Jerauld County, South Dakota - The whole text, 1909 (part 9 of 10)

On section 6 of Media, all four quarters had been taken. The southeast quarter had a very substantial farm house, where Mrs. Lydia G. Swatman lived, so as to be near her daughter, Mrs. J. N. Cross, who lived in the big two-story grout house on the NE of 7 across the section line south. On the NE of 6 Lydia Swatman's son, Ben, had a sod house and stable, but lived with his mother most of the time. Once a month he went to his sod house and "lived there over night." This was what was called "holding down" a claim and was the "custom of the country." Every old settler can recall instances of this kind. The sod or frame shanty, with a single one-sash window, through which the stove and table could be plainly seen. On the stove could be placed the pancake griddle, and on it, always, a halfbaked cake, which with the dishes on the table would indicate that the owner had been suddenly called away and was liable to return at any moment. I have known instances where the halfbaked cake would rest upon the griddle until it was removed by the mice. Many a settler proved up on his claim on a five-year residence who had not spent a month on his land in the whole time. That practice was not peculiar to that time nor to this country. It is done today wherever there is public land open to settlement and will be continued until the domain of Uncle Sam is all deeded to private individuals.

But my pencil has been running off by itself again and it's time I brought it back to section 6 - 107 - 65. On the SW of this section R. S. Vessey filed his tree claim right, then little dreaming that a quarter of a century later he would be the candidate of the majority party for governor of one of the great states of the Union. He was then mighty busy getting himself established as a settler on what was afterward marked

To the northeast of me lay section 31 of 108^65, the southwest section of that township. On this section was settled David Paxton, Wm. Taubman, Geo. Homewood and J. F. Bolton, while G. S. Eddy had a timber culture right on the NW quarter.

To the northwest of where I stood lies one of the sections that the wisdom of the U. S. congress had ordered set apart for the education of the future generations of children that should dwell upon these great plains.

Upon the section lying to the southwest the northeast section of Pleasant township, two brothers and their brother-in-law squatted in the early spring of 1883, S. O. McEiwain was on the SE quarter, Henry Mc- Elwain on the SW quarter and D. C. Hewitt on the NE quarter. These three made the beginning of the settlement on that portion of the unsurveyed land afterward known as 107 - 66 and later as Pleasant township. On the NW quarter of this section Frank Coggshall, once county treasurer of Jerauld county, placed his soldiers' homestead right and there he lived for a number of years. When the surveyor had completed his work and 107 - 66 came upon the market, Henry McEiwain put his filing on the NE of 3 and Robt. M. Hiatt took the SW of 1 as a homestead.

Nearly all of section 2 was taken by squatters before it was open for filings. J. D. Powell got the SE quarter, A. R. Powell the SW and Andrew Faust, for whom Fauston was subsequently named, settled on the NW quarter. When the land became subject to filing F. S. Coggshall made a timber culture entry for the NE quarter. A few years later, in the stress of hard times, F. S. Coggshall was one day sitting in the door of his barn, talking with some of his neighbors, among whom was J. D. Powell, afterward auditor for two terms, when Coggshall remarked, "I tell you boys, I am broke, busted. The $7000 I brought to this county is gone and I haven't a cent. J. D. buy that tree claim over there." "Good Lord, Frank!" remarked Powell, "I could not raise a cent, if it would buy the township." "Yes you can," said Coggshall. "Give me four hundred dollars for it, it's the best quarter in the township. Get me $100 down and pay the balance when you can." J. D. borrowed the $100 and soon after paid the remainder. Coggshall moved away and Powell stayed. Today Powell owns the S half and the NE quarter of 2, every acre of which is cheap at $35. The Coggshall homestead, where the above conversation occurred, is now owned by Harry Thompson, who came here last March from Merrill, Iowa. In these later days things are different. Prices are better, and crops are better. It almost seems as though good prices make better crops.

The early settlers on section 3 were Henry McElwain, as before mentioned, on the NE quarter, A. G. Swanson on the SE, Perry Eddy on the SW and S. F. Huntley on the NW. The latter was a squatter, building his sod house and stable and establishing his residence there before the land was subject to filing. After living the required length of time on this quarter he moved across the township line to his soldiers' homestead on the SE of 33 - 108 - 66. There the caller will find him today the same true, cultured gentleman that lived in the sod shanty on the "unserveyed."

Henry McElwain lives in Wessington Springs, doing as much for the convenience of the people as any man in the town. Perry Eddy has gone back to Illinois, but Andrew Swanson yet remains on the SE of 3. He has prospered well with the passing years and is contented.

After passing the NW of 3, I turned southwest across Geo. Strong's pre-emption, the NE of 4, and trundled along until I reached the residence of Samuel Marlenee, on the SW of 4, tired and thirsty. My ! but Sam has a good well.

Probably no one man in Jerauld county has been more essential to its improvement, or development, than Sam Marlenee. I venture to say that the only court house in the state that had not one penny of graft to anybody, in its construction, was built by him, by contract, on the hill in Wessington Springs. A more capable or honest carpenter never swung a hammer or shoved a jack plane. Possessed of a high degree of mechanical skill his interest in his work has often led him to do the work so well that the profits of the job were absorbed in the extra work that he did. In one instance, the building of C. W. Lane's house in Wessington Springs, Mr. Lane voluntarily added $100 so that Mr. Marlanee should not really lose money on the work. One would think that the old verse had been his motto :

He has put up more buildings in the county than any other two carpenters in it, yet today he is comparatively a poor man. His independence of spirit and speech has made life on the farm peculiar fascinating to him. He lives today among the hills on the SW of 4 - 107 - 66, where he homesteaded in 1884. In the civil war he was twice a soldier and twice honorably discharged. Quiet and unassuming, yet the Rock of Gibraltar is not more firmly set in its place than he in his opinion, where he thinks he is right. He has represented the republicans of Pleasant township and been a member of more conventions than any other man in the county.

On section five of Pleasant township which I passed on the south line the early settlers were George Knieriem, on the NW quarter, a brother of Henry Knieriem of Franklin. George came fom Germany after he became of age, but had learned to speak English so perfectly that only his name would cause one to suspect that he was of foreign birth. He was in the artillery with Sherman and delighted in telling of a duel between one gun of his battery and a Confederate field piece on Kenesaw mountain. He is now somewhere on the Pacific coast.

The SE quarter of five was taken by J. J. Snyder, who married a daughter of Hiram Blowers, of Wessington Springs. He stammered badly in his speech. At one time he entered the office of the True Republican in the county seat and after many gutteral sounds and facial contortions said something to George Havens, one of the printers. Havens was afflicted with stammering as badly as Snyder and when excited could scarcely speak a word. His first thought was that Snyder was making fun of his impediment and instantly became very angry. In his attempt to reply he ''went Snyder one better." Snyder thought he was being mimicked and was furious with rage before Havens had said a word. Blosser, the editor, became so convulsed with laughter at the ludicrous scene that he was hardly able to interfere. Both Havens and Snyder were large men and an encounter between them would not only have made "pi," but would have turned the whole office into a "hell-box."

South of Hinners, on the SE of 6, lived Wm. Toaz, another early settler who succumbed to the hard times and left the state. He now lives at Grand Ledge, Mich.

Down in the valley west of the Toaz quarter I found the residence of John Youtcey. The beginning of this farm was made by a man named McConnell, who was told about a deep water hole, now dry, near where the buildings are located, by the old stage driver, who in those days carried the mail from Mitchell to Ft. Thompson. The trail led through this valley and McConnell rode up from Mitchell to look at the place. It looked like an ideal place for a ranch. Plenty of water, unlimited range for then there was no one west of the hills, and the high knolls to the north and west to keep off the severe winds of winter. McConnell squatted there in the spring of 1882 and began his preparations for ranching, laying claim to a strip a mile in length. When the surveyors stalked off the country this claim proved to be the east half of the west of section 6. For some reason McConnell seems to have grown tired of his project and sold what right he had to a young carpenter named John Murphy, who placed his homestead filing there when the land became subject to entry. Afterwards James Foster purchased this land of Murphy, added more to it, put up good ranch buildings and for several years made money out of it as a cattle ranch. He now lives at Ridgeway, Mich.

When I had crossed the west line of section 6, of Pleasant, 1 was on the south side of i in Crow. David King on the XE quarter and W. W. King on the SE quarter, obtained the east half of this section from the government. The SW was a timber culture entry held by Jas. Fogen.

