (1878-1884); Pretty Woman/Marion (1880-1911: Mrs. Dick Swan); Returns from War/Daniel or David Red Bull, born in 1884; and Elizabeth Comes In Sight, born in 1890. His third wife, Long Woman/Brown Rainbow, was the mother of eight children, including: Mose/James Red Bull, born in 1881; Charles, born in 1882, who married the widow of John Lone Eagle, Maggie/Excited/Weary Red Horse; Swift, who lived to age five; Annie /Rattling Hail (1886-1905: Mrs. Richard Red Bird); Little Boy/William Red Bu11(1891-1980) who married Rose Iron Lightning and lived in Thunder Butte; and John/Walter Red Bull, who was born in 1898. Moses/James Red Bull married Louisa No Flesh, the daughter of No Flesh who once went to Washington, D.C. Louisa had a daughter, Fanny Two Bull, by a previous marriage. James and Louisa Red Bull had nine surviving children: Joseph; Ed, who married Elizabeth Bear Stops; Jake; Guy; Daniel, who married Marcella Little Dog; Earnest; Elmer; and Emerson Red Bull. William and Rose Red Bull had no surviving children. John/Walter and Nellie (Dog With Horns) Red Bull were the parents of Walter, Vivian, Manuel and Orville Red Bull. ROAN HORSE/RED HORSE My grandfather had a vision. He fasted four days and four nights and they showed him what his medicine would be. Those black thunderclouds, from the west, were coming and they were horses of all different colors. There were men riding on them with guns. The guns were pointed down and when they fired them, the bullet would just go down. That is how they make the sound of thunder, they showed him. One horse was coming toward him and it turned into a man and talked to him. It said it would show him how much power he could have. The horse ran around the earth going down this way (east) and coming back that way (west). When it got back it just fell over because it had not gone bathroom. Then they showed him what plant to use for medicine, so he chewed it and then rubbed it on the flanks of the horse. The horse got up and went and it was fine. Then the horse ran around the earth. When it ran around the earth, that showed that it would be fast and no horse could beat it. The medicine gave it that power. So the brave took his name from that horse-- Red Horse. If he rubbed the medicine on any horse then no other horse would be able to beat it. One time his son tried the medicine on a horse. It was not a snazzy horse or anything, but it became really fast and no horse could beat it. So that is how they got the name of Red Horse. Red Horse (1822-1907) had two children by his first marriage: Frank Red Horse (18661933) and Womanly. Frank Red Horse was married to Josephine Brings Back/Lazy Bull and he was married to Good Heart. Frank and Josephine were the parents of Henry Red Horse (b. 1904) of Bridger. Womanly married Buffalo and she was the mother of James and Guy Buffalo. Another son of Red Horse was Ree, a scout at Fort Meade. In 1873, Red Horse married Her Black Blanket/Black Shawl (1842- 1925). She had one daughter, Woman Eyes (1867-died before 1926), from a marriage to Blue Cloud of Pine Ridge. Red Horse and Black Shawl were the parents of Excited/Weary or Maggie (1874-1940: Long Eagle; Red Bull) and Russell Red Horse(1882- 1957). Russell Red Horse was married three times: to Sophia Eagle Thunder; to Martha Bear Growling; and to Ida/Esther Top of the Lodge. Russell Red Horse gave land to the Tribe for the park in Bridger. [photo - Red Horse. (SDSHS)] RED HORSE George Red Horse and his wife, Nellie Blue Haired Horse, were the parents of Sarah (Mrs. Frank Dupris); Mary/Mollie Sees Him (Mrs. Alex High Hawk); Elizabeth Stump (Mrs. Eagle Chasing); and Charles Red Horse, who married Sadie Brown Wolf. Julie Long Soldier was one of their grandmothers. Sarah was the mother of Jonas, Samuel, Benjamin, Harriet (Cadotte; Garreau); and Lulu Dupris. Mary was the mother of Isaac Long, Percy High Hawk and Esther (Dog With Horns). Elizabeth was the mother of Margaret Eagle Chasing. Charles Red Horse was the father of Orpha, Mrs. Moses White Wolf. THE CLARENCE REDOUTEYS Clarence Redoutey, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gene Redoutey from south of Redelm, South Dakota, and Ethel Griffith, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Griffith, from south of Dupree, South Dakota, were married in December of 1924. Clarence worked at the Ford garage in Faith, South Dakota for two years, then they decided to move to Florida. So in January of 1926, Clarence put a heater and some side curtains in his cutdown Model T Ford that he called Skeeter. It was a 1918 model. They left early in January. They traveled for 13 days with no maps and only $125. They arrived in Clermont, Florida, with only twenty five cents. Ethel went to