"Mandan Pioneer" January 6, 1905:

C. L. Timmerman has disposed of his land at Dogtooth, and is now the owner of a modern apartment house in Chicago.  Mr. Timmerman intends to dispose of his stock in the spring.  The deal has been pending for some time.  The apartment house is valued at $120,000.00.

"Mandan Pioneer" February 24, 1905:

William Hager was in town from his Dogtooth ranch this week for supplies.  Judging by the looks of Bill the cold weather of the past few weeks has not interfered in the least with his well being.  Ed McArthur, who resides about ten miles south of Flasher on the Dogtooth range, brought in an unusually large sized wolf hide last Saturday on which he secured the bounty.  The hide was not only large but had a beautiful dark color which is very rare.  Many ranchmen express the opinion that wolves of this species are responsible for the mad dog scare which has been causing considerable trouble of late, claiming that these particular kind of wolves are a cross between a dog and a wolf.

 

"Mandan Pioneer" March 10, 1905:

WADE NOTES.  Wade, N. Dak. Feb. 28,  1905.  Fred Nicholson came down from Walter Parkin's ranch and is spending a few days in this locality hunting up a bunch of horses which are running on the range.  Mr. Nicholson reports that the ranchmen in his locality (Southern Hettinger County) have only fed about two weeks this winter.  All kinds of stock are looking well and many have quite feeding, since the warm weather commenced.  No one has run short of hay this winter.  Jerry Foster cut his foot quite badly last week, but it is mending now.  Charles Carver, who has been in the cattle business here with his brother for the last few years has gone to Washington to make his home.  James Harrison and William Melvin are getting  ready to go trapping.  They expect to go up Cedar Creek to its headwaters, then down the Grand River as far as the reservation line.  Mr. Melvin and Mr. Harrison have caught quite a number of wolves this winter.  It is reported that Mrs. A. P. Thompson, postmistress at Howe, this county, on account of ill health resigned the office.  Howe from the establishment  of that office has been a very important county office, some people coming as far as thirty miles for their mail.  We learn from the same report, that there is a move being made to have the office moved about ten miles further up the Cedar Creek to a more central location.  It is reported that Mrs. James Waldron has been very sick, and is not getting any better.  Mrs. Waldron has been sick all winter, and was, at the time of Dr. Krouger's death, under his care.  William Chapin is getting ready to move his sheep out into the hills.  Mr. Chapin has had an offer of 20 cents per pound for his coming clip of wool.  James Chalmers, brother of postmaster Chalmers, of Janesburg, was a west bound passenger on the stage one day this week.

 

"Mandan Pioneer" March 31, 1905:

Two families from Minnesota went to Flasher yesterday.  One of them, G. H. Nebersetzig, came up about a week ago, but the other one, Peter Siverson, just arrived Wednesday night.  Both of these families came out on the solicitation of friends already there, which speaks well for the country around Flasher.

"Mandan Pioneer" July 28, 1905:

Miss Arizona Williams, who has been teaching a term of school near Dogtooth, and holding down a claim near there, was an east bound passenger Wednesday night for Minnesota, her former home.

"Mandan Pioneer" August 18, 1905:

WADE NOTES.  The Howe post office has been moved from the residence of A. P. Thompson, thirteen miles up Cedar Creek, and Samuel Duncan is the new post master.  James Waldron is now carrying the mail to and from Wade P.O. to Howe.  Mr. and Mrs. Ben Killeran of Howe have been visiting friends at Wade this week.  Dave Leahy, who left here with his large flock of sheep to range them on the upper Cedar Creek two years ago, has brought them back and will make this post office his address for a time.  He says he has fallen in love with the sheep business.

"Mandan Pioneer" August 25, 1905:

Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Smith, of Chicago, are new arrivals in this county.  They came yesterday with a car load of household goods and went to Flasher today, where Mr. Smith had picked out a choice homestead this spring.  They are relatives of Mr. Bosworth [Eli N. Bosworth], of Flasher, who came in to meet them.

