Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-04-18

Early Days In North
Dakota Al The
Turtle River Tavern
Continued from page 49,
The 'hoppers swarmed the entire
valley; in fact, all along the. Mime
amount Of damage. They stayed In
our neighborhood for several weeks, /
and finally flew away. y, assert most
lrutnfully, when I say that the sun
was almost obscured. by h mass OIL
choppers in. the air, and for several
hours the countless myriads filled
: The heavens with a motley life that
vas %bewildering to gaze upon. This
visitation was one of many that fol-
lowed, and they scourged the frontier
settlements OF all the western states
to such an extent that development
was set back for many years.
A Telegraph. Line.
After the hayins was we'll aionE,
and We could spare the time Bulge
and I decided to enlarge our sphere
> OF activity and assume the role OF
contractors. Sanford Cady had taken
. contract to construct a telegraph
A0 ISSo ASsySA 49,
he sublet stwenty.stx miles to US. be-
ginning at Grand Forks and ending
at the Marais, no% far from where
Ardoch is now located. We were
to receive one dollar per pole for cut
tins, planting and bracketing, and
called. for. We entered pon this
work with considerable vim. We saw
lots Of money in the contract, aud
when finished we thought we would
have ample funds with which to- out
fit u shack for the winter. We
chairs, get doors and window sash.
lumber for the ground floor, pay Robb
his wages. and lay in a stock Of flour.
pork, beans and dried apples for wip-
+ ter consum ptfon. Verify, we enter
tanned delightful thoughts as to the
dispcsition of that contract money.
We started in at the Msrais and
worked south, Bulge and Robb cut
ting the poles in the timber along the
river bank. and I hauling them out
to the road. The contract called for
hardwood poles-oak, ash, or elm
basswood, cottonwood, or any of the
soft varieties. being excluded. The
= fact that. suitable timber was not az
plentiful AS expected. and much time
was spent in the searching fog poles
which complied with the specified
lions. Then. too, the bush was alive
with mosquitoes and pesky little
snats. which assaulted the men and
ponies most %viciously. Also the haul
to the Dad wa long. over the track
less prairie, and four or five poles
were all the little grass fed ponies
could pull at one load. Altogether
the first days experience was not
. encouraging. Only about fifteen polet
were delivered along the roadside, and
f1o Sr-orE IF roi1tr~ mn fha inS1lIa t1ns
brackets and planting the poles to 4
depth of five feet was yet to be done
We consoled ourselves, however, viii
the thought that we a begun work
at the hardest end. where timber wal
scarce and the. haul the longest.
The second day brought even more
unsatisfactory results, n an inciden'
fure with uncontrolled evaporation
had hauled out the first load, and
was scattering the poles every seven
y-five yards, when in throwing ont
end of a pole over the hind wheel tn.
forward end bounded up and strucl
the whiffletrees. In less than, thre'
seconds the ponies took flight. dow
poles and parts Of the wagen Al
harness along the road as they bound
ed along at break-neck speed. 'Thet
4 harness was an ~improvised affair
! made of ropes and shaeanapy. ant
when they arrived at home, ten mile
and brides. I had no alternative bu
to follow them. and locate VAR
Gus sections Of the wagon n harms
az they came to view on my wear
Journey. 1t took q day or two to re
cover from this d~iseasreeAble acct
dent, but in due time work was Re
sumed and prosecuted until finished
We did not complete u contract
for when we got along towafds tn
: Forks, Mr.. Cady finished the last fey
miles. When we settled for the wor
we discovered to our sorrow that onl
a low wage was the reward for on
disagreeable and strenuous labor.
Other Settlements.
During the unmer other station
north and south of US were built an
opened to the public. The Morga
Brothers operated the one At Coos
River. and John Stewart at Gran
Forks. The first station north OF U
was at Kelly's Point. between the tw
Salts, where two families lived, DC
Kelly and wife and the Andress fan
i1y. Andreas was the father-in-la'
Of Kelly. Later he moved to Gran
Forks and became It's first justice
The peace. The old man was yer
much Of a smaller and smirker. at
p~arently bubbling over With geniaht,
He stopped at our station for dime
one day. and when he left my best h,
went with him. In it's place was tt
reasiest. old thing for a hat that eve
came down the pike. 1t was feay
with the accumulated sweat of.a d.
cade and as floppy and ill-shaped Z
a mother hubbard Of the vintage
''66. Unlike the cat, the hat neyl
came back, and our nearest norther
neighbor ceased to be persona sra1
al the Turtle River station.
The next station north of Kelly
Point was at Hastings Point. afte
wards Hugh Biggerstafs, not +: