=====================Page 33 ===========================
Breaking Sod On The Prairies - Taber
(The Following Is A Reference To Hughes County In This Book)
Behind the little village, which we learned was named Blunt,
massive hills rose one over the other. The road seemed endless, as we
wended our way upward to the summit of hills that, following the
Missouri river, spread eastward until merged into the prairies.
When we reached the top, we found ourselves facing a country
almost as flat as a table, which extended north and east as far as we
could see. We had no trouble in following the road, as it was the only
mark of man or beast in evidence. Not a house, not a barn was in sight;
not a furrow of plowed land. Mile after mile we drove, and hour after
hour!
Often, we would stop and get out of the buggy to rest and to pick
prairie flowers; blossoms that we never before had seen. But what
interested us most were the many buffalo skeletons, laid out, as it
were, to bleach like white sheets upon the green prairies, mute evidence
of an almost extinct form of life. Some of these skeletons were almost
intact; the teeth in the jaws were unloosened, while great mats of
coarse hair still clung to the skulls between the horns.
At one stop in particular, the feeling that perhaps the foot of
white man never had trodden these virgin plains took possession of us
and we felt that we were on holy ground. The prairie grass, swaying in
the summer wind gave the wide expanse of the country semblance of a vast
ocean, the waves of which never were at rest. I trembled with fear at
the immensity of it all and wondered what this strange country held for
us. I seemed in danger of losing ann sense of personal identity, merged,
as it were, into the eternal vastness of space.
The Besancons
H. O. Besancon was one of the real pioneers of Hughes county,
coming west from New York in 1883 for his wife’s health, and locating at
Harrold where he established the Harrold Star, a live paper that
contributed its full share toward attracting settlers to this county.
Mrs. Besancon did not regain her health and died that fall, being the
first woman buried at Harrold.
In 1893 Mr. Besancon moved to Blunt and bought the Advocate from
W. S. Ingham who had been preceded as publisher by George Schlosser. He
continued as publisher of the Advocate until his death in 1915, when the
work was taken up by his son, C. E. Besancon who continued as editor and
publisher until 1927 when he was succeeded by Harold Felhaber, and the
following year C. E. and his wife (formerly Fern Dristy) and their
children, Betty and Clark, moved to Rapid City where Claire has since
been engaged in commercial printing until the first of this year when he
became deputy auditor of Pennington county.
H. O. Besancon married Mrs. Lucinda Helm in 1886, and a few years
==========================Page 34================================
after her death married, in 1908, Mrs. Mary Holmes, a pioneer woman who
located in Hyde county among the earliest settlers. Mrs. Besancon spent
the last six years of her life at the State Soldiers’ Home at Hot
Springs, from where she frequently visited the Besancon home in Rapid
City. She passed away March 17, 1936.
There were few projects of a community nature that required
attention in the early days of Harrold and Blunt that did not receive an
impetus from the ready pen and the helping hand of H. O. Besancon.
The Barbecue
(Written by Regina Hoefer from information given her by Mrs. E. F.
Mercer)
In 1885 during the boom days in Blunt a big celebration was held
at which one of the main attractions for the interested immigrants from
the East was an Indian War Dance. Over fifty Sioux braves took part in
the dance and while many of the warriors wore white and Indian scalps on
their belts they were not on the war path. As pay for the part they took
in the celebration the Indians were given a beef by the town people.
After killing the anima,l the Indians cooked it and partook of the
feast.
The Unfinished Railroad
(Written by Mary Schroer from information given her by Mrs. E. F.
Mercer)
For a few years during the “Eighties” Blunt was thrilled with the
prospect of having a second railroad build a line through the city. A
group of men, believed by some to be carpetbaggers, organized the
Duluth, Pierre, and Black Hills Railroad Company to build a railroad
from Duluth through Aberdeen, Blunt and to Pierre. The company hoped to
get money and grants of land from the United States government. The
grade was actually completed most of the way from Aberdeen to Pierre but
no rails were ever laid, either because the boom broke or the road was
given up. The old grade still stands, rising in some places like long
hills behind which stock find kindly shelter from wintry winds, and
making in other places deep cuts in the hills.
The Garver Family
The Garver family came to Dakota and to Blunt, May 26, 1883. The
morning of the 27th, snow fell and during the day we had several inches,
which was rather a dismal welcome to strangers in a strange land. We
obtained a quarter of land as our preemption two miles north of town. It
was covered up by another settler who intended to homestead it later. We
had a two-room house and a good well and altogether we felt very
prosperous. We knew full well what pioneering meant, though we never
suffered, we had hardships to endure.
=====================Page 35=======================
Blunt was a busy little town. All lines of business were well
represented. We had near neighbors on almost every quarter of land;
water was a great draw-back - many had to haul it a long distance.
Our land was near the Sully county line, and the mail route over
which all freight was hauled to Sully and Potter counties.
We were all happy and contented. Our chief enjoyment was going to
town Saturday and going to Sunday school in a rural school house. We
were not blessed with an abundance of wealth. We were just one great
family willing to help each other in every way possible. Times were hard
and trying.