"Mandan Pioneer" September 29, 1905:

W. H. McGregor was up Monday from Howe.  Mr. McGregor expected to get ready to ship this week.  He will drive his cattle from Howe to Everts, S. Dak., and from there take the Soo to Chicago.

WADE NOTES.  There will be about 24 cars of cattle leave here next Monday for Mandan, to be shipped over the N.P. to Chicago.  Dave Leahy left here with four cars of sheep, bound for Linton, Emmons County, from where he will ship them over the Milwaukee Road to Chicago.  Henry TenBroek left here a few days ago with a shipment of cattle.  He will drive to Pollock on the east side of the Missouri, and from there he will ship over the Soo road to Chicago.  Tysdale Brothers will soon make quite a shipment of cattle.  They intend to drive to Everts, and ship over the C. M. & St. Paul to Chicago.  The N.P. is losing quite a lot of business from these parts.  Miss Wilcox was a stop over night at the Wade ranch Sunday night while on her way from Mott to Everts.  Miss Wilcox is making the journey alone and on horseback.  She has a great deal of experience with horses, having been raised on a ranch in western Kansas.  She is making the journey just for the novelty of the undertaking.  From Everts she will take the cars for her old home in Illinois.  Mr. Earl, who has been spending the summer at the Wade ranch, will soon leave for lower California via Colorado.  Mr. Earl is a graduate of the law school at Harvard University and has several business propositions in view further west.

"Mandan Pioneer" October 13, 1905:

Dan Leahy of Janesburg was in town Saturday.  This is the first time for the past two years and a half that he has been in Mandan.  Dan used to be one of the old timers, but a few years ago he pulled stakes, sold out and went west.  After spending a good deal of time and money, he concluded that, after all, Morton County was a good place to live in, and in consequence came back this summer and established himself in the old haunts.

"Mandan Pioneer" November 10, 1905:

The country south of Flasher was visited by a disastrous prairie fire Thursday last week.  Among the new settlers that suffered losses from the fire were Elmer Shields, who lost all his hay and straw, Andrew Taylor, who lost hay and a barn, and L. E. Hawland, who lost a barn.  The actual loss is greatest in the burning over of valuable winter ranges.

"Mandan Pioneer" December 29, 1905:

Carl F. Rossow is a new settler that came here a few weeks ago from Wisconsin.  Being unable to  get a house in town  to live in during the winter, he built a house in the timber south of the track.  He has a family of nine children and will move out on his homestead near Flasher in the spring.

"Mandan Pioneer" February 16, 1906:

John Locke was up from the southern part of the county the first of the week.  Mr. Locke is one of the early settlers of this country and as early as '64 was engaged in wood cutting on Sibley Island.  He left Monday evening for a visit in Saint Paul.

"Mandan Pioneer" March 9, 1906:

L. Wessels, S. J. Pack, A. Meyer and brother, of Lester, Iowa, arrived in Mandan last week with their farm machinery, cattle and horses and other necessary equipment to establish themselves on their homestead near Flasher.  Mr. Wessel besides bringing five head of pure bred Shorthorn cattle brought 200 chickens with him.  All these gentlemen will prove a valuable addition to the population of Morton County and are possessed of the required amount of grit to make a success of farming in this vicinity.

"Mandan Pioneer" March 16, 1906:

J. W. Johnson, Walter Hanson, Oscar Carlson and H. A. Benson, of South Dakota, arrived in the city yesterday with several cars of stock, machinery, etc., and will build homes near Flasher.

 

"Mandan Pioneer" April 27, 1906:

Ernest Wernick, of Illinois, arrived with his family this week and will take up their residence on their land west of Flasher.  Mr. Wernick was one of the early buyers in that country and has purchased a steam plow, to arrive in a few days, to break up his two sections of land.

 

"Mandan Pioneer" June 22, 1906:

James Sawtell, of Flasher, was a pleasant caller in Mandan the first of the week.  Mr. Sawtell moved here from Illinois the first of the year and is much pleased with the country and its prospects.  W. D. Dopking, of Flasher, was an interested visitor when the election returns were reported in the city.

