Section Two
Four Pages
"The Voice of the Beef Empire"-North-Central Nebraska's BIGGEST Newspaper
_Volume 82—Number 15 O'Neill, Holt County, Nebraska, Thursday, August 2, 1962 Seven Cents
" ——^- _ — - .. ... - .. . -- .. --
First Home a Dugout
For Della Stuart Eby
In this article, Mrs. Della
Stuart Eby, O’Neill, tells of her
childhood years in the Spring
view area of Nebraska.
My parents decided to take the
admonition given by Horace Gree
ley seriojsly — “Go West Young
Man and Grow up with the Coun
try.”
So in 1884, they moved when I
was just two years old, and it
almost seems incredible that I
should remember some of the
things I do. This proves to me
that the impressions made on
the baby mind can linger through
Methodist WSCS
Rummage Sale
August 16-17-18
Old Murray Bldg.
so many years—seventy some
years, as in the case of this wri
ter.
My father shipped west with
some other Illinois people. This
was the spring of 1884. My mo
ther, sister, Olive Mae, four
years old and myself, two years
old, waited at the home of my
maternal grandfather, Dr. E. R.
Boardman at Elmira, 111., until
my father provided us living
quarters.
David M. Stuart, my father,
rode in an immigrant car along
with all his possessions, as did
the others going west. He, with
several other men in the group,
dug a big hole in the side hill.
Then they drove to the Niobrara
river and got pine logs for a
roof, and over these they placed
deep layers of sod closely packed.
I have no memory of the trip
out by train with my mother
and sister, but I do remember
getting off the train at Bassett,
t he homestead daddy had taken
was in Key a Paha County,
seven miles east of Springview.
My father met us with mules
and a covered wagon. I remem
ber when we reached our des
tination and the funny little
home.
Daddy had dug a well in a low
place near the dugout, just the
depth of a spade, handle and
all. We got water by dropping a
pail and pulling it up by a rope.
My father had included in the
conglomerated mess of things in
the immigrant car, a breaking
plow and several sacks of good
Illinois seed corn, which he
learned to his sorrow, was not
adapted to high dry Nebraska
prairie land. But like all new
settlers, he lived to learn. My
mother, a girl raised in a home
of culture, had never had to take
the hard knocks of life, but she
had the kind of stuff it took for
early settlers, and as my father
broke the sod, she followed with
a spade, making a hole and drop
ping the seed by hand. All her
life she carried scars on the
soles of her feet from that spade.
My folks found that the old
stork would soon be coming up
the trail and some sort of a more
adequate house had to be built.
Daddy began hauling logs from
the Niobrara, going one day, cut
ting trees for the log cabin,
spending another day digging lit
tle trees for oar tree claim and
the third day coming home. I
knew what those long lonely days
meant to my mother. But if there
was fear or regret in her heart
those dear old brown eyes never
revealed it to her children.
I well remember hearing her
tell of sitting all night at a little
window with her trusted little
revolver in her hand. A pack of
hungry prairie wolves had gotten
on the roof of the dugout, and
she did not know when they
would work through the sod roof,
bat she felt quite safe as she
watched her babies. To her ut
ter dismay the next morning she
discovered her gun was not load
ed.
After many trips to the tim
ber or logs and to the railroad
for three windows, the little two
room cabin wa* completed.
The season was very dry and
that precious one-hundred acres
of sod corn barely fed the mules
through the winter. My father
then was compelled to seek em
ployment away from home to
keep ihe wolf away from the
door, lie worked for Bill Pow
ell in a livery barn in Spring
view.
On March 8, 1885, the stork
left us a 12-poand boy, who was
named Merrell M. Stuart. I re
member daddy getting us two
girls up in the middle of the night
and taking us to another settler
by the name of Jake Rugar, sev
eral miles away, and leaving
us with the husband, taking the
wife home with him to help with
the delivery. The stork did not
bring along a doctor to deliver
the baby. Since the nearest doc
tor was at Niobrara, my father
and the part Negro woman did
the task. The little newcomer was
so large and was slow in deciding
he wanted to live in a log cabin
in Nebraska. I have heard that
brave little mother of mine say
that the baby was nearly still
born. She got up and put her
mouth to his, forcing him to ex
pand and contract his lungs, and
spanking him, as she -had seen
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her doctor father do, until the
baby finally cried. Mother’*
health was never good after that.
Well, since we are on the sub
ject of the stork, the contanker
ous old bird remembered the
trail and just twenty-two months
later, he buzzed over and left us
another boy. This one was nam
ed Orlo, who later in life became
known to all as “Stub”. The stork
again arrived without sufficient
help and my father again filled
in. My mother’s health was so
impaired that it was decided she
should go home for a few months
to be with her doctor father and
the big old home on Medical
Hill at Elmira, 111
There, we remained for six
months. As soon as grandfather
decided mother was able to re
turn to Nebraska, nothing could
hold her.
In our absence my father had
been working in Springview.
