the wind took my dirt

But I sold the water first. I had to. Five mouths to feed, chickens, two pigs. No milk for any of them.

Water-wise what I had bought and paid for was 50 feet down to groundwater. I got it. Light, clean and no sicknesses from it. It flowed well so I dammed it and built several overflows downgrade. Planted some trees - plumbs and cherries. Stocked some bass from a friend's dam.
My neighbors took notice. I often had water when they did not. They'd homesteaded hilltops without regard for the valleys. Volume over value. Many just made bad decisions while others had plans from the get go. Veterans of previous land grabs, they lined up on this one just like the others.
On Monday, October 10, 1913 I visited the County Courthouse in Corson County South Dakota to legally renew my and my brother's aforesaid claim to the acres above the northern branch of the Cheyenne River. I was prevented from entering the Courthouse that day. I was roughed up and tossed and had to be carried home.
On Thursday, February 2, 1914, I was served with a felony warrant for the "problem" at the Corson County Courthouse. I had been disorderly and I had even promoted mayhem at some point. As a result, the warrant also stated, I had immediately forfeited all interest, right or title in any homesteaded land I held personally or in corporation with friends or family. Everything. Due to special powers granted the executive office via the Dawes Allotment Act.
I learned that late. The applicable statutes and legal opinions. But fortunately, I learned it all while in prison for attempting to register my property at the County Courthouse in Corson County South Dakota.

When I first met Mavis in Hot Springs Arkansas after drifting south for the picking season, I knew she was half or more Indian. I decided to stick around. I'd heard about her brother Marvis getting shot in Fort Pierre. Some chick went down with him. It was big news up on the hill in Sioux Falls.
Coming across Mavis was big deal. I realized I'd lost my farm, garden and ponds and was now pretty much a destitute bum. Dang. But, oh God, just look at Mavis ...

TBC