Life in the Black Hills

We took the red truck and drove down the river. There were several spots where the sand had been washed away by a recent storm and Tom and I had to dig our way across so the truck could struggle through. It was good, hard work and lots of fun. Once we arrived at “the Jones place” (so named because that’s who used to own it), there was a cool spring where we all got drinks. The boys played in the water there with Kiley and Karen watching while Tom and I hiked further down the river to the actual Jone’s homestead.

Every piece of land and sign of civilization here has a story. When “skinny” Jones owned the place (pre-50s), they had two kids, a boy and a girl. The boy was drafted into the army and killed in a munitions plant incident. The daughter married a local guy, settled down and had a baby. They lived further up the river. One night, the party phone line received a general ring (which meant that everyone picked up the phone) to hear her screaming for help, then a couple gun shots, then all that was heard was a baby crying. No one knew what had happened, so there were a lot of dads, including Tom’s, who sat up that night in the living room with their guns, watching for strangers. Two of the locals went to see what had happened, and both were shot. One survived. The other had his 14 year old son with him who drove him into town, but he didn’t make it. His family was so heartbroken after that, they soon sold their land to Tom’s brother and left the area.

Evidently, a high school friend of the girl had had a crush on her but it had never been acknowledged. He went on a rampage and killed her, her husband, plus two others. A posse was soon formed (they did that here even in the 50s) and they found him in a building out in the hills. They fired a couple of warning shots heard, “You’ll have to come in and get me.” Not sure if that meant he wasn’t coming out without a fight or if he’d been shot and needed help, they chose to not risk it and filled the building with gun shots. Needless to say, he didn’t survive. That’s Black Hills justice.

Skinny Jones was so heartbroken after losing both children, he sold the ranch to Tom’s dad and left the area. Tom inherited the 920 acres along the river before his dad died. There’s nothing left of the house now but a little pad of cement, evidences of an old wagon, and some pieces of a hay rake. Even though Tom owns the land and grew up around it, he hadn’t been down there to see that part for about 20 years.