The Farming Families of Lyon County (IA)—April 2022

April 2022 | www.AgeMedia.pub

Faith / Family / Friends / Farming

Meet the

KOCK FAMILY Mark and Heidi Kock with their children, Eva, Ella, Marcus, Paytan and Landan.

Story begins on page 12.

of Lyon County

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | March 2021

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When our situation changed and decided the timing was right to sell the family farm, we were referred to Bruce and his team at Brock Auction. As my mom and I met with him and discussed the options, we felt completely at ease that working with him and auctioning the farm was the right path.

Bruce, Austin and the BACi Team marketed and auctioned the farm in a dignified, professional manner and attracted buyers who would not have otherwise been involved. I am confident the market price received would not have been realized through other channels. My dad would have been proud!

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After 70 years of working the soil and serving as a great place to raise a family of 11 children, our family decided to sell the family farm after our mother passed away in October of 2021. Bruce Brock and Brock Auction Co. was an obvious choice to help our family through this transition – not only is he knowledgeable about NW Iowa agriculture and a Nationally recognized Auctioneer, but he is also well known for his charitable work with the County Fair, Pheasant Forever Events, and the Little Yellow Dog Auction in Sioux City.

Bruce and Austin and their staff are known by all, and well respected for their professionalism and familiarity with the property and the people of NW Iowa. Our family utilized Brock Auction Company’s expertise to set the Sale Date and provide the necessary advertising to accomplish a successful sale. Sale day arrived with many eager bidders to make what we thought was an exceptional sale.

We couldn’t have been more pleased by the sale results and credit Bruce, Austin, and Brock Auction Company for making the process flow seamlessly from start to finish.

Thank you, Brock Auction Company!

Dave Sitzmann Co-Trustee of the Agatha Sitzmann Estate

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Darrell Scott Pat Robeson Steve Gaul Adam Karrels Mapleton, April IA 2022 |Sioux City, IA Hawarden, IA FamiliesSturgis, SD 3 www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Magazine 712-208-0003 712-259-1734 712-551-6586 605-490-1701

The right care.

The right place.

The right time.

of Sioux County PUBLISHERS Garrett and Mindy Gross, AGE Media EDITOR & IOWA MANAGER Bob Fitch, AGE Media Direct advertising inquiries, story submissions and other correspondence to: 712-551-4123 bob@agemedia.pub © The Farming Families, Age Media & Promotion The Farming Families is distributed free exclusively to the farmers, ranchers and producers in rural Sioux, Plymouth and Lyon Counties. All rights reserved. Content in this magazine should not be copied in any way without the written permission of the publisher. The Farming Families assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Content in articles, editorial and advertisements are not necessarily endorsed by The Farming Families and Age Media & Promotion.

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SIOUX COUNTY FAMILY

The Johnson family in 2019. Front: Mark, Pam and Harper. Back: Brad, Melissa and Matt. Mark passed away in October 2020. Photo by Rusty Imagery.

‘THE DAY WE SELL THE CALVES IS THE BEGINNING OF OUR JOB’

By Bob Fitch

The Facebook page of MPJ Cattle Co. says it is “focused on the production of show cattle and quality breeding cattle.”

But there’s much more to their story than that.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | April 2022

“It’s kind of like any business these days. You used to buy a product, now you’re buying service,” said Matt Johnson.

His brother Brad agreed: “We take a lot of pride in helping our customers.”

MPJ Cattle Co. has three sites spread over two states.

Brad and their mom, Pam, are in charge of calving at their Maurice, Iowa, farm. Then the cattle are pastured and the calves are weaned near Hinton, Iowa, Pam’s hometown.

Subsequently, the calves are trucked north to the family’s site near Garretson, S.D. Based there, Matt and Melissa focus on marketing as well as communications with their customers. Melissa said they each play to their strengths.

Matt said, “It works out good for us. I’m basically done selling everything now. We can clear everything out of my place and get it cleaned back up for sale season again. Cattle are going to come into our place at Garretson in July, and we’ll be done with the bulk of selling by the first of December, except for a random bull sale like we held this February.” MPJ Cattle also sells semen and embryos.

HELPING CUSTOMERS REACH THEIR GOALS The target customer for their calf crop is junior exhibitors.

“When we were kids, you went to some random pasture sale somewhere. When you took that calf home, that was your calf. Those breeders never saw it again,” Matt said. “Now the day we sell the calves is just the

At the Sioux County Fair in 2021, a new traveling trophy was presented to the senior showmanship champion in honor of the late Mark Johnson. Champion Reagan Jansen is pictured with the Johnson family: Melissa, Brad, Pam, Sawyer, Harper and Matt.

