In the last four years, my wife and I have visited Echo Park twice. Located in the northeast corner of Utah, at the confluence of the Green and Yampa rivers, it has everything we enjoy in a park. Hiking, kayaking petroglyph hunting and history are all captured in a horseshoe of towering sandstone cliffs. Like the Chew family that homesteaded in 1910 on property near the entrance to the park we also feel at home there. Among the outbuildings and rusty iron implements is an original Shepherd’s Trailer. It is a stark comparison between the overland vehicle of yesteryear and our Ram-based Four Wheel flatbed camper today.
We often think about the drive and passion behind the late 19th century settlers and their ability to endure hardships. They dug a well - we turned a faucet. They processed firewood for heating and cooking - we turned on the propane burner or heater. They tilled the land and hunted and butchered their own meat - we simply go to the grocery store.
Similar to the Chews, but a decade earlier, my wife’s grandparents homesteaded in eastern Montana – just a stone’s throw from the North Dakota border. With two small children in tow, they built a one room sod-roof home, planted wheat fields and raised a few cattle. They were considered hardworking and on their way to owning their own land. In 1908, they only had to improve the 160 acres for another 2 years until a land patent was issued in their name. Unlike the Chews, their departure from the homestead was not a happy one. Tragedy has a way of changing life.
The sound of a diesel motor pulling us through the early hours of morning is very satisfying. We are comfortable in our camper. It is familiar to us. We have plenty of conveniences. However, this adventure is different from others and so is our conversation. Unchartered territory for both of us. We have far more questions than answers. Can we actually find the original homestead of Johann and Barbara Arnold? What does it look like 120 years later? Will the local historians in Glendive Montana be able to provide answers? Will the old cemetery provide clues? Our plan was to make relatively fast tracks in order to maximize our time in Glendive. We had no idea how this journey would eventually evolve.
The Arnold’s immigrated to the United States after fleeing Germanic persecution in Russia. They eventually arrived in Esmond North Dakota in the late 1880’s when Johann and his brother Charles were just boys. They both married ethnically German woman in their early 20’s and then decided to homestead in Montana. Driven by the prospect of securing their own land the two brothers left family and friends behind. Although the distance from Esmond to Glendive is only 320 miles, just 5 hours by car today, it would have taken them two days on a train or 25 days by wagon.
We left Sisters Oregon and headed west through Prineville, the three block town of Mitchell and onto John Day and the Fossil Bed National Monument. Traveling through Central Oregon at the advent of fall is a visual fiesta. On one side of the highway is the South Fork River. The other is lined with sage, rabbit bush and scotch broom. Willows emerge from the wetlands. Colors are reminiscent of a painter’s palate. The muted green, yellow and orange would befit a Tuscan Villa. We take a break at the side of the road. A beaver den domes above a pond and cattails wait for the spring calling of red-wing black birds.
We passed an old and abandoned house that stood in the middle of a wheat field. The simple saltbox design is leaning away from the prevailing winds. Like the lines in an old-man’s face, I wondered how many stories were still protected by the weathered siding. Were the dreams of the mason that laid the first foundation stone fulfilled? How many generations of families welcomed the first snow of winter? And when was it last occupied and why did the owners leave? Little did we know that we would have similar inquiries in another week in another state.
When the Arnold’s arrived in Glendive around 1905 and were directed to available land in the Belle Prairie area, they must have been taken back by the endless and flat fields relatively devoid of trees and streams. Raw materials for building a home, a top priority, were limited. Historical records show that a combination of log and sod roof structures were common to the Great Plains area. The cabin would have been small with a low roof line. Packed roots and dirt would have laid atop birch stringers. Cooking, eating, washing and sleeping were all done in the same and only room
After a quick visit to the gold mining town of Sumpter Oregon, we landed near Phillips Reservoir just east of Baker City. We like the South Shore Campgrounds. They have plenty of elbow room between sites and provide great hiking and easy access to the lake. We enjoyed a simple dinner of carnitas and black beans over a salad and relaxed to the sound of loons and crickets. The following morning we were up early, through Baker City and onto I-80 before the sun crested the horizon. Our destination was just 5 hours away which would give us plenty of time to meander and explore. Northwest of Stanley Idaho, we landed at a familiar boondock site located in the Sawtooth Mountains which shall remain nameless. Suffice to say there are countless creek-side honey-holes off the backroads between Lowman and Challis – places you can really settle into. (If you plan to travel in this direction, be sure to see the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge near the ghost town of Custer. This four-story dredge and the associated museum will take you back to the birth of mechanical behemoths.)
Two days later we left the Stanley area feeling fully refreshed and opted to put the pedal down and travel 320 miles to Helena Montana. There we would stay with good friends. This stretch of highway is one of our favorites. It follows the twisting Salmon River through Challis and Salmon Idaho into the high country of Montana. Rafters glide down white water while fly fishermen dot the shoreline. We found it difficult at times to bypass the numerous small and unpopulated riverside campgrounds. Each one was tugging on my steering wheel but we moved on. Highway 93 then drops into the Bitteroot Valley past Darby and Hamilton Montana on the way to Missoula. We arrived in Helena around 4pm
Brent and Cheryl were the perfect hosts. Even though they were in the middle of building a new big-sky country mountain home they welcomed the company and a break from work. After a quick shower, we had our fill of appetizers before the tri-tip was pulled from the Trager. Conversation about our trip carried well into the Montana night. On our short walk back to our camper, the Milky Way was so thick it looked like you could cut it with a knife.
