BUCHFINCK, LLOYD AND GLENNA (HODGES)
I was born October 2, 1918 at Whitman, Nebr. to John and Grace Buchfinck, with Dr E.E. Barr, an early sandhill physician, in attendance.
I grew up on the ranch seven miles southwest of Whitman. I went all my school years in Whitman, and most of my transpor-tation was saddle leather and then, a quarter mile walk after I had taken care of my horse. I got a got education without any frills and discipline was the order of the day.
In 1928 my Dad bought the Rube Mahaffey ranch 16 miles Southwest of Mullen, Nebr., from his brother Fred. Previous owners were Henry Lamm of St. Paul, Nebr. & Rube Mahaffey who homesteaded the original place. We trailed the cattle back & forth, spring & fall, 20 miles each way. The cattle were herefords & some southern cows. They trailed like horses, stayed paired up & would run the first mile if you let them. At our first branding in 1928 we held them against a fence & dragged the calves to the fire. The horse band trailed with the cattle & could be caught in a fence corner or in a rope corral. Fences were poor & not many gates, only let downs on the knolls. All our saddle horses would cross wire.
About this time Clint & Esther Garrett & children lived on the Chris Larson place where Stub & Mamie St. Onge lived & is now the home of Emmet & Lou Long & the Jim & Cheryl O'Brien family. The Garetts came to work for the Bar G & my Dad built the present tenant house about 1930. Glen Gier's Dad & Uncles built the house for just over $2,000.00 & that included hardwood floors.
The Garretts were fine people. They boarded the School Teacher, Iola James Hamilton. Iola & the children rode horseback to school which was near the Jess Furrow place.
Glenna was born May 27, 1918 to Glen & Ina Hodges at Lesterville, Mo. near St. Louis, Mo. She came to the Sandhills with her parents & sisters in 1924. After graduation from High School in 1935, she taught the Roseberry School, 34 miles northwest of Mullen, in Cherry County Nebr., for one term. The winter of 1936 was a harsh one, with deep snow & temperatures going to 44 degrees below zero. Glenna was snowed in for 6 weeks with the Amadore Yount family, but didn't consider it a hardship as everyone was so kind to her. Years later, her only pupil, Amadore Yount Jr. was killed in the Korean War. In the spring she went to St. Louis to live with her sister, Virginia, & worked for the "Globe-Democrat" newspaper as an Ad taker & switchboard operator. The following spring they returned to Mullen.
On June 25, 1938 Glenna & I were married by Bishop George Allen Beecher in the Episcopal Church of Our Savior, in North Platte, Nebr.
As the Garretts were leaving we lived our first summer at Camp, as we called it. That fall we moved to the Home ranch in Grant County, Nebr. While living there our children were born, Roy on Dec. 25, 1941 at Hyannis, Nebr. & Jack on May 10, 1946 also in Hyannis. When Roy reached school age, we bought the Tom Woods house in Mullen for school & ranched at the Mahaffey. Those were our happiest years when the children were growing up, picking fruit on the Dismal River, & scattering salt with a team & cart.
We have seen great changes in the 58 years of owning land in Hooker County, Nebr. Back then, we trailed our shipping cattle 10 miles to Hecla, Nebr., a daylight to noon drive & weighed & shipped them out by railroad. They were usually sold to our brother-in-law, Leonard Eriksen. We helped load the rail-road cars & nearly always rode home in the dark. Now, we have a company scale on Farrar's & trail the cattle 6 miles to this scale where they go out by truck. All the railroad stock yards have been sold & torn down. One of the greatest changes we have seen, has been the narrow oiled roads that opened the country to the north & south. We saw the road, R.E.A. & telephone come to our place all within 3 years. Also, we have seen great changes in the quality of the grass, as well as the quantity. Numerous blowouts have been healed, that were caused by early day farming & then the drouth of the 1930's.
Glenna & I have always felt strongly that we owe time & service to our Church & Community. She sang for countless funerals & I announced the annual rodeo for 40 years. I served on the Soil Conservation Board & School Board, at which time we organized the entire county into one District, one of the first in the state.
Our Masonic & Eastern Star affiliation has meant much to us. I am a Past Master of Mullen Lodge No. 282, A.F.A.M. & a 32nd degree Mason. Glenna & I served as a Worthy Matron & Worthy Patron of Winifred Chap-ter OES 292 in 1959. I am a past Grand Patron of the Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, of the State of Nebraska.
We are long time members of the St. Joseph's Episcopal Church in Mullen. I served as a licensed Lay Reader & Glenna is a member of the Episcopal Church Women. I belong to the Nebr. Stockgrowers & the National Cattlemens Association. Glenna is a Charter Member of the Nebr. CowBelles & is also a member of the Natioal CowBelles.
In all our years of ranching, we have been blessed with good help & good, honest neighbors. In 1964, Glenna & I moved back to the Home Ranch in Grant County. Jack & Karen, Kim, Shauana & John now live on the old Mahaffey & operate it. We will pass through this world only once, Any good or kindness we can render, do it now. We shall not pass this way again.