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beginning of our job. The families do the day-today stuff, but we’re basically with them at every show; helping them make breeding decisions; helping them sell the calves they get out of those cows; and everything else in between.”

Brad said, “What’s most important is helping customers reach their goals. Some people want to win the county fair and some people want to win the state fair. Nothing is too big or too small.

We help them reach their goals before we reach our goals.”

Coaching their junior exhibitor customers and helping them fit and clip at county, regional, state and national shows is a core piece of their “service after the sale” approach.

Melissa said the MPJ Cattle team strives to reenforce lessons of responsibility and hard work; and help teach kids how to win and how to lose.

“It doesn’t always work out the way you want it, but the experience, the atmosphere and the project have value no matter what. Caring for an animal is just something special.”

Matt and Melissa Johnson with their children, Harper and Sawyer.

Photo by Dear Jane Photography.

She said, “Some of these kids we’re with from fourth grade when they start 4-H up until they’re done showing when they’re 21. We’ve been through a lot of things with these kids and their families. What means the most to us is the return relationships we enjoy.”

A FAMILY TRADITION

The mother-son calving team at MPJ Cattle: Brad and Pam Johnson.

The late Mark Johnson, right, with a junior exhibitor and his calf at the 2016 Sioux County Fair.

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Building relationships and expanding connections and friendships is a tradition set by Matt and Brad’s father, Mark, who passed away in October 2020. Mark and Pam were married in 1984 and moved to their location near Maurice in 1988.

He worked for Trans Ova Genetics for about 30 years and served on the boards of the Iowa and American Chianina Associations. “Dad is the reason why we do this. He went to every major cattle show in the country. His connections were huge. There’s no doubt he laid the groundwork for what we’re doing today,” Matt said.

Mark and Pam started with 10 cows and built their herd slowly over the years, but maintained it at a “hobby” level of about 40 cows. They started with Simmental and transitioned into breeding Chianina cattle. Since Matt graduated from South Dakota State University and Brad graduated from Iowa State University, they’ve more than doubled the size of the herd and diversified the number of breeds and crossbred cattle in the herd. Brad said the four primary breeds are Angus, Simmental, Maine Anjou and Chianina, with some influence

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from Limousin and Charolais. All of the calves they sell are halter broke.

Mark’s influence on local youth was so strong that a group of his friends and colleagues created an impressive traveling trophy for the senior showmanship champion at the Sioux County Fair. It was presented for the first time in July 2021 and, ironically, the winner was Reagan Jansen, who had purchased her heifer from MPJ Cattle.

“I think Mark is why we’re so focused on customer service and the junior projects,” said Melissa.

“Whether it was at the county fair or a national show – whether we sold them a calf or not – Mark would be over talking to the kids giving them advice and pointing out this or that.

He cared so much about the junior exhibitors and that’s why I care so much about them as well. We want to carry on that legacy.”

LIVING VICARIOUSLY THROUGH JUNIOR EXHIBITORS Between their dad always talking cattle, Matt and Brad majoring in animal science, Matt coaching the SDSU Livestock Judging Team, and Pam and Melissa also growing up in cow-calf operations, growing the herd seemed like the only path forward. Plus there’s just the energy of being a part of youth livestock exhibitions. Brad said, “We just couldn’t hang it up. We couldn’t quit showing ourselves. We had aged out, but wanted to keep going. To some extent, we’re living vicariously through our junior exhibitors.”

Building on the legacy of serving youth, MPJ Cattle will host its first weekend cattle camp this summer at their Garretson site, just prior to the busy summer show season.

According to Melissa, “We’re going to invite our customer’s kids and go through lots of different things in a calf’s life, including daily care, feeding practices, showmanship,

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | April 2022

fitting and clipping. For some kids, the weekend will be a lot of information and for some it will be a sharpening and refining experience.”

Whether it’s calving season or summer or winter show season, Johnson’s have a lot on their plate – especially since three of the four of them have full-time jobs outside of MPJ Cattle. Brad is full-time at their Maurice farm. Pam has been the director of accounting at Schuster Trucking in Le Mars for 32 years.

Matt works in sales for Eby Trailers, which is located at the Worthing exit off I-29. Melissa works as a merchandiser of dry distiller’s feed at the Sioux Falls headquarters of POET. She grew up on the grain and cow-calf operation of her parents, Ernest and Angela Gradert of Sibley.

