Louis (20) married Pearl Bayless in Kellerton, Ringgold, IA where his father farmed and near where his sister, Matilda was born. They farmed for a year in Mountain Lake,Cottonwood,MN [1915, then for three years in Kellerton, Ringgold, IA [1918 after his father moved to SD and retired to AR. They moved to Torrington, Goshen, WY in 1919 and after working there for several months, bought a relinquished homestead near Hawk Springs, Goshen, WY.
..................................................................................................................
EARLY HISTORY OF THE LOUIS ARNOLD FAMILY
In the year 1919 at Kellerton, Iowa, Pearl and Louis Arnold (age 23 and 24) and their two children, Lila (age 4) and Leroy (age 2) began their westward journey. They packed their belongings into an imigrant railroad boxcar along with the family belongings of Fred Millsap and Grover Lewis. The land prices and opportunities for farming in Iowa were discouraging and they had heard very favorable stories about new land avilable for farming in Wyoming. A brother of Pearl's, Floyd Bayless (age 15) decided to come with them. Many were coming from Iowa at this time and a near-by community became known as Iowa Center. They arrived by rail in Torrington in Feb. 1919. At first, they lived in Torrington four months and Louis worked as carpenter with Grover Lewis and picked potatoes for George Gamble. Wages were $5.00 per day, which was very good for those days. The free homestead land was already taken but they found a 320 acre relinquishment that was for sale for $1700.00. This was land that was offered for sale by those who had drawn but decided not to homestead or live on it. The land they chose was 1 mile south and 1 mile west of the present town of Hawk Springs, although no town, railroad, highway or fences existed there then. They had some difficulty finding their own boundary, they set up a tent for the summer and started digging a well as this was the first necessity. This was done by using an auger, like a post hole digger and turning it by hand. At about 60 ft. they hit rock but did have some water. It was the poorest tasting water in the country and not very much of it. The best thing anyone could say was "at least it was wet". The next project that summer was to dig a basement for living quarters. This was done with horses pulling a slip or fresno and shovels. The sand for concrete had to be hauled from Horse Creek by wagon and lumber and cement hauled from Torrington. The water had to be pumped from the well by hand. This was the first structure on the Arnold farm, where otherwise there were no trees, fences or buldings. This was open range where only prairie dogs, coyotes, antelop, jack rabbits and rattlesnakes existed.
The open range cattle were still everywhere and crops such as corn and garden had to be fenced. The cattle soon came and tore down the fences and once even trampled the tent down while they were away. There was a county store about 6 miles northeast of them, run by the Art Bakers and Maurice Wollums. They received their mail from a mail box about 1 mile north of the present town of Hawk Springs and it was brought out there from Torrington. The second summer, they purchased and installed a windmill over the well. The pumpoing water by hand had to cease. They then buried a barrel between the well and the basement for a supply and connected it with pipe into the basement. They used a wooden plug for a faucet but the windmill supplied water to the basement. This was real luxury. Of course, they still had to carry it back out. The first winter they found the deep snow quite a problem. The snow blew off the pasture from the west and drifted their small corrals full and completely covered their basement. They had to dig out through a basement window. Once they had to bring a new born calf into the 14' by 24' basement with them. They only had a few milk cows so didn't have many to care for. They were snowed in most of the winter and had to make their own Christmas toys and even made a calendar. They spent much time in the evenings with Louis whittling and playing the harmonica and Pearl, reading stories to the children. Their recreation consisted of playing cards with neighbors, going on picnics, dancing with Louis, sometimes playing the violin or harmonica. They often combined recreation with work by going to Lone Tree Canyon on a picnic with a team and wagon and then cutting wood and fence posts for futrue use. They always carried a 22 single shot rifle and if they were llucky they might get a jack rabbit or cottontail for supper. They always liked gardening and raised much fo their food. One year, Louis reported selling about $400.00 worth of watermelons at the fair in Torrington. They soon decided horses were outdated for dryland farming. In 1923, Louis came home with a new Fordson tractor purchased for $400.00. He bought it from Bill Anderson, the Ford dealer in Torrington. He later bought the Bill Anderson homstead for $20.00 per acre, a half section of land just south of their homestead. This land, with the other work he did for neighbors kept him busy. This tractor with a pull type, two-bottom plow broke up may acres of sod that year. He mostly tried to raise corn as they did back in Iowa. Every fall, it seemed more ground was blowing and it took more time working down bumps when sand blew up into tumbleweed. The corn seemed to not grow under the dry conditions and pickiing corn by hand was hard work because the ears were small and low to the ground. They always had some chickens, hogs and milk cows to feed the corn to. Many people today don't know the use homesteaders got out of corn cobs. They make excellent fuel for heating and cooking. After discouragement at raising corn, they turned to raising grain. Until a few years later, when they learned to summerfallow, their yields were very poor. The grain was bound with a grain binder, shocked and then threshed by a threshing machine. Other relatives decided to join in the good life. A brother, Earl Arnold, younger even than Louis, came by himself in 1920. In 1921, his wife Ruth and four month old son Paul, came to live on a place north of Bear Mt. They later sold this place to another brother, Fred Arnold, and he moved to a farm 2 miles south of Lois and Pearl. Earl, while living at his first place, worked with a team and drag smoothing up the new gravel road between Torrington and Cheyenne. This must have been hard on the horses' feet. He had to do a set distance at a specified time each week. Then, Pearl's brother Homer Bayless and family came, and also Walter Gomme and