| Summary: | had to drive his team, then all four of us girls and Ralph got them. We stayed in bed about three days. We all got along good without complications. When coming into the town of Heckla, South Dakota we saw our first horseless carriage, that was quite a thrill. This was the latter part of April, 1899. One night in northern South Dakota, Dad tried to buy hay for the horses, but the man wouldn't sell us any so we just took enough for our horses and mules for one night; that is the only time in all of the travels we ever or at least Dad ever took anything. We could buy grain in sacks, carry along in the wagons but not the hay. Dad always fed his horses, good, as he wanted them to be able to do a good day's work. Then from Heckla, South Dakota we went to Oakes and LaMoure, then following the James River several little towns such as Adrian, Montpelier, Yp- silanti, Dickey, and right through the State Hospital grounds into Jamestown, on up to Buchanan going as far north as near Edmunds, then taking across country hitting towards our claim out in Haven Township, finally coming to the home of brother and sister Alfred Kreps, at that time down just west of what you children know as the Petra farm south of Niccums place, though at that times people by the name of Wagner had taken that claim. We camped in Brother Krep's yard that night, had supper and breakfast with them. After supper the men took pitch forks and went over to the ripples on the Kelly Creek, got enough sauger fish for breakfast. The fish were going upstream running over the riffles. We thought they were pretty good too, but now I'd rather have a northern. The next morning we went on about IVi miles straight north to the claim Dad had filed on the year before and where he and Alfred had built a house in 1898, which we were to call our home." The Little Boy Who Hitched on Behind A Simple, True Tale By C.A. Stone In a rambling old house, where the mountain slopes down On Connecticut's rough soil, in old Sharon Town, A man and wife lived, had their own little world With a group of five boys, and three little girls. "Hie away to the store now," the fond mother said To the fifth of the group, a wild rattle'd head, "This is the season you love best of the year," When cousins are coming, and Christmas draws near, And I'm wanting some spices and raisins, to make For you and your cousins, a nice Christmas cake. Take your sled if you wish, no doubt you will find Some one will invite you to 'hitch on behind.' Away went the lad, light hearted and gay. But all of the teams passed him by on the way, Until an old man with a one-horse sleigh and load Pulled up and sat eyeing the boy by the road. And that lad ne'er forgot his kind look when he said "Come on, little sonny, hitch on your red sled." Then glanced down and smiled with eyes full of glee, While I bowed to him, and he nodded to me. And said, "Get up, Mollie, you're dreadful lazy inclined. But that boy can't pass us 'cause he's hitched on behind." What a ride that boy had all the way 'round The winding hillside, then up, up into town. The old man held up Mollie while the boy loosed his sled. And thanked him very kindly, when he laughingly said: "Git along to the store now, you bright little elf, Don't you know I was a little boy once myself And loved an old neighbor who treated me kind, For he held up his team while I 'hitched on behind.'" Then the boy fell to musing o'er an admonition at school. When the teacher said, "All boys should live by the golden rule." And wondered if the rule filled the old man with joy, And made him kind, and considerate to the little boy. And he said he was sure there would ne'er come a day When a man of that kind passed the school with a sleigh, Had need to be watching, or trembling with fear Lest a water-soaked snow ball come biff 'against his ear, For all of the boys, who by nature refined, Loved the man who said cheerfully "hitch on behind." My! how time flies, that little boy with the sled Wandered out to the west, and the old man is dead. For many long years have rolled on since that day, And that little boy now is old, crippled and gray, Jus' "Biding his time," while there's much he regrets Just a trying his best, until life's sun shall set, But when he goes riding there comes to his mind That old man and the little boy who "hitched on behind." (Mr. Stone was Mrs. Walter Cruchet's father) Mrs. Ralph Hall writes of her experiences in this new place they call Foster County: "The early eighties witnessed in Dakota Territory, particularly in the northern part, a development the like of which was never known before and will never be experienced again. The Railroads exploited the new country all over the world, and the Dakota boomer worked with so much enthusiasm that he became celebrated. One of these boomers came to our home town just at a time when we were forced to seek a change of climate on account of my mother's health. So what more natural than that we should try the wonderful recuperative power of Dakota pure air. Arriving in Jamestown we were compelled to drive the rest of the way and certainly thought we had reached the Arctic region, for Carrington— just a few dingy buildings— was half buried in snow, although it was the first of April. It was customary for every man and woman who had the right to file on as many claims as possible, and we like all the rest acquired the land fever, but every quarter with a radius of 15 miles of town was taken before the land was in market, consequently, 41 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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