Matt emphasized that Pam is a quiet but vital part of MPJ Cattle. “Mom doesn’t talk much, but she does a lot. The weekend of the Iowa Beef Expo, Brad and I were there fitting cattle; Melissa was taking care of the show heifers at our place; and my mom pulled two calves by herself overnight. There’s not many grandma’s who can do that.” Pam added: “And one calf had her leg back and one calf was backwards.

I was here and it had to be done.”

Just as the family relies on teamwork in getting regular tasks done, they also approach breeding with a larger team in mind. Matt said, “Part of the reason we’re being so diverse in the breeds of cattle is so our customers aren’t competing directly against each other, except maybe in the grand drive. So our customers are all on the same team – some are showing steers, some are showing heifers of one breed or another.” Brad added, “We’re trying to get everybody rooting for each other. And they’ve become friends with each other. It makes it so much fun going to a show.”

MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE SHOW Matt said their customers basically become family. When electrical work is needed at the farm, a customer who is also an electrician is there immediately. A customer who owns a trucking company brought over a load of wood chips.

One helped them with fencing and one helped tarp the silage pile.

“Everywhere you look, they’re doing stuff for us, too, which is really cool.”

The all-for-one, one-for-all attitude is a good example for Matt and Melissa’s children, Harper, 5, and Sawyer, 2. Harper has started showing calves in open events. “I love to see her interact with our kids and our customers. It’s great seeing her learn how people work together as a team,” Melissa said.

While winning the ribbons, banners and trophies at shows is rewarding for the junior exhibitors and breeders, it’s not the be-all, end-all.

“When you’re at the show, you think there’s nothing more important than the show. But when you look back at it, the things you remember are not the things you thought you’d remember,” said Matt. “Some of the best times are working cows here or sorting calves or checking cows on pasture.” Brad agreed: “Driving through cows in a cornfield is probably one of my favorite things to do.”

April 2022 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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LYON COUNTY FAMILY

EVERYTHING’S NEW THE PAST FOUR YEARS

By Bob Fitch

After Mark and Heidi Kock married, they purchased an acreage and fed livestock in Lyon County near Inwood. Four years ago, life took them on a short detour to South Dakota and then Mark took a long detour to the Middle East. After these diversions, the road led them right back to feeding livestock in Lyon County.

“When people ask me ‘What’s new?’, I tell them everything’s new. Everything has been new for us for the past four years,” Mark said.

Four years ago, Heidi came home from bringing the kids to a church camp and found Mark sitting at the kitchen table with a military recruiter. “I thought ‘What in the world?,’” she said. “Mark’s grandpa is a World War II veteran, so he’s always had a place in his heart for the military. I knew he wanted to do this, but I always said the kids were too little.”

Mark and Heidi Kock of Rock Rapids.

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For the previous 10 years, the couple had been custom feeding both cattle and hogs on an acreage west of Inwood – located just a half-mile from the dairy farm where the pair met and worked during high school.

Mark is a native of Inwood and Heidi is from Rock Valley. In addition to their own livestock, Mark worked 10 years for farmers John Fluit Jr. and Vern Van Beek of Inwood.

Marcus, Eva, Ella, Paytan, and Landan with their “Min-Pin” puppies.

When he made the decision to join the South Dakota Air National Guard, they sold their Inwood acreage. Knowing there would be extended periods when Mark was gone for his duty as a fireman in the Air Guard, they knew it wasn’t feasible for Heidi to take care of 1,000 head of cattle plus the hogs – and take care of their five children.

They rented a home in Worthing, S.D., and Mark took a job with Sioux Falls Animal Control. Heidi worked to help launch The Clean Bean coffee shop in Sioux Falls. The enlistment process stretched out for several months. Despite the unknowns surrounding when he would leave for basic training and not knowing if and when he might be deployed, they started building a hog finishing barn near Highway 11 west of the Newton Hills. “We dug that hole in the ground as fast as we could,” Heidi said. Mark was his own contractor and did the concrete work himself.

As the hog barn construction was wrapping up, suddenly their world started moving at light speed. “The first pigs came in two weeks before he left for boot camp,” Heidi said. “I looked at Mark and said ‘I don’t think I can do this.’ But he said ‘Honey, you’ll figure it out.’”

When they lived on the acreage at Inwood, Heidi was not involved in feeding the livestock. Mark joked, “I’m not sure she even knew we had pigs. She was wondering why it smelled like pigs all the time.” Heidi replied: “I was too busy raising your babies.” “That’s true,” said Mark. The couple had five children in six years from 2007 to 2013.

