by Pat Ketler

"Down Through The Years"

 
I mentioned in last weeks installment that there was little I known concerning Joseph Robidoux and his family before coming to Benkelman in the early 1900's and of my later contacts with Mr. Robidoux, and so it is that in order to precede that period, I should note that I got whatever information I had of him from folks who were on the job when he first reached Benkelman, none of whom are still living, and that those who were still on the earthly scene at that particular time were even then quite limited.

Now I am thinking of such pioneers as Jeff Gallagher, William Hill, Harry Cox, Lon Scott and a few others. They were all cowboys who followed vast herds thru from Texas and as far north as Ogallala and to other points north and west. They of course were on the move, but usually stopped to rest their cattle for a few days before continuing onward for Collinsville, which was later to become Benkelman, provided accommodations, though limited indeed for the weary cowboys and the grazing in the Republican River valley, then known as the "Forks" provided both excellent grazing and water for their herds.

The Burlington Railroad had reached Benkelman a short time before enroute to its Denver terminal, but there was no Benkelman then so far as development of any kind was concerned, the only business building of consequence being the then Scott hotel and it was generally popular for housing for the cattle personnel, which was still sitting firmly the saddle for the day the Robidoux family arrived was two years before the country opened for homestead entry.

The Robidoux family reached Benkelman in the year 1884 and at once Mr. Robidoux began formulating his building plans. He felt that Benkelman had a good future but scarcely knew which way it would be built as pertained to the main street. And, as a result, he made a bad guess. The old Scott Hotel was situated on the location now known as the Fletcher filling station and taking his que from that Mr. Robidoux concluded that main street would follow a course to the west and built his store facing the Scott Hotel to the north. There he constructed a large, frame store building, the second story of which was developed into large, commodious living quarters, a system generally followed in all frontier towns.

But later the Burlington, thru its subsidiary, the Lincoln Land Company, in platting the town, routed the main street from north to south, with the south end facing the depot. This left Mr. Robidoux' store a half block from the main drag and the business section of Benkelman. Then shortly thereafter the three blocks on either side to the south went into a building boom which was almost unbelievable in preparation for the coming of the homesteaders which was soon to follow.

But in the meantime, the Robidoux store had developed a fine patronage, was a busy spot for Mr. Robidoux had already begun fully living up to his slogan, "Something for Everybody," and it took quite a little crew of clerks to handle the business. And that recalls to mind a situation that sort of puzzled me until I learned the reason for it.

When Mr. Robidoux first located in Benkelman, he was in his prime and far from being an old man, but everybody spoke of him as "Old Joe," which was later explained thru the fact that he had a nephew who joined his clerking personnel soon after opening his store here. He was a large, portly young man who was almost physically perfect with a powerful physique and very ambitious and a very hard worker. He had a very friendly personality and his name was also Joe. And the eldest son of the Robidoux family was likewise named Joe after his father. So it was there were three members of the Robidoux family whose names were Joe and in order to designate the different ones, they were given the names of "Big Joe," "Old Joe," and "Young Joe."

"Big Joe" remained with the store organization as long as business was good and drought and grasshoppers took over, and then disappeared from the scene. But so far as Mr. Robidoux was concerned, he and his son carried on the business and the title of "Old Joe" and "Young Joe" continued on to the end.

And now we reach the year 1880 and the coming of the great numbers of homesteaders who took the country by storm, and the beginning of our present Little Empire was established. They came in hordes and branched out over the entire country and soon Benkelman was a busy thriving little city with practically every type of merchandising and professional services being represented. Even a cigar manufacturing business was among the list.

And in the meantime, Joe Robidoux found himself pitted against a thrifty business man whose name was Frank Pay, who built a two-story store building on main street which was as large as the Robidoux store and stocked it equally as heavily with the same line of merchandise. Other stores were likewise stocked in a competitive way and competition developed to a high degree of intensity and Benkelman soon became the favored shopping center for many miles around.

Naturally, the incoming homesteaders had money and generally they were free spenders and things really hummed since in the beginning crops were generally good and the future was very promising. But the years of the 1900's, except 1900 to 1902, cast danger signals ahead and they proved to be danger signals in all the term implies and from that on the scene changed rapidly. Benkelman, like all the towns in the homestead country, was on the skids. It just seemed like it couldn't rain—hot winds couldn't cease and grasshoppers moved in hordes to destroy even little garden spots kept alive by pump or hand irrigation. It was a dismal picture as folks gave up and started to move on. Businessmen wilted and did likewise. The country was again on the move, but this time in covered wagons headed in every direction and few if any came to take their places for a long time.

