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and still later at Portland, Oregon. I attended high school at Baker, Montana and then spent some time attending Eastern Montana College at Billings, preparing for a teaching career.

Our family weathered the depression without difficulty as my father had been chosen Fallon County sheriff by that time. I taught in both rural and town schools in Fallon County over a period of 30 years. During those years I have memories of carrying 18 pails of coal, morning and night, to heat a rural school. We used Aladdin lamps which were a grand improvement over the oil, kerosene or wick lamps. Of course there were no telephones and one could only hope the pupils could get to school and then make it safely home again. I used to wander down to the creek to watch men "put up ice. "

After coming to Baker I have memories of walking across the "cut across" with my boyfriend after a Scout dance, of eating potato soup in the basement of the high school where our devoted old janitor of many years' service, Dad Seeley, used to serve soup to the pupils. There, too, was the fun of practicing and singing in Operettas and the thrill and excitement of the final performance! Then there were the traveling church schools that came from time to time, and a gay evening of entertainment when we attended the program of the Chautauqua which was held in a huge tent set up in the vacant lot on the west side of the Community Church. That was before it was turned and moved.

In November of 1949, 1 married Jean D. Hanley at Baker, Montana. He was killed in action in Italy during his tour of duty in World War II. Then in November of 1950, 1 was married to Gerard L. Ashley at Miles City, Montana. Our daughter, Ann, was born of this union.

While at Ismay, I was a member of the Presbyterian Church and later I attended the Congregational Churches of Baker and Plevna.

Grandad "Att" Atkinson was born in 1836 and his son, Charlie, was born in 1875 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Grandad Att worked in Toronto, Canada and had a gold locket dated June, 1881, which was presented to him by the predecessors of the Singer Sewing Machine Co. for his fine work. He and his small son Charlie, who came to be known as Charlie Att, then came west and worked on the railroad in the Black Hills area of South Dakota.

In 1891 they filed squatter's rights on the present day Atkinson Ranch about 13 miles northeast of Ekalaka. After the first winter they heard of the gold discovery in Canada and joined the Klondike Gold Rush to Peace River. In 1893 they returned to their land in Montana only to find that someone else was on their claim. They were successful in getting it back. Grandad Att hauled freight between Ekalaka and Wibaux and built up the Atkinson Ranch (lazy H A). He acquired a fine herd of Morgan and Standard bred horses which were later sold to the United States Army in World War 1. Old timers will remember the fine stallion "Monkey" which they owned. They also were big sheep men in 1896, but they lost all of their sheep in the winter of 1898.

Both Grandad Att and my father, Charlie, were known for their fine carpentry and blacksmith work. They built several of the original ranch homes in the community such as the Hunter, Emersons, Hiscock and the original Old Stand in Ekalaka.

Charlie Att married Hattie Bergstrom in 1911. Hattie came west from Murdock, Minnesota in 1909 and took up a homestead along side of her brothers, Ted and Henry, in the Willard community. Her brother, Bill Bergstrom, is the sole survivor of three boys and three girls. He now lives in Baker and is 83 years old.

Grandad "Att" died in 1918. My father, Charlie "Att", died in 1935 and mother, Hattie died in 1936. All are buried in the Ekalaka Cemetery. The eight children of Charlie "Att" and Hattie were all born at the ranch home except the first son, Richard. The other children are: Alice Jensen of Orem, Utah; Ollie Sikoroski of Denver, Colorado; Grace Norby of Sidney, Montana; Dorothy Speelmon of Helena, Montana; Tom of Circle, Montana; Wanda Bickle of Plevna, Montana and Leonard of San Diego, California.

The original house still stands in the hills and is owned by Richard Atkinson.

I was born at Astoria, Oregon on May 21, 1928. My parents were Lewiston and Dorothy (Butler) Bagley. My grandparents had homesteaded in Oregon, but my parents were not stockmen. They worked in the logging industry in northwestern Oregon.

During my childhood I worked at whatever chores there were to be done and enjoyed all the fun of a normal boys life with my two sisters and three brothers. I received my elementary and high school education at Knappa, Oregon and later attended a religious college at Centralia, Washington and then took a course at the Multnomah School of the Bible at Portland, Oregon, following which I engaged in the work of Gospel Ministry.

On August 25, 1950 1 married Shirley Glimp at Boise, Idaho. We have five living children: Jane Elizabeth, Jonathan Eldred, Janice Emily, David Curtis, and Deborah Joy. We have one deceased child.

When I was 43 years of age we came to this vicinity. This was in October of 1971 and we came by station wagon and U Haul, and settled in Plevna. We experienced no problems in establishing our home in Plevna, as we received much help from people near us.

While still in Oregon and Idaho, we used to attend box socials. We now enjoy family and church picnics and attending and watching rodeos. On the 4th of July we usually have a family outing and watch the parade.

Much of our time is employed in Hospital visitations, in the Ministry of Correspondence and in conducting Bible Study classes. We are members of the Emanuel Congregational Church of Plevna.

We love living in Montana and in Plevna. The children are really enjoying their school life and are putting down roots here. We are all happy in the fellowship with folks in Baker, Miles City, Wibaux and Ekalaka and we thank the Lord for having directed us to this dear vicinity.

My folks, Mr. and Mrs. William Reid, owned the Reid's Hotel in Devil's Lake, North Dakota where I was born June 6, 1910. When I was nine years old we moved to Billings, Montana where I finished grade school and attended Billings High School and then attended the Eastern Normal School and Rocky Mountain College.

