Within the final 4 years, my spouse and I’ve visited Echo Park twice. Situated within the northeast nook of Utah, on the confluence of the Inexperienced and Yampa rivers, it has the whole lot we get pleasure from in a park. Mountain climbing, kayaking petroglyph searching and historical past are all captured in a horseshoe of towering sandstone cliffs. Just like the Chew household that homesteaded in 1910 on property close to the doorway to the park we additionally really feel at dwelling there. Among the many outbuildings and rusty iron implements is an authentic Shepherd’s Trailer. It’s a stark comparability between the overland automobile of yesteryear and our Ram-based 4 Wheel flatbed camper at the moment.
We regularly take into consideration the drive and keenness behind the late nineteenth century settlers and their capability to endure hardships. They dug a properly – we turned a faucet. They processed firewood for heating and cooking – we turned on the propane burner or heater. They tilled the land and hunted and butchered their very own meat – we merely go to the grocery retailer.
Much like the Chews, however a decade earlier, my spouse’s grandparents homesteaded in japanese Montana – only a stone’s throw from the North Dakota border. With two young children in tow, they constructed a one room sod-roof dwelling, planted wheat fields and raised a couple of cattle. They had been thought of hardworking and on their option to proudly owning their very own land. In 1908, they solely had to enhance the 160 acres for one more 2 years till a land patent was issued of their identify. Not like the Chews, their departure from the homestead was not a contented one. Tragedy has a method of fixing life.
The sound of a diesel motor pulling us by the early hours of morning could be very satisfying. We’re snug in our camper. It’s acquainted to us. We now have loads of conveniences. Nevertheless, this journey is completely different from others and so is our dialog. Unchartered territory for each of us. We now have way more questions than solutions. Can we really discover the unique homestead of Johann and Barbara Arnold? What does it appear to be 120 years later? Will the native historians in Glendive Montana have the ability to present solutions? Will the previous cemetery present clues? Our plan was to make comparatively quick tracks as a way to maximize our time in Glendive. We had no thought how this journey would finally evolve.
The Arnold’s immigrated to the USA after fleeing Germanic persecution in Russia. They finally arrived in Esmond North Dakota within the late 1880’s when Johann and his brother Charles had been simply boys. They each married ethnically German girl of their early 20’s after which determined to homestead in Montana. Pushed by the prospect of securing their very own land the 2 brothers left household and associates behind. Though the gap from Esmond to Glendive is just 320 miles, simply 5 hours by automotive at the moment, it could have taken them two days on a prepare or 25 days by wagon.
We left Sisters Oregon and headed west by Prineville, the three block city of Mitchell and onto John Day and the Fossil Mattress Nationwide Monument. Touring by Central Oregon on the creation of fall is a visible fiesta. On one facet of the freeway is the South Fork River. The opposite is lined with sage, rabbit bush and scotch broom. Willows emerge from the wetlands. Colours are paying homage to a painter’s palate. The muted inexperienced, yellow and orange would befit a Tuscan Villa. We take a break in conjunction with the highway. A beaver den domes above a pond and cattails watch for the spring calling of red-wing black birds.
We handed an previous and deserted home that stood in the course of a wheat subject. The easy saltbox design is leaning away from the prevailing winds. Just like the strains in an old-man’s face, I puzzled what number of tales had been nonetheless protected by the weathered siding. Had been the desires of the mason that laid the primary basis stone fulfilled? What number of generations of households welcomed the primary snow of winter? And when was it final occupied and why did the homeowners depart? Little did we all know that we’d have related inquiries in one other week in one other state.