The NW of i in Crow township was held as a homestead by Miss Minnie Stanley, now Mrs. S. W. Boyd, of Pleasant. She is one of the many women who have done their full share in the upbuilding and development of Jerauld county. The claims were held, the schools were taught, churches and Sunday schools kept going, mainly by their unceasing and untiring efforts. Many a man who came through the hard times tired, but successful, would have failed utterly in the effort but for the help he received from his brave and steadfast wife.

One of my objective points in this trip was the Burger homestead in section 12. This farm includes the W half of the NE quarter and the E half of the NW quarter, and also the SE quarter which was taken as a tree claim. Mr. Burger has been one of the long-time residents of the county. This place was at one time used for school purposes, most of the school children being residents of this corner of the township and a long ways from the school house. Mr. Burger now lives in Wessington Springs and the farm is occupied by Mr. Traylor, the school clerk of the township. The examinations of the records of his office was my purpose in coming here. The first school census of this township has not been preserved among the records.

The east half of the N^E of 12 was taken by Wm. Hern as a pre-emption. The balance of the section, the SW quarter and the W half of the NW quarter was taken by E. D. and S. E. Herman.

A postoffice is generally a good place to look for news so I again directed my course toward the Waterbury P. O. on Clark Wetherell's farm in 25. Clark isn't much of a gossip, but he's a jolly good fellow and a good deal interested in the job I have undertaken. He and his resolute wife are among those who can tell you from their personal experience what was summed up in the expression "hard times in Dakota. But never a whine or a whimper from either, and I imagine that her upper lip was a little the firmest. When the crop was short and the prices low Clark joined several of his neighbors in an expedition to some northern counties where crops were better and help needed. The women folks stayed at home and kept things in order until the men came back.

Down in Fairchild, Wis., in 1887 there lived a man whose hobby was growing mangel wertzels. No one in that vicinity could raise beets as large as those that grew in his lot, and he was very proud of the fact. In that town the meat market was the place where people displayed any unusual production, and this man would, every fall, put in a conspicuous place in the market the largest mangel he had grown. That year Clark Wetherell came out to the territory to look at the NW of 25 in Crow township, which, without seeing he had bought of James Fogarty for $1000 in 1884. In a garden on the SE of 23 Capt. Vrooman had a large number of very large mangel wertzels- - larger than was even grown by the man at Fairchild. Wetherell immediately formed a plan to discomfit his old neighbor. He took one of Vrooman's largest beets and when he got back to his home town he place the vegetable in the meat market. Shortly afterward his neighbor came around where Wetherell was telling of the wonders of Dakota and said, "Clark, where did you get that mangel?" "Mangel!" exclaimed Wetherell, "that's not a mangel, that's a breakfast radish, I'd have brought you a mangel, but I couldn't get one in the door of the car." That year Wetherell homesteaded the NE of 25, buying a reliquishment from Wm. Austin. The N half of 25 has been his home ever since.

One day in the summer of 1883, E. S'. Waterbury, his son, Will, and a party of land seekers from one of the eastern states, were driving about the country in the vicinity of what was then the thriving town of Waterbury. About the center of section 18 - 107 - 67 they saw a claim shanty and went to it. It was located on the W half of the E half of the section. Near by was a prosperous prairie dog "town," the inhabitants of which barked and chattered at the intruders as they drew near. Close about the door of the shack, picketed with strings tied to pegs driven in the ground were numerous rattlesnakes. The settler, Abel Scyoc assured the visitors that the reptiles were harmless, but the sight was too much. The land seekers went back to Waterbury and the next morning started for home. They never came back. Mr. Scyoc was probably the first white resident of the township, although H. B. Farren, now of Gann Malley, established himself in bachelor quarters on the same section Sept. 16, 1882. Scyoc was from the south and an ex-confederate soldier. He proved up on his claim, sold it to Chas. Platner and went "back to Dixie" where he married and died.

The town of Waterbury was on the west side of section 21, part in the NW quarter and part in the SW quarter. On the SW quarter of 29, near the center of the section, only a mile and a half away, was the rival town of Sulphur Springs. Between the sites of the two towns and

A couple of fellows had started a saloon in Sulphur Springs and after running the business a few weeks had dissolved partnership and in liquidation of accounts the hotel man, Conrad, had seized a couple of barrels of whiskey. He placed it in a shanty down on the flat southwest of Sulphur Springs, on land now owned by A. G. Kayser. The whiskey soon disappeared but the barrels remained in the shanty for some time.

Among the people who settled in and about Waterbury and Sulphur Springs were many from the eastern states who came heavily armed ready for combat with the savages, of whom they lived in constant dread.

One evening in the fall of 1883 both towns were thrown into a fever of excitement by the news that the old chief White Ghost with about four hundred followers had camped in the valley between the towns.

Waterbury and Sulphur Springs, like all towns had some young fellows who loved fun more than they feared anything. Sam Leeds, with one companion, whose name I have forgotten, procured some of the liquid assets of the defunct saloon and after dark set out for the Sioux encampment. They found that some of the lodges had been placed on the hills and some in the valley. Sam and his companion seated themselves on the hillside in the light of some camp fires and were soon trying to converse, by words and signs, with the Indians of both sexes. The red people could understand but few of the English words but the sign of looking at the stars through a telescope was at once understood. It was not long until pandemonium reigned in the valley. The warriors danced and shouted while the squaws rolled like great balls down the side of the hill, laughing* and shouting with glee. The noise was heard in both towns and the whites began immediately to get under arms and barricade the houses. In Waterbury, while the rumpus in the valley was at its height, some one fired a gun. The report at once spread through the town that the Indians had commenced an attack on the village. Commotion was supreme. Men ran shouting through the streets, while women and children screamed with terror. Sam /Leeds and his chum, down in the valley were getting nervous. The warriors had stopped their demonstrations and were sitting sullenly around one of the largest fires, while the squaws continued their rollicking sport. Sam watched the conditions anxiously for some time and then turned to tell his companion he thought it was more seemly for them to be among their own people, but found that he was alone. The other fellow had evidently read Sam's thoughts and acted upon them. In a few moments Leeds discovered a safe way of retreat toward Sulphur Springs and took advantage of it. The excitement in the towns and in the valley soon after subsided. In the morning the In- dians were gone. But one lasting result came from the escapade. Whether it was from the impression he made upon his savage acquaintances of that night, or the effect of mature reflection, the fact remains that Sam Leeds is known among the Crow Creek Sioux to this day as ''the beautiful blacksmith/'

Among other things that greatly amused, and sometimes annoyed the people of Waterbury in the summer of 1884, was a crane caught by Will Dunlap. The bird soon became a general pet and went every where. No door was left open that he did not enter. No house, church, or place of business, was safe from his intrusion. Guests at the hotel table were often' startled to see the long bill of the crane come sliding into their plates and taking away some morsel that suited the fancy of the bird.

A young man came out from Ohio, armed with all the weapons of war to fight Indians and incidentally shoot buffalo and deer. After becoming thoroughly disgusted with a country in which he could stand no chance of satisfying the cravings of his ambition he traded his beautiful rifle to Dunlap for the pet crane and took it back to the Buckeye state.

I spent nearly two weeks with Will Waterbury at his residence on the old towmsite, going over with him the days when the ground upon which he lives had the largest town in the two counties of Jerauld and Buffalo. He kindly furnished me with a few copies of the newspapers published in Waterbury in 1885. From one of them the "American Home," published by M. B. McNeil, under date of January 6th, 1885, I copy the following item concerning the neighboring town :

"Sulphur Springs has no land mark now. The old hotel was burned last Wednesday. The building was owned by Chas. Conrad and was insured, though if for enough to cover the loss we do not know. It was occupied by Mr. Wheeler's family, who lost all of the clothing and furniture. The furniture was insured for about $300."

Card Of Thanks

Frank P. Blair, Post No. 46, Department of Dakota, G. A. R. : Do hereby tender their thanks to Comrade Stevens, Mr. H. E. Rex, Mr. Wm. Dunlap and Miss Minnie Waterbury for their kind assistance during our first annual camp-fire. A. E. White, Com.; W. A. Rex, Adj."