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knew enough to ask for help this time around. Al Kumlien of Canton helped out with the pigs during Mark’s deployment. “Also, the kids had my back and did so much without me even needing to ask. They were my backbone and the Lord was my rock,” she said.

Their children are Landan, 15; Eva, 14; Paytan, 12; Ella, 10; and Marcus, 9. All attend Central Lyon schools.

According to Heidi, “Having five kids in six years was a challenge. It was a little crazy some days. But we kept each other sane. I’d have my bad days and Mark would have his the next. We evened each other out.”

Last summer, Mark Kock’s family welcomed him back from deployment to the Persian Gulf. Pictured are Landan, Eva, Heidi with Ella and Marcus in front of her; Mark; Mark’s parents Pam and Scott Kock; Paytan; and Heidi’s parents, Leonard and Evonne Rozeboom.

During the half year of basic training, no communication with the family is permitted for the first three months. So Heidi was pretty much on her own with the new barn. “I couldn’t call Mark, I couldn’t ask him questions about anything. That was hard. But I figured out that stinkin’ barn and all the fancy buttons. Those pigs became my little friends.”

Mark was gone for basic training from December 2018 until June 2019. After he returned, the family had a relatively normal period for about a year-and-a-half. But in December 2020, he was deployed to Qatar, a Persian Gulf country which borders Saudi Arabia.

Having learned the hard way the first time Mark was gone, Heidi

Landan is active in the FFA chapter at Central Lyon High School. Currently, he’s raising 135 chicks which he plans to sell as soon as they start laying eggs. He built the coop the chicks are in. He also spends time helping with the hog chores.

Eva is in cross country and track, and likes to bake. Heidi described Eva as her third hand because “she and I are on the same wavelength.”

Ella is “one of the goofiest girls around” and enjoys baking like her sister.

Both Paytan and Marcus are athletic and active in wrestling and football. All of the kids enjoy hunting and fishing. And, just for the record,

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First Christmas in Rock Rapids. Mark and Heidi Kock with their children, Eva, Paytan, Ella, Marcus and Landan.

Marcus said, “I’m the smartest one in the family.”

When Mark returned last summer from his deployment to the Middle East, their path led them back to Lyon County. “As soon as I got back in July, I looked at multiple places south of Sioux Falls, but nothing panned out. We tried to buy a place about six miles away from our barn, but the price went sky high.

The auctioneer asked me if we’d be interested in buying a place over by Rock Rapids. That was on a Saturday. We looked at it on Monday, and Tuesday was the sale. I couldn’t get off work, so Heidi had to come and buy it.”

The acreage they purchased east of Rock Rapids includes two hog buildings, complementing their South Dakota barn which they continue to own. “At our barn west of the Newton Hills, we help with the vaccinating, power washing and loading. Thankfully Al does all the daily chores over there,” Mark said.

The kids help vaccinate the pigs at both sites. “They can vaccinate a barn in about 40 minutes.”

Mark enjoys the climate-controlled nature of raising pigs. “The pigs 16

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | April 2022

Mark and Heidi prepare to poke some pigs.

pretty much stay the same all the time, except for the propane bill.”

Working cattle out in the elements was not his favorite job. The time in Qatar reaffirmed his aversion to extreme weather. “Qatar was hot – it got up to 135 degrees,” he said.

Heidi added: “This guy can’t even live in the winter anymore.” “Qatar wrecked me. I can’t take cold anymore,” he said. The sun rose about 4:30 a.m. in Qatar. “You’d wear sunglasses even at night to keep the dust out of your eyes. People would ask me ‘Don’t you have a good view?’ And I’d send them a picture and say … ‘Here’s my view: razor wire and rock and missiles.’”

In addition to feeding pigs, Mark also works full-time in construction for his friend Jason Horstman of Horst Builders & Design in Larchwood. Landan will work for Horst Builders this summer. They focus on residential construction, both building and remodeling.

The family is also ramping up to begin breeding “Min-Pins” – Miniature Pinscher dogs. Mark said, “Whatever the trend is going on, I go opposite. The trend is designer dogs, so I’m going to go with pure-

breds. I like them because they’re no maintenance. You trim their nails every six to eight months and you’re good to go. They’re clean-cut and just neat dogs.” Min-Pins have got the look of a Doberman, but they stay very small. “I’m building kennels and the actual dogs are coming shortly. Hopefully we’ll have puppies ready to go by this summer.”