family. Mrs. Hazel Gomme, now living in Torrington, is a sister of Pearl. Another sister, Fern and Edwin Swenson, came and moved to Torrignton. Then Pearl's brother Frank Bayless and family came and moved to a farm by Bear Mt. Another brother of Louis, Fred Arnold and family, came and moved into the first place lived in by Earl Arnold. The brother, Floyd Bayless, who moved out to Wyoming in 1919, moved back to Iowa after about one lyear and finished high school A brother, Earl Bayless, moved out to Torrington for a few years and then moved on to Washington. Of ten brothers and sisters on Pearl's side and 12 brothers and sisters on Louis's side, almost half of them had followed them westward. Life on the homestead was often full of worry and tragic events. Lila was hopping around in the basement one day, when she fell and broke her arm. This was 25 miles from a doctor by team and wagon. Louis was away at Ed Hoovers, 1/2 mile east helping to dig a basement. Pearl got Lila comforted and then ran all the way for Louis, after she got there, she was out of breath and couldn't talk to tell them the trouble. Finally, Louis unhitched the team and got on the one that was broke and started home. Ed Hoove wanted to help so he got on the one not broke. They said mom was first crying and then laughing because harness and rider were all going in different directions. They took Lila over to a neighbor who had a Model-T car and he took them to a doctor in Torrington. They were taken care of by a Dr. Platz. LIla and her mother stayed with the Ed Hoover family until they were able to come home the next day. Neighbors were always wonderful in times of toruble. Pearl remembers having the flu and Mrs. Hoover coming and fixing chicken and dinner for her. Then one day during the cold winter, they received word that Eugene Sanford, the son of Crate and Drucy Sanford, two miles south, was seriously ill. They went to help and Louis left for a doctor, he brought back Mrs. Joe Madden, who had been a nurse in the Army. She immediately decided he had pneumonia and asked for onions. They cooked onions and made poultices and coverd his chest with onions. During the long cold night, the nurse came out of his room and said the fever had broke and he is better. This was a great concern for early pioneers, getting sick or hurt with doctors so far away. A few years later, other tragic events affected the Arnolds. In 1928, Pearl was going up to a farm house to inquire for directions and was bitten by a dog. It turned into a bad case of blood poisoning. Dr. Hevely, who was treating her also got blood poisoing from her. Another doctor, Barber, wanted to amputate the leg but they talked him out of it. She finnally completely recovered. She says some home made green salve made by Grandma Davis, mother of Art, Dode and Frank Davis, helped more than anything. Then in 1934, Melvin Sanford, Eugene's brother and Leroy were in a motorcycle accident. Melvin was killed. This was Leroy's best friend and being together so much it really affected Leroy. Then in 1939, Leroy was killed in a car accident. He left a widow and a baby born a few months later. The baby was named Leroy and is now living in Cheyenne and works on the railroad there. One year later, in 1940, tragedy struck again. Early in the morning during August after an explosion, the Arnold home and all the contents burned to the ground. The two younger children, Louis Jr. and Ruby, escaped by gettin out through a bedroom window. Pearl was burned from the explosion and fire. She was treated by Dr. Sell and not charged anything. The neighbors came to help after the house burned and gave showers and brought all kind of things. These tragedies would have been much worse without such good neighbors. In 1953, Pearl was bitten by a tattlesnake in her front yard. She was very allergic to even a bee sting. She was very critical in the hospital for several days but fully recovered. Another neighbor, Ralph Smith, a brother of Chris Smith, now living in Torrington, homesteaded just south of the Arnolds. He would sometimes bring his wife and 8 daughters up from Scottsbluff to work. Then one day, the Arnolds received word that Ralph, a big husky fellow had died from pneumonia. Tragedy had struck again. In 1923, Louis purchased a new Model-T truck for $400.00. this was a stripped down model, no cab or even a seat. You had to furnish luxury items yourself. He sat on the gas tank to drive it home. This was just about the end of the team and wagon days. On a previous trip with a team and wagon, Louis tells about going to Torrington with a neighbor Mel Choate. On the way home with the wagon fully loaded and a 100 lb. sack of flour on top, they stopped to bed down for the night. In the morning, they found everything was white, at first they thought it was snow but then found the horse had gotten into the flour. In 1930, Louis Jr. was born and then in 1935, Ruby (Mrs. George Ochsner) was born. This they said was their second family. Louis worked as a carpenter and any other off farm work to support his family. In 1921, he worked as a blacksmith for the Hawk Springs Irrigation project. He helped on the dam for the reservoir. In 1928, the railroad came through. This was the beginning of the town of Hawk Springs. All the small country schools were consolidated into Hawk Springs. A new school was built. Louis Sr. was on the school board when it was built and Louis Jr. was on the school board in 1966 when it was closed and consolidated with other towns. Louis still laughs at about the time in the basement when he removed his shoe and emptied dirt on the newly swept floor. Pearl took after him with the broom and chased him up the stairs. He ran out of the basement door and ran into a stranger coming to ask directions. The stranger could do nothing but stutter for awhile. In 1982 Pearl and Loouis Arnold are still living in Torrington at the age 86 and 87 [Louis died in 1983, Pearl lived to be 91.] Louis is in a nursing home after suffering a disabling stroke. Pearl, who says she isn't really that old because of being born Feb. 29, lives in their home close to the nursing home. Lila, or Mrs. Lloyd Craton, lost her husband to a heart attack and now lives with her mother, Pearl, who is now suffering with arthritis and malignant cancer. The farm is still in the family after 63 years. It is being cared for by Louis Jr. and wife Betty, son Lindsey and wife Sara, who llive in the Hoover house 1/2 mile away, and son Barry, who still lives at home. The farm has changed over the years as all of us have. Pictures and memories still remind us of the days gone by.