Sections 28 and 29 dip down into the valley of the east branch of Crow Creek, while 30 and 31 are almost wholly in the valley of the main stream. The SE of 29 was obtained from the government by U. E. Babb, who was one of the prominent citizens of the township. Near the southeast corner of this quarter the county has constructed across this branch of the creek one of the most expensive bridges in the county. It is used but little, and in fact, it is unsafe for a heavy team. The planks are rotted and badly broken and any attempt to take a loaded wagon over it would be to invite the disaster that would almost certainly follow. At the time it was built it was the only steel bridge in the county. The* abutments of stone were built by Pat Brady, a carpenter, then living in Wessington Springs, and are apparently as solid as they were when placed there fifteen years ago. When built it was a necessity for the people of the southwest part of the county who did their trading at the town of Waterbury. Now the roads on both sides of the valley have been so badly washed by the heavy rains of the past few years as to be almost impassible for anything more cumbersome than a bicycle. The railroad station at Wessington Springs, however, has changed the line of travel so that this now remote bridge is used but little. This condition will not be for long, I think, for the railroad so confidently expected and so long looked for by the people of Waterbury and Sulphur Springs will yet traverse Crow township and the engine will whistle for Waterbury station. But no one should get excited about it, for all will have plenty of time to get out of the way.

Across the creek, south, lie sections 32 and 33, both owned by A. G. Kayser, whose ranch of 3000 acres includes also the S half and NW quarter of 34, the E half of 31, all of 29 and the S half of 28. I followed down the stream across 29, looking in every pool for ducks. Just before entering the big valley of Crow Creek I stopped. Off to the right was the big sulphur spring, and up on the point of hills above it the site of the town of that name. The spring, the hills and a few cellar holes are there yet. This half section, the west half of 29, was taken as a preemption and homestead by John R. Miller, who located the town and cemetery on it. For some time he masqueraded under the name of Scott, and none of the settlers knew his real name until he advertised in the Sulphur Springs newspapers that he would make proof for his land. I went on west to the corner section. Here they built school house No. 3, when the township was organized for school purposes and named in 1884. It was the home at one time of the largest school in the county. The first teacher in this building was Miss Minnie Stanley, now Mrs. S. W. Boyd, of Pleasant township, and among her pupils was Miss Dunham, now Mrs. J. L. Coram, of the- Oliver hotel in Wessington Springs. They two are all that remain in the county to represent that term of the Sulphur Springs school.

Across the creek from where I stood, but near the location of the old scholl house is the home of A. G. Kayser, on the northeast corner of the NE of 31. Mr. Kayser came to this farm from Parkston, S. D., about three years ago and now is the owner of one of the best cattle ranches in the county. The quarter upon which the ranch buildings are placed passed into the possession of several different persons before the government finally parted with the title. Geo. Gilbert, Frank Rogers, Swartwout and a man named Hubbard, held it, each in turn, until the latter made final proof for it and sold it to Herman, who made up the ranch nearly as it is now. Up to the time Herman purchased it this quarter had remained practically unimproved. He came out from Mason City, Iowa, to go into the business of raising cattle, his first move was to get a house to live in. Over on the hill in 29 was the foundation of the old Sulphur Springs hotel, much as it was when that building was partially destroyed by the fire in the early part of 1885. The stone from this spot were taken to the site selected for the new farm house and placed in a wall where they still remain. The next move was for a superstructure. The first real frame house built in that part of the township was still standing where Frank Rogers built it, on the SE of 28. This was transported bodily and placed on the wall, where it forms the east part of the house in which Mr. Kayser lives. What now constitutes the east wing of the cattle shed was also brought from the Rogers place. When the Glen creamery went out of business and was sold the ice house was brought to the Kayser ranch, where it is doing service as a granary.

South of the Kayser house, but a part of the ranch, is SE of 31, the old Chas. Conrad pre-emption. He figured for some time as landlord of the Sulphur Springs hotel.

In the spring of 1883, Chas. Marvin came to Dakota Territory from Bremer county, Iowa, to "look around". By the time he reached Mitchell he was so well pleased with the appearance of the country that he made a homestead entry for the NW of 18 - 106 - 67, now Logan township. In the fall of that year he came out again and built a claim shanty and established his residence. Early the next spring he moved his family out from Iowa and began in earnest the life of a frontiersman on the plains. He still owns the land upon which he placed his first filing, although he has changed his dwelling place to the SE of 6 in the same township. He now owns the S half and NE quarter of 6 and the NE of 7, making 800 acres of as good land as any one could wish. It has not been all "smooth sailing" for him, however. In the blizzard of 1888 he lost all the cattle he had and eleven years later, in 1899, his house on the place where he now lives was destroyed by fire. Yet, for all that, he has prospered.

No man in the county is better or more favorably known than Joe Ponsford. His land holdings includes the N half of 30, the east half of 19, the west half of 31 and the NE of 17. One of the 1883 settlers he still retains his residence in Crow township on the farm with which he has been identified for over a quarter of a century. In fact, he was the only one of those who took government land in Crow township in '83 to vote there at the last election, Will Waterbury being the only other person who was a resident of that township twenty-five years ago to vote at the election of 1908.

One morning in October, I set out from W. E. Waterbury's for a run down through Logan. The old road along which E. S. Waterbury and his son, Tom, groped and floundered on the evening of the great blizzard in 1888, is now fenced off and no one travels it. So I took another road through the same pasture and reached the highway on the north line of 28 where A. E. McCall, with his steam thresher, was shelling out the tremendous crop of wheat and flax that had been grown on the old Dan Waterbury claim, the NW of 28, now owned by Gotlobb Krueger. The machine was doing good work and both McCall and Krueger wore satisfied smiles that were Taft-like in their expressiveness. Krueger sold his flax crop for a little over a thousand dollars, for which he received a check before he had drawn more than a sample to market. He declared he would never do that again, for he was deprived of the pleasure of receiving the money when he dumped a load info the bin at the elevator.

to Waterbury P. O. was a delightful one. After chatting a few minutes with the genial P. M., I headed south. I soon crossed the extreme north line reached by the prairie fine on the 28th of April '99. The change of wind that sent the flames into Main's buildings and wiped out the old town of Waterbury turned the fire southeast at this point and saved the homes of Clark Wetherell, Capt. Vrooman and several others that lay directly north of it. Had it reached the Wetherell farm it would, in all probability, have destroyed a number of buildings that are associated with the early settlement of that vicinity. Wetherell has garnered up quite a number of the old landmarks and preserved them. These old buildings which Clark has gathered into a really comfortable home have a story, in the aggregate that is worth telling.

The north half of the house was brought by Ed and Dan Waterbury from Polo, 111., and probalby has more white oak, ash, and hemlock in it than any other house in the country. That lumber was cut in the woods near Polo, sawed into boards and dimension stuff, stored away in a dry place and seasoned for about fifteen years and then shipped to Kimball, S. D., by rail and hauled by wagon to Waterbury, where it was the first building erected on the townsite. The south halt of Wetherell's house was built by S. T. Leeds for a residence in the town of Waterbury in 1884. He sold it to Harley Barnum, now mail carrier at Crow Lake, who moved it to the NE of 30 in Pleasant township, to use in "holding down' .1 is homestead. He kept it there five or six years and then sold the building to George Wicks, who took it to his homestead on the NE of 35 iJ1 Grow township. Wicks lived in the house, which seems but little the worse for its travels, seven years. About 1902 Wetherell purchased the claim shanty from Wicks and gave it a permanent location by the side of the Waterbury building. Wetherell's barn, a good substantial structure, is made of the lumber once contained in one of the two-story buildings in Waterbury. The chicken house was at one time a barn on one of the farms in Crow township, but whose I have forgotten.

On the SW of 25, where R. Kelley once had a tree claim, John Wicks now has a good farm and farm house. He also has the SE af 26 across the road.

The SW of 26 is a part of the farm of Geo. W. King and in the '80s was owned by E. J. Gray, tie also has the SE of 27, which was ''proved up" by Mittie G. Kellogg, and the NE of 34, where John Plank had his homestead. Mr. King has been in Jerauld county since 1883. His whole time of residence here has been in Pleasant and Crow townships. The NW of 31 in Pleasant was his pre-emption and the NW of the same section was his tree claim. He moved onto his present farm in Crow in 1894 and has prospered as have all the others in that part of the county, who came through the hard times and hung on.

On the NE of 35 of Crow township Geo. Wicks made a homestead entry in 189 - . This quarter had been held by E. J. Gray as a tree claim, but being abandoned Geo. contested Gray's entry and made it his home. It is a fine quarter and what makes it more attractive is the neat and trim condition of the grounds about the house. No city lawn shows greater care. George is preparing to erect a large barn and has had a good deal of trouble to get the stone for the foundation, for the reason that "nigger heads" are not common in that vicinity.