The kids are looking forward to helping with the puppies.

Heidi is enthusiastic about her fulltime position in customer service at Premier Bank in Rock Rapids.

She said the community, the school district and the church have been amazing and awesome in their welcome. Their parents are not far away; Heidi’s sister lives in George; and Mark’s brother lives just two miles away. Mark’s grandmother was raised in the Rock Rapids area.

It all adds up to feeling at home after four years of change.

Heidi said their family’s faith in the Lord has been a cornerstone during four years of change. “To God be the glory,” she said.

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PLYMOUTH COUNTY FAMILY

ON THE FARM OR THE COUNTY BOARD:

IF YOU CAN’T PAY FOR IT, DON’T BUILD IT OR BUY IT

by Bob Fitch

Craig and Nancy Anderson met while both were students at South Dakota State University in the 1970s. They dated for seven years – “We called it ‘steadily going,’” Nancy said.

Forty-some years later, the couple is still “steadily going” through life together.

When they were at SDSU, neither of them necessarily planned for a life of feeding cattle and farming. A native of Reliance in west river South Dakota, Nancy was an animal science major in college. “When I was there, I think there were only about a half dozen girls in the animal science department. Now it's more than 50 percent women.” She became the first female county agent in the South Dakota Extension Service, working in the Beadle County office at Huron.

When Craig graduated from SDSU with a degree in ag business, his plan was to go to law school at the University of South Dakota. But he graduated in December and USD didn’t let a law student start in the middle of the year. So he moved to Syracuse, Kan., to be the assistant manager at a sale barn to make some money until it was time for law school to start.

Craig and Nancy Anderson of Merrill.

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“Then Dad called up at 5:00 one morning and said, ‘You’re the only one of the kids who can do this, and corn planting season is coming up and I really need the help.’ Help was hard to find then, too,” he said. “So I came back, but the day I drove in I told my mom, ‘Now, I’m not

The Andersons fed cattle for many years before selling their last loads in fall 2020.

going to stay.’ But I stayed. And a couple years later Nancy and I decided we’d get married.”

Why did his dad think he was the only one who could do it?

Nancy laughed: “Because everyone else had a good job.” Craig was the “tail-ender” in the family, younger by quite a few years than his four siblings.

Craig and Nancy’s honeymoon trip to the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City was canceled. “We were fortunate. Two weeks before we got married, we got a 1,000 head of cattle to custom-feed,” Craig said. The morning after they got married, the couple went out to do chores together. “So I got Nancy a pair of overshoes and had her walk pens. I thought we’d put that animal science knowledge to good use.”

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Nancy wore out many pairs of overshoes over the decades, but never regretted giving up her career in Extension. “Once I got that first pair of overshoes, that was the right thing. I kept the cattle alive. I walked the pens seven days a week.”

Craig said his dad was “just appalled” that they were custom feeding cattle in addition to the ones they owned. But Craig had learned some lessons working at Arizona feed yards during the “train wreck” of the 1970s cattle market. “I thought, ‘You know, you need to have a buffer from the market.’” He lived in Yuma, Ariz., from seventh grade through his first two years of college before transferring to SDSU. His sister had moved to Yuma to teach and his parents sent him there to keep her company when she was homesick.

The Anderson’s have kept a strong attachment to the Amer-

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ican Southwest. They’ve gone to Sante Fe, N.M., in August for 35 years; have traveled in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado; and try to go to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas most years.

They also have an affinity for the Native Americans both in the southwestern U.S. and the tribes closer to home. Over the years, they’ve attended many pow wow’s and had friendships with a number of Indian elders, and occasionally provided support to families or individuals in need. Craig also served on the Tribal Arts Council in Sioux Falls for many years. The couple likes to learn the stories of people from different places and different backgrounds, striving to broaden their conversations beyond cattle, corn and kids.

Nancy Anderson riding Slider on the trails at Plymouth County’s Hillview Park.

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Their trips to the Southwest were never long because they had to get home to help their lone employee with the cattle. But their lives changed not too long ago: Anderson’s sold their last loads of fed cattle in November 2020. Nancy is hoping they can now take time for extended trips to places like the Black Hills where they’d like to spend time trail riding. All summer long, they keep their horse trailer hooked up to a pickup so when they have spare time they can quickly saddle the horses and load them in the trailer; then take off to ride local trails.

“I loved the cattle business and I love the people in the cattle business,” Craig said. “If our long-time employee, Kevin Bates, hadn’t decided to go do something else, we’d probably still be feeding cattle.” Kevin gave them several months’ notice, but they weren’t confident another employee would do the same.

