The Dickinson press., 1897-01-30
Sand Creek.

Now that the good people of Bill.
ings are FREQ from the throes of po-
litic.,l strife and the victors smile
over the spoils. as they have aperfect
right to do, it behooves us to give to
the world the history of Sand Greek,
not that it played an important part
in the political arena, although we
can beast of six voters. but because
it is proper to let all we'll informed
people know the concerns of the val.
ley of this creek. Be it known then
that the creek rises in the Chalk
Buttes, and sometimes very quickly.
as you wi,l tind if you have any stray
barrels or washtubs along its banks;
flows thence north-w est and empties
into the Little Missouri, seventeen
miles in all. Not very long to be
sure, but chock full of history. Now
rs history or romance is composed
mainly of acts of individuals, 1 must
deal with the actors or this would be
headless tale.
At the source of the creek we come
upon one Brewster, a martial looking
gentleman who passed through the
late war, have heard it whispered,
and am not here to prove anything
to the contrary, that he is Major
corporal. think this is the title as
cribed to him, but l am not sure, for
I'm not up in military terms. Suffice
it to say that along with his title he
contracted Il ruined stomach by eat
ing beans in the army. He possesses
a fine herd of goats and interesting
looking fellows they are; some of
them have whiskers. They early
cultivated IL fondness for his garden
which gives him mu CHI ado and hard
scramb bling up steep hill where he
has his truck patch located. and while
thus engaged lie is sure to hurl such
choice French ut them as only ma
jor corporal can. lie is also wealth.
Ell prophet of no mean quality and
can tell you the state Of the weather
day by day since Franklin bottled
lightning. We must leave the Major
to the so;,ce of his pipe, bid adieu to
his sweet scented quadrupeds and
pass down the creek to the citadel of
still another titled gentleman, Lieu
tenant Williamson, whu helped to ell
force the surrender Of Lee. He has
travelled all over the world observing
the soil and chincll bugs of many
climes. With the Lieutenant is his
son and this son relates Il story, and
in fact it has become part of the
history of the creek, that one day last
winter finding that five hams and a
quarter of beef were taking too much
room in the house the young man
hung the meat outside and then went
about his other duties. Now it so
happened that u sad looking milch
COW with the irregular oAtlnes of Il
rail fence had watched this perform
ance and seeing no one about sought
TO investigate. Licking one ham nice
and clean it tasted so good that she
devoured it. This only stimulated
her appetite aud without fl rther ado
she ate the remaining hams and half
the beef before she was discovered.
When the young man found his choice
hams thus sunmarily wiped from ex-
lstence and Miss Bessie much resem-
bling Chicago alderman stuffed
with bologna, his wrath became that
of a Jersy bull with II briar bush un
der his tall; and taking up u cu,lgel
he helabOred Miss Bessie till it
sounded like the roll of distant thun.
der. Some are inclined to discredit
this story but had the facts from
the young man himself and besides
he is justice of the peace and ad-
dicted to nothing but the truth and
creek water. A little further down
the stream from the Williamson
ranch there used to be u line camp.
1t deserves mention for it was the
stamping ground of Il motley crowd
of western characters whose chief
delight was to tell you in glowing
terms, in lingo that savors of the
south, of the frantic acts of the buzz
zard head broncho. As you entered
their sanctuary you heard him de-
scribed and when leaving he is still
bucking. So without further cere-
mony we will leave them alone in
their glory.
Still following down the creek we
come upon the old Gates ranch, tru-
ly wonderful collection of buildings
which bid defiance to any beaver s
architeo tural skill for they contain
more st icks and mud than the beaver
usually handles. But the worthy
Gates has left us now along with his
bunch of grass-eyed, cross.bred pin
toes, the flower of all crosses. We
can abuse his bronchos now for they
have long before this been traded of
for a bunch Qf Minnesota dogies
An excellent man is Gates and good
Judge of smn: 1g tobacco. Ruling
supreme nowrit this place is Mr.
Russell, young man of very amia.
BILE disposition.
Next in order down the creek lives
Capt. Olmstead, as you will observe
still another gentleman of rank
whose Drawing the waves of til,
mighty Michigan is recorded. But
he has retired from the waves ani
is now engaged in the horse busfness
He is Il jolly good fellow aud is as
broad as he is long. Which stands
him in good service while breaking
colts. The C'.'..in experiences som
difficulty i. purchasing clothes out
here, as nost all store clothes are toe
small for him. l believe he weighs
800 pounds but am not sure and there
fore do not wish to be quotel us an
authority on the subject.
The last ranch on the creek is
Miethe's, he who possesses u fine 'crol
of auburn locks and whiskers t.
match, though the hairs of the latter
are nearly AS scare. us hens teeth
AS he is sheep.nan he can brag O.
few exploits. Once he mounted /:
lanky brunclo which gave him a good
idea OF Il fyinv machine with thu