When we got home, the mules
were gone, but he had gotten a
cow, tor grandfather had insisted
we children must have milk to
drink
Une year while an the home
stead, the folks planted a lot of
watermelons. They did so well,
mother cut up the melons ami
boiled the juice down until it
was syrup, and I can remem
ber how good it tasted on corn
meaJ pancakes.
In the fall alter our return from
Illinois, daddy built a sod kitchen
on the side of our log cabin. It
just had a dirt floor and though
mother swept very carefully, that
tloor wore down until the stove ,
and table were so high, we could
hardly reach them
That year mother held the
claim while my father worked in
Springview for M. T. Roland in
his general store. Mother would
take him in on Sunday evening
and go for him the following Sat
urday night. This was the time
of the vigilantes. I remember one
evening a man rode into our
place and told mother to get him
something to eat, and to hurry.
Mother told him she would give
him some food, .but that he could
not stay since she was alone with
four little children. He ate and
rode on. He was later killed in
the Springview jail by a mob.
Motner never went to the door
without her revolver when she
was alone. I remember distinctly
one bright moonlight night, a
man rode up to our bedroom win
dow and pounded on the window
with his riding crop. We awaken
ed and he told us he wanted to
stay the night. Mother told him
she was alone with four children
and could not keep him, but that
there was a place about two miles
'up the road where he might stay.
He began to unsaddle his horse,
and said he was dead tired and
so was his horse, and he was
staying. j
Mother walked up to the win
dow and flashed her revolver in
the moonlight and said, “Mister
just put that saddle back on your
horse, you’re not staying here.
This gun is loaded and I know
how to use it.’’ He stood for a
minute, saddled up and went on.
About an hour later our door,
which of course had no lock,
flew open. Mother thought the
traveler had returned, but the
prairie wind was the intruder.
When we returned from Illi
nois, the problem of school for
us girls had to be faced. The
Pine Camp school, three miles
away, had been organized. Mo
ther walked about a mile with
us, carried the baby and led
my older brother. Then she sat
down and watched until we
reached the school house. In the
evening, she would walk to the
same point and watch for us.
One day I was sick in school,
just a stomach ache. Our teacher,
Mr. Worley, just over from Eng
land, made a bed on a bench un
til school was out, then he car
ried me all the way home.
A few nights later mother was
taken very sick — heart attack.
She awakened my sister and me,
and told us we would have to go
to the neighbors for help. I was
to go to the nearest neighbor, Just
a mile away, and my sister, the
other way—south to Perry Wil
kins, about two miles. We knew
nothing of fear so we started out.
Mother told us if we met anyone,
just to say that our mother was
very sick and alone, and that we
were going for help. Mr. Cum
mings came to the door and soon
had a team ready, then he and
Mrs. Cummings put me in the
big wagon and we were soon
home. Mr. Cummings then went
to Springview for daddy and a
doctor. My sister had also reach
ed another neighbor’s house and
they soon came. In ttfter /ears,
I asked my mother why she sent
us separately for help. She said
if ever a soul prayed she did
as she saw her two little girls
trudge out into the dark alone.
After the illness, mother con
sented to move to Springview
for the school year and just
spend three months out on the
the claim, which she did until
the proof was made. Then the
irony of it was, the land was
sold for taxes. The folks did not
consider it worth paying taxes on.
The winter after we moved to
Springview was the year of the
long remembered blizzard of 1888,
which story I well remember
distinctly, with its thrills and
chills and frozen hands, but that
is another story.
Try The Frontier Want
Ads — It Pays I
r*
Inman News
By Mr*. Jitinr* McMahan
Mr. and Mrs. Earl White, Fort
Collins, Colo., came Thursday to
visit Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Abney.
They left Saturday for Muinesuta
where they will visit other re
latives. Mr White is a brother of
Mrs. Abney.
Mr. and Mrs. William Moulds,
Yetter, la., spent the weekend
visiting Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Ab
ney.
Sunday dinner guests of Mr.
and Mrs. Lyle Abney were Mr.
and Mrs. William Moulds, Yetter,
la., and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Kelly
and family, Page.
Douglas Matschullat, Page,
spent Saturday night with his un
cle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Al
bert Anthony and family.
Mr. and Mrs. Don Kelley and
family, Norfolk, visited Sunday
with Mr. and Mrs. W. E. K> I •
and family.
Ronald Coventry, Norfolk, spent
Wednesday and Thursday visiting
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ken
neth Coventry and Bob.
Charles Young, who has been
employed near Culbertson return
ed home Saturday.
Mrs. R. iB. South is a medical
patient at St. Anthony’s hospital,
O’Neill.
Ned Kelley, Lincoln, spent the
weekend visiting his parents, Mr.
and Mrs. W. E. Kelley and fam
Uy and other friends and rela
tives.
Mrs. Larry William** and
daughter. Orchard, visited Mr.
and Mrs. Ivan Couch, Friday af
ter noon.
Mr. and Mrs. John Mattson and
Mrs. James McMahan spent
Thursday m Sioux CKy. ia., ami
Lyons, Nebr., where they visited
Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Gates.
