Ginger (LaRocque) Poitra (65)

Bill & Marvel Dalbec Martin

Folks, especially all of you Hiatt folks. I have located and had a very nice chat with Ethel Hiatt Peterson. Her father was Henry, a brother to John, Will J., Walter, George, Amos and those guys. Henry Hiatt moved to Medford, OR years ago. I thought for awhile I would not be able to locate any members of Henry’s family, but with Evon Lagerquist and I’m sure a little help from her mother Leola and Neola with all of her connections, I think I have or will have all his family members identified through the 4th generation. Ethel and Alice Hiatt Dalbec are the only two surviving children of 2 boys and 6 girls from Henry’s family. Ethel provided me the phone numbers of her children. I contacted Colleen who lives in Oregon and got her email address. She will make sure her mother gets all messages. Her name is Colleen Dolan, email Colleen told me she will pass all these messages onto her siblings as well. Ethel was very excited when I told her I would pass her phone number and address onto you guys. Ethel is a sharp 87 year young lady who was born and raised in the Ackworth community. She told me that at one time they lived on the Stokes place, that later belonged to Esther Tangen, now the Pladson farm. Gary

Winifred Eurich

Jan. 2, 1919-April 19, 2009

ROBERT STOKES’ HISTORY

By Gary W Stokes

July 16, 1995

READ AT DAD’S 80^TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Bottineau Senior Citizen Hall

Dad was born Sept. 2, 1915 to Carl and Bertha Petterson on a farm in the foot hills of the turtle mountains, in BottineauCounty.His mother died shortly after his and his twin sister’s birth.His twin, Margaret, was a little stronger than he and was sent to Canada to live with relatives.Dad was then adopted by the stokes family, who lived in the Ackworth community, in Willow lake township in the TurtleMountains, in RoletteCounty.It is in this community that Dad has spent the majority of his life..

In 1937, Dad ventured to Texas.I’m not sure why he chose Texas, but that is where he went.It was there that he learned the bakery trade.From there he went to Pembina, North Dakota.There, He answered an add in the paper for a job as a baker and he got the job.His new Boss’ were his future father and mother-in-law’s.He met their daughter, my mother Elaine, and in June of 1941 they got married.

After their there marriage, my folks moved back to the Ackworth community, in the turtle mountains.

One year later, 1942, Dad was called by his country, into the United States Army and served more that 30 month overseas fighting for his county.During this time, he saw a lot of combat and saw a lot of his fellow soldiers and friends killed in battle.Those were some very stressful times for all of the fighting soldiers.Dad can tell many different stories about his service years, both good and bad.From all of this, he has developed great respect for his county and the flag that he fought his life for.He is a very proud and devout American Veteran.In parades; in the past, in the present, and I know in the future, Dad, has, does, and will properly carry; straight and tall, “Old Glory”, the American Flag.He also makes sure, first and foremost, that the American Flag is displayed, and displayed properly in its appropriate place.For him that is number one priority.He will fight, tooth and nail, for the American Flag to be displayed and be displayed properly.

After the War, Dad and Mom went back to their farm in the TurtleMountains. The Farm, being only one Quarter section, wasn’t enough to provide for the family, so Dad; part of the time would work at other jobs.Both in the spring and in the fall, for many years, He worked for Ed Melbroth on his farm in Gardena.For many springs, He worked for the Bottineau county soil conservation district, planting trees and then in 1959 He worked at the Minot Are Force Base when they were building it.When Dad was working out, Mom and we boys would milk the cows and do all the chores.

One job that Dad did have, when I was in my teens, was hauling cream, from the farmers in the hills, to the Bottineau Creamery.Dad picked up his cream route from Leonard Lund in the early 60’s and kept it for probably about eight years or so.That is one job that I think he really enjoyed.He likes people and this job gave him the opportunity to work and do some socializing together.His customers liked for him to come in for a cup of coffee, and for him, turning down a cup of coffee is hard to do.By the time he got to Bottineau, after about 15 to 20 cups of coffee, he was pretty well coffee logged, but he really enjoyed it.

