The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1927-07-22
Memories OF My Life
BY
Christian r. Blaich
Continued from last week.

NHAiS anu HHdlly we went 10 LdIdy
ettei Ind, where l got work at m,
old job. On the way l would lool
out OF the windows at all stations
and very often some one would
yell, Hello, Blaich, where you go
ing?' Ny wife said to me-: "Fol
Gods sake, have you been in al
these towns, it sure seems So"
worked in Lafayette about eight
months when l got a notion to &c
to my old home, st. Louis.
Here we lived about a year
when one day a miller from Enter.
prise, Kansas, met my wife at the
home of a friend of his. This
man had a custom and wholesale
mills on the Smoky River, Kansas,
and he owned a hotel there. He
wanted us to go out with him to
run it for him. We finally agreed
to this. When we got there we
made arrangements to buy the no.
tel. The owner gave us our own
terms. | gave him individual notes.
About three years after this the
court house at Abilene, Kans., was
burned down. AS this was the
third time there had been a fire in
this building the people got the
notion to change the county seat.
Enterprise entered the race and
then it looked good for our city.
The owner came in and wanted to
know what l would take for my
interest in the hotel. l told him
| would let him know the next
day. l told him what I would take
and he went right to a justice
of the peace and sued me for pos
session of the property. l con-
suited my attorney who said that
the justice had no jurisdiction in
the matter, as the amount involv-
ed was over $500. I informed the
justice of this and he said he
would try the case anyway, which
he did and decided against me
So | saw my attorney again and
told hmm to go and see the district
judge and tell him the facts. After
the judge heard all the facts he
sent the sheriff to bring our city
justice into court and then fined
the justice of the peace $500, and
put my case in district court with
out bond. When it came up in
court | won. A short time after
this we made an agreement that
l run the hotel a year longer. The
county seat remained at Abilene.
Had Enterprise won, l would have
had the best corner in town, worth
about $4,000.
| lived in Enterprise about five
years after which | went to Hope,
Kans., where | lived one year. l
then left and lived about two years
in Kiowa, Kans. About this time
the Cherokee strip was opened up
for settlement. This land was
opened on a run. All parties were
O'Clock noon, when a shot was
fred and they all started. Whoever
got to a claim first could hold it.
| had often been on this land be-
fore the opening and looked it
l had a little Indian pony
| rode in this race. One week
before the opening, | took a ride
On this pony every night around a
section of land, as hard as the
pony could run, as all l wanted
.ay four miles from Kiowa. There
we're several parties that paid
SIS to $3.50 to make the run :
IN a race horse. | beat all in my
vicinity with my pony. l held the
claim about a year and then sold
ny REIMBURSEMENT for $500, and
ived in Kiowa IS months longer.
l had two good horses and a
spring wagon which l fixed up for
,amping out. One day we started
.ast from Kiowa along the state
inc of Kansas, and we never slept
n a house from May until Christ
mas. l weighed 108 pounds and
d., and when we came back
1876 and my wife 1876. If
GU want to build up use this trip. r
We left Kiowa in 1889 for Wea-
herford, Okla, where we lived
ntil / came to Montana in 1914
nd took a claim on the Fort Peck
ldian reservation, which was
pened in 1914 by a drawing. We
re now living in the town of Wolf
oint. The appraisement of the
nd was conducted by a commits
Of three appraisers. About
re year after the opening of the
nds the settlers saw that they
,uld not pay for these lands. 1t
a uphill pull to prove up a claim
/ an Indian reservation. One day
meeting was called to organize =
Fort Peck Settlers Association.
this meeting l was elected
esident. The object of the asso-
is to object to the high ap-
aisement placed on the land and
try to get it appraised lower.
le government gave extensions
veral times, but this did not
ing the necessary relief. | have
ed for II years to have this
alter settled, and it is still pend
:. I have been to Washington