Among the businessmen who called it enough and left was Frank Pay, Mr. Robidoux' most telling competitor. Then Mr. Robidoux and Mr. Pay got together in the sale of the Frank Pay store building which Mr. Robidoux thereafter occupied with his stock of goods, abandoning his original store building, using it for storage, and the family later moved from it to a pretty home a block away which they remodeled to suit their purpose. Mr. Robidoux likewise owned other residence properties which he eventually disposed of in later life.

But he and his son, Joseph, Jr., continued the operation of the original Robidoux business until Mr. Robidoux' health began to fail and they closed out the stock in its entirety in 1916, following which the son Joe operated a hardware store for several years before trading it off and later locating in Fort Collins in business and later in Denver where he passed away a few months ago.

 In concluding my story of Joseph Robidoux, Sr., I think I will bring you a little story concerning him which one of his early day clerks, Richard Extrand, told me many years ago. Richard was employed in the Robidoux store for several years at one time and was an energetic, pleasant young man whom everybody seemed to like. He had many friends among the young people and thru his devotion to his employer, did whatever he could to influence his friends in the patronage of the Robidoux store in which he was quite successful. After a couple of years with Mr. Robidoux, he felt that an increase in salary should be forthcoming and made his wants known to Mr. Robidoux, who agreed with him and after coming to an agreement as to the amount desired, the issue was settled.

Extrand continued his efforts to influence his friends, both boys and girls, to patronize the store for their needs in ready-to-wear clothing, shoes, etc., and was meeting with continued success. This went on for a couple more years and he concluded that another raise was in order and so informed Mr. Robidoux who readily agreed with him and they soon came to terms and everything was lovely. But in time, as conditions economically were gradually growing better as was business generally, Extrand concluded that another raise was in order, and so informed Mr. Robidoux.

But results were not so pleasing this time, for after studying Mr. Extrand's face for a few minutes he said: "You see, Richard, this is the third raise you have asked since coming to the store. What makes you think you should expect it?" To which Extrand explained how he had worked to increase business; how he had brought new customers to the store; how he had devoted his best thought and management to it, etc. Mr. Robidoux listened with much interest until Extrand had covered the ground as he saw it and then said: "All the things you have said are true, Richard. You have worked hard and have proven yourself to be a worthy helper. But when you speak of management, that worries me, because it makes me wonder what would happen to Old Joe if you should die. Maybe you'd better quit now and give me a chance to learn how to run my own business again."

And that ended the interview and I can recall how hearty Extrand laughed when retelling me the story, ending up with the remark, "Perhaps 'Old Joe' was right. At any rate that all happened several years ago and I note the old boy is still in business and going strong without me, my advice and youthful friends."

There were seven children in the Joseph Robidoux family, all of whom I knew personally although some of them were quite young when I first came to Benkelman, but that's a long time ago and I am not too sure as to where they are and as to what happened to them, and in order to not get that part of my story confused and to have it as nearly correct as possible, I wrote Corrine, next to the youngest daughter, who is now Mrs. Victor Westermark whose husband is the Judge of the Fourteenth Judicial District in Nebraska, and asked for her cooperation in getting the story correct and she responded beautifully to my request and also sent me the family pictures which are being used in the story.

Judge and Mrs. Westermark live in McCook and I believe that she is the only remaining member of the original Joe Robidoux family still living in Southwest Nebraska. And I want to take time out at this juncture of the story to thank Corrine for her efforts in making the family history authentic.

Marie, who was the eldest daughter, was born December 29, 1879, and is now in her 84th year. She married W. D. Lasby, superintendent of the Benkelman schools at that time. He was also a registered pharmacist and later operated a drug store at Indianola for a time, following which they moved to Townsend, Montana, where he continued in the operation of a drug store for many years. There were three children in the Lasby family: Joe, Marie and William. Marie is a registered nurse in both Montana and Washington and plans on getting a license to practice in Portland, Oregon, where her daughters live.

