The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1884-09-12
Life in Dakota.
letters in Rural New Yorker.

ertaken ny some calamity and come oul
here to retrieve their fortune steady.
going, plucky fellows who make th.
most of everything, and are determined
tosueceed. Their mode Of living is OK.
ceedingly frugal, and in that they art
largely indebted to their wives. They
tax their ingenuity to accomplish muof
with few tools and in every way posi-.
bic get along with as little expense a.
possible. A neighbor of mine went tc
town last Winter with his good lady in.
side alarge packing case set on two
runners made of ascantling. Had thei,
friends back in Michigan seen them IN
such a rig, they would, no doubt, have
been Mortified; but they did their jour.
ueys quite comfortably and saved the
expense of sled. Then that class ap-
pear to have faith, . quality very much
wanted nowadays; faith that their
Creator will not fail them in the
hour of trial. Their tools, what
they have, are we'll cared for, and
their stock is we'll housed, especially in
winter. Things prosper with them 20
vel! that the improvident class wonder
how they get along so we'll. They
ascribe their success to good luck, but
l, for one, firmly protest in season and
sometimes ont Of it. that there is no
such thing as good or bad luck. II
stock or crops do we'll, it is the direct
result of care and attention; If they
don't, it is the result of earelessness.
That is belief that nothing can shake,
and it would be we'll if it were more
generally acted on. Only this last win
ter, l have seen some striking examples
of its truth. But to return to the class
of which have been speaking These
men are the salt of Dakota, and look
for great results from their painstaking
and systematic labors.
Nature is exceedingly lavish with her
resources here, and poor farming lives
ON her bounties; Int the time will come
when these poor farmers will have to
mend their ways, or, like the Indian.
move further west. Every month sees
some shiftless fellow sell out, and in
some cases better man takes his place,
so that before long we shall have good
farming community. Most people are
going into stock as fast as their means
will allow, and the fact that hcifer
calves cannot be bought, shows how
things are tending. Then there is the
young man who "baches it." He has
either been Tilted by his girl back East.
and has come out to make his fortune
and go beck and have his revenge in
marrying some one of her friends, or
his girl is true to him, and he has come
out here to make home for her. Liv-
ing half Indian, half civilized, he
leads a strange life. His shan
ty is very primitive. and his
mode of living very simple; hut he has
a stout heart and great expectations.
He sees everything through rose COL
ored medium, and has no doubt of the
future. Dyspepsia and disbelief are
unknown to him; he is possessed of q
sound body, and il lie has no great soul
nc il at least generous hearted. He is
the favorite at the store, as he is large
consumer OF tobacco and other things
on which there is profit, and he never
tries to beat down. MY sketches of
character would be incomplete without
the ''school-marm." Here she is a veri-
table queen, and rules her admirers
with q despot's sway. She has no end
Of lovers, and mas escorts, buggy rides,
tilrtations and fun al libitum, but may
ask to what profit Clarke Co., Oak.
what the French like. They. was all
blood HOSES; every one that handles
bosses knows what they ore. When I
was in New York I seen the French
working stallion Incroyable, which
Dahlman sold to Vanderbilt. He was
three years old, 1G hands high, gentle
as kitten, and as fine a horse for his
age as I ever saw il. my life. Good
stations don't amount to much, howev.
or, ifyou hRvn't got good mares. A
good many people don't seem to bear
this in mind"
How about lighter blooded stock ?"
Well. some of the finest 10 to 1873
hands high HOSES for such vehicles az
T-carts, dog CARTS 'blinetons, etc., come
from Kentucky. They are better than
most Of the others. because they have
the blood. Thst1l tell every time.
Some very fair ones Of this class, cob