work for six dollars a week at the hotel where they stayed. And Clarence got a job in an orange grove. Later he was able to find work as a mechanic and they moved to a little house between Groveland and Clermont, Florida. A son, Earl, was born here in 1926 and a daughter, Marcella, in 1927. The next year Clarence was offered a job in Ocala as a mechanic at a Hudson Essex garage. He took the job, so they moved to Ocala. In 1934 a son, Philip, was born and the next year in 1935 a daughter, Mary, was born. Clarence changed jobs and worked for the Fuller Music Company. He worked there for sixteen years before going into business for himself. In 1938 they moved south of Ocala to a new home on forty acres of land. In 1940 another daughter was born. They named her Shirley. Clarence was in his new business now. He built and operated the first nightclub with a restaurant in central Florida. Ethel kept her interest in horses and taught all of her children to ride before they learned to walk. She sewed beautiful outfits for the girls and fancy shirts for the boys. The whole family took part in local rodeos and horse shows. Ethel was known in the area as an expert horsewoman. Clarence took pride in his families' equestrian accomplishments, but his interests were hunting and fishing. The nearby lakes and the Ocala National Forest provided plenty of game and fish. In 1961 Earl was killed in an automobile accident. Another blow fell in 1969 when their remaining son, Philip, was killed in a similar accident. Clarence died of a heart attack in 1974 and Ethel died of cancer in May of 1980. They had five children, seventeen grandchildren and twelve greatgrandchildren. [photo - The Redoutey family, left to right: Clarence, Ethel, Earl, Marcella, Philip, Mary and Shirley] [photo - Clarence and Ethel Redoutey in front of Blessed Trinity Church in Ocala, Florida in 1974] HERMAN REICH written by John Reich Herman Reich and wife Bertha and their two children, John and Edna, came to South Dakota on October 11, 1910. They came in an immigrant car with all their household goods, one cow, and some chickens. They came to Isabel and bought a wagon and team and came overland to their claim, northeast of Dupree, the land John now owns, years later. John and Edna both went to Cloverleaf School. In 1916, Marie was born in the Scherly house north of Al Martin's. Marie also attended Cloverleaf School. John, Edna and Marie lived in the Dupree area all their lives. In 1924, John Reich married Frances Jewett, and Benhard Anderson married Edna Reich, in a double wedding ceremony. They celebrated their 5Sth wedding anniversary on November 15, 1979. Floyd Ernst married Marie Reich on January 21, 1942 and they celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary in January, 1980. JOHN REICH FAMILY In the spring of 1910 I was in the second grade in a school in Illinois. When a pal of mine heard that I was going to move to South Dakota, he said "your father will be sorry because it gets cold in the winter". He was right -- it gets cold here in the winter. We spent four days and nights getting from Chicago, Illinois to Isabel. Whether I enjoyed the trip or not, I will never forget instances of the ride from Isabel to the claim shack. The first night out of Isabel we camped on land I now own. We traveled in a freight car from Chicago to Isabel, and from Isabel to the claim shack by team and heavily loaded wagon. We arrived at our claim October 11, 1910. The house was just a shack. My Dad and his brother used strips of sod which were cut in lengths and used as bricks. This made the building warmer if the fire didn't go out. It was a good thing it was a mild winter, otherwise I don't think a lot of the settlers would have stayed, as they could not have stood weather of 30 to 40 below. Dupree was already a town when we got here. I don't remember how we got to town to get the mail and groceries the first few weeks after we arrived. It was a whole month after we were here that my Dad bought a team of horses. We had a wagon and a two wheeled cart. One time my mother and I took the cart to town for supplies. About halfway between Eulbergs and Nordbys the road angled and a big bunch of cattle met us at the creek. My mother was a city girl from Chicago and had only seen cattle in books. I had never seen cattle loose on the range, and to have to pass through that herd of around two hundred on a two-wheeled cart was quite an experience. When the weather was good, people went visiting and usually played cards until morning. Most of us walked to the places we visited. My uncle told me about one of the highlights that happened at Dupree's first election. One of the home-grown cowboys shot a cigar and cut it in half