USA > South Dakota > Jerauld County > A history of Jerauld county, South Dakota > Part 2
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About the same time Charles Walters settled on the NE. of the NW. of sec. 22 in 106-64, and the next year became a permanent resident.
On Sept. 7 L. G. Wilson established his residence on the SW quarter of 25 in 106-64 and the next day made a homestead entry for the SE quarter of the same section.
One day in November, 1881, another man arrived at the settlement about the Springs, who afterward became prominent in the affairs of the county, spent the night with A. B. Smart and the next morning before sunrise climbed to the top of the hills and took a long earnest look over the James River Valley, glistening white in the autumnal frost. He was captivated by the beauty of the landscape. Except the few dwellings near the hills not a thing could be seen as far as the eye could reach denoting the presence of a human being. The white carpet, the blue sky, the rising sun and the invigorating air fixed in his mind the determina- tion to make these prairies his future home. That day he drove to Mitchell and on the 6th day of November, 1881, P. H. Shultz made the 6th entry for public land in township 106-64.
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All the settlements mentioned thus far were in what was then Aurora county, which, for all purposes of county government was de- pendent upon Hanson county officials. An earnest effort was then on foot in certain quarters to wipe Davison county off the map and attach the western part of it to Aurora county. Davison county had been or- ganized and was provided with a full set of officials.
The settlers in Aurora county, therefore, were in the anomalous po- sition of having a fully organized county between them and the official home of the courts and constabulary to which they must appeal for legal protection. All deeds and mortgages must be recorded in Hanson county, books and court mandates had to come from Hanson county magistrates.
Under such circumstances the political and judicial organization of Aurora county was a necessity.
The law of the territory at that time provided that when any unor- ganized county should contain fifty voters it should be the duty of the acting governor to issue a commission to three of the residents there of whom should by virtue of such appointments, be authorized to do all things necessary to be done to construct a county government in ac- cordance with the laws of the territory.
In the summer of 1881 a commission was given by the governor of the territory to Mr. A. B. Smart of township 107-65, and two other residents of the county of Aurora and they proceeded to appoint the other county officials and do the many things essential to set the ma- chinery of the county in motion. In this work the member from the hills seems to have had his share of influence. In the appointment of the county officials Mr. D. W. Shryock was made a justice of the peace, C. W. P. Osgood, constable, Alden Brown, county superintendent, all of Wessington P. O., and Mr. L. G. Wilson of township 106-64, county assessor. Of these officers appointed by the first commissioners of Aurora county, Mr. Wilson was the only one who was selected by the people to succeed himself at the expiration of his appointed term.
During the year 1881 the settlers had not been molested by the horse thieves and it was hoped that their troubles from that source were ended.
During a part of the summer and fall of 1881 Hudson Horsley lived with the family of his father-in-law, Mr. C. W. Hill on the NE of 22 in 108-65. Mr. Horsley had nearly completed a house on the SE of 26, which he had taken for a pre-emption claim in the same township. He had put up a stack of hay and was about ready to take up his abode for the winter on his own land.
Mr. Hill's residence was near the lower end of a gulch or ravine, that extended some distance back into the hills. A view to the south from
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Mr. and Mrs. C. JV. Hill.
Rev. J. G. Campbell.
$
S. T. Leeds.
Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Holcolmb.
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the house was cut off by the high peaks that rise many feet above the adjacent tops.
One evening in November, when the wind was in the south, a bright light in the air near Turtle Peak gave them warning that a prairie fire was approaching among the hills. Mr. Horsley went to his new house on section 26 to protect that and the hay. After he had gone, Mrs. Hill and Mrs. Horsley, growing anxious to know the exact location of the flames which they knew must be somewhere near the upper end of the ravine, left the house on section 22 and walked up the valley in the direction of the fire. They reached the high land at the end of the gulch, where a two-furrow firebreak had been made, when they found that the fire had already passed them on the west and had crosed the valley between them and the house. In a word they were on the hill surrounded by fire. The light wind drove the flames straight toward them. To get out of the circle of fire was impossible. There was scarcely a moment for thought even. As the flames'rushed upon them, Mrs. Horsley threw herself into the furrow that formed a part of the firebreak and pulled some of the sods over her head and neck. For one terrible instant she felt the stifling heat, then the flames had passed. She sprang to her feet and saw her mother standing beside her enveloped in flames. Neither had lost consciousness and both realized their peril. With bare hands they tore off the burning garments and each saved the other. They finally reached home again but both were ill for a long time from the effects of their fearful burns. Mr. Horsley had saved his barn and other property but had no use for it until the next season.
