PLUCKY
Woman, 72, Runs a Ranch;
Bested Depression, Injuries
By Ted Hoffman
Winner, S.D. 1956
A 72-Year-Old woman with a record of pluck and industry that is hard to surpass operates a 520-acre ranch some 18 miles southwest of here.
Mrs. Georgia Dillon was widowed 25 years ago. Four of their five children still were at home. Disregarding advise of friends who urged her to sell the land, Mrs. Dillon stayed on, paid off all debts and increased her holdings.
Mrs. Dillon is a former Nebraskan. She was married to Michael Dillon at Lincoln in 1902. Seven years later the family moved to Dallas, S.D. and homesteaded 160 acres near there.
They broke the prairie ground and raised corn and potatoes.
"We'd pick potatoes all day long and at the end of the day we'd scoop the dirt off," she recalls. "It would often be between 10 o'clock and midnight before we finished. Prices varied. One year we didn't try to sell two thousand bushels because it wasn't worth the effort."
When Mr. Dillon died after an illness of 17 years, debts had piled up due to medical bills and the depression combined. Mrs. Dillon kept the land "because I like to work."
Mrs. Dillon received one of her severest jolts in November of 1952. She was in the barn trying to induce a calf to obtain nourishment from its mother. "That cow went mad as did another in the pen," Mrs. Dillon said. "They walked over me and pushed me against a seven foot partition. I managed to get over the partition and found that one of my feet was crushed. I managed to crawl two hundred feet to the house over 15 foot snowdrifts. I telephoned some neighbors and asked them to order a plane from Winner. That was my first plane ride."
Physicians thought she would never be able to use the foot again. But after two years of sitting in a rocking chair and holding her foot in water and massaging it, she was able to take a few very painful steps. Now she can walk without limping, after the foot "limbers up." During her convalescence neighbors took care of chores and cattle.
She is proud of her cattle, which have often brought top market prices. During the summer, when the cattle are pastured, she irrigates some land and tends a large strawberry patch and orchard.
Mrs. Dillon's only daughter, Eileen, lives with her and teaches a rural school five miles to the east. But the 72-year-old woman does most of the ranch work except in haying time. Mrs. Dillon remarked off-handedly"
"Why I don't consider it work. I really knew what work was when we handled potatoes until midnight or shocked grain through long, hot summer days. That really was work."
Woman, 72, Runs a Ranch;
Bested Depression, Injuries
By Ted Hoffman
Winner, S.D. 1956
A 72-Year-Old woman with a record of pluck and industry that is hard to surpass operates a 520-acre ranch some 18 miles southwest of here.
Mrs. Georgia Dillon was widowed 25 years ago. Four of their five children still were at home. Disregarding advise of friends who urged her to sell the land, Mrs. Dillon stayed on, paid off all debts and increased her holdings.
Mrs. Dillon is a former Nebraskan. She was married to Michael Dillon at Lincoln in 1902. Seven years later the family moved to Dallas, S.D. and homesteaded 160 acres near there.
They broke the prairie ground and raised corn and potatoes.
"We'd pick potatoes all day long and at the end of the day we'd scoop the dirt off," she recalls. "It would often be between 10 o'clock and midnight before we finished. Prices varied. One year we didn't try to sell two thousand bushels because it wasn't worth the effort."
When Mr. Dillon died after an illness of 17 years, debts had piled up due to medical bills and the depression combined. Mrs. Dillon kept the land "because I like to work."
Mrs. Dillon received one of her severest jolts in November of 1952. She was in the barn trying to induce a calf to obtain nourishment from its mother. "That cow went mad as did another in the pen," Mrs. Dillon said. "They walked over me and pushed me against a seven foot partition. I managed to get over the partition and found that one of my feet was crushed. I managed to crawl two hundred feet to the house over 15 foot snowdrifts. I telephoned some neighbors and asked them to order a plane from Winner. That was my first plane ride."
Physicians thought she would never be able to use the foot again. But after two years of sitting in a rocking chair and holding her foot in water and massaging it, she was able to take a few very painful steps. Now she can walk without limping, after the foot "limbers up." During her convalescence neighbors took care of chores and cattle.
She is proud of her cattle, which have often brought top market prices. During the summer, when the cattle are pastured, she irrigates some land and tends a large strawberry patch and orchard.
Mrs. Dillon's only daughter, Eileen, lives with her and teaches a rural school five miles to the east. But the 72-year-old woman does most of the ranch work except in haying time. Mrs. Dillon remarked off-handedly"
"Why I don't consider it work. I really knew what work was when we handled potatoes until midnight or shocked grain through long, hot summer days. That really was work."