..................................................................................................................
EARLY HISTORY OF THE LOUIS ARNOLD FAMILY
In the year 1919 at Kellerton, Iowa, Pearl and Louis Arnold (age 23 and 24) and their two children, Lila (age 4) and Leroy (age 2) began their westward journey. They packed their belongings into an imigrant railroad boxcar along with the family belongings of Fred Millsap and Grover Lewis. The land prices and opportunities for farming in Iowa were discouraging and they had heard very favorable stories about new land avilable for farming in Wyoming. A brother of Pearl's, Floyd Bayless (age 15) decided to come with them. Many were coming from Iowa at this time and a near-by community became known as Iowa Center. They arrived by rail in Torrington in Feb. 1919. At first, they lived in Torrington four months and Louis worked as carpenter with Grover Lewis and picked potatoes for George Gamble. Wages were $5.00 per day, which was very good for those days. The free homestead land was already taken but they found a 320 acre relinquishment that was for sale for $1700.00. This was land that was offered for sale by those who had drawn but decided not to homestead or live on it. The land they chose was 1 mile south and 1 mile west of the present town of Hawk Springs, although no town, railroad, highway or fences existed there then. They had some difficulty finding their own boundary, they set up a tent for the summer and started digging a well as this was the first necessity. This was done by using an auger, like a post hole digger and turning it by hand. At about 60 ft. they hit rock but did have some water. It was the poorest tasting water in the country and not very much of it. The best thing anyone could say was "at least it was wet". The next project that summer was to dig a basement for living quarters. This was done with horses pulling a slip or fresno and shovels. The sand for concrete had to be hauled from Horse Creek by wagon and lumber and cement hauled from Torrington. The water had to be pumped from the well by hand. This was the first structure on the Arnold farm, where otherwise there were no trees, fences or buldings. This was open range where only prairie dogs, coyotes, antelop, jack rabbits and rattlesnakes existed.
The open range cattle were still everywhere and crops such as corn and garden had to be fenced. The cattle soon came and tore down the fences and once even trampled the tent down while they were away. There was a county store about 6 miles northeast of them, run by the Art Bakers and Maurice Wollums. They received their mail from a mail box about 1 mile north of the present town of Hawk Springs and it was brought out there from Torrington. The second summer, they purchased and installed a windmill over the well. The pumpoing water by hand had to cease. They then buried a barrel between the well and the basement for a supply and connected it with pipe into the basement. They used a wooden plug for a faucet but the windmill supplied water to the basement. This was real luxury. Of course, they still had to carry it back out. The first winter they found the deep snow quite a problem. The snow blew off the pasture from the west and drifted their small corrals full and completely covered their basement. They had to dig out through a basement window. Once they had to bring a new born calf into the 14' by 24' basement with them. They only had a few milk cows so didn't have many to care for. They were snowed in most of the winter and had to make their own Christmas toys and even made a calendar. They spent much time in the evenings with Louis whittling and playing the harmonica and Pearl, reading stories to the children. Their recreation consisted of playing cards with neighbors, going on picnics, dancing with Louis, sometimes playing the violin or harmonica. They often combined recreation with work by going to Lone Tree Canyon on a picnic with a team and wagon and then cutting wood and fence posts for futrue use. They always carried a 22 single shot rifle and if they were llucky they might get a jack rabbit or cottontail for supper. They always liked gardening and raised much fo their food. One year, Louis reported selling about $400.00 worth of watermelons at the fair in Torrington. They soon decided horses were outdated for dryland farming. In 1923, Louis came home with a new Fordson tractor purchased for $400.00. He bought it from Bill Anderson, the Ford dealer in Torrington. He later bought the Bill Anderson homstead for $20.00 per acre, a half section of land just south of their homestead. This land, with the other work he did for neighbors kept him busy. This tractor with a pull type, two-bottom plow broke up may acres of sod that year. He mostly tried to raise corn as they did back in Iowa. Every fall, it seemed more ground was blowing and it took more time working down bumps when sand blew up into tumbleweed. The corn seemed to not grow under the dry conditions and pickiing corn by hand was hard work because the ears were small and low to the ground. They always had some chickens, hogs and milk cows to feed the corn to. Many people today don't know the use homesteaders got out of corn cobs. They make excellent fuel for heating and cooking. After discouragement at raising corn, they turned to raising grain. Until a few years later, when they learned to summerfallow, their yields were very poor. The grain was bound with a grain binder, shocked and then threshed by a threshing machine. Other relatives decided to join in the good life. A brother, Earl Arnold, younger even than Louis, came by himself in 1920. In 1921, his wife Ruth and four month old son Paul, came to live on a place north of Bear Mt. They later sold this place to another brother, Fred Arnold, and he moved to a farm 2 miles south of Lois and Pearl. Earl, while living at his first place, worked with a team and drag smoothing up the new gravel road between Torrington and Cheyenne. This must have been hard on the horses' feet. He had to do a set distance at a specified time each week. Then, Pearl's brother Homer Bayless and family came, and also Walter Gomme and family. Mrs. Hazel Gomme, now living in Torrington, is a sister of Pearl. Another sister, Fern and Edwin Swenson, came and moved to Torrignton. Then Pearl's brother Frank Bayless and family came and moved to a farm by Bear Mt. Another brother of Louis, Fred Arnold and family, came and moved into the first place lived in by Earl Arnold. The brother, Floyd Bayless, who moved out to Wyoming in 1919, moved back to Iowa after about one lyear and