Searching for Answers

 I stopped at the Klein Museum in Mobridge hoping to find some information about a house that has piqued my interest for 50 years. I did not get the answers I was hoping to get but I enjoyed my time at the museum as I found two other treasures I wasn't expecting to find. There will be more about the house in another post when and if I get some of the information I am seeking. Until then, welcome to the Klein Museum in Mobridge SD.

The Klein Museum was founded in 1975 to record and preserve the heritage and history of the local area around Mobridge, South Dakota.  The museum houses many artifacts from the collections of the Klein family, the benefactors of the museum.  In recent years the museum has increased its role in preserving the history and culture of the Native American tribes that inhabited this area of the Missouri River.  The museum has focused on the life and times of Chief Sitting Bull who is buried several miles from the museum.

Area stone was used to cover the front of the metal building. 

This colorful rock (maybe sandstone??) in the pillar outside the museum grounds caught my eye. 

The coal pail and the corn cobs sure brought back a memory. As kids on the farm, our task was to gather  dried corn cobs from the pig yard and other areas on the farm to be used in the furnace as an ignitor for the coal that was burned. I had a similar coal pail and used it for a planter until we moved. Kind of wish I had kept it.

A bread box. My maternal grandmother had one setting on her kitchen counter. I'm not certain how often it contained any bread as it was a large family and bread was served at every meal and at lunches in-between those farm meals.

It would be hard to miss this display of pink dresses!

And hankies! Hubby's mother always had one in her pocket. My mother had one in her purse until tissues in the pocket-size became available. Both of my grandmothers always had a hankie nearby. Wonderful memories when I looked at this board!

and ladies' hats

pink hats to accessorize those pink dresses

Two photos of immigrants arriving in Java by train. The words on the second photo say 'visitors from the old country arriving in Java' and being welcomed by the Java Cornet Band. No date with the photo, but the depot was built in 1901. The Java Cornet Band played music on the street in 1903 to honor the election results for incorporation from a village to the town of Java.

Java was supposedly so named by the laborers laying the rails for the C.M. & St. P. Ry (Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway). It was named in honor of the good coffee served at a small shack situated where the town's stockyards would eventually be built. The small shack was the first building and business in the newly platted village of Java in October 1900.

Do you remember when stamps were 28¢? Sitting Bull was honored on the stamp. 

The museum has a number of displays, artifacts and information about Sitting Bull and other prominent Natives who lived in the area and on the reservation to the west of the town. The collection includes Indian beadwork, head dresses, including an eagle feather headdress/warbonnet, clothing and tools.

The museum had many other interesting displays in their main building. I did not venture into the other buildings on the grounds, but I'm sure they were also filled with items to bring back memories of growing up in the area and on a farm.

Treasure #1:

I saw a display of yearbooks from Glenham. While waiting for the volunteer to search for an answer to my house question, I perused them looking for a particular year, the one when my brother and his wife were on the high school faculty. Found it. 1981-82.

He was boys and girls basketball coach. Look at the size of his players! He was about 6'4" back then.

Treasure #2:

When Hubby and I were in Mobridge a couple of years ago, we looked for the geocache on this old thresher sitting on the museum grounds. We gave it a good search but did not find the geocache. But I did on this trip!