Memories

Edna tells of her early years of teaching school in North Dakota, later in Montana in the Ridgeway area and then to the O'Fallon Creek school. She listed most of the students.

The winter of 1935-36 was really cold, more than six weeks below zero and deep snow. Not one student was late or absent in all that time (referring to the O'Fallon Creek school).

There were no "yellow school busses" running at that time!

Now I will quote Edna on her marriage to Bud and her description of their early housekeeping arrangements.

"In the spring of 1937, I married Harold (Bud) Asbury. Since he told me only two people could call him Harold, I always called him Bud as everyone else did. We were married in Miles City and went to housekeeping in a not-so-very-converted granary with a smokey oil stove, and ice box and various bits of furniture left by former tenants. Water was hauled a mile in a forty gallon crock. Among our wedding presents were two hens and forty-eight chicks, these with a couple of small pigs, and a milk cow left for us to care for made up the ranch. Like many others, we owed a lot to Charlie Pickard who carried the grocery bills for six months or a year and then gave a box of chocolates or apples as a reward for paying the bill."

Pickard Market: I do, as may a few of you, remember this store which was on the north side of main street. In fact, it is the same building which progressed to the Main Street Market that no longer is in operation. Charles and Victoria Pickard may make up a future article for you Eagle readers.

Edna reports that after their marriage Bud took over Parnell's mail route which she drove when roads were dry, while he worked for neighbors, broke horses, trapped coyotes and did other things to keep going. In the fall she became a school teacher again; teaching at Opeechee Park this time.

The ranch started to expand in October. Elmo, Bud's father, and Bud went to Wolf Point and bought several hundred head of cows to stock the ranch. They also borrowed $1,000 and bought 32 head of bred heifers, the first VI herd.

Bud decided he could trail the herd home, so saddle and pack horses were trucked to Wolf Point, and with Mark Stanley to help, it took seventeen days even with no fences, but snow and rain added to the fun trip.

Because of a horse accident, Bud lost the seat of his jeans and spent most of his time in the saddle when meeting people. This was remedied when he stopped at a bachelor's outfit and was given a pair of bib overalls and came home in style!

The ranch built up and progressed:

"In 1942 when his father died, Bud and I bought out the other heirs and after remodeling the house, moved to the old home on Thanksgiving Day. We continued to lease the Billy Malmquist ranch and after several years, bought it and several other small places, adding to the buildings, drilling wells and building dams. Several creeks were diked for hay meadows and by 1956 we had a nice ranch. Bud died suddenly at the home ranch, November 7, 1956."

Edna explains that she continued to operate the ranch for ten years, the first four years with the help of Lloyd Carroll. In 1960 she had a house built in Ekalaka, but also took care of the home ranch. In 1966, she sold the ranch to Paul and Althea Ringling and moved the cattle to the Erland Laird ranch. Remember, Georgie Laird was her sister.

Edna loved to travel and she reports Madeline Teigen and her made a trip to Italy in 1958 with other trips to The Holy Land, Hawaii, Africa, South America and more. Another highlight was a trip with her sisters, Irene and Georgie, to their father's birth place in Wales. She helped form and serve many organizations, but continued at home with this statement: "Retire? I don't have time."