CRAIN, ESQUIRE AND MARTHA (DUKE)

by Frank Harding

Entry F99 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Esquire and Martha (Duke) Crain 1930

Crain Ranch 1898

Harding Ranch (Former Crain Ranch) 1960

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.