Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Greetings and Welcome to The 405 Coffee Break with O.K. Solberg
New episodes tend to air over the local KMMR radio station @ 5 minutes past 4PM each M-F. And have been doing so, nearly every week since Sept 2018.
I'm D.J. Rasmussen, O.K.s friend since junior high, possibly your neighbor & this websites maintainer, whom strives to get each episode's show notes written, the transcript proofed and the audio posted to the internet within a few hours of that days KMMR air time. NOTE: recently been publishing most new releases by 4:30PM.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the time we can spend together.
I wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break. It's gonna get hot, guys. Find a shady spot. Get you a cup of coffee, glass iced tea, energy drink, whatever it is you like. Let's see what's happening out there.
OK Solberg:Spring wheat $6.47 a bushel. 550lb steer calf, top end, $5.15 a pound. They're tapering off from the video in June. And a 100lb fat lamb in Billings $3.35 a pound, on the top end. But, guys, there's more much more.
OK Solberg:Okay, guys. I'm gonna give you a heads up. Tomorrow, we're gonna hear about the town of Bodoin that once existed. But today, we're gonna hear about a town in Phillips County that still exists, but it got moved. What?
OK Solberg:How do you move a town? How do you move an entire town? Sit back, kiddies, and I'll tell you that story. In 1909 the government had a crew surveying the old Whitewater area for homestead plots. Nicholas Jack NJ Brandt of Grand Forks, North Dakota was a commissioner of the general land office and helped homesteaders in the area with their land locations.
OK Solberg:He was interested in this county and decided to settle in that community. NJ bought an acre or two of land from Severt Simonson and built a complex for a general store, post office, and family living quarters. This became the hub of the community.
OK Solberg:A hall for social activities was built in 1916 on land donated by Sam Myers. The hall was on one side of the road and the store and post office on the other, plus a warehouse for the store supplies.
OK Solberg:Three families, the Brantz, the Sam Myers, and the Sebert Simonsons lived near the buildings centrally located in the community. Brant was an asset to the community as he bought the homesteaders cream, eggs, and butter, but he also helped them with their income tax, which I'm gonna add a side note, which began the year 1914 after president Woodrow Wilson signed the Revenue Act on 10/03/1913.
OK Solberg:Income tax was a new thing, and NJ Brandt was the go to person in getting help for this to be filed. So Brandt helped with income tax preparation and he also sold them insurance. He was instrumental in starting Tri County Fire Insurance in Phillips County, Montana.
OK Solberg:In 1927, dun dun dun dun In 1927, the year Margie Murdock Olson was born, the great northern built a branch line seven miles to the west of the Whitewater community. Well, Brandt moved the Whitewater post office and his store to the railroad where the town of Whitewater is now located.
OK Solberg:He purchased the Simonson Homestead Home and moved it to the town site as well for his family. Only the hall, known as The Forks Hall still stands in the original Whitewater site. Again, the hall was built in 1916 on land donated by who? Sam Myers. I already told you that. And it was funded by the sale of stock, and work was donated by the men under the supervision of Jack Davis.
OK Solberg:A kitchen was later added to the south side of the hall. And for a few years, the west end of the hall was partitioned off and used as living quarters for the US immigration and customs service people. End of quote for now.
OK Solberg:So notice Malta's large and spacious Malta border patrol station. And to think, a similar branch of this department was once housed in the Forks Hall up there near Whitewater. Now back to the quote. The west of the hall was partitioned off and used as living quarters for the US immigration and customs service people.
OK Solberg:Minor Danielson, one of the immigration workers, lived there with his bride until they moved in 1928 to the new town of Whitewater. The US post office was also temporarily located in the hall, and the Brandt children lived there and attended Pearson School until a new school started in the new town in January 1929. End of quote.
OK Solberg:Good stuff. Our history is so important to remember. So when you're up in those parts and you see the Forks Hall, remember that the town of Whitewater once stood there.
OK Solberg:I'll close with a bible verse from Psalm 78 verses 3-4. Things that we have heard and known that our fathers have told us, we will not hide them from their children, but tell them to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders that he has done. Again, Psalm 78 verses 3-4.
OK Solberg:Not a good thing to hide them from the children. That's why history is so important. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.