We could usually raise vegetables. We called the little purple top
turnips, Dakota apples, and ate them with great relish. We were never
annoyed by Indians; it was a rare treat to come to town the 4th of July
when they would put on some kind of entertainment for us.
-As dictated to Robert Tjomsland, a student
Adventures of William Hopkins
William Hopkins arrived in Hughes County Mar. 12, 1883. Blunt at
this time was a very small town with only three buildings and one small
tree. Two buildings were owned by N. E. Westover, one he used as a
storage place for a small amount of lumber which he sold to settlers,
the other was a post office. The other building, making the third in
town, was owned by “Ol” Riggle, and he used it as a drug store and
hotel, if you wished to sleep in a chair, on the counter, or on the
floor. Mr. Hopkins wanted a place to sleep, finding all the best places
on the counter and in the chairs occupied, he had to sleep on the floor.
In the morning he had a breakfast which consisted of a piece of beef and
a slice of bread; he paid a dollar for bed and breakfast.
When Mr. Hopkins came he brought 2 mules, 1 cow, 1 horse, and 2
chickens. As he had to go to Pierre for lumber to build his house, he
hired a young man to take his cow and horse to his brother’s ranch three
miles north of Blunt. Taking his two mules and a wagon he started on a
two day’s journey to Pierre for lumber.
When he came back, he started at once to build a dug out. First he
dug a hole 14 feet square and 3 feet deep. Over this he raised a sod top
and relined the whole house with the lumber. When he had completed the
walls and ceiling, he had only a few boards left; so he covered the
floor with straw and rag rugs. One heavy door was the means of entering,
and one window high in the wall, was the only way of lighting.
The Hopkins family had to go to Pierre to obtain food and
clothing. When money became short, Mr. Hopkins rented his mules to Mr.
White who was breaking sod between Pierre and Blunt. He received seven
dollars and twenty cents a day for their use.
In 1885 there were many wild animals: badgers, deer, antelope,
coyotes, wild cats, and other animals.
=======================Page 36========================
Very early in the morning on May 5, 1887, Mr. Hopkins and Arden
Shipley started in a wagon, drawn by mules, to the Black Hills in search
for a better place to settle. When they were just a few miles from
Blunt, a terrible blizzard came up before they could get to shelter,
they turned their wagon over and lay under it.
The blizzard left so much snow that the crude road to the Black
Hills was blockaded; so they returned to Blunt.
-Extracts from Evelyn Nesheim, Alma Trueper, and Ellen Nesheim
Experiences of Ed Carey
In the fall of 1882, Mr. Carey brought his family and worldly
possessions to Blunt. At that time, Blunt consisted of a depot. Mr.
Carey and his family solved their difficulty by sleeping all night in
the box car containing their furniture. The next morning they went to
Harrold. There they lived in a dugout. Nevertheless, the Careys called
this “home” for three months. They built a new home southeast of Blunt -
a sod house with a wooden roof and real windows! They constructed a
rickety framework of 2 x 4’s and built a roof of planks, extending it
over the sides. Then they piled blocks of sod along the walls upward to
reach the roof leaving space for windows. This was much better than a
dugout. It was comparatively warm, although Mr. Carey tells of how they
had to twist hay for fuel.
Mr. Carey, although he did not actually fight the Indians, was
thoroughly frightened by them. One day, word came to him that Indians
were near, holding a series of war dances. Mr. Carey took his wife and
children and as many personal belongings as possible and stayed
concealed in a nearby dugout overnight. Fortunately, the Indians didn’t
molest them, but their nearness to the wild redskins had caused terror
to reign in the Carey family for a while.
Kerosene lamps were not very common and the Carey family had a
device that they used in making candles; they would kill a beef and melt
the tallow then pour it into the device used, and in this way, they
could make nine candles at one time.
Mr. Carey tended fifty head of cattle for a man in Sioux City;
after a short time he started into the cattle business for himself; he
shipped in over four hundred head of cattle. He let them graze on land
that is now part of Blunt.
The Carey children received their high school education in Blunt,
and all of them attended college.
Mr. Carey bought a big house in town, and the Carey family moved
into this home about 1920. It was in this home that Mrs. Carey passed
away.
Grace Tennyson and Laura Albertus
When Mr. Fred Pigney Moved to Blunt
In the year of 1885 Fred Pigney moved to Blunt. He came to the
city by train. Blunt had been settled two years.
======================Page 37=============================
A great amount of snow fell in 1888. There was so much that the
trains were unable to run. It was impossible to travel by horse and
wagon. Whenever anyone wished to go any place he had to go by horse and
sled. Mail was carried from city to city by the section men. Many people
had to burn hay. Mr. Pigney, however, was fortunate enough in having
coal to burn.
What Happened to J. W. Pyne
J. W. Pyne cane from Danville, Ill. To Blunt in 1883. While here
he met with many hardships, finally being forced to make his
living by putting up hay.
