| Notes |
- http://files.usgwarchives.net/sd/penning/history/e-penn/biogs5.txt
The Cliff and John Foster Families
by Murph
Cliff and Anna, John and Katie Foster were all born in Perry County,
Indiana. When Cliff, the eldest, was six years old their father, James Foster,
died from typhoid fever, leaving Margaret with three small children, Cliff, John
and Carolyn, (Mrs. Walter Collins). Two years later Margaret married Asa Kellem
and they soon moved west to settle at Ash Creek, Minnesota.
Cliff went to Indiana in the spring of 1900 to visit his uncle George
Albin. While he was there he met Anna Volz and a year later she traveled to
Minnesota to marry him. In November 1904 Anna's sister, Katie, came to visit her
and met Cliff Is brother, John. After meeting him she had no desire to go back
to Indiana and on January first 1906 they were married.
Both families lived on rented farms near Howard until April. They heard
glowing tales of the western land that could be had by filing a claim and
establishing a home on it.
Cliff, John, Asa Kellem and Steve Albin went from Winfred to Sioux City to
Chadron to Rapid City by train. They hired a man with a team and buggy to bring
them to Wasta. They were caught in a late spring blizzard and spent three days
in Wasta waiting for it to clear. Steve Albin decided he didn't care for such a
country and returned to Rapid City, leaving the others to go on alone. They
walked to the Cheyenne river and a man took them across on horseback and they
walked on to the Frank Jewitt place. Coy Furnas was to meet them but was ill so
sent his father to help Kellem and the two Fosters locate their claims. But he
made a mistake and put them on the wrong quarters of land. Cliff and John later
filed farther west but Asa Kellem kept the first quarter, located five miles
north of Wall.
After filing they returned to Howard to get their families and belongings.
On May 22, 1906, Cliff, Anna and their small daughter, Vernie and John and Katie
arrived on the flat northeast of the present townsite. There were three covered
wagons, one buggy, seven horses and a part of their household goods.
They stopped to eat dinner near what today is the Walt Witscher place.
Unharnessing two horses the two men rode northwest to make certain which were
their claims. Crossing the prairie, that today is owned by Frank Anderson, they
saw a man walking toward them. Much to their astonishment, as they drew near,
they saw he was their brother-in-law, Walter Collins. He had been working in
Rapid City and his wife, Carolyn, had written telling him the Fosters had
started west. So he had decided to walk down and try to find them. Little did he
realize the danger he had been in as he went across the open prairie, afoot,
among the wild cattle that grazed on every side. Only a week or so before a
traveler had been killed by some of the untamed beasts.
John hauled lumber from Rapid City by team and wagon to build his 12x16,
one room claim shanty on Lake Flat. It took him four days to get home with his
lumber as he got stuck many times and had to unload, pull out the wagon, carry
the lumber and re-load.
Cliff made a dugout in the hillside with a pole roof covered with sod and
dirt. There was a window, with four small panes of glass, in each end of the
dugout. The steps were dug in the dirt runway to go down into the cave. There
were dirt sidewalls and floor. They made a pole barn, two rows of poles with hay
stuffed between. They put up some hay and tried to get ready for winter.
In the fall Cliff went back to Winfred to get the rest of their furniture
and livestock. The Asa Kellem, Will Kitterman and Steve Albin families came west
at that time. Together they shipped an emigrant car to Murdo-the end of the
railroad at that time.
They must have made quite a sight for there were: eleven covered wagons,
thirty-four people, thirty-five head of cattle and seventeen dogs plodding
slowly westward across the country.
The young boys in the party were assigned the task of driving the cattle
along on foot. John says, "By the time they reached Lake Flat every critter was
broke to ride". It was late October before they reached Wall and a hard freeze
ruined all the potatoes and other garden stuff they were bringing in their
wagons to their new homes. Katie says, "It was rough going that first winter but
if I were young I'd try it again".
About 1910 Cliff built a three room house on his claim and to celebrate
they had a dance. Neighbors and cowboys came from miles around to dance all
night to the music of a harmonica --- played by Walter Collins.
In 1913 John and Kate moved from the flat to their present location and
built the four room house where they still reside.
In 1916 Cliff built on two more rooms and it was then that Anna and Kate's
father, Mike VoIz, came from Indiana to live with them. "Old Grandad" passed
away in 1950 at the age of ninety-five.
The hardship of no water plagued both families. Any number of wells were
dug but none produced any water. Anna told of dipping water from the holes along
the creek and hauling it in barrels. They strained it through a cloth to take
out the tadpoles and wiggle-tails, (misquito larva). Then boiling it for the
family to drink. In later years they dug cisterns and hauled water from Wasta
and Wall for house use.
Cliff use to raise the biggest and best watermelons in the county, as any
oldtimer can vouch for. Many summer, Sunday afternoons were spent at Fosters
eating watermelon.
Cedar Canyon school was established a mile southwest of the Foster homes;
there the Collins, Albin, Sheren and Foster children walked to school. They
crossed the creek using a huge fallen log as afoot bridge. There was no road
around to the school until in the 30's when a grade and a bridge were put in.
