1915

I copied this out of the paper.

A rare and tragic accident occurred this week in, on Rainy Butte, eight miles southwest of New England, in southwestern North Dakota. Details of the sad story were published on the front page of the Hettinger County Herald, on Thursday the 11th of February.

THREE BOYS MEET DEATH IN SNOWSLIDE WHILE COASTING ON EAST RAINY BUTTE.

Four boys—ages ten, eleven, twelve, and fourteen—set out to do what most North Dakota boys that age would do on a Sunday afternoon in February if given the opportunity.

East Rainy Butte had opportunity written all over it. The steep-sided flat-topped landmark was just down the road from the Iver Lee farmstead where the families had gathered, and there was plenty of snow. It was as routine for the boys to spend hours sledding on the butte as it was for the grownups to spend the whole afternoon visiting in the warmth of the farmhouse. Neither group was much interested in the activities of the other.

No one realized the danger—not even when neighbors arrived and mentioned in passing there had been a snow slide, about 75 to 100 feet wide, on the southeast side of the East Rainy. The Herald reported, “Nothing more was thought of it until five o’clock when the boys failed to return home.”

“At this time, Mrs. Lee became anxious about the children and so Mr. Lee and Sigurd Holtan started out in search of the boys. Thinking about the snow slide, Mr. Lee took along a shovel, but little did he think he would use it to save the life of his son.”

“The two men followed the boys’ tracks up the side of the butte.” When they discovered the tracks led to the site of the snow slide, the walk to fetch the boys immediately turned into a frantic search. As they moved about and called for the boys, a “smothered wail” was heard. Moving toward the sound, they “saw a hand pushed up through the snow.” It took only a few minutes to shovel away the snow and release 14-year-old Elmer Lee. He had been buried for about three hours.

“The rescued boy was barely able to speak and could not assist in locating his companions…There was not a mark on the surface that gave any clue as to where to look for the other three victims. Elmer Lee was taken to the house and word was sent to the neighbors for help. The telephone was used and in a few minutes people for miles around were hurrying to join in the rescue work.”

“For three hours neighbors worked furiously, hoping against hope that they might find some of the victims still alive, but one by one the lifeless bodies of the three little boys were dug out from under the heavily packed snow.”

“By the story told by the only surviving member of the little party, it seems the boys walked directly into the path of the avalanche before they had enjoyed one coast down the side of the butte.”

A few days later a funeral was held at the Lee house for eleven-year-old Julius Hillestead, and he was laid to rest in the Norwegian Lutheran cemetery in Strehlow Township.

The bodies of ten-year-old Edward Hillstead and his twelve-year-old brother Wilhelm were accompanied by their heartbroken father to Hitterdal, Minnesota, and placed next to their mother, who had died ten years earlier on the same day the boys died, “when Edward was but three weeks old.”

*****

Christmas, 1915

Dear Bertha,

I can’t begin to express how much sorrow I am feeling for you. What a sad time you have had, and with your new baby too. I so much wanted to be there to help you with it all when James was killed in the tractor accident, but I wasn’t able to be there - there was no one I could leave my three children with. And I know the others in the family weren’t able to be there for you either - with Josephine back in Canada, and the others out West. I know you say you are going to stay on in the house, and cope as best you can for the time being, but my advice to you would be to go out to Oregon, and have some help from Pa and Berte. They don’t write often but when they do, they have such nice things to say about the place. And if they could help care for the little ones, you could get a job.

Things are pretty hectic around here. Allan is a fussy baby, much more so than the other two were. He spends a lot of his time crying. He was born earlier than we expected, on May 22nd, so that might be part of the problem. He had to struggle to survive and keeps on letting us know that he needs to be looked after.

I have a new good friend in Lydia Netzke, who has got engaged to Nick’s brother Len, this year. He got all spiffed up and went in his matched pair of bay horses called Babe and Dan over to Pettibone to woo her. He loves his horses, and leapfrogs onto their backs when he goes for a ride. He has a nick name of Fancy, because of the fact he likes to look smart. They plan to be married next Christmas. She comes from Nicolette Minnesota, but has been staying with and helping out her aunt and uncle, Lena and Albert Dallman at their store in Pettibone. They plan to continue to live with his folks for the time being.

Nick sure does love chewing tobacco – and do I hate his spittoon. It's sure not a nice habit to have. If it was empty, it would make a nice plant pot.

We got a player piano this year. I have always loved music and wished the kids could learn an instrument like Len does so well on the violin. But this seems to be what we can settle for as it plays music but doesn't involve lots of lessons. Apparently when Len was still in Chicago and learning to play the violin, he had to sneak out because the other kids teased him so much about being a sissy, playing the fiddle. He even played the violin in church when they were in Chicago.

Do give a thought to the idea of moving out West. It has to be a better way of life for you at the moment.

As far as the rest of the relatives around here, Benjamin and his wife have had a boy, called Kenneth. Ida, Mary and Agnes are all still living in Montana, all the girls learning to be nurses, with Ida due to finish next year. Oscar is still enjoying his work as a miner, and doesn’t seem to have a girlfriend yet.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to you, and your family. I only wish we could do more for you.

Love from Laura

I must update my diary with some North Dakota stories, while I have a few moments, or this project of mine will get lost. But I can’t do more than just put them down as headlines. Maybe I will go back and fill in the details later.

The Nonpartisan League, began organizing in the state and within one year it obtained over 40,000 members. Arthur C. Townley,a farmer and former state Socialist Party figure, who was active in the founding of the Nonpartisan League (NPL), a group that avoids formal ties with the Republicans or Democrats, but does endorse sympathetic candidates. The NPL spread across the upper farm belt and fought for state ownership of cold storage facilities, grain elevators and mills

North Dakota's wheat crop was the largest it has ever been.

The Legislature passed laws outlawing the death penalty except in cases where prison guards are murdered.

The first state organization for Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union in North Dakota has been formed.