USA > South Dakota > Jerauld County > A history of Jerauld county, South Dakota > Part 4
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
Dale, (108-64)-John A. Adebar, Vincent Brechtel, Wm. Burns, B. B. Beadell, Anthony Bixler, Alden Brown, Chas. D. Brown, R. A. Bartlett, W. G. Cakebread, Edward Crawford, John Campbell, Archie Campbell, John Cook, Ely W. Chapman, John Crawford, John N. Dynes, Chas. Dawson, James Eastman, F. J. Eastman, A. B. Easter, Wm. Edgar, Emily J. Easter, Ira Eldell, B. F. Eagle, Louis Fenstimaker, R. R. Grif- fith, Daniel Schmidt, Ernest Schmidt, Joseph Scott, Charles Scott, John Teasdale, Robt. Tracy, Wilber I. Tower, D. Townsend, Clement Turner, R. Vandervene, Peter Wieland, Geo. H. Youngs.
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Chapter 10.
Wessington Springs, (107-64)-S. H. Albert, M. C. Ayers, P. R. Barrett, Hiram Blowers, P. B. Berlin, J. J. Barnes, Geo. R. Bateman, J. G. Campbell, A. V. Custer, Solomon Carey, Geo. T. Chapman, John Chapman, Daniel Carey, Thomas Drake, LaFaette Ewers, Lucina Eager, M. M. Flint, John R. Francis, J. F. Ford, H. D. Fisher, Andrew Giller- son, Ernest Garendt, John Grant, Wm. M. Goodwin, Newell Grant, W. W. Goodwin, N. C. Hall, Wm. Huffman, Wm. Hawthorne, C. E. Hackett, Lars Johnson, James Johnson, J. W. P. Jordan, Robert Johnson, George Johnson, S. Kinney, E. Knudson, Andrew Lund, Martha Lewis, Ed Lowe, M. A. McCune, John A. McCarter, John McCarter, Samuel Mc- Donald, John McCormick, Chas. Meihak, Sarah McCormick, Richard McCormick, E. V. Miles, J. A. McDonald, James A. McCarter, H. W. Mills, J. D. Morse, Samuel McCormick, E. B. Orr, Harvey M. Russ, Seth Richardson, Edwin A. Riddle, Charles Rohr, Berton Richardson, Matthew Sheppard, J. O. Shryock, Thos. H. Shryock, S. K. Starkey, C. H. Stephens, H. C. Stephens, A. C. Shultz, H. S. Starkey, L. S. Starkey, S. S. Starkey, D. W. Shryock, John Stone, E. L. Smith, F. T. Tofflemier, Wm. Taylor, Ruth Tofflemier, L. H. Tarbell, E. L. Turner, J. W. Thomas, Jane R. Williams, B. F. Wiley, Wm. J. Williams, Mary Williams, S. West, E. G. Williams, John E. White, Owen E. Williams, Adam West.
Viola, (106-64)-David A. Bryant, Augusta T. Berge, Alanson Barrs, Miss Barrs, E. L. Brown, Abram N. Brown, C. R. Bruland, A. Bywater, Archie B. Creswell, Daniel Cockle, Christian Clodt, W. V. Dixon, W. C. Davis, D. V. Davis, M. P. Dunn, C. W. Dougherty, Gus- tave Draeger, George Dean, Mary F. Ford, T. K. Ford, John B. Folsom, Joseph A. Ford, B. F. Gough, Gotlish Gates, John Gerkin, John M. Houk, Chas. Hein, J. T. S. Irons, C. E. Johnson, Andrew Jacobson, Louis Jonker, Ole A. Knutson, John Kuch, Peter Klink, Ebbert Kellog, H. H. Kieser, Henry Krabbenhoeft, L. D. R. Kruse, Louis Kruse, Henry Kasulka, Daniel Kieser, Fred Kieser, Geo. N. Kalb, Stewart King, Christian Krohmer, Paul Lillehaug, M. M. Modlin, Stephen H. Morse, J. C. Morse, Karl Meiback, E. H. Merville, O. W. Morehead, E. E. Nesmith, M. W. Nesmith, John M. Primmer, John Phillips, Fred Prim- mer, Wm. Pagenhart, N. G. Rhoades, Jesse Reynolds, Perry Reynolds, Peter A. Roti, Jas. W. Simpson, Sr., Jas. W. Simpson, Jr., John Simp- son, Francis E. Simpson, Robert H. Simpson, Peter H. Schultz, Geo. A. Seekatz, Jacob N. Smith, Christoph Schultz, Wm. P. Schultz, C. A. Sol- berg, F. J. Shellmyer, August Schuttpelz, Chas. Shabley, A. J. Solberg, Ole J. Solberg, Ole C. Solberg, Ole Swenson, Jonas A. Tyner, Wm. D. Towner, Charles Towner, O. L. Tucker, Wm. E. Towner, Wm. Ville-
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brandt, Frank Voge, Wm. P. Wilson, J. M. Winslow, Chas. Wolk, Henry Walters, Louis O. Woem, Charles Walters, C. E. Walker, O. J. Walker, Wm. Wetzel, L. G. Wilson, W. F. Zimmerman.
