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Several years ago, an old man, who I really didn't know, died and his wife gave me a grocery bag full of his fly-tying material. And for a long time, it sat untouched in the corner of my office. Over the years I've tied a few miserable-looking flies, but eventually my hobby quietly disappeared into a basement corner. Fly-fishing took the next bus out of town. Then, last week I stumbled across a cheap, metal and plastic desk headed for the dump and something clicked. Now, it's...
As I was growing up in and around Ekalaka, coyotes were public enemy number one. Everyone killed them on sight. It was generally believed (and I believe it) that they were a terrible predator of lambs and even calves sometimes. They were shot on sight but they were so skinny and fast that it was hard to get a good shot at them. There was a bounty on them, as I remember it was $15 for an adult and either $5 or $10 for a pup. There was also a bounty on Magpies but I shot at many of them and all I could get them to do was jump...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, comfort and safety, that’s our motto. It’s so easy to hide our heads in the sand, pretending there are no problems. We’re like everyone else, aren’t we, Lord, wanting to wash our hands of the whole affair. One chap with that attitude is written about in the Gospels. The scene, so long ago, was dramatized in the city of Jerusalem. We picture the event which unfolds involving Pontius Pilate, the governor (recorded in Matthew 27). Pilate, a procurator, was in the judgment hall of the pa...
Hello, This past week was a harbinger of spring. Big word I know, but needed here. We had warm, breezy days. We had a night thundershower that woke me in the night and freshened the air up. I swear it made the grass start to green up in a matter of hours. As I write this, they are talking of rain or snow, beginning in a day or two. It’s springtime in the Dakotas. Nearly everyone is in the middle of calving, so I’m hoping it’s a warm, gentle rain. I know most of you that have followed my columns over the years, don’t realize...
'Tis spring, the time when a young males fancy turns to, well, not football. Humans are such an odd lot. Animals – underwater, on the ground or in air – simply are driven by the survival of their species. We fret about home loans, school choice or health insurance. Wild creatures do not. Of course, those critters don't rush to the hospital when sick, play music when sad or have barbeques on the Fourth of July. Animal behavior is largely driven by daylight length. And rig...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, it’s April - a New Season has arrived! There were new baby animals all over our prairie farm/ranch when we were kids back home. The birds were back. The trees were budding. Tulip, and daffodils and some lovely prairie flowers were up and in bloom; if no tulips at our house, they were at Aunties house in town. Spring plowing/seeding had begun. April is a new lease on life! The countryman will tell you he’s turning the soil to prepare the seedbed so he will be ready to plant oats or cor...
I would like to end my articles about my Grandad and Grandma Townsend with a few of my memories of them and the homestead place near Tie Creek. During my third, fourth and fifth grade school summers, I would go to their place and spend quite some time with them. Even from my time there at that young age, I can still see some of those buildings. This includes the house that had one large room downstairs which included the kitchen, dining room and living room. There was also a...
Hello, I have one of the smartest dumb dogs in the West. Tyke. I’ve told you about him. He will chase cows. In fact he will chase them for miles, even if you don’t want him to. It’s hard to sneak up on a calving cow because Tyke runs alongside you and barks constantly. But he is faithful to me. Always happy to see me, even after a severe scolding for doing something wrong. And he never misses a ride to town in the pickup. He, like a good rope horse, is bar broke. He can sit in that pickup for hours and be plumb happy. But t...
I missed the deadline for last week’s paper, and I apologize to people who read my articles. I have a medical excuse, but not the normal one. This time I had pneumonia, but not a bad case. I was having trouble driving my wheelchair in the house. I was lethargic, and when Brice checked, I had a slight fever. That was unusual; my temperature usually runs a little below normal. My husband called the clinic and they sent the phlebotomist to our house to draw blood. When that showed infection, I took the Carter Charter one b...
Hello, If you are in any agriculture business, you have been engrossed following the devastation from the storm 10 days ago. From south central North Dakota, on through South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri, the losses have been devastating. The worst has to be in Nebraska. Dams broke, bridges washed out, roads wiped out, fences gone, stored grains lost, and to me, the livestock losses had to be devastating. So far, I think they say three people lost their lives in the floods. Heartbreaking. I was thinking about those...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, seasons sometimes just seem to slip on by us. Now that it’s officially SPRING, it’s so nice to see green grass springing up all over the neighborhood. When the grass dies, we are reminded once again of how short our lives are. But then when Spring comes, we usually think about birth and since we’re close to some ranches, we know that it is ‘time’ for the birth of new baby calves, little lambs and maybe even baby chicks. The deer that winter near here, usually head off to the Mountai...
Alice, daughter of Fred and Eva Townsend, gives more information on the early day family that homesteaded in the Tie Creek area with the home buildings being just one mile west of the Padden Ranch. She wrote: "My dad got itchy feet again and in 1919 started to Canada-you guessed it-in a covered wagon! They landed in Leslieville, British Columbia, Canada. They stayed there two years and then went back to the old ranch in Tie Creek country." After reading about those...
After reading and writing about some of the Carter County Homesteaders, I felt that I should have an article on my Grandad and Grandma Townsend, Fred G. and Eva. I only wish that I knew more of their early life before coming to Montana. Again I read a Shifting Scenes Vol. III article for some history and information. It was written by their daughter Alice. She reports: "In July 1910, my father, Fred G. Townsend, his wife Eva and six children, Bill, George, Alice, Fred Jr.,...
