Today we have a special guest post from a fan of Reading In Montana, Diane Lockard - hometown Saco, Montana currently in Salt Lake City...
"Memories of Montana"
1910 - 2010
I went home to Saco, north of Billings in May 2009 for my 50th class reunion. Out of a class of 24, seven of us ladies were there. Some I had not seen during that time. I went home with one of my classmates, Wilna (Fisher) Swain and her husband, Nick. Wilna and I came the furthest distance.
Wilna's brother, Glenn owns our grandparents’ farm. First thing we did was to go to their farm. The house was the only building left and has been vacant for over 50 years, but we could still go inside. I entered the side door – wallpaper peeling off the walls, and to my left was the fireplace where my mother’s picture was photographed 67 years ago...
My mother and her brother came from Jamestown, North Dakota
with her family (Stuffs) who homesteaded in Northern Montana close to the Canadian border in 1910. After my Mom and Dad married (Bergans) – Nov. 26, 1925, they started farming nearby. It was a dry-land farm
; some people ask what is that, a "dry-land farm
"? It doesn’t have any irrigation and, and "you pray for rain."
with her family (Stuffs) who homesteaded in Northern Montana close to the Canadian border in 1910. After my Mom and Dad married (Bergans) – Nov. 26, 1925, they started farming nearby. It was a dry-land farm; some people ask what is that, a "dry-land farm"? It doesn’t have any irrigation and, and "you pray for rain."I was born in my Grandparent’s house, and have a picture of my mother when she was expecting me, sitting in front of their fireplace. The picture included our Grandma Stuff, great-aunt Martha Kelly and two of my cousins. The farmhouse
started out as a 20’ x 24’ ft. room, and two rooms were added downstairs and two upstairs for the seven children. My mother was the oldest…
started out as a 20’ x 24’ ft. room, and two rooms were added downstairs and two upstairs for the seven children. My mother was the oldest…My four brothers and I grew up surrounded by family and friends. There was always "room for one more
." We rode the school bus five miles to Saco that had grades first – twelveth in one building. You can view the one-room schoolhouse that Chet Huntley
, the television newscaster attended in Saco, MT, years before he became famous.
." We rode the school bus five miles to Saco that had grades first – twelveth in one building. You can view the one-room schoolhouse that Chet Huntley, the television newscaster attended in Saco, MT, years before he became famous. "Good night, Chet."
"Goodnight, David."
Thank you Diane!
If you would like to share your Montana story please send me an email at ReadingInMontana@gmail.com and we'll give you a post on the Reading In Montana blog.
Catherine @ Reading In Montana
Excerpts from "Following in my Mother's Footsteps." I stood in the same spot mirroring a picture of my mother sitting by the fireplace when she was expecting me 67 years ago. "I followed in her footsteps and climbed the stairs to their bedroom. Looked out the broken window at the gnarly tree, as my mother had looked out before me."
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