while a man was smoking it. This brings it to about the time the rails came to Dupree, December 1910. I remember the homesteader coming in on the first train bringing his family, household goods, and about 600-700 pounds of potatoes. The weather must have been good because those folks never Lost a spud by frost. When the spring came in 1911, everyone started to break sod, small plots along the draws were plowed for gardens. But nature didn't smile on the settler because most people didn't raise anything. It finally rained in late August or early September, the fields got green, bloomed and then froze. Those people that decided to stay built schools. Clover Leaf School opened the fall of 1911. I think there were 16 or 18 kids. There were quite a few one room schoolhouses built around the country. The winter of 1911 and 1912 was different. We had snow and cold weather. Coal was sold north of the Moreau River. All the coal you could haul on a 26-foot wagon box could be bought for $2.00. You went one day and came back the next. Two or three farmers usually went together in a group along with lots of blankets and food. With winter past and the coming of spring, 1912, nature smiled on the settlers; crops were planted, crops grew, and the harvest in the fall was plentiful. Many of the fields were cut, shocked and stacked. As there were no threshing machines, the people of the community held meetings and it was decided to buy a separator which was pulled by horses from farm to farm. The machine was a 16-horse gas engine on wheels. It did not have a straw blower, so the straw was stacked by hand. My Dad and several others were hired by the elevator to load a car of flax. They loaded it using wheelbarrows. We had lots of rain the summer of 1915. The crops were good and it took a long time to get all the threshing done. The streets of Dupree were just one big bog hole. We had piles of snow that winter. The trains didn't get to Dupree for about 5-6 weeks. Stores were low on groceries. I remember once when the train did make it to Faith, the crew was so exhausted they went to bed. During the night another blizzard took place and the C.M. and St. Paul had to send in another crew of men to plow out the first one. It took one and two engines to push the rotary blowers. Of course, with all the good years, the bad years were also experienced. Years of drought, dust storms, and grasshoppers. I'm glad I stayed. I've been in South Dakota a long time. We were married in 1924, have two girls and two boys and quite a string of grandchildren. We worked hard but now sit back and enjoy ourselves. One thing, though, if one had not seen the changes from 1910 to 1980, it would be a hard story to believe. [photo - 50th double Wedding Anniversary. Mr. and Mrs. Benhard Anderson and Mr. and Mrs. John Reich] PAUL REICHERT I was born on March 13, 1911, in Meade County, South Dakota, about forty miles east of Sturgis on my folks homestead. My parents came from near O'Neill, Nebraska in 1909 and were among the few who stuck it out through the drouth years. My early years were spent working with livestock and it was seldom a day went by that I wasn't on a horse. I went to work for the Diamond A Cattle Company in the spring of 1932 and worked there until November of 1933. I worked with the roundup wagon except when I was in winter camp, where John Hagel and I wintered 650 head of yearling steers on Heber Creek south of Eagle Butte on the Tony Becker place. Cap Mossman was general manager of the company, Hans Mortenson was foreman, and Clabe Kyle was wagon boss. The rest of the crew that worked with the wagon while I was there were John Hagel, Miles Hudson, Philip Hudson, Russell Keckler, Gail Keckler, Elmer Biklum, Forrest Spraw, Frankie Tibbs, Jim Chappel, Kirk Meyers, John Holloway, Barney Lyons, Wes Devasier, and C. C. Stanley. Most of the older boys have passed on. Some of them that went before their allotted time were John Holloway, Forrest Spraw, Elmer Biklum and Gail Keckler. The Diamond A was the last big cattle outfit in South Dakota and I doubt if there will be another in this state. They ran between 18,000 and 20,000 head of cattle. It was a rugged Life but if I could back up 50 years I'd work for them again. After leaving the Diamond A, I came back to Meade county where I had a little bunch of cows that I had leased out while I was gone. The year 1934 just about cleaned the cattle out of Meade county, and I was among those forced to sell out to the government. Cows sold for $20 a head, yearlings for $14 and calves for $8. I survived the rest of the thirties by trapping coyotes and breaking horses. In June, 1939, I married Mildred Gaudig of Miller, South Dakota. We had two children, a son