Later he moved to Canning but here the problem of earning a living
was not much easier than in Blunt. However, in 1884 he secured a
contract from George Harris giving him the right to build a first class
flour mill. Because there was no power to run his mill, he had to build
a dam. This dam was built near a large spring which furnished the water
power. John Kramer shoveled the first dirt for the structure. In order
to complete this, it was necessary to tunnel about 400 feet through a
hill. This was done entirely by hand. The dirt being carried out of the
tunnel with wheelbarrows. When the mill was completed in 1885, it was a
substantial frame structure, five stories high. It remained in operation
2 months. One night a severe rain storm loosened the bluff and a
landslide destroyed the mill. Estal Pyne was in the building when it
collapsed but escaped with a few minor scratches.
In the place of the flour mill Pyne built a small feed mill which
operated several years and finally was struck by lightning.
Pyne left Canning in 1893 to go to Leavensworth, Kansas, where he
died destitute. -Russell Samco.
[photo - Ree Pottery]
===========================Page 38========================
Childhood of Blunt Lady Recalls Yankton Capitol
Mrs. Anna Marsh, one of Blunt’s oldest and finest citizens,
relates that her grandfather, Melancthon Hoyt, built the building at
Yankton which housed the first meeting of the Territorial Council which
was held in 1862. It was used as a meeting place of this group until the
first capitol building was erected. It was also used as a residence, for
school classes and church services.
From the picture she has, the building would not appear to be over
20x28 feet, a story and a half high, with a small leanto built on the
rear.
Mrs. Marsh, then 5 years of age, arrived in Yankton in the spring
of 1865, making the trip from Sioux City by boat. She recalls with
amusement that the trip took several days. One reason for the snail-like
speed was that the owner of the boat was under contract with the
government at $100 per day and was in no great hurry to terminate the
journey.
Dr. William Jayne, family physician for Abraham Lincoln, was the
first territorial governor of Dakota.
L. J. Walker Comes for Two Weeks; Stays 25 Years
Last Saturday night, L. J. Walker completed twenty-five years as
Agent for the Northwestern Railroad. Mr. Walker tells us that when he
came here he was to stay for two weeks and then be sent on to some other
town, but it looks like it has been a long two weeks. We think that Mr.
Walker has set a record for some of the younger men on the road to look
up to and try to better it if they can.
During Mr. Walker’s stay here he has taken active part in all the
activities of the community. He has served on the City Council and at
the present time is the Mayor of Blunt. Two of his children have grown
up and graduated from the local school and are now attending the U. S.
D.
We hope that Mr. Walker and his family will stay in Blunt as long
as he is in service with the Northwestern Railroad and that he will make
this city his home when he retires.
The Advocate joins with Mr. Walker’s many friends in wishing him
many more happy years in Blunt. -Advocate, 1936.
Workmen Demolish Old Hotel, Landmark
The Blunt Advocate - Oct. 1, 1936
Workmen are busy this week tearing down the old Blunt Hotel
building, which is one of the oldest landmarks in Blunt and
incidentally, in Hughes County.
Erected during the ‘land boom’ in 1883, the old hotel building was
among the very first substantially constructed buildings in Blunt.
During the early 80’s this rooming place had the reputation of being one
of the finest along the railroad, offering city accommodations at a
reasonable rate.
======================Page 39=========================
A few years after its erection the Blunt Hotel came under the able
management of A. D. Tilton and it flourished in prosperity up until some
dozen years of the 20th century when railroad travel began to decline.
Year after year saw less patronage until about eight years ago it housed
its last customer, unless for an occasional wayward tramp. Since that
time the effects of time and weather have taken toll on the old landmark
until it had become an eye-sore to Blunt’s main street. The county
having taken title to the property by virtue of tax deed, sold it
recently and the lumber is being salvaged.
See-Back-Agraph
From Blunt Advocate files, Sept. 22, 1883
Locals
The Christianized Indians at the camp meeting in Peoria Bottom
last Sunday partook of the Lord’s Supper and soon after joined in a dog
feast.
The corner stone of the court house at Pierre is to be laid this
afternoon.
The Pierre Recorder says hereafter claim-jumpers will do well to
give Blunt a wide berth.
In the ads we find mention of: Full Suits for $3, $4, and $6.
Sugar 10c per pound, Bacon 10c, Coffee 17c, and so on.
Opening The Opera House
The event in Blunt this week has been the formal opening of
Stebbins’ Opera House Monday by the Peerless Dramatic Company. A grand
Ball followed Tuesday night’s performance.
The dress and manners of the people showed wealth and refinement
with all patrons appearing in full evening dress.
The curtain contains a life size painting of a Roman chariot drawn
by three foaming steeds.
[photo of a prairie dog - An Early Denizen of the Prairie]
==============================Page 40=======================
PIERRE CHRONICLES
City of Pierre
History: Long before Pierre was settled, the site was a playground
and battleground for Indian tribes. First the Arikaras, or Rees, camped
near the river and around the present site of the State Capitol. Then
when the Sioux tribes invaded the region, driving out their
predecessors, the location was again popular. Skeletons of Indians,
together with remains of pottery, implements and arrowheads, have been
found within the city limits.