Yellowstone Monitor – Thursday, September 24th 1908 (paraphrased)
The Glendive community was saddened last Monday to learn of the unfortunate incident involving two of the most promising citizens in the county. The fatalities occurred at the ranch home of Charles and Martha Arnold located in Belle Prairie. The family well was seeping methane gas which ultimately caused the deaths on an autumn afternoon. The two victims, brothers Charles and Johann Arnold, were homesteading on adjoining ranches with their houses about a mile apart. On Sunday afternoon, Charles and his wife were taking a walk across their claim. Upon coming to the well, Charles remembered he had left a wrench in its depths and decided to retrieve the tool. He was lowered into the well by the windless. He had just reached the bottom when the rope went slack and calls from his wife went unanswered…
Our journey to Montana started several months earlier with a single and fortunate phone call to the Glendive Frontier Gateway Museum. My wife’s story of her family quickly captured the attention of Eileen Melby and set a whirlwind of communication in motion. She had not heard of the Arnold family plight but felt her years of volunteer service at the museum could provide some leads. It was not long before we received a newspaper story citing the event in the Yellowstone Monitor dated 1908. Other related documents surfaced from the county. But the actual location of the Arnold homestead was unknown. And then the unexpected happened. Eileen mentioned the story to her husband Lew who told a group of friends, who relayed the interest to their spouses. Darry Autsby, a long-time Glendive rancher, was surprised to hear about the Arnold’s and our inquiry. It turns out he lived on the original Arnold homestead decades after they left and knew where the property was located along with the well and original sod-roof home. This was a coincidence we could have never predicted.
We arrived in Glendive the following afternoon. Our anticipation in meeting Eileen and Darry had continued to grow ever since we arranged a time and place to meet. But first, we needed to find a place to land which would serve as base-camp for several days. Fortunately, the largest State Park in Montana – Makoshika – is located just outside of town in Badland-type terrain. A rare gem, the park is home to sedimentary cliffs, hoodoos, fossils and a variety of wildlife and birds. Besides traditional campsites with restrooms and water, it has ‘boondock-like’ sites sparely located further up the mountain. At night, the lights of the town reflected off the striations. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop in the dirt.
Morning came quicker than usual. A hot cup of coffee warmed our hands while a campfire did the rest. Our plan was to meet Eileen at the Frontier Museum and get a tour of the premises. We would then have the opportunity to meet a local historian who could provide us with a little more backdrop on Glendive and homesteaders at the dawn of 1900. Although Glendive is a relatively small town with a population of less than 5000, it is a historical focal point for the region and the Frontier Gateway Museum is the bullseye. Eileen treated us like family and we were so impressed with the breath of artifacts, articles and displays all augmented by a knowledgeable staff.
We especially enjoyed looking at the reconstructed sod-roof cabin that would have been similar to one Gretchen’s grandmother lived in. The re-creation of a one room school house was typical of one that existed in the Belle Prairie area. The museum also had numerous farm implements that were arranged in chronological order. The advent of the combustion engine sure made farming easier and more productive. (Put the museum on your ‘to do’ list if your travels take you to the area.)
After a tour of the museum, and right on time, a ranch truck pulled into the parking lot – a good working truck with dust on top, mud on the bottom and a few battle scars. The flatbed was filled with tools, cables, gas cans and ropes. (I wondered if anything ever bounced out.) Darry Autsby extended his hand and welcomed us to Glendive. He said it had been many years since he was last at the well. He had secured permission from the property owner to visit the Arnold homestead site. Everyone in our small group shared a common excitement.
… not hearing anything from her husband, Mrs. Arnold ran to her brother-in-law’s house on the adjacent property and homestead about a mile away. Johann, the brother of Charles, responded at once and ran back to the well. He descended unaware of the dangerous gas below the surface. Once Mrs. Arnold returned to the well with more help, both brothers had already lapsed into a stupor and died before they could be recused. Prior to recovering the bodies, the well was partly freed of methane gas by lowering a bucket filled with lighted, oil-soaked, hay. William Arbogast, a neighbor, then descended the well, tied ropes around the dead men and pulled them to the surface.
We followed Darry, along with Eileen and their spouses out of town toward Belle Prairie. The dry dirt road climbed a series of rolling hills sparsely populated with homes, old farm equipment and corrals. A dust plume served as our guide until we reached the top of a plateau. There, Darry was parked near a one-room school foundation that once served the local homesteaders and that he had attended. One of the few remnants from another time. Alternating fields of wheat and fallow rose slightly, disappeared and reappeared for miles. We had never seen an area so singularly focused on farming. We continued down Belle Prairie Road for another two miles and then it came into view – a solitary wind mill towered above a well that had encased family history for 120 years. We had arrived. The distance we traveled in 30 minutes from town would have been an all-day wagon ride for the Arnold’s.
