The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1912-04-13
BILLINGS GO.
EARLY DAYS
Mrs. Frank Roberts Writes of
Settlement at Medora. How
They Handled the Buffa-
10 Calves, Etc.

Mrs. j. r. ROBERTS, one OF Tue early
residents of. Medora and vicinity, later
Of Dickinson. residing near Bowman
read the following article on March 7th
before the Sand Creek Farmers Club /:
s''I think it was in the fall Of 1882
that arrived in what. is now Billings
county unoraanized. Previously my
father had brought in the first bunch Of
cattle to the Bad Lands as this country
was then styled. My father sent to Man.
dan where my mother and children were
living for US to come out here advising
us to come by local freight train as it
made the trip in daylight while if we
came on passenger train we would have
to make the journey at night. The
station was west of the river and was
called Little Missouri. - Opposite pres
ent site Of Medora.) The post office ad-
dress was ''Fort Coomba'' named in
honor of Major Coomba who was al that
time stationed there in command of the
cantonment of soldiers that the
government thought necessary for the
protection of the buffalo hunters there
then. The little shack on the hillside
al the H T ranch was the depot at the
Little Missouri. Medora was not
thought of nor built till the following
year. The first place we lived when we
came was in tent on the famous Trail
ranch. This ranch had been the camping
ground of Custer on ::one Of his scouting
trips and the fiat creek bottom was COW
cred with little trenches outlining where
the soldiers had pitched their tents.
This ranch has also been one of the
stage stations on the first route between
Fort Lincoln and Fort keogh a star route
of 400 miles between the end of the
railroad not then connected between
Bismarck and Miles City. The old stage
station buildings were still standing
and consisted Of two room shack Of
cotton wood logs daubed with mud ar
earth roof covering it. 1t contained 9
fire place and chimney of stone and mud
for cooking purposes and few articles
of furniture roughly made of cottonwood
there was a log shed or barn for horse
and the whole was surrounded by 6
stockade fence with port holes for de-
fence from hostile Indians. We uset
the old house for chicken and cali
shed and among the calves that my sis,
tiers and myself had the care of were
two buffalo calves just as gentle as the
domestic calves and lots worse about
trampine on our feet besides being
much stronger and for that reason w
children never yoked them up as we did
the domestic calves in fact the common
calves proved too much for one childisf
strength and we aave up the calf break
ing enterprise.
All the meat we used was " lid mea
of which buffalo hams were the princi
pal kind as pork is among the farmer
now. only that meat was the main arti.
Gle Of diet as it cost nothing and othe
food stuff was scarce and dear. I cal
remember stacks of buffalo hams out o.
which we picked the choicest parts TO
consumption and let the others spoil
we also used lots of venison and ell
meat. these game animals were thel
killed by professional hunters for thei
hides. We did not use much wild fowl
as grouse and ducks were considered to-