She was married to Dan Gill and they are the parents of three daughters and one son. Her brother, Joe, like his mother, lives in Tacoma where he is having a successful career as a practicing medical doctor. The youngest brother, William, lost his life in the service of his country several years ago.

Alice, second daughter in the Robidoux family, was born January 18, 1880, and married John Murphy. Three daughters, Mary Rose who passed away some thirty years ago; Peggy who lives with her mother in Denver; Elaine, youngest daughter, who is a registered nurse and is employed in a hospital in Oberlin, Kansas.

Dora, living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, born June 4, 1889, married Fred Durrie and lived in Saratoga, Wyoming, where Fred was engaged in banking. He passed away many years ago. They were the parents of Jerome, Bob and Tom. Jerome lives with his mother and spends some time at Cape Canaveral, Florida, doing government work. Tom, the youngest, lives in Kansas City, Missouri. Robert a priest, is located at Rifle, Colorado, serving as pastor and doing mission work.

Corrine, born January 21, 1892, married Victor Westermark in whose law office she was employed in Benkelman. Mr. Westermark was born at Oakland, Nebraska, and was graduated from the College of Law at the state university in 1946. He was appointed to fill the unexpired term of the late Judge C. E. Eldred, who lost his life in a car accident and has since served as District Judge of the Fourteenth Judicial District of Nebraska.

One child, Celestine, was born to Judge and Mrs. Westermark on December 1, 1927, and passed away suddenly June 26, 1963. She was married to Cliff Thoene. Before working at the law college, she was employed in the Morrison law office in McCook and before her marriage she was employed with the Woodmen Central Accident Company. At the time of her death she was manager of the Trend Shop on "0" Street in Lincoln. Society, in her passing. was robbed of a beautiful character, and one who was so thoughtful of others, the result of which she had won and merited so many fine friends.

And the youngest of the five daughters was Madalene. who was born February 12, 1895, and was married to Myrl Olp and they had two sons, Robert and Gerald. Madeline met death in a car wreck in Fort Collins in 1947 where she and her two sons were then living. Both of her sons now have responsible positions in Chicago. Robert has nine children and Gerald has five and they flew from Chicago to attend Celestine's funeral.

As we have stated before, Benkelman had many newcomers seeking by hook or crook to make a fortune quick because with thousands of homesteaders surging into the county's boundaries in search of free land and an opportunity to get a home for themselves, and with most of them being fortified with some money, it made a fertile spot for gamblers, saloon keepers, soldiers of fortune and short change artists.

But those days brought men of honesty of purpose and much ability in many lines too, such as the law, medicine, etc., along with many capable business men and I think I can say without fear of contradiction that the most colorful of these in his day and throughout the years that followed was Joseph Robidoux whom I came to know intimately from my childhood to the day that Mr. Robidoux passed on, and no history of Dundy county, or even a pretense at such, would be complete without a review of his life in Benkelman from his humble beginning in business here as a young man in 1884 throughout the years that followed during which he became our leading business man, not alone in Benkelman and Dundy county, but in adjoining counties in southwestern Nebraska, eastern Colorado and northwest Kansas as well.

His early business successes were recorded in articles which I borrowed from the old Dundy County Pioneer and used in some of the earlier installments which told of his faith in Dundy county thru the erection of one of the largest and most convenient store buildings shortly after the Collinsville trading post gave way to Benkelman, the growth of which was phenomenal. And according to the Robidoux store advertisements in The Pioneer it seemed that there was nothing that he did not carry or could not supply the public until his operations grew to the point that he could truthfully advertise that he could supply everything needed from needles to threshing machines.

While, as I have said, I knew Mr. Robidoux intimately from my childhood up, I had no intimate knowledge of him previous to that time and so almost four years ago I wrote one of his daughters, Mrs. Judge Victor Westermark of McCook for whatever information she could give me and I was happy when she replied promptly, both with the desired information as well as with the pictures of both Mr. and Mrs. Robidoux. I was happy because Corrine was one of the few to whom I wrote for the history of early day people in Benkelman who replied for without that information I could not have brought you the full story as I am now attempting to do.

And so in the beginning, I think I will bring you the letter that Corrine wrote in connection with it which not alone touches on the history generally, but I think it will be interesting to hundreds of our readers too, and then I will print the brief history she gave me of Mr. Robidoux's life prior to coming to Benkelman. But in the letter it will need to be remembered that it was written almost four years ago and at that time her mother was an invalid and largely confined to her bed as a result of a hip fracture following which she was taken to a hospital in Denver for treatment and it was in Denver that she later passed away.