finished high school A brother, Earl Bayless, moved out to Torrington for a few years and then moved on to Washington. Of ten brothers and sisters on Pearl's side and 12 brothers and sisters on Louis's side, almost half of them had followed them westward. Life on the homestead was often full of worry and tragic events. Lila was hopping around in the basement one day, when she fell and broke her arm. This was 25 miles from a doctor by team and wagon. Louis was away at Ed Hoovers, 1/2 mile east helping to dig a basement. Pearl got Lila comforted and then ran all the way for Louis, after she got there, she was out of breath and couldn't talk to tell them the trouble. Finally, Louis unhitched the team and got on the one that was broke and started home. Ed Hoove wanted to help so he got on the one not broke. They said mom was first crying and then laughing because harness and rider were all going in different directions. They took Lila over to a neighbor who had a Model-T car and he took them to a doctor in Torrington. They were taken care of by a Dr. Platz. LIla and her mother stayed with the Ed Hoover family until they were able to come home the next day. Neighbors were always wonderful in times of toruble. Pearl remembers having the flu and Mrs. Hoover coming and fixing chicken and dinner for her. Then one day during the cold winter, they received word that Eugene Sanford, the son of Crate and Drucy Sanford, two miles south, was seriously ill. They went to help and Louis left for a doctor, he brought back Mrs. Joe Madden, who had been a nurse in the Army. She immediately decided he had pneumonia and asked for onions. They cooked onions and made poultices and coverd his chest with onions. During the long cold night, the nurse came out of his room and said the fever had broke and he is better. This was a great concern for early pioneers, getting sick or hurt with doctors so far away. A few years later, other tragic events affected the Arnolds. In 1928, Pearl was going up to a farm house to inquire for directions and was bitten by a dog. It turned into a bad case of blood poisoning. Dr. Hevely, who was treating her also got blood poisoing from her. Another doctor, Barber, wanted to amputate the leg but they talked him out of it. She finnally completely recovered. She says some home made green salve made by Grandma Davis, mother of Art, Dode and Frank Davis, helped more than anything. Then in 1934, Melvin Sanford, Eugene's brother and Leroy were in a motorcycle accident. Melvin was killed. This was Leroy's best friend and being together so much it really affected Leroy. Then in 1939, Leroy was killed in a car accident. He left a widow and a baby born a few months later. The baby was named Leroy and is now living in Cheyenne and works on the railroad there. One year later, in 1940, tragedy struck again. Early in the morning during August after an explosion, the Arnold home and all the contents burned to the ground. The two younger children, Louis Jr. and Ruby, escaped by gettin out through a bedroom window. Pearl was burned from the explosion and fire. She was treated by Dr. Sell and not charged anything. The neighbors came to help after the house burned and gave showers and brought all kind of things. These tragedies would have been much worse without such good neighbors. In 1953, Pearl was bitten by a tattlesnake in her front yard. She was very allergic to even a bee sting. She was very critical in the hospital for several days but fully recovered. Another neighbor, Ralph Smith, a brother of Chris Smith, now living in Torrington, homesteaded just south of the Arnolds. He would sometimes bring his wife and 8 daughters up from Scottsbluff to work. Then one day, the Arnolds received word that Ralph, a big husky fellow had died from pneumonia. Tragedy had struck again. In 1923, Louis purchased a new Model-T truck for $400.00. this was a stripped down model, no cab or even a seat. You had to furnish luxury items yourself. He sat on the gas tank to drive it home. This was just about the end of the team and wagon days. On a previous trip with a team and wagon, Louis tells about going to Torrington with a neighbor Mel Choate. On the way home with the wagon fully loaded and a 100 lb. sack of flour on top, they stopped to bed down for the night. In the morning, they found everything was white, at first they thought it was snow but then found the horse had gotten into the flour. In 1930, Louis Jr. was born and then in 1935, Ruby (Mrs. George Ochsner) was born. This they said was their second family. Louis worked as a carpenter and any other off farm work to support his family. In 1921, he worked as a blacksmith for the Hawk Springs Irrigation project. He helped on the dam for the reservoir. In 1928, the railroad came through. This was the beginning of the town of Hawk Springs. All the small country schools were consolidated into Hawk Springs. A new school was built. Louis Sr. was on the school board when it was built and Louis Jr. was on the school board in 1966 when it was closed and consolidated with other towns. Louis still laughs at about the time in the basement when he removed his shoe and emptied dirt on the newly swept floor. Pearl took after him with the broom and chased him up the stairs. He ran out of the basement door and ran into a stranger coming to ask directions. The stranger could do nothing but stutter for awhile. In 1982 Pearl and Loouis Arnold are still living in Torrington at the age 86 and 87 [Louis died in 1983, Pearl lived to be 91.] Louis is in a nursing home after suffering a disabling stroke. Pearl, who says she isn't really that old because of being born Feb. 29, lives in their home close to the nursing home. Lila, or Mrs. Lloyd Craton, lost her husband to a heart attack and now lives with her mother, Pearl, who is now suffering with arthritis and malignant cancer. The farm is still in the family after 63 years. It is being cared for by Louis Jr. and wife Betty, son Lindsey and wife Sara, who llive in the Hoover house 1/2 mile away, and son Barry, who still lives at home. The farm has changed over the years as all of us have. Pictures and memories still remind us of the days gone by.
Louis (20) married Pearl Bayless in Kellerton, Ringgold, IA where his father farmed and near where his sister, Matilda was born. They farmed for a year in Mountain Lake,Cottonwood,MN [1915, then for three years in Kellerton, Ringgold, IA [1918 after his father moved to SD and retired to AR. They moved to Torrington, Goshen, WY in 1919 and after working there for several months, bought a relinquished homestead near Hawk Springs, Goshen, WY.
