Homesteading in Southern Peno Basin

The following is copied directly from "Eastern Pennington County Memories", published by The American Legion Auxilliary, Carrol McDonald Unit, Wall, South Dakota; written by Esther Carmichael and Ella Wahl:

Ehard Johannesen, better known to his many friends as Ed, was born March 17, 1884, in Tromso, Norway. Coming to America in 1904, he worked on the Crouch Line being built from Rapid City to Hisega. (Ed lived to see this railroad taken out). It was on this job that he met Addora Larson of Hisega. On April 22, 1909, they were married in her folk's home. Bringing his bride back to the homestead, he continued working for the railroad for a short time with Jim Carmichael, who had a homestead about a mile and a half southwest of him. Their wives didn't like being left alone so they spent most of their time together while the men were gone working. It has been said Ed marked his fence lines on Sunday and with Addora holding the lantern at night, he dug his post holes.

In the year 1911 the drought came; nothing grew. They put their walking plow, their prize possession, in the house and locked it up. Taking their livestock they moved to Hisega where Ed got work in the timber along with his half-brother, Carl Steen.

The spring of 1912 saw Ed returning to the homestead, (Addora and their daughter, Annie, had stayed behind at her folks to wait the arrival of another daughter. On May 4th Ruth was born.) On Ed's arrival home he was shocked to see the lock had been removed from his shack. Upon entering he found shack and plow were in order as they had left them. One of the neighbors had been caught in a blizzard and had removed the lock so as to get out of the storm. This had happened only a short time after they left and the house had been unlocked ever since. Ed had remarked had he known this he would have been back sooner. It just went to show the early settlers were good, honest people.

When it was time for Addora and the girls to come home again, her sister, Oleanna Larson, went home with her to help her out for awhile. When Ed met them, Addora handed the baby to him and upon taking her he remarked, "Are you sure she hasn't fallen out?" Ruth was a small baby, weighing only four pounds.

It was this spring that Ed set out the pine trees upon the hillside southwest of the house. He had brought them with him from up in the Hills where he worked. His children can remember how for years later, on Sunday he would walk up there and pull the tops over against him to measure them to see how much they were growing. One day he came back and said, "Addora, I'll have to start measuring myself by the trees as they are taller than I am now."

This was also the year they added three new rooms to their shack.

It has been told that although the places of Jim Carmichael, Matt Smith and Johannesens were a mile or two apart, this didn't keep Onney, Amanda and Addora from visiting each other, even if they didn't have cars and each had a couple of children. The baby was put in the baby carriage, while the other tottered along beside her mother hanging on to mom's skirt, and away they'd go across the prairie.

The spring of 1919 Ed bought a 1915 model T car from a minister, for which he traded two cows. It had no battery and burned kerosene in the lights. The family can remember many a time not being able to have power enough to make it up a hill. All the older children and Addora would get out and push. Sometimes it wouldn't have gas enough to run to the motor when going up hill so Ed solved this by turning around and backing up the hill. Even though it didn't have a horn that worked, this didn't bother Ed; when he wanted to pass or if something was in his way, he would just call out, "TootToot", and this really worked. They drove this car until 1928. One day shortly after Ed had bought it he met the minister again and was asked how he liked the car. And he replied, "Fine". Then the minister told him he'd had nothing but trouble with it, so Ed said, "You probably didn't use the right kind of language on it!"

July 4th was always a big day for everyone. They gathered at the U Cross Ranch for a big celebration. Races were run in the morning and a small country rodeo and a ball game were held in the afternoon. The bowery dance at night kept everyone there until almost daylight the next morning. July 4, 1914, this was changed somewhat, when Harry arrived so Mrs. Emil Kjerstad, Sr., stayed with Addora. She always jokingly said, "That's one 4th of July Harry spoiled for me."

One familiar sight in the winter after Harry received his skis for Christmas, was to see Ed put Hazel (who was about four) on his back, her feet in his hip pockets. Taking a pail of milk in each hand he would get on the skis, and go down through the gate to the hog house, never once taking a tumble. Skiing was something Ed had learned in Norway as there was a good slide behind their house.

Ed and Addora were very strict and raised their children well, but children will be children. One night when Harry, Ella, and Esther came from school, the folks were in town. Harry was to start the evening chores, one of which was to haul some hay from the hay lot to the barn for the team and two saddle horses. So he hooked the team to a stone-boat with a box on it and the girls would hang on to the back and run along to see if they could keep up--which they could. When the load was loaded, Harry said, "You had fun running down, now one of you drive and let me see if I can keep up." So Ella agreed and took the lines. After being whipped up, off the team went. They were going too fast to stop at the barn, so went by, past the chicken coop, running over a leghorn rooster, which came out squawking and minus a few feathers, around the granary they went and back in front of the barn where the team stopped. Needless to say, Esther and Harry hadn't hung on, but Esther had climbed on. Harry came walking. When he was asked why he hadn't hung on, he said, "You fools, didn't you know the team was running away?" Neither one of the girls had thought of that so they hadn't been scared. He never let either of them drive again, nor did the folks ever find out.

Addora was often called on, day or night, to be a mid-wife, so a number of children knew her as "Grandma Johannesen".

A while back one of the school board members got to checking records and found Ed had served the longest consecutive years for Peno District.

One of the best wells in Peno Basin was Ed's well near his house and neighbors came from miles around to haul water. This well is still in use today.

Together they worked to make a home and living for their family. They even withstood the grasshoppers and droughts and like everyone else sold cattle to the government in 1934 for little or nothing. For nearly 40 years they toiled on the old homestead and accumulations of other land from homesteaders who had left and sold out to Ed. Among some of these were Dannly, Hatton, Steen, Carmichael, Smith and Wright. They raised a family of five girls and one boy. Annie Sasse, who had made her home in Battle Ground, Washington, passed away January 2, 1958, Ruth Minor of Seaside, Oregon, Harry of Quinn, Ella Wahl of Union Center, South Dakota, Esther Carmichael of Quinn, and Hazel Karstens of Mason City, Iowa. Addora passed away October 19, 1949 and Ed on March 30, 1953.

Friendship between the Carmichaels and the Johannesens went beyond homestead days with the marriage of Guy Carmichael and Esther Johannesen on August 7, 1938. They now own and operate the place along with their family, Lyle, Dennis, Esther Kay, and Tommy. They have two married daughters, Mary Jane Doyle of Wall and Arla May Olson of Rochester, Minnesota. Mary Jane has a girl and boy, Barbara and Jimmie, and Arla May has a son, Douglas.