At the northwest corner of 35, I turned south, ran along the west side of that quarter, once held by C. E. Lucas, and past the SW of 35 with the old Norin quarter in the distance, past the spot where Lyme Goodrich had his residence and which was the first place at which Solomon stopped after killing Rohbe. The Goodrich quarter is now owned by Harvey King, who has been living there during the last two years. From the King house the Combs hill is in plain sight.

I entered Logan township on the line between sections 2 and 3. the old Combs & Harris ranch on the east, now owned by Henry P. Will and Joseph O'Brien, and the August Johnson pre-emption, of 20 years ago, on the west. Ahead of me on the SE of 3, I could see the home of Z. P. De Forest, or De La Fray, which was the name of his Hugenot ancestors in France, and I dismounted at his door just in time for dinner.

He is one of the earliest of the early settlers in Logan township. While eating the midday meal he gave me considerable information about the early settlement of Logan, and incidentally something of the story of his life and of the interesting history of his family. The De La Frays, like many other Hugenot families, escaped the massacre of St. Bartholomew, by changing their names and succeeded in escaping to America. Here they assumed the English form of the name which is the one by which their descendant in Logan township is known. Z. P. De Forest, exdruggist and ex-telegraph, operator, lives alone on the land he obtained from the government 25 years ago. In my two hours visit with him he made no boast of his ancestry, yet the easily correct form of his speetch was proof positive of the gentility and refinement of the family of De Forest. A man living so long alone will certainly drop into the forms of speech of the people by whom he was surrounded in his childhood. Yet during our whole conversation I did not detect one ungrammatical expression.

From De Forest's place I went over to the Combs hill to look about the spot that was the center of so much excitement in November, 1885. The buildings are all gone, and nothing but the cellar hole and tall weeds tell where the house, barns and corrals were located. After climbing the hill and looking about the premises I walked out to the old trail leading across country from Waterbury to Crow Lake, and along which Solomon rode when he went to surrender himself to the authorities.

A. E. Hanebuth, now of Wessington Springs, was one of the early settlers of the township and for many years had his residence on the SW . of 1. The farm is now occupied by Chas. Segar, who was busy putting up hay in the vicinity of Combs hill.

A mile south of the Hanebuth farm is the farm home of D. B. Paddock, for several years one of the commissioners of the county. The Green Mountain school house was located on this farm and in it one of the first Sunday schools of the township was held. The farm is now owned by J. F. Jones, who purchased it of Mr. Paddock a short time before he was killed.

The school records of Logan township having been destroyed by fire at the time Chas. Marvin's house was burned, but little could be gathered concerning the township schools. The data of the school organization, and of what occurred in the early years, I will have to get from the county archives, and from the memory of the settlers of that time.

Mr. Jones' farm includes the NW of 12, Freeman Paddock's claim, the SW of 12, D. B. Paddock's homestead, and the SE of 11, where John Sleighter had his pre-emption right in the '80s.

From the Jones residence I took an "angling" road southwest across section 14, crossing Mrs. Wheelock's claim, the NE quarter, August Buckholtz' homestead and timber culture claims on the SE and SW quarters and Andrew Wilson's homestead on the NW quarter.

On this NW of 14 Andrew Wilson performed a feat that was one of the most remarkable things accomplished in those early days. In his effort to get water on his claim he dug a well 155 feet deep, doing all the digging with a shovel, while his wife and the girls drew the dirt to the surface with a common windlass. He got good water and plenty of it.

Across the section line west, on the NE of 15 lived H. A. Robinson, at one time a merchant of Lyndale. His son, Roy, was the first white child born in Logan township.

After crossing section 14, I walked along the north line of 22 for one of my bicycle tires had sprung a leak, until I reached the home of Andrew Pflaum on the NE quarter. Here, since the spring of 1884, has lived this veteran of the Civil war, or what is left of him - he lost one arm in the fight at Champion Hill. The loss of his arm was the second wound received that day. The same grit that kept him in the firing line as a soldier has served him in good stead as a settler. He has endured drought, hot winds and prairie fires in the years gone by, but he can now look with pride about him at his pleasant, comfortable home and sharing the credit with his wife who has been his true helper, say "mother, it paid us to stay." He is not only proud of his home, but he is proud of his family, and well he may be. They have not only been successful in what they have undertaken, but in all the years they toiled together in the prairie home, they never failed him - not once.

I passed the night with Andrew Pflaum and the next morning took the road west through the pasture to where John Boeson lives on the NE of 21. He is clerk of the civil township, but like the school clerk, his records are not old, for the fire that burned Mr. Dykeman's house a few years ago destroyed the township books. This NE of 21 was taken by Squire Atkins in April, 1883, and was his residence until he died a few years later. It is now owned by John Wicks, who also owns the SE quarter of the same section.

John Wicks was one of the early settlers in that township, holding the west half of 22 as a homestead and tree claim. Mr. Wicks was for a number of years closely identified with the schools of Logan township, and the county. An account of his experience with his school through the night of the great blizzard, will form a chapter in the history of the county.

On this same quarter, the NW of 27, is located the Pleasant Hill cemetery. This section was considerably cut up by the early settlers who took it from the government. John C. Ferris had a 160 acres out of the center of the north half, taking the two center eighties running north and south. The east half of the NE quarter was taken by Henry Krumwied, who is now a member of the Omaha police force. The NE quarter of the SE quarter of this section was taken by Henry Geffiki, who had a blacksmith shop here and did work for a large circle of settlers. The SE quarter of the SE quarter was owned in the '80s by Henry P. Will, who for years has been one of the most successful ranchmen of the county. The west half of the SE quarter and the east half of the SW quarter were a tree claim whose holder's name is not on the chart that I have, while the west half of the west half was a claim held by H. A. Frick.

Near the north line of the section and on the mile long strip held by Mr. Frick, is the cemetery. It is a beautiful spot and for a country churchyard is well kept, though I can see no reason why people who live in the country should not take as great care of the little plat of earth where their friends are at rest as people in the towns or cities. But maybe the beautifying of a grave yard has nothing of love for the departed in it and is only a matter of vanity like the parks. However it is, there are several cemeteries in the county that should receive attention. In this acre are ten graves without headstones and eight with headstones. One stone bears this inscription: "Mary Carrol Frick, born Aug. 20th, 1809, died June 30th, 1894." A span of life that endured while civilization was crossing a hemisphere. In that time the arts and sciences had advanced more than in all the six thousand years gone before ; in that time one race of men was destroyed and another made free. The little plat of ground is fenced and well protected from prairie fires.

At the NE corner of 27, I turned south and had a nice run down toward one of the most pleasant valleys I ever saw. The road was good and the weather fine. Off to the left was the house of Peter Schleder, to the right lay the old time residence of H. A. Frick. I turned another corner, ran down to where the creamery once stood, the buildings of which are now scattered over the township, and entering what is sometimes called "Buttermilk Street," I was at Glen, really the loveliest spot it has been my good luck to see in the state.

Glen is certainly a beautiful place. Why it is more lovely than other places or what makes it so, I can not tell. The grass is no greener, the soil no better, the crops no more abundant, the sun no brighter, the hills no higher, nor the valley any smoother, yet all these things are combined in such a way that one can not help saying "delightful." Some day when the railroad reaches it, tired men and women will go there to lounge in the shade, fish in the pools and rest.

At Glen there is a spacious town hall, but no town ; a postmaster, but no post office, an R. F. D., but when I was there the carrier had not been seen for three days.

Glen, in a mercantile sence, and as known to the U. S. Postoffice Department, is one acre in size, located in the northeast corner of the SE of 33 and owned by William Barker.

In 1893 the people in that vicinity petitioned the government for a postoffice. The request was granted and they were told to select a name for the new office. Different persons handed in names to H. A. Frick, the new postmaster, and all the suggestions were forwarded to Washington, where the name Glen, which had been suggested by Harry Frick, now a druggist at Wessington Springs, was adopted by the department. The postoffice was kept in Mr. Frick's residence until the next year and then it was moved into Grandma Frick's house, across the line on section 34. This old landmark is now used as a chicken house on the Cable ranch.

The name Glen followed the postoffice as it was moved from one building to another, until in February, 1908, when, the postoffice being suspended, the name became attached to the store in which the office had been kept. Mr. Barker's store and residence is now Glen. The building is a commodious one and the store room well stocked with such goods as are liable to be wanted in rural communities. Outside of his store Mr. Barker amuses himself with thoroughbred chickens, of which he is a fancier. The breeds that have attracted his attention for some time are the Ringlet Barred Plymouth Rock and the Rhode Island Reds. He has attended a number of South Dakota poultry shows and never failed to have his birds decorated. He expects to attend the Mitchell show as an exhibitor this winter. Near the poultry yards and doing duty as a granary is an old claim shanty, once owned by Frank Rogers.