“We were fearful that, at our age, if we filled up with cattle and the next guy only gave us two weeks’ notice – when you’re 30 you don’t care, but at 68 it becomes insurmountable.”

So it seemed like the perfect time to step away from feeding cattle, he said. “If I drop dead from a heart attack, it’ll be easier to sort out if we don’t have the yards full of cattle.” Nancy added, “And you need to quit some time.” Craig agreed: “The farm’s been good to us. But working until you’re dead is not the answer. By still farming some ground, we can transition.

It’s not like you hit the brick wall and say ‘Ok, tomorrow I’m going to have a sale and it’s over.’”

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Craig credited a portion of their success to early advice both from his father, Raymond, and one of their first bankers, Jack Guenthner. “One of the things my dad always said about the cattle business is you should not have any overhead. My dad didn’t build any Harvestore silos. I know the bedding barns and confinements are a popular thing now, but we never built any of those. My dad’s philosophy – and I signed onto it, I guess – the reason a cattle feeder has a bunker silo is so they’ve got a place to push everything in when they’re done.

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And, if we couldn’t pay for it, we didn’t build it or buy it. We went without a lot of things that would have made our lives easier until we could pay for them.”

Nancy said, “Our banker back then said ‘You have to decide what you want versus and what you need.’ That was good advice for us.” Craig added, “When you’re young and enthusiastic, you think you can do anything.” Nancy continued, “And you think you need a lot of stuff.” Craig concluded, “Jack told me, ‘If, instead of buying a combine, what if you hired someone with a combine? Let’s go through the numbers.’ Looking back, that was really good advice to us to pay attention.”

Another philosophy he taught them was to avoid year-end machine buying binges. “He said ‘I’ve watched too many farmers spending a lifetime trying not to pay taxes. The government never takes it all. But, if you do foolish things to avoid paying taxes, the bank will take it all.’”

In addition to feeding cattle, growing grain and traveling to the Southwest, Craig and Nancy have been very active in local civic activities. Nancy has served as a commissioner on the Soil & Water Conservation District board for 20 years and she’s also on the Plymouth County Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Craig Anderson riding Dillon at Plymouth County’s Hillview Park.

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Craig spent 14 years on the Plymouth County Zoning Board and is now in his 17th year as a Plymouth County Supervisor.

He’s also on the board of the Iowa Public Investment Trust Fund. “I think if you’re going to live somewhere, you ought to participate. If you don’t like what’s going on, you throw your hat in the ring and try to change it,” he said..

Nancy said years ago they became concerned about residential growth moving north out of Sioux City. “Everybody wanted a one-acre plot of ground. Particularly when you look at the fragile soils in the Loess Hills area, one acre of ground was not a good plan.” For farmers whose land was worth $300 an acre, it seemed like a good deal to sell one acre for $3,000. So lots were selling “boom, boom, boom” which resulted in “driveway, driveway” and “bus stop, bus stop” and “mail stop, mail stop.”

Craig said people were moving to one-acre country lots because they wanted the freedom of a country home. But then they’d have to move snow, get a dumpster because they didn’t have weekly garbage service, and eventually want a “man shed” for everything. Inevitably, the new one-acre country living folks would face septic issues – and possibly related problems with their well water. Craig has been pleased to be a part of forward-thinking zoning rule changes to address issues such as these.

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He's also proud of how the Board of Supervisors created a precedent-setting agreement whereby the windfarm operating companies were held responsible for road use and decommissioning. The Plymouth County approach has become a model for other local government entities. In addition, Craig said getting the county’s finances in order has helped them bring focus and resources to bridge replacement. “We’re getting a lot of those ‘past due’ things fixed; and things that are going to be important for a long time.”

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KEEPING LOCAL HISTORY ALIVE

PRE-HISTORIC TRIBAL VILLAGE HIDES NEAR WESTFIELD The Kimball Village Site is the earliest, best-preserved eastern Great Plains fortified village known in the United States.

Located in extreme western Plymouth County in the vicinity of Westfield, it is one of six sites inhabited between 1100 and 1250 by Prairie-Plains tribes living near the Big Sioux River.

It embodies all the distinctive characteristics of early indigenous farmers, settlements and material culture that typify early Plains Village Sites.

Archaeological field investigations and geophysical surveys show the site was a complete village with at least 20 houses fortified by a ditch and timber palisade.

Original inhabitants hunted deer, buffalo and other animals and lived through a transformative period of North American history, switching from a nomadic existence to living in compact villages that grew primitive corn and other grain-based foods.

