Cherry County NEGenWeb
Project © DJH 2000-2022©
History of Minnechaduza Valley
|
HISTORY OF MINNECHADUZA VALLEY
By Bill Oliver
This is a free site. Copyright 2005-2021
Bill Oliver. This page may not be copied or distributed or
accessed for profit without the written permission of the copyright holder
or the owner of this site. Please notify the
site owner if you have come across this stie as a result of a paid subscription
to another site.
What is in the Minnechaduza Valley, about halfway between Kilgore and
Valentine? When the Freemont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroads were
being built in the mid 1880s, there was a need to house government
warehouses to hold supplies destined for the nearby Rosebud Reservation.
Supplies were shipped by rail and then hauled by wagon to the Native
Americans on the reservation. Crookston was thus established and
nicknamed the “Gateway to the Great Rosebud Reservation.”
W T Crook was the yardmaster for the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri
Railroad being built across Cherry County and the community took his
name. The settlement began to grow drawing both ranchers and farmers.
A School District [#16] was organized the first year with a two story
[frame] school house being built. A Post Office was established.
Fredrick Baumgartel became Postmaster. He collected the mail brought in
daily by train and distributed it.
Those who chose dairy farming soon began to ship large quantities of
cream to the East via rails.
As the town and community began to grow, the first church was built
south of town in 1887 by the German Lutherans. Following this shops and
businesses started up and on 21 April 1890, the town filed for official
incorporation. This makes it 115 years old tomorrow.
There were baseball games, wrestling matches, horse racing for the
citizens to watch and participate. There were dances, movies, and
firework displays to add to the entertainment. Native Americans from the
reservation would come to town and camp on the outskirts. They then
would perform their dances for more enjoyment.
In 1907, the German Lutheran church, south of town, was torn down and
rebuilt on different land. In 1952 the church was moved to Crookston and
is still being used.
In 1910 the Methodist church was built and though the building is still
standing, it is no longer used. The Sacred Heart Catholic Church was
built in 1917, but is no longer there.
There was a newspaper published in town, but the dates are unknown,
except that a subscription in 1913 was $1.50. It was called the
Crookston Herald and it is unknown if the subscription was for weekly,
monthly, or yearly.
By 1914 Crookston boasted of two hardware stores, two banks, two
restaurants, lumberyard, garages, a drug store, meat market, hotel, a
movie theater, a grain elevator, and a saloon. The school had expanded
to grades one through ten, and the population was 600.
Crookston today has their Post Office, their School, the Lutheran
Church, the elevator, and a liquor store. Its population has dwindled to
ninety making it a near ghost town.
This page last updated 05-2018
You are the Visitor to
this page since 05-04-2005