A good deal of the land about Glen is included in a ranch owned by Mr. Cable of Hudson, Lincoln county, S. D. The ranch is occupied by Mr. D. B. Orear, a cultured gentlemna of extensive information. One of the attractive features of this ranch is the great spring that flows into a walled room at the foot of a gravel hill. The water is cool and free from everything objectionable, the supply would be sufficient for an army.

A half mile east of Glen lives Peter Schleder, who has a splendid farm of 520 acres, most of which is in section 34. Years ago this land was owned by E. R. Burgess. Mr. S. came on to this farm from Aurora

I enjoyed Mr. Orear's hospitality for the night and the next morning started west from Glen. The section line between 33 and 28 has been vacated as a highway, because it would require three bridges in one mile to make it passable. The road has been located on the half section line in 33, where but one bridge would be required and that one has not been built. The only means of crossing this branch of Smith creek on this road is a great pile of large and small stones thrown into it and over which people can pass without getting into the mud. The crossing is dangerous and but little used, the travel being around by the county line in preference to the risk of driving over the stone crossing. These people have a right to complain of the neglect of the county in not providing them with the one bridge over the creek.

A mile west of Glen in section 32 is Mike Liesh's farm residence. The farm includes 800 acres, a part of which is in Brule county. Mr. Liesch lives in Kimball but he holds onto this land, a part of which he has owned a quarter of a century. I have seen many farms sold for $100 per acre that were not as good.

Turning north from the Liesch place I ran north to the old Byers farm to which has been added the NW of 32, the S half of 31 and the E half of 30. A branch of Smith creek forms a chain of pools across the NE of 32 where Joseph Byers had his buildings. It was while trying to water his cattle at one of these pools that Mr. Byers got lost and perished in the great blizzard of 1888. The farm now comprising 960 acres is owned by a man in Sioux Falls, but is occupied by Louis Range, who moved here from Winnebago county, Iowa, in the spring of 1907.

From the residence of Louis Range I took the road west to the NW corner of section 32 just to look at the lands where the early settlers lived. H. H. Moulton took from the government two claims 'in the south half of 29, each a mile long. The old shanty, vacant and deserted, stands on the southwest quarter of the section. The only building west of the Moulton shanty in this county, that is in use is on the NW corner of- 32. I leaned the wheel against the fence and went in to look at it. Some school room furniture was lying on the floor, so arranged to form a bin in one corner of the building. A part of the furniture was held in place as part of the bin by the heating stove that was also lying on the floor. The door was kept shut by the bin which was partly filled with wheat. The window glass and sash were broken and gone, the birds were making good use of the room as a haven of "roost." It was the old Dan Sleigter school house of 20 years ago. It reminded me of the story of the wandering Indian, who said that it was not he that was lost, twas his v ig- warn. It would cost more to repair it than to build a new one and it will probably never again be used for school purposes. It was first placed on section 17 but has moved about since then until the land upon which it was finally located became a part of the great pasture in which the building is now situated, and it seemingly has been forgotten as a school house. The wanderings of Logan township school houses will be given next week.

The NW of 32, the quarter on which the old school house is located, was obtained from the government by Ira Ellis, who afterward drove the mail stage between Waterbury and Wessington Springs.

A number of the quarter sections of land in the southern part of Logan township, were settled upon by railroad men from Amboy, 111., who came to the territory in 1883. Among them was H. H. Moulton, who for 35 years had been a clerk in the Illinois Central freight office at Amboy. He was accompanied by his daughters, Helen, Florence and Lizzie, each of whom made the required filings and residence. Mr. Moulton obtained the SW of 29, while Florence took the east half of that section. Lizzie Moulton placed a filing on the south half of 28 and Helen on the NW of the same section.

For the NE of 31, Ed Coalman, a baggage-master on the C. B. & Q., at Amboy, made a pre-emption filing and "lived" on it the required number of times to make proof.

Ed Blakesly and M. Butterfield, both Illinois Central conductors and W. H. Fox, conductor on the C. B. & Q., got the west half and the SE of 19, while W. Patten, another railroad man, all from Amboy, filed on the SE of 1 7.

John Rogers, who had the NW of 30, was yardmaster for the Illinois Central at Amboy. This claim was finally purchased by Mrs. Dykeman, now Mrs. Barker of Glen, who made proof for it and still holds the title.

None of these railroad men had anything to do with the subsequent development of the township. They were simply claim holders who came out from Amboy and "lived" once in thirty days or once in six months according to the filing they had on the land and after making proof abandoned the country entirely. The land laws of the U. S. at that time provided that the holder of a pre-emption claim should not be absent from his land longer than 30 days at one time and a homesteader must not be absent more than six months in succession.

These uncertain settlers caused a good deal of trouble in after years in getting the school houses located so as to be most convenient for the actual settlers. Logan township was probably bothered more than any other township in the county. The itinerary of the school buildings of this community, if the term may be properly applied to a building, may be of interest to later settlers.

School house No. i, known as the "Green Mountain" school house was built on section 12 and never moved but the others had a roving existence.

School house No. 2 was built on the south line of the SW of 17. Draw a line on the township plat from that point to the center of the east line of the SE of 6, then to the center of the NW of 9, from there to the northwest corner of the NW of 32 and you have the line of travel given to the house.

Then draw another line from the center of the north line of the NW of 27 to the center of the west line of the NW of 15, thence to the center of the south line of the SE of 21 and you have the course followed by school house No. 3.

No. 4 is the old Sulphur Springs school house purchased in 1899 of Crow township. Draw a line from the southwest corner of 29 in Crow township to the center of the south line of the SW of 27 in Logan, then east 80 rods to the center of the north line of 34 and you will have the laughable outlines of the wanderings of these institutions up to the present time. Yet these removals were necessary to accommodate the changing settlement, and more will be made in the future or new houses built.

From the old and deserted school house on the NW of 32, I took the section line north, some of the time riding but walking most of the way, for this road has not been traveled enough to keep the grass down.

There was little of interest until I reached sections 18 and 17. The west half of section 18 was taken as homesteads by Eugene Rowe and Chas. Marvin, about the former of whom I could learn but little. The SE quarter was taken by some one as a tree claim. The NE of 18 was a pre-emption taken by James Long in April, 1883. The quarter across the line east was taken by A. S. Fordham, now of Wessington Springs. Mr. Long and Mr. Fordham were brother-in-laws, and so as a matter of economy they put one shanty for the two families, building it across the section line. The two families numbered ten persons, but they were getting a beginning in their new homes and anything would do, for a time, even though it was crowded. While the shanty was being built the families found shelter with Hiram Woodbury down on the SW of 32. Probably no two families in this county saw more of sorrow and hardship than these two during the years that followed.

and his soldiers declaratory on the SE quarter, for he was a veteran of the civil war. The first great sorrow came a few weeks after they were settled when Mrs. Long was taken suddenly ill and died on the 20th of July, 1883. *She was buried on the hill north of the shanty. This was the first death in the township and spread a visible sadness over the whole community.

Life was not all sorrow and trouble, however, in the new settlement. Crops and prospects were fair and three years after coming to the territory Miss Belle Lordham, on the 25th of April, her 17th birthday, was married to Lrank Dykeman. This was the first marriage in the township.

One day Hiram Woodbury, who had now obtained a filing on the SE of 7, came to the shanty on 17 and they took him in. He was suffering from inflammatory rheumatism and the people he had sheltered while they were building their new home several years before, now cared for him in his extremity. All that tender care and nursing could do for him was done, but his malady was fatal and in a couple of weeks he died.

The period of hot winds and hard times came and struck the Lordhams as hard as any. The crops were poor and the prices low, but they stayed. At length the tide turned, with better prices came better crops. The cattle had increased in number and by 1899 Mr. Lordham and his wife determined to leave their farm and move to Kimball, where they could take life a little easier.

On the morning of the 28th of April Mrs. Fordham and her daughter, Mrs. Dykeman, started out from Kimball to drive to the farm. A terrific wind was blowing from the south and the air was full of dust and debri blown up from the prairie. They had driven but a few miles when they saw a dense volume of smoke ahead of them. Some one, heedless of the damage that might be done by a fire driven by such a wind, had applied a match to a field of dry weeds. The fire soon passed beyond the limits of the small field and was at large in the great limitless prairie of dead grass. The wind was steadily widening the head fire and driving it straight toward the center of Logan township. The two women urged on the horses in the faint hope that the fire would be at least checked at Smith creek, then a full running stream. But the creek was no obstacle to the progress of the flames.