Chapter 5.
The year 1882 was an active year in the prairie settlement. North and south of it the railroads had been extended to the Missouri river, and the C. M. & St. P. that year built its James River line north front Mitchell as far as Letcher. At every station immigrants and prospec- tors unloaded from the trains by hundreds and literally scattered over the prairies. They came singly and in parties of twos, threes and dozens. Every shanty, sod house and dug-out became a lodging place where the newcomers could find shelter for a night.
As we have already seen the settlers about the Springs were a long ways from town and in case of sickness were practically without medical aid. So it was with much satisfaction that they welcomed the arival
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of Mrs. Dr. N. C. Weems, in February of 1882. She was a widow, well skilled in her profession and for many years was a veritable blessing to the people in the central part of Jerauld county.
With the opening of spring, settlers and prospective settlers began to spread over 106, 107 and 108 in the north part of Aurora county and the eastern part of Buffalo. It was difficult for the newcomers to select the unclaimed land from that for which entries had been already made at the land office. This fact induced several of the men who had been in the country about the hills long enough to become familiar with it, to make a regular business of assisting the immigrants to find suitable locations.
Among those who devoted their time to helping the newcomers to locate were C. W. Hill, Hiram Blowers, C. W. P. Osgood and A. B. Smart, the latter pursuading C. W. McDonald to come out from Sioux Falls to form a partnership and engage in the business with him. This was the first firm of land agents at the Springs and continued six months, when it was dissolved by limitation of contract.
The first important event of the year 1882, was the organization of the M. E. Church, on the 30th of March for which articles of incorpor- ation were adopted April 8th. The beginning of this church organiza- tion was made by Rev. A. B. Smart, on the occasion of his first visit to the hills, Nov. 14th, 1880. At that time he held religious services at the home of P. R. Barrett, and organized a class meeting. That organi- zation had been continued, with services at irregular intervals, until the foundation of the regular church society as above stated. This nucleus of a church had been kept alive mainly through the efforts of Mr. Smart. The charter members of this church corporation were :
Sarah Barrett, Mrs. Biddle, Fannie Tofflemier, Laura Shryock, C. W. McDonald, Omer Shryock, Thos. Shryock, Chas. Shryock, Rubie J. Smart, A. B. Smart, F. T. Tofflemier, Mrs. E. Tofflemier, Ruth Toffle- mier, Kate Tofflemier, Ollie Tofflemier, Floy Tofflemier, Maud Toffle- mier, Tell Tofflemier, Wm. Taylor.
With the organization of the church Rev. J. W. P. Jordan, father- in-law of A. B. Smart, was made pastor. The meeting was held at the residence of Mrs. Riddle, which was located about the center of the south line of section 8-107-64.
At the first quarterly meeting of that year, 1882, it was determined to build a church 26 by 40 ft. in size on the northwest quarter of section 17. Of course to build a church required money. As the members of the little community were not able to pay the expense of erecting the proposed edifice it was necessary to look elsewhere for required funds. By a unanimous vote of the members of the church Mr. R. S. Bateman
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was appointed a committee of one to look after that part of the under- taking.
As soon as he could put his affairs in shape for leaving, he drove to Huron and took the train for his old home at Appleton, Wis.
The next important event, especially to the parties concerned, was the birth of a son to Mr. and Mrs. Hudson Horsley, of 108-65 at their home on the SE of section 26. The little Dakotan was named Orlo and was the first birth in what is now Jerauld county.
It is impossible to ascertain certaintly the order in which the settlers arrived in 1882 and the years that followed. But in the spring of 1882 the number of residents was increased by the arrival of J. G. Campbell, C. T. Wallace, Geo. R. Bateman, H. J. Wallace, Findlay T. Tofflemier, J. A. Holcolmb, John Chapman, Seth Richardson, Wm. Goodwin, B. F. Wiley.