..................................................................................................................
EARLY HISTORY OF THE LOUIS ARNOLD FAMILY
In the year 1919 at Kellerton, Iowa, Pearl and Louis Arnold (age 23 and 24) and their two children, Lila (age 4) and Leroy (age 2) began their westward journey. They packed their belongings into an imigrant railroad boxcar along with the family belongings of Fred Millsap and Grover Lewis. The land prices and opportunities for farming in Iowa were discouraging and they had heard very favorable stories about new land avilable for farming in Wyoming. A brother of Pearl's, Floyd Bayless (age 15) decided to come with them. Many were coming from Iowa at this time and a near-by community became known as Iowa Center. They arrived by rail in Torrington in Feb. 1919. At first, they lived in Torrington four months and Louis worked as carpenter with Grover Lewis and picked potatoes for George Gamble. Wages were $5.00 per day, which was very good for those days. The free homestead land was already taken but they found a 320 acre relinquishment that was for sale for $1700.00. This was land that was offered for sale by those who had drawn but decided not to homestead or live on it. The land they chose was 1 mile south and 1 mile west of the present town of Hawk Springs, although no town, railroad, highway or fences existed there then. They had some difficulty finding their own boundary, they set up a tent for the summer and started digging a well as this was the first necessity. This was done by using an auger, like a post hole digger and turning it by hand. At about 60 ft. they hit rock but did have some water. It was the poorest tasting water in the country and not very much of it. The best thing anyone could say was "at least it was wet". The next project that summer was to dig a basement for living quarters. This was done with horses pulling a slip or fresno and shovels. The sand for concrete had to be hauled from Horse Creek by wagon and lumber and cement hauled from Torrington. The water had to be pumped from the well by hand. This was the first structure on the Arnold farm, where otherwise there were no trees, fences or buldings. This was open range where only prairie dogs, coyotes, antelop, jack rabbits and rattlesnakes existed.
The open range cattle were still everywhere and crops such as corn and garden had to be fenced. The cattle soon came and tore down the fences and once even trampled the tent down while they were away. There was a county store about 6 miles northeast of them, run by the Art Bakers and Maurice Wollums. They received their mail from a mail box about 1 mile north of the present town of Hawk Springs and it was brought out there from Torrington. The second summer, they purchased and installed a windmill over the well. The pumpoing water by hand had to cease. They then buried a barrel between the well and the basement for a supply and connected it with pipe into the basement. They used a wooden plug for a faucet but the windmill supplied water to the basement. This was real luxury. Of course, they still had to carry it back out. The first winter they found the deep snow quite a problem. The snow blew off the pasture from the west and drifted their small corrals full and completely covered their basement. They had to dig out through a basement window. Once they had to bring a new born calf into the 14' by 24' basement with them. They only had a few milk cows so didn't have many to care for. They were snowed in most of the winter and had to make their own Christmas toys and even made a calendar. They spent much time in the evenings with Louis whittling and playing the harmonica and Pearl, reading stories to the children. Their recreation consisted of playing cards with neighbors, going on picnics, dancing with Louis, sometimes playing the violin or harmonica. They often combined recreation with work by going to Lone Tree Canyon on a picnic with a team and wagon and then cutting wood and fence posts for futrue use. They always carried a 22 single shot rifle and if they were llucky they might get a jack rabbit or cottontail for supper. They always liked gardening and raised much fo their food. One year, Louis reported selling about $400.00 worth of watermelons at the fair in Torrington. They soon decided horses were outdated for dryland farming. In 1923, Louis came home with a new Fordson tractor purchased for $400.00. He bought it from Bill Anderson, the Ford dealer in Torrington. He later bought the Bill Anderson homstead for $20.00 per acre, a half section of land just south of their homestead. This land, with the other work he did for neighbors kept him busy. This tractor with a pull type, two-bottom plow broke up may acres of sod that year. He mostly tried to raise corn as they did back in Iowa. Every fall, it seemed more ground was blowing and it took more time working down bumps when sand blew up into tumbleweed. The corn seemed to not grow under the dry conditions and pickiing corn by hand was hard work because the ears were small and low to the ground. They always had some chickens, hogs and milk cows to feed the corn to. Many people today don't know the use homesteaders got out of corn cobs. They make excellent fuel for heating and cooking. After discouragement at raising corn, they turned to raising grain. Until a few years later, when they learned to summerfallow, their yields were very poor. The grain was bound with a grain binder, shocked and then threshed by a threshing machine. Other relatives decided to join in the good life. A brother, Earl Arnold, younger even than Louis, came by himself in 1920. In 1921, his wife Ruth and four month old son Paul, came to live on a place north of Bear Mt. They later sold this place to another brother, Fred Arnold, and he moved to a farm 2 miles south of Lois and Pearl. Earl, while living at his first place, worked with a team and drag smoothing up the new gravel road between Torrington and Cheyenne. This must have been hard on the horses' feet. He had to do a set distance at a specified time each week. Then, Pearl's brother Homer Bayless and family came, and also Walter Gomme and family. Mrs. Hazel Gomme, now living in Torrington, is a sister of Pearl. Another sister, Fern and Edwin Swenson, came and moved to Torrignton. Then Pearl's brother Frank Bayless and family came and moved to a farm by Bear