Until that time you took a trail far to the southeast to be able to cross the
creek that ran into Cedar Canyon. Some other children that attended school here
were: Battermans, Van Campens, McDonalds and Wilkinsons. Some early day teachers
were Hazel Carstensen, Myrtle Haynes, Mabel Sparlings, Mrs. McDonald, Frieda
Overton, Bill Winters, Clarence Mills and many others.
Both families attended Sunday school, Literary meetings and baseball games
at Cedar Butte schoolhouse along with all the other families in the community.
There were two boys and two girls born to each Foster couple. In 1931,
Naomi Kirby, John's eldest daughter was killed in a truck accident in the hills
as the family returned from spending Christmas in Wyoming. James married Mary
Freeman and has three step-daughters, Rosemary, Betty and Patty. They have ten
grandchildren. Mae married Tude Kennedy and they had a daughter Verda. She, her
husband and seven children live in Rome, Italy. After Tude's death Mae married
Jack Yeoman of the Air Force and they reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Bernard, his wife, Marjie, son, Kevin and step-daughter, Janice have a home near
his parents.
John and Katie enjoy fair health though they have slowed down considerably
in the last few years. He does his own farm work and cares for his stock. She
has a garden and chickens and does her own housework. On January first 1966 they
will observe their 60th year of married life.
Cliff and Anna moved from their homestead to Wall in 1946. Here they
resided until he passed away in 1958 and she in 1962.
Their eldest daughter, Vernie, married Devane Paulsen, she lives in Wall.
Her only child, Delbert, married Jacquline Smoot they have two boys, Paul and
Bruce and reside on the old Paulsen homestead. Leo married Doris (Murph) Way
they live in Wall and have six children, Dixie (Mrs. Kenny) Parker of Pierre,
Marsha (Mrs. Dean) Vaughn and Barbara (Mrs. Chas.) Rech both of Rapid City.
Dennis and his wife Judy (Printz) and Arlen and wife Doris (Shoemaker) and Lynda
all live at Wall. They have eight grandsons and one grand daughter. Irma married
Bennie LaRoche and they live in Rapid City. Their only child, Evonne married
Gail Welsh and they live in St. Paul, Minnesota. Delos married Deloris Crown and
they live in Wall and have three children, Allen Dean, Karen and Jerry.
John and Kate tell of a bad snowstorm they endured the middle of March
1907. It was a beautiful warm sunny spring morning when several men got together
to cut posts and wood in the breaks about a mile northwest of Cliff's place. A
low grey bank of clouds hung in the west but they thought little of it as they
went about their work. About 11 o'clock the sky grew dark and the sun went away.
As John "snaked" a pile of posts to the top of the ridge he saw the storm moving
in. He yelled for the rest of the men to come up so they could hurry home, but
they were, not quick enough. The blinding smothery snow overtook them, whipped
along by a raging wind. Some of the men made it to Steve Albin's dugout. Those
in John's wagon got to Cliff's for the horses knew the way home.
Kate had come to visit Anna and Grandma Kellem came as far as the Collins
home leaving the Kellem children alone. It would have meant tragedy had they
attempted to go home so twelve people spent the rest of the day and night in
Cliff Is small cave. The next day dawned cold but clear and Kellem, George
Kitterman, Collins and others set out for home to check on their families. When
they got to Will Kitterman's dugout the runway was completely covered with snow.
As they came near they could see a broomstick poking up through the snow. One of
the men grabbed the stick and from below they heard Minnie's excited voice
saying, "Somebody is up there! Somebody is up there!" There was no loss of life
though some cattle did drift with the storm. When the cowboys rounded up they
brought back most of the strays.
The Foster brothers kept a large pack of greyhounds. They caught many
coyotes, that were very numerous in early days. They also dug out the dens and
took the young pups for bounty. One spring they dug out 10 of these young
coyotes.
So go the years, from horse and buggy to shiny new cars, pickups and
trucks. From binders and shocking to one operation combines. From tar paper
claim shanties to fine modern homes. But who will deny the "good old days" for
they were the beginning of what we have today.
[Photo "Darn Cockleburs" Cliff Foster hauling water.]
[Photo Irma and Leo Foster]
[Photo Mail from Indiana. Asa and Margaret Kellem, Cliff Foster, Jim and Kate
Foster.]
[Photo - Shocking barley: Anna Foster, Lelah Collins Babcock, Kate, Jim and
Cliff Foster.]
[Photo - Mr. And Mrs. John Foster Naomi and James.]
[Photo - Cedar Canyon School - 1924 Back: Frieda Batterman, Irma and Mae
Foster. Front: Delos and Jim Foster, a Van Campin boy, Otto Batterman and two
Van Campin boys.]
[Photo - Mabel Sparlings]
[Photo - George Kitterman, Cliff Foster, Osborn Kitterman]
[Photo - Coyotes caught in one month in 1920 Devane Paulsen, Cliff and John
Foster.]
[Photo - Michael Volz, 95th birthday]
[Photo - The Foster Family Vernie, Delos, Anna, Cliff, Leo and Irma]
[Photo - The Devane Paulsen Family]
[Photo - Jack Yoeman, John, Katie, Jim and Mary Foster. Front row: Bernard and
Mae and her three grandchildren, Mark, Mike and Patty.]
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1878 - 1958 (79 years)