An Immigrant, A Homesteader, and Sheep

AN IMMIGRANT, A HOMESTEADER, AND SHEEP

GRACE E LARSON

‘An Immigrant, a Homesteader, and Sheep

Copyright © 2021 by Grace E Larson. All rights reserved.

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Published in the United States of America

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020925451

ISBN 978-1-64753-614-5 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64753-615-2 (Hardback)

ISBN 978-1-64753-616-9 (Digital)

27.08.21

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Dan Poloson

Military Draft Card

1920 United States Federal Census

Learning To Pack, Speak English, And Getting Married

Mae’s Death Dan’s Trips To Romania

Grace Remembers Dan And Mae

1930 United States Federal Census

Mae Poloson

Mae Arrives In Logan

Mae Homesteads

Mae Builds And Plants

Mae’s Certificate Of Homestead

Mae’s Mother: Mary E. Deschamps Certificate Of Homestead

Mae Poloson Homestead Crops And Home

More Sheep Ranchers

Marie’s Memories Marie: Wolf Creek

Going To Sheep Camp

We Move To Rattlesnake Gulch

Jim And Klonda Howser

Homesteads, Chores, And School

Rattlesnakes And Our Garden

Hay And Cold Winters

Cooking And Cooks

Lambing And Shearing

Mamaliga

The Depression

Nick And Anna Lascu

Sheep Men And Rustlers

Bert And Fay:Herron Ranch

Cowboying, Gardening,. And School

Wrecks

Water, Hired Men, And Electricity

Trip To Browning–Area Sheep Ranchers

Trailing Sheep And Hunting Bear

Lost With Lost Sheep

Mutton, Messy Street, And The Law

The Real Work Begins

Fred And I After Ranch Life

Ernestine Marie Poloson

Fred Harris Poloson

Fay’s Story

Wild Horse Island Roundup

Albert Raymond Poloson

Mae Poloson Poems Retyped By Jeanne Poloson Bronec

Coyote’s Serenade

Moonstruck

When October Turns The Maple Leaves To Gold

Sunset Light

I Believe

Compensation

This ‘N’ That

Campfire Reverie

Prairies At Midnight

By Mae Poloson

By May Poloson

Kiss It And Make It Well

Mother Knows Best

Isolationist

To Kathie

Lost Faith

Dry Lander

Little Joys

I Tried Anyway

Big Butch, Little Butch

Spring Time

Waiting For A Letter

Don’t’ Think You’re The Whole Corn Field

When Golden Autumn Leaves Are Drifting Down

Odds & Ends

Tuffy

Starlight, Star Bright

Unfinished Echoes

(I Believe)

To A Sparrow

Come Back Elaine

Envy

Shadows

Christmas Eve In Rattlesnake Gulch

Broken Toys

Just Because I Love You

Brief Return

Blue Eyes From Texas

Each Heart Knoweth Its Own Bitterness

God Of The Nation

Odds And Ends

Tears And Beer (To’ ‘Old Fritz

Honey Chile

Sure That’s Different

Splash

Valentine

Dreams

If I Had Wings

Beloved

Hickory Whistle

Moonstruck

Coyote

Indian Summer Waltz

Song Of The Unknown Road

Riding Thru The Silver Sage With You

The Little Black Dog

Shining Star

Homesick

Trees And Water

Signs Of Spring

Beanery Babe’s Busted Romance

First Rattler

To Rattlesnake From Rattlebrain

Riding Up To Grapevine Hollow

Black Duck

Gray Wolf’s Dance

Rural Romance

Little New House

Circumstantial Evidence

Legend Of The War Dragon

Epilogue

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Department Of Interior Homestead Records

Ancestry.com

Marie Poloson Tapes And Photos

Bert Poloson Tapes And Photos

Fred Poloson Photos

Fay Poloson Haynes Photos, Memories, and Writings

Rosie Swisher King Memories

Mae Poloson Poems

Biography Information From Settlers and Sodbusters

Valley Press (Ronan, Montana)

Hungry Horse News (Kalispell, Montana)

AQHA Journal

Western Horseman

INTRODUCTION

Dan & Mae DeSchamps Poloson Family History–A Story Of Faith & Courage By Grace Larson Based on Memories from Marie, Bert, and Fay.

Cherish All Of Your Memories For They Are The Bricks & Mortar Of Who You Are.

This thought brought to mind what Ada Gould, a long time family friend, had said one day, You come from good stock. She was referring to my grandparents and their children, Marie (my mother), Fred, Fay, and Bert.

This story is dedicated to my grandparents for their courage and foresight. Because of this I have been blessed with life and liberty in this great country.

Dan Poloson was born in Porumbac, Romania October 26, 1895. He came to America at the age of 20 in 1916. Mae DeSchamps Poloson was born in Indian Territory near Mansfield, Arkansas February 8, 1889. When she was 21 she traveled west by train from Arkansas to Three Forks, MT.

Dan came to this country for the freedom to work hard and build a good life for himself and his family. Mae’s forefathers came to America from Scotland, Ireland, and France for freedom from religious persecution and government control. This was especially horrible for the DeSchamps before and after the French Revolution; that was when the Huguenots were jailed, tortured, and killed.

America, where the Declaration Of Independence declared: We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Constitution states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

This wonderful country and its freedoms gave my grandparents the opportunities many never get to experience. Grandpa and Grandma knew how to work hard and they were able to overcome hardships along the way. They passed those qualities on to their children and grandchildren.

Remember we come from Good Stock.

