Memories

In 1939 the Donald family moved to Ekalaka with Mrs. Donald and the children consisting of Mary, Charlie, Jessie May, Helen and Lola with George Donald coming later.

The beloved horse, Kernal was brought by George and was pastured at the Downey place close to Ekalaka and lived to be 26 years old. “We tried to take our dog with us, but he wouldn’t get in the truck,” a “Shifting Scenes” article reads. “Three days after we moved to Ekalaka, our dog was on the doorstep, footsore, but as happy to see us as we were to see him.”

I have had others tell of this same experience with their dog and even with a cat!

While I think of it, the picture of Mrs. Donald shown in the last “Shifting Scenes” article shows her holding a picture of two boys. I am not positive but believe those two boys are Brice and Russell Lambert wearing tee-Shirts showing “Montana Boys State.”

After retiring to Ekalaka, Mr. Donald worked for Charles (Charlie) Pickard as well as various other jobs too numerous to mention. Mrs. Donald boarded school girls and also cooked in local cafés. Later, she worked at the hospital and grade school with the school lunch program.

“On November 24, 1955, Mom and Dad celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary in the basement of the Congregational Church in Ekalaka. George Donald passed away February 16, 1963 and Elizabeth Donald on March 30, 1969. They are buried in the I.O.O.F. Cemetery in Ekalaka.”

Mrs. Donald was well remembered as “Grandma Donald” to all of us who knew her and shared her life.

Well, what happened to the rest of the family? Jessi May records it for us. I will give each family member, who they married, where they moved to, but not list their children.

She reports: “Other than Helen and Lola the members of the family spent their first 25 years of their lives in Carter County.”

Betty married Joe Shea of Belle Fourche, South Dakota where they lived and had a plumbing business.

Bill married Ethyl Dinstel of Ridge and they also made their home in Belle Fourche.

Jinks married Barbara Harris of Ridge and moved to several different Montana communities before deciding to make their home in Ortley, South Dakota.

Isabell married Joseph “Bud” Dinstel of Ridge, who became a trucker covering the nation. They also resided in Belle Fourche.

John married Edna Cook of Cody, Wyoming and worked on oil wells for Hunt Oil Company. John remarried and lived in Cody.

Stuart married Irene Ward of Sundance, Wyoming and moved to Camas, Washington.

Mary married Bob Pinkelman and they lived in Alzada for several years and then made their home in Belle Fourche.

Charlie worked for the Tooke Brothers of Ekalaka and was called in the army during World War II. He received a medical discharge and returned to Ekalaka. He worked for some ranches until his death in 1963.

Helen graduated from Carter County High School and married Gordon Moweryof from Aladdin, Wyoming.

Lola went for three and a half years to Carter County High School and then went to Miles City for employment and married Ralph Baird. They made their home there.

Jessie May reports: “I am the only one of the Donald family that remains in Carter County. After graduating from Carter County High School, I went to Portland, Oregon. Returned to Ekalaka in 1945. On June 25, 1950, I married Richard (Dick) Burns. Dick was born in the Elgin community where his parents, Ralph and Ethyl (Ellis) Burns, were homesteaders.”

Dick Burns’ life and how he returned to Ekalaka to be a rancher is interesting. His family moved to Oregon where he went to grade school. He then graduated from Benson Technical of Portland and spent a year in the National Guard. When World War II came he was in the army for five years. He served with the Forty First Division in the South Pacific. After the war, he went back to Portland and then, while traveling, he stopped in Ekalaka to visit his Uncle Floyd Ellis. About a year later he was a farmer and rancher on the Floyd Ellis place on the Prairie Dale road of the Mill Iron Community.

Amazing to me how individuals come and go from Carter County.

Dick and Jessie May had one daughter, who was deaf, named Nancy Lou. She attended grade school and high school at the Montana School for the deaf in Great Falls, Montana. She continued her education for another two and a half years at the College for the deaf in Washington, D.C. and also at the Temple Deaf College in Kansas City, Missouri. Nancy has given her whole life, as a missionary, to the deaf in Peru, South America. She is supported by local churches and individuals.

Well, the story of the Donald family from Scotland and how they homesteaded in Carter County sure is interesting. It serves as yet another reminder of how life and activities have changed.