RESERVE SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICT
The Reserve Soil Conservation District was petitioned into being just as the drought era of the "dirty thirties" was ending in 1939. During the 1980s, we have been experiencing another terrible drought in Sheridan County. Has this drought been as damaging as the drought of the '30s? Has research and new ways of controlling soil erosion made a difference? What have we learned? You be the judge!
In this review of the past fifty years since our district was first organized, we would like to talk about the way the district was organized, its first steps, people who have guided it along the way, some of the accomplishments and why conservation is so important to our future.
In 1935, with war clouds hovering over Europe and Asia and dust clouds over the Great Plains, the federal government passed the Soil Conservation Service Act. Under this act, demonstration farms were set up for research throughout the nation. Soil conservation technicians were hired to teach and to help the farmers put conservation practices on the land. One such farm was located near Froid, Montana. The Froid Demonstration Farm, Montana No.2, included approximately 50 square miles of crop and rangeland. SCS technicians from Culbertson were assigned to help the farmers who farmed in the demonstration area. Some of the farmers put in grass row barriers, others tried stubble mulch, strip cropping, contours, planted shelterbelts, or put in dugouts and waterways. All of these practices were meant to help the farmer control soil erosion from wind and water. The technicians tested the soils, kept rainfall and production records. This farm was said to be demonstrative of the dry land farming of the Great Plains and as a research-experimental farm, was a very valuable tool in the area. Three technicians were assigned to the farm, Hershell Hurd, Bill Davis and Theodore Coey. They were the first SCS technicians assigned to the new Reserve district.
In 1937, the federal government drafted a model conservation district law. It would be up to each individual state to actually model and adapt the law for use within state boundaries. The Montana State Legislature passed the first district law in the Enabling Act of 1937. It was amended quite extensively during the year, and in 1939, the legislature passed the Soil Conservation District Law, which is still in effect today. The main purpose of the district law was to create areas such as the Demonstration Farms and assign SCS technicians to those areas. Each district was to be headed by a five-member board of supervisors elected by the people living within the district. To become a district, the people first determined the boundaries and then, by petition, asked for approval from the State Conservation Committee to form a district.
In 1939, under the guidance of the late Senator Lars Angvick and Carl Holje, about 82,120 acres near Reserve were petitioned to the state board for approval. On January 15, 1940, the papers were signed by the Conservation Committee, and the Reserve District became the first district in the State of Montana. A few minutes later, approval was granted a district near Wibaux, Montana.
The State Conservation Committee appointed two members of the first board of supervisors, Carl Holje and Harvey Carpenter.
In the election held in February of 1940, Thomas Sundsted, Archie Mann and Hans Larsen were chosen to complete the five-member board of supervisors.
The first meeting was held in Reserve with all board members present. Also attending were George Lund, local banker, R.F. Rasmussen, Extension Agent, Senator Angvick and SCS Technicians Hershell Hurd, Theodore Coey and Bill Davis.
The first order of business was water. Following years of drought, farmers wanted water for livestock and, if possible, for irrigation. What about water rights for the district? The National Wildlife Refuge at Medicine Lake had claim to all the runoff from the Big Muddy Creek and streams that flowed into the Big Muddy. In order to do the work, the cooperators of the district thought water rights were an important part of the picture. The potential of irrigation along the big Muddy looked good and water spreading from some of the smaller streams could be done during spring runoff. A few years earlier, a small dam had been built on the Big Muddy Creek for the purpose of irrigating about 1000 acres. The dam had not been completed and could use some work.
In May 1940, the supervisors sent a request to the State Water Conservation Board requesting assistance to complete the construction of the dam. They thought that if they could get funds needed to increase the height of the dam, install gates, construct head ditches, field laterals and dikes, the National Wildlife Refuge would see fit to approve the use of some of the runoff of the big Muddy for use by the district.
Even though water-right determinations were not made the first year, the district did a lot of water-oriented work for the farmers. The Soil Conservation Service had heavy equipment in the district that had been used on the Demonstration Farm and was willing to loan it to the district. Some of it was in poor condition, some was in fair condition, but with good operators, it could be kept in running condition.
(The district accepted the loan of the following from the SCS. Some of this same equipment was granted to the district in 1947.)
one R-D Caterpillar Tractor one 0-50 Caterpillar
one 2-ton Scarifier one 10-foot Caterpillar blade grader
four tumblebugs one 8-foot blade Caterpillar terracer
one rotary scraper two slip scrapers
one tree planter one tree cultivator
one grain drill one JD 3-row basin lister
one Iternational Lister one Chase plow
one Noble Weeder three Pence sweeps
two hand grass seeders one grease gun
one 1937 GMC stake body truck one fire extinguisher
one set of flares tire chains
one set license plates one rain gauge
In July of 1941, Fish and Wildlife finally approved 1000acre-feet of water for use by the district from that which was part of the Big Muddy drainage. Farmers could now build dams, but the size was limited to dams holding no more than 5 acre-feet of water.