and a daughter, both gone from home now. Mildred and I are still farming and ranching. We own our own home five miles southeast of the original homestead, where we moved 22 years ago. I still break my own horses and trap a few coyotes. MAYNARD EYERETT REYNOLDS I was born in Rardin, Illinois in 1895. My parents were M. 0. and Flora Reynolds. Our family included two sisters, Mable who married Howard Ross and had one daughter, Evelyn. Mable is in a nursing home in Red Oak, Iowa. Minnie married Lester Ankrum. Minnie died in Highmore, South Dakota in 1966. Ralph Erwin (Pete) Reynolds was living in Apache Junction, Arizona, when he died in January, 1981. They had one son, Oary. Prior to living in Apache Junction, they resided in Farmington, New Mexico. This family moved from Illinois to Gibbon, Nebraska in 1904. Father was a Presbyterian minister there until his death in 1910. After I graduated from Gibbon High School in 1913, mother and we four children moved by immigrant car to Redelm, South Dakota. Mother had filed on a claim three miles east of Redelm. After proving up on the claim, mother ran a home restaurant in Redelm for a few years. Inez Nutter and I were married in Kearney, Nebraska in 1914. We lived on a claim three miles northeast of Redelm and had three children. Wonderful Dr. Creamer assisted with the birth of all three. Robert was the first white baby born in Redelm. He now lives with his wife and family in Yerington, Nevada. He is a building contractor. Janice married Clyde Baker, who made the Army his career. Janice passed away in 1966 at El Paso, Texas. Dick is living with his family in Yakima, Washington. He is a crane operator for Pacific Power and Light Company. Inez taught school for several years in Ziebach County. She died in Illinois in 1968 as the result of a car accident. Besides farming, I published the Redelm paper, worked in stores and held county office for six years. My greatest love, however, was teaching school for some eighteen terms. I taught at Lewis, Robertson, Arrowhead, Bridger, Longbrake, Lone Tree and Dupree. One of my pleasures is hearing from people who went to school with me so many years ago. My home has been in Corvallis, Oregon for the last thirty-nine years, living in the same house at 944 S. W. 10th Street. I was a sales: man for a wholesale grocery firm for four years, enjoyed my own grocery store for four years and was with an investment firm for several years. I retired at age seventy-five after managing a Surplus Food Store for the county for eight years. There are many pleasant memories of the twenty-nine years associating with the wonderful people of Ziebach County. RAYMOND and BESSIE RIDER by Margaret Seaver My mother, Elizabeth (Bessie) Law came to Meade County in 1911 via covered wagon. She came with an aunt and uncle from White Lake, South Dakota, to join her mother, Katherine Law, and some of her brothers who had already filed on land. In 1917 Bessie filed her own claim in Ziebach County south and west of Redelm not far from Rattlesnake Butte. Her land has a stony butte on it which is called "Bessie's Butte". In 1921 she married Raymond Rider of Hazel, South Dakota, at Dupree. They farmed and raised cattle on Mother's place until the drought drove them into the sheep business. In June of 1941 they moved to my dad's farm in Hamlin County. Elmer Butler bought their ranch. Their four children, Gail, the twins Callie and Carol, and I, were all born in Ziebach County and are all still in South Dakota. Raymond died in 1969 and Mother resides in Bryant, South Dakota. Mother's sister, Lucy Doak, never left the area. She lives in Faith. There are so many wonderful memories of our years in Ziebach County. The card parties, dances, 4-H club activities and neighborhood gatherings are all fondly remembered. Gail and I went to Mud Butte School through the 8th grade. One school memory stands out in my mind. I graduated as Ziebach County Salutatorian in 1937. Women hired by the WPA in Dupree made white dresses for all the graduates. They were pretty, but I hated mine, so my mother dyed it pink. The day of commencement, my mother bought me my first tube of lipstick (Tangee) when we got to Dupree. The valedictorian and salutatorian were required to make a speech. My teacher, Leona Johnson, helped me to write mine. While delivering the speech, I sought my mother's face for reassurance. She was crying. I nearly went blank. Later I learned that her tears were her reaction to the pride she felt. HJALMAR RINGSBY Hjalmar Ringsby came to this area in November 1912 and settled on a homestead 5 miles south of Redelm. In June 1917 he was united in marriage to Ida Valle of Brandt, South Dakota, the marriage taking place in Dupree. Mr. Ringsby