From the 5th of Nov. 1878 when it was established, until the ist of July. 1882, the postoffice of which P. R. Barrett. was postmaster, had been known as Wessington, but on that day the department at Washington changed it to Elmer, and gave the name Wessington to a new office established in the western part of Beadle county on the C. & N. W. Ry. The change of name came as a complete surprise to the settlers by the springs and their indignation was great. Petitions signed by nearly all the settlers were time and again sent to the department officials asking that the former name of the office be restored.
The immediate employment of the people at that time was getting settled, breaking prairie and planting "sod crops." Their buildings, hastily constructed, were either frame shanties or "sod houses." The former were usually covered outside with tar paper and inside with such periodicals as the family received through the mails, while the sod structures had no lumber except what was required for window and door frames and roof. Occasionally some settler would select a spot on a side hill and with pick and shovel scoop out a hole 10x12 feet in size, throw over it a few planks and some dirt and use it for a temporary abode. These dwellings were models of neatness and afforded their oc- cupants as much or more of comfort and unalloyed happiness, as they obtained in after years in more prententious houses.
The erection of these buildings and hay or sod stables was the first move in getting settled. The next was to break up as much of the prairie as possible and get it planted. There was no "old ground" to rent and each one must prepare from the beginning the field that he sowed.
The breaking season always began as soon as the grass started, which was as early as the frost was out of the ground and continued until about the 20th of June. Settlers who had but one pair of animals would "double up" with a neighbor and so "change work" through the season.
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Horses, oxen, cows, all that had strength to pull were put at the neces- sary work.
C. M. Chery and M. J. Thornton united their teams and began to turn up the tough sod. Thornton had been using the team which con- sisted of two of his own and one of Chery's horses for several days, when one morning, on going to the stable to feed the animals he found the stalls empty. Filled with misgivings he hurried to Chery's shanty to see if the horses had broken out of the stable and gone over there. Chery , had seen nothing of them and a day of search and inquiry about the settlement failed to find any trace of the missing team. The horse- thieves had again commenced their work. In hayingtime two yoke of oxen belonging to Hudson Horsley and his brother Bromwell Horsley were gone and could not be found. Other losses were sustained and the settlers began to guard their stables with dog and gun. The presence of "night riders" was again reported and the mysterious comings and goings of strange men and of some "hangers-on," who had no visible means of support was a subject of much discussion in the neighborhood.
The settlers were now sufficiently numerous to dare to protect them- selves and about Sept. Ist a move was set on foot to drive the lawless characters from the hills and gulches. A party captured a young fellow whose actions appeared to them suspicious and by threatening him with serious consequences if he did not reveal all he knew of the desperadoes, obtained from him a full statement of who the thieves were, their place of rendezvous and their method of operation. The boy was detained and application made to Justice of the Peace Shryock for a warrant for the arrest of all the members of the gang implicated by the boy's narra- tive. The warrant was issued and placed in the hands of C. W. P. Os- good, constable.
The news soon spread through the settlement that a raid was to be made on the horsethieves, supposed to be somewhere in the gulches. The constable did not feel like searching the hills and ravines alone and be- gan to look about to gather a posse to assist him in making the arrests.
While the constable was gathering his assistants a party of settlers in 108- 65, growing impatient and fearful that the desperadoes would get into hiding, started to capture some of them before the constable could arrive. The result of this move was the shooting of one man and the escape of the fellow supposed to be the leader of the horsethieves.
Meanwhile the constable was riding about with great bluster, calling for a posse and spreading the news of the proposed arrest. In the midst of the excitement W. I. Bateman drove to the residence of Rev. J. G. Campbell and asked him to join in helping the officer to serve the war- rant. The minister readily assented and taking his Winchester rifle set
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out with Bateman to join the constable. Mr. Osgood was satisfied with this acquisition to his force and immediately started for the ravine in 109-65, indicated by the boy's story as the hiding place of the men named in the warrant.