Blaine, (106-63)-H. H. Atwood, Auriel Antonio, Thos. O. Berg, O. G. Berg, E. O. Berg, T. W. Barrs, Jacob Buckawatz, Thomas Biggar, Fred E. Cook, Charl Christoferson, A. I. Churchill, Peter Davick, Lester Dunton. Richard Dalton, James R. Dalton, L. F. Daniel, Washington Eddy. Steffen L. Endal, Sylvanus Freeman, Christian Feistner, Leonard Feistner, D. A. Grant, W. A. Grant, Julius Hart, Henry Hart, Ole O. Hollebakken, D. R. Hale, Ole Johansen, Knute Knudson, Henry Koons, . Fred Luker, Nettie Lee, Halver Mekkelson, Battis Miler, Fred W. Myer, George Mills, Miss Meyers, A. M. Matthews, Hortense McKune, Eveline E. McKune, Peter Manning, Forest Olin, Bertle Olson, Mathias Pfaler, LaFayette Pearce, Nellie E. Parker, C. W. Parker, Andrew Peterson, August Pauloski, Emma Pauloski, Ira Purdy, Richard Price, John Par- quet. G. W. Rychman, Antoin Rygnski, Fred K. Strasser, Wm. Stiner, Joseph Steichen, Jacob Stromer, Mary Shannon, Henry W. Scott, Kittie Shannon, Ole R. Solberg, Ole T. Soarem, Sam K. Swenson, Andrew O. Swenson, Herman Schraeder, James Stoddard, John Steiner, W. R. Thomas, Mrs. M. M. Teachout, M. L. Thomas, Jonas Velle, Wm. Wus- son, Bottis Wecker, John P. Wolf, John M. Wheeler, Peter Wolf, Franz H. Wams, Charles C. Wright, G. H. Waldron, Calvin M. Young, M. W. Young, D. W. Young, I. A. Young, John Zimmerman, John Steichen, Nicholas Steichen.
Franklin, (107-63)-Magnus Anderson, G. T. Adkinson, Joshua Adkinson, Perry Bush, A. J. Bevens, Martin Baker, I. J. Black, D. Boge, G. O. Bergelian, Andrew Berg, W. I. Bellows, D. P. Burnison, George Bryon, W. N. Brown, Joseph Bouton, Frank Bush, D. M. Black, S. W. Boyd, Henry Beogelee, Hugh Confry, R. H. Chase, C. M. Clark, S. D. Catlon. Joseph Doctor, A. B. Dalrymple, C. G. Evans, H. L. Evans, Jacob Etzel, Josephine Englestad, A. L. Eager, Hiram Freeman, R. W. Foster, L. E. Franklin, Edward Fitzgibbon, Charles Gurte, Henry Goll, Albert Gunderson, J. M. Hardin, J. W. Harden, Knute N. Hovey, La- rome Hessdorfer, George Hodges, Anna A. Hoff, Andrew Hessdorfer, 7. T. Harmon, Geo. Hessdorfer, Wm. J. Houmes, Moses N. Hefte, John Hautenbourg, R. Hessdorfer, Frank Janoush, Wm. Karril, Henry Kni- criem, John Kogel, John Klemm, Ole C. Lindebak, Chas. E. LaRue, Lars Larson, A. Maldren, John Marshall, John McLean, F. W. Martin, David McDowall, B. R. McCaul, Wm. McCaul, Ira McCaul, J. A. Mc- Caul. Gust Newman, Robert Nisbet, A. M. Nettleton, H. D. Newton, C. Nettleton, Herbjorn Ostenson, Theo. Offerman, George O'Brien, Walter P. Pierce, Wm. M. Posey, Elijah Purdy, Mrs. W. Pinkham,
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Henry M. Posey, S. D. Ray, I. P. Ray, Iver H. Refvrem, E. M. Smith, Olena Solberg, James Susha, Michael Selz, Edwin S. Starkey, L. W. Surman, Henry Sunkler, John J. Sime, Charles Thorpe, Margaret Trot- ter, P. T. Varnum, Thomas M. Whiffin, J. C. Wallace, H. D. Wihte, H. A. White, Minnie J. Whiffin, Jas. G. Young, James H. Boyd, J. M. Brown.
