P a g e 5 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r The bashful boys limbered up and came in, too, to swing the girls off their feet amidst happy laughter and friendly banter. Sometimes the couples got all mixed and then that caused even more fun.” “About ten o'clock the children got sleepy, and as they dropped off one by one, the mothers put them on the floor close to the wall of the room or under the chairs; or if the dance was in a schoolhouse they pushed the desks against the walls and put the children to bed on them. They were covered up very carefully with coats. A scene of this kind is described much better in Owen Wister's The Virginian.” “At midnight, lunch was served which was washed down with coffee strong enough to float a horseshoe. The musicians rested for a while, then were playing again until daylight. There was reason for this long dance session. There were few fences and very few trails, so it was unsafe to go home before daylight. An experience of being lost on the prairie was not one to be sought after.” Photo by Shawn Shawhan This is Mrs. Cornue's description of the winter of 1919-1920. “The wheat crop was a complete failure; there was not enough to cut for winter hay. At that time all the homesteaders had a few cattle and horses, which were the only source of income.” “A heavy snow fell in October which did not all melt until April. In January there were several feet on the level, so stock could not get even sagebrush to eat. Everyone was out of feed. Stock became poorer and poorer. The ranchers had to go to the railroad in Winnett to buy hay which would come in on the train at uncertain times.” “Harvey would start with his four-horse team at 5:00 a.m. Sometimes the thermometer stood at 25 degrees below zero. Snow was so deep that he would have to shovel snow for several rods in order to get the wagon through. Then when they arrived in town, the train would be late and they would load: they never got home until almost midnight.” “We wives would be home alone worrying for fear something had happened, then rejoicing when we finally heard the rattling of the wagon up the road. Sometimes he would be gone all day and come home without hay. As there was not enough to go around. That meant that the cattle would be hungrier and would bawl around. Some got so weak that they had to be pulled up by the tail. Hundreds died. The prairies were dotted with dead animals.” “People near creeks cut down trees so the animals could eat the tender brush and buds. In the spring. The losses were so great that many homesteaders loaded their few household goods on a wagon and left, for I do not know where, but I hope it was to better places. Others, like ourselves, would have left as paupers: but all we had was invested here, so we stayed and finally became fairly successful financially. Not all years were bad.” -Courtesy of Shawn Shawhan, Check out more of his beautiful photos at: https:// abyssart.smugmug.com/?fbclid=IwAR0g5qKKbL9fGEjGeQOfnoe7G6IIxGIYn298nyBvXDiHu36eR34AqgCzA4
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