Bob Yost

We received word that Bob Yost, a former resident of rural Haigler, passed away.

The funeral will be on Monday, September 28 - 1:30 p.m. at the St. Francis Methodist Church.


-- Editor

Obituary in the McCook paper: http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1573987.html

Betty Jean Potthoff Orth

The youngest of the Potthoff girls, Betty Jean Orth passed away this afternoon (Thursday Sept. 24) after a battle with cancer.
--Calvin

Obituary in the McCook paper: http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1573988.html

More GOC Members

Don Harford, Virginia Harford, Gail Harford, and Karen Harford were all GOC members.

***

I spent many evenings at the GOC 'shack' (later becoming the scout cabin on the old highway along the river). Many of these nights I was working with Tom Wheaton.
--Dick Stasser

Mike Mennard is a professor of English and communication at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Haigler Cafe

Barb Wheaton's cafe was open on Labor Day and had many visitors from near and far. When we stopped in for a late breakfast Monday, there were several tables full of people, which was actually a slow spot in the day. Earlier the parking lot was full and it was obvious that she was busy serving her customers.

If you are ever in Haigler, you need to stop for a meal. You will be treated to some of the best home cooked food in the area.

The Haigler Cafe has become quite a popular place to meet and eat since many of the other cafes in nearby towns have closed.

We hope she has a thriving business and the cafe stays open for years to come.

A Visit With Anna Brewer

I sat and visited with Anna Brewer for a bit this last weekend. She is 103 years old and in good spirits. She is an amazing woman, who still lives in her own home, with her 3 sons taking turns staying with her and making sure she doesn't go out in the yard and pull weeds or go down the basement stairs and fall. As soon as they leave for a little bit, many times she will do those things while they are not looking. One day last summer, we drove up in her yard and couldn't find her anywhere in the house. She was out on the east side of the house pulling weeds in one of the many flower beds - the irises, if i remember right.

She is fun to talk to and has a bright, quick mind with a sharp wit that makes me chuckle. I have enjoyed knowing her through the years and love visiting her home.

The Williams Graves & Dugout

The weather finally cooperated and allowed us to cross the 'crik' into the pasture north of the old Rueben Bandel place where my great-great grandparents are buried. Mark Mills knew exactly where to find the grave marker that his Uncle Lee had created to mark the spot in 1987. It is located on his family ranch - as is the dugout where the Williams family lived.

My grandfather tells of arriving at the Williams home in 1892, when he moved to Kansas at the age of 9 years old in an earlier story printed in this blog; "The Crabtrees Arrive on an Immigrant Train".

While standing across the spring fed creek that ran in front of the Williams dugout, you can imagine the family and all their belongings come down the draw from the

Charlie Zuege place southeast of Haigler. Your mind takes them from the depot in Haigler where they unloaded their horses and wagons, up through Wilson Canyon; across the top of the North Divide and down through the valley to the grandparents place north of Hackberry Creek.

Mark Mills told us of several other burial places and dugouts that he has run across throughout the years of growing up on the ranch, while checking cattle and roaming the countryside. His family owns and rents much of the farm and grass land in the NW corner of Cheyenne County.

The Williams grave marker says:

WILLIAMS
WM HENRY       ELIZABETH (ALTMAN)
5-11-1820 MD    10-31-1820 OH
1-25-1898 KS     9-26-1891 KS
M. 9-25-1841 SCIOTO CO OH
CHILDREN
SARAH C., MARGARET, JONATHAN H.,
OBITS KS EAGLE 12-1-1898
CN CO RUSTLER 10-15-1891

5-30-1987

If anyone has a copy of these obits or can find them online, I would love to have a copy or scanned image.