Rain and Roots -

We had a pretty good rainstorm in the middle of the night, but we stayed cozy and dry in our sleeping bag. The temperature wasn’t quite so cold as the night before – only 54 deg. The radar showed that the storm was pretty extensive. We were lucky to be on the edge of it.

Breakfast was chilly and damp as the sun came out.

The purpose of today’s journey was to discover some of my roots. I knew that my great-great grandfather, Joseph Wickham, was buried just west of Camp Crook, SD. I wanted to see not only his grave, but the town and surrounding countryside to get an idea of how he spent the latter part of his life.

The website, Find A Grave, has the following information.

Joseph Nicholas Wickham was born 4 Feb 1830 in London England to Samuel Wickham and Mary Abraham. The reason is unknown why he was often called Major. Joseph was married to Ann Crane 5 Dec 1847 in London, England. Joseph and Ann had children named Thomas, Mary Ann, Samuel, Elizabeth, and Jesse, who were born in England. In the mid 1850’s they moved to Wisconsin where they added children named Ella, Nickolas, William F., Sarah M. “Sadie”, Minnie H., and Esther. Mother Ann died about 1868. After Ann’s death Joseph married Jane Chloe “Chloe” Pearsons Beckerleg 25 Jan 1869 in Linden, Iowa County, Wisconsin. Chloe already had a daughter, Catherine Beckerleg, who Joseph adopted. Joseph and Chloe had children named Edith Priscilla “Eda”, David Milton, and Charlotte Rosina “Lottie” Wickham in Wisconsin. The family went to Nebraska where George Walter was added to the family. Finally, about 1878 the family moved to South Dakota where Charles Elmer and Ellen Lillie Wickham were added to the family of eighteen children. Joseph started a small settlement called Wickham Gulch which was a couple miles west of the current town of Camp Crook, Harding County, South Dakota. Joseph died 6 Jul 1896 in the Camp Crook area of Butte County (became Harding County in 1909), South Dakota.

From other research I believe Chloe’s first husband died in a mining accident in Linden, WI. A sign in the town of Camp Crook (see header picture) explains the name of the town first was Wickhamville, not Wickham Gulch.

In Belle Forche we had to wait quite some time for a train to drop off or pick up some cars. I haven’t had to wait a long time at a grade crossing since I was a kid. Trains on the Belt Line moved very slowly. The Indiana Harbor Belt Line ran around Chicago, connecting the major rail lines.

We stopped on the way to Camp Crook in Buffalo for gas and coffee.

The grave site…

Graves of other family members.

And views of the cemetery and surroundings.

A few views of the town now.

On the way back we stopped for lunch at a wayside park in Buffalo. We also topped off our tanks and had coffee at the same gas station.

The southern sky was a mass of very dark rain clouds. We zipped up the vents in our jackets and put on our rain gloves. We rode through a little rain, but mostly our route took us in between two very large storms. By the time we got to Deadwood, the sun had come out. We parked and walked up and down the main street.