The chronicle=news., 1913-09-10
Renainiscences Of
The Frontier Days

Away back in the seventies there
MAS II place called Rapid creek. some
where on the great reach on plain
between the Had Lands and the black
Hills. The stream may still be there
Il the man with the hoe has not dux
aud drained Il thoruKh an irrisstinx
ditch to revive the thirsty fields. hut
but We Gun not find II on the map.
The old places like this were well
eneuRh known To the pioneers even
though the xe0praphcrs have over
looked them In their mad cndeavor
In mark In all the towns. Folks
came and went without paying much
heed to the Importance OF Rapid
creek other than to camp there
awhile aud water the stock. hut H.
naiy nv the white sheetcd prairie
srhooncrS became more numerous In
the great westward trek which fore
caSted tine civilization that WAS to
he. two loads OF cmixrants arrived nj
Rapid creek about the same time and
set stakes there In the desert land
ON the banks OF this generous little
stream.
They unfortunately chose to camp
opposite each other and II WAS =
sorry day for the one when the 9TH
or moved In. With all the open
country that lay out doors In tho~c
gyfisy days th.r. was not enough
room on Rapid creek to run two fam
.ilc~ and the ncishborhood became
ovcrcrowdcd from that unhappy hour
The original settler was Cyrus Wood
ruff from Illinois by way Of Bis-
marck and his rish, Of priority must
have been fully n day ahead Of the
squattcr's sovereignty set mp acroA
Rapid creek by Clifton Richards.
This worthy Mis~ourinn had conc In
over the old .oxcmsn trail. and ~ II
ran up through Nebraska but this
In neither here nor there.
The suckers never did like tho
,ukcs and the wnr broke out thc very
next morning when M tumultuo,,s
welcome to our city. Woodruff got
out his Winchester aud took u crack
II the Richards family over tho way
The latter moved several rods up tho
stream to the next quarter section
with out paying much heed tn the
morning kun Of their unfricndiy
nciIhi'or and began building = shack
for permanent habitation. Hos TIL
itics lay ~ dormant a. . frog In win
ter while the building was koing on
hut thereafter tho riparian rights
along Rapid creek were pretty much
mixed up. Every time Richards
stuck his head out Of his domicilc
Woosiruff took pot shot At him
The shooting became Nd persistent
after ycnr or NO that the lombard
mcnt got on the nerves OF the Rich
ards household but still they stuck.
II was give and take up one side and
down the other with nothing doing
but the wasting OF ammunition
I which might better have been saved
for the Sioux who were pretty bad
over all of that region in those days
Everything was getting nlons
pcaccful-likc and as happily as q
wedding feast until the day the In
dians made II sortie on the two set
tier cabins on Rapid creek. Their
the squattcrs had to combine against
the common enemy pnd forget theil
ncighboring differences In trying Il
Kill buck now and then as the
painted warriors circled a little clos
er in. When night came and the two
citadcls were still intact the warrine
| ncighbors made a move. each fol
himsclf of course. and got out ol
: theer under the friendly cover o
| the darkness. Richards and his fam
! lily struck out for the west and the!
were never seen again. The prophet
| Elijah once remarked that ut |,