Following his Cream Route job, He got a job at San Haven in 1970.He worked there for almost 10 years, retiring at age 65, in 1980.This is the job that has helped him enjoy his golden years a little more fruitfully.With this job he was able to build up his SS and he gets a very small state retirement.When he first started working there, he still had the milk cows.He was milking cows, putting up hay, and farming while working at San Haven.This lasted about a year or so.Then he sold the cattle and rented the farm to Elwood Fauske.Elwood is still farming it today.With his big equipment, He covers a lot more acres in a halfhour than Dad did in one day with his little ford tractor. Elwood’s equipment is so large, that some of Dad’s fields must not allow him to make a complete round without overlapping.

Looking back, I can still remember that old log barn.The folks couldn’t afford anything else.This barn had a poplar tree roof covered with straw that was not at all water proof.When the snow melted in the spring and when it rained in the summer it leaked like a sieve.What a joy (not) it was to milk cows, in this barn, with water running down your back.The floor in this log barn, as you probably can guess, was poplar logs.They got kind of slippery to walk on in the spring of the year and when it rained.At times it was a little tricky to balance the milk stool and milk bucket on these logs, milking a Holstein cow that had gone through a barb wire fence cutting up her utter pretty bad; kicking and slapping you in the face with a dirty wet tail. To top everything off, in the spring of the year after the snow melted or when it rained hard, the mud would be over a foot deep in front of the barn.At times the mud would be deeper than the knee high boots that I had to wear to get into the barn.After chores each day, we would hose our selves off with very cold water, from the well.

In 1960, Dad got an FHA loan and was able to build a bran new barn with a roof that didn’t leak and a cement floor.That I can remember very well. I was just going into high school.It was such a pleasure to use this new barn.I still remember that the cows kept their same order in the stanchions from the old log barn to the new barn.They knew exactly what order to be in.

Dad went to the Ackworth country school and in the 7th grade, he had to, like many other kids of those times, quit school to work at home.This is the same school that all three of us boys attended.I was the last person to graduate from Ackworth, going though all eight grades, before it was redistricted, in 1961 and everybody went to Dunseith.Bud was going into the 4th grade and Allen into the 7th grade, when it was redistricted.When I was in first grade, there were 6 kids in the whole school.When Dad went there, there were more than 40 kids.As the years pasted, after Dads younger days to our days and to the present, there are fewer families with less children living in the Turtle Mountains.

Dad was the only Stokes child; however, when he became an adult he discovered his biological family.They only lived about 20 miles apart, but in that day, that was a long ways.In his biological family, there were 12 children.He and his twin sister were numbers 11 and 12.I think Dad must have been number 12, because his middle name is Decenious, and I believe that means 12 in Norwegian.He did not meet his twin sister, Margaret, until he was 34 years old, because she lived in Canada.As Dad has always said, “when they first met, they realized that they were not identical twins”.

Of the 12 Petterson children, in Dad’s family, there are still five living today and one sister-in-law.There are three boys and 2 girls.They are Nels, who lives with his wife, Helga, of almost 64 years of marriage, in Everett, WA;Emil and his wife, Lillian, of 58 years of marriage, living here in Bottineau;Elvina, living in Rugby ND; Dad’sTwin, Margaret, of 80 years, living in Weyburn, SK., Canada; and of course, Dad, Living here in Bottineau. Gerda, Dad’s brother, Han’s wife, lives here in Bottineau.For that family, she is the oldest of the living today.Gerda is almost 92 years old, very capably lives alone and her main mode of transportation is walking.She looks and functions like someone 30 years junior to her.Nels is almost 91 and he still functions pretty well.He still has a very sharp mind.His back has been bothering him for a few years, but other than that, He’s still going pretty strong.He still drives his car around Everett.Emil, as you can see, is looking and doing pretty good, after he got his new hip.

My Folks have always been very active in the Lutheran church.When I was a kid we went to Salem.There were 4 churches in the district; Salem, Vinje, Nordland, and Manger.We used to go to Salem and Vinje Churches during the summer and then Nordland in the winter months.Those four churches have all merged into one with their church and chapel at LakeMetigoshe.I will never forget the people from those congregations.They were very nice people with a special bond.

