Homesteading

The McCormick-Deering Dump Rake

One of my best summer memories was riding on the dump rake! I don't remember driving the tractor for it. I think one of my brothers...

The Save All Coffee Can

My Mom gave me an old coffee can that I treasure. It's called the Save All Coffee can. I don't know the years they were made, but it's...

Fanning Mills

Fanning mills are used to clean the chaff and weed seeds from grain. Farmers cleaned the grain they would use for seed the following year...

Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden

At the Earth Lodge Village near New Town, North Dakota, we found two local women working in the garden. One said it was designed after...

Earth Lodge Village

I was excited this week to visit the earth lodge village west of New Town, North Dakota. These are replicas of earth lodges--"awahte"--...

Sod Busting

This photograph belonged to my grandfather Arthur LaBrant, who was a homesteader, but I'm not sure who it is. I love this picture though!...

A Battle Hammer

Our daughter Jana found this Indian tool on my Mom's farm in northwestern North Dakota. It is 7 1/2 inches long and weighs almost 3 1/2...

Lignite coal in North Dakota

Lignite coal made homesteading possible in frigid winter weather in western North Dakota. The region had little timber to heat with, and...

Binders and Shocking

Early homesteaders used a "binder" to cut down the ripened grain before harvesting. This machine was a huge improvement over doing things...

Threshing

Harvesting in 1906 meant hiring a threshing crew to come to your homestead. Different crews traveled over the area, some coming to the...

KRISTIE