And now here is Corrine's letter: "Dear Mr. Ketler: Since receiving your letter of January 18, I have been trying to get a little information from my brother Joe and he has sent me some dates and facts and I will submit them for your record. I will say that I am happy to have been contacted on this matter with regard to our folks who settled in Benkelman in 1884. The past year, 1948, marks the first time since then that the town hasn't had as a resident one of Joseph Robidoux's family, and it goes without saying that Benkelman will always be home to me, having spent the greater part of my life there. We feel very much a part of McCook now and are really enjoying our home and many new acquaintances but we do miss our Celestine a lot. However, she is pretty much in love with her school work and friends at the University of Nebraska.

For information of our dear mother's friends there, will say that Mother is still bedfast in a Sister's Home in Denver where she is receiving the most wonderful care. When I visited her shortly after the holidays, she seemed very contented and at last reports she was being taken from her bed for a few hours each day to sit up in a wheel chair so as to keep her circulation up. Incidentally, one of the sisters who cares for her has the name of Alice Marie, the names of the two oldest daughters who are my sisters.

"Mother used to tell us how frightened she became in the early days of Benkelman when the rough and ready cowboys came into our store shooting in every direction, aiming at no one, just giving a demonstration of their marksmanship. I often wondered how mother had the courage which we all know it required since she could speak only French and was so far away from her folks and home in Canada. Whenever she visited there we always looked forward to her return and especially to the gifts she would bring us. Proud indeed were we girls (my younger sister Madeline and I) when we received and wore our first pair of white canvas shoes which were being worn in town and more especially since they came from our mother's old home in Canada.

"In looking over the January 28th issue of The Post I saw the picture of the first hotel in which was shown at the right of my father's first store building bearing the sign, 'General Merchandise.' It was over this store that our family lived for many years. Now I will close my letter to you and give you some facts concerning our parents as it pertains to their lives and the part they played in the early history of Benkelman, as follows:

"Joseph Robidoux was born in the county of Iberville, Province of Quebec, Canada, April 3, 1853, the son of Pierre and Marie Ann Isabella Robidoux. He left home at the age of twelve years and all the education he acquired was thru his own efforts which were limited to lessons at night school. He migrated to Wallace, Kansas, on July 7, 1879 and remained there for five years where he was engaged in a general merchandise store. On October 27, 1884, he moved to Benkelman and worked two months for J. M. Morris & Co. As shown by the original note signed by our deceased uncle, Pete Robidoux, under date of January 20, 1885, in the amount of $1500.00, our father purchased our uncle's interest in the Benkelman store and shortly after that the name was changed from ‘Robidoux Bros.' to 'Joseph Robidoux.' He passed away in the terrible flu epidemic of 1919."

Joe, Jr., eldest of the two sons, was born March 17, 1884 and passed away on November 26, 1963. He married Louise Gaudrevault of Hastings, who with their two sons Leo and Bernard, both living in California, survive him. Leo, youngest son, lost his life by drowning on May 27, 1900, at the Dyson irrigation pond. I will bring you my story of that sad tragedy in a later installment.

Mrs. Westermark brought out a few facts which I did not know in her letter. First, I though that Joseph Robidoux, Sr., and his family came directly from Canada to Benkelman, but I was wrong in this since they lived at different points in the cowboy days in Kansas and members of the family were born at different points. Marie and Alice were born in Wallace County, Kansas, Joe, Jr., in Canada, and Leo, Dora, Corrine and Madaline all were born in Benkelman. And in the death record, Leo was the first to answer the call in 1900. Second in order was the father, Joseph Robidoux, on January 17, 1919, at the age of 66 years during the great flu epidemic of that period. Madeline was the third to answer the call in 1947 and the wife and mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Robidoux, on December 19, 1949, and finally, Joseph, Jr., on November 26, 1963.

Like their text books, farm equipment, ideals, etc., most of the homesteaders brought their religious convictions and church denominations with them to a varied degree. At first, perhaps members of the United Presbyterian Church had the greatest numbers, especially as it applied to Parks and Benkelman precincts. This was due in large part to the activity of leading members in publicizing Dundy county thru their church papers and a united effort to populate the county as rapidly as possible and at the same time add to their church numbers.