My first year of teaching was a country school at Carlyle, Montana in the fall of 1930. I had 18 children in all grades but the second. We often went to Baker for social events and to shows. Then in the fall of 1931, through the spring of 1934, 1 taught at the Shiloh School just out of Billings, having the first and second grade combination. I then went to Baker, Montana and was teacher of the first grade for three years at the Eastside School (now Washington School). I can still remember how much fun we had putting on the faculty plays and how wonderful it was working with Mr. Gullidge. I lived with Mr. and Mrs. Dean Sinclair all three years. George Sanderson and Margaret Scott were the school principals at this time.

After teaching in Baker, I returned to my home in Billings and taught the first grade at the Garfield School from 1937 to 1945.

I still correspond with some of the teachers of those years: Violet (Anderson) McLeod, Ruth (Cowles) Hilgenberg, Gen. (Marking) Jensen, Grethen (Cartwright) Bjornethun, Harriet (McDougal) Livingston, George Sanderson, and of course Edwina Eichenberger and Jessie (Hodges) Price, so I manage to keep up on all the Baker news.

I was married to Orville J. Bakken on March 10, 1942 but he was called to the service and was sent overseas, so I went back to Billings and finished teaching while he was in the Medical Corps of the Army. He returned home in 1945 and we moved to Eugene, Oregon where he was employed at the Dutch Girl Ice Cream Co. until his retirement in 1972. We have two daughters, Mariella and Pearl. When Pearl was five years old I went back to the teaching game and taught kindergarten for two years. The next year I went into the school system where I taught the first grade for fifteen years until I retired in 1972.

Mariella attended the University of Oregon and the Eugene Business College. She is now working for Cascade Bookkeeping Service and lives at home with us. Pearl attended the University of Oregon too, and is now working on her Master's Degree in Journalism at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. She is Education Editor of the university newspaper, the "Minnesota Daily."

It really is fun to be retired and not on a set schedule each day. We are a bowling family. Pearl was National Champion at Washington DC in Junior Bowling Competition when she was a senior in high school. Mariella bowls in three leagues, Orville bowls with 'The Sons of Norway' and I am in a Social League and a Woman's League. We have lots of fun and get lots of exercise. I have been active in the Central Presbyterian Church serving in the Sunday School, Bible Study Group, Church Circle and the Deacons. We also are in a Square Dance Club. My first taste of square dancing was at Baker at the old Legion Hall. George West used to be the caller, wasn't he? It was fun anyhow!

We were in Baker last summer on our way to South Dakota. It is always fun to see a few old friends and I always wonder where all the "kiddies" are now that I taught while there.

Best wishes to all who remember me!

I, Daisy, was born at Viola, Wisconsin in 1891 to Franklin and Katherine Crainer. I was one of ten children; six brothers and three sisters. My mother died when I was nine years old. Mother passed away on December 23, 1900 and my three-month-old brother died the following day. The baby was placed in mother's arms and they were buried on Christmas Day, 1900.

At 12 years of age I went to Garden City, South Dakota to live with my father's only sister, Mary Bryant. The Bryant's lived on a farm five miles north of Garden City. When I was 18 1 went to Lemmon, South Dakota to visit my brother, Roy. I later worked in the J. C. Talor Dry Goods Store there. In the fall, late November, my father drove his team and wagon up from Ludlow, South Dakota to visit me and my sister Pearl, who was teaching school at Lemmon that year, and to buy his winters supply of groceries. He was killed by a train while taking his team out north to the Scott Knapp place to pasture.

Then I went back to Garden City where I worked in the Farmer's Co-op Store for three years. It was here that I met Sam Barkley, who had just been discharged from the Army in 1918. On May 22, 1922 we were married and came to Montana to visit my sister, Pearl Stanhope. We liked it here and my sister wanted us to stay. We bought a half section of land from R. S. Hamilton in the Willard area for $19 an acre. Different people said we would never make it.

Sam Barkley's home on the range, 1923.

In 1923 we farmed with horses. I drove three horses on the sulky plow and Sam drove six horses on the gangplow. In the fall we harvested with the binder. I milked ten cows while Sam cut the grain early in the morning and in the evening he would stack it while I milked the ten cows again. I carried the milk to the house and separated it and carried it back to the barn and fed the calves. After harvest Sam did the fall plowing and I drove four horses on the grain wagon to town with the grain. I had five gates to open and close from our place to the highway.

On July 26, 1923 we lost our first baby, a boy named Eber and on November 20, 1927 Lois was born.

In 1927 we had a real good crop and the prices were good so we were able to pay all on our land. In 1928, Sam and Henry Stenerson bought a combine to pull with horses and the following year Sam bought a new truck and tractor that we used to pull the combine. Our son Cleo was born September 1, 1930 on his mother's birthday at the home of Mrs. Alice Cartwright in Baker.

Cleo married Beatrice Elmore of Ekalaka in the First Baptist Church of Baker on December 2, 1949. They live on the home place and have three girls: Becky, Terri and Tammie and one son Timmi, who is married and farming with his father. Timmi's wife was the former Darla Watson. They have two girls and a boy: Coleen, Todd and Sandy Lee. Becky married Alvin Croy and they are living in Baker and have two sons. Our daughter, Lois, has a family of three girls

and a boy: Debbie, Bernice, Jean, and Wade. She and her husband, Ted Zuponik, live on a ranch near Mill Iron, Montana.

Sam was a member of the Farmer's Elevator a number of years before we moved to Baker when his health failed. He passed away on May 25, 1965.

I make my home in Baker, attend the Wesleyan Methodist Church, visit those more lonely than I, and attend the Senior Citizen gatherings when not visiting my sisters who are living in other states. The winter of 1972 I spent in Florida. I also write letters for friends who are nearly blind.

