A Little Family History

I always love the posts people do on their family history and finally got some of the old photos of my own family to share.

The place that I call the "river ranch" has been in my family since around 1866 and was settled by my great-grandfather. Origionally, there was a trading post on the place and it was one of the stops for one of the freightlines that ran from Ft. Pierre to Deadwood. My great-grandfather provided horses, mules and beef to the freightline and they brought the supplies he needed for the trading post. Those he sold or traded to the locals-white and indian alike.

I don't think anyone is still alive that knows exactly where the old trading post was located on the place though and there are no remnents left of it. However, the remains of the foundation of a general store that very nearly became a town on our riverbottom are still there.

Up until I got my hands on these photos, I had no idea where the "old" ranch house was on the property, but this is it...
And it is basically in the same spot as the ranch house that is there now. The current ranch house was built by my grandfather in either '52 or '54. And was considered quite the deal in those days. Funny how indoor plumbing and electricity did that.;-) Quite honestly, although the outside of the house is in serious need of repair-it still has the original asphalt shingle siding on it and needs new shingles badly, the inside is still quite beautiful.

This is my great-granfather(in the middle), John...
It is thought that after his father, Juel(possibly Jule) disappeared around Ft. Laramie that John's mother moved to the Rosebud reservation to be near family(?). There has always been contention as to whether John was actually of any Indian blood, but that fact is pretty hard to refute since his mother's name was Mary Bear Vest. I think he looks more Mexican than Native myself. MBV married another white rancher on the Round-Up Creek(where the ranch is) and he helped to raise John.

When John grew up he married Amelia and when she passed away he married Charlotte Giroux(the lady in the foreground in full Indian garb)...


This is my grandfather, Adolph...
He was one of John and Charlotte's many children and named after John's step-father, Adolph Schmidt. As was common in the day, Adolph Schmidt changed his name to Adam Smith when he came to "the new country". My grandfather was and is one of my greatest heroes. He was a cowboy's cowboy and when he passed away, he was buried with a rope in his hands. Since he lived his life with one in his hands, we figured he would like to have it with him on the other side as well.

And this is my father...
My dad, Bill was every inch a cowboy as well as a very colorful character. Unfortunately, my dad lived life fast and furious and drank himself to death at the very tender age of 51. He wasn't easy to be around in the last few years of his life, but I do love hearing all the stories about him from his youth.

There's a lot of family history and sentiment tied into our tiny little ranch on the river and I feel very fortunate to still have it in the family and be able to pass it on down to my daughter.

I'm slowly getting photos scanned and will hopefully be getting more from the family reunion that is coming up along with a refresher in some of the family "stories".