Those 70ish Girls…The Jeep

Update from Mark Sanderson:

I wanted what dad would have wanted for his memory of the jeep and for himself. Dad wanted to be remembered for managing “The Boys Summer Baseball ⚾️ Program” that he so enjoyed! My dad’s dream was to be a coach when he went to college, but could not finish college due to lack of money and joined the Marines, etc……My dad took no compensation for himself each summer for about 20 summers…..
and never wanted to be paid for expenses he incurred for supplies and the many Jeep trips he made for games played across SD…….unlike how it is now! ❤ Dad did this at the same time he was running his own business…..”The Sanderson Store” ❤as well as farmed mom’s 2000 acres she received from her mother’s estate when she was 24 years old!

I love this story. I’m sure many years from now, our miss Murdo Girl will remember all the fun times she had with cousins and friends. Many of their adventures would not have been possible if not for the Jeep.

_________________________________________

We all love Uncle Jeff’s Jeep. It has taken us on some pretty great adventures. It has been stuck more than once, and driven where only rented cars and trucks should go. Although we have asked too much of it on more than one occasion, it keeps on providing fun transportation.

Not too long ago, we loaded it up for a trip to the cabin. The purpose of the trip was to spend a day skiing at Terry Peak, near Deadwood. The first stop is always McDonald’s in Rapid City. I get a big mac, fries, chocolate shake, and a hot apple pie. I guess that’s what everybody gets.

I didn’t have any money for this ski vacation, but at the time I still had the Texaco credit card Dad had given me to use in case of an emergency. In my book, a ski trip without cash is an emergency. It worked like this. I bought all the gas, and the other kids gave me cash for their share.

I consider myself athletic, and I’m pretty brave, so I was excited to have the opportunity to enjoy a day on the slopes. I should have remembered that I gave up on tennis after my very first try, so I can’t really consider myself an “all around” athlete. It only took one trip down the slope to realize that if I wanted myself and others to live, I shouldn’t pursue Olympic skiing…better stick to gymnastics.

I was the only one in our group of four who hadn’t skied before, and I was the only girl. I didn’t think I needed help, so I was willing to stay by myself at the beginner’s slope, while the other three went on to something more challenging. I told them I would join them after I got the hang of it. One of them said something about there being a lot of trees I could smash my face into, but I still wasn’t concerned.

I rented my skis, got a lift ticket, and up the mountain I went. It was a sunshine filled, ten degree day in the Black Hills of South Dakota. I was loving it! When I got to the top, I looked around for a minute, to see what everyone else was doing, and down the slope I went. I did okay until I got toward the bottom