was deputy assessor for two years. The family moved to Rapid City in 1942 and from there to California in 1943, where they have resided since that time. The Ringsby children are as follows: Eleanor, Victor and Hazel. ED and MARGARET (COMSTOCK) RITTER Ed Ritter (4/4/95-7/26/63) and Margaret Comstock (5/25/99-1/28/78) were married in 1918 and came from eastern South Dakota to Ziebach County in the spring of 1920. Their home was southwest of Dupree. Two brothers of Ed's, Louis, and Fred and wife, Madge, also his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ritter, were settlers for a while. The children of Ed and Margaret Ritter are: Dorothy Pearson, Alice Escott, Esther Miles, Ella Erickson, Robert and Floyd (deceased). This was a sturdy and industrious family that grew up during hard times which helped to shape their stalwart character. Although Robert is the only one remaining in Ziebach County, the rest live in South Dakota. Floyd's son, Leonard and his wife, Susan and three daughters carry on family tradition in the farming-ranching business near the original home. Robert has retired and lives in town. ALBERT W. ROBERTSON FAMILY by Helen Robertson Cushing Albert W. and Emma Robertson came to Ziebach County in April 1911 by railroad immigrant car and settled on a homestead just adjoining the townsite of Dupree. Mr. Robertson was engaged in the business of farming, draying, and later on, real estate and car salesman. He was a member of the school board of the Dupree Independent District #12 for many years. Mr. Robertson donated a plot of land adjacent to his farm to the churches of Dupree. The Catholic Church accepted the gift and built the church that now stands on that lot, but the Congregational Church rejected the gift as they thought the land was too far from the main part of town. Four children were born to the Robertsons. Glenn W. Robertson was born October 2, 1898 in Mitchell County, Iowa. The family moved to Oakes, North Dakota and in 1911 to Dupree, South Dakota. Glenn graduated from Dupree High School in 1915. He attended college, served in the Armed Forces during World War I, and worked in various places around the country, mainly around Chicago, Illinois. He finally became employed by Remington Rand Company and moved to Oakland, California. He was married there to Mathilde Jacobsen in 1942. They had one daughter, Carol, now Mrs. William Chandler of Selma, California. Glenn passed away in 1973 at San Lorenzo, California. His wife still resides there. Lorna Robertson married Carl Vance. Her story is told in the Carl W. Vance story. Helen Robertson was born in Dupree on October 15, 1915, in the house in which the Robert Menzel's now reside. She graduated from Dupree High School in 1933 and worked at various jobs in Dupree for several years, including the bakery, drug store, courthouse and Dupree High School. In 1945 she went to Minneapolis and attended Augsburg College. In 1947 she accepted a position with the State Department of Public Welfare in Salem, South Dakota, where she worked for 17 years until her marriage in 1964 to Reverend Samuel Cushing. They lived in New Underwood, South Dakota from 1964 until 1972 when they moved to Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Reverend Cushing retired from the active ministry on July 12, 1981 and they are making their home in Spearfish. Warren Robertson was born March 26, 1921 at Dupree, South Dakota. He graduated from Dupree High School in 1940. After serving three years in the army during World War II, he was married in 1945 to Ruth Halverson of Yankton, a former teacher in the Dupree schools. Warren graduated from the University of South Dakota, Springfield, and both he and Ruth taught in various places in South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 1979 they returned to Eagle Butte, South Dakota and then accepted a school position at Niobrara, Nebraska, where he passed away in August of 1979. They have five children Linda, Laurie, Bruce, Beth and Michael. Mrs. Robertson is now living in Flandreau, South Dakota. Four rooms of the Robertson homestead are still in use today -- the property owned by Fred and Shirley (Vance) Menzel, with their son Bob and his family residing in the house. Albert W. Robertson passed away in 1942 and Mrs. Robertson in 1945. [Helen, Glenn, Lorna and Warren Robertson] [Albert and Emma Robertson] OSCAR ROSANDER FAMILY At Aberdeen, South Dakota, in 1910, Oscar Rosander filed on a quarter of land 12 miles southwest of Isabel on Irish Creek. In the spring of 1911 he moved a bunch of horses to the claim from Vale, South Dakota. It was a very dry year. On November 22, 1911, he and Florence Lyke were married in Sturgis, South Dakota by Reverend