Notes for Lena HOLST

Notes for Lena HOLST

SOURCE OF INFORMATION: From Lena Marjory Ross (1984)

Otheniel Franklin Arndt was born August 13, 1859, son of Charles and Suzannah (Glover) Arndt. He had one brother, two half brothers, and two half sisters. With the exception of the half brother, Arch and Zu, none of these lived in South Dakota. When Othe was thirteen years old, his mother died and he and his brother went to live with their aunt and uncle, the Curt Willeys.

The Willeys came to South Dakota when Othe was sixteen. They settled in what is now Sturgis, South Dakota, building one of the first houses there. Fort Meade had just been established. One story told was that soldiers from the fort frequently hung around watching the building going on in the new town. One day Curt laid his hammer down and went around to the lumber pile in back. A soldier came by, and offered to sell him a hammer. Tools were scarce, so a deal was quickly made and the soldier left When Curt got back to where he had left his hammer, he realized he had been taken, having bought his own hammer.

The first winter was bad, and the meat supply ran short. A hunting party was organized, and Othe and another boy finally got permission to go along. Some buffalo were found, but before the party had the meat ready and started for home they were caught in a raging blizzard. None of the party had enough clothes, and some nearly froze to death. Othe and his boy friend, feeling their feet gradually getting numb with cold, finally cut a buffalo hide in two, and wrapped their feet in it. They were almost the only ones to get back without losing some of their toes from freezing.

Nicknames were quite common in the early days, and were often come by in odd ways. The Willey's eldest son, Day, went by the nickname "Dode," which he got in a rather amusing way. He was about two years old when they came to the Hills and there were no fenced-in play-grounds for the children then. One day he turned up missing and searchers could find no trace of him, even up and down the creek banks. It might be mentioned that along with the establishment of the fort, there was also a settlement of camp followers quickly built up a little way off, and their territory was known as "across the creek." Someone finally went over on that side and found the little boy happily sitting on the lap of one of the "ladies." It happened that she was known as Dode, so that name stuck to the boy all of his life.

After a few years Othe left the Hills and started work as a cowboy. He also became a homesteader, taking up the three claims then allowed, near the town of Vale. His nickname ? Farmer Jones. of course. On September 26, 1891, he married Lena Holst, who came to the Vale county in 1882. She was born at Elk Point, in eastern South Dakota. one of the first white children born in South Dakota. She with her elder sister, Tena (Katrina) and their eldest brother John, had come on ahead of the rest of the family bringing a small herd of cattle with them to their brother Henry's homestead on Cottonwood Creek near Vale. They had left in November, together with some other people who were also on their way to the Hills. The trip took a full month, and it was extremely lucky that the party did not hit any bad storms on their way. The rest of the Holst family, the parents, sister Christine and brother Will, came on later. One night when the caravan had made camp with the cattle along a river, John, who being the eldest, had been entrusted with the money, kept being pestered by one of the members of the party to go down to the river with him. Being suspicious of the man's actions, he didn't go, but he always felt that he would have
ended up in the river, with the other man carrying off the money.

Two children were born to Othe and Lena: Suzanne in 1892, and Russell in 1900. Suzanne married Charles F. Long, son of William F. Long, in 1916. They had one daughter, Lena Marjory (Ross). Mr. Long passed away in 1943. In 1961 Suzanne married R.P. Pettit of Denver, Colorado. They live in Weslaco, Texas. Russell married Rutha Mae Loing in 1924. They had one son, Donald Neal. Russell passed away in 1954.
Othe Arndt died February 22, 1911. Lena Holst Arndt died October 19, 1956.

Life in the eighties was far from dull; there were hardships, of course, but there were compensations too. It was not all work, with no time for play. There were picnics in the summer and dances in the winter. The dances were held in the home of a homesteader who had the most room. and the fewest possessions to carry outside. Music was furnished by will Holst and Doc Collins, who took turns leading and seconding on their fiddles. The Holst girls all loved to dance and always had partners available; they were ready to go for a polka, varsovienne, baltimore, waltz, or quadrille.

There were usually more men than women so a handkerchief was tied around a man's arm to make a partner for another man in the square dance. Since the dance floors were small, not many sets could dance at one time so the men were assigned numbers and danced when their numbers were called. The spiritual side was taken care of by a small community church helped by the Prebyterian Mission. The lumber and labor were donated by the people, and the church was built on land donated by Othe Arndt.

In the nineties, when I was a little girl, there were two days of equal importance: Fourth of July and Christmas. On the Fourth we usually had a picnic at the Wilson Grove on the Belle Fourche River. There were foot races, horse races, and of course firecrackers, The main feature was the dinner, which was a community affair at which time each cook tried to outdo all the others in making tempting dishes. The tables were loaded with fried chicken, baked ham, homemade bread and Parker House rolls, chokecherry jam, buffalo berry jelly, wild plum preserves, and watermelon pickles. We children were most interested in the big freezers of vanilla ice cream and the cakes: White Mountain, Marble, Devil's Food, and a brand new one called Angel Food.

The first Christmases I remember were held in the old butte Hall. Grandpa L.P. Jenks, with his long white beard, was always Santa Claus. There were mishaps, too, like the time Santa singed his beard by getting too close to the candles on the tree. How our hopes rose and fell as we watched the gifts from the tree being distributed, one by one. We were given an orange and a sack of candy, but the dolly we hoped might be for us was finally handed to its rightful owner. We who grew up in the nineties feel that we were privileged to have lived in this particular time. It has been a time of greatest change, and we feel the changes were mostly for the better.

Written by Susie A.L. Pettit
Cowboys and Sodbusters page 138
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