Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-23
THE %"HITHERTO' CLAIM
Mrs. Ross Story of Her First
Years Experience in Dakota.

Mrs. ROSS story OF E1af flfSt
Years Experience in Dakota.
Il was . hot, sultrv day, toward the
East OF July, on the Dakota prairie.
The mercury had stood i'll the ninetics
For u week: the prairie CLEANED yellow
in the burning sun. Every bird was
still. The only sound was the merry
chirp of the grasshopper, The prairie
.jowerS dropped to the earth, and no
orccze famed them back to life.
! was a new settler" having come
from my New England home to take
nD a quarter section Of farming land
under the land laws which allow an
married women the same rights and
privileges accorded to men in the hav-
:2g and holding of claims. On this
eiay ] had ridden to the Post-oilicc, a
distance OF four miles, and was return
ing by Il different route when III
shing very unusual for the prairie met
ny eve. Here was a claim very differ
cnt from that of the ordinary settler.
The ripcnin@ corn, the acres of wheat
and oats, the thrifty cottonwood
frees, transplanted from the creek
miles away. all these showed marked
skill and unccasing care. The house,
800, though small and poor, was very
dii1ercn.,rom the usual ''claim shanty;'
ii bad at least two windows, and only
one is required by law. Allaround the
33ow door grew thctall marigolds, glow
my h~ollyhoeks and %mignonette, with
3ong spikes of fragrant bloom. TWAS
an oasis in the general dcsolation. l
reined in my Indian pony as | nearcd
Che house, which stood near one cor
ner Of the claim, and a stout. happy
Faced woman appeared in the narrow
doorway. | was about to start on
when she called out:
-'Non't You come in, Miss, an have
a glass o water? It's q hot day we're
Aay,n'."
could not resist the genuine friend
Illness OF the voice. l dlsmounted and
pitched the pony in the shade of the
ilotiSe.
Come right in an sit by, a SPELL
the stranger went on, as she led the
WAY into the house and placed a large.
chintz-coyered rocker for me. YOU'RE
welcomes can be! l don't know you,
aut | pose you're the young lady I've
heard OF us has taken claim II, range
III, air you:''
She stopped long enough to hear my
affirmative answcr and went on:
"Well, now I'm real glad TO see YOU.
YOU. 1T a Shce1y sort o thing to do,
come out here an take up q claim, all
BY yourself, La. | amt told you my
0Ame. I'm Mis- Ross, an yonder's
Reuben in the corn-iield.n with u nod
coward the west window.
AN this is the Hitherto Claim
Nebbc YOU see the name on a bit O.
Board as You come ill.,"
As she stopped for breath, l said.
CHANGING a~dmiringly at the tlower-bcd
bS che door: dts unusual to see q
alower-garden on 4 claim; it cheers one
ZAP wonderfully"
Don't it, now? It's all Reubcn's
work; he brought the seeds from his
mothers garden. in York State. Reu-
ben used to say they was the only
thing that looked bit homc-like, except
sne,' she added, with a proud glance
through the tiny west window.
"lou ought to have seen the time
%e had to make EN- grow at first.
They wa homesick, L guess. like us.
:}ut now they're happy an c%ontentcd,
likr us.h
"iou found it hard, then, to leave
your home and settle in Dakota?n [
asked.
Hard. l was that homcsick the
1irst few months | came neal dyin' of
ii. 1t all come about from that that
we named our place the Hitherto
Claim. Mebbe you wouldn't mind
hearin' about it, if you ain'tin a hurry.
III yet my work, an you set there an
rest
l settled myself in the ample rocker,
with such a sense of comfort as | had
not known since l had been Il settler.
"1ou see twas a year'n more ago a
year in April, that we come out here.
Things had got pretty dull in John
sonVille-that's where we lived. Want
sany business goin' on, an Reuben was
out O work months at a time. He
worked in q wagon factory, Reuben
did, an a master hand he was at it..
500. if ! do say it, (Anothcr glance
coward the corn-iield, where | could
g Il broad-shouldered, middlc-agcd
snan at work.)
''lNc'd heard of the Dakota fever
hut nobody from our place had gone,
an Rueben used to read everything he
could find about Dakota, for he'd lots
of time. benz out O work, an one dav
he says to me Sarah, says he, don't
You think we'd better go to Dakota an
rake q clamp Well. l was so upset at
the thought o"leavin' J%ohnsonyille,
where ia been brought up, an where
Wy folks all lived. that iust cnuldn,t