Erskine. They traveled by team and spring wagon, with saddle horses, in deep snow from one to two feet deep, all the way to their claim on Irish Creek. The trip took six days. There were no roads, only trails and sometimes they followed the ridges where the snow might be a little less. They lived 40 years on the ranch, raising cattle, horses and sheep. In the big blizzard of March 1920, they lost 55 head of cattle and some horses. The years of 1934 to 1936 were the dust and grasshopper years. Many ranchers left the country and some moved their livestock to other states. Oscar stayed at home with just enough feed for his stock to carry them through the dry years. He worked on a coal mine on his ranch, sold coal to schoolhouses and to the oil well that was drilled 2 miles west of the Clarence Smith ranch, which was about 12 miles southwest of the Rosander ranch. Oscar also patrolled the county highway, Leedom Pike, for 13 years. In 1928 they built a new house. The carpenters were Louie Ballestad and Helmer Eliason. The ranch was sold to Jack Young in 1948. Oscar moved his cattle to the McKean place in the fall of 1948. The winters of 1949 and 1950 were long hard winters with lots of snow. They bought a home in Spearfish, South Dakota in 1951. Oscar died in March 1974 at the age of 87. Forence continued to live in their home until her death in August 1981 at the age of 94. They are buried in the Isabel cemetery. They had five children -- a 2 year old son died in 1916; Eldon lives at Villa Rancho Cleaners near Rapid City, South Dakota; Elva (Mrs. Amold Bell) lives in Belle Fourche, South Dakota; Florence (Mrs. Harley Reyman) lives in Belle Fourche; Judge E. lives near LaPorte, Colorado. HERMAN A. ROSENAU Herman A. Rosenau was born east of Glad Valley on February 13. 1926. to William and Wilhelmina Rosenau. He served 2 years in the army and until 1958 he farmed with his father. In February of 1958 Herman bought the John Wilson place which was the Charlie Hall homestead. In May of 1958 Herman married Nina Mae Collins from Parshall, North Dakota. To this marriage were born 3 children: H. James, 1961; Julie Mae, 1964; and Bill Otto, 1972. Through the years Herman has been able to add to the original 5 quarters bought from John Wilson. He bought Alvin Thorman's quarter in 1958, land from David Helmer in 1960 and 2 sections from Johnny Walenta in 1964. He bought Carl Sandall's place in 1966. Through the years we have tried raising most anything from turkeys to pheasants, pigs, cows and sheep. [photo - Herman A. Rosenau family] WILLIAM and WILHELMINA ROSENAU William Rosenau homesteaded seven miles southeast of Glad Valley in 1911. He spent that winter in Minneapolis and came back in 1912 to farm and ranch. His homestead shack was in the middle of his quarter of land. To the south of him 1/4 mile, Hans Gudenschwager built a pioneer residence and to the north of him 1/4 mile, Henry Ryeland had a shack. The purpose of their nearness to each other was to break the monotony of isolation on the prairies. Herman Picker homesteaded north of Dupree in 1910 and then his mother, brother Albert, and sister Wilhelmina, came from Milesville to establish their residence with him. Wilhelmina was ready for 8th grade then and stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Richardson in Dupree while she attended school. Then she went to White River to attend a preparatory school. She was there one month when Grand ma Picker broke her leg and she had to come home. After being at home two years, she went to Aberdeen to summer school and received a teacher's certificate. That fall she taught the Pretty Creek School and had 13 students. The school term was seven months and she received $45.00 a month. This school was ten miles from the Picker residence and she drove a team or else rode horseback for six weeks. Then she and her mother stayed in a house which was 1 1/2 miles from the schoolhouse. In the spring, school was closed for 6 weeks because of the deep snow. They had school longer in the spring to make up time that was lost. The next summer she went back to school in Aberdeen and the fall of 1915 she taught the Pollard School, also called Little Mo. She received $50.00 a month. She stayed with Mrs. Weast about 1/4 mile from the schoolhouse. William Rosenau was on the school board and in October of 1916, they were married at Reichert's home in Isabel. In October of 1917, their oldest son was born. He is now retired and lives at Yakima, Washington. Seven children were born to this union. In 1919, Wilhelmina filed on a quarter of land near William Rosenau's homestead and in a short time they moved onto her homestead. They lived in a 16 x 24 house with a shack moved onto it for a