Dad, like all of his brothers and sisters, has been know for his ability to work very hard, very fast and very swift.His normal working day, when I was a kid, during the summer, was about 15 hours.He very seldom worked Sundays, though.To this day, Bud has to constantly tell him to slow down.In the winter months he is constantly blowing snow and in the summer he’s mowing grass everywhere.He still helps bud with his farming, hauling grain and doing miscellaneous jobs.He just loves to work and to this day, he still works hard, fast and swift.

Dad has one trait that I envy, and that is his social skills.He knows no strangers.Everybody is his friend.He gets acquainted, very fast, everywhere he goes.When ever he comes out to visit us, in Washington, he has to visit all of my neighbors, they are all his friends.Whereever he goes, he will strike up a good conversation and more than likely throw in a few jokes her and there.He has a terrific memory for faces and names.Dad has a gift and I mean a great gift, not shared by many, for his ability to tell stories.It’s a real art to always get that punch line in his stores to come out perfect every time and be funny.You may here the same story more than once, but that’s OK, because he’s just telling the next guy that hasn’t heard it yet.If he’s in a store, in a new area, like Washington, He’ll strike up a conversation with a store clerk, usually by showing her his North Dakota time, followed by a few stories and then if she gets busy, he’ll wait until she’s not busy and go back and shoot the breeze some more, usually with a few more stories, if she liked the ones he had already told her, and most of the time she has liked them.His next time back in that store, he is remembered, even years later.I’m telling you, it’s a real gift and art not shared by many.

The golden years have been good for the folks.They both enjoy good health and stay very active.They spend a lot of time right here, in the senior citizen building, almost everyday.They eat there dinners here every week day, getting here about 11 o’clock everyday and staying until 3 or 4 in the afternoon socializing, playing cards and pool.It’s kind of funny, because they watch the price is right show from 10 to 11 and then they come up here, but Mom doesn’t wait for the show to get over.She leaves about 10 minutes to 11, so that she can get here usual table to play cards before dinner.She takes their pickup truck and then Dad walks up after the TV show is over.Dad is still very active in the American legion and Mom in the legion auxiliary.They are still active in the metogoshe church and they are very active with their grand kids and all of their many activities.

M. Patti Myer

March 17, 1919-April 14, 2009

DUNSEITH Marvel Cleo “Patti” Myer, 90, Dunseith, died Tuesday, April 14, 2009, in a Rugby hospital.

She was born March 17, 1919, to William and Bertha Schmidtke in Arnegard. She married Johnnie Myer Oct. 7, 1939, in Rolla.

Survivors: daughter, Holly Wheeler, Casper, Wyo.; sons, Garrett, Decker, Mont., Carmen, Dunseith; nine grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren.

Funeral: Monday, 10 a.m., Peace Lutheran Church, Dunseith.

Burial: Little Prairie Cemetery, rural Dunseith.

Prayer service: Sunday, 7 p.m., in the church.

Visitation: Sunday, 4 p.m., in the church. (Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau)

From Trish Larson Clayburgh (73): FORT COLLINS, CO

Correction for Don & Coleen Conroy (59) Martel: Rosemount, MN

Replies from Diane Larson Sjol (70): Minot, ND

Sharron,
I am so excited to meet you! Cousin Nancy Hosmer Baldwin will also be
there. Our mothers were sisters…Verdellis and Leona
Richard….Gary, I am anxious to talk to you too…..man we have alot
of cousins! Diane Larson Sjol

Dick,
You remember EVERYTHING! I love reading your stories…I could tell a
few about Debbie Morinvile and Dennis Dion…I remember it was an
“I’ll show you mineif you show me yours” when we were about in the
first grade…we were down in Dennis’ basement, Debbie, Dennis, Duane
and Bev and I…well the little boys kept saying…”I’ll show you mine
if you show me yours…..” We finally gave in…took less than a
second for a quick flash…truthfully, I don’t remember seeing
anything too excting…one of us screamed that we saw Sister Rose
looking through the basement window and we all went flying, hiding
under the stairs about to wet our pants with fear. We knew we were
doomed to hell. When we went upstairs and managed to go outside, we
saw that no one was around…still we never mentioned it again and
went to confession every Saturday….scarred us for life…haha.