 

"Mandan Pioneer" July 13, 1906:

Henry and Mike Brown were up from their ranch Monday with their wool shipment.  Owing to having disposed of a large portion of their sheep their clip was not as large as usual, and amounted to only a little over 3,500 pounds.  William V. Wade was up from his ranch with his wool clip and came in time to witness the final summonng of the figures on the fight for the Republican nomination for sheriff.  Mr. Wade announces he will be a candidate this fall and will run by stickers.  Henry TenKotte moved his family to his country home Monday.

"Mandan Pioneer" July 13, 1906:

J. G. French, of Flasher, was in the city Sunday on his way to Brookings, S.D., where he was called on account of the serious illness of his father.

 

"Mandan Pioneer" September 28, 1906:

SOME EARLY HISTORY.  To Mandan Pioneer: --- There are several rifle pits at the foot of the Oak Cooley Hills on the old Black Hills Trail.  A man told me he had been informed by the stage driver, who carries the mail from Dogtooth, that the rifle pits were dug by some of Custer's men.  Now I do not wish to take away any romance this story may cast over these pits, but Custer's men did not dig those holes.  I myself was with the party who dug them, and we were not Custer's men at that time, either.  A party had left Bismarck June the 8th, 1876, bound for the Black Hills and I was one of the party.  We crossed the Missouri and camped just below Fort Rice the first night.  Then we moved out to where the Little Heart creamery now stands and camped two days, waiting for another party which was due in Bismarck from the east and like our own party bound for the Black Hills.  Custer was not on his way to the Little Big Horn, and one could hear all sorts of stories about the Indians and the deeds they had done, and we were more than anxious to have our number increased, as our party consisted of only thirty-six men and two women.  On the 11th we left the Little Heart and during the afternoon met Donald Stevenson and William McCrory, who were just returning from the Hills.  Don was always a good fellow and was kind enough at that time to let our whole crowd heft one of his sacks of gold nuggets, which contained $3,000.  They also had the body of one of their party who had been killed by the Indians out near the Grand River.  They did not have to let us heft the dead body to set us to thinking and we went into camp at the place where the rifle pits are now.  Major Whitehead, who had been an Indian agent, had been chosen as our captain and he sent me back to Fort Lincoln the next day to see if there was any prospects of our getting reinforcements.  During my absence that day some of the boys dug those rifle pits.  So it was Major Whitehead's gold hunters, and not Custer's men, who dug those pits at the foot of the Oak Couley Hills.

signed William V. Wade.

(William V. Wade was a famous pioneer.  His ranch formed the Wade post office)

"Mandan Pioneer" October 19, 1906:

WADE NEWS.  Mr. Cessna of Fort Rice has moved into the Wade ranch and will run sheep for the next three years.  Mr. Cessna is a man who understands how to handle sheep, and will no doubt make a success of it.  Mr. William Melvin is shipping his cattle this week.  His shipment will be from Mandan and will finish up the cattle shipments for this year in this locality.  Mr. William Wade is down on the Missouri River and will visit other points in Morton County, no doubt looking up his chances at the coming election.

"Mandan Pioneer" November 2, 1906:

Neil Gillis and family left the last of the month for Puyallup, Pierce County, Washington, where they will make their home in the future.  Mr. Gillis was the mail carrier between Mandan and Dogtooth for a number of years.

"Mandan Pioneer" December 28, 1906:

FLASHER NEWS. Walter Grace met with quite a loss while hauling grain to Almont last week losing his pocket book containing $65.00 in money and other valuables.   No trace of lost property at this writing.  This is quite a loss to Mr. Grace as he is a young man just starting in life.  Miss Edna Grace closed a successful term at the Bosworth school house with a literary entertainment Friday night.  It was well attended by the parents of the school, and made a good showing for both the teacher and the pupils.  John Howard carries the mail from Flasher to Pierce, a new post office seven miles southeast of Flasher.  Flasher and Dogtooth are receiving and sending a large amount of mail and are very much in need of money order service, it being very inconvenient to send money in the mail, especially silver.

 

graciously contributed by 

Douglas Stayner