The grounds of the Government Industrial School for Indians,
bordering the city limits to the S. E., has yielded many relics and
skeletons which are on display in the museum of the State Hist. Society.
[Drawing by Mary B. Giddings - Verendryes Planting Plate in 1743]
===========================Page 41===========================
As early as 1743 the Verendrye expedition looked down upon the
present site of Pierre from the hill above Ft. Pierre on which they
planted the famous Verendrye plate. (East wing, museum of State Hist.
Soc.) The Lewis and Clark expedition passed by in 1804, stopping across
the Missouri River. In 1811 Manuel Lisa, Spanish fur trader, visited the
region; whether he actually camped on the site of Pierre is
controversial.
[photo of monument - Erected by Historical Society and Ft. Pierre
Commercial Club, 1923. Inscription reads, “HERE ON MARCH 30, 1743 THE
VERENDRYES BURIED A LEAD TABLET TO CLAIM THIS REGION FOR FRANCE. THIS
TABLET FOUND FEB. 16, 1913 IS THE FIRST WRITTEN RECORD OF THE VISIT OF
WHITE MEN TO SOUTH DAKOTA. ERECTED BY STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND FT.
PIERRE COMMERCIAL CLUB, 1933”]
Indians: Although families having Indian blood are few within
Pierre, a group of Sioux families live the year around in tents and
improvised shacks near the Indian school (Lewis and Clark trail, S. D.
34, extending S. E. from Capitol). These Indian families have children
in the school and wish to be near them. Lines of “jerked meat” near the
tents may be seen from the highway.
There are 260 boys and girls in the “School for the Sioux,” many
of whom are breeds. Strange cases of hybridizations may be seen there as
occasionally red haired and nearly blonde Indian youths will be found in
attendance.
Early Settlement: The original site of the city of Pierre was once
the squatter’s right claim of Joseph Kirley who, with Napoleon Duchneau,
operated a ferry to carry wagon trains across the river from 1878 to
1880. A double-barrelled shotgun and $1,500 offered by the Chicago,
Northwestern R. R. was received by Kirley for his claim along the river
in 1880. The Kirley family, now living near the Cheyenne
========================Page 42================================
River in Stanley county, still have the breech loading gun. It is in
good condition.
To J. D. Hilger may go the honor of naming Pierre. In the spring
of 1880 Hilger, a resident of Bismarck, N. D., drove by team to Fort
Pierre, already a bustling town on the west side of the river. He had
his lumber and household goods shipped by boat, billed “Pierre on the
east side of the river opposite Ft. Pierre.”
The lumber shipped by the J. D. and Anson Hilger brothers, was
used to build the first frame house on what is now Highland avenue. In
addition to the frame house there were sod huts and a log cabin. The
Hilger residence was used as a clothing store, postoffice, church and
saloon at various times.
On the level bottom land near the river the town grew (Missouri
avenue. The low frame house behind City Hall is an original building.)
Among the “firsts” were Hilger’s clothing store, J. E. Carpenter’s
grocery store, M. P. KinKaid’s bank, the Albright and West lumber yard,
C. W. Richardson’s drug store and a saloon. Two newspapers were also
established in 1880, the Signal and the Dakota Journal. There was no
postoffice for C. J. Haines, first commissioned postmaster, so he used a
house on wheels, drawn by oxen. Three hotels, the Pierre House, Stebbins
and Northwestern, were built to accommodate the settlers, wagon train
crews and adventurers.
With varied rumors flying about where the railroad bridge would be
built, land promoters divided the new city. W. S. Wells, a promoter,
sold lots in what is now East Pierre (east of the Capitol.) A newspaper,
hotel, business district and homes sprung up in East Pierre, opening a
strong rivalry between the two adjacent towns. The Park Hotel (which is
now the old hospital building on Dakota ave.) was a compromise between
the two young towns.
On Nov. 4, 1880 the first train (C & N. W. R. R.) reached Pierre,
bring more homesteaders. Becoming the most westerly railroad point in
the region. Pierre was the center of freighting and passenger activity.
Passengers and freight headed for the Black Hills were transported on
ferry boats across the turbulent Missouri from where four-horse coaches
and long oxen-drawn wagon trains stated daily trips to the Black Hills.
Folklore: Pierre in 1880 was the mecca for bull whackers,
soldiers, gamblers, prospectors, ranchers and settlers. To this frontier
town came such infamous characters as Calamity Jane, Nigger Nell and
Arkansas.
Arkansas, a desperado, twice claimed the spotlight in Pierre’s
colorful history. The bewhiskered cardsharp and gun toter caused
considerable trouble to law abiding citizens in the early ‘80’s. He was
run out of town by the Vigilantes, a volunteer law and order body, but
returned with the announced intention of killing the leader of the
Vigilantes. Arkansas, after being chased by armed men out of a saloon,
hid in the brush near another saloon, waiting his chance for a good
shot. But before his chance came a bullet from a Vigilante’s gun killed
him. After
=========================Page 43==============================
the shooting, members of the self-elected posse took up a collection,
bought Arkansas a black suit and made a wooden coffin. Not until workmen
were excavating the basement for the present Capitol building was
Arkansas more than legend. At that time (1904) an unearthed skull was
identified as that of Arkansas and now reposes in the museum of the
State Hist. Soc.
