Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-08-14

Interesting tales of pioneer exper-
fences In North Dakota in the '8Os
were the features OF entertainment at
a gathering given recently in the
nome of,'Mrs. HanssGeorgesen,. Mag
ara at which the elderly women Of
g were entertained, in compli-
Miss Beatrice tombstone and
3Mrs. J., F. Working Of Grand Forks.
- was married in Grand Forks in
me days when licenses were not"
mrs. John Mclean, known as MA
Mclean" said, in giving a brief
sketch of her experiences since her
arriva! IN the Dakotas in the year
1897. Mrs. Mclean was born at Strait
FORD, Ontario, in 1866, and came to
CrookFton with her parents in 1882,
later IN that year moving to the fam
ny homestead, nine miles north of
g The journey from Crookston
TO their farm home took three days,
and when they arrived at their desti-
nation they lived in a little shack on
the prairie with the ground for "a
During the first rain storm they were
compelled to sit up during the night,
as the rain came through the ceiling,
wetting the bed clothing.
In the fall of 1882 the family re-
turned to Crookston, where Mr.. Mon
roe Mrs McLean's father, had seed
ed 80 acres of wheat. When, this
crop was harvested Mrs. Mclean,
thenA young giEl of 16 years. loaded
allfhe wheat from the entire 80 acr
Tey returned again in the winter to
their homestead lear Niagara, and
during that: winter. melted snow to
provide drinking water for their stock,
which consisted Of three horses and
fvn N~r,u nH~~ 1R- -
shortly afterward.
+ Mrs. Phillips. .
Loneliness marked many of the
days. spent on our homestead three
miles from Niagara, when first we
came to North Dakota in 1888, and
san addition, e of Indians added to
@ithe discomfort Of those days. Mrs.
dan Phillips, Oldest guest, said in the
photographed survey of her Jpio-
ineer experiences. Mrs. Phillips was
born near Ithaca, N. T., in 1910. The
trail between Fort Totten and the Red
+ Lake reservations ran directly past the
/ home of Mr.. and Mrs. Phillips, and it
was the habit of the Indians who trav-
eled from n reservation to the 9TH
Ter to carry visibly the scalps of per-
ssons whom they had killed, this to in
5sdicate the degree Of their proves.
The squaws often stopped for milk.
Feared to open the doors, she served
them by way Of the window. Telling Of
the incident which frightened her
most, Mrs. Phillips related her en-
Stounter with six halfbreeds who came
'gto her house when she was there
alone. They made a series Of omin-
.s:ous signs, but before they took any
: SSaction a buggy was heard coming on
the road in their direction. When the
halfbreeds turned to see who was ap-
preaching, Mrs. Phillips signalled for
n to hurry to her, and
his arrival sent the halfbreeds on
their way. It developed that the man
who had driven up was an old settler,
now familiar to many in that neigh
borhood, a Mr.. Wiltse. During their
stay on the farm, Mrs. Phillips. said
that they were hailed out three times,
the last time being just three days
before they had planned to begin cut
\ ting the grain, and the result was a
total loss. Bad billiards., too, were
among the .hardships experienced by
Mr.. and Mrs. Phillips during their
homesteading are
Mrs. Kirk.
Mrs. Kirk came to America In 1851
and a few days after landing was
married in Newark, N. j. In 1882 she
and her husband anne to North Da-
kota. They landed at Larimore, then
the railroad terminus, and lived for
two weeks in a tent, unable to go far
ther on account of the muddy roads
resultant from the heavy SHOWS. The
first crop Of" corn and potatoes was
exceptional, Mrs. Kirk stated, and she
cites the fact that they raised one
pumpkin which weighed ~ pounds.
During the second summer Of their
residence there the railroad extended
to Niagara, and Mrs. Kirk baked
bread for the laborers on the road in
order that the work Of building would
not be hindered. r' @H "a
b#S Mrs. Mason. '
ssasSss Mrs. Ellen Mason was born in Vas
saSelboro, Maine, in 1912, and in 1882