Dazey High School - Log Yearbook (Dazey, ND)

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-smAAAA,-1vvw.fc On July 10, 1893 Valborg Petterson began a summer term and Lars Posenna Solsness took up the burden in the fall. Solsness remaned here until October of 1894 when Miss Rich assumed the duties of teacher in the Dazey school. Miss Rich remained until the spring of 1895. During this time a current events class would have had much to do with Coxey's army's march on Washingtong the dis- COVGTY Of X-I HY- I d0I1 t Sl1lJD0se that there would have been much in the papers about it but during this time Jack Benny made his original debut, and W. .l'. Bryan was getting ready to ni-ake his bid for the presidency against McKinley. 1895 produced 'the biggest crop that this country has ever seen and a young man by the name of C. P. Stowman came into town to run an elevator. During that same year the men of the town were inspired to build a one-half mile track. This was located in the vicinity Of the Stcwman -and Tolstad homes. The track was first plowed and then the strips of sod were cut into pieces. It was all haul- ed off. The parade of teachers following until 1900 worked terms of irregular length and none of 'them received more than sixty dollars per month for their efforts. They were eventful years, The papers must have played heavily on the Spanish situation and the country in general must have been well worked up over the treatinent of the Cuban natives by the Spanish. By this time W. R. Hearst had become a propagandist to reckon with. The-Ti '6n February 15, 1899 the battleship Maine was blown up an America was at war. Many men from this area volunteered for duty in the Spanish war and they became a par-t of the most ponderous and inefficient piece of military machinery the world has ever seen. The following year the Dazey school developed growing pains and a new school building was erected just in front of where the present school is located. In later years the building became better known as the Kelley house. The old orig- inal school house was moved over on the corner opposite where the Security Bank was to be built in years to come, and it became a part of the Waldorf Hotel. It was used as a billi-ard hall and soft drink establishment. The first bank in town wa.: organized by J. E. Jacobson, and began operation in a little shack which stood approximately where Elmer Oppegard's building was later put up. The crop went completely haywire in 1900. The season was extremely dry un- til July 4 when it began to rain and never really stopped, The rain came in time to save some fl-ax but a hailstorm in August finished that off. Due to the croli failure, prices soared and the following spring the price of wheat reached one dollar. Of course, everyone was buying seed, so no one was happy about the price, During this period people began to think a little about lights, telephones and other blessings of progress. A few carbide lights began to appear. By 1903 the Wright Bros, were about to make their first airplane flight and Dazeyite H. O. Oppegard 'began his four year term as Barnes County Sheriff land' Al .Tolson as a young fellow was singing By the Light of the Silvery Moon . In 1904 can:-e the building year in the village of Dazey. The Dazey State Bank building and Securi y Blank building were constructed. 1904 may also have the dubious honor of befnft the first year thatx black stem rust appeared. The rust was not so severe that the crop was a total loss, however. VWI vvv-,r .--A

