← Before Today: A History of Holt County, Nebraska
I think you will agree with me that EVERYTHING happened to the people of Holt County in their first century on its prairies, and some most unusual people helped to make it happen. In addition to the Savidge brothers who built and flew their own planes soon after the turn of the century, there was the “Wind Wagon invented by “Wooden Shoe” John Pierson. Set to rhyme by Judy Liddy, it reads in part: In his dreams that he had dreamed, A sail he put on a wagon box, Inventing was his goal— And when the wind did blow A wagon run by wind alone, The wagon took him for a ride, The desire of his soul. Creeping very slow. Not everyone thought the Savidge boys out of their minds, or was afraid to ride with them, at least not the Munson girls. One Sunday afternoon Viola climbed on the primitive little plane’s plank seat and, hanging onto the strut wires with both hands, flew with Matt for an hour. And there was Henry Reimer, Sr., who undertook to “city break” his several sons by taking them to Ewing with him, two at a time, on trading days and eating at the Butler cafe. In 1909 he took John and Louie to the state fair at Lincoln, where a Jackson car caught their fancy. Its slogan, “No sand too deep— No hill too steep,” persuaded them to buy the beautiful machine. A chauffeur, decked out in cap and duster, drove them to Neligh at thirty miles an hour, a speed which kept Mr. Reimer busy re-lighting his cigars. It was almost dark when the chauffeur left them to fend for themselves. John lit the carbide head lights and they sat out— and so began the often hilarious saga of automobiles in Holt County. There is much about baseball in these pages, and that Holt Countians took the sport seriously is illustrated in Bob Tomlinson’s account of the 400 to 500 people who turned out for the Mineola Saturday afternoon games, and the Henry boys who played on the team, Arch being one of the best pitchers in the state. These boys made it a practice to carry two pounds of lead in each shoe as they walked behind their cultivators, thus strengthening their legs. With a wagon with four spring seats on it, they’d start out on Friday evening, gather up the team and drive into Mineola. After the next day’s game they spent the night delivering the players home again, reached their own home in time to eat breakfast, hitch up their teams and head for the field.
Dean Beckwith, one of the six ball playing Beckwith brothers, pitched in the State League for two years, and for the Sioux Falls Canarys, a traveling team. He was the fastest 100 yard dash runner in the State League and was the only pitcher to win four games in the Denver tournament. In his time he pitched against Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Satchel Paige, when Satchel was with the Monarchs and the House of David. County statistics indicate what the past century has done to change the region. When A. R. Wertz took the farm census in Willowdale Township in 1885 he found 603 people living there. In 1974 there were only 76. Until 1950 the farmers depended entirely on rainfall. By 1974 there were 1000 wells in the county, each pumping 1000 gallons per minute from June 20 to September 10. The new center pivot systems take about two and one-half days to make a single round, putting an inch to an inch and a half of water on the ground. Yes, a prodigious amount of work by a great many people has gone into the compilation of this history and we all hope you will like what we’ve done. One sad fact always accompanies a work of this kind some of its most faithful helpers will not be on hand to see it published. Among these we list Clay Johnson, Sr., who furnished so many of the pictures, and Elwin Grutsch who gathered much of the ranch history, and Dena Brady, an avid historian with deep interest in the work of the Holt County Historical Society. In closing we quote the inscription used on the plaque inside Holt County’s new court house, declared the Irish Capital of Nebraska by the Governor in 1969. “To the forerunners of civilization who had vision to perceive: to the tamers of wilderness who had courage to hazard; to the builders of empires who had patience in adversity and heroism in calamity; to those hardy men and women whose deeds, faith, courage and rugged character are forever enshrined in the hearts of their posterity. To those pioneers who established homes in Holt County— this building is dedicated.” And finally we have Elwin Grutsch’s birthday greeting for his county, sent in not long before his death in 1974.
TO HOLT COUNTY “So you are having a birthday! Congratulations. We wish you well. They say the first hundred years are the hardest.” And I, too send congratulations on Holt County’s first Centennial Anniversary. It is a great county and without the help of so many wonderful, dedicated people this history would never have been written. Nellie Snyder Yost February 25, 1976.