I was born on the homestead of my parents, Elmer and Mathilda Roget Anderson, on December 31, 1919. What I remember most about the early days on the home place were the good times we had as children when we were all together. Alden, my brother, Evelyn, Edna and Darleen, my sisters and half-brother, Jack Westrope.

There were picnics at the Rocks, socials at Willard Hall, ball games and chokecherry and plum picking in the draws, usually with cousins and relatives.

Our home was always filled with music as our father played the mandolin guitar, and many other instruments. Dad's brother, Fred Willard Anderson, was the first Postmaster and my dad was the assistant.

Home is San Diego, California. Having married a navy career man, Donald H. Barrington from Twin Falls, Idaho, we have traveled around a lot being in the Navy. I keep busy with my hobbies, the electric organ and painting.

We have two children: Linda and Craig, and two lovely granddaughters.

Part of my grade schooling was at Murdock, Minnesota where we lived several years on my grandparent Andersons home, and also at Willard and Baker, Montana.

During the depression, my father having passed away in 1927, the family went to the West Coast and lived and worked in the berry orchards. About the time of WW 11 my sister Edna and I went to San Diego where brother Alden was and found work as a wire installer in Consolidated Aircraft. We also had part-time work at the Naval Base concession.

Mr. and Mrs. Ludwig Bechtold and two daughters left Russia to come to America in 1905. They lived in Selby, South Dakota until 1911 when they came to Montana. They lived on a homestead ten miles south of Baker where Mr. Bechtold and his brother, Ed, had built a barn with two rooms on one side. They lived in this dwelling until 1917 when they built the big house where they raised a big family of nine girls and two boys. All but three of the children still reside in this area. Lilly, Esther, and Freeda live elsewhere and Annie passed away in 1969.

Mr. and Mrs. Bechtold were interested mostly in the church. They befriended anyone who came along. No matter what they had to eat, Mr. Bechtold always invited them for a meal even if there was only stroudle, which was once or twice a week. The children all attended the Hidden Water School. The teacher usually boarded at their house, so with one or two hired men, that made a big family to cook for.

Every fall they bought 1,000 pounds of flour because they never had "store bread." There was always a big garden from which all their vegetables were canned. Peaches and pears were bought and canned. They had lots of good meat and good sausage, which Mr. Huber helped to make every year. There was no electricity to freeze meat in those years.

Mr. Bechtold passed away in 1934. After his father's death, Ernest ran the farm for his mother until he got married. Then Mrs. Bechtold and daughter Annie moved to Baker and bought the Hembre house on South Third Street West, where Jimmie Bechtold lives now.

Ernest and his son run the farm now. Pauline married John H. Losing, Louise married Albert Hepperle, Christine married John W. Losing, Lilly married Roland Hover, John married Alma Heperle, Martha married Jake Schweigert, Ernest married Irene Haar, Alma married Art Hepperle, Esther married Phil Galipo, and Freeda married Chet Lind.

Frank Becker, the son of John S. and Ella Hillman Becker, was born on April 21, 1889 at Easton, New York. He attended a country school at Easton. When he was young he sold newspapers and worked as a boot black to get a little cash.

He came to Montana in the winter of 1908 by Milwaukee Railroad and located at Baker because that was "the end of the line." They were just building the railroad at that time. After arriving in this vicinity he worked as a sheep-camp attendant and then he went into business with his brother and Dave Barber as Homestead Locaters. Many people whom Frank located might still be alive today.

When he first came out here Frank roomed at the Berry Morris residence. Berry Morris was a rancher in 1909. Frank

was also charter member of the Baker Congregational Church, the first church in Baker. In a letter written to Bud Price before Frank's death, he said that Bud's mother, Eva A. Price, always told him and his brother that the Becker boys should be good boys and as he reached the age of a senior citizen he believed she had been correct.

Frank was also active in the oil and gas development of the country. In later years Frank retired and moved to Arizona where he married Alice Atwood in 1957.

Frank Becker always advertised in the Fallon County Times with a poem. Here is one from'way back.'

"MY PRAYER"

Dear Lord, 'ere I commence the duties of the day I will take time to meditate and pray. I want to live in such a kindly understanding way That at the close of this another day Life may hold no remorse for hours mis-spent Leaving no place for sorrow or regret.

I come to Thee for patience, poise, Power to be gentle, wise For grace to close my ears to slanders that arise Make Thou my life too big for littleness Keep my soul from bitterness Silence my tongue to all that is unkind May only thoughts that bless and heal dwell in my mind.

Let Thine own love control and guide my will Bidding all baser powers be still. Make me alert to every human cry That I may serve each need with love filled eyes To live this day and worthy be Of sweet companionship with Thee.

To sense Thy nearness every passing hour To be a channel of Thy power This is my prayer that I may ever be Servant of Thine, child of Thy grace Through all eternity.

Henry G. Beckman was born on October 7, 1883, in Renville County, Minnesota. He was one of seven children born to Carl and Bertha Beckman. He grew up in Minnesota and then he moved with his parents and brothers and sisters to Canada where they farmed for two years. In July of 1908 Henry, his brother John and a friend, Oscar Ness, came to Baker. They traveled in a covered wagon. Oscar and Aleck Beckman (another brother of Henry's) had come to Baker beforehand to check the situation here. Oscar then returned to Canada to get Henry and John. Their first homes were shanties near Turkey Butte which were owned by Martin Melman.

