Written by
Jerry Herrman in
2004
It is a
morning during the first part of November 1945. My parents are preparing to move
my sister
Barbara from the hospital in Philip to the hospital in Pierre, some eighty five
miles, to be under the care of Dr Riggs. Barbara had been badly burned on her
stomach, legs and one arm about two
weeks before. Barbara is three years old and will be four on December 2. Dr
Schlutz is the
Doctor in Philip, but increasingly my parents have become dissatisfied with the
way he has cared for
Barbara. Dr Riggs has a very good reputation in Central
SD and they feel it would be better to
have Barbara under his care. When they want to talk to Dr Schultz he cannot be
found. After talking
to different people my parents learn he has gone to a medical convention in
St Louis. My Dad calls the convention center and is able
to talk to Dr Schultz. Dr Schultz is surprised to hear from my Dad, but
gives his permission to release Barbara.
Uncle Wesley and Aunt Helen live in
the Waggoner house (Waggoner was an attorney, Lake Waggoner is named for him, he was a friend of
grandfather John, and his daughter Ruth and Mother went to high school together) which is about two
blocks south of the hospital. The hospital looks like a two story residence, which is not
surprising because it had originally been built as a home. The journey to Pierre will be made in two
automobiles in case one develops problems. My parents Reuben, 44 years old, and
Mother Viola, 34, will be in the front seat of their blue, two door 1941 Ford sedan. In the back seat is a nurse,
Bernice Jenson. Bernice has Barbara in the seat beside her. Barbara is lying on blankets and
wrapped in sheets and blankets. Uncle Wesley and Aunt Helen, both a few years older than my
Dad, are sitting in the front seat of their 1940 black, two door Chevrolet sedan. In the back seat
is my lively 2-year old, soon to be 3, brother John, who everyone calls Johnny
so as not to be confused with our grandfather John, and myself. The
weather is mild, with little or no snow.
I know that
Barbara is very sick but I am eight years old and this seems like an adventure.
I have never been to
Pierre and so
everything is new and I expect I am wide-eyed with
anticipation.
We head east
and get on Highway 14 where it turns east after passing the two-story Dorothy
Bros Garage with the
gas pumps practically on the street. On our left is Pop Pohle’s store and the
brick Senechal Hotel, on the right is the bank where Aunt Helen works. We cross
Main
Street and go past the
Red Owl Grocery Store which faces Main, go past
Joe Heidler's shoe and
harness repair shop and the Civic Auditorium all on the right. On the left is
the white wood frame Lutheran Church, with
the bell in the tower that can be heard all over town on Sunday mornings, and
parsonage. We go
a few more blocks and go up the hill and away from town. We are headed east and
in a few miles
go right by the airport where we can see the hangers and airplanes. We see the
tower with the light
on top (on a clear night when weather conditions are right, we can see the
rotating light from
our home thirty-some miles to the northwest). The highway is a narrow two lane
blacktop. Between
Philip and Midland the Bad River is to the right, with the railroad
tracks and telegraph poles
with the glistening silver wires close to the river. We are on higher ground so
the road curves
and bends a lot as there are many creeks and draws to cross; at other times the
highway follows section
lines. The highway takes us down Main Street of Midland, then turns left
going north, upward and away
from the river. We go north twenty miles or so; a few miles north of
Midland we see a
house that is being built on the right side of the
highway.
The highway
turns east and in a few miles we go through Hayes, where there is a general
store with gas pumps, a school house and community hall (a few miles before
Hayes we saw a brown church on the left). About eight miles east of Hayes the
blacktop highway suddenly ends, and from here to Ft Pierre the
highway is gravel. Where the blacktop ended the road turned north along a
section line for two
or three miles then in an easterly direction for many miles. The highway went up
hill and down
hill, over creeks and draws with narrow bridges and over ridges. The high wooden
poles with telephone wires were
parallel to the highway all the way from Philip to Pierre.
There was
quite a lot of traffic. At one point we got behind a slow truck, and could not
get around
because traffic was headed our way or when there was no traffic it was not level
enough to pass. Aunt Helen and Uncle Wesley got more and more agitated,
especially Aunt Helen because of the truck being in our way and not
being able to pass. Finally when the line of cars was able to pass and we pulled
up beside the
truck driver, Aunt Helen opened her window, stuck her upper body out the
window,
waving her arms, and yelling at the driver "why wouldn't you pull over and let
us pass? We have a sick child on the way to
the hospital". Aunt Helen was very angry.
Finally the
highway climbed a hill and turned south-southeast when we were on the bluffs
overlooking the
Missouri River
Valley. In the distance was
the river with trees on its banks. Across the river was
Pierre, the most
prominent building being the State Capitol with its black dome.
The highway
followed the top of the bluffs for several miles, with many curves. Eventually
it wound its way
down into the town of Ft Pierre, passing near the
Verendrye
Monument. The
highway
headed east on a street with homes, then the Court House on the left, then
business and store
buildings, after which the highway turned left on a street with more stores.
After a block or two we were leaving Ft Pierre. The highway went north several
miles, and in the distance we could see two long cantilever bridges, the darker
one on the north being the railroad bridge. The highway turned east onto the
southern bridge and we went across, one lane each way; the Missouri seemed very
wide. Then we were in the city of Pierre and drove by the big red brick building
housing the power plant,
then commercial buildings, business buildings and stores. After going through
this area we were
on a street of homes. I don't remember how we were making noise in the
back seat but all
at once Aunt Helen turned around and said "be quiet, we are in front
of the hospital". Everybody was quiet and there to our right was
the long stately building, St Mary's Hospital. It was parallel to the street,
two floors of light sand colored brick, with a lawn in front, trees and a hedge
next to the sidewalk. We drove past the front entrance in the middle of the
building, which had a porch or portico with a cross on top. We drove past the
hospital and made a right turn to get to the emergency
entrance.
I don't
remember any more from that day. I am sure Dad must have talked to Dr Riggs on
the telephone
before leaving Philip so Barbara would have been expected. (Sister Agatha comes
into Barbara’s and
Mother’s lives at this point.)
I
imagine we stayed in Pierre that night, possibly at the small
Waverly Hotel at the south end of main street or the bigger St Charles Hotel on
the hill near the Capitol. It is possible Uncle Wesley, Aunt
Helen and Bernice drove back to Philip that
night.
Note: Barbara was in the hospital for approximately nine months. The total bill for her care was less than $1000.