At the entrance to the gulch indicated the posse found a strange man, heavily armed, standing as a sentinel, who commanded the party to halt and then informed them that his instructions were to not allow anyone to go up that valley.
"Look here, my man," said the minister, "you come and look in this buggy." The man came to the vehicle and saw several rifles and re- volvers lying on some hay in the bottom of the box. "Now," said Campbell, "it may be for your eternal welfare, both here and hereafter to get into that buggy and ride alone with us."
"I guess maybe your advice is good," replied the stranger as he climbed into the buggy and the party drove on.
They ascended the ravine to where they expected to find the man they were looking for, but he was gone. The party returned to the mouth of the gulch and there separated, Campbell and Osgood going on north along the foot of the hills to look for the other men named in the warrant.
Campbell and Osgood went to see the man who had been shot and found him suffering considerable pain and terribly frightened. The bullet had struck a rib, followed around his body to the back where it had passed out, giving the appearance of having gone directly through hin. Campbell probed the wound and having learned the course taken by the bullet assured the man that his hurt was not fatal. He then sent for Mrs. Dr. Weems to attend the injured fellow and departed on his errand with the constable.
It was afternoon when they left home and the trip up the ravine had taken considerable time. Night had now come on and the two men pro- ceeded by starlight.
After traveling a mile or so they heard the loud voices of men evi- dently intoxicated. The strangers were on foot and coming along the trail which the minister and constable were following. Osgood at once recognized the voices as those of the men he wanted. He and Campbell got out of the buggy and taking their weapons advanced to meet the ap- prouching group. The drunken men did not notice the constable and his companion until the minister stepped squarely in front of them with leveled rifle end ordered them to throw up their hands. The men were dumfounded, but their hands went up, instantly. Soon they realized that they were facing a leveled rifle and two revolvers. Then their pro- fanity became terrific, but lower their hands they dare not. They obeyed
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an order to face about, and then stood still with uplifted hands until the constable had taken a brace of revolvers from each of them. They were then put into the buggy and guarded by the constable and his companion were taken to Osgood's residence where they were detained until the next day. A preliminary examination was held before Justice Shryock and the settlers then realized that it is one thing to have suspicions, well founded, in fact to be fully convinced, and feel that they absolutely know a thing, and still not be able to prove it.
The boy when brought into court declared the story he had told the men who had threatened him was all false, and told to save himself from punishment. The justice could do nothing but discharge the prisoners, except the young fellow, who spent a long time in the jail at Plankinton. The result, however, was effectual. The settlers were no longer molested by the desperadoes.
Chapter 6.
About the 20th of May 1882, assessor L. G. Wilson began the first assessment of Aurora county. In that portion now contained in Jerauld county he found 123 persons.
In the spring and summer of 1882 settlers established themselves in other parts of the county. In 106-65 Joseph Mottle located with a herd of cattle on the SE of Sec. 5; S. S. Moore put in a sod crop on the SE of 23 and N. E. Williams on the NW of 13 and later in the year V. I. Converse built a small shanty on the SE of 28; Jule Swan also located there that summer.
In 106-66 Frank Spinler began work in May on his tree claim and did the first breaking in the township. He built a sod house on the same claim, the SW of 26, about the same time. At the southwest corner of Crow Lake, Albert Allyn, a clerk in the land office at Mitchell selected a claim in Sec. 27, as soon as the surveyor's plat was filed and he and Spinler were at work on their sod buildings at the same time.
In the NE part of 106-67, Combs & Harris located a horse ranch in Sec. 2, while in 107-67, later in the season Abe Scyoc and Henry Ferren settled in Sec. 18. Among those who came to the western part of the county prospecting that season was C. S. Jacobs, from Victor, N. Y., who located a tree claim in Sec. 6-106-66. S. S. Vrooman, from Pana, Ill., and E. S. Waterbury and his brother Dan, both from Polo, Ill., each of whom took from one to three claims in 107-67. At the
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same time S. T. Leeds came from Amboy, Ill., and traversed the whole length of what is now Jerauld county. Leeds selected a fine quarter section in what is Pleasant township and went to the land office at Mitchell to make a tree claim entry for it. He paid his money, obtained a filing receipt and went on his way to Illinois. When he returned the next year he found that his receipt described land six miles west of that he had selected. The reason was that 107-66 had not been surveyed, but 107-67 had been, and the officials at the land office preferred to give him what he didn't want, rather than take the trouble to explain.