PLUCKY
Woman, 72, Runs a Ranch;
Bested Depression, Injuries
By Ted Hoffman
Winner, S.D. 1956
A 72-Year-Old woman with a record of pluck and industry that is hard to surpass operates a 520-acre ranch some 18 miles southwest of here.
Mrs. Georgia Dillon was widowed 25 years ago. Four of their five children still were at home. Disregarding advise of friends who urged her to sell the land, Mrs. Dillon stayed on, paid off all debts and increased her holdings.
Mrs. Dillon is a former Nebraskan. She was married to Michael Dillon at Lincoln in 1902. Seven years later the family moved to Dallas, S.D. and homesteaded 160 acres near there.
They broke the prairie ground and raised corn and potatoes.
"We'd pick potatoes all day long and at the end of the day we'd scoop the dirt off," she recalls. "It would often be between 10 o'clock and midnight before we finished. Prices varied. One year we didn't try to sell two thousand bushels because it wasn't worth the effort."
When Mr. Dillon died after an illness of 17 years, debts had piled up due to medical bills and the depression combined. Mrs. Dillon kept the land "because I like to work."
Mrs. Dillon received one of her severest jolts in November of 1952. She was in the barn trying to induce a calf to obtain nourishment from its mother. "That cow went mad as did another in the pen," Mrs. Dillon said. "They walked over me and pushed me against a seven foot partition. I managed to get over the partition and found that one of my feet was crushed. I managed to crawl two hundred feet to the house over 15 foot snowdrifts. I telephoned some neighbors and asked them to order a plane from Winner. That was my first plane ride."
Physicians thought she would never be able to use the foot again. But after two years of sitting in a rocking chair and holding her foot in water and massaging it, she was able to take a few very painful steps. Now she can walk without limping, after the foot "limbers up." During her convalescence neighbors took care of chores and cattle.
She is proud of her cattle, which have often brought top market prices. During the summer, when the cattle are pastured, she irrigates some land and tends a large strawberry patch and orchard.
Mrs. Dillon's only daughter, Eileen, lives with her and teaches a rural school five miles to the east. But the 72-year-old woman does most of the ranch work except in haying time. Mrs. Dillon remarked off-handedly"
"Why I don't consider it work. I really knew what work was when we handled potatoes until midnight or shocked grain through long, hot summer days. That really was work."
Woman, 72, Runs a Ranch;
Bested Depression, Injuries
By Ted Hoffman
Winner, S.D. 1956
A 72-Year-Old woman with a record of pluck and industry that is hard to surpass operates a 520-acre ranch some 18 miles southwest of here.
Mrs. Georgia Dillon was widowed 25 years ago. Four of their five children still were at home. Disregarding advise of friends who urged her to sell the land, Mrs. Dillon stayed on, paid off all debts and increased her holdings.
Mrs. Dillon is a former Nebraskan. She was married to Michael Dillon at Lincoln in 1902. Seven years later the family moved to Dallas, S.D. and homesteaded 160 acres near there.
They broke the prairie ground and raised corn and potatoes.
"We'd pick potatoes all day long and at the end of the day we'd scoop the dirt off," she recalls. "It would often be between 10 o'clock and midnight before we finished. Prices varied. One year we didn't try to sell two thousand bushels because it wasn't worth the effort."
When Mr. Dillon died after an illness of 17 years, debts had piled up due to medical bills and the depression combined. Mrs. Dillon kept the land "because I like to work."
Mrs. Dillon received one of her severest jolts in November of 1952. She was in the barn trying to induce a calf to obtain nourishment from its mother. "That cow went mad as did another in the pen," Mrs. Dillon said. "They walked over me and pushed me against a seven foot partition. I managed to get over the partition and found that one of my feet was crushed. I managed to crawl two hundred feet to the house over 15 foot snowdrifts. I telephoned some neighbors and asked them to order a plane from Winner. That was my first plane ride."
Physicians thought she would never be able to use the foot again. But after two years of sitting in a rocking chair and holding her foot in water and massaging it, she was able to take a few very painful steps. Now she can walk without limping, after the foot "limbers up." During her convalescence neighbors took care of chores and cattle.
She is proud of her cattle, which have often brought top market prices. During the summer, when the cattle are pastured, she irrigates some land and tends a large strawberry patch and orchard.
Mrs. Dillon's only daughter, Eileen, lives with her and teaches a rural school five miles to the east. But the 72-year-old woman does most of the ranch work except in haying time. Mrs. Dillon remarked off-handedly"
"Why I don't consider it work. I really knew what work was when we handled potatoes until midnight or shocked grain through long, hot summer days. That really was work."
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