Allen Richard….
Ever been to the Richard house in Thorne, ND with the round barn…?
That barn was amazing… Cheryl, refresh my memory….which one of the
Richards lived there? Whenever I was delivering babies at the
hospital, if someone said they were from Thorne, I could usually trace
them back to a relative of ours….those Richards and
Bouchers…..sure got around. lol
Diane

Diane

PS..Hey Cheryl, my dear sister…you must have been there too..can’t
imagine having that much fun without you.

Updated/Corrected Richard family tree sketch:

I have made all the corrections that you folks have provided to this sketch. As I mentioned before, this sketch only goes thru the 4th generation of the Hycinthe/Aglae Richard family. It’s a simple but busy little chart that shows where each of the Richard family members fall into this family tree. I know for me it will be a useful tool for future reference. You Richard family folks are members of a very large family. I’ll bet that with today’s generation there are more than a thousand members of your family. Gary

Happy belated Birthday Esther. I do have your birthday in my records, but as you can see, missed it. I am so sorry about that. Esther, you will never be forgotten though. I’m hoping you can be of some assistance with Dick’s qustion below. Gary

 

Esther Murray & Pattie Boguslawski

Something came across my mind the other day. When we were kids in
Dunseith, not much went on around town that we didn’t check out. We all
knew if someone new came to town or someone opened a business, etc. I
may be wrong or was told something that wasn’t right, but I wanted to
ask Esther Murray if at one time, for a short time, a guy opened a shop
in the lower level of the building her family lived in and made
mattresses. I remembered watching someone sewing fabric and there were
mattresses that appeared new, standing by the north wall. I don’t think
he was there very long. It could be that my memory is not correct, but
Esther will probably know. Thanks!

Dick

A while ago Diane Larson Sjol wrote about Jack Hosmer having one of the
first pontoons on Lake Metigoshe. In the late 50’s Dad gave some of the
Fassett girls and me a boat ride around the lake one day. We were across
the lake near the south shore when we spotted Jack’s pontoon and Jack
taking a swim. Dad pulled up and Jack took a hold of the side of the
boat and stayed in the water, talking for a while. I noticed Jack was
shivering as we talked. The water wasn’t that warm yet that spring. Dad
asked him if he wanted to get out of the water, but Jack said he was
fine. We were there for quite a while before we fired up and headed on
our way. The next time Dad ran into Jack back in town, Jack said, ” Holy
_____ Don, I damn near froze to death talking with you at the lake the
other day!” He told Dad he really hadn’t planned to take a swim when he
left the cabin but the water looked so good he just went for a quick
skinny dip and we showed up! He couldn’t get out of the water with all
the girls in the boat and we wouldn’t leave! They had a good laugh over
it anyway! Thanks Gary!

Dick

A DOGGIE-DOO STORY

What is doggie-doo?Doggie-Doo is what the dog do in your yard and not their masters yard.Unless they have a fence or the dog tied up, then the doggie do it where he should do it.In his masters yard.

Speaking of dogs, did anyone else notice the large dogs being kept in some of the yards of the Dunseith residents when you were back there in 2007? The weather was great wasn’t it.One nice evening the wife and I took a walk around town.I was telling her where everyone lived at the time when I grew up there, where the best strawberry and raspberry patches were, and yes, about the apple tree that was located about a block west of the Commercial Hotel.You could not walk by that place in the evening without that woman coming out and telling you to stay away from her apple tree.Thinking about it!Wasn’t that kind of like a invitation?Most of the dogs were huge, rottweilers I think.I remember telling the wife that if one them dogs gets loose and comes for us, that she was suppose to choose and offer up a arm that she could learn to live without. No, I didn’t get asked to go for another walk.

Back to the story.

We finally had a few nice warm sunny days here in the Dakota’s and I made a trip around my yard through the 2 feet or more, of the nice white stuff and around the 6 ft. high piles that had accumulated over the winter from all the shoveling.I’m writting to inform everyone that the nice white stuff was not so nice and white.Thatdoggie-doo does not melt, and as you can tell, it inspired me to vent.