Alpena, (106-63)-Wm. H. Arne, William Ault, Virgil P. Arne, Syver P. Amenson, Albert Ahart, H. M. Arne, W. L. Arnold, J. Barnes, John Busse, Wm. Brandenburg, George Brevier, Allen N. Brayton, I. W. Black, Chas. Bechtold, Fred Busse, T. Linus Blank, Moses D. Blank, Ray Barber, Wm. Bechtold, C. P. Canon, J. A. Calhoun, A. N. Canon, Wm. S. Corothers, J. E. Cook, James Conlin, L. W. Castleman, Geo. D. Canon, John Campbell, A. B. Davenport, Richard Davenport, Leopold Dietz, Wesley Davis, James W. Eastman, Charles Eastman, Daniel Eastman, E. M. Eastman, R. J. Eastman, Wm. Forshire, Thomas J. Forbes, R. P. Flagg, J. O. Gray, Wm. Girton, H. M. Hall, Joseph P. Harding, Chas. G. Haskins, Levi Hamilton, John A. Houmes, Fred Heller, Mathias Hed- strom, D. S. Kellogg, Daniel Kint, Henry E. King, W. A. Linn, L. N. Looms, Chas. E. Moore, M. M. Moran, Joseph H. May, James Moran, Hugh J. Moran, Peter Milroy, B. F. Miller, Patrick McDonald, Joseph A. Moore, E. F. Makemson, Dan A. McCoy, Ole Onstad, Andrew On- stad, Mary Onstad, Betsey Onstad, Morgan Onstad, Frank B. Phillips, Isaac Pierce, B. Quirk, Frank Quirk, Daniel F. Royer, John Smith, Coun- cil Sparks, D. N. Smith, Thos. Sheffield, Matt Suerth, Gustave Scheel,Fred M. Scherner, And. Sundberg, August Scheel, Joseph Terrell, Warren G. Tubbs, O. F. Woodruff, John R. Woodruff, John Woods, Daniel Web- ber, John Wallace, Edson Whitney, Frank O. Wheelihan, M. J. Wolcott, J. M. Webber, C. M. Yegge, F. W. Whitney.
The following is a list of the first settlers in the various townships as nearly as we have been able to gather from the memory of the oldest inhabitants :
Logan-W. S. Combs, Jr.
Crow-Abel Scyoc.
Marlaur-J. J. Groub.
Harmony-O. O. England.
Pleasant-B. F. Crittenden.
Crow Lake-Albert M. Allyn.
Anina-Joseph Motl. Media-Levi Hain.
Chery -.- Chas. Nicholson.
Dale-C. D. Brown.
Wessington Springs-Ogden Barrett.
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Viola-Ole C. Solberg. Blaine-Joseph Steichen. Franklin-Wm. M. Posey. Alpena-Wm. H. Arne.
Chapter 11.
While the villages of Waterbury and Sulphur Springs were striving for supremacy as the commercial and political center, settlers were locat- ing among the hills and valleys of the adjoining townships.
Among them were citizens and profesional men of all kinds. In 108 66 there were in 1883 nineteen graduates from eastern colleges, and --
this township was no different from the balance of the county. Then there were carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, harness makers, printers, painters, who were able to bring to the new settlements all the comforts and conveniences of older countries, as fast as their mechanical skill could be used.