kitchen. In February of 1921, this house burned down. Then they lived in a granary until the new house was built. This house is still standing on the homestead land which Ruth Rosenau owns today. Henry Ryeland and Carl Holt (from Dupree) were the carpenters. Ruth is teaching school at Prairie City, South Dakota. Ida is married to Gordon Lensegrav and they farm and ranch at Meadow, South Dakota. They have five children. Albert is married to Rachel Hill and they live at Rozet, Wyoming, where Albert does electrician work. They have five children. Herman is married to Nina Collins and they farm and ranch west of Glad Valley. They have three children. Lillian is married to Harold Flatmoe and they farm and ranch south of Meadow, South Dakota. They have four children. Edwin passed away at the age of 2 1/2 years. William Rosenau passed away in 1960 and Wilhelmina passed away in 1974. [photo - William and Wilhelmina Rosenau] [photo - Ruth and Ida Rosenau] [William Rosenau home] FRANK ROSENSTOCK FAMILY Mr. Rosenstock came to Ziebach County in June 1920 and settled on a homestead in Section 12, Township 11. He was married at Dupree in 1922 to Blanche Cutter. Mr. Rosenstock passed away in August 1951. Their children are as follows: Frank Rosenstock, Jr., Lura Newcomb and Lars Rosenstock. FRED ROSENSTOCK FAMILY Fred Rosenstock came to this area in June 1910 and settled on a homestead in Ziebach County where he resided until 1915. At that time they left because of poor crops and other hardships, but returned in 1923 to try again. Mr. Rosenstock came by emigrant car to Isabel and was freighted from there by an Indian, to his claim. In July 1911 he was married to Winifred Parker at Sioux Falls, South Dakota and brought his wife to live on the homestead with him. They endured all the usual hardships of the homestead days. They were always steady church workers and Mr. Rosenstock also served on the school board in the rural area where they lived, for many years. The Rosenstock children were: Ruth (Mrs. Elmer Sanderson); Edna (Mrs. Leon Eide); and Fern (Mrs. Howard Nielsen). ED ROSS Ed Boss was born March 28, 1894 at Britt, Iowa. As a child, he moved with his family to Estelline, South Dakota. In 1910 he homesteaded at Redelm, South Dakota. Later he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where he worked as a mechanic for Red Top Cab Company. He married Edna K. Wicks on April 11, 1925. They returned to South Dakota in 1928, then moved to Dupree in 1933, where he operated the Ross Motor Company for many years. Ed died in December 1980, and Edna now resides in Rapid City, South Dakota. The Ross children are: Robert of Phoenix, Arizona; Kenneth of Rapid City, South Dakota; and Doris (Mrs. Vern Hirsch) of Rapid City, South Dakota. HOWARD and MABLE ROSS by Evelyn Ross Anderson My parents, Howard and Mable Ross, were among the true pioneers, and loyal to the west river country. The Simeon Ross family came to the Redelm area in March 1911, to homestead, from Estelline, South Dakota. Howard and his brother, Ed, came with their father in immigrant cars. Their mother, Nancy, came later with the other six children, Ella, Amy, Lawrence, Wallace, Lee and Eileen. Simeon Ross and family settled southeast of Redelm. Howard started ranching about two miles northeast of Redelm. After living in a small shack and tent until lumber could be brought in, Simeon built an eight room home to house his large family. In June 1913, Flora Reynolds and family moved to Dupree from Gibbon, Nebraska after the death of her husband, Maynard Reynolds, a Presbyterian minister. She filed on a homestead in the Redelm area. Her four children were Everett, Mable, Minnie and Erwin. Mable and Howard were married in 1917. My mother taught school a total of 23 years in country schools and in the primary grades in Dupree. My father ran cattle, but due to the depression and drouth of 1929-1934 (dust and Russian thistles. he went to sheep. In the winter of 1929, on a very cold night and with deep snow, we were awakened in the middle of the night to find the whole attic of our ranch home afire. My father froze his hands and feet trying to get the car started to drive three miles to my uncle's, Everett Reynolds. We picked up a few clothes and blankets as we escaped. My father, Howard, passed away at the age of 56, in 1948. My mother lived in Dupree and continued on as Director of Social Welfare for Ziebach County. She held this position for 20 years, resigning in January 1966. I can remember my mother being a good backer for community events, being historian of "Prairie Echos", published in 1961, and helping with publication of "Call of the Prairie'' in 1960. She moved to Essex, Iowa in 1972 to be near her daughter, Evelyn, and