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Greetings 405 listener!
The 405 airs over KMMR Radio Station. At 5 Minutes past 4 PM each M-F week day of the year. Here on the website we strive to have it posted within a few hours afterwards.
Your neighbor and website maintainer,
D.J. Rasmussen
Thanks for stopping by and listening to the shows.
I wanna again welcome you to The 405 Coffee Break, guys. Get you a cup of coffee, glass iced tea, or bottle of water. Let's see what's happening.
OK Solberg:Spring wheat $5.51 a bushel. 550lb steer calf $4.35 to $4.42 a pound. Butcher hog in Iowa, 64ยข a pound, and a lamb that's fat in Billings will fetch you $2.20 a pound. But, guys, there's more, much more.
OK Solberg:Okay. After I did yesterday's episode on history, well, you know what? I had a hankering to do more research into history. I did. I love history. You love history. We all love history. It's fun to have fun and you might be thinking, hey, wait a minute. I don't really care for history. Don't go putt'in me into that category. Oh, wait. I still stand on my statement. We all love history.
OK Solberg:You know why? Because one thing I know about people is they like something they can connect with, that can bring back their own memories. I had my fifty year high school reunion just last summer. My classmates all loved to think back when. See, we might not all like all history, but if we can connect with it, and if it brings back memories to our mind, we're all fond of it.
OK Solberg:I'll give you a little example. I know what's going on in my mind right now. You know what's going on in your mind right now. But if you're listening to me right now and paying attention, I can bring thoughts into your mind simply by things I say. Ready?
OK Solberg:You thinking I'm all wet? Ready? Juicy fruit gum. Do you remember when it cost a nickel? Do you remember the scene in the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest when we find that Chief can really hear and speak?
OK Solberg:All of us like history when we have a connection. Here's another one. What if a person told you they remember back when and the number one song at that time, the number one song on the top 100 chart was Sugar Sugar by the Archies. Imagine if they said that was the first, that was the first 45 record they had ever purchased. What if they said I had the phonograph set up in the living room and I'd listen to that song over and over again.
OK Solberg:Sugar, ah honey honey, you are my candy girl and you got me wanting you. I'd listen. I'd listen to that song all the way up until the time of Days of Our Lives came on TV. Oh, I never missed an episode of Days of Our Lives. So here's the deal.
OK Solberg:Even if you didn't care for sugar sugar, you might have loved Days of Our Lives. So, yes, everyone loves history if they have a connection to it. Some of the history I'd like to share with you today is the enlarged Homestead Act of 19 o nine. Listen as I quote, and you might be saying, hey, I want history I can connect with. Well, believe you me, this is history that we all can connect with because if it wasn't for the homesteaders, we would not be here in Malta, Montana today.
OK Solberg:Alright? Listen, as I quote, several short term trends helped trigger Montana's remarkable homestead boom. The most significant was the enlarged homestead act in 19 o nine, which doubled the free land available to settlers from a 160 to 320 acres. Then, in 1912, congress went even further, lowering the required waiting period for land acquisition from five to three years, while also permitting homesteaders to be absent from their land five months out of the year. Together, those laws generated an eager response ensuring that nearly 32,000,000 acres of Montana, 32,000,000 acres of Montana land would pass from public to private hands.
OK Solberg:Equally significant in attracting homesteaders were were the aggressive promotional campaigns by area boosters. During the early 1890's and beyond, transcontinentals like the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Milwaukee Roads spent millions of dollars publicizing the region. Oh, they had impressive agricultural displays on on leaflets and bulletins, they encouraged immigrants, especially Germans and Scandinavians, to embrace a new life of farming in what some now boil down to call the treasure state.
OK Solberg:For as little as $22.50, a homesteader could rent a freight car to bring his family and all their belongings from Saint Paul, Minnesota to Eastern Montana, end of quote. You may or may not have known this, but it's important for us as residents of Phillips County to remember the enlarged homestead act in 19 o nine and the new clause in 1912 which allowed them to be away from the homestead many months out of the year.
OK Solberg:Right there, those two items, they were the tipping point for grandpa and grandma to come to this land. And if they hadn't, well, I wouldn't be here. That's history. It definitely connects with me, and it's also very relevant to you.
OK Solberg:I'll close with the bible verse. Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense. Proverbs 12:11
OK Solberg:So until next history lesson, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.