Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Remember watching the trains traveling along the railroad track and always ending with a red caboose?I think that the caboose was used to house the crew or part of the crew anyway. I think this may have been a safety requirement but like so many things, technology has changed all of that. Our railroad crews no longer have to manually throw switches, however I think that this little red caboose often offered a nice little place for relaxing by an old cast iron stove that provided heat both for warmth and cooking. The coffee was probably always...
Have you noticed that you very seldom see stock corrals along the side of railway depots as you are traveling along the highways? Remember the days when most all livestock was shipped via rail car for their journey to feedlots? Almost all small towns (those I am familiar with) had a pole type corral sporting pens and alleyways, and maybe a scale house, located very close to the depot. These were there for the use of the local livestock people. I am not at all sure who was responsible for the building, upkeep and repairs on these important...
Remember when Easter meant new Easter bonnets and gloves and probably even a new outfit for spring? Of course, hats were always part of our Church attire, but that was before the casual church going attire. I am not sure that I remember when the changes came about but I cannot recall the last time I saw a lady wearing a hat at any occasion. Easter this year was also a day for head coverings, but I must say it would have been for warmth, not style. Hang on to those gloves for awhile too!...
Do you remember recycling the core of toilet tissue paper? These card board tubes were used for several things, but I remember that they were often wrapped with decorative yarn or maybe painted and then used to store appliance cords are slip them over your toaster, waffle iron cord, etc for easier storage on the shelf. I still have several that my mother made up and they even have a nicely typed note glued on the tube stating what the cord was for. Do many of use utilize those methods to tidy things up today or do we like to rely on a handy...
Do you remember saving bacon grease? I think every kitchen had a container in the fridg or maybe even on the stove that was used to save bacon grease. Of course bacon was a major breakfast staple and bacon always presented plenty of grease. This was usually kept for frying potatoes or maybe chicken for other meals. I think that bacon grease may have been used for making soap, but then that was before my day, but I do remember being told by persons now deceased that they recalled persons visiting the local café to see if they could get the old...
Do you remember eating rabbit? I remember eating rabbit for a meal as a child. I also remember my sister crying as we ate as these rabbits were raised and cared for by us. Mom could never convince us that we were eating chicken! I am sure that many homesteaders and others ate rabbit caught in the wild, but there were also many local people that raised rabbits for this purpose. I do remember rabbits being raised locally and taken to Canada for a market. On a recent broadcast of Under the Big Sky, there was a discussion concerning the...
Greetings and Happy New Year to all readers! I would say that my New Year’s resolution is to get my articles to The Courier weekly, but then I know that most resolutions are made to be broken so let me say I will just try and do better. Do you remember the large floor grate that was found in most homes in by gone days? This was the furnace vent and provided a great place to stand and warm yourself up after a jaunt outside in winter’s fridge weather. That was in the day before many women wore jeans, sweats, etc., only dresses. What a won...
Our meat processing plants work long and hard hours during the big game season keeping all of their customers happy. Thinking of meat processing brings the Old Austin’s Packing Plant to mind. For those of you that do not remember, this sat on the west bank of the Milk River next to the river bridge on the Tampico Hiway, and was owned and operated, of course, by Mr. Alvin Austin. They, Mr. Austin and crew, would process your cattle, hogs & sheep with precision! Mr Austin would also buy animals from local people. (Probably no feedlots at that t...
As I sat in my car waiting for an extremely long train to clear the tracks the other day, memories of train crossings of the past that we know longer wait at because there is no longer train traffic or tracks for that matter. Do you remember the railroad tracks along and crossing the Opheim highway? This spur was active during the days of the Glasgow Air Force base. I also think of the railroad crossing I crossed many times on my way to town from home. This was a spur to the bentonite plant. This railroad spur was a little more recent, and I...
I ran into a list of businesses located n Glasgow in 1941. I think of the businesses that were active during the days of the Glasgow Air Force Base, but Glasgow had a lot of local business facilities in the early 40’s also. Just to mention a few that might be remembered. There was the Orchid Beauty Shop which adjoined Allen’s Café & Blue Room. (Was the Blue Room a Lounge or bar?). Then there is mention of a Ben Franklin Store, the Hub Bar and Stan’s Bar. Remember the Rainbow Court Cabins, Westland Oil, Etchart-Markle flying service? There...
My mind has gone back to laundry day again. I am remembering the “clothes horse.” Do you remember the winter days of hanging clothing on the reliable clothes horse? I am sure that many homes were like mine and the clothes horse took up residence over the furnace grate on laundry day. This was days prior to the clothes dryer but worked very well. Most of us also remember that old furnace grate and they are still seen at the bottom of the porch steps at many country homes. We probably think of them of mud scrapers or just dirt collectors. Not...
School has started and it brings to mind the days many of us packed lunch to school. My husband and my daughters went to school at Tampico (Tampico Tech as some of the locals call it). Back in the days of wood stoves in country schools, some lunches were packed in containers that could be set on the wood stove to warm up. Of course, many sandwiches and goodies were packed before the days of Baggies, Zip Lock bags, or Tupperware. Do you remember the days of wax paper sacks! Of course, I am thinking that many goodies and lunches went to the...