Next in order was the Methodist church in Benkelman, which later became the predominating church organization in numbers and the same is true today. Early organization was built around the first minister, Benjamin S. Haywood, Philip Marshall, F. M. Boswell and their families and others.

And then came the Baptist church, the organization of which was led by Robert Walker and his sons, C. R. and L. E. Walker. And they all built church buildings at about the same time. At the present time I understand that there are nine church denominations in Benkelman and all of them have church structures.

In the beginning, there was quite a representation of both the Catholic and the Episcopalian church, the latter having passed out of the picture several years ago. And in the beginning, before church structures were built, the various congregations held services more or less regularly with the old skating rink and the McEvoy hall being the principal meeting places, where at different times all church services were held.

After Mr. Robidoux, whose family were one of the mainstays in the Catholic church, had bought the Frank Pay building and moved his store there, the vacated store room of the abandoned structure became a meeting place for the Catholic people. The room was plenty large to accommodate whatever number was present, but the furnishings were not all that could be desired. The pews were of medieval construction indeed, being comprised of planks supported by nail kegs. But the spirit was there nevertheless and it was a joyful day for the congregation when a movement got underway for the purchase of the then Baptist church building which was purchased and remodeled for use of the Catholic congregation when the membership of the original Baptist congregation had declined to a point where it was practically impossible to continue.

Mr. Robidoux and the original John McEvoy, father of the late John and Lizzie McEvoy, led the purchase movement and solicited funds from the membership, carrying the remainder of the financial burden themselves. And this building continued to be the church home of the Catholic membership until about ten or more years ago when their beautiful new church home, and later the rectory, were built in the new Smith Addition, which today stands as one of the most beautiful Catholic edifices in the entire Republican Valley. And one cannot but wonder how great the satisfaction and gratification Mr. and Mrs. Robidoux would be today if they were here to witness the end of the long battle in which they had so much a part during their lifetime.

In closing her reply to my questions concerning her family, Corrine added a touch of her childhood days in relation to her father, especially during the holiday season, and how much it meant to the youngsters at their home, and especially at Christmas time. The supply of nuts and sweets were unlimited and the French cream candies, of pastel shades, the soft-centered chocolates, the fresh dates and nuts--he never failed at Christmas time.

But at other times it was different, because he held to the theory that candy, or too much of it, was not good for the teeth, and outside of holiday events, it was off sides. "We couldn't quite agree with him in that particular respect," Corrine said, "and coming from school we often stopped to visit with Ethel Ferman, now Mrs. Jack Hollinger of Boulder. Her father always carried candy in his store to sell to the school kids and on the return from school, we would often stop to have a liberal offering from Ethel's sack of candy. As I recall now, Ethel did not have the best tooth structure."

"Our father died at Mary Lanning Hospital in Hastings where he contracted pneumonia. Burial services and interment were at the McCook cemetery."

And another phase of her story which I failed to mention was the fear that her mother felt when they first landed in Benkelman because of the cowboy population and their somewhat reckless ways and their apparent viewpoints and attitudes on the way of life. Most of them were young men, many of them well educated but apparently infatuated with life in the cattle country where law and order was almost an unknown quantity and six-shooters were the order of the day. And few cowboys ventured forth day or night without wearing a gun and holster. And being one of the first stores in Benkelman, it was only natural that it was largely patronized by these gun-toting men of the west. Their wearing apparel consisted largely of bright-colored shirts and close-fitting trousers, which in most part were covered by chaps and their footwear was riding boots and with it all large, flaring red silk handkerchiefs were worn instead of neckties.

Mrs. Robidoux had been reared in the quiet and dignity of a highly civilized community in her native Canada and when cowboys rode up in front of the store, dismounted and entered with guns and spurs clinking, she hardly knew what to expect and although their approach and manners generally were most gentlemanly and respectful she still had an unrequited fear of them and was glad when they mounted their horses and moved on.

Mrs. Robidoux felt her position and fear more forcibly thru the fact that she could speak only a few words of English and of course could not understand what the cowboys were attempting to say to her. But as time passed, she naturally became more familiar with her surroundings and environment and then with the coming of the homesteaders two years later and with the speed with which she had acquainted herself with the English language, her fears had gradually vanished and she became a most valued citizen of the community during the years that followed.