Abe Understood

 The most recent TRUE WEST magazine - September, 2021 - features articles about old time photography in the West. In keeping with the overall theme, they’ve attributed the following quote to Abraham Lincoln: “There are no bad pictures; that’s just how your face looks sometimes.”

Thoughts After Medora

 After attending the Germans from Russia convention in Bismarck, we drove on to Medora and spent a couple of days. It must be what they call the height of the tourist season because there were a lot of people in town. Medora can represent both the good and the bad. For instance at the musical the lady in front of us asked the water peddler for two bottles of water - “8 dollars, please.” Dollars aren’t worth much anymore. 

   For the best small town atmosphere run by hometown proprietors we ALWAYS stop at the Western Edge Bookstore. They are not part of the so-called “Foundation,” which in many ways is refreshing. Another spot of interest is the local museum staffed by community volunteers. The lady behind the desk this day told some stories, the best about the man who asked to be locked in one of the jail cells so he could experience how it felt. Then when he asked to be let out, she couldn’t get the door open and he started feeling trapped and claustrophic. Another story dealt with some juvenile delinquent behavior by three boys. The sheriff came on the scene, but two of them ran off. He nabbed the third and threw him in jail to teach him a lesson. Then an emergency call came in and he took off,  forgetting about the boy who ended up spending more time in the cell than planned.

     The pitchfork fondue served an excellent steak with all the trimmings and we enjoyed the music furnished by a guitarist-singer. The musical was as good as I remember seeing and the featured act of a comic-juggler came off well. It was announced the Roosevelt Library will be completed by 2025. I believe they’ve collected 150 million dollars for it so it should be a good one.

     

For the natural beauty it’s hard to beat the drive into the badlands where this year the sight of a herd of wild horses gave us a bit of extra thrill.

Wild Horses

 Waiting until it's time for the pitchfork fondue and the musical, we drove into the park and spotted this small herd of horses in a deep gully below the edge of the road.

1st Place

 Mary received a 1st place award in the family history contest of GRHS. Her entry was titled "Legacy of Felix and Braxada Leintz." Some judges comments: Good index; Book is easy to handle; Excellent research items and oral interviews." I, her husband, am here to attest to the hours and hours of work she put into this project. And now, on to the next.

This girl can still dance!

Last night an old time music band played for a dance where a lot of people participated. There is a back story to Mary’s dance partner. He is the son of a math teacher I used to work with and both he and the son now live in Texas. This young fellow is now a strong proponent of bringing youth into the GRHS fold.

It seems some of the dancers came off the street and were not even a part of the convention. One gal asked Mary about the Germans from Russia, not knowing anything about them, I’m Italian. Good music draws them in .

At the GRHS Convention.

 

Here at the Germans from Russia Historical Society’s 50th Annual International Convention there is always plenty to learn. For instance, there are two young LDS lady missionaries with a booth showing us the capabilities of their church’s family history search equipment. But can you believe this, they’d never heard of Lawrence Welk. The son of a teacher I once worked with now hails from Texas where his parents now live, too. He said his dad taught math in Texas for 15 years and his pension from there exceeds his 30+ year retirement from North Dakota. I sat beside a 90 year old man from Grand Junction, CO told me he still skis on the slopes. For our ancestors in Russia and Siberia it was common to be attacked by wolves. Oh how they love their kuchen that we’ve been served twice.

Mostly the stories are serious stories relating how through research the difficult lives our ancestors lived as a German in Russia are being told. As one presenter made

reference to a verse in Ecclesiastes, without some kind of memorial, some kind of recognition, it would be as if they never lived. These GRHS people set out to remember them. People from all over the country have come to share.

Tomorrow will be a big day for Mary when she accepts a big award. More about that to come.

It's Dry

     

     We are experiencing drought conditions over a large area. Westerners thought they had the problem solved by building a system of dams to prevent water from flowing away downriver, but growing demands from growing cities and agricultural use on those reservoirs have  depleted much of that supply. Just yesterday a recent article stated “The West’s second-largest reservoir could be at risk of losing the ability to generate hydropower.” To fill it again officials are releasing water from reservoirs upstream in the Colorado River in an effort to keep Lake Powell full enough to continue providing power. 

     Closer to home dry pastures speak for themselves along with fewer hay bales, and shorter heads on wheat. Geologists have been telling us for years that underground aquifers have started depleting, so punching holes in the ground for additional irrigation water will not be a long term solution.  

     Little to nothing can be done about dry wells except perhaps hold a rain dance. Maybe there is a place for water witchers or dowsers to find some hidden supplies. Not everyone can do this. My dad had the touch, but try as I did, nothing happened for me. There were a couple times I asked him to demonstrate. He said, “Go cut a forked willow

stick.” He’d place each end of the fork in a kind of underhanded grip and begin walking slowly. (see picture) Sure enough, whenever he reached a certain place the pointed end began  bending down to the source and almost twist out of his hands. He said there were other methods, too, and mentioned Bill Dunnell who showed him to tie a .22 bullet on a string, hold it down inside a water glass, count the number of times it struck the side, and pronounce that’s how many feet down you’ll find water.

