Voices from the Past

July 14, 1922

Bores Hole with Bullets

Frank Allison broke his wagon reach Monday while employed in road work on Rough Creek. He didn’t have the necessary tools for repair work but thought of an ingenious scheme to employ his 25-35 Winchester rifle and axe as a substitute. With the axe he felled and hewed a small pine tree and standing off a few feet shot a few bullets into the proper places until the hole was large enough for the bolts. His team became frightened while he was thusly engaged and ran down the road about half a mile where they were stopped by George Linville and Bill Hicks, likewise engaged in road work. With the return of the team Allison hitched them to the wagon with the newly made pole and continued his work.

The three men were engaged in filling dirt over an iron culvert that had been laid last fall. The old wooden bridge was partly salvaged and is being hauled to a new location on Rough Creek.

July 11, 1947

Hailstorms Old Stuff in Broadus Community

Harry Daily of Ashland told a story in Broadus Tuesday that had been recounted to him by an aged Cheyenne Indian about two years ago. The Indian “Yellow Nose” said that about 70 years ago when he was 7 years old his tribe was traveling and had camped at a spot on Powder River approximately where the town of Broadus now stands. The Indian said that a hailstorm came up which was the worst in the memory of any of the Indians. There were no hail stones such as are usually seen but huge chunks of ice. The Indians took cover in their teepees but only those made of buffalo hide were sufficiently tough to withstand the blows from the ice. In this storm two men were killed and five horses.

July 13, 1972

East Fork Rodeo ‘Biggest Success Ever’

By Jimmy Espy

The 16th Annual East Fork Roping Club rodeo held in Broadus July 3rd and 4th was one of the biggest rodeo successes ever. One hundred sixty-five cowboys and cowgirls competed in the two-day event. Paul McInerney of Spearfish, S.D. was the stock contractor who furnished the bucking stock that performed so well. The weatherman cooperated and stopped the rain in order to allow the evening performance on the 3rd to begin as scheduled, and it was a perfect day to rodeo on the 4th.

The Teen 4-H Club reported that seven hundred hamburgers were sold on the Fourth in their food stand. The VFW post provided the beer stand, and the cotton candy booth was a “winner” with the kids.

Delbert Kane of Belle Fourche handled the announcing, and also in the crow’s nest were Myna Bartlett and Maxine Enerson punching the stop watches. The arena directors who kept the show running smoothly were Rex Schaffer and Jimmy Sanburn.

Trophy buckles were given to the first place winners in each event following the final performance. An enthusiastic crowd cheered the following winners on: Calf roping - Bob Tarver, Jack Kinghorn, Kenny Dague and Dean Perkins. Bareback - Johnny Morris, Gene Griffis, Bart Jones and Eddie Taylor. Barrel racing - Mary Ketchum, Bev Swanby, Louise Popp and Hollis Carlisle. Bulldogging - Gene Shannon, Kenny Dague, Jim Long and Dell Fritzler. Team tying - Neal Sanburn and Cliff Franklin, Dennis and Dale Morgan, Jim and Pat Byrne, and Russ Howell and C.L. Askins. Breakaway - Sonny Moore, Grant Otis, Millard Ripley and Vic Small, Sr. Bull riding - Bart Jones, Dic Downey, Tim Burch and Powder Ruth.

An added event at the rodeo was the Grandmother’s Queen contest sponsored by the Powder River CowBelles. Marie Gotfredson, Maxine Enerson, Nell Moore, Virginia Robinson, Iris Sanburn, Betty Wilson and Elaine Considine were judged by Charles Patten and Mary Ketchum. Nell Moore of Gillette, WY was the winning “Grandma Queen”.

The East Fork Roping Club offers its thanks to the donors, volunteer help, spectators and all others who helped make the rodeo such a huge success.