In late 1908, a sod house, 14 ft. by 30 ft. was erected on Henry's homestead which was 1 1/2 miles northwest of Baker. The Beckman brothers and Oscar Ness did the erecting. The rest of the Beckman family moved to Baker shortly after this, and Henry, his parents and brother, Alfred, lived in this sod house until 1912. At this time a three-bedroom frame house was moved onto the place and a large kitchen was added.

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After they moved, the sod house was used as a dance hall and at the first dance Henry met Elsie Quinlan, who becarne his wife on May 26, 1914, which happened to be her 18th birthday. She was born near Camp Crook, South Dakota on May 26,1896. Her parents were William and Emma Quinlan. She spent her childhood near Camp Crook and Capitol, Montana. In 1912, at the age of 17, she moved to Baker with her mother and stepfather, Sam Dorman and brother, John. Mr. Dorman worked for several years as a blacksmith in Baker.

Father Carl Beckman passed away in 1914 from pneumonia. Alfred, the youngest child was killed in 1913 by lightning while hauling a load of hay near what is now the Baker Drive In Theater. He was 33 years old at the time.

Aleck Beckman farmed seven miles northwest of Baker until 1941 when he moved to Kinsey, Montana. John Beckman moved to Miles City, Montana where he worked in the saddlery. The sisters, Christine, Bessie and Nellie settled in western Montana and California.

Henry and Elsie Beckman spent their entire life on this homestead except for two years which they spent in Tacoma, Washington where the Dormans and John Quilan had moved in 1921.

Henry was a carpenter and built many of the early day homes in Baker. He also farmed until 1954,. In the early days he raised horses. Roundups were big occasions and were attended by everyone in the vicinity. He had a threshing machine and traveled all over the country with it every summer.

I was born Ruby Havens at Woodman, Wisconsin on July 10, 1903. My parents Mr. and Mrs. Rube Havens, left Wisconsin July 1, 1910, when I was seven years old, to come by train to this area. They homesteaded on Cabin Creek, 25 miles northwest of Baker. Some of dad's friends and relatives also settled in the same general locality. Among them were the Farday, Bellis, Pratt and Ferrell families.

They were the parents of three sons: Cecil, Ernest, and Gerald who died at the ages of 2, 9, and 4 years. There were also three daughters: Alice (Mrs. Roy Bettenhausen), Jean (Mrs. Norman Stenerson) and Willa Mae (Mrs. Walter Flint) all of whom live in Baker.

Through the years three more rooms were added to the house and Mrs. Beckman still lives in their home. Henry passed away on October 30, 1968 at the age of 85.

Our family farmed and ran a few cattle, building up the herd in the ensuing years. We were encouraged by the good years and managed to struggle through the less encouraging ones, sometimes needing to purchase feed for the livestock when there was a lack of moisture. We had quite a distance to walk to school and had to travel by team to Ollie, our town, a distance of 18 miles. During the cold snowy weather the roads were very poor.

During my childhood years, I attended the Wells Creek School, enjoyed riding horses, helped with the gardening, and almost every Sunday went to Sunday School at the school house, as there was no church in the vicinity at that time. I did not attend high school nor college, but remained at home helping the family until 1920, when at the age of 17, 1 was married to Frank L. Bellis of Cap Rock.

We took up the business of farming and proceeded to fill our place in the neighborhood society. We enjoyed the dances, viewing of rodeos, attending picnics at neighboring homes, and box socials at the schoolhouse as well as the picnics and bronc riding at the Fourth of July affairs. We attended religious services at the schoolhouse.

One of my brothers was killed in France in 1918, while serving in World War I and only two months later the second brother died from the flu during the dread Flu Epidemic of 1918. He is buried at Plevna. During the ensuing years both my parents passed away and on December 3, 1961, my husband, Frank, died at Lancaster, Wisconsin.

At this time (1973) 1 reside at Fennimore, Wisconsin. Our family consists of five children: Herbert, Mildred (Mrs. Donald Bendorf), Ethie (Mrs. Judy Kirschbaum), Helen (Mrs. Robert Griffith) and Phyllis (Mrs. Edward Nickel). I have at this time 31 grand children and 23 great-grandchildren.

Harry E. Bergeson was born at Albert Lea, Minnesota in 1863. He spent the first fifty years of his life here and worked on the farm of his parents, who were pioneer Minnesota farmers. He also received his elementary and high school education at Albert Lea.

After working on the farm for a time, he became the manager of a clothing store at Lake Park, Minnesota, and later at Crookston, Minnesota. Then when he was fifty years old, Harry and his wife decided to head for the "wide-open spaces." They motored from Albert Lea to Baker, Montana in 1913 in a "horseless carriage," a Ford Model S touring car. The little old Ford rambled along for a number of years after arriving at Baker but was finally put to pasture when the Bergesons acquired a nice driving team and buggy.

Harry secured a half-section of land from a Mr. Frank Sawyer by relinquishment and later, under a new Homestead Law, acquired 320 acres in the same section, which was eight miles east of Baker in the Fertile Prairie area. There the couple set themselves up in the farming and ranching industry.

In 1883 Harry had married Inga Belle Biorge (pronounced Beergy) at Lake Park, Minnesota. Her parents were also pioneer farmers of Minnesota.

In 1924 the Bergesons adopted a 14-year-old nephew of Harry's. The boy's parents had passed away when he was ten years old, and he lived with his uncle and aunt after that. He grew up on the homestead east of Baker. The boy's name was Walter Wilder Bergeson.