Mt. Another brother of Louis, Fred Arnold and family, came and moved into the first place lived in by Earl Arnold. The brother, Floyd Bayless, who moved out to Wyoming in 1919, moved back to Iowa after about one lyear and finished high school A brother, Earl Bayless, moved out to Torrington for a few years and then moved on to Washington. Of ten brothers and sisters on Pearl's side and 12 brothers and sisters on Louis's side, almost half of them had followed them westward. Life on the homestead was often full of worry and tragic events. Lila was hopping around in the basement one day, when she fell and broke her arm. This was 25 miles from a doctor by team and wagon. Louis was away at Ed Hoovers, 1/2 mile east helping to dig a basement. Pearl got Lila comforted and then ran all the way for Louis, after she got there, she was out of breath and couldn't talk to tell them the trouble. Finally, Louis unhitched the team and got on the one that was broke and started home. Ed Hoove wanted to help so he got on the one not broke. They said mom was first crying and then laughing because harness and rider were all going in different directions. They took Lila over to a neighbor who had a Model-T car and he took them to a doctor in Torrington. They were taken care of by a Dr. Platz. LIla and her mother stayed with the Ed Hoover family until they were able to come home the next day. Neighbors were always wonderful in times of toruble. Pearl remembers having the flu and Mrs. Hoover coming and fixing chicken and dinner for her. Then one day during the cold winter, they received word that Eugene Sanford, the son of Crate and Drucy Sanford, two miles south, was seriously ill. They went to help and Louis left for a doctor, he brought back Mrs. Joe Madden, who had been a nurse in the Army. She immediately decided he had pneumonia and asked for onions. They cooked onions and made poultices and coverd his chest with onions. During the long cold night, the nurse came out of his room and said the fever had broke and he is better. This was a great concern for early pioneers, getting sick or hurt with doctors so far away. A few years later, other tragic events affected the Arnolds. In 1928, Pearl was going up to a farm house to inquire for directions and was bitten by a dog. It turned into a bad case of blood poisoning. Dr. Hevely, who was treating her also got blood poisoing from her. Another doctor, Barber, wanted to amputate the leg but they talked him out of it. She finnally completely recovered. She says some home made green salve made by Grandma Davis, mother of Art, Dode and Frank Davis, helped more than anything. Then in 1934, Melvin Sanford, Eugene's brother and Leroy were in a motorcycle accident. Melvin was killed. This was Leroy's best friend and being together so much it really affected Leroy. Then in 1939, Leroy was killed in a car accident. He left a widow and a baby born a few months later. The baby was named Leroy and is now living in Cheyenne and works on the railroad there. One year later, in 1940, tragedy struck again. Early in the morning during August after an explosion, the Arnold home and all the contents burned to the ground. The two younger children, Louis Jr. and Ruby, escaped by gettin out through a bedroom window. Pearl was burned from the explosion and fire. She was treated by Dr. Sell and not charged anything. The neighbors came to help after the house burned and gave showers and brought all kind of things. These tragedies would have been much worse without such good neighbors. In 1953, Pearl was bitten by a tattlesnake in her front yard. She was very allergic to even a bee sting. She was very critical in the hospital for several days but fully recovered. Another neighbor, Ralph Smith, a brother of Chris Smith, now living in Torrington, homesteaded just south of the Arnolds. He would sometimes bring his wife and 8 daughters up from Scottsbluff to work. Then one day, the Arnolds received word that Ralph, a big husky fellow had died from pneumonia. Tragedy had struck again. In 1923, Louis purchased a new Model-T truck for $400.00. this was a stripped down model, no cab or even a seat. You had to furnish luxury items yourself. He sat on the gas tank to drive it home. This was just about the end of the team and wagon days. On a previous trip with a team and wagon, Louis tells about going to Torrington with a neighbor Mel Choate. On the way home with the wagon fully loaded and a 100 lb. sack of flour on top, they stopped to bed down for the night. In the morning, they found everything was white, at first they thought it was snow but then found the horse had gotten into the flour. In 1930, Louis Jr. was born and then in 1935, Ruby (Mrs. George Ochsner) was born. This they said was their second family. Louis worked as a carpenter and any other off farm work to support his family. In 1921, he worked as a blacksmith for the Hawk Springs Irrigation project. He helped on the dam for the reservoir. In 1928, the railroad came through. This was the beginning of the town of Hawk Springs. All the small country schools were consolidated into Hawk Springs. A new school was built. Louis Sr. was on the school board when it was built and Louis Jr. was on the school board in 1966 when it was closed and consolidated with other towns. Louis still laughs at about the time in the basement when he removed his shoe and emptied dirt on the newly swept floor. Pearl took after him with the broom and chased him up the stairs. He ran out of the basement door and ran into a stranger coming to ask directions. The stranger could do nothing but stutter for awhile. In 1982 Pearl and Loouis Arnold are still living in Torrington at the age 86 and 87 [Louis died in 1983, Pearl lived to be 91.] Louis is in a nursing home after suffering a disabling stroke. Pearl, who says she isn't really that old because of being born Feb. 29, lives in their home close to the nursing home. Lila, or Mrs. Lloyd Craton, lost her husband to a heart attack and now lives with her mother, Pearl, who is now suffering with arthritis and malignant cancer. The farm is still in the family after 63 years. It is being cared for by Louis Jr. and wife Betty, son Lindsey and wife Sara, who llive in the Hoover house 1/2 mile away, and son Barry, who still lives at home. The farm has changed over the years as all of us have. Pictures and memories still remind us of the days gone by.