Another episode of citizens taking the law into their own hands
was enacted in 1885 when Jas. H. Bell was lynched from a flagpole in the
courthouse yard. Bell, a Harrold attorney who was being held in the
county jail for the murder of Forest Small, a rival lawyer, was taken
from his cell by an estimated 40 men. His cries for help were fruitless
and the men calmly hanged him from a ladder leaned against the flagpole.
To expedite the strangulation some of the men pulled on Bell’s arms.
A yarn of how Whiskey Gulch, the wooded ravine north of the
railroad bridge which crosses the river, derived its name has passed
down through the years. When J. D. and Anson Hilger landed their cargo
on the unsettled river bank they immediately set out to look for a claim
on which to take squatter’s rights. Ten-year-old Edward Hilger was left
to guard the household goods in a gulch. The elder Hilgers met Napoleon
Duchneau, N. Hathaway, Joseph Kirley and Hank Lafferty who directed them
to a prospective location. Upon returning to their base of supplies, the
Hilgers discovered that Duchneau, Hathaway and Dutch Mike had visited
them during their absence, sampling a three-gallon keg of whiskey. The
sample called for more and with a gallon apiece, the trio staged a
jamboree in the gulch which became pungently named. A “jungle” in which
tramps and transients cook and sleep under the stars is now located in
the gulch.
Ever since the first frontiersmen came into the region, wearing
boots to protect them from rattlesnakes and the elements, boots and
breeches have been commonly worn by persons whose business or pleasure
takes the into the surrounding hills. Otherwise, except for a few
Indians and cowboys, the manner of dress is the same as that of any
Eastern city.
Development: Following the eventful year of 1880 and spring of ’81
in which the new town was cut off from the rest of the world from mid-
December to late April by heavy snow and resultant floods, the town
developed rapidly. - Federal Writer’s Project, Pierre.
Old Auditorium Talks
By Cyril Van Hise, Jan. 8, 1936
I guess I was created just to be tramped in, for I have stood for
nearly thirty years of tramping and crowding and shoving and surging. I
was built back in 1907, wasn’t much of a building - quite a bit to folks
that lived here then, but wouldn’t rate very high now. The up and coming
business men of that time (respected old timers to you now)
===========================Page 44==========================
had taken up a subscription - I don’t know much about money, but it was
a sizeable amount - seems to me I heard say that Charlie Burke had put
in five hundred - but anyway that’s the way it happened and these fine
fellows built ma and turned me over to the city. I remember the building
- remember it just as well as if it were yesterday - the carpenters
started the floor in the morning - the sun was riding high and the
robins a-twittering in the trees and it was a right happy bunch of young
fellows that was working on me - Louie Hegglund and Frank Smith, and it
seems to me that John Biewer was foreman of the job. I recall how Tony
Hengel used to come over every day and inspect the job - had two little
boys tagging him - think one of them has grown into that onery Al that’s
on the city commission, and Ed was about two jumps behind him - don’t
guess the rest of the bunch had showed up yet.
Well, I was finished in the fall of nineteen seven - all painted
and dolled up like Pluster’s ash mule, and did the gang put on a house
warming for me - my - it sure was a good thing those carpenters had
spiked me together good - called it the Gas Belt Exposition - it run big
to parades, carnivals, a big stage show inside me, with agricultural
exhibits all over the place (crops were plentiful them days) - ask
Charlie Anderson about it - there were two or three of these Gas Belt
affairs - seems something like that - I remember they had four dray
loads of instruments and Hank Bloom nearly had a runaway when he was
carting them up the back way and left his team standing below.
Then there’s been soldiers parked inside of me almost since I can
remember - last winter, you know, the CCC boys had to spend a few nights
on my floors when the river was up - but old Battery "C" - say, I know
every inch of that outfit - I can tell Archie Whiteman or Cocky Miller
or McPherson the minute they set a foot on my floor - then there’s the
white collar bunch from the state-house - isn’t it Dennison and Deweley,
or Duel (I associate that one with a French breakfast party) and good
Skipper Scurr and Dr. Stout and all the gang that used to loaf around
inside me and tell stories and smoke - I really liked to house that
bunch - I’m American and patriotic clear thru to the last shingle nail.
Then there was them Democratic Rallies and the Republican Rallies
- I could see right through those boys - after there were no more jobs
they were like everyone else - that old party stuff was all front -
right down inside those men and women were plain human beings and good
old South Dakota stock at that - I liked ‘em but didn’t like the talks
they made and didn’t mean.