In addition to his regular labors, Harry took on a sideline of Horticulture. In cooperation with the Government and the Gurney Seed Company, he established an experimental station for shelterbelt and fruit trees. The home place became an oasis of beauty through the years. The shelterbelt contained rows of Northwestern Poplar, American Elm Caragana Pea and Russian Olive trees. There were currant bushes, raspberry bushes, and several varieties of crab apple, as well as several varieties of plum trees.

Mrs. Bergeson was a great hand with chickens. She once had a pet hen which came to the house to lay her eggs. She'd amble into the kitchen, go to her corner, do her thing, and amble out again. Ha! One could be sure that the egg was FRESH. Belle had other talents, too. She was a splendid cook and also did lovely hand work of all kinds, which included painting on velvet with oil paints. Her jams, jellies, and canned fruit were exhibited at the Baker Fair.

Mr. Bergeson wrote articles on Horticulture, which were published in the "Montana Farmer" of those days.

There was the regular routine of open and severe winters, good moisture and little moisture, and joys of visiting and entertaining the neighbors, with whom they shared their fruits and vegetables over the years. Distances were not too great a problem as Baker was eight miles away. Sometimes in the winter this posed'a bit of a problem, but not too much of one. Coal and wood were available in the badlands, which were close at hand and school was near to the home. There was a good deep dug well at the home location and a good spring on an adjoining section, which was improved by adding watering troughs for the livestock.

So they carried on until March of 1930, when Mr. Bergeson passed away. Mrs. Bergeson and Walter remained on the place until 1935. At that time, they decided to sell the farm and leave because the year of 1934 had been a drought year and about half the trees began to deteriorate. The depression was beginning to set in. Mrs. Bergeson lived in Baker for a few years and then entered a nursing home at Couer D'Alene, Idaho where she remained until she passed away in 1940. Walter worked in the logging industry.

Some of their neighbors on the farm at Fertile Prairie were Sidney Golden, William Ferguson, Henry Jensen, George Jenner, William Young, Dexter Garriott, and Elmer Hibbard.

Mr. and Mrs. Bergeson were members of the Lutheran Church.

My parents were Henry and Olena Wilder and I joined their family at Twin Falls, Idaho in 1910. The family later returned to Crookston, Minnesota from where they had come. In 1919, both my parents succumbed during the flu epidemic of that year.

So in 1920, at the age of 10, 1 came to make my home with my Uncle Harry and Aunt Belle Bergeson on their homestead which was eight miles east of Baker, Montana, in the Fertile Prairie Community.

I attended school in the nearby rural school through the grades. When I was 14 years old I was adopted by my aunt and uncle and became Walter Bergeson. I attended the Baker High School from which I graduated in 1927. 1 rode my horse the eight miles into town to attend school. I was a great lover of horseflesh and I rode that "hobby horse." I learned the elements of farming and stock care, helped with the trees and shrubs which surrounded the buildings on all sides, tended the cows, rode and broke horses along with going to school, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all.

I had one horse which I named "Kindling Wood". I had tied him in the stable and when I returned I discovered that he had made kindling wood of the stall partition, so that is how he came by his name. After several colorful episodes and having my face brushed by those heels of his, I decided we just didn't match, so I sold him to a Jewish Cowboy, a real horseman, by the name of Hank Rosenthal. He came from down Rhame, North Dakota way. He handled a herd of about 50 horses which he rode, trained and used them to supply to rodeos, horse shows and such. Hank was killed by a horse eventually. I learned several years after I parted company with "Kindling Wood," that the rascal had made it to Madison Square Gardens in New York City.

After graduating from high school, I chose to remain on the farm rather than go on to school. My uncle had passed away and my aunt and I carried on at the homestead until 1934, a terribly dry year that killed many of our trees. The depression had also hit so we decided to hold a sale and lift anchor.

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I took to the woods, so to speak, and worked in Western Montana, Idaho, Washington and even gave Alaska a try. After all this I went into the shipyards at Seattle where I learned many useful things, especially welding. After six years at the shipyards I went to work for the Boeing Plant where I have remained ever since.

My sister, Agnes Wilder, was a nurse in a hospital in Havre, Montana for many years. While I was working at the shipyards in Seattle, she and a nurse friend came out there for a month's vacation. We all had a wonderful time taking trips, having dinners, going to shows and other diversions. After three years of courtship by correspondence, I made a trip to Havre, Montana where I married Clara Evanest Hannon, at an evening candle light ceremony at the Methodist Church on December 5, 1944.

Clara received her elementary and high school education at Havre and her nurses training at the Kennedy Deaconess Hospital also at Havre. At the time of our marriage she was acting as night supervisor on the surgical floor of the hospital.

For 18 years we operated the Ideal Motel at Lynnwood, Washington.

We have now disposed of this property and Clara also rides a hobby but not a horse. She is interested in art and paints pictures. She belongs to a group of ladies which studies painting. She enjoys this group very much. As for me I still ride my "Hobby Horse." We go to horse shows, the races, and rodeos around the Seattle area. We see some truly beautiful horses. I have ridden in some rodeos. One I especially recall was at Renton, Washington. I rode but did not win! Ha!

We have two sons: Kenneth Oliver and wife of Seattle, who have one small son, Jeffrey Thomas; and Robert who recently graduated from high school and is a filling station attendant at Lynnwood. We attend the Lutheran and Methodist Churches.

Ida Lee was born November 4, 1886, in Hawley, Minnesota. Her parents were Nels K. and Mari S. Lee. She spent her childhood years in Hawley where her father was a blacksmith. Later she clerked in a store and worked as a telephone operator. After that she did secretarial work in an auditor's office in a northern Minnesota county court house.