This was great news. The district then applied to the Federal Government for funds to complete the dam north of Reserve. In September 1941, Washington, DC, approved the project and granted funds in the amount of $19,473.00. These funds came under the Work Progress Administration (WPA). The district had the equipment on loan from SCS and would do the work. Some of it would be done by WPA labor, and since the government did not want to be liable for any injuries or damage to property, the district was to be held responsible. All went well, and no claims were made against the district. .
After the dam was completed, irrigating the 1000 acres along the Big Muddy was a possibility. Later the Fish and Game Department decided to stock the dam with fish. Evenings and Sundays for many years found people fishing and picnicking at the dam. This dam is known as the Holje Dam.
As farmers outside the district saw what their neighbors were doing in conservation, they, too, wanted some of the same practices on their lands, especially the water developments. In 1941, a petitiion was circulated to enlarge the district to include all of Sheridan County, except for the incorporated towns of Plentywood, Medicine Lake, Outlook and Westby and the National Wildlife Refuge at Medicine Lake. This request was approved by the State Conservation Committee, and the district was enlarged to include some 1,080,000 acres. (Plentywood and Medicine Lake joined the district, by petition, in 1971 and each of them has an appointed supervisor on the board of directors with the same powers as any elected supervisor of the district.
Requests for water facilities continued to head the list of conservation projects the cooperators wanted across the district Hardly a section of land was left without some earthmoving done. The district still had the SCS equipment but as requests for other projects came in, could use some other equipment to get the jobs done. The Water Facilities Department of the state had some equipment in the area that had been used at the refuge by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). They gave the district permission to use the following: one RD-7 tractor with power take-off, one 0-50 tractor, one 8-yard carry-all scraper, one road ripper, one road builder, and one lighting system. The county had asked for help ill building roads and approaches to farmsteads, and these new additions to the heavy equipment would come in handy. Even the lighting system was useful, as the operators found themselves faced with so much work, they could work double shifts. After sundown they could even use the lights to see to make repairs on the machines and be ready for the next shift Much of the repair work was done in the field.
To give you an idea of the various types of earthmoving that was being done, we have included a list of projects completed before 1944. There were dams, dikes, dugouts, diversions and reservoirs; spring developments, sometimes even using dynamite; basements for houses, schools and churches; cleaning of corrals; leveling land for farmsteads, churches, schools and townsites; even excavations for coal mines and gravel pits; fire guards; draining potholes; leveling land for irrigation; road building and roadside seeding; approaches to farmsteads; waterways and seeding; tree planting; installation of culverts in roadside drainages and even the digging of a potato cellar. Some practices were on a cost-share basis much as today, but most of them were charged out to the farmer. It was the job of the supervisors to collect from the farmer. The farmer requested the practices, the SCS designed the eathmoving according to SCS specifications, and the heavy equipment operators would see to it that they were installed. Costs were low by today's prices. It might cost the farmer $116.00 for 1000 yards of earthmoving to have his farmstead graded; $21.75 to get an approach built; $21.75 to excavate for a spring; $454.75 for a potato storage cellar; $58.00 to excavate for a coal mine or gravel pit Charges were made by the number of yards of earth moved.
Heavy .equipment operators were hired by the district to do the earthmoving. Below is a list of some of the operators from 1940-1971:
Roy Michels, Mat Makoff, Armor Hoppins, Donald Blair, Torgier Vik, Clarence Petersen, Arthur Ledham, Clarence Meyers, Walter Reddon, Lloyd Michels, Harry Johnson, Kenneth Holst, Donald Syme, Lloyd Ritland, John Hendricksmier, Arthur Grayson and Ronald Christensen.
Kenneth Holst was heavy equipment foreman from 1946 to 1971. In an agreement between Holst and the district in 1965, Holst took over the heavy equipment and in return received 50% of the monies collected. His job was to take care of the repairs, hire and/or fire operators and do the construction work. The SCS continued to schedule and design the practices and route the machines.
By 1945, the district had purchased some equipment of their own to replace the Water Facilities equipment. This equipment had been returned and distributed to other districts in the state. The district purchased a new 8-yard LeTourneau scraper, a used elevator grader and a D-7 Caterpillar tractor. Repair work was often done in the field, so they built a trailer that would haul fuels, oils, greases and repair parts and tools. Did you ever try to do a big repair job in the field? It was almost impossible. The district needed a shop which could be used year around for repairing machinery. The district had purchased some lots in the Malcolm Addition of Plentywood but used them only for parking machines not in use. Sheridan County had their shop and were willing to let the district use the shop and tools and even the welder. Since the district was helping with road building, sloping and seeding in the county, this looked like a fair exchange. In 1948, the district purchased a building from the county that was located at the fairgrounds. Here they were able to store parts and equipment and do repair work both summer and winter. They used this building up until 1955, when they decided to trade the building back to the county for three acres of land in the northwest corner of the fair grounds and $6,000.00. This is the present site of the district shop, now rented to Tommerup. On the three acres, they put up the shop at a cost of $6,599.00. This included all the cement work as well as the building. Another $1,000.00 put in wiring and electricity, bought a furnace and fuel tank, and they had a shop of their own. In 1956, they decided to fence the property and install locking gates. Total cost of the fence and gates was $770.00. The district had sold the Malcolm lots when they purchased the building from the county.
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