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they were hit by automobiles. Reports said that American Legion members and other ex-servicemen from Bon Homme County were protesting the shipment and had caused the stampede. They were angered the cows were being shipped to the country’s recently defeated enemies, the Germans. (The local American Legion chapter soon disclaimed any organizational responsibility and criticized the unlawful actions.) Volunteers arrived to help herd the scattered cows. However, after the cows were corralled, authorities from the town of Scotland and Bon Homme County ordered the cattle out of the county. So the livestock was herded to a farm near Kaylor where the Gustav Freitag family lived (the current home of Kenneth Ochsner). The seriousness of the event was apparent when a call was placed to a Scotland undertaker who was told to "Send a hearse to Kaylor. There will soon be a number of dead here."

Reinhold Dewald at work in the Freeman Merchant’s State Bank. Dewald accompanied the shipment of South Dakota cattle to Germany and participated in the cattle solicitations. Original photograph owned by Rueben Goertz of Freeman.

March 24, 1921, was Maundy Thursday. The cows were gathered in a perimeter protected by 200 or so area men. They were led by Sheriff Karl Schmitt of Tripp and Lt. Ewald Gall of Menno. I recall the story of how Sheriff Schmidt came into Kaylor to get shells for the men and when the clerk was not being helpful, the sheriff took it upon himself to gather the needed shells.

Women in the neighborhood prepared coffee and sandwiches while children were sheltered as best they could. One woman I spoke with shared how she was sent upstairs a few miles from where the cattle were held – she watched out the window and saw a huge line of car lights. The Scotland Journal reported that, when the automobiles reached the Freitag farm, the Legionnaires found they were outnumbered four to one, both in men and guns. They were met by Sheriff Schmidt and Lieutenant Gall who warned them the first man crossing the fences would be fired on by the posse of at least 200 farmers. The night ended peacefully and, on Good Friday, the cows were herded to Tripp and held at what is now the fairgrounds until being loaded onto a train for their shipment overseas. American Legion members and chapters in Iowa protested the shipment of cattle as they were transported by rail to Sioux City. They also attempted legal maneuvers to prevent further shipment. However, the trainload of heifers and calves left Sioux City without incident and picked up more stock from Wisconsin when it stopped in Chicago. The final count

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