Townships 108-67, and 107-66 were unsurveyed in the spring of 1883. Yet the squatters were able by the means of stakes and corners of the adjoining townships to select their claims. There were but few cases of two persons claiming the same tracts of land. The land laws of the United States divide a section into forty-acre tracts, which is the smallest legal sub-division. A squatter could only hold 40 acres by virtue of his settlement. Still the instances were rare where any por- tion of a quarter section was claimed by more than one settler. One instance of this kind occurred, however, in 108-67. F. M. Cooley, of Sulphur Springs, made improvements on the SE of 35, and Joseph Roberts settled himself on the same quarter. Robert's shanty was on a iine on the northwest forty, while Cooley's was in the valley on another forty. Both stuck to the claim until the surveyor's plat was filed, when Cooley went to the land office at Mitchell first, and made entry for the NE, SE and SW of the disputed quarter and also for the SE forty of the SW 1-4 of the section. This left Roberts with the northwest forty acres and no land adjoining that he considered desirable. He therefore abandoned the tract.
In this township (108-67) settlement began on the 6th day of May, when J. J. Groub and B. F. Marlar, both from Missouri, squatted on their claims. They came from the same county in Missouri, but were strangers until they met while looking for land in that township in Jer-
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auld county. Groub settled on. sections 19 and 20 and Marlar on the NW of 4. They were soon followed by W. S. Scofield and his sons Frank, Mark and George; John and A. T. Hudson, J. M. Corbin, the Bakers, and Zacharia Groub and his daughters, all of them taking claims near each other. In section 12 Mr. E. Olcutt made his improvements in the forepart of June. In Mr. Olcutt's house, his little daughter Fanny, was born in the month of August of that year, being the first child born in that township.
Among the people who came to Jerauld county in 1883, were the Vessey brothers, who arrived at White Lake on the 17th day of May. They immediately began to transport their goods to the SE of section 12-107-66, upon which R. S. Vessey established the rights of a squat- ter. They arrived at their destination on the morning of the 18th of May and began the construction of a "claim shanty." By night the structure was completed and the men were housed in one end of the build- ing and the horses in the other. The season that followed was a strenuous one. One hundred and thirty days were put in on the road between the claim and the town of White Lake. Though the air was full of politics, the future governor of the state was too busy getting established in his home to give the subject any attenion. By fall a new house had been ereced, a horse stable built and sheep shed, 18 feet wide by 240 feet long had been completed for the 600 head of sheep brought out from Wiscon- sin by Mr. S. H. Albert in August.
On the morning of April 5th of that year a gentleman with his wife and children and his sister engaged a team at Plankinton to take them to Wessington Springs. They made the start early for they did not wish to hurry on the way-and they did not. About an hour after the horse team started a man left the station with a yoke of oxen, following the same road. Mile after mile the two teams traveled along the wearisome way. Other teams came up behind the ox team, turned out, passed with a cheery word to the driver, and soon after drove by the horse team. The distance between the ox team and the horses grew perceptibly shorter. The boy driving the horses began to slap the animals with the lines and whip and say "giddap." After a while the man with the ox team turned his cattle to the side of the road and for some time the two traveled side by side. Then the oxen began to draw ahead, and at length turned into the road and went on. In vain the gentleman riding behind the horses suggested to the boy that he might hurry a little, and in vain the boy slapped and cried "giddap." The ox team kept gaining and finally disappeared in the distance. After dark the horse team arrived at the residence of Rev. J. G. Campbell on the SW of 17-107-64.
Mr. Campbell came out and inquired who they were and what they
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wanted. Being informed that the party consisted of Rev. S. F. Huntley and family on their way to the residence of Rev. A. B. Smart, he took his lantern and piloted them across the gully and over the hills until the light in Smart's house could be seen and there the weary passengers alighted about 10 o'clock in the evening.
In June following Mr. Huntley built a sod house on the NW of 4- 107-66 and with his family became a squatter on the "unsurveyed." Al- though in after years he served his county with distinction in the con- stitutional convention and state senate, he never forgot the wearisome- journey from Plankinton to Wessington Springs when he "just moved into" Jerauld county.
On the IIth day of April, 1883, five men stopped near where the townships of Media, Anina, Crow Lake and Pleasant are located. One of them was Theodore Dean, who came in a covered wagon, which he placed on the SW of 30-107-65, and in which he lived until in the fall, when he built a shanty. Another of the party was J. T. Ferguson, who at once built a shanty with a board roof on the NE of 6-106-65, where he lived and still lives. The shanty, but built with a shingle roof, is still on the place. John Conley, another of the number, built a shanty on the NE of 2-106-66, while his brother, Joseph Conley, made his improvements on the SW of 26-107-66. John W. Todd, the other member of the party, had brought his family with him and put up a tent for a dwelling and lived in that during the summer on the SE of 25- 108-66. His wife, Mrs. Minnie Todd, was the first woman resident of that township. Dean is one of the commissioners of the county, and Ferguson is the clerk of courts.
