Dear Margit,

Following is the entry for Mrs. B. O. Eid. This selection seems to contradict the article on her husband, as in the latter article, Ernest Eid indicates his mother is living in Dickinson, ND. Dickinson is about 100 miles north of Lemmon, SD, while the information about Mrs. Eid indicates she is living about 20 miles north of Lemmon, still in Beisigl Twp. This was, of course, prior to the publication of the "Prairie Pioneer," in which my grandmother wrote the date she received her copy as April 18, 1975.

Letha Chunn-Mendivil
County Coordinator
Adams County, ND, GenWeb Site www.rootsweb.com/~ndadams/

PIONEER OF BEISIGL DISTRICT (No author given)

Mrs. B. O. Eid resides on a farm twenty-two miles north of Lemmon, South Dakota. She was born in Pigeon Falls, Wisconsin on July 18, 1887, and given the name of Anna, by her parents Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Tangen, both of Norwegian descent. Anna was united in marriage to Mr. B. O. Eid in Pigeon Falls, in the year 1910.

In that same year, Mr. and Mrs. Eid left White Hall, Wisconsin, and traveled by train to the Dakotas and arrived in Lemmon, South Dakota on June 24, 1910. The made their home where Mrs. Eid's present home is now sited. She is the only pioneer now living on her homestead in the Beisigl township.

Her first home was a frame building, covered with sod making the walls very thick. Mr. Eid was a farmer and carpenter. After the township was organzied as the Beisigl township, there were no further events.

The first settlers in the township were the Beisigl brothers, who had thousands of acres of land upon which they raised cattle. Waighten was established as the first post office. The first school was the Beisigl School, then located two miles north and one mile west of Mrs. Eid's home. It was made of lumber and had a seven month term. A church was never established in the township.

Mrs. Eid was not an exceptionally early settler in the community. Several other families had already made their homes there when she arrived, so there were several close neighbors. The neighbors often visited with one another because no towns were at a convenient traveling distance. Sometimes everyone would gather at one home for supper, and visiting. A carnival night came to a far off town but it was not often any of the families would be able to attend one.

Water could be gotten from a well. The most used fuel was coal which was hauled by wagon from the local mine. Trees were not plentiful, so wood was never burned continually.

The Glen Ullin Trail passed within a few miles of Mrs. Eid's home. Dust stained weary travelers, which often stopped at the Eid's well. Mrs. Eid often wondered at the exceedingly dark skin of the people. After living in North Dakota for a few years, Mrs. Eid learned that the Dakota sunshine could darken anyone's skin very easily. Another odd thing about the Glen Ullin Trail travelers were the swinging contraptions tied on their horse's nose. These bags would seem very uncomfortable to a horse, but evidently it was very important to its comfort.

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