At home on 17, Mr. Dykeman was in the house preparing the midday meal for himself and the children. One of the little boys rushed into the room shouting the alarm that a fire was coming. Mr. Dykeman hurried out to find a long stretch of head-fire close upon them. The house and stables were protected by fire-breaks, but the granary was more exposed and was soon in flames. The fire passed leaving the house and stable unharmed. Mr. Dykeman and the children gathered near the house and watched the burning granary and the smoking prairie. A crackling noise at the window attracted his attention and he saw that the whole inside of the building was in flames. Not a thing was saved from the burning house.

In a short time Mrs. Dykeman and her mother drove up. Only the stables and the animals were left of all the fruits of their years of toil. Dykeman and the boys were exhausted with their efforts to fight off the fire and their lungs were filled with the smoke and dust. That night Mr. Fordham came up from Kimball and both families took up their abode in the stable.

On the third day after the fire one of the boys became seriously ill and soon showed unmistakable signs of scarlet fever. A move from their lodging place was then imperative and the two families moved over to the school house on the north line of 27. There a couch was fixed up for the sick boy, the rest of the group sleeping on the benches until bedding could be procured and more comfortable arrangements made. In a few days Mr. Dykeman was taken sick and it was soon evident that he, too, had the dread disease. Then the county health officers stepped in and quarantined the school house and its occupants. A. S. Fordman was the only man about the place able to do anything and he was suffering from the effects of a carbuncle on his knee upon which an operation had been performed a few days before.

The cattle, among which were 28 milch cows, were at the home place on 1 7. Twice Mr. Fordham went over and milked the entire number, but the milk could not be sold, and must be poured out. Mr. Andrew Pflaum kindly volunteered to take the animals and care for them. Fordham now gave his entire attention to the sick ones in the school house. The needed groceries were obtained at Mr. Frick's store at Glen. To get the supplies needed Fordham would go to a spot near the store where he could be seen and wait until some one came to the door. He then made his wants known and retreated to a safe distance, when the articles wanted had been brought out and placed where he could get them, he would pick them up and go back to the school house. This continued day after day. The sick child began slowly to recover, but the sick man was evidently getting worse. Then the other little boy was taken ill. On the 15th of May Mr. Dykeman died. S. T. Leeds, H. A. Frick, John Pflaum, August Miers and Dr. Smith came for the body and laid it away in Pleasant Hill cemetery. The boys recovered and at length the quarantine was raised, the bedding and all articles used in the school house burned or fumigated, the building cleaned and the two old people stepped forth, destitute of all personal property, but rich in the consciousness that they had done their best. They still own the S half of 17, which is one of the many good tracts in Logan township. The old veteran and his wife now live in Wessington Springs, in a house of their own which by hard work they have bought and built, little by little and paid for. The house on 17 was not rebuilt.

I he east half of 18 has had numerous owners. One of them was Henry McElwain, now of Wessington Springs, who made substantial improvements. Then it passed into the hands of a man named Carlson, then Mahnke, then W. T. McConnell, who last spring sold it to Mr. Bayne. At the time of my visit Mr. Bayne was hard at work getting moved on to the place and settled.

The SE of 18, the SW of 17, the NW of 20 and the NE of 19 were all tree claims, making a square 640 acres of timber culture entries, but not a tree is in sight.

On the NW of 21, adjoining the school section A. P. Pflaum, son of Andrew Pflaum, has resided since 1904. This was the homestead of C. C. Meyer, who made proof for it. It was swept by the prairie fire that destroyed so much property in Logan, Crow and Pleasant townships on the 28th of April, 1899. A loan company foreclosed a mortgage that Meyers had given and which, at the time of ^foreclosure amounted to $700. Mr. Pflaum purchased it from the company for $400. Today it could not be bought for $3200. A new house and barn, a good well, 90 acres in cultivation and excellent crops have placed the young man in comfortable circumstances. He was one of the boys that passed the night of January 12th, 1888, in Pleasant Hill school house with the other pupils of John Wicks' school. He has a vivid recollection of that storm.

On September 1st, 1906, Mr. Solomon Radke came up from Yankton county, S. D., and took possession of the S half of 8, which he had recently purchased of S. C. Scott, speculator, of Lyons, Iowa. The improvements are good, the buildings being located near the center of the section on the NW corner of the SE quarter. One hundred and forty acres are in cultivation, the balance is in pasture. In the early '80s the SE of this section was taken by W. J. Burnette as a pre-emption, and a man named Boyce took the SW quarter as a tree claim. Neither Burnette nor Boyce perfected their entries for the land they had taken in this section and later John Pfafif filed a homestead entry for the SE quarter and a preemption for the SW.

From Radke's farm I rode and led the wheel alternately in a northeasterly direction until I was again on the old trail from Waterbury to Kimball. I went north between sections 4 and 5, certainly a fine country. The approach down the hills from the south to Crow Creek bridge is no better than from the north. At one time, when the bridge was built this was one of the best traveled roads of the west part of the county. It was the outlet for all that region to Kimball twenty-five miles south. But that was before the railroad came to Wessington Springs. Now the main course of travel is eastward and this old thoroughfare but dimly visible in the rank growth of grass. At the bridge I stopped a few minutes to catch a mess of fish and then climbing the hill north of the bridge I rode on to the old townsite of Waterbury again. I was hungry and the fish were fine.

One morning in the latter part of October, I was at the Waterbury P. O. and finding the wind favorable, determined to take a run down into Crow Lake township. I followed the star route that is traversed by Jehial - commonly known as "Hiley" Barnum every day in the year. Numerous small tin boxes, each decorated with the name of some farmer, were stationed along the way. On some of them the little tin "flag" was standing up to notify the carrier that some mail was there for him to take. About 20 families have boxes on this io-mile route, where they receive and deliver their letters and papers each day.

When a great convenience is new people express their appreciation by saying, "thank you," but when it gets old enough to be common they show their sense of the favor only by saying " - you" when a miss accurs. The veteran carrier, who travels this route has for 21 years been doing the work that Uncle Sam requires of his servants in this line of duty. Yet he is only one of those who day after day, summer and winter, in sunshine or in storm, have traveled the bare Dakota prairies since the postal stations were established here so long ago. Mr. Barnum, of Crow Lake, Howard Pope, now retired from the service, and Mr. Spayn, who for years has carried the Wessington . Springs-Miller mail, have each gone over miles enough in their work for the government, to have encircled the globe a half dozen times, and all that in Jerauld and adjoining counties. Many other men attract far greater attention in positions more spectacular, and called more honorable, yet not one in ten thousand of them render such useful service to the public, or receive so little compensation or honorable mention as the faithful carriers who make life so much more pleasant in the prairie home.

On the NE of 1, in Logan township, Johanan H. Riegal, a splendid fellow, well known to all the early settlers of the southwest part of the county, settled in 1883. He remained until about 1900 and then sold out and went to Pennsylvania, but has not prospered by the change. The place is now owned by J. W. Goffin, who lives on the old C. S. Barber farm in Pleasant township.

Across the road east and I was on section 6 of Crow Lake township. Of the first settlers of this section B. F. Drown, on the NE; Robt. Heble on the SE ; Joseph Gibisch on the SW and Frank Kaas on the NW. none are there. The land is of excellent quality but they seemed to think they could do better elsewhere and sold for a trifle of what the land is now worth. Three quarters of this section, the S half' and NW quarter, are now owned by H. B. and J. B. Reese, two brothers who have operated one of the best paying farms in the county during the past four years. In addition to the land above mentioned they have the west half of 5 in Crow Lake and a few quarters across the line in Pleasant, making two sections in all. Of this farm the SW of 5 was taken in June, 1882, by C. S. Jacobs, now of Wessington Springs, who came here from his birth place, Victor, Ontario county, N. Y. He returned to New York that summer, but the western fever had him and he has it yet. The next June he came back to the territory and filed a pre-emption on the NW of the same section. He built a house near the northwest corner of his preemption and began the life of a pioneer. In building the house on his pre-emption a few little articles dropped between the studding and were not noticed. This summer, in repairing the building Mr. Reese brought forth a Victor, (N. Y.) newspaper, dated March, 1884; a gold plated harness buckle and a stamping outfit. They were of interest only because of the length of time they had lain there. The house has been enlarged until it is now sufficiently commodious for the help required to push the work on so large a farm. Some idea of the work done by the present owners can be formed from the fact that when they took possession of the farm four years ago there were but 35 acres on the whole tract that had been in cultivation the previous year, and their first crop of small grain, all told, was but 390 bushels. This year they cultivated 450 acres of which 70 acres was planted to corn. This they were husking at the time of my visit and the quantity and quality were excellent. The crop of small grain this season, as it came frorfi the machine, was 7000 bushels. Three hundred acres are in pasture, where 120 head of cattle have grazed during the summer. Half a hundred hogs woyild be ready ior market in a short time. The place has that evidence of prosperity that makes it noticeable, even to a man on a wheel. H. B. Reese came here from Yankton county in 1904, while J. B. Reese was for some time the pastor of the Congregational church at Wessington Springs. It was during his pastorate that a church was established at Fauston, in Pleasant township, and also in Anina township.

