CRAIN, ESQUIRE AND MARTHA (DUKE)

Esquire and Martha Crain were among the first permanent residents to settle in what is now Hooker County, arriving in March 1887.

February 16, 1887, Esquire Crain (born January 10, 1856) was married to Martha Bell Duke (born February 2, 1861) in Crawford-sville, Indiana. Squire and his brother, Joseph, sold their farms in Indiana and by the 1st of March 1887, Squire, Martha and Joseph and wife Sarah, headed west by train, with all their possessions. They arrived at Broken Bow, Nebraska, where the railroad ended at that time. They spend a week in Broken Bow where they stored their furni-ture and many of their goods and purchased supplies. They then drove their wagons and livestock on west to a location approximately 5 miles southwest of where Mullen now is located. Each family staked out a homestead. A homesteader was allowed to claim 160 acres and they later claimed another 160 acres by planting 10 acres of trees.

At this time the nearest Postoffice and trading point was at Anselmo. They made several long trips to bring mail and provisions for their families from Anselmo and Broken Bow with team and wagons, until the railroad was completed to Alliance and train service was established in the summer of 1988. There was a small store operated by Luther Trefren about a mile west of the present Mullen, but he carried only a small stock basics that had to be hauled from Anselmo or Broken Bow. The Postoffice was established in Mullen in April 1888 and train service started then although the rails had been laid the previous fall.

The Crain's first permanent home was a dugout with a sod front and roof. They located near a permanent water hole that provided water for the milk cows and horses but water for drinking and washing was hauled from the Middle Loup River which was about 5 miles north. Squire and Martha lived in the dugout about a year and a half where their son Walter S. was born July 10, 1888. They then built a sod house, got their furniture out of storage in Broken Bow and shipped it to Mullen. Their three daughters were born in the soddy. They are: Clara, born March 11, 1890, who married W.B. Adams May 20, 1913 and died April 14, 1964; Lillie C. born August 18, 1892, who married Louis W. Lowe November 6, 1912 and died March 29, 1975; Pearl M. born November 12, 1894 who married Lester L. Harding September 27, 1916 and still lives in Mullen. Their son, Walter married Mabel Henry April 12, 1917 and died November 29, 1975.

In 1896 Squire added to his ranch by buying a relinquished homestead in a wider valley, a mile and half south of the home-stead. He bought a two room house with an upstairs that was located southeast of Mullen and moved their house to the new location with teams and wagons. The house still stands at the Harding home ranch.

The Crains came to the Sandhills to farm but with all the public grass land available, saw a future in cattle. In 1896 they purchased a herd of Longhorn cows from a Platte Valley rancher at Ogallala and trailed them to Hooker County. In 1900, Squrie bought 600 sheep at Elsie, Nebraska and sent 2 ranch hands and his son Walter, who was 12 years old, to drive the sheep to Mullen. It took them about 3 weeks and had very little loss. Their major problem was crossing the rivers. This proved not a practical or profitable venture for this area, so soon quit the sheep business.

Esquire was active helping settle and develop the area. In 1888 he served as treasurer of a Cattleman's Association that was formed to maintain law and order and to get a county government formed. He served 8 years on the Hooker County board of Commissioners, 1907 to 1915 and was instru-mental in getting the present county Court-house built in 1912.

While still living in the soddy, Martha was kicked by a cow while milking. The injury she received never healed and she was crippled for years. In 1917 Martha spent 8 months in a hospital in Omaha where she had to have her right leg amputated above the knee. Even with her handicap she raised her family, ran a ranch household and accompanied her husband by team and buggy to many business and social functions in the community.

Squire ranched with his son, Walter and his wife Mabel until 1919 when Walter moved to his ranch 6 miles west. Squire and Martha moved to Mullen in 1919 and their youngest daughter, Pearl and husband Lester Harding, moved on the ranch. During the 1920's they leased considerable rangeland along the Dismal River and also farmed up to 600 acres in the two home valleys.

In 1935 Squire and Martha sold their ranch to Pearl and Lester Harding and their sons, Forrest and Frank.

Esquire Crain died in Mullen at the home of his daughter Lillie Lowe, August 18, 1938. Martha Duke Crain died at the ranch home October 25, 1939. Both are buried in Cedar-view Cemetery at Mullen, Nebraska.

The Crain's original homestead and tree claim are now owned by their grandson, Frank Harding, and will have been owned and operated by the family for 100 years in March of 1987. The water hole near the old dugout dried up in the 1930's drought and never returned. The old house at the Harding home ranch, owned and operated by Squire's great-grandson, Michael and Mildred Har-ding and family, was built in 1888 by a homesteader named Edwards, about 1 1/2 miles southeast of Mullen. It was purchased and moved to the Crain ranch in 1896. Five generations of Crains and Hardings have lived in the house. It is now used for storage and is probably the oldest building in Hooker County.