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE LOUIS ARNOLD FAMILY
In the year 1919 at Kellerton, Iowa, Pearl and Louis Arnold (age 23 and 24) and their two children, Lila (age 4) and Leroy (age 2) began their westward journey. They packed their belongings into an imigrant railroad boxcar along with the family belongings of Fred Millsap and Grover Lewis. The land prices and opportunities for farming in Iowa were discouraging and they had heard very favorable stories about new land avilable for farming in Wyoming. A brother of Pearl's, Floyd Bayless (age 15) decided to come with them. Many were coming from Iowa at this time and a near-by community became known as Iowa Center. They arrived by rail in Torrington in Feb. 1919. At first, they lived in Torrington four months and Louis worked as carpenter with Grover Lewis and picked potatoes for George Gamble. Wages were $5.00 per day, which was very good for those days. The free homestead land was already taken but they found a 320 acre relinquishment that was for sale for $1700.00. This was land that was offered for sale by those who had drawn but decided not to homestead or live on it. The land they chose was 1 mile south and 1 mile west of the present town of Hawk Springs, although no town, railroad, highway or fences existed there then. They had some difficulty finding their own boundary, they set up a tent for the summer and started digging a well as this was the first necessity. This was done by using an auger, like a post hole digger and turning it by hand. At about 60 ft. they hit rock but did have some water. It was the poorest tasting water in the country and not very much of it. The best thing anyone could say was "at least it was wet". The next project that summer was to dig a basement for living quarters. This was done with horses pulling a slip or fresno and shovels. The sand for concrete had to be hauled from Horse Creek by wagon and lumber and cement hauled from Torrington. The water had to be pumped from the well by hand. This was the first structure on the Arnold farm, where otherwise there were no trees, fences or buldings. This was open range where only prairie dogs, coyotes, antelop, jack rabbits and rattlesnakes existed.
The open range cattle were still everywhere and crops such as corn and garden had to be fenced. The cattle soon came and tore down the fences and once even trampled the tent down while they were away. There was a county store about 6 miles northeast of them, run by the Art Bakers and Maurice Wollums. They received their mail from a mail box about 1 mile north of the present town of Hawk Springs and it was brought out there from Torrington. The second summer, they purchased and installed a windmill over the well. The pumpoing water by hand had to cease. They then buried a barrel between the well and the basement for a supply and connected it with pipe into the basement. They used a wooden plug for a faucet but the windmill supplied water to the basement. This was real luxury. Of course, they still had to carry it back out. The first winter they found the deep snow quite a problem. The snow blew off the pasture from the west and drifted their small corrals full and completely covered their basement. They had to dig out through a basement window. Once they had to bring a new born calf into the 14' by 24' basement with them. They only had a few milk cows so didn't have many to care for. They were snowed in most of the winter and had to make their own Christmas toys and even made a calendar. They spent much time in the evenings with Louis whittling and playing the harmonica and Pearl, reading stories to the children. Their recreation consisted of playing cards with neighbors, going on picnics, dancing with Louis, sometimes playing the violin or harmonica. They often combined recreation with work by going to Lone Tree Canyon on a picnic with a team and wagon and then cutting wood and fence posts for futrue use. They always carried a 22 single shot rifle and if they were llucky they might get a jack rabbit or cottontail for supper. They always liked gardening and raised much fo their food. One year, Louis reported selling about $400.00 worth of watermelons at the fair in Torrington. They soon decided horses were outdated for dryland farming. In 1923, Louis came home with a new Fordson tractor purchased for $400.00. He bought it from Bill Anderson, the Ford dealer in Torrington. He later bought the Bill Anderson homstead for $20.00 per acre, a half section of land just south of their homestead. This land, with the other work he did for neighbors kept him busy. This tractor with a pull type, two-bottom plow broke up may acres of sod that year. He mostly tried to raise corn as they did back in Iowa. Every fall, it seemed more ground was blowing and it took more time working down bumps when sand blew up into tumbleweed. The corn seemed to not grow under the dry conditions and pickiing corn by hand was hard work because the ears were small and low to the ground. They always had some chickens, hogs and milk cows to feed the corn to. Many people today don't know the use homesteaders got out of corn cobs. They make excellent fuel for heating and cooking. After discouragement at raising corn, they turned to raising grain. Until a few years later, when they learned to summerfallow, their yields were very poor. The grain was bound with a grain binder, shocked and then threshed by a threshing machine. Other relatives decided to join in the good life. A brother, Earl Arnold, younger even than Louis, came by himself in 1920. In 1921, his wife Ruth and four month old son Paul, came to live on a place north of Bear Mt. They later sold this place to another brother, Fred Arnold, and he moved to a farm 2 miles south of Lois and Pearl. Earl, while living at his first place, worked with a team and drag smoothing up the new gravel road between Torrington and Cheyenne. This must have been hard on the horses' feet. He had to do a set distance at a specified time each week. Then, Pearl's brother Homer Bayless and family came, and also Walter Gomme and family. Mrs. Hazel Gomme, now living in Torrington, is a sister of Pearl. Another sister, Fern and Edwin Swenson, came and moved to Torrignton. Then Pearl's brother Frank Bayless and family came and moved to a farm by Bear Mt. Another brother of Louis, Fred Arnold and family, came and moved into the first place lived in by Earl Arnold. The brother, Floyd Bayless, who moved out to Wyoming in 1919, moved back to Iowa after about one lyear and finished high school A brother, Earl Bayless, moved out to Torrington for a few years and then moved on to Washington. Of ten brothers and sisters on Pearl's side and 12 brothers and sisters on Louis's side, almost half of them had followed them westward. Life on the homestead was often full of worry and tragic