Nearly all the land in 107- 66 was soon taken and the people began the process of getting acquainted. This is soon accomplished in frontier settlements, where each must help the other.
Samuel Marlenee, a skillful carpenter, who settled on the SW of 5 was in great demand in assisting to buold the shanties that sprung up as by magic everywhere. So fast they grew that the next spring Mr. Huntley from his residence on the NW of 4, counted 84 dwellings. It is impossible to give particular mention of each settler, but we must refer the reader to the list already published.
In August the people had become so well settled that they began to take steps toward a more organized condition of society. On the 5th of that month a Sunday school and church service was commenced at the residence of Chauncey Barber in the southern part of the county. A minister from White Lake was present and preached to the settlers. Mr. Barber was elected superintendent of the Sunday school, O. E.
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Gaffin, assistant; T. H. Null of 106-66, was made secretary and Mrs. Moulton, also of 106-66, treasurer.
·In October, 1883, the government established a mail route for a. weekly service between White Lake and Elmer with a postoffice at the residence of G. W. Stetson with that gentleman as postmaster and another at Crow Lake with Albert M. Allyon as postmaster.
The Stetson postoffice was kept in a dugout on the NE of 34-107- 66, which was Mr. Stetson's dwelling place.
The mail carrier over the new line was Mr. R. Y. Hazard of 106-66; his compensation being $312.00 for performing that service from October 15th, 1883, to June 30th, 1884.
The mail facilities for the new county had now been very much in- creased. A line was established during the summer running from Miller to Kimball via Sulphur Springs, with George N. Price as carrier ; another from Elmer to Miller with A. B. Smart as carrier. The Plankinton line was extended to Huron and the service increased to twice a week on the first of March, 1883. Jack Sutley, who had carried the mail between Plankinton and Elmer from the time the line was established July I, 1882, continued to drive that route until April 3, 1883, when he sold it to Bert Orr, who was then living at Plankinton. The offices in the southern part of this line in Jerauld county were Parsons, Gordon and Sullivan.
In November a postoffice was located on the NE of 7-107-65, named Templeton with J. N. Cross as postmaster. This office was sup- plied by the Elmer and White Lake line.
The line from Mitchell to Fort Thompson was still continued, but the service was anything but satisfactory.
During the summer of 1883 the people of 108-66, among whom were a goodly number of Quakers, progressed as rapidly as their neighbors on the south. Nearly all the land was taken, and a large acreage broken up. Along in September or October C. G. Smith, A. G. Snyder. Wil- liam Marshall, I. N. Rich, O. J. Marshall, Peter Wilfring and C. W. Mills organized a Sunday school at the residence of the latter on the SW of 15. This organization is still in existence. At first the meetings alternated between Mr. Mills' home and that of Mr. Wilfring on section 22, accompanied by preaching by Mr. and Mrs. Huntley and William Marshall.
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Chapter 12.
One morning in the latter part of April, 1882, a party consisting of John and Peter Primmer and W. B. Wilson set out from the south part of 106-64 to meet Fred Kieser at Huron, who was coming over the C. & N. W. with 300 or 400 head of sheep from Iowa. They arrived at Huron that evening and found Kieser there with the sheep unloaded and ready for an early start in the morning. He had brought with him a few rods of portable fencing that he put on a wagon to take along for use as a coral at night while on the way from the station to his claim in section 35-106-64. On the wagon with the fencing he put the pro- visions for the party during the trip.
At Huron they met Charles Walters who was also going to his claim in section 22-106-64. Walters, as a matter of company, decided to go along with Kieser's party.
All being ready the sheep were started in charge of Mr. Kieser, Ben Wilson and John Primmer, leaving Pete Primmer to follow on with the team, fencing and provisions.
It was at the time of year when the new grass was just starting and the sheep were inclined to straggle a good deal. They were finally brought out of the town and started in a southwesterly direction. The drivers had gone on with the flock of sheep until near noon, but the team with the fencing and food for dinner did not appear. Kieser became anxious about the missing wagon and driver and rode back to the town to see what was the trouble while Ben and John moved on with the straggling herd.