The east half of section 5 was held by Joseph Gibisch and Thos. H. Null. The latter began life as a Dakota pioneer on the NE of this section. Reading law was more congenial, however, than farming. Among other things that he had for amusement and profit was a dozen hens that he purchased from a young couple that had become homesick and were going back to Michigan. A few days after getting the fowls. Null took a dozen eggs and carried them to Waterbury, Henry Herring saw the eggs and inquired if they were fresh. Null replied, "very." Herring bought them and took them home. A few weeks afterward Herring again met Null in town and complained that the eggs were not good. He said he had set them under a hen but not one had hatched. Null replied, 4<I couldn't help it." Null soon after sold the land and entered upon his career as a lawyer. Since then all farming operations have been by proxy.

From the Reese farm I ran south, using the coaster brake most of the way until I reached the southwest corner of section 8. Here were two more mail boxes, one bearing the name of Thos. Paulson and Christ Sorenson, the other Christ Aistrup.

In making this run I had passed the S half of 7, taken by Robt. and Sam Hible when the rush of settlers came in 1883, giving them, with SE of 6, three as good quarters of land as the sun shines on. But like many others the Hibles never realized what a gold mine was lying among the grass roots, waiting for some one to turn it up and feather the treasure. The SE of 7 was Artel's tree claim, while the SW quarter was held by Anton Rendl.

Of the men who received section 8 from the government, not one remains in the county. Joseph Vanous had a pre-emption on the NE quarter and Matt Ruppert the same on the NW. The SW of 8 was Reeve's tree claim. This quarter is now owned by Mr. Fagerhaug, who came here three years ago from near Irene, in Yankton county and purchased the W half and the SE quarter of this section. The last mentioned quarter was a pre-emption claim held by John Klaker. Mr. Fagerhaug has evidently discovered the aforesaid gold mine and is working it to good advantage. He is not alone in the discovery, however, for all the new settlers in this neighborhood seem to have made the same find. It is being successfully worked by Mr. I. Moen, who came in last spring from Yankton county and began to open up a farm on the old D. R. Hughes quarter, the NW of 17. Across the road west from him Mr. Christ Sorenson, also from Yankton county, certainly knows how to mine the golden stream from the black soil. All this section of country is rolling prairie, fertile in the extreme. The new settlers are not of the "get-rich-quick" kind, but are going at work right on their new possessions.

Many of the newspapers of the old territorial days, 25 years ago, cautioned the settlers of that day that the most productive soil was from 8 to 10 inches below the surface. They were laughed at by some as "newspaper farmers" and their advice ignored. One farmer in Crow township took a few turns on the sod with a pulverizer, sowed some flax seed and harvested ten bushels to the acre. What was the sense of turning up ten inches of dirt when such results could be obtained by just tickling the bosom of mother earth with a pulverizer without plowing at all? Until very recently it was a common thing for farmers to "burn off" the stubble and weeds of a preceding crop and on the ground so cleared "put in" the grain with a pulverizer and harrow. In fact I have known land to be ''farmed" seven years in succession with but one plowing. One old farmer remarked that "people will some times get a crop here in spite of themselves."

But my wires must have got crossed, for I have been talking a long ways from the SW of 8 - 106 - 66. Near the southwest corner of this quarter a good substantial school house is located, well protected from prairie fires by a cultivated field. Arrangements have been made for a church and cemetery near the school house by the Lutheran denomination which has a society organized here. The lot will be surrounded by a woven wire fence, the material for which is already on the ground. Near the school housfc stands a horse stable for the use of those who ride to school. This school house is one of the few in the county that is kept locked.

At the corner by the school house I turned east and passed the old home of Wm. Shultz that joins the school section on the west. On the north side of 1 6 is section 9, .where John Vanous, James Oounscel and George Deindorfer held government land with the rest of the early settlers. Mr. Deindorfer took the E half of the E half of the section and another strip a mile long on the south side of section 10. One of these strips he took in June ' 82 and the other in the spring of 1883. In the spring of 1883 he was a candidate for the position of postmaster at White Lake, relying to a great extent upon his record as a veteran of the Civil war. His popularity was attested by a petiton containing between 400 and 500 signatures, but politics controlled in those days and he was not sufficiently identified with the controlling faction. Mr. Deindorfer has sold his land and now lives in Wessington Springs. That part of his land which was in section 9 is now owned by Mr. B. Sailer, but is being rented by S. Sorenson.

At the northeast corner of the school section I turned south following the stage route toward Crow Lake. On my left was the home of R. Y. Hazard, established nearly 26 years ago, before the affairs of Jerauld county had begun to take definite shape. To him more than to any other man is due the good work done in establishing the school system of the county, for he was the man selected by the first board of county commissioners on the first day of their first session to get the schools started. So Well and so conservatively was the work done that, though nearly all of the townships issued bonds, there is today but one township in the county that has bonds outstanding and those are held by the state school fund. Mr. Hazard's land comprises the NE quarter and the N half of the NW quarter of the section. The S half of the NW quarter of this section was held by Anna Daum, the SW quarter by August Bachmore, while Chris Daum had the SE quarter as a tree claim.

South of the Bachmore quarter is the NW of 22, a quarter owned for several years by Joseph O'Brien, now of Wessington Springs. One of the first branding committees appointed by the first board of commissioners at the instance of the stockmen of the county, a member of the first school board of Crow Lake township, always possessed of a lively interest in politics, Mr. O'Brien is probably as well known as any man in the county.

Section 21, once held by James H. Baker, Albert Allyn, E. L. Sawyer and Fanny Heintz is now embraced in one farm owned by G. A. Gray of Coleridge, Neb. To section 21 Mr. Gray has added as a part of his farm the W half of 27, the E half of 28 and also the NE 40 acres of the SE of 28. This gives him a continuous body of land from the school section, 16, to the town of Crow Lake. A new house and barn have been built near the northeast corner of 21, and at the time of 'my trip a foundation had been built and lumber was being hauled for a new house in the old town. Of the land owned by Mr. Gray in 27, the S half of SW quarter was at one time owned by Dr. Melcher, the N half of the SW quarter and the SW of the NW quarter* by A. M. Allyn, and the SE of the NW and the N half of the NW quarter by Frank Broz. That lying in section 28 was a part of A. M. Allyn's tree claim.

Approaching Crow Lake on this road, the country lying along the south shore comes into view first. A mile away is the grove on the Frank Spinier tree claim, probably the first piece of cultivated land in the township. Spinier didn't stay long. The old tree claim is now owned by Vaurin Dusek, who took the land on the opposite side of the lake in the fall of 1882 and has lived there ever since.

On top of the hill, northwest of the old town, I dismounted and stood beside the wheel a few moments to catch a glimpse of the quarter of a century that has gone speeding past.

Off across the valley is the old home of Dr. Melcher, now tenantless and surrounded by tall weeds. The farm upon which it stands is comparatively level and is one of the most fertile in the county. The road leading from the deserted house to the village is plainly visible, though used but little at present as compared with the days when Melcher, Allyn, McGlashan and Alward were trying to make the town one of the important points of the county. A walk over this level road, during the summer time was a daily event for the doctor, always accompanied by his little daughter, Anina, for whom he named one of the townships of the county when he was a member of the first board of county commissioners.

The road, as traveled by Mr. Melcher and Anina, led from the farm house to McGlashan's store, where the post office was located, on the east side of the street. Occasionally he would stop at the store kept by Vessey Bros., on the west side of the street.

