News Bytes
Hobart Democrat Chief
August 4, 1924

Fishing With Guns Netted Big Catch

Several hundred pounds of fish and antelope were the result of an overnight fishing party held in “year one” on Otter Creek, about 12 miles south of present day Snyder. Carlie L. Allen and about 25 other persons from Altus were in the party.

Allen had with him a .38 caliber army rifle and it was with this that they got a large number of fish. The water was clear as crystal and the fish were plainly visible. When a large fish was seen, Allen would shoot into the water. The bullet would never reach the fish, even from a gun of that size, but the force of the impact would stun them and other members of the party standing in the water further down the creek would pick them up as they floated by. Carp and bass were caught in this manner, while catfish were caught with hook and line.

Shot At Noise In Dark and Killed Coyote

A. D. Root has been living in Roosevelt since the opening, when he filed he filed for a claim north of town. At that time coyotes were plentiful and were a considerable annoyance to the homesteaders, both for their proclivity to steal chickens and because of their nightly serenade.

One night a pack of coyotes started their howling on the plains near Mr. Root’s home. It was impossible for anyone to sleep while the weird, lonesome noise continued, so Root took his six shooter and went to the door with the intention of scaring the coyotes

It was so dark he could see nothing, but he listened carefully and then shot in the direction from which the sounds came. The howling ceased, Root thought he had scared the animals away, so he went to sleep.

The next morning, Mr. Root found a dead coyote. A bullet hole through it’s open mouth showed it had been killed while its head was upturned in howling.

Turkey Shoot Held At Filling Station Site
D. A. Reese, wo now lives in Roosevelt, was an early settler. One Thanksgiving he brought a load ofturkeys to town, but had difficulty selling them. In fact, chickens now are sold for almost as much money as he asked for a turkey.

The idea of a turkey shoot occurred to him, so he took his wagonload of turkeys to the corner on the west side of Main Street now occupied by a filling station and started the match. Ten persons were allowed to shoot each time for 10 cents a shot. The winner getting the turkey offered. This netted Reese $1.00 for each turkey and the entire load was sold in this manner before the end of the day.

Skeleton Found
A skeleton was unearthed a short distance north of Lone Wolf on the east road a few days ago. A few bones and 2 iron stirrups were the only parts found and it was impossible to discover for sure whither the skeleton was that of a white man or Indian. The bones evidently had been there for a long time and many guesses have been made as to how it arrived there. Perhaps a cowboy had died and was buried by his companions, or perhaps the body lay on the plains until it was buried by the forces of nature.

$125.00 Bought Building and First Stock Of Groceries.
H. H. Wedel was Successful, However, And Now Has an Extensive Business
One hundred and seventy five dollars wouldn’t put up much of a building and buy much of a stock of groceries even in the “good ol’ days”, but the feat was accomplished by H. H. Wedel now a prominent merchant of Gotebo.

The building itself was a small, frame shack, 24 by 40 feet, according to Mr. Wedel. He had no credit and had to pay cash for his original stock. This made it impossible for him to buy a full case of any one kind of canned goods. His store was little more than a well stocked pantry.

That was in 1902. By 1908 he had doubled the size of his building and had a good business when fire destroyed building and contents. His loss was partially covered by insurance, however, and he rebuilt at once. The new structure, with additions, is the building he now occupies.

In 1903, just one year after he had started the grocery business, his credit had developed to such an extent that he was able to borrow $500.00 to install a dry goods stock. Since that time Mr. Wedel has always handled dry goods and groceries.

Steady development from a $175.00 business to a $250.00 business – that speaks well both for the management of the store and the community in which it is located.

Mountain Lions are Unwelcome at 3 A. M.
Dr. McIlwain of Lone Wolf tells of Early Morning Encaounter
Dr. William McIlwain of Lone Wolf has been in this section of the county since the opening and has many interesting stories of calls which he made before the time of automobiles and good roads. Trips then had to be made either by buggy or by horseback, and a long trip into the country was something to remember.

Bridges were few and far between. They were constructed only where there was a road – and there were no roads. The few trails which crossed the country were made possible by fording the streams which cut the path. Dr. McIlwain tells of various occasions upon which he rode across streams on mens backs in order to reach the besides of the sick.

On one occasion in 1903, the doctor had made a visit to the Gus Borge ranch, south of Lugert. He made the trip successfully and was returning home at about 3 o’clock in the morning.

Dr. McIlwain was driving a team of ponies, small, wiry animals excellently suited for long trips in a prairie country. While he was driving over the road near the mountains, he noticed at first the ponies were attempting to leave the trail. He pulled them back into the road with some difficulty and by the use of his whip and considerabkke diligence, managed to keep them headed in the right direction. However, the ponies constantly attempted to leave the trail, always to the same side of the road.

After the last mountain had been passed, Dr. McIlwain was attracted by a shrill cry, and truning around he saw in silhouette against the sky, two mountain lions.

Dr. McIlwain does not say whether he was scared, but he does say that he came on home, and the probabilities are that better speed was seldom made across the country road at 3 a. m. than was made by the doctor on that occasion,

Mountain lions, presumably the same pair which had badly scared the doctor, made a visit to the Borge ranch a few nights later and killed a dog belonging to Mr. Borge.

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