Caption: Mae and Dan

DAN POLOSON

Dan Poloson was born in Porumbac, Romania October 26, 1895. His parents, Nick and Lina Copotina Poloson raised sheep; Dan learned to herd and care for sheep at an early age. The people of this small village were very poor; photos taken over sixty years after Dan left his family and village show ox carts on the unpaved streets and few homes with running water or bathroom facilities. The architecture is the same. The photo below of Dan at a wedding in Romania shows their dress to be very close to what it was near the turn of the twentieth century. This was taken on one of Dan’s trips back to Romania. Dan is third from the left.

Dan left Romania in 1916 when he was twenty years old. He and a friend decided they didn’t want to spend their lives working in a factory in Romania. Dan was sea sick from the time he left Romania until the ship came to the shore of America. The trip took twenty four days. His first stop was in Kokomo, Indiana then on to Chicago, Illinois where he worked in a packing plant. Working conditions were horrible but a job was imperative since he was flat broke. His friend found a job milking cows but Dan’s thoughts were the thousands of sheep he’d heard about at Helena, Montana. Helena was headquarters for many Romanian sheep herders. Dan landed at the Bristol Hotel which was operated by a Romanian named Bozdock. From there he went to work for Sieben and Grimes, a large sheep ranch near Wolf Creek.

The Montana Central Railroad wound through the valley near the Sieben Ranch holdings of 115,000 acres. Supplies were brought in by rail. Henry Sieben had purchased the ranch in 1897. Dan worked for Henry Sieben for four years.

MILITARY DRAFT CARD

Dan had to sign up for the Military Draft in June of 1917. His occupation was in agriculture so that may be why he wasn’t drafted. His card below:

World War I Draft Registration Card

Name:Dan Polosom

County:Lewis and Clark State:Montana

Birth Date:22 Sep 1894

Race:Caucasian)

FHL Roll Number:1711434

It is unknown why Dan put Austria as his country of origin and his birth date as September 22, 1894. He arrived in the United States in 1916 just before Romania was pulled into WW I. It is possible he had a safety reason for this. Our own country under President Wilson was very suspicious of citizens and immigrants. So that may be the reason. Whatever it was, Dan must have had assistance in filling this out and this person must have been protecting him. Dan signed with an X so the person helping him signed his name. Dan was very limited in English as he’d only been in this country about a year.

1920 UNITED STATES FEDERAL CENSUS

Dan went to work on the Herrin sheep ranch in 1920 staying there until he and Mae bought the ranch near Lonepine, Montana in 1929.

Name: Dan Poloson

Home In 1920: Cartersville, Lewis and Clark County, Montana

Age: 25

Est. Birth Year: About 1895

Birthplace: Romania

Relation To Head Of House: Hired Man

Father’s Birth Place: Romania

Mother’s Birth Place: Romania

Marital Status: Single

Race: White

Sex: Male

Year Of Immigration: 1916

Able To Read: Yes

Able To Write: Yes

Neighbors: None Listed

Household Members:

Harland J. Herrin Ranch Owner Age 54

Mary E. Herrin Wife Of Owner Age 39

Mabel A. O Connell Sister-in-law of Herrins Age 20

John O Connell Brother-in-law of Herrins Age 28

John Taylor Born in Scotland 1877 Age 43

Won Young (woman) Born in China 1868 Age 52

Dan Poloson Age 25

Amos P. Chase Born in Maine 1850 Age 70

Alice Bloyer (man) Born in Romania 1880 Age 40

Immigrated to America 1904 or 1907

Elie Cadacareo (man) Born in Romania 1879 Age 41

Immigrated to America 1913

Caption: Dan & Prince Herrin Ranch

Caption: Dan & his Sheep Oct. 1960

Caption: Poloson Sheep Late 1930’s

Caption: Pack String At Fishtrap 1950’s

LEARNING TO PACK, SPEAK ENGLISH, AND GETTING MARRIED

Having never been around horses, Dan didn’t know how to put a halter on or load a pack horse; his packs would fall off. With the help of another herder and lots of practice he became an excellent horseman and packer. He could easily move and set up sheep camps. His work with sheep was near the ranch in the winter but summers found him in steep and beautiful mountain country. This mountain experience was very beneficial when he leased summer pasture from the Forest Service in the Cabinet Mountains, and later the St. Joe area of the Idaho mountains.

Dan could neither write or speak English when he migrated to the United States. He was Naturalized September 23, 1928 while he was still in the employ of Mr. Herrin. His acceptance as a Naturalized Citizen was because of good references, hard work, and not because he could read a word of the questions that were to be answered.

The Herrins were very good to Dan. After Dan & Mae were married they lived in a house on the ranch east of Helena near present day Wolf Creek. Harland Herrin was listed in the 1880 United States Census as being 17 years of age and residing in Jefferson County, Montana. He became known as a very prominent Montana businessman.

Dan and Mae were married in Helena, Montana on March 4, 1922. How they met is unknown. Mae might have been teaching area immigrants how to speak English.

Their children were born in Helena; Ernestine Marie, March 3, 1923: Fred Harris, March 31, 1924: Fay Elinore, January 4, 1926: Albert Raymond, September 6, 1927.

Eighteen years after Dan’s arrival in America he had enough money set aside to buy the ranch near Lonepine, Montana just before the great depression of 1929. They made a go of it on the ranch even though times were hard and money was scarce. Dan and Mae were able to build the ranch into one of the finest in the area through hard work, perseverance, and honesty.

Dan, from a poor village in Romania, and Mae from a family thrown into poverty when her father died. Mae was five hears old when her mother was left alone with eight children and a younger brother to raise.

Dan was generous to a fault. He helped the Indian families that camped by the upper spring; the women would walk down to the cook house where they were given food to take back to camp. Bert would