BUCHFINCK, LLOYD AND GLENNA (HODGES)

by Lloyd L. Buchfinck

Entry F55 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Lloyd and Glenna Buchfinck

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.