Our weather has definitely been one for the record books. So many times on the news we hear of another city, town, or community suggesting water restrictions. Some of us well remember saving water, but it was not due to any mandate from high up officials. Do you remember bathing when more than one child or person used the same bath water? Your hair was shampooed no more than once a week. How about doing dishes, by hand of course. The rinse water was never run down the drain (of course not many had a drain anyway.) This water was saved to maybe...
Another Fair year is behind us. I am sure that many of our area residents are breathing a sigh of relief. It takes a lot of commitment on the part of many to have a Fair. I am remembering some things that were a given at the Fair. Does anyone remember the many games of Horseshoes that were played between the Culinary buildings at the Fairgrounds. Was this organized by the Fair Board or some area resident that had an interest? Our Fair is a wonderful social time and I would imagine many area residents would be more than welcome to volunteer to...
I am remembering Fairs of the past. I remember hearing of the time the Valley Co, Fair grounds was located on the Airport hill. Before my time and that of many of my friends! Memories that some of many remember are when the fair was held in September. What an inconvenience for school age exhibitors, or maybe it was a real excuse not to attend school. If memory serves correct, livestock exhibitors were expected to go to the school, register, and then were able to check out to go and care for...
As we are suffering through this heat it may help to remember the other extremes. Do you remember the winter of 1949 & 50? I do not know the months, and no, I did not call the weather service, but some remember having two nights in a row of -55 degrees on a home thermometer. Many rural folks heated their homes with stove fuel oil at that time. Due to the extreme cold the stove fuel gelled up causing the stove to go out. This might be compared to our current situation and no air-conditioning. Fortunately, many had electricity by then and were...
July 4th and fireworks are behind us and most of us did not have fireworks to observe this year. However I do remember fireworks of the past. I do not remember if my memories connect just where and when these fireworks occurred. However, I do remember most fireworks of my young days in Glasgow were held at the Fair Grounds. I recall fireworks that maybe featured a hen followed by little chicks, as well as many other animals and of course always ended with the American flag. We still have...
Sometimes, Wise guys finish first. That was the case at the 2021 Catfish Classic when Bobby and Robert Wise took the top slot. The Billings-based father-son duo reeled in a whopping 39.29 pounds of catfish on the main river channel. They unseated last year's champions, Dan Dupea and Eli Dupea, also both of Billings. The 2020 grandfather-grandson championship team finished in 23rd place this year, with 22.15 pounds. The Wise team had notched four Top 10 finishes in eight years of competing in...
The Glasgow Reds hit the road last week for games in Glendive and Havre. In six games the Reds went 3-3. Glasgow's record now sits at 3-5 on the season. Glasgow's first win came in game one of a double header against the Glendive Blue Devils on Wednesday. The Reds took an early lead in the top of the first and never looked back in an 8-0 victory. Glendive answered back in game two, scoring one more run than Glasgow to take a the 5-4 win. Tel Aune was first on base for the Reds, taking the walk....
When I have had the opportunity to visit Western Drug these past few months, I have immediately noticed the lovely crocheted baby dresses on display. This always brings to mind the baby pictures of girl babies taken in the earlier years. Many of us had cute little dresses like the ones on display at Western. Mine was a nice yellow and white color and definitely crochet by a family friend. And then, my mind wanders. How many baby pictures of some of your male ancestors have you been fortunate enough to view? It is amazing that most all of the...
I hope to be back once more on a consistent schedule, good Lord willing. I have been remembering Glasgow residents of the past that many of my era will recall. My thoughts go to Ted Rainey, Mechler, Mike Blue Horse, and Reuben Schakosky, who could always tell me who was in town. Ted Rainey and Meckler were from my early days. I am sure that they were absolutely no danger to anyone, but I know that many parents played on their characteristics to scare their children. Mike Bluehorse was a friend...
Do you remember when we didn't have 24 hour access to the news? Maybe the news was accessible many hours of the day, but most families gathered around the radio in the evenings. Some of you may remember the radios of early days, probably before electricity. A couple memories shared were radios using car batteries (makes me wonder just what size a vehicle battery was back then) or maybe a dry cell battery was used. Maybe that is what we need today, it might be less depressing to only have once a...
I am thinking of "Strong Women" today. Over the years we have heard a lot about Women's Rights, strong women, etc. I found an old, old photo of a township plat showing all sections of land with the name of the person that had filed. Some of these filings were listed as 1903. This of course was a Township and Range where my family currently has property. Most names were unknown to either my husband or me, but what did catch my attention was the number of women that filed for homestead filing....
This has been an unusual winter as we have had very little adverse weather other than high winds. We can count our blessings that we have not had lots of snow on the ground. If you did not grow up living in town, you may remember traveling the road to town when the snow banks along the plowed road were higher than your vehicle? I grew up always having extra mittens, scarves, etc packed in the vehicle in the event you got stranded. Can you even imagine what it must have been like when you where...
I had occasion the other day to make a visit to the Tampico Hall. I was surprised at how nostalgic the visit made me. Opening the door to the building and seeing the wooden benches and tables brought back many memories of community card parties, dances, school Christmas plays, and election days. Election days as I remember were always good, as there was pie and coffee offered also. So many social events such as birthday and anniversary parties, reunions and of course 4-H meetings and events. Tampico Hall, one of my good memories, but I did...