Back in Huron Pete leisurely put the team to the wagon, knowing that a flock of sheep move slowly, and thinking he would soon overtake them. When everything was ready he drove out of town on the road he supposed the sheep had taken. In those days the trails ran everywhere without regard to section line, for there was not a fence between Huron and Plankinton. Pete got on to one of these trails, or roads, and fol- lowed on, expecting every moment to come in sight of the moving herd. As he did not come up with the drivers as soon as he thought to. he concluded they had gone faster than usual and whipped up the team. On and on he went, following in a direction toward home as nearly as he could judge, but no sheep could he find.
Mr. Kieser reached Huron in search of the team and wagon and learned that Pete had gone after the herd. The thought at once occur- red to him that the team was on the wrong road and immediately set off -on another road of course-to overtake Pete and bring him around to the boys who he knew by this time must be getting hungry. Away he
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went, mile after mile, but no Pete could he see. At length he gave up the search and returned to the herd and the hungry drivers. All the afternoon they kept the sheep moving on in the direction of their desti- nation, constantly scanning the surrounding prairie in the hope that Pete would appear with the food and the coral fence.
Just before dark they came to a claim shanty and camped for the night. The people who occupied the shanty were hospitable and the party obtained a good supper and then took turns through the night in herding the sheep. The next morning after a hearty breakfast the flock was again put in motion and the long wearisome journey continued- seeming doubly long for there was not another dwelling on the way. Still the missing wagon did not come in sight and with nothing to eat or drink, except the water in the lake beds that they passed, the boys and men trudged on till night. About sundown they arrived at the bank of a small lake west of where Alpena now stands and again camped. The air was chilly and no shelter to be seen.
From among the things in his wagon Mr. Walters brought out a single blanket, a spade and a loaf of bread. The loaf was divided among them and then with the spade they dug a hole about a foot deep and six feet square. Into this they piled a lot of dry grass, that with their pocket knives they cut from the lake bed, and all but one lay down under cover of the one blanket to get what rest and sleep they could. The one stayed up to watch the sheep for two hours when he changed places with one of those in the hole. They slept but little, but got some rest. It was tiresome to lie in one position, but were packed so closely that all must turn at the same time. Lying "spoon fashion," when one would get tired he would cry out, "prepare to spoon, spoon," all would turn.
But the longest night has a morning and the longest journey has an end. At daylight on the first day of May they were up and on the journey again. That night they reached home and glad enough to get there. Pete had arrived before them. He had wandered about on the prairie in search of the flock until all hope of finding it was gone and then, after spending one night in the wagon, drove home.
On the 31st day of May, 1882, a party composed of James O. Gray, Edson Whitney, J. Bridgeman, J. P. Harding and Mrs. Roxy A. Bartlett, mother-in-law of Bridgeman and Harding, crossed the east line of Aurora county near the southeast corner of section 1-107-63. Mrs. Bartlett had previously filed a preemption claim on the SW of 30-108- 63, and Mr. Harding had placed the same kind of a filing on the north- west quarter of the same section. While in Mitchell to get lumber and her household furniture she and her son-in-law, met Gray and Whitney, who were going up the James River Valley to look for land. An ar-
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rangement was made with Mr. Gray, who had a good span of horses, to take a load to the Bartlett claim.
Soon after crossing the county line they arrived at the residence of W. M. Posey, who with his family, had located a few days before on the NE of 2 in 107-63. The Poseys were then the only family in what is now Franklin township. After a few minutes spent in greetings and inquiries the party passed on taking a course west by north. On the NW of 33-108-63, Mr. Gray made a slight improvement, as notice to any who might come after him that he had selected that quarter as his claim.
At the SW of 32-108-63 Mr. Whitney made his selection and the party went on to the spot, where Mrs. Bartlett wanted her claim shanty built. It was afternoon when they reached he Bartlett claim and the weather indicated a storm. A temporary shelter was constructed for the household goods and in it the whole party took refuge from the rain that came with the night.
The number of settlers in townships 107 and 108-63 was small at that time. Mr. Posey with his family was busy getting a rude shelter on section 2-107-63, and in digging a well close by. The shanty was 14×16 of rough boards with a shed roof. The covering of the shanty was made of 16 foot boards which projected about 18 inches over the north side. The well was dug down to a depth of about 8 feet, but not finding water they concluded to use the hole as a place in which to keep milk and butter. For convenience in getting out and into this improvised outdoor cellar, some steps were dug from one side down into it.
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