Darry began to show us where the homestead was located along with the farm house that he lived in through the 60’s when he was a young boy. With a slight smile of remembrance, he pointed to a few willow trees that had provided grouse for dinner from the sharp aim of a 22 rifle. The trees had barely enough branches to provide shade for a dog. The wind and heat made tough living conditions.
Both my wife and Darry were deeply moved by the experience. For Gretchen, to stand at the place where her beloved grandmother lived as a young woman with two small children and a 3rd on the way comprehending the death of her husband. And for Darry, to meet the family of the two brothers, whose story he thought about every time he passed the well growing up.
As a group, we walked toward the well for a closer look. The old well pump was still in place. Floorboards, now rotted and covered with debris and weeds, had been placed around the pump and the well casing for safety along with a small fence. It was a picture on irony. Subsequent property owners had built the windmill to provide running water and irrigation. Charles Arnold had to hand pump water and carry buckets to their sod roofed home. Darry pointed to an adjacent 160 acre parcel where my wife’s grandmother Barbara (and her first husband Johann) had lived. It became clear just how far Charles’ wife had to run for Johann’s help. On the drive over we were able to view their well and hand pump just a short distance from a collapsed farm house partially supported by a retired truck.
Within a few miles from leaving the homestead, Darry waved to a big John Deere tractor towing a load of hay bales. He got a wave in return. People in these parts know each other by the tractors and trucks they drive. And, Verle Jones has known a few over the years. He is an 89 year old 3rd generation farmer in Belle Prairie and had the handshake and wit of a man two decades his junior. When he heard our story he simply said ‘well… now that you have seen the area, I suspect you will not be coming back. There is not a lot to see out here.’ We were not so sure about that statement.
The next day we met with administrators from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Glendive. Nancy and Amanda pulled out an old record book from the late 19th century and confirmed that the brothers were buried at the local cemetery. They then pointed us to the original burial grounds near the Catholic chapel from a plot map. We wanted to take pictures of the head stones for family members. After hours of searching the cemetery grounds, we were unable to find the gravesites of Charles and Johann but confident that we located the general area. This was not surprising since the Glendive Cemetery was relatively new in 1908 and the gravesites were most likely marked with wood placards by the young widows who would end up leaving the area shortly thereafter.
The bothers had resided in the Glendive vicinity for three years and were known as industrious and well-liked citizens. They had improved their claims at Belle Prairie until they were among the best in the area. Charles Arnold was 31 years of age and leaves a wife and four children. Johann was 27 and leaves a wife and two children.
The funerals of the two unfortunate men were held yesterday at the Catholic Church. Not often has this community been called to mourn such a tragedy. Sympathy goes out to the wives and little children of the two brothers who are now without husband and father.
Unfortunately, Barbara (Johann’s wife and Gretchen’s grandmother) had little means to maintain and further develop the homestead without a husband. She had two children to care for and was pregnant with a third. The remaining two years on the homestead grant went unfulfilled and she ultimately lost the rights to a 160 acre land patent. She return to Estefan Canada in the Saskatchewan Province of Canada – just across the North Dakota border. During their homestead period in Belle Prairie, family members had moved there to start farming. It was Barbara’s only option to be near the help of family. Charles’ wife Martha moved back to North Dakota.
When we first planned this trip, we knew our time on the road was limited. We felt welcomed in Glendive and our Makoshika campsite was comfortable and peaceful. It has hard to leave. On our last evening, we walked out to the edge of a hoodoo to watch the sunset. As always, it was different and beautiful at the same time. A nice way to say good-bye. The next morning and just as the sun was peaking over the badlands I fired up our diesel truck and we left camp. We had a lot to digest from the past several days. The miles ticked off quickly. And then, Belle Prairie was two hundred miles behind us.
We decided to see some new country on the way home. Our route took us through the small town of Livingston Montana and camped at a quiet riverside fish access. On our way to NW Yellowstone, Montana Hwy 89 yielded scenic viewpoints at nearly every corner. We crossed into the park at Gardiner and were immediately greeted by a small herd of majestic elk grazing without worry. Our Nation’s most popular park was relatively quiet in late October and we were able to see a few sights before taking Idaho Hwy 30 south through Rexburg and onto Craters of the Moon State Park. The landscape there is foreign and desolate. Big skies cover the entire compass. An evening wind rustled the few trees near our site. A description that must have applied to the Arnold’s as they arrived in Belle Prairie.
The next time we come to Glendive, we want to sit on the porch of Verle’s cabin, along with the volunteers from the Frontier Museum and listen to a few tales over steaks and whiskey. Maybe then, we can complete another story.
Special thanks to Wendy Fields for her genealogy work, Eileen Melby of the Glendive Frontier Gateway Museum, Darry Autsby for guiding us to the well and Nancy Keller and Amanda Crockett from the Sacred Hearts Catholic Church of Glendive Montana. Each one of you had a critical role in this adventure of family history and we are very appreciative.
Gary and Gretchen Matos
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