Her parents had a desire to prove up on a homestead and go into farming, so they came west by way of the Milwaukee Railroad, arriving on June 18, 1909. Ida was 22 years old at the time and took up her own homestead 17 or 18 miles south of Baker. Her parents settled one and a half miles from her.

The house was built of lumber and banked with sod. The area around was well settled, the nearest neighbors being but one-fourth mile away. Among her neighbors were Aunt Torgan Lee, Jim Young, Art Myhre, Deacon Sherwin, Bert Cate and the Mulkeys.

The first year there was plenty of rainfall, followed by some good and some others bad for farming. Winters brought much snow and they used skis to get around. People were hard up during the depression years until better crops and prices returned.

On January 6, 1914, she was married to John Henry Bergstrom at Miles City. They had six children: John Henry Jr., Beatrice, Maire, Doris, Ina, Lee Roy and Robert. All of the children are married and the couple had 21 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

During the years they enjoyed dancing, church activities, many picnics and box socials, as well as charivaris in their neighborhood; and of course, there was lots of fun at the Fourth WO- July Celebrations.

At the present time, Ida is retired and living in Baker where she is a member of the American Lutheran Church. She has been a Sunday School teacher for quite sometime.

Theodore R. Bergstrom was born at Murdock, Minnesota on January 18, 1888, the son of prominent citizens of Swift County, Minnesota. He attended the Willmar Seminary and the Mankato Commercial College after which he worked as a bookkeeper for a hardware firm in Crosby, North Dakota. In 1909 he filed on a homestead, sixteen miles south of Baker, Montana.

On June 22, 1911, Ted married Estelle L. Anderson of Murdock, Minnesota. She had attended Normal School at Moorhead, Minnesota and had taught school near her home at Murdock for four years prior to her marriage.

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Four children were born to this couple; the first died in infancy. The children are Leonard of Missoula, Montana; Helen Lacasse and Ralph, both of Portland, Oregon. A niece, Lois Magnuson Redman, was also reared in their home. There are eight grandchildren and two great grandsons.

Ted was interested in the government and progress of Fallon County and the State of Montana. He served as County Commissioner, served several sessions in the State House of Representatives and one term in the State Senate. In 1936 he was appointed Postmaster at Baker, a position which he resigned in 1937 to accept the position as Warden of the Montana State Prison at Deer Lodge. In 1941 he became an agent for the Bankers Life Company which work he continued until his death in Portland, Oregon on August 27, 1953.

Estelle continued to live in their home in Missoula, Montana until her death on May 1, 1968. She is buried beside her husband in the Sunset Memorial Gardens of Missoula.

Tribute to Estelle: Mother was a devoted wife and mother, and was the greatest teacher we ever had. She possessed the courage needed to be a homesteader's wife and was often called to act as mid wife to a neighbor when a doctor was not available. Her ability to entertain children with free-hand cutouts remained with her through out the years. Neighborhood little ones were daily visitors after we children left home, and they received the same love an warmth as we did."

Tribute to Ted: "I will always remember, and will cherish my recollections of Ted's extreme cheerfulness, his integrity and his "good neighbor policy". He was not a politician as commonly referred to. He was our public servant and he did a wonderful job. He was useful during his lifetime. You can always look back with pride to his contributions to the world."

Walter Sherman (married to the former Eleanor Helgeson)

Baker, Montana, April 11, 1909

We left the city (Minneapolis) at 6:45. When we got as far as Aberdeen, South Dakota it was snowing but the farther west we got the nicer the weather and in the western part of the Dakotas the farmers were busy plowing dragging and seeding. We arrived in Miles City, Montana at 10:30 Wednesday night, and the next morning we took a walk of about five miles round trip out to old Fort Keogh. It has been abandoned but will be opened again and used for a training camp to train Cavalry horses. It is a very picturesque place on the banks of the Yellowstone River. The soil all around Miles City looked very light and dry, mostly a sandy clay soil. They were sprinkling the streets then, so soon in the spring, so it must be a fright for being dry in the summer. We spoke to a number of people and they said it gets as hot as 115 and 120 degrees in the shade.

We went up to the U. S. Land Office and were told we would have to go at least 30 miles out to get any land and then we would not be getting much so we went 104 miles east and were out driving one day, when we staked out our claims. The next day our neighbors came to town and got lumber for one shack, our trunks and baggage. Hank(Henry Bergstrom) and I had our suitcases and trunk packed to over flowing. We have all the clothes we need for the next two years. Albert(Fost) only had a little grip and that was not half full, but then he has plenty of money so he is all "hunkey-dorey". We got $200.00 when we left and last night we got a draft for $200.00 more, so I don't think we shall suffer. Nothing like having a good father.

We are 14 miles from the North Dakota line and about 20 miles north of the South Dakota line in Custer County. This county is bigger that the state of Rhode Island and is the southeast county of Montana. It is about 700 miles to Minneapolis. We are 14 miles south of Baker, one-half mile from the stage road that runs from Baker to Ekalaka, an inland town 40 miles south of Baker, so you know the roads to town are the best as the people from Ekalaka get all of their freight from Baker and the traffic over the road is immense. We could have our mail left in a box up the road if we pay the driver 25 cents for three months. The telephone line runs along the road, too, so we could get a share on it some day. All of this increases the value of the land. We have two miles to the woods and coal mine. All we do is cut it and the coal is free.

Frank Stanhope, one of our pals, left this morning for Browns Valley, Minnesota and the chances are he will call on our folks. He will try to induce some of the young people to come out and stake claims. There are three or four ranches right here in our midst, both sheep and cattle. Muller's ranch is only about 1 1/2 miles from here, and he has about four bands of sheep, from 2300 to 3000 in each band. Have seen all kinds of ranches and some of the ranchers have been to call on us, as have several cowboys and sheepherders. They seem to be a jolly good bunch and they tell us that a cook wagon is always open and if the herder is not in, to go in and cook up your own meal, and they would do the same.