When the Arnold’s arrived in Glendive round 1905 and had been directed to obtainable land within the Belle Prairie space, they should have been taken again by the countless and flat fields comparatively devoid of bushes and streams. Uncooked supplies for constructing a house, a prime precedence, had been restricted. Historic information present {that a} mixture of log and sod roof buildings had been frequent to the Nice Plains space. The cabin would have been small with a low roof line. Packed roots and dust would have laid atop birch stringers. Cooking, consuming, washing and sleeping had been all achieved in the identical and solely room
After a fast go to to the gold mining city of Sumpter Oregon, we landed close to Phillips Reservoir simply east of Baker Metropolis. We just like the South Shore Campgrounds. They’ve loads of elbow room between websites and supply nice mountaineering and easy accessibility to the lake. We loved a easy dinner of carnitas and black beans over a salad and relaxed to the sound of loons and crickets. The next morning we had been up early, by Baker Metropolis and onto I-80 earlier than the solar crested the horizon. Our vacation spot was simply 5 hours away which might give us loads of time to meander and discover. Northwest of Stanley Idaho, we landed at a well-recognized boondock website situated within the Sawtooth Mountains which shall stay anonymous. Suffice to say there are numerous creek-side honey-holes off the backroads between Lowman and Challis – locations you may actually settle into. (Should you plan to journey on this path, you should definitely see the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge close to the ghost city of Custer. This four-story dredge and the related museum will take you again to the beginning of mechanical behemoths.)
Two days later we left the Stanley space feeling totally refreshed and opted to place the pedal down and journey 320 miles to Helena Montana. There we’d stick with good associates. This stretch of freeway is certainly one of our favorites. It follows the twisting Salmon River by Challis and Salmon Idaho into the excessive nation of Montana. Rafters glide down white water whereas fly fishermen dot the shoreline. We discovered it tough at instances to bypass the quite a few small and unpopulated riverside campgrounds. Every one was tugging on my steering wheel however we moved on. Freeway 93 then drops into the Bitteroot Valley previous Darby and Hamilton Montana on the best way to Missoula. We arrived in Helena round 4pm
Brent and Cheryl had been the right hosts. Regardless that they had been in the course of constructing a brand new big-sky nation mountain dwelling they welcomed the corporate and a break from work. After a fast bathe, we had our fill of appetizers earlier than the tri-tip was pulled from the Trager. Dialog about our journey carried properly into the Montana evening. On our brief stroll again to our camper, the Milky Means was so thick it regarded like you possibly can reduce it with a knife.
Yellowstone Monitor – Thursday, September twenty fourth 1908 (paraphrased)
The Glendive group was saddened final Monday to study of the unlucky incident involving two of essentially the most promising residents within the county. The fatalities occurred on the ranch dwelling of Charles and Martha Arnold situated in Belle Prairie. The household properly was seeping methane gasoline which in the end induced the deaths on an autumn afternoon. The 2 victims, brothers Charles and Johann Arnold, had been homesteading on adjoining ranches with their homes a few mile aside. On Sunday afternoon, Charles and his spouse had been taking a stroll throughout their declare. Upon coming to the properly, Charles remembered he had left a wrench in its depths and determined to retrieve the device. He was lowered into the properly by the windless. He had simply reached the underside when the rope went slack and calls from his spouse went unanswered…
Our journey to Montana began a number of months earlier with a single and lucky telephone name to the Glendive Frontier Gateway Museum. My spouse’s story of her household rapidly captured the eye of Eileen Melby and set a whirlwind of communication in movement. She had not heard of the Arnold household plight however felt her years of volunteer service on the museum may present some leads. It was not lengthy earlier than we acquired a newspaper story citing the occasion within the Yellowstone Monitor dated 1908. Different associated paperwork surfaced from the county. However the precise location of the Arnold homestead was unknown. After which the surprising occurred. Eileen talked about the story to her husband Lew who instructed a bunch of associates, who relayed the curiosity to their spouses. Darry Autsby, a long-time Glendive rancher, was stunned to listen to in regards to the Arnold’s and our inquiry. It seems he lived on the unique Arnold homestead many years after they left and knew the place the property was situated together with the properly and authentic sod-roof dwelling. This was a coincidence we may have by no means predicted.
We arrived in Glendive the next afternoon. Our anticipation in assembly Eileen and Darry had continued to develop ever since we organized a time and place to fulfill. However first, we wanted to discover a place to land which might function base-camp for a number of days. Fortuitously, the most important State Park in Montana – Makoshika – is situated simply outdoors of city in Badland-type terrain. A uncommon gem, the park is dwelling to sedimentary cliffs, hoodoos, fossils and a wide range of wildlife and birds. Moreover conventional campsites with restrooms and water, it has ‘boondock-like’ websites sparely situated additional up the mountain. At evening, the lights of the city mirrored off the striations. It was so quiet you possibly can hear a pin drop within the dust.
