I forgot to mention, if you like to hunt, my wife's family has ties to Fire Steel Creek Lodge, a hunting resort near Isobel, SD, just west of Timber Lake. Her great grandmother ran the Cowboy lodge for Beal Ranch, I believe it was, one of the largest ranches of the time in South Dakota. The main lodge, where she worked out of, at Fire Steel Creek was moved from the headquarters of the ranch to the present location near Isobel. We have a copy of the book relating the history of the ranch. I think I was told it was about a 40 mile move for the building. We took my wife's parents and the rest of the family to Isobel and stayed in the lodge several years ago. This was one of the trips where we spent time looking for fossils, too. (None of us hunt). My wife's grandfather actually worked on the ranch and tended sheep, living in basically a covered wagon out on the range. He spent some time doing the same work after he married my wife's grandmother. Not too long after the marriage, the story goes that the owner of the ranch rode out to the wagon, gave the couple a little money, and told them this was no life for them. They eventually ended up in Iowa. Further back in the family tree was an original homesteader with land northwest of Bowman, ND. The property is landlocked in that there are no roads to it, only what the FSA office calls farm trails. We've been there several times, but each time the weather conditions have prevented us from actually getting to the site. I don't believe any of my wife's living relatives have actually set foot on the land. I've been told that since the homesteader was a woman, she received a lower quality piece of land. I would like to take the family to the actual site someday and have worked on and off with the FSA people. Hopefully, I can arrange a visit with the assistance of a local resident.