In the fall of that year Mrs. Mary Hendricks, the first woman settler in 107-67, came out from Polo, Ill., and filed on the southwest quarter of section II. Early in the next spring she came again and for several years remained a resident of that township.
On the IIth day of July, 1882, a party of four men, driving several hundred head of sheep arrived at the settlement about the big spring and stopped at the residence of Hiram Blowers for the night. The next morning they went west, over the hills looking for land upon which to locate a sheep ranch taking the flock with them. They were the first to cross the hills for the purpose of settlement and two of them are still residents of the county. The party consisted of O. O. England, C. W. England, Chas. Armstrong and N. B. England. They went up into township 108-66, then unsurveyed, and when they found a place that suited them they stopped and began the first habitation between the Springs and Ft. Thompson.
About two months later Mr. Allan G. Snyder moved on to his present farm in sections 14 and 23 in the same township and has kept up his establishment alone for twenty-seven years.
In the northeast part of the county in the north part of township 108- 63 Wm. Arne had found a tract of land that suited him and made it his home. In the south part of the township two gentlemen from England had set their stakes and were making themselves homes on the prairie. One was John Cook and the other Thos. Sheffield. Both are in that town- ship with their families yet.
Just across the line in Sanborn county, Mrs. Mary Barber and Miss Betsy Litchfield were holding claims. They will be remembered by all the early settlers as the two ladies who for many years were the hostesses of the Alpena Revere House.
In township 107-66, B. F. Crittenden, a private surveyor, had estab- lished his residence on the SW of 35.
Among the newcomers were two of especial assistance to their neigh- bors-in those days "neighborhood" extended over a wide stretch of country. These two men were John Chapman, who had settled on the
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G. N. Price's Livery Barn at Waterbury.
Mr. and Mrs. Thos. Sheffield.
Miss Betsey Litchfield.
Mrs. Mary Barber.
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SE of section 17-107-64 and Wm. Goodwin on the SW of 32 in the same township. Both were skilled blacksmiths and soon had all they could do in attending to the wants of the settlers.
Until July Ist, 1882, the people about the hills had relied upon the mail route from Mitchell to Ft. Thompson for their mail. Then the government gave them a line once a week from Plankinton.
On the 4th day of March, 1882, President Arthur issued a patent conveying title to the land embraced in Stearns' proof, made April 30, 1881, and upon which the big springs are located. On the 10th of May, 1882, Mr. Burr sold to D. A. Scott a one-half interest in this tract of land and they immediately set Surveyor Israel Green, of Mitchell, at work platting the town of Wessington Springs. The town plat was filed in the office of the register of deeds of Aurora county, May 26th, 1882. This was the first official publication of the name "Wessington Springs."
Another important event, the first of its kind in the country embraced in the county of Jerauld, was the marriage of C. W. McDonald and Fanny Tofflemier, on the 17th of August, 1882, at the residence of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. T. Tofflemier. The officiating clergyman was Rev. A. B. Smart.
On the-day of-, 1882, Alden Brown, growing tired of the duties of his office resigned the position of county superintendent of Aurora county, and Mr. C. W. McDonald was, at the instance of Commissioner Smart, appointed to fill the vacancy. As the school townships were not organized, however ,there was but little work for that officer to do.
As the time for the November election approached the people of Aurora county began to look about for men to succeed the appointed officials In the whole political arena there is probably no position more trying or thankless than that of commissioner to organize a new county. Many a political ambition, or business scheme, depends for its success upon the policy to be adopted by that first board. The old proverb. "as the twig is bent the tree is inclined," is as true of young counties as of young children.
The commissioners of Aurora county had incurred the enmity of a number of men possessed of considerable political influence, who deter- mined to punish them by defeating their election to succeed themselves. For member from the hill district they determined that Mr. Smart should not be continued in office. The result was that that commissioner was retired and Mr. R. S. Bateman, of Wessington Springs, put in his place.
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