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2 5 vs..- .- - -.-v-.f-.-YA., 4 tl 'r 'n 'I 'r 'l 2 .1- -f AAv f, - vAAwsAN mo.rte1it and the voices of friends and the old familiar sounds will come back t0 you one by one. The marks on the wall, the scratches and carvings on the desks all have a little story to tell and their story is a story of the De0Dle you knew -and the people that you will remember as the ghosts of the old original haunted house whisper in your ear. You were promised a historical section along with this yearbook. That is very simple. I'll simply decide where to begin arid go to the records. However, the records are dry and one is immediately faced with the question of just where its beginning. Would' you begin' with the erection of a school actually has thelbuilding? I think not. A building is dead but education and learning is some- thing alive. It. is an idea, an ambition, matured in the mind of every man- But we want the beginning, so the question is just where did that idea come from? Who brought it here? Well, we are getting into impcnderables now. We will have to take something concrete. There are stories and they can be run down. They may be a bit hazy and the date uncertain but it seems th-at the original Scl100l building was constructed in Dazey in 18'24 just after the railroad came through town and the year the plotting of the town fSeptem.oer' 18, 18843 by John M. iJackJ B'urrel1 to whom Charles T. Dazey had deeded the townsite for the con- sideration of one dollar. Among the young men who gallantly helped in the con- struction of this temple of learning , later to be known as the 'knowledge box', was a young man who was later to be one of the schools early scholars, Elmer Oppegard. Then the first group of scholars graced the new structure. Without a trace of irony, I must say that that first class must have been a sight to behold. One teacher, Miss Ophilia, Wilsie, ruled 9 schol-ars, the age cf which ranged from. 3 to 19. During the years that followed strange things, according to present standards, occurred in the little one-'room school which was locat.ed approximately on the corner of .the block behind the present blacksmith shop or what was Oppegard's Implement. In another section of this 'book you will find a complete list of' the -teachers who performed their .missions in our little community, as I can determine from the records which ex'st. The terms. as they were called, seem.- ed to come at no particular time of the year.and thev seemed to h-ave no specif- ied len'gtIi. Some years one term was held of one, two or three months duration and sometimes two or three terms were held 'during the year. According to the school reports, the equipment was good and one of the most important duties of the pedagogue was to inspect the outhouses regularly and I presume that this was done without interfering greatly in the days routine. The teacher was paid, at least I note the sum is called salary on the report. M'ss Ophilia Wilsie tau- ght the first term of school for thirty-five drfllars ner month and during the years that followed the salary did not vary a great deal. Let us settle on 1888 now and try to guess what was going on. It is safe to assume that the principal talk was of the prospective Sfetehood and of Drohibition. In the general election of November the dry law came into being. I am told that 1.888 w-as the first year during which rainfall was plentiful enough to produce a good stand. Hopes suffered a severe setback, however, when the greater part of the crop froze on August 17. In that year of 1888, to the memory of the old timers, one of the first base- ball game was played against the Getchell ball team, with such men as Frank Ciriick on third, O. T. Olson on first, Clendenning at short, Knut Thompson catch- 'f'. Sif- art Tolstad in left field. and Alf Anderson in right fieldf In 1090 Anna Mary Woodcock took 'the reins of the old school to remain until 1893. During this time the world was in a furor -about labor unions, and when isn't it? The Hay- market Anarchist riots 'became a memory, Charley Chaplin and Paul Whiteman were born, 1891 produced the biggest crop this country has ever seen, Charley Dazey published his famous play In Old Kentucky . There was much in the news about the fights between the budding labor unions and' the Pinkerton truards and detectives, and a man by the name of E. A. Duff came to Dazey to be depot agent for a salary of forty-live dollars per month. Mr. Duff tells me that he WOUl'lf not have been able to take the job if he had admitted that he belonged to railroad brotherhood. .,.fvvx,.-.-,,-.-.-.-,,-,.,.,.,.g,v.v.',.-A-.'.,,v.'.'.,.,.g,-,.,..,. .-.v.v.,'.'.'.v.- ,.,.,.J ,,,-,-,-.- ,-,-.-,-.

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l i 5 l vf.,s,, VVv1xA.N UDOn comDletion of the Security State Bank building, the bank began opera- tion in the following year. The Community Telephone Company was organized and began to serve their patrons in 1905. Along with this new venture came the or- ganization of the Farmer's Elevator during the same year. In the year 1906 on April 2, A. J. Mclnnes was elected President of the newly organized Dazey Co-op- ative Store which was later to become the sole survivor of the many, many Co- operative stores organized over the state during this period. C. P. Stowman be- came manager at this time. Later during the same mcnth the nation was shocked to hear of the San Francisco catas.ropl1e and during the month of June, Harry K. Thaw, heir to large land holdings in Barnes County and the Dazey area. shot and killed Standford White. The lot upon which the Bennett School now stands was deeded over from the Thaw est-ate. In the village of Dazey, the Dazey Her- ald was being published from its offices under the Security S-tate Bank. By the fall of 1907, N. A. Whipple came to take charge of the Dazey School. Mr, Whipple claimed 85 dollars per month as his reward for handling such char- acters as Clarence Locklin. Carl Oglesby, Fred Larson and others. Dazey High School boasted an eleven man football team during this time tsee cutl and Ame 5 E s 5 made 3 commendable record too. This might be better appreciated when we re- IHCIHUGI' MP- Whipple hi1I1SGlf Dlayed on the team along with others who worked in the Villfvtc and took time from their labors to play an occasional game of foot- ball. I seriously doubt whether the effezts were felt in Dazey. but during the en- suing year Carry Nation made her first Ax-raid on the saloous down in Kan- sas as many of you will remember. ' Sara A. Crookshranks took command of the school in the fall of 1908. This same year a young lady came into town and had the young blades tripping over the cracks in the hoard walks. She was ivliz-s Arta James. At about 'this same time - - ,.vAA,NvvwvN .Afvvvvvvv AAAN