Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1885-02-20
rIlr. "iIITHERTO' CLAIM
I1rt Ross Story of Her First
Ycrr's Experience in Dakota.

Gcrr'S Experience in Dakota.
Il VS. u hot. >ultry day. toward the
la-t ul .Iull. on the Dakota prairie.
ia. m",curv had stood in the ninctic>
I'ra W.rh, the prairie CLEANED yellow
"a hr lurniug sun. Every bird was
i IT, The only sound was the merry
'hrr # the gra>>hopper. The prairie
'u"rt- dtoopcd to the earth, and no
hr,, u, famed them back to life.
! wa "nrw settler" having come
um ,l> New En"land home t. take
up q qrartrr scctol of farming land
uud' = the land laws which allow I'M
married Wom ~ the same rights and
pr,iir.,> accorded to men in the hav-
in2 and holding of claims. On this
lay had Ridden To the PoSt-olicr. Il
i stance uf four miles, and WAS return
n ~ Il different route when some
tim" very unusual for the prairie met
my rNc. Here was Il ella IN very differ
rti from that of the ordinary settler
lh" pen NJ corn. the acres of wheat
ard oats. the thrifty cottonwood
trees. anspanird from the creek
miles AWAY. all THESE showed marked
skill aud uhcraS ng care. The house,
too. though small and poor. was very
different from the usual ''claim >haniv:'
II had at least two windows. and only
ou" j. required by law. All around the
low door grew thetall marigolds, glow
ing hollNhuck> aud m ;gnoncttc, with
hong >pihc> uf fragrant bloom. Itwas
an ui>i> in the general desolation.
rr.nrd in my Indian pony as l neared
the house. which stood near one cor
urr OF the ella m, and stout, happy
Ia cd woman appeared in the narrow
doorway. | was about to start on
when she called ont:
"Won YOU come in, Miss, an have
glass - water? 1t : hot day We re
haN n
could not resist the genuine friend
Illness of the vo.cr. | dismountcd and
hilchrd the ony in the shade OF the
hot-c.
Come right in an sit by, a spell,
the strange. went on, as she led the
Way into the house and placed large,
chuiI covered rocker for me- You re-
welcomes can be-. don't know YOU,
hat -'pose YOU re the young lady I've
heard Of n, has taken claim ~. range
III. ar you'
She stopped long enough to hear my
affirmative answer. and went on:
We'll. now I'm real glad to see YOU
You. 1t II Skccry sort o thing TO do.
come out here an, take up claim, all
l.,s, ,..t,,..,ls I ,t I ,.,,'t t,lJ
name. I'm Mis- Ross. al yonders 3
Reuben in the corn-iield. with nod
toward the west window.
"Aa this l. the Hitherto Cla III.
Mhhe lou see the name on bit o
board ~ YOU come in.
~ she stopped for breath. sad,
glanc NJ lmiringly at the ilower-bed
by the door: at unusual to see a
llowcr-garirn on claim; it cheers one
up wonderfully"
Don't it. now? It's all Rcuben's $
work; he brought the seeds from his
mothers garden. in York State Reu-
ben used tu say they was the only
thing that loohcd bit home-like, except
me- she added, with a proud glance
through the tiny west window.
"iou ought TO have seen the time
We had la make I'm grow at first.
They was hom"Sick. guess. like us.
But now they re happy an contentcd.
Ike u~
You found it hard. then. to leave
Nonr home and settle in Dakota?" /
ashcl.
Hand was that homes ok the
first few months | came near dyin' of
u. II all come about from that that
We named our place the Hitherto
CLAIM. Mrbbc lou wouldn't mind
hraru Al out it. il YOU amt in a hurry.
l u g't my work. IA You set there an
rest
| clilrl ny .clf N the ample rocker.
with <is'h "a sous OF comfort as | had
not known : nee | had been Il settler.
~ nu -" twas a year II more ago, a
Year IN Apr,l. that We come out here.
Thing. hd got pretty dull in John
~uuIiilr that : whrr, we lived. Want
an, business goin' on. an Reuben was
uut . work months ut tine. He
~" h"l ~ VA con factory, Reuben
DIT. nu mI>i''r hand he was at it.
tor. II do >aN il. (Anothor glance
toward ia" ,o,n-li, Id. where | could
,r' "A hr"ad-~ huulcrcd. midlle-agrd
MAN ~ work.
Wed heard of he Dakota fever
hui mol nd, from Our place had gpnr.
an Rurh"n u~r To real everything he
con 4 find about Dakota. for he'd lots
4 M. hcin out % work. IN one d;y
IA -at- 10 me-: Sarah. say. he. don I
Nuu thnk we'd brtt'r 20 t. Dakota an
tahcac am?' Well. was so ups t at
The Thought % lcavin' Johnsonvill",
wherr III l"rn brought up, an where
my loik, all lived. that l just coulIn' t
answer at first, but at last | ste how
much better 'twould be for Us to 20
.om, ,whrr'. { M. brin' so hard there,
90 said. brave IL | could: Yes.
iirILra. Il You say 81, hopin all the
imc he'd change his mind: but he
Didn't. an - ! got ready.
1T Wa> hard. though" and the
,.,lr-r >cwin" dropped from her
fingers. IA she wiped her eyes on Il
corner of her green bingham apron: lit
was herd. for besides lcavin' my father
an mother an >i-t rs. Reuben an
hal laii ~ John>onvllle Cemetery the
ouiN child we ever had. Well, we
com" out here. an II was worse'n I'd
any .dra oi. We brought all hemoney
We had. an We knew we couldn't make
II last much longer II fall. when we cal
culatrdon good crops tokeepus through
the winter OF course we laid by the
500 To pay for the claim at the
end % the >iN months. it bein a pre-
cmptiun. But the crops didn't any
ways come up TO what we'd calculated
IN '.Iwn. hnf nm Ir. nm fL4. NOT afo.