Hello, I apologize profusely! I missed my St. Patrick’s Day column last week. And if you are, as I, married to a Murphy that is a mortal sin. We all have that one friend that tells us jokes whenever you meet. I have a friend that tells Little Johnny jokes. You know them. The teacher asked little Johnny… Most of them can’t be printed in this fine family newspaper. But he did tell me one the other day that I can adapt to an Irish story. Little Johnny Mulligan was sitting on the stoop eating a chocolate bar. Father O’Lea...
Not all creatures have given up on spring ever happening. Some are counting on it. And soon. Great horned owls and Canada geese are sitting on eggs now, or soon will be. Two totally different Montana bird species with different diets and nesting habits have placed all their eggs in one spring basket. Great horned owls are sitting on eggs now, that will soon hatch if they haven't already, because they must. Think back to those January nights that, looking back, seemed...
I am going to end my Welch articles with more information on Eldon (Cub) Welch. In Shifting Scenes he reports on his family and some of his military service during World War II. While still living in Ekalaka, Cub married Marilyn, the oldest daughter of R.J. Price. At the time, Price owned the Super Valu Store. If my memory is correct (and many times it is not) I believe Marilyn was married to Jack Hough who was also a part of the Super Valu Store group. R.J. Price and his family came from Wyoming to Ekalaka. Now I am going...
Hello, This has been a trying week. I have trying weeks fairly often. Especially when the weather is bad. I try to do things right, but struggle. It started with a water tank. When you have frost-free tanks, tanks that require only ground heat to remain open, the weather a week ago was a true test. I found out that frost-free tanks are NOT frost-free when the wind chill is –60 for a couple days and nothing is venturing up on the hill to the tank to drink. When the weather straightened out and warmed up to zero, I checked t...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, not everyone experiences being ‘homesick’. Who would have thought that homesickness of a child was homage/respect and praise of a good home life? Such seems to be the case. Thinking way back on school classmates making fun of homesick peers brings those once sad faces into perspective. More than one of us in that small room was a ‘suitcase’ student so very long ago. Right about holiday time – any holiday, but that particular year it was Thanksgiving, which was right around the...
I never considered myself a “Feminist.” I was just always instructed by my parents to do my best. That often meant excelling past male students. It was appalling to me to learn some of my fellow, very bright female classmates, might choose to score lower than their boyfriends on tests. Maybe I was lucky not to have a boyfriend. In the United States, we have countless opportunities and few, if any, liabilities because of our gender. We are free to pursue any future we choose. Politics never interested me when I was you...
Hello God, it’s me, Mara: You know, Lord, going through an old ‘salted away’ pile of papers, it sometimes is fascinating to see what had been stashed. Up popped a poem by Phil Perkins – date unknown. Let’s see what he has to say. Ready? “My daily wish is that we may see good in those who pass our way. Find in each a worthy trait that we shall gladly cultivate. See in each one who’s passing by, the better things that beautify. A gently word spoken with cheer, a kindly face, a smile sincere. I pray each day that we may view t...
If I remember correctly, 1935-36, the year Camp Needmore was being built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, (CCC), February was a cold and very snowy month. In fact it was the coldest February on record, a miserable month where their bulldozer was kept running 24 hours a day, to avoid its freezing up. In September of 1935, a snow storm closed highways across the state. The whole year of 1936 was colder and snowier than usual. Records were set. We haven’t set any records this year, but that doesn’t warm anything. We’ve been...
Hello, February was not nice. After a mild start to winter, this past month the proverbial “stuff” hit the fan. Coldest on record. Wind blows every day. This past weekend we had wind chills to minus 60! Minus 60! Hay piles that looked like you could never feed it all are dwindling down. You can pick those old cows out that you decided to keep “one more year.” And to me, March is the cruelest month. One bright spot is Shirley. She is home this winter and is always happy to help with chores. When you are sitting in the cab of a...
In this article, I will continue writing about the Chuck and Maude Welch family with a thought by their daughter Lucile: “I don’t believe my parents ever regretted coming to Montana although I am sure they did endure many hardships. I guess the good times off-set the bad!” Maude passed away in 1961 and Chuck in 1970. After reading many articles in Shifting Scenes of the Homestead Days I have to agree. What made these “good times?” It had to be then, and today, because of caring, wonderful neighbors and people who were read...
Here is part four of my four-part series of articles dedicated to providing the you, the community, with information regarding basic estate planning documents, forms, and what to do with the information. In this article, I talk about Health Care Directives. What is a Health Care Directive? A Health Care Directive allows competent adults to appoint someone, called an agent, to make health care treatment decisions for them when they are unable or unwilling to communicate a decision for themselves. It allows the written expressi...
I remember an old picture I saw of a pioneer woman positioned next to a large cauldron, surrounded by fire — a nineteenth century hot water heater! It was laundry day. There was no wringer to squeeze water from clothes. There were no rinse tubs in sight. Things got better with time: electricity was harnessed, inventions were made, and eventually, even a teenager could handle most of wash day (my daughter did). As I remember from my youth, wash day was always Monday, that was in the ‘50s and early ‘60s, before most women...