Morning got here faster than regular. A scorching cup of espresso warmed our fingers whereas a campfire did the remainder. Our plan was to fulfill Eileen on the Frontier Museum and get a tour of the premises. We might then have the chance to fulfill an area historian who may present us with just a little extra backdrop on Glendive and homesteaders on the daybreak of 1900. Though Glendive is a comparatively small city with a inhabitants of lower than 5000, it’s a historic focus for the area and the Frontier Gateway Museum is the bullseye. Eileen handled us like household and we had been so impressed with the breath of artifacts, articles and shows all augmented by a educated employees.
We particularly loved trying on the reconstructed sod-roof cabin that may have been just like one Gretchen’s grandmother lived in. The re-creation of a one room faculty home was typical of 1 that existed within the Belle Prairie space. The museum additionally had quite a few farm implements that had been organized in chronological order. The arrival of the combustion engine positive made farming simpler and extra productive. (Put the museum in your ‘to do’ record in case your travels take you to the realm.)
After a tour of the museum, and proper on time, a ranch truck pulled into the parking zone – an excellent working truck with mud on prime, mud on the underside and some battle scars. The flatbed was crammed with instruments, cables, gasoline cans and ropes. (I puzzled if something ever bounced out.) Darry Autsby prolonged his hand and welcomed us to Glendive. He stated it had been a few years since he was final on the properly. He had secured permission from the property proprietor to go to the Arnold homestead website. Everybody in our small group shared a typical pleasure.
… not listening to something from her husband, Mrs. Arnold ran to her brother-in-law’s home on the adjoining property and homestead a few mile away. Johann, the brother of Charles, responded without delay and ran again to the properly. He descended unaware of the damaging gasoline beneath the floor. As soon as Mrs. Arnold returned to the properly with extra assist, each brothers had already lapsed right into a stupor and died earlier than they may very well be recused. Previous to recovering the our bodies, the properly was partly freed of methane gasoline by decreasing a bucket crammed with lighted, oil-soaked, hay. William Arbogast, a neighbor, then descended the properly, tied ropes across the lifeless males and pulled them to the floor.
We adopted Darry, together with Eileen and their spouses out of city towards Belle Prairie. The dry dust highway climbed a sequence of rolling hills sparsely populated with houses, previous farm tools and corrals. A mud plume served as our information till we reached the highest of a plateau. There, Darry was parked close to a one-room faculty basis that after served the native homesteaders and that he had attended. One of many few remnants from one other time. Alternating fields of wheat and fallow rose barely, disappeared and reappeared for miles. We had by no means seen an space so singularly targeted on farming. We continued down Belle Prairie Street for one more two miles after which it got here into view – a solitary wind mill towered above a properly that had encased household historical past for 120 years. We had arrived. The gap we traveled in half-hour from city would have been an all-day wagon journey for the Arnold’s.
Darry started to point out us the place the homestead was situated together with the farm home that he lived in by the 60’s when he was a younger boy. With a slight smile of remembrance, he pointed to a couple willow bushes that had supplied grouse for dinner from the sharp intention of a 22 rifle. The bushes had barely sufficient branches to offer shade for a canine. The wind and warmth made robust dwelling circumstances.
Each my spouse and Darry had been deeply moved by the expertise. For Gretchen, to face on the place the place her beloved grandmother lived as a younger girl with two young children and a third on the best way comprehending the dying of her husband. And for Darry, to fulfill the household of the 2 brothers, whose story he considered each time he handed the properly rising up.
As a bunch, we walked towards the properly for a more in-depth look. The previous properly pump was nonetheless in place. Floorboards, now rotted and coated with particles and weeds, had been positioned across the pump and the properly casing for security together with a small fence. It was an image on irony. Subsequent property homeowners had constructed the windmill to offer working water and irrigation. Charles Arnold needed to hand pump water and carry buckets to their sod roofed dwelling. Darry pointed to an adjoining 160 acre parcel the place my spouse’s grandmother Barbara (and her first husband Johann) had lived. It turned clear simply how far Charles’ spouse needed to run for Johann’s assist. On the drive over we had been capable of view their properly and hand pump only a brief distance from a collapsed farm home partially supported by a retired truck.
