Tales of the Ranch
Stories from and relating to the Old Martell Ranch, and the people who called it home. Stories of the pioneer days in western North Dakota; the dreams, work and resilience of all those who passed through the land and the years.
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The Battle at Guilford Courthouse
On a recent trip to North Carolina I visited the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park with my sister and niece. There is a great deal I don’t know about this time in our nation’s history! So much of our revolutionary war education centers on the north, yet the battles in the south were of tremendous importance. Somewhere in the fight for Independence two centuries ago are two ancestors of mine, Moses Hill and John Gould who was an ancestor of my Grandmother Martell (Lila Vanderhoof). There is also a Morgan on Don’s side who may very well have been in one of these battles since the Morgan’s at that time…
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Charles Franklin Martell: Pre-1940’s Ranching Division nominee 2019
In 1908 a young man left his family dairy farm in New York going west to fulfill his dream in western North Dakota. Charles Martell arrived with nothing, worked for his uncles and was on his own by 1914. He established a ranch headquarters known as “Horse Camp”, running several hundred head of horses and cattle. Martell learned to identify and purchase strong breeding stock and expertly break horses. The 1920’s saw local horse markets declining, but Martell found new profitable markets for local horses in New York. As farming practices became more mechanized the horse market again declined, so he shifted his focus to cattle. Martell’s ranch grew to…
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A Century Since the Great War; Family Ties
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11 11th month. It’s been 100 years since the first Armistice ( Veterans ) Day. A century, such a long time, yet when I was born the “Great War” had only been over for a little less than 40 years and many veterans of this war were alive and strong. One of them, Alfred V. Taylor lied about his age and joined the Navy when the war started. He became a pharmacists mate, ( a pharmacists mate performed a variety of medical duties), and was assigned duty on an hospital ship spending the war near the coast of France. He was…
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The True Facts
Published in: North Dakota Horizons magazine Summer 2017 There is a certain beauty in the harshness of western North Dakota winters. Winds howl across the prairie, through the coulees, and sometimes bring the effective temperature as low as forty below. Snow, not always abundant, is often a patchwork with gray and brown rather than a continuous blanket of white. Days are short in deep winter with as little as nine hours of daylight. Men and beasts adapt, putting on their winter coats and hunkering down for those long months until the ground thaws and grasses grow tall again. Those that survive these winters are men with resilience and determination, and animals that herd…
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The Goose and Laddie
On this particular early summer day we were all very excited. We were waiting for the “Goose”, a wonderful little train..... So there we were waiting on the old turn of the century wood railroad platform in Charbonneau. This time, we were not waiting for my sister and the Goose. Not today! Today our family’s new ranch dog was to arrive from some real big eastern city that bred collies.
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The Railroad and Settlement in Early North Dakota
As you drive around the prairies and badlands of North Dakota you will find countless ghost towns; old structures abandoned and falling victim to the weather and lack of use and upkeep. The majority of these ghost towns were once thriving railroad towns along a giant web of railroad tracks that spread across North Dakota. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century there was a huge wave of immigration and settlement in North Dakota. This influx of pioneers and settlers was largely due to the development of railroad lines.
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Long Ago and Far Away; Memories of a Log Cabin
It all began in the rolling golden hills of the country. I chased Indian spirits through the underbrush and rode from them over the plains on my brother’s pinto pony.
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The Lewis and Clark Trail Museum
Busy with the demands and struggles of everyday life, it was hard to realize the things one used on a daily basis would someday be historical treasures.
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Booming Settlement to Ghost Town: Whispers of the Living History of Charbonneau
As you pass abandoned homesteads, schools, depots and the myriad of other buildings left alone to face unforgiving elements, don’t you wonder about the stories that may be whispering in the crumbling walls or have been blown away by a prairie wind?