I couldn’t write this stuff without mentioning one of the very
finest things that has ever taken place inside me - course I remember
some mighty fine musicals, and exhibits, and one thing and another, but
allowing for all that - the McClure Christmas Parties - say, when about
five hundred youngsters get inside me at that happy time of the year and
start running around and really enjoying themselves waiting for
===========================page 45==========================
Santa Claus and Otto Linstad and Mrs. Bronte and a few more good souls
to start dishing out the candy bags - well, I can just lay down happy,
it was worth the chips.
You know, when you look back - it’s been a mighty nice time - I
think of the days when they used to heat me with wood and coal stoves -
then a nice heating plant about the time Bill Pringle put those heavy
timbers in my roof and raised particular thunder with my whole setup -
and then a couple of years ago when his Honor (the best mayor that ever
drew a breath) got me all fitted out with an oil burner that doesn’t
need any dinner bell or anything else - you can just sit down and close
your doors and rest - yes, but then that’s all right, but just when I
was beginning to enjoy it all - I’VE BEEN CONDEMNED!
That trial - those heart-rending court scenes when Ken Scurr fired
the whole Legion post to get busy and help condemn me - me, the Pierre
Auditorium - who has set back here and served and served and served
until I’m blistered and cracked and weak and wobbly - but still serving,
Mind You! - condemned to die - I can see that city commission - my jury
- passing on my case - Godfrey Roberts, the dirty pup, saying
“Gentlemen, it’s time that old building was wrecked and a modern
structure erected that will be a credit to the city of Pierre” (and
under his breath, “and the city commission”) - and Ran Bagby waking up
long enough to say, “I’m for it!” - and Step Stephens bellowing out a
last admonition to the jury before it passed, without deliberation, the
sentence that condemns me to the last resting place of all old
buildings.
But there’s just one thing - buildings is queer things, and you’ve
heard a lot about this reincarnation stuff - reincarnated, yet, I’ll
come back - they’ve been holding dances every year with me for the last
twenty-eight or nine years, and every one has been a humdinger except
that time way back when the blacksmith shop caught fire about the time
the dance was half over and there wasn’t anyone left in the hall
excepting a man who’d lost a crutch - and they didn’t even come back to
shut me up that night. But getting back to what I was saying, Friday
night the firemen are going to hold their fifty-fifth annual ball and
from what they tell me it'’ going to be the last dance or public
gathering of any kind that’s held inside of me - I wish you folks - I’m
speaking especially to the oldtimers, would come down - even if it’s
just for a little while, and take
===========================page 46============================
a last look at me - in a few weeks I’ll be torn down and wrecked to give
way for a youngster, a modernist - the one I’ll be part of - and I do so
want you to remember my last party. Good-bye folks - I’ve liked so well
to serve you.
[photo - Photograph by The Miller Studio --- Pierre $45,000 Auditorium,
Built in 1936]
Capitol Guide Tells Of Past Experiences
Showing visitors about the state house in Pierre is a far cry from
chasing Indians across the prairie, but that’s exactly the case of Gen.
F. Burke O’Brien, 89 years old, once prominent in South Dakota and
Minnesota political circles.
To walk into the lower corridor of the state’s capitol and have
some one tell you that the mild-mannered gentleman who guides you about
the building is approaching the four score and ten mark would sound
something like a gross exaggeration.
Steeped in the hard school of experience, O’Brien is a typical
example of a self-made man, his staunch Scotch-Irish heritage standing
him in good stead. With only three years of schooling to his credit, he
rose to success, climaxed when elected councilman in Minneapolis.
But the span of some 90 years is crammed with many other events.
To begin with, he left home without his parents’ consent at the age of
16 and joined General Sibley on a long trip in pursuit of Indians,
starting some 1,200 miles on foot.
It was near Bismarck that he first saw a person die. An Indian had
been dropped from his horse, a gunshot wound leaving him at the mercy of
his enemy. While still alive white soldiers scalped the helpless brave,
though no word of agony was breathed from his stoic lips. The spectacle
never left O’Brien’s memory and today he can recall the incident as
though it were yesterday.
That was in 1863. The next year he enlisted in the Union army and
served under Gen. A. J. Smith. Through the muck and mire of fettid
Tennessee swamps he followed the colors, fighting side by side with hard
seasoned veterans. Surviving five battles, including the battle of
===============================page 47==========================
[photo - Gen. F. Burke O’Brien]
===============================page 48==========================
Nashville, he stayed during the remainder of the war and was in Alabama
when General Lee surrendered.
The title of general was given him in 1933 when he was elected
commander of the G. A. R. of South Dakota. He is the only living Civil
War veteran in Hughes county and one of less than 40 in the state.
O’Brien shook hands with Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and that year he
voted for him when he was seeking the presidency for the second term.
Besides voting for Lincoln he has voted for 17 other presidents,
doubtless a record that stands unchallenged by any one living today.
Coming to South Dakota in 1905, he worked for the Homestake Mining
Company. His popularity grew and he was elected to the legislature from
Lawrence county in 1909. He has lived in Pierre since 1920 and has
served in several capacities. He was a member of the bonus board, worked
as mail clerk at the state house, helped in the treasurer’s office and
in the cigarette tax department.
