~ Hidden Timber, South Dakota
September 20, 1927, Tuesday: Bright, cold day after a real freeze, ice quite thick on pail of water at well. Henry went around stock, cut wood and stayed indoors until chore time. Ben, Lawrence and Will mowed and raked Wagner hay. Louise to school and some pupils were not there on account of work. I made bum bread on account of being cold and nothing to burn but the oil stove. Henry got wood and it raised in a hurry then, but got cold later. I gathered tomatoes and made cake, got the meals. Pat Karens and Eli Snyder were here.
September 20, 1934, Thursday: Cool night and very cold, 32 above zero in the morning, cloudy, then rain, sleet and snow, great big flakes for awhile, but would melt as soon as it struck earth, then some misty rain at times all p.m. and 32 above late p.m., but at bed-time was 35 above. I cooked tomato preserves and they wouldn’t thicken, also the catsup would not finish.
Maggie did the necessary work and we went to Ross’s Sale in p.m. The men in forenoon cleaned the shanty. Elmer and I have real colds in our head, nose, throat and chest. I cut the green watermelon that Will got at John Wisenbergers for pickles late p.m. There weren’t very many at the Community Sale. Ed, Rena, Yvonne and Seth were there.
September 20, 1942, Sunday: Northwest breeze but sun shone brightly, breeze was chilly riding but hot when we stopped in the car. I got up at 5:30 a.m., started fires, fixed toast and eggs and coffee for Will and I, got things in car and never ate breakfast, so I was real hungry in forenoon, but Mrs. Abbott had some ripe prunes and we got ice-cream cones at Belvedere, so I wasn’t so hungry then.
Will and I left here at 8 a.m. after he fed the chickens, shaved and got ready. We went to Wm Abbotts just as Mr. and children were driving cattle out of Sundquist’s corn and returning home. Mrs. had lunch ready, so we started for Badlands of South Dakota, got $1.40 gas at Mission, went past White River, across Little White River Bridge west of town to Cedar Butte Post Office, on west to Corn Creek at Black Pipe Indian Day School, this was nearly west of White River Town, about 20 miles. Then north past Tom Berry’s home on graveled road to Big White River Bridge south east of Belvedere, to Belvedere, where we got ice-cream cones and stopped at rest-room. Passed Kadoka, Cactus Service Station, on west to a ranch and station south (turned here), to another Service Station north of Cedar Pass, then over Cedar Pass to Badlands.
Another cabins and stations south west near Pass to Interior. Got 1 gallon ice-cream, soft drinks and gas west of Interior in Badlands. We ate dinner near a bridge under a tree. Sandwiches, pork and beans with bologna, fried chicken so plentiful, fresh tomatoes, coffee cake, cookies, ice-cream, both vanilla and walnut flavors, had our own drinking water for water in the Badlands tastes bad to us folks coming from sandy country. All the streams and water in this section are muddy of a clayish look, but the stock drink it as if it was good and all the stock are so fat, so something must agree with them, for the grass is of salt type, best for stock, although it is short grass.
We went past Conata, on to Imlay, stopped at Scenic, to restroom. Looked at stones on Service Station and several houses were moved into Scenic and not on foundations yet. went miles south and 3 miles west to Sheep Mountain, where there was a lot of grass but no water and a very odd piece of Badlands in a low place west of Sheep Mountain. We had to go back to where we got up on this mountain and back to the Highway. Houses vacated, some being torn down across a ravine where the bridge was taken out, a school house moved.
We crossed the bridge on the Big White River northwest of Rocky Ford, then to Rocky Ford where we talked to Mrs. George Clifford, keeper of the store and an aunt of George Clifford who is the husband of Florence Cutschall, my cousin. She said that the government marked Badlands was being kept for Bombing Place for the Bomb Ship of the Black Hills, and that the reason for improvements, bridges being moved and 5 bombers passed over going easy down the White River just before we got here.
Thelma and Joe Clifford are at Hot Springs. George and Florence live near Manderson, S.D. Lawrence and family are at a defense plant on the west end of the Badlands, so we never saw any relatives. Went on south up Porcupine Creek to a place under trees north of Porcupine store and schools. We ate supper, cooked coffee and beans and bologna on camp-fire of wood, had bread, butter, tomatoes, ice-cream, Jello, cake and cookies.
We passed Catholic and Indian schools, Govt. Farm Agency and other businesses, to a watch tower south of Porcupine, also saw a watch tower north of Norris and northeast of Black Pipe Day School, passed Wounded Knee or Brennan, then stopped at Martin, got gas $1.65, some soft drinks. Will and Abbott drank coffee at Hugh Barton’s Café. Got hamburgers, then on to Vetal, to Oil Highway west end of Todd County.
We went through Todd County, Mellette, Jackson, Pennington, Washington, Shannon, Bennett. A long stretch south of Paramelee and north of Rosebud to Mission, at midnight to Hidden Timber, Klein’s Store, to Wm Abbotts, left Mr. and Mrs., Delores, Billie and Cora Ann. We all slept but Will and Wm on way from Martin. Got home 10 minutes to 1 o’clock a.m. Tired but happy, and it was chilly.