I was in town last Thursday and Morse, the Banker, asked me if I wanted any reading material, and I did of course. I went up to his house and got 15 copies of the Popular, 1 book and about 25 Saturday Evening Posts, and any time we want more we can have them. He asked us if we had bedclothes and said that we could have all we needed until ours got here. He has a two-room house on his claim. It adjoins the town site so he eats in town. In fact, his house is only about two blocks from the bank. He is 22 years of age and a graduate of the University of Minnesota and knows a lot of people around Willmar and our country, so he treats us well.

Frank got a baseball glove for nothing from one of the Becker boys and he got free use of their 22 Savage Repeater all summer, so these are some of the reasons we have not been very homesick. It means a whole lot when you are a stranger and everyone tries his best to make you feel at home. We can go into the bank or the Becker boys and use their typewriters and desk. We have been in there until 9 or 10 at night and only us around, leave it all, come and go as we want. They even offered us a key but did not feel that we could accept it. They pay for our meals and such when we are in town.

Albert is so quiet. He does not say much. We have just had dinner. We had fried potatoes, ham, bread, butter and crackers, but we can do away with lots of that and are getting used to eating without side dishes so we never notice it anymore.

Have written three letters today. I wrote one 8 page letter to Bill (Bergstrom) and have so many more to write.1 was owing most of the guys letters before leaving and now must write to a few at home.

Have been digging a well and dug out for one of the boys this week and put up Hank's shanty, and this week we will

build Albert's and mine, and move out there. Hank and Fred are asleep and Albert sits at the other end of the table writing to his folks. I can't write worth 2 cents anymore due to digging and using the pick. It is hard work but healthy and builds up an appetite that is almost impossible to satisfy.

We had a little snow last night but it is all gone now, and the weather is the best it has been for a long time. I spoke to a sheepherder one day. He has been in this country for 29 years and he said the winters here are fine.

The saloons up here are run differently than back east. Here they don't have any blinds. They are just as open as any other place of business in Baker. One of the saloons has a meat market in the same room, and the other has a barber shop, so if we want a haircut we have to go to the saloon. Guess I'll let mine grow!

Have seen Eagles, Antelope, Coyote, Prairie Chickens and other game. Hank saw two antelope last night coming home. They are a kind of deer you know. There is a big fine for killing them, so they are pretty tame. Hills are called "Buttes" and creeks are called "gulleys", farmers are "honyoks". Wish you could look in on us and see no table cloth on. Nail kegs, trunks and boxes serve as chairs. We will have things fixed up pretty good when we get into our own shanty. We eat well and get outside of most everything. We had sage hen once and Fred shot a rabbit about an hour ago. That and soda biscuits makes our supper.

April 18, 1909

I have been in town three days and two nights this past week. A neighbor arrived with a carload of stuff and Fred and I came in to help him unload. We have worked harder since coming up here than for a long time.

We have been digging a well at Cate's place. We are down 35 feet and have gone through three layers of coal and the last few feet had a mass of blue clay.

While in town the other day, Morse offered me a position that looked pretty good and am going to try for it. The only thing a person gets for nothing in this state is fresh air.

Hank and Albert have their shacks all done. Have painted the floor a light brown and have cozy homes as you ever laid eyes on. What we have seen of this country is good enough for anyone. You should see the potatoes raised up here! They are as large as your head! At the depth of 30 inches and on in the well, we find all kinds of petrified wood. It is a lot heavier than stone and looks as though it contains minerals. Am going to take a walk over to the shack this afternoon to pass the time away. I'll look over old letters and unpack my trunk. It is just a mile over there. We have had dinner and the boys are all outside. Henry and Albert are playing catch and I am waiting for the water to get hot so I can do up the dishes. I have written a lot of letters since we came and Hank wrote one to Dad- 18 pages on 8 by 10 paper. He could not get it into an envelope so put it up in a roll. We are not more than 475 miles from home via railroad. I guess we made a mistake figuring we traveled 1,000 miles to get here. Ma worries about us a lot, they said, and I have told them to tell her that we are feeling "fine as frog's fur", but she can't look at it that way. Wish we could write in Swedish and we would write her a 15-page letter today. Most everyone here sends away to some catalogue house for their stuff. Pearce wanted me to start working for him the other day and help him decorate, but I told him I would sooner not do it, so he is going to hire a bookkeeper and clerk most any day now. Morse, the banker, keeps his books now, but he is going to quit and he has given me a send off. He said that he is pretty sure that I will get the job. It would pay $75 a month to start with and more later. He has a fine place, an Oliver Typewriter, roll top desk, and all this and handles merchandise, hardware, and machinery. There is considerable work, but I can hold down the claim at the same time by buying or hiring a pony to go out on about every other Saturday. No use planning though until I get the job.

It seemed kind of funny when the minister was here overnight. He said "Grace" every morning. He is a pretty good, honest man, and so full of fun. We have laughed more since we came to bunk with these fellows than we have for a year previous.

The herder told me he saw a rattlesnake yesterday for the first time this year. It was only 1/4 mile from here. There are any amounts of them here. The natives use them for neckties or belts. They skin them and use that with the rattles for a hatband. When I come home, I will wear the head of one for a buttonhole bouquet.