Inside a couple of miles from leaving the homestead, Darry waved to a giant John Deere tractor towing a load of hay bales. He bought a wave in return. Individuals in these components know one another by the tractors and vehicles they drive. And, Verle Jones has identified a couple of over time. He’s an 89 12 months previous third era farmer in Belle Prairie and had the handshake and wit of a person 20 years his junior. When he heard our story he merely stated ‘properly… now that you’ve seen the realm, I believe you’ll not be coming again. There’s not quite a bit to see out right here.’ We weren’t so positive about that assertion.
The following day we met with directors from the Sacred Coronary heart Catholic Church of Glendive. Nancy and Amanda pulled out an previous file e-book from the late nineteenth century and confirmed that the brothers had been buried on the native cemetery. They then pointed us to the unique burial grounds close to the Catholic chapel from a plot map. We wished to take footage of the pinnacle stones for relations. After hours of looking out the cemetery grounds, we had been unable to search out the gravesites of Charles and Johann however assured that we situated the overall space. This was not stunning because the Glendive Cemetery was comparatively new in 1908 and the gravesites had been most probably marked with wooden placards by the younger widows who would find yourself leaving the realm shortly thereafter.
The bothers had resided within the Glendive neighborhood for 3 years and had been often known as industrious and well-liked residents. They’d improved their claims at Belle Prairie till they had been among the many finest within the space. Charles Arnold was 31 years of age and leaves a spouse and 4 kids. Johann was 27 and leaves a spouse and two kids.
The funerals of the 2 unlucky males had been held yesterday on the Catholic Church. Not typically has this group been known as to mourn such a tragedy. Sympathy goes out to the wives and little kids of the 2 brothers who are actually with out husband and father.
Sadly, Barbara (Johann’s spouse and Gretchen’s grandmother) had little means to keep up and additional develop the homestead with out a husband. She had two kids to look after and was pregnant with a 3rd. The remaining two years on the homestead grant went unfulfilled and she or he in the end misplaced the rights to a 160 acre land patent. She return to Estefan Canada within the Saskatchewan Province of Canada – simply throughout the North Dakota border. Throughout their homestead interval in Belle Prairie, relations had moved there to begin farming. It was Barbara’s solely choice to be close to the assistance of household. Charles’ spouse Martha moved again to North Dakota.
After we first deliberate this journey, we knew our time on the highway was restricted. We felt welcomed in Glendive and our Makoshika campsite was snug and peaceable. It has exhausting to depart. On our final night, we walked out to the sting of a hoodoo to observe the sundown. As at all times, it was completely different and delightful on the similar time. A pleasant option to say goodbye. The following morning and simply because the solar was peaking over the badlands I fired up our diesel truck and we left camp. We had quite a bit to digest from the previous a number of days. The miles ticked off rapidly. After which, Belle Prairie was 200 miles behind us.
We determined to see some new nation on the best way dwelling. Our route took us by the small city of Livingston Montana and camped at a quiet riverside fish entry. On our option to NW Yellowstone, Montana Hwy 89 yielded scenic viewpoints at practically each nook. We crossed into the park at Gardiner and had been instantly greeted by a small herd of majestic elk grazing with out fear. Our Nation’s hottest park was comparatively quiet in late October and we had been capable of see a couple of sights earlier than taking Idaho Hwy 30 south by Rexburg and onto Craters of the Moon State Park. The panorama there may be international and desolate. Massive skies cowl the complete compass. A night wind rustled the few bushes close to our website. An outline that should have utilized to the Arnold’s as they arrived in Belle Prairie.
The following time we come to Glendive, we wish to sit on the porch of Verle’s cabin, together with the volunteers from the Frontier Museum and hear to a couple tales over steaks and whiskey. Possibly then, we are able to full one other story.
Particular because of Wendy Fields for her family tree work, Eileen Melby of the Glendive Frontier Gateway Museum, Darry Autsby for guiding us to the properly and Nancy Keller and Amanda Crockett from the Sacred Hearts Catholic Church of Glendive Montana. Every certainly one of you had a important function on this journey of household historical past and we’re very appreciative.
Gary and Gretchen Matos
Gary Matos – Whiskey 7 Backroads
Gary and Gretchen reside in Sisters Oregon and when not splitting or stacking wooden they get pleasure from backpacking, kayaking and motorbike driving. They at present personal a 4wheel Flatbed Hawk on a Dodge Ram 3500