Numbered among O’Brien’s acquaintances, are persons from every
walk of life. Once he met the governor of Siberia.
Upon first seeing O’Brien, strangers unfailingly guess his age at
“about 70,” and after talking with him his keenness of wit and memory
for details make them think they have guessed too high. An enviable
record of clean living, coupled with a background of life in the West,
have given him stamina to attain the age that most men never reach.
- From Daily Dakotan, June 4, 1936.
[map - Indian Trails, Military Trails, and Pioneer Trails]
Freighting In The 80’s
Mason Martin, one of the original settlers living here when the
town was but a scattering of log houses and when firearms and whiskey
were considered articles of trade, came to South Dakota in 1880.
============================page 49==========================
The year of Martin’s advent into Dakota territory is recalled by
two events: the coldest, most prolonged siege of winter the state has
experienced and the building of the Chicago and Northwestern railway
into Dakota as far as Pierre.
In December of that year Martin set out for Deadwood with a load
of freight, his chief cargo being about two tons of kerosene. Reaching
the Cheyenne river he was informed that the merchant for whom he was
freighting had offered a $50 bonus if he arrived in Deadwood with his
cargo on a certain day, for the supply of illuminating fuel in the town
had been depleted.
When he arrived with the much-needed source of lighting he said he
never had a chance to carry his cargo into the store. Residents
surrounded his wagon and bought the entire cargo of kerosene at $2 a
gallon.
Martin had left Pierre for Deadwood in December but it was April
when he returned. The pioneer railroad fared little better, he said,
Pierre not having had a train all winter.
- Capital Journal, Dec. 15, 1934.
Old Tree Gone
The big cottonwood tree trunk that stood in front of the Hank
Hausman home on Coteau street, was all cut away today. This has been
dismantled in part for sometime, but today it disappeared. This was a
landmark, being a tree growing in front of the one business house that
was located where it still stands in 1880. Mr. Hausman conducted a
bakery and grocery store there 54 years ago, and this tree was finally
taken down, for fear that its age might result in the tree or heavy
limbs coming down on his building.
- Capital Journal, Dec. 15, 1934
[photo - Photograph by The Miller Studio – St. Mary’s Accredited 100 Bed
Hospital]
St. Mary’s Hospital, Pierre, S. Dak.
Early in 1899, Dr. Delorme W. Robinson, Pierre physician, having
felt for some time the need of a hospital in Pierre, sent out inquiries
to various Catholic Sisterhoods, inviting investigation with a view to
open-
===============================Page 50==========================
ing a hospital in what was then known as the Park Hotel. This building
had been vacant for over seven years because of the transfer of the
business section from East Pierre to its present location. A
representative of the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Paul came out and
looked the situation over but declined the invitation to establish a
hospital here. Later in the year a representative of the Benedictine
Convent of the Sacred Heart of Yankton looked over the situation and
agreed to give the idea a trial. On Friday, Sept. 1, 1899, five Sisters
arrived from Yankton with a combined working capital of $20. Imagine, if
you can, the task of preparing a building, vacant for seven years, so as
to be suitable for the care of the sick. At the back door was a large
pile of dirt and rubbish and as this was cleared away, cups, plates,
pitchers, knives and forks were unearthed. These were scrubbed and
sterilized and, together with a bread baking tin, were used in serving
the first tray to the first patient, Mrs. Eugene Rich, who entered the
hospital the day after the Sisters arrived. Later in the year five other
Sisters arrived and gradually, room by room, the building was prepared
for occupancy. As the patients began to enter one by one, and surgical
and other equipment had to be supplied, Dr. Robinson donated the first
operating room table. Sterilizing was done in open vessels and not under
pressure as now. On Thanksgiving day, the Sisters invited the public to
inspect the hospital. A program was given for the entertainment of the
visitors and a lunch was served. On Dec. 8th, 1899, the first Hospital
baby was born - the baby was named Mary Woods and is now Mrs. Sheets of
Chadron, Nebraska, the mother of several children. On January 6th, 1900,
the first operation was performed - an operation for rupture, by Dr.
Robinson with Dr. Lavdry now of Aberdeen as assistant. Modern equipment
was gradually added as funds were available and many times the citizens
of Pierre, because of their faith in the ultimate success of the
venture, gave and loaned money to the Sisters and helped them during
emergencies. In 1911 a modernly equipped operation room was installed
with high pressure sterilizers. It represented the latest in hospital
equipment. Soon after the power house was added; modern laundry
machinery was installed and the bakery and diet kitchen electrified. An
example of the growth of the Hospital is demonstrated in the fact that
in 1906, 304 patients were admitted to the hospital; in 1916 - 722; in
1926 - 1827 and in 1936 - 3038.