the Howard Anderson family. Due to illness, she now resides in the Red Oak Good Samaritan Center, Red Oak, Iowa. She was selected as 1st runner-up in the 1981 Ms. Nursing Home pageant sponsored by the S.W. District of Iowa Health Care Association. I graduated from Dupree High School. I met my husband, Howard Anderson, while attending Iowa State University, and we were married in 1946. We have three children Jim, farming near Essex; Jane, in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Mark, in Des Moines, Iowa. Howard farms and operates a feed, grain and fertilizer elevator business. I have worked as a consultant dietician for hospitals and nursing homes the past 20 years in this area. [photo - Mr. and Mrs. Howard Ross, daughter Evelyn Anderson and grandson Steven] [photo - Mable, Evelyn and Howard Ross, 1942] LAWRENCE and NELLIE (BAKER) ROSS by Nellie Ross Lawrence Ross, son of Mr. and Mrs. Simeon Ross, moved with his parents from Estelline, South Dakota in 1911, to a farm near Redelm, South Dakota. Here he lived the rest of his life. In October 1925, Lawrence married Nellie Baker. They raised and educated their family of Harold; Ruth, deceased; Raymond, Alice; Darlene, deceased; and Dale in the Redelm area. Lawrence and Nellie were in farming and ranching, raising both sheep and cattle. They lived on the Simeon Ross farm now owned by the oldest son, Harold. Harold and his son, Larry, will be the third and fourth generation to live there. Nellie worked for Howard and Mable Ross, caring for their daughter, Evelyn, before she went to school. She worked for Sejnoha in the store in Redelm. Nellie states Redelm once consisted of two general merchandise stores, 2 cream stations, 2 elevators, a garage, a lumber yard, a pool hall, a dance hall, a depot and 10 or 12 homes, besides the school. [photo - Larry Ross, Evon Ross, Diane Ross, Sharon Pooley, Karen Ross and Sandra Pooley. Grandchildren of Lawrence and Nellie Ross] SIMEON ROSS written by Ella Ross Day The Simeon Ross family lived at Estelline, on 160 acres. When the homestead land became available in western South Dakota, it seemed just right for a family of five boys and three girls, where the boys could each take up a homestead as they became old enough. In March 1911, our dad and the two older boys, Howard and Ed, left for the west river country with two immigrant cars loaded with farm machinery, furniture and baled hay. The other car had horses and lots of young cattle that were to be the start of our herd. A few days later mother and we five younger children took the train west. The slow train from Mobridge took all day until about midnight when we reached Dupree. We spent the night at the hotel, where Dad met us the next morning. The little shack seemed awfully small for our family, but we had a big tent and used the baled hay to divide it into sleeping quarters until we could get a home built. One of the first things that had to be done on a homestead was to dig a well. I will never forget how terrible that water tasted, like soda or alkali, but we soon got used to it. Later we had a deep well drilled and it was very good water. I think we must of had the first solar heating system, as the boys put two large barrels on top of the pump house, filled them with water and let the sun heat it during the day. By evening when they came home from work, it was almost too warm for a shower. One event we all remember was the Indian Fair held northwest of Dupree, in September of 1912. We went in a lumber wagon and spent all day until late at night, because we wanted to see the War Dance held in the evening. It was interesting and we enjoyed the day. The Indians had tents and tepees in a big four mile circle. There were many visiting tribes there also. The first few years were so dry that the crops couldn't grow. But the first year we had rain and good crops, our dad had his threshing rigs shipped out and was busy all fall threshing for our neighbors and others. There was so much to do and lots of people ready to go for picnics, ball games, or dances or whatever we could think of to do for a get-together. Dewey Day and I were married in May 1921, and lived in Redelm until we moved to Dallas, Oregon in 1938. We will be celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary in May 1981. Lee Ross of Springview, Nebraska and I (Ella) are the only ones left of the original family. Dewey's sister, Lelia Knipfer, is the only one of his family left in South Dakota. We are very fortunate to have all our family living nearby, with Lois and Audrey living in Dallas, and Marjorie, Janette and Velda in Salem. Alien lives on the coast at North Bend and James in Klamath Falls, in the southern part of the state.