Title
MEMORIES
Creator
Elizabeth Ward Kennedy
Coverage
TOWNSHIP 139N RANGE 99W
Text
MEMORIES
By Elizabeth Ward Kennedy
The whistle of the emigrant train, as it approached the raw little town of Belfield on the western North Dakota prairie, echoed eerie and mournful through the cool evening air. Members of the Ward, Morris and McCarty families, nearing their destination in September, 1906, after a five-day journey, had fleeting moments of doubt — had they made the right decision in leaving their prosperous farms and the rich land of western Iowa to pioneer on this new frontier? The children of the group had no such apprehensions, their faces eagerly pressed against the windows, straining to see their future home, hoping in vain to see some signs of buffalo or Indians of which they had heard many tales.
The emigrant train which had brought them from Iowa consisted of several freight cars and one passenger car. At one end of the passenger car was a large cast iron stove which was kept constantly burning. On this the milk for the babies was heated and other food prepared. The majority of the food, however, had been prepared in advance by the women who had spent many hours baking bread and other edibles which would keep them supplied during the trip, with some to spare for their first days on the homesteads.
These families came into western North Dakota on the tide of a second land boom which swept the state. Prices of agricultural products and farm lands had risen, the North Dakota legislature, 1905, had appropriated $20,000 for advertising, and a flood of new settlers, eager to get a share of the last free land, poured into the Missouri plateau. The covered wagons, and now the railroads, were opening up the last frontier of the West. Their pioneer blood stirred to the bonanza of free land; and so these families in 1906 formed an informal compact to claim 1,280 acres, in aggregate, in the area south of Belfield, N.D. The Imperial Hotel, built in 1883, owned and operated by James A. Eslick, was located south of the railroad tracks and offered the only accommodations for travelers. The families, weary from their long trip, were glad to rest there while arrangements were made for transporting the stock and equipment to the homestead sites.
Belfield, founded 1883, was at this time a village of several hundred inhabitants. Ed O’Connor, a business man of Sacred Heart, Minn., moved to Belfield, 1906, and in anticipation of the influx of new settlers, had the town portion north of the Northern Pacific Railway re-surveyed and placed on the market. The Belfield State Bank had just opened with $10,000 capital. In looking around the town the following morning, the newly arrived families found a hardware and furniture store owned by N. P Nelson, the McCutchan stables which accommodated 100 horses and various other small businesses. There was also a two-story brick school building. An article in the March 28, 1908, edition of the Dickinson Press presented this glamorized version of Belfield: “Business lots sell at $500 to $800 each on Main Street. A mail service runs south weekly to Gaylord and Midway, and steps are being taken to get a stage line north. Belfield is the largest cedar post market in the state, it being estimated that there are 1,000,000 posts in town at the present time. Settlers in the Badlands get them during the winter and find a ready market at 10 to 12 cents apiece. Five new steam-breaking outfits have been ordered this spring, making 12 or 15 in the locality. Ed Jowseks will use a steam plow at his farm five miles northwest of town. Attorney H. E. Haney is already getting a good line of legal and land contest business. About 35 immigrant cars have arrived this spring. This is just a starter.”
A few mornings later, after a hearty breakfast in the Imperial Hotel's dining-room, the families made preparation for the final portion of their trip. Outside, Mr Jim Christiansen and Mr. Eslick hitched up the teams, but before their departure, Mrs. Eslick, who befriended many of the new settlers, provided the women from Iowa with scarves and warmer clothing; not being familiar with the climate, they had arrived wearing suits and their large plumed hats which were in current fashion. Finally, they were on their way, the road stretching out over the treeless prairie like an unending ribbon. At this time, not much land was under cultivation, but in their imagination, they could visualize the golden wheat fields they hoped to produce. The melodious trill of the meadowlarks, lilting over the prairie, seemed almost a welcoming chorus.
By Elizabeth Ward Kennedy
The whistle of the emigrant train, as it approached the raw little town of Belfield on the western North Dakota prairie, echoed eerie and mournful through the cool evening air. Members of the Ward, Morris and McCarty families, nearing their destination in September, 1906, after a five-day journey, had fleeting moments of doubt — had they made the right decision in leaving their prosperous farms and the rich land of western Iowa to pioneer on this new frontier? The children of the group had no such apprehensions, their faces eagerly pressed against the windows, straining to see their future home, hoping in vain to see some signs of buffalo or Indians of which they had heard many tales.
The emigrant train which had brought them from Iowa consisted of several freight cars and one passenger car. At one end of the passenger car was a large cast iron stove which was kept constantly burning. On this the milk for the babies was heated and other food prepared. The majority of the food, however, had been prepared in advance by the women who had spent many hours baking bread and other edibles which would keep them supplied during the trip, with some to spare for their first days on the homesteads.
These families came into western North Dakota on the tide of a second land boom which swept the state. Prices of agricultural products and farm lands had risen, the North Dakota legislature, 1905, had appropriated $20,000 for advertising, and a flood of new settlers, eager to get a share of the last free land, poured into the Missouri plateau. The covered wagons, and now the railroads, were opening up the last frontier of the West. Their pioneer blood stirred to the bonanza of free land; and so these families in 1906 formed an informal compact to claim 1,280 acres, in aggregate, in the area south of Belfield, N.D. The Imperial Hotel, built in 1883, owned and operated by James A. Eslick, was located south of the railroad tracks and offered the only accommodations for travelers. The families, weary from their long trip, were glad to rest there while arrangements were made for transporting the stock and equipment to the homestead sites.
Belfield, founded 1883, was at this time a village of several hundred inhabitants. Ed O’Connor, a business man of Sacred Heart, Minn., moved to Belfield, 1906, and in anticipation of the influx of new settlers, had the town portion north of the Northern Pacific Railway re-surveyed and placed on the market. The Belfield State Bank had just opened with $10,000 capital. In looking around the town the following morning, the newly arrived families found a hardware and furniture store owned by N. P Nelson, the McCutchan stables which accommodated 100 horses and various other small businesses. There was also a two-story brick school building. An article in the March 28, 1908, edition of the Dickinson Press presented this glamorized version of Belfield: “Business lots sell at $500 to $800 each on Main Street. A mail service runs south weekly to Gaylord and Midway, and steps are being taken to get a stage line north. Belfield is the largest cedar post market in the state, it being estimated that there are 1,000,000 posts in town at the present time. Settlers in the Badlands get them during the winter and find a ready market at 10 to 12 cents apiece. Five new steam-breaking outfits have been ordered this spring, making 12 or 15 in the locality. Ed Jowseks will use a steam plow at his farm five miles northwest of town. Attorney H. E. Haney is already getting a good line of legal and land contest business. About 35 immigrant cars have arrived this spring. This is just a starter.”
A few mornings later, after a hearty breakfast in the Imperial Hotel's dining-room, the families made preparation for the final portion of their trip. Outside, Mr Jim Christiansen and Mr. Eslick hitched up the teams, but before their departure, Mrs. Eslick, who befriended many of the new settlers, provided the women from Iowa with scarves and warmer clothing; not being familiar with the climate, they had arrived wearing suits and their large plumed hats which were in current fashion. Finally, they were on their way, the road stretching out over the treeless prairie like an unending ribbon. At this time, not much land was under cultivation, but in their imagination, they could visualize the golden wheat fields they hoped to produce. The melodious trill of the meadowlarks, lilting over the prairie, seemed almost a welcoming chorus.