     The name for this is water witching, emphasis on the word “witch.” The term originated in the 17th century when it was deemed to be witchcraft. Indeed, any scientific basis is denied by present day professional hydrologists. Thinking about this came to me after reading the recent New York Times article, “Two Rods and a ‘Sixth Sense’: In Drought, Water Witches are Swamped.” The sub-title reads, “Amid California’s drought, desperate landowners and managers are turning to those who practice an ancient, disputed method for locating water.”

     The author of the article featured one witch or dowser or diviner who said he’s never been so busy being called by land owners even though the National Ground Water Association has stated the practice is “totally without scientific merit.” But he has clients who swear he is successful in finding water. Of course there are those who charge that he just got lucky. 

     There’s even a poem written 500 years ago by Sir Philip Sidney called “The Diviner.”

Cut from the green hedge a forked hazel stick

That he held tight by the arms of the V:

Circling the terrain, hunting the pluck

Of water, nervous but professionally

Unfussed. The pluck came sharp as a sting.

The rod jerked with precise convulsions,

Spring water suddenly broadcasting

Through a green hazel its secret stations.

The bystanders would ask to have a try.

He handed them the rod without a word.

It lay dead in their grasp till nonchalantly

He gripped expectant wrists. The hazel stirred.

Bewildered Ghosts Rose

 Whenever I drive the streets of Sheldon I can’t help but feel sadness for the loss of the old town. Town hall provided the venue for ball games, class plays, carnivals, and more. Those of us who played on “scrub” teams used to run back to the school to shower after a game and then run back in the cold with ice crystals in our hair to watch the A squad. The old schoolhouse has now fallen that so many of us attended for 12 years. The bank building on the corner was always a welcome site with its classy architecture. Of course Newton’s building next to city hall went, and I’m afraid the two brick buildings left standing will fall, too. All that is left will be tin.

I wrote this poem in five-syllable lines upon hearing of city hall’s fall -

October 10, 2005 -

Bewildered ghosts rose

amid bird-flurry

the day city hall

fell. Heavy steel hands

punched and clawed the bricks

until they succumbed.

Standing there, watching,

one could hear ancient

amalgams of echoes

choking in the dust

as the roof and walls

fell. With their sanctum

destroyed they whispered

their final good-byes.

Fort Ransom State Park

 I’m not too old to learn and appreciate doing it. Yesterday’s outing took us to the Fort Ransom area and primarily the State Park for the prime reason of getting into a quiet rural area. Driving along Hiway 46 we passed through that little area called Little Yellowstone Park. Now, I’ve always thought that was a knockoff name from the “real” Yellowstone Park because it’s such a scenic area. We came to find out it’s justified. At an observation point in the state park we read this: “The Niobrara Formation created by sediment being deposited on the sea floor yields many fossils of marine animals. This shale yellows to a gold color when exposed to the elements - hence the name Little Yellowstone.”

While in the park we checked out the yurts. I walked up to one and peaked through the glass in the doorway, and then better yet, a young park ranger lady came driving up on a Gator to clean it after the recent guests had departed. She unlocked it and invited us to come in. It is better furnished than I thought, complete with running water and electricity. At $125 per night stay, it would be a good getaway.

How many years had it been since we walked through the museum in town? I’d read where a young student from NDSU was interning there this summer and worked at cataloging their collection. It was good to see an attempt at organizing the artifacts is being made. The volunteer working there showed me a map that caught my eye. In a large frame about 3 feet by 2 feet it was hand-lettered and drawn and identified by the following legend - “Copy of original U. S. Army map taken from Fort Ransom, N. D. 1865-1872”. Drawn to scale, Snorri Thorfinson must drawn and labeled it since his name is printed on the lower right corner.

As I said at the beginning, I’m not too old to still be learning. Museums are something I like to support. I left several of my latest book with the museum for them to sell as a fund raiser.

Volunteering on the Fourth of July

 

Allen Burke, the retired publisher of the Emmons County Record, asked me to volunteer at The Hunter Times on the Bonanzaville grounds where they always celebrate the 4th. This newspaper building was moved in from Hunter ND and now contains a number of presses where the printing business can be demonstrated. Yesterday was a hot one, but I was surprised at the size of the crowd that ignored the temperature. 

     

I’ll need to start admitting to myself how old I’ve become because standing for several hours in a hot building started getting the best of me and I had to check out at 2:30. I thought this is the way they worked pre-air conditioning.

   

 Allen, in retirement, spends time with the newspaper museum he has established in Braddock ND. He also partners with Dr. Suzzanne Kelley of the NDSU Press when she brings one of her classes to Braddock to annually publish a book on the old-time machines.

     The newspaper business at one time was important and most any small community possessed a weekly made possible by the simplicity and portability of the first presses. One model of them was a Washington Hand Press which could be hauled on a wagon to some small town and set up to begin printing in short time. It is easy to lament to present state of journalism where the news is generally available only online or bloviating tv programs.