The U.S. Homestead Act of 1862 made it possible to homestead 160 acres of land, for a small fee, living on the land improving it.  The U.S. sent recruiting agents to the German settlements in the Ukraine, encouraging people to come and take advantage of this.

     Elbert County, Colorado, was opened for homesteading in 1886.  In 1889 it was divided, establishing Kit Carson County.  Burlington was founded in 1888 as the County Seat, then a community of 10 houses.  T.G. Price was the first mayor.

     In May of 1889, my parents, with 2 small children, came to the U.S., landing at Baltimore, continuing by train to St. Francis, Kansas, and brought by wagon to the place of their homestead, about 18 miles northwest of Burlington.  The first things to be done were to dig a well by hand, and build a sod house, with a hard-packed dirt floor.  Grandpa and Grandma Bauder and their family arrived in November of 1889.  My father received his citizenship papers June 18, 1901, in Kit Carson County.  J.T. Jones was County Judge and T.G. Price was County Clerk.

     The early years presented many hardships - droughts, prairie fires, grasshopper plagues, blizzards and duststorms.  With only small plots of ground under cultivation, the hot winds of summer kept the yields small.  Many times it was necessary for our father to seek work away from home to provide for the family, sometimes working in hay fields or as a ranch hand.  There were times he worked in the Denver areas as a ranch hand, Section worker, and at Arco Smelter.  He made the trip with team and wagon, which took about 6 days one way.  Wild game was plentiful in those days, so father provided meat for the table with ducks, geese, prairie chickens, rabbit and sometimes a mess of perch or bullheads.  The Landsman Creek with a few fishing ponds were about a half mile away.  Once during a severe winter in the early years, my grandpa walked to St. Francis, where there was a flour mill.  He carried a 100-lb. sack of flour on his shoulders to his home so the family could have bread to eat.

     In about 1906, a new 3-bedroom house was built of sandstone.  A cellar was dug and rocked out, with 3 coves on each side, which stored vegetables and canned food.  In about 1914, a cistern was made and cold water was piped into the kitchen, a luxury that few rural homes had.  The house has been remodeled and enlarged and is still in use today, as is the cellar.  This is now the home of our niece, Shirley, and husband Dale Mangus.

     Through the years our parents raised a family of 1 1 children.  At this writing there are only 3 of us left.  The oldest daughter died Sept. 23, 1986, just two days before her 100th birthday.  The oldest son, Andrew III, served in World War 1, with the Hospital Corps in France for 1 1/2 years.  He died January 18, 1972 at the age of 84.

     In the early years our parents walked to a little church about 5 miles north of home.  I believe it was in Yuma County.  In later years they went to the Lutheran Church north of Bethune.  Our mailing address at one time was "Hermes" but I think it had been changed a few times.  I walked 1 1/2 miles to school, going through a pasture that was grazing land for Texas Longhorns, belonging to Spring Valley Ranch.  I was so afraid of them that I would go out of my way so they wouldn't see me.  I, Clara Loyd, being the youngest of the family, didn't see the hardships of the earlier years.  In my youth, we had a nice orchard of apples, peaches, apricots, cherries, plums, grapes and currants.  A large garden supplied us with fresh vegetables for the table and plenty for canning - hundreds of jars for winter use.  We butchered our own meats, some of which was canned, some cured and smoked, and always a lot of sausage.  In the Fall the bins in the cellar were filled with vegetables and fruits, a large stone jar of kraut, plus the canned foods.  We milked cows so had plenty of milk, cream and butter.

     Our parents lived on the farm home for 50 years.  In 1939, I moved them to Burlington, where I made a home and cared for them the rest of their lives.  Mother died in 1944 and father died in 1947.  They are buried in Fairview Cemetery at Burlington.

by Clara Loyd