A sampling of artifacts from the Kimball Village Site which are at the Sioux City Public Museum. Photo courtesy Sioux City Public Museum.

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Artifact hunters identified the Kimball Village Site in 1936. The first archaeological dig in 1939 was led by Dr. Charles R. Keyes, a professor at Cornell College, and his assistant, Ellison Orr. Fourteen workers from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped with the excavation project in 1939. Other excavations were done in 1942, 1963 and 2009. To protect the site, federal and state laws and practices restrict general public access to the specific location of the village.

A photograph of the first excavation at the Kimball Village Site in 1939.

The artifacts pictured with this story all were excavated during this 1939 dig.

A portion of a pottery vessel from the Kimball Site. The vessel displays an engraved sun circle. This photo and all subsequent photos from University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist.

During first dig, the WPA team dug trenches eight feet deep into the site and made an astonishing discovery: houses, hearths, storage pits, burial features and more than 9,000 artifacts, including more than 100 tools made from bone, shell and stone beads, and ceramic pottery dating back about 800 years. The 2009 investigations revealed that the village covered about two acres.

Today’s modern investigative techniques allow for research that does not disturb what is below the ground. A geophysical technique called magnetic gradiometry shows evidence of as many as 21 possible earth lodges surrounded by a ditch and wall.

The state archaeologist stated that the Mill Creek Culture was highly distinctive and short-lived. The Mill Creek people “followed a way of life completely different from those before them.”

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In addition, “The Mill Creek culture is part of a larger group of horticultural villages that start to appear around 1000 near the Missouri River from northwest Iowa to central South Dakota. The 35 known Mill Creek villages cluster in two distinct areas in northwest Iowa: along the Little Sioux River and its three tributaries (Brooke Creek, Mill Creek, and Waterman Creek) and along the Big Sioux River and its tributaries in Plymouth County.”

The Mill Creek inhabitants “practiced a mixed economy, relying upon both horticulture and hunting as food sources. Maize

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A small and beautifully-detailed bird effigy from the Kimball Village Site is made of shell.

A ceramic bird effigy (possibly a woodpecker) from the Kimball site.

was one of the most important foods grown, with chenopods (goosefoot), marshelder, and squash also being utilized.

Large hoes manufactured from the scapula of bison were used to till the ground. The Mill Creek sometimes utilized a garden area composed of numerous mounds of earth, referred to by archaeologists as ridged fields. Bison, deer, and elk supplied the bulk of the meat resources, with water fowl, catfish, beavers, and squirrels also being hunted.”

An intriguing aspect are the long-distance connections made by the Mill Creek peoples. They “established trade relations with the Middle Mississippian culture of the eastern woodlands, specifically those living in western Illinois. These relations are seen by the occurrence of locally made copies of Middle Mississippian ceramic vessels found at several Mill Creek sites,” and, in turn, Mill Creek vessels found in the central Illinois River valley.

An effigy pot from the Kimball Village, a Mill Creek culture site near the Big Sioux River. Late Prehistoric Mill Creek (ca. AD 1000-1200) ceramic vessels often had effigies as handles. See additional photos at iowaarchaeology.tumblr.com/search/Kimball+Village.

“Bison scapula hoes, bird-wing fans, and bone bracelets, all of which are Plains-derived traits,” also occur in the central Illinois valley, “while Middle Mississippian Long-Nosed God masks are found at several Mill Creek sites. Other possible items traded between the two cultures include marine shell beads, bison robes, bird feathers, and hawk and eagle medicine bags.”

The Mill Creek’s widespread trading network reached as far south as the Gulf Coast and Florida.

Mill Creek tribe house plans as identified at the Kimball Village Site near Westfield. The floors of Mill Creek structures were dotted with large basin and bell-shaped storage pits (cache pits) designed to store surplus food and other items. Cache pits also occur outside of houses. From University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist

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Experts are unsure what happened to Mill Creek people in northwestern Iowa. There’s some evidence the Mandan and Hidatsa eventually developed from Mill Creek roots. The Mill Creek may have left Iowa for Dakota voluntarily or they may have felt encroached upon by the Oneota tribes who were the next to live in the area.

The Kimball Village Site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010 and recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 2017, one of only 26 such landmarks in the state of Iowa and the first in Plymouth County. The program recognizes historic properties of exceptional value and promotes preservation efforts.