At the point on the hill where I first caught sight of the Melcher house the lake became also visible over a good part of the southwest corner. The lake covers 700 acres and at the time the early settlers came it was in places from ten to twelve feet in depth. They believed it never had been and never would be dry. When Mr. Peter Barrett, an older settler of the country, told Dr. Melcher that he had driven across the lake, and with a shovel had dug down two feet in hope of finding water for his team, but was disappointed, the doctor replied that "surely he must be mistaken in the lake."

A number of crafts of different styles floated on the lake in those days and boating was a pleasant and common pastime. The appearnce of the body of water then was not the same as now. There were no rushes, and the tall grass that now almost hides the water over a large portion of it, did not mar the beauty of the lake. It wras a broad sheet of clear sparkling water.

One warm, summer day, when old Crow Lake was a shimmer of liquid lovliness Dr. Melcher took his little daughter, then but two years old, for a boat ride. The doctor was not a most skillful boatman, and in some manner the little craft was upset. For a minute there was extreme danger. His eyesight was just verging on the blindness that soon after prevented his moving about without assistance, and it was more by the sense of feeling than seeing that he was enabled to rescue the little girl from the water. The lake where the accident occurred was about five feet deep, and the shore fully two hundred yards away. He held the child in his arms a few minutes until she had recovered from her fright and then placing her upon his shoulder he made his way towards the shore. He came out of the adventure safely, and it is doubtful if he was at any time as badly scared as were some of the neighbors who saw the accident from a distance.

Off to the right from the hill top on which I stood the old Mentzer ranch buildings were plainly visible. The buildings are on the south side of the valley of Smith Creek, the natural outlet of Crow Lake. This valley, before it was crossed by fences, afforded a fine course for racing, and was used for that purpose when the people from all over the country celebrated the Fourth of July at the lake in 1887. The racing that day was notable. Boys and girls came in with their ponies from herding cattle and each one was confident his or her pony was the best. One of the ponies was ridden by Mary Detlef. From the top of the hill I could see the whole of the course over which they ran.

The ponies with their riders were ranged up side by side at the west end of the track, a half mile away. I have not been able to learn the names of all the riders. Among them was True Vessey, then a lad of 14 years, who was herding cattle for Jim Weddle.

It was a large and eager throng that gathered on the prairie south of Vessey's store to watch the outcome of the race. The starters could be seen trying to get the little horses in line for a fair start. How long it takes ; one little fellow starts off and has to come back ; then two or three start and are called back; both riders and ponies are anxious to get the advantage of a few feet in the start ; all are off, but the starters shout and yell* "whoa" and all must get back into line again, while the crowd down by the store "wonder what's the matter." Suddenly from the starters, far up the valley, the breathless throng hears the signal word, "go."

They are too far away to tell who has the best of the start, and half the track is covered before the race takes tangible shape to the waiting people, who are already beginning to yell. Then it is seen that Mary and True are in the lead. Nobody cares for those behind ; all interest is centered in the two leaders. Three-fourths of the distance is covered and the boy is half a length ahead. Mary, riding in modern fashion, begins to urge her pony to greater effort, pounding his sides with her bare heels and calling him to go faster. True begins to apply his whip, and under the sting of the quirt his steed gains another half length. Mary has no whip. The goal is but ten rods ahead and the other pony is leading by a length. In desperation she clutches the sun bonnet from her head and using it for a whip seems to make her animal realize how much in earnest she is. His ears drop a little further back, his nose points a little further ahead, his body drops a little closer to the ground, and with a magnificent spurt he carries his little rider into the yelling, frantic throng and over the line a good half neck ahead. How the crowd yelled and jumped and hurrahed! Standing there on the hill it almost seemed I could hear the echoes from those happy celebrators of twenty years ago. Then came the tub races and the egg races, but at length I realize that the October air is getting chilly and so I get on the wheel and coast down to the old Mc- Glashan store, now kept by his grandson, Harry Bogardus, where I obtain good lodging for the night. The balance of the celebration will be told next week.

The town of Crow Lake was platted at the southwest corner of the body of water after which it was named. Since the settlement of Crow Lake township there have been two lakes in the same hollow, the old and the new. Old Crow Lake, the one that was there when the white people came, wholly disappeared in 1893 and nothing was left to show where it had been, but the hollow, the town and the name. The hollow was filled again in 1897, but it has never had the same clear, bright appearance that characterized the old lake.

It was to the bank of the lake near the town that the crowd gathered on the Fourth of July, 1887, to see the tub race. Ernest and Alex Vessey and another young man whose name I have not learned, were the contestants.

Three common wooden wash tubs were obtained from one of the stores and everything made ready for the race. Ernest Vessey, never a man of great size was still smaller, when he was young, and this proved of advantage to him in the contest. His two opponents, being too large to get into the tubs had to lie across them, while Ernest sat like a Turk on the bottom of his little circular craft.

The race began. Ernest's position made a ballast for his vessel that enabled him to keep it steady while he worked it through the water. As soon as the tubs were well started Ernest began splashing water in the faces and eyes of his opponents, at the same tirpe pushing himself well to the front. His opponents could not retaliate without upsetting. Their only course was to get out of reach of the flying water, and while they were moving sideways Ernest was going straight toward the pole that marked the end of the race. The fun was great and so was the cheering when the little fellow won the prize.

Then came the egg race. The arrangement for this contest consisted of placing a dozen eggs ten feet apart in a line extending from a starting point. There being three contestants, three lines were formed. The runners were required to go out from the starting point and bring in the eggs, one at a time, and place them on the ground. To win was to bring in all the eggs first and have the fewest broken ones in the pile. Ernest and True Vessey and Chas. Detlef were in this race. It was mainly a matter of speed and dexterity. So close was the race that all three of the runners were going in with the last egg at the same time. The crowd had done a vast deal of yelling that day but they had yells enough left to wake the echoes from all the surrounding hills when Charley Detlef placed his last egg by the starting pole first, and was declared the winner.

Then came some foot races and other sports, the celebration closing with fireworks in the evening. It was a jolly day for every one, so much so, in fact, that it was repeated the next year.

I had come to Crow Lake to get the school and civil township records. Harry Bogardus, being the clerk for both organizations, I was enabled to examine the books .without further traveling.

It was while searching these records for whatever might be of interest that I discovered the origin of the South Dakota Township Fireguard law. At the annual town meeting held on the first day of March, 1892, S. H. Melcher proposed this plan for Crow Lake township, in all respects the same is that imbraced in the Cleveland bill that passed the legislature the next winter. The plan was not adopted fully until the next year when a tax of ten mills was voted to carry it into effect. Having completed the examination of the records I spent a day looking about the old town and vicinity.

From 1893 to 1897 Crow Lake was as dry as the proverbial "powder house"- - or rather the hollow where the old lake had been - and during those years a well traveled road ran east straight across the valley. 1 followed the old road from Bogardus' store to the bank of the lake and looking off across the water an open way through the grass and tall rushes was plainly visible, though water from two to ten feet in depth has covered the old road during the past twelve years.

This like the other old trails is fenced up, now, only one of the crosscountry roads being still in use. There is nothing that more effectually impresses one with the thought that he and things about him are growing old, than the sight of an old road with a fence across it. This possibly had something to do with the old common law road by prescription. That fence cuts the old off from the new. Beyond it lies the great field of memory. It was this that caused Gault to write to his brother in the stanzas of that beautiful poem "Twenty Years Ago."

Many other changes, besides the old roads have occurred. The house once occupied by Jack Vessey, the resident partner of the firm of Yessey ^Albert, has been moved to the Anton Reindl farm on section 20. The old store is now a sheep barn ; the building that was once the office of the Crow Lake "Homesteader" and the residence of its editor, Mr. Pooley, is now some where in Buffalo county ; the school house that stood on the west side of the street has been moved to the northeast corner of the township ; the frame building with its sod addition, at one time the village restaurant, is now a stable, but minus the sod addition. I spent the night with Mr. Barnum, the mail carrier, in the house built by A. M. Allyn, the first settler in the town, and where Mrs. W. R. Annis, now of Viola township, taught the first school in the old village. The old blacksmith shop of Fred Wood was moved to Wessington Springs. The old store building and residence of J. T. McGlashan is still where he built it, has just received a new coat of paint and contains a stock of goods that proves a great convenience to the people who go there for their mail and groceries.

Appendix

The following' articles belong- in this volume, though not history in the strict sense of the term. The first - 'The Evening Glow" - is a beautifully told story of early life in Wessington Spring, the characters in which will be readily recognized by all old settlers. The author, Mrs. Maude Campbell Cotton, of Lake Bluff, Chicago, is a daughter of Rev. J. G. Campbell, for many years a resident of Jerauld county.