Hank and I have bought chairs and are going to send for a davenport or a bedstead and springs. We have a dandy No. 8 Peninsul or cook stove, so we have a nice setup . We are going to have these shacks fixed up in style and comfort. Tell your sister, Alice, I am going to bring you to the best country there is, no matter where it is to be found. It is not certain we will live out the rest of our lives here, unless they be few and then again we may live here a good many years to come.

August 11, 1910.

This afternoon we have been fighting prairie fires and nothing else. The first started about noon and was about midway between here and the Medicine Rocks, just across from Wills road and ranch. It burned a lot -of hay in bunches, two shacks, one wagon and rack,. and one mower for Martin. When we got this fire out and was starting home, one was starting north of the Wiley ranch, so we drove home, got a few slices of bread, changed horses -and went right on again. We got this one out and came home again. Tuesday morning, Albert and I started hauling out his grain and when we nearly had a load on, the blacks -struck out, and left us. In crossing the creek the reach broke and hayrack, load and all landed in the ditch. Then the horses, with the front part of the wagon, went through the fence and out on the school section. I was on " Croppie" by this time and hit the trail. Got them stopped at Bert Cates. Their legs were bruised but otherwise the horses were okay, and all that was broken on the outfit was the reach. I offered to bet Albert he couldn't do it again and come out that lucky. When we got this fixed, I looked over in the draw on Henry's west of the well along the Wiley trail, and lo and behold there was another fire. Well! We got home and let Henry and Hattie know and took sacks, wet them at the well and ran out but saw we could do nothing this way so I ran home and got "Croppie", rode up here and got one of these heavy horse blankets and soaked it and rode like a demon. By this time there were a dozen people there. We doubled the blanket and put the log chain through it and it was only a few minutes until we had the fire out. Then yesterday, a fire started by the outhouse and as luck would have it, Henry and Albert were unloading wheat so they put it out. The only way we can reason out the origin is that the sun ignited matches left around. As you well know, the sun does get powerful at times. Ella was here Monday, and yesterday they were both here. Sewing both times, I guess. The girls, Hattie, Henry and Albert will go to Lunders on Sunday. I am going to stay at home and write letters in the forenoon and in the afternoon I will mail them and go and get Sabin and visit the Moscrips. We will ride horseback, so we can round up the cows and do the chores in time. Have picked some porcupine quills and will enclose them in an envelope in the next letter. They will do well to stuff a rocking chair cushion, that is if you don't care to sit too long.

March 16, 1911

Today was a very windy day. I have been riding horseback all day. The cow got away last night, and I have spent the day chasing her. Found her in Wiley's pasture. I enjoyed riding and am going to ride Croppie to Baker in the morning, together with Curtis Shreve. We are delegates from out here to a County Division meeting. I am getting so that I like western horses more and more They behave so fine, and if you are always on the alert, you won't have any trouble.

I received the lumber bill for our house today. The carpenter made it out and will have the yards handy and on it tomorrow so that I will know about what it will amount to. The year has passed quickly since we said goodbye, and there is only a short time left, and so many things to be done between now and that time. It will seem different to you in many ways to come out here, these sewing circles, and such, but I am sure you will find the glad hand extended you by more people here than you do down there. Then, too, there is something about this country that a person just can't help but like.

On January 13, 1913, 1 came to Montana and filed on the E 1/2 section 34-10-2 3, Musselshell, County, 20 miles north west of Roundup, Montana, on Dole Creek in the Wheaton area. Then in the fall of 1913, 1 came to Baker to visit my brothers, Henry and Ted, and my sister, Hattie, who had married Charles Atkinson. They lived on the Atkinson Ranch in Carter County. My brother, Henry, went back with me to Roundup and helped me build a 15 by 32 feet barn. Then in March of 1914, I loaded an immigrant car at Murdock, Minn. with a full set of new machinery and four good young horses, and six cattle. We arrived in Roundup in the early hours of March 21, 1914, unloaded our car and set up my new wagon, loaded it and trailed the cattle to our new home. I had two boys from Minn. in the car with me who were a great help, They were Walter Johnson and John Carlson. The first year I rented some land and put in some crop which made pretty good. Then I broke 40 acres on my place with 4 horses, and a sulkey plow. That first summer I built a 14-16 ft. house with a 12-16 lean, on the north side, for a pantry and bedroom,

In November I went back to Minn. to get my bride, Edith L. Larson. We married near Murdock, Minn. Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 1914. We visited around in Minn. until the first part of January of 1915, then we came to Baker and spent a week with Henry, Ted, Hattie, and their families. There were many old friends from Minnesota here too. After that we left for our new home at Roundup '

A neighbor had driven into town to meet us but it was dark before we got to our place. Edith got up early at daybreak and looked out the window and said, "Willie what a place you have brought me to. Not a tree in sight anywhere "

We drilled a well that summer and got all kinds of water at 79 ft. but it was so full of alkali that nothing could drink it. I think that all it was good for was that it might put out a fire. We lived 1/2 mile from Dole Creek and hauled water in barrels for our stock and our drinking water from a neighbor, which was three miles away. In the fall of " 14 " I had rented 40 acres and plowed it, and in 1915, 1 put it into oats. It was a wet year. It rained every day but one. In the month of June, the 40 acres of oats made 104 bushels per acre and weighed 40 lb. per bushel. I also had wheat, barley, and flax in which did very well, too. It was such a cold summer that I wore a heavy coat riding the binder, and "boy," did the grain ever fill. The wheat went 63 and 64 lb. to the bushel. That was an unusual year all through Montana. I broke up quite a few more acres in fall of 1915, and the sod was so wet and turned over so nicely. That same fall, we hauled dead Big Pitch Pine trees