events. Lila was hopping around in the basement one day, when she fell and broke her arm. This was 25 miles from a doctor by team and wagon. Louis was away at Ed Hoovers, 1/2 mile east helping to dig a basement. Pearl got Lila comforted and then ran all the way for Louis, after she got there, she was out of breath and couldn't talk to tell them the trouble. Finally, Louis unhitched the team and got on the one that was broke and started home. Ed Hoove wanted to help so he got on the one not broke. They said mom was first crying and then laughing because harness and rider were all going in different directions. They took Lila over to a neighbor who had a Model-T car and he took them to a doctor in Torrington. They were taken care of by a Dr. Platz. LIla and her mother stayed with the Ed Hoover family until they were able to come home the next day. Neighbors were always wonderful in times of toruble. Pearl remembers having the flu and Mrs. Hoover coming and fixing chicken and dinner for her. Then one day during the cold winter, they received word that Eugene Sanford, the son of Crate and Drucy Sanford, two miles south, was seriously ill. They went to help and Louis left for a doctor, he brought back Mrs. Joe Madden, who had been a nurse in the Army. She immediately decided he had pneumonia and asked for onions. They cooked onions and made poultices and coverd his chest with onions. During the long cold night, the nurse came out of his room and said the fever had broke and he is better. This was a great concern for early pioneers, getting sick or hurt with doctors so far away. A few years later, other tragic events affected the Arnolds. In 1928, Pearl was going up to a farm house to inquire for directions and was bitten by a dog. It turned into a bad case of blood poisoning. Dr. Hevely, who was treating her also got blood poisoing from her. Another doctor, Barber, wanted to amputate the leg but they talked him out of it. She finnally completely recovered. She says some home made green salve made by Grandma Davis, mother of Art, Dode and Frank Davis, helped more than anything. Then in 1934, Melvin Sanford, Eugene's brother and Leroy were in a motorcycle accident. Melvin was killed. This was Leroy's best friend and being together so much it really affected Leroy. Then in 1939, Leroy was killed in a car accident. He left a widow and a baby born a few months later. The baby was named Leroy and is now living in Cheyenne and works on the railroad there. One year later, in 1940, tragedy struck again. Early in the morning during August after an explosion, the Arnold home and all the contents burned to the ground. The two younger children, Louis Jr. and Ruby, escaped by gettin out through a bedroom window. Pearl was burned from the explosion and fire. She was treated by Dr. Sell and not charged anything. The neighbors came to help after the house burned and gave showers and brought all kind of things. These tragedies would have been much worse without such good neighbors. In 1953, Pearl was bitten by a tattlesnake in her front yard. She was very allergic to even a bee sting. She was very critical in the hospital for several days but fully recovered. Another neighbor, Ralph Smith, a brother of Chris Smith, now living in Torrington, homesteaded just south of the Arnolds. He would sometimes bring his wife and 8 daughters up from Scottsbluff to work. Then one day, the Arnolds received word that Ralph, a big husky fellow had died from pneumonia. Tragedy had struck again. In 1923, Louis purchased a new Model-T truck for $400.00. this was a stripped down model, no cab or even a seat. You had to furnish luxury items yourself. He sat on the gas tank to drive it home. This was just about the end of the team and wagon days. On a previous trip with a team and wagon, Louis tells about going to Torrington with a neighbor Mel Choate. On the way home with the wagon fully loaded and a 100 lb. sack of flour on top, they stopped to bed down for the night. In the morning, they found everything was white, at first they thought it was snow but then found the horse had gotten into the flour. In 1930, Louis Jr. was born and then in 1935, Ruby (Mrs. George Ochsner) was born. This they said was their second family. Louis worked as a carpenter and any other off farm work to support his family. In 1921, he worked as a blacksmith for the Hawk Springs Irrigation project. He helped on the dam for the reservoir. In 1928, the railroad came through. This was the beginning of the town of Hawk Springs. All the small country schools were consolidated into Hawk Springs. A new school was built. Louis Sr. was on the school board when it was built and Louis Jr. was on the school board in 1966 when it was closed and consolidated with other towns. Louis still laughs at about the time in the basement when he removed his shoe and emptied dirt on the newly swept floor. Pearl took after him with the broom and chased him up the stairs. He ran out of the basement door and ran into a stranger coming to ask directions. The stranger could do nothing but stutter for awhile. In 1982 Pearl and Loouis Arnold are still living in Torrington at the age 86 and 87 [Louis died in 1983, Pearl lived to be 91.] Louis is in a nursing home after suffering a disabling stroke. Pearl, who says she isn't really that old because of being born Feb. 29, lives in their home close to the nursing home. Lila, or Mrs. Lloyd Craton, lost her husband to a heart attack and now lives with her mother, Pearl, who is now suffering with arthritis and malignant cancer. The farm is still in the family after 63 years. It is being cared for by Louis Jr. and wife Betty, son Lindsey and wife Sara, who llive in the Hoover house 1/2 mile away, and son Barry, who still lives at home. The farm has changed over the years as all of us have. Pictures and memories still remind us of the days gone by.
Family Members
Siblings
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Aaron Frederick Arnold
1882–1966
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George A. Arnold
1884–1969
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Franklin John Arnold
1886–1961
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Gertrude Louise Arnold
1888–1903
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John Charles Arnold
1890–1948
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Fred W. Arnold
1892–1981
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Dewey Henry Arnold
1897–1971
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Matilda May Arnold Woodall
1899–1985
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Earl Paul Arnold
1901–1972
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Goldie Fawn Arnold West
1904–2006
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Don Arnold
1904–1904
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