I don’t keep a dog of my own.Anyway, the dogs running loose reminded me, that in Dunseith in the spring of the year, the police chief would have the job of dispatching some of the dogs that were roaming the streets and making a mess wherever they pleased.He was to dispatch these dogs by dropping some lead into the left ear of the dog.I really don’t think it really mattered which ear he dropped it into, since he was going to drop it in with a .22 caliber rifle.He would walk through the neighborhoods shooting the dogs without collars and tags.This method appeared to be acceptable at the time as there was no public outcry against what was being done, and something had to be done. Now, I know them old timers sitting around in the shade sharpening their jack-knives would have handled the problem if they would have had television and Bob Barker on The Price is Right telling them to spade or neuter them pets. But, most did not have TV’s and they didn’t know then, that it would have been OK to use them sharp knives.I also remember a couple of cowboys who would drive around at night with their pistols at the ready, apparently taking care of the dogs, that the police chief missed.Maybe some day, they will tell us their story?

This year (late 1950’s) in particular there seemed to be dogs running loose everywhere.I think the farmers would haul any extra dogs to town that they had, thinking that they would find some nice town family that would take care of them.This also worked in reverse, some town people who got tired of their dog, would haul them out into the country and dump the dog off near some farm, thinking that the dog would be better off on a farm where he would be well taken care of by the farmer and the dog would be at a place where he could run free.I think most of the time these dogs would end up either back in town or dead, as a farmer did not want any dog around that could not earn its keep.

The dogs all seemed to live very well in Dunseith.People and businesses in them days had burn barrels in the alleys and the rest of the garbage was stacked around or near the barrels.This material in some cases stayed piled in these locations all winter as it was tough to get through alleys and up to the dump with all the snow.In the summer, people were able to drive in the alleys and up to the dump grounds without problems.Besides, the garbage had a tendency to get a little ripe when it was warm out and gave people a little more incentive to haul it off. The dogs in both cases, had easy access to food, both in the alleys and up at the dump ground, winter and summer.They multiplied and prospered.

The multiplying part, is probably the part, that got them into the most trouble, which usually occured with the warming up of the weather in the spring.Yes, with mating season in full force, eventually a couple of them dogs would try to do it in the middle of main street.Someone would honk and and try to scare them apart and instead of parting they became stuck together and sometimes each trying to go in a different direction.Must of been a nervous reaction or something.This seemed to cause quite a stir up in the middle of town on a busy afternoon with shoppers everywhere.The male population seemed to be all watching and laughing, and the female population seemed to be trying to navigate through the commotion while pretending not to notice what was causing the commotion.This was particularily tough on the women drivers trying to navigate their vehicle down main, while appearing not to be looking at the street directly in front of them and to not notice the dogs.There were some close calls. I’m sure, this is what caused the city fathers to react and order the chief of police to rid the city of as many stray dogs as possible.

Oh, yes!The burning question!What happened to the dogs that were pasted together in the middle of the business section of town.Well, eventually either they relaxed and went on there way, which was probably tough to do with people shouting and laughing and cars honking around them.So, what usually happened is that one of the business proprieters would notice the commotion and figure out that this wasn’t a good thing and one would come running out of their place of business with a pail of cold water and dump it on the dogs.Apparently them people, even way back in them days, knew about shrinkage and I know they did not learn about it from watching George Costanzia on Sienfeld.Anyway,

shrinkage apparently solved the problem and the dogs would run off separately, happy to escape them humans with their lifes.

Apparently not worrying about the chief-of-police or the cowboys. Yet?

Remember: Laugh and the whole world laughs with you.

Larry

The banjo player is our friend, Ron Hett. I’m sure Mark will respond,
but if not, that’s who it is.

Dick

Folks, this letter was forwarded to me by Barbara’s mother, Vivian (Dave (Deceased) Clark. Vivian lives 5 miles SW of Bottineau on the original Dave Clark ‘Short Horn’ Cattle Ranch.