The need for a new, modern, fire-proof building had long been
apparent to the Sisters and the citizens of Pierre and in 1929 a
Committee composed of business men of Pierre and Ft. Pierre was
appointed and plans laid for the erectionof a new St. Mary’s Hospital at
a completed cost of approximately $250,000. The contract was signed on
Jan. 2nd, 1930; the corner stone was laid on May 18, 1930, and
Dedication ceremonies held on Nov. 5th, 1930. The new Hospital is rated
as a 100 bed hospital, modern in every detail, is accredited by the
American College of Surgeons, assuring patients entering, the same
service as an accredited Hospital in the Metropolis of any State in the
Union. It is un-
===============================page 51========================
usual, indeed, that a comparatively small city can boast of hospital
facilities comparable to those available to citizens of Pierre. St.
Mary’s Hospital is the medical center for a territory with a radius of
100 to 150 miles from Pierre. Its success is in large measure due to the
excellence of its medical staff and the complete cooperation of the
people of Pierre and Central South Dakota. But above all, to the
untiring devotion through the years of its growth, of the Benedictine
Sisters.
-Geo. Kienholz
Farm Island
Presenting a vastly different appearance than in 1804 when a party
of the Lewis and Clark expedition hunted deer and elk there, Farm Island
has been developed into an outstanding recreational point of central
South Dakota through work done by CCC boys with the cooperation of the
United States forestry service.
So named because in early days soldiers and traders of old Fort
Pierre used the sandy, three-mile strip for farming purposes, the island
now reflects a combination of the modern and rustic.
Building Community House
Shelter cabins, boy and girl scout lodges, landscaped roads,
picnicking grounds and a new community building, under construction, are
among the additions to the land’s natural picturesqueness.
Every year girl scouts from surrounding areas gather on Farm
Island for an extended outing, their lodge and its attendant camping
facilities constituting one of the best camps of this nature west of the
Mississippi river.
In addition to other uses, the island serves as a nursery ground
for tree seedlings that are raised for later distribution in the
shelterbelt area. Two million young trees, representing every kind
raised in the shelterbelt area, were grown under irrigation last summer.
Despite scourges of drought, grasshoppers and bugs, water supplied by
two large pumps enabled the trees to survive. They were recently dug and
shipped to Brookings for distribution next spring.
Lake Named After Mayor
First taming a fork of the muddy turbulent Missouri river in the
face of skepticism of engineers, CCC boys joined the mainland to the
island by a dam constructed of native materials. The result is a long,
quiet stretch of water - Hipple lake, a popular fishing and swimming
spot. The lake was named after Mayor John Hipple of Pierre because his
energetic promotion of the island’s development.
Farm Island’s dense stretches of trees and thick underbrush
provide an excellent retreat for birds and has been set aside as a game
sanctuary.
-Sioux City Journal, 1936
========================page 52===========================
[photo -CCC Camp]
[photo - Airplane View]
[photo - Shelter House]
[photo Girl Scout Cabin]
-From “Guide to Pierre and Vicinity”
=====================page 53===============================
Hilts Grocery in Same Location as When First Opened
A burning desire to live in Pierre despite seeming insurmountable
difficulties has paid Mr. F. E. Hilts his reward and after thirty years
in Pierre he points with pride to a business which was built from
nothing. The foundation upon which he has constructed his business has
been faith in Pierre and the unstinted service to his fellow townsmen
and business associates.
The Hilts Grocery was established in 1907, in the building in
which it is now located.
Mr. Frank Hilts was born in Spring Valley, Minnesota, in 1878 and
moved with his parents to Milbank, South Dakota, in 1881, where his
father established a home in the Dakota Territory. Mr. Hilts attended
the Milbank city schools graduating from high school there in 1899.
During vacations and at odd times he clerked and did other work in
various stores in Milbank. In 1900 he enrolled in Brookings college and
completed a business course there, graduating in 1901. For several years
he was then employed by the Brookings Land company, of which Charlie
Goodman was the manager.
Mr. Goodman desired land of a lower price for his customers, than
the land in the eastern part of the state, and so came to Pierre and
secured quarters with C. H. Anderson, in a building less than a hundred
feet from what is now the North Western freight depot track. In 1906,
Mr. Hilts came to Pierre to serve as sub-agent for Mr. Goodman. He was
employed in this capacity for one year, after which time Mr. Goodman
retired from business and went to California. Out of work, with but
little money, and hating to leave Pierre, Mr. Hilts rented the room in
which the store is now located, and put in grocery stock, which he
obtained from the Albright Company. Bert Garner went into partnership
with Mr. Hilts, and in 1907, the Hilts Grocery store was established. In
1908, Mr. Hilts purchased Mr. Garner’s partnership, Mr. Garner leaving
Pierre then and moving to California, where he since has resided. From
that time, The Hilts Grocery occupied the same location, with additional
space up to date.
In June 1908, he was married, and during the following year made
proof upon his 160 acres of Stanley County land.
For years he has enjoyed his beautiful home, formerly known as the
C. C. Bennett residence, and as a director of the First National Bank,
and with his other well known holdings, he is recognized as successful
in every sense of the word.
Mr. Hilts attributes his success to the faithful service of those
who have worked for him, and those who are now with him. His employees
own their own homes and contribute to the welfare of our city, and have
succeeded through the idea that, efficient service, plus a knowledge of
the business, brings satisfactory results.
-Marian Holst