When it was named a National Historic Landmark, John Doershuk, state archaeologist of Iowa, said the Kimball Village shows “remarkable on-going potential to continue to inform us about the past life-ways that were formative to today’s Iowa. We are immensely grateful to the property owners for their excellent stewardship ethic in continuing to care for this important place.” Organizations that worked to together to push for national landmark status were the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist, State Historical Society, Midwest Archeological Center and the National Park Service.

Sources • University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist (www.archaeology.uiowa.edu) • Tumblr site of the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist and the Iowa Archeology Society.

• U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service.

• State Historical Society division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.

• Sioux City Public Museum.

• Wikipedia.org “Kimball Village.”

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RURAL HISTORY FROM ACROSS THE BORDER

Alex Wipf, Jacob A. Gering, Andrew W. Gross, and Jacob W. Gross were rural mail carriers in 1913 at Freeman, S.D. They made deliveries on Indian motorcycles. The Gross brothers were great uncles of Garrett Gross, publisher of Farming Families magazine.

A LOVE AFFAIR WITH VINTAGE MOTORCYCLES America’s love affair with motorized vehicles began to explode at the dawn of the 1900s. Cars, trucks, tractors and motorcycles all presented opportunities to apply more speed and more power towards daily tasks in business, manufacturing, agriculture, shipping and more. The motorcycle in particular offered an economical solution that was also appreciated for the freedom it provided and the thrills it offered.

foundational leadership in curating American riding culture. Indian motorcycles also provided essential vehicles for American and French troops during World War I and World War II. And, in fact, Sturgis, S.D., Indian motorcycle dealer J.C. “Pappy” Hoel was one of the founders of the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club and the Black Hills Classic which would become the world’s largest motorcycle rally.

Billing itself as America’s first motorcycle company, the Indian motorcycle brand was introduced in 1901 by the Hendee Manufacturing Co. of Springfield, Mass.

Today, northwestern Iowa is home to the revived Indian motorcycle brand. Polaris Industries ended decades of uncertainty when it purchased the Indian brand in 2011.

Spirit Lake, Iowa, is the manufacturing headquarters of the modern Indian motorcycle.

There was and continues to be an affinity for the early models of Indian brand motorcycles from the Germansfrom-Russia population in South Dakota’s Turner and Hutchinson Counties. For example, the photo above shows a group of young rural mail carriers in the Freeman, S.D., area in 1913. This photo was taken just three years after automobiles started to outnumber horses and buggies. It's clear the men in this photo are standing with pride as they have a job with a consistent paycheck and, just as importantly, they get to ride a motorcycle while doing it! Can you imagine the dusty

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Milburne (Mickey) Michael sits on his ~1917 Indian Motorcycle.

Fred Haan sits atop his 1913 Indian Motorcycle which is now on display at Heritage Hall Museum and Archives in Freeman. From the collection of Lloyd Kaufmann.

roads traveled and the potholes dodged by these men as they did their job? But It probably beat milking cows or mending fences all day.

The early Indian motorcycles also lent themselves to “home repair,” especially among the mechanically-inclined in rural farming communities. In the upper left photo, 17-year-old Parker, S.D., area farm kid Milburne (Mickey) Michael proudly shows his 1917-era Indian Motorcycle in a 1927 photo. Mickey’s son Chuck said, “No one remembers how or when they acquired the Indian. My dad told me that the forward cylinder head broke, so he removed the cylinder, piston and connecting rod. He then sealed the hole and ran it with one cylinder. Farm kids were great mechanics back then.”

Lindy and Judy Graber.

Old motorcycles and bikes hold the interest and spark the creativity of Freeman area resident Lyndon “Lindy” Graber (middle and lower left photos). He and his wife, Judy, live in the same home place where he grew up. In his shop he has a collection of bikes, scooters and motorcycles that he has been tinkering with and working on for decades.

Lindy developed an appreciation and interest in these items from working with his father, Cleon Graber, as he fixed and restored vintage bikes before his death in 2014. Lindy is a contractor by trade, so being mechanically inclined and being able to work on and fix these old items comes naturally for him.

“I’ve met some great people from all over the country and everybody who does this is so friendly and helpful if someone needs a part or anything,” he said. Lindy is active with the Heritage Hall Museum & Archives in Freeman. S.D. Adapted from an original story written by Garrett Gross for The Farming Families of Turner County.

Additional sources: • www.indianmotorcycle.com • Wikipedia: Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company • www.harleyliberty.com • Black Hills Pioneer, August 13, 2007

Restoration by Lindy of his 1914 Indian Motorcycle.

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