Mr and Mrs. Vena* Green
and son, Sioux City, are spending
a few days visiting Mrs. Green’s
parents, Mr. and Mrs. T. D. Hut
ton.
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Burival and
son and Mr and Mrs. Art Hols
and daughter, O'Neill, visited Fri
day evening with Mr. and Mrs.
Howard Jackson and Billy.
Mr. and Mrs Ivan Couch spent
tlie weekend at their home here.
They were enroute from Sterling
to Lexington where they will be
employed.
Norbert Clurk returned home
Saturday from St. Anthony's hos
pital where he had been a med
ical patient for a few days
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Reynolds
and daughters were Sunday eve
ning dinner guests of Mr. and
Mrs. Guy Hull, Lynch. The occa
sion was the birthday anniver
sary of Mr. Hull.
Mr and Mrs. Jimmie George,
High Point, W. Va. and Mr. and
Mrs. Bert Reynolds, Neligh, vis
ited Mr. and Mrs. Albert Rey
nolds and family Saturday eve
ning.
A group of friends honored Mr.
and Mrs. Howard Jackson at a
housewarming Saturday evening.
The group presented a gift to
Mr, and Mrs. Jackson bunch
was served at the close of the
evening
Mrs. Bonnie Buhl man and son
returned to their home in Lin
coln Friday alter spending a few
days visiting her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. James Banks and Ro
ger.
CWO Lor in Keyes left Sunday
evening for Hawaii, where he is
stationed with the Army, after via'
iting his parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Floyd Keyes, for several days
Neil and Ann Kelley, Colum
bus, spent the weekend visiting
Mr and Mrs W. K Kelley and
family.
Tina Sanders, O'Neill, is spend
ing a few days with her grand
mother, Mrs. J. B. Peters and
Larry.
Bill DeLong, Rock Rapids, la.,
spent the weekend visiting his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Merle De
Long. Mr. and Mrs. DeLong re
turned to Rock Rapids with BUI
Sum!ay evening and will visit Mr.
and Mrs. Floyd DeLong for a
few days.
DR. D. E. DAVID
OPTOMETRIST
Complete Visual Cure
Contact lease!
By Appointment Phone tlSl
SliMMr, Nebraska
Good Reading
for the
Whole Family
•News
•Facts
•Family Features
GALLAGHER GALLAGHER
CLOSING OUT
Because of the death of my husband I am unable to continue our farming operation and will offer
for sale to the highest bidder at public auction the following described personal property at the
farm LOCATED ... 3 miles west of the O'Neill Drive-In theatre, 8 north and % west . . . OR
. . . from Spencer dam 13 miles south, 3 west, 2 south and % west . . . OR . . . from Atkinson
13 east of NE corner, 4 north and % west (watch for Farm Sale Arrows) on . . .
Tuesday, Aug* 7
Sale starts at 1 p.m. Lunch at Sale
MACHINERY & MISCELLANEOUS
F-20 Tractor with 3-rake hitch
attached, on rubber
1952 AC WD tractor in good
shape on good rubber
1945 JD "A" tractor with pow
er troll, fluid in tires and anti
freeze. All in excellent con
dition
Case VAC tractor
Old Case tractor
2-row corn planter for "C"
2-row lister
Cable rack with duals on rear
9- ft. J. D. No. 8 tractor mower
with 3-point hitch
3 — 12-ft. hay rakes
Hay cage on rubber
Do-All loader with sweep head,
pushoff, manure scoop and
grapple fork
12-ft. AC disc
10- ft. disc
Tractor chains
2 — Hydraulic cylinders
New heavy duty hydraulic jack
Truck chains
Some 9-ft. J. D. sickles
Oil and cream cans, some con
taining new oil
Feed Bunk
Some steel posts
Lots of woven wire in good
shape
High wheel wagon gear
Good Stock Saddle
Road drag
Wagon gear and box
2 — Repeating shotguns
15-ft. chest type home freezer,
nearly new
1961 International Pickup
l-H 100 l/z - ton with deluxe
cab, rear bumpers, radio, new
combination grain and stock
rack, locked rear end, trailer
hitch, only 11,000 actual
miles and like new
About 500 bu. Com
12 Muscovy ducks
7 Geese
Forney electric welder, cable
and lots of welding rods
EXCEPTIONALLY LARGE AS
SORTMENT OF GOOD SHOP
TOOLS, PARTS AND REPAIRS
LOTS OF OLD IRON AND OLD
MACHINERY
Electric air compressor with
paint spray attachment
Power hack saw
Bench grinder
l/2-in. electric drill
Power jig saw
Portable electric saw — Good
Power table saw
Battery electric fencer
Vise
Buzz Saw Blade — Good
2 — Dehorners
Good tap and die set
Some barrels
Post drill
Forge
New gas tank heater
Good tractor winch
Electric breast drill
Propane weed burner and tank
Many other articles too numer
ous to mention
TERMS: CASH. No property to be removed until settled for
Mrs. Robert Gallagh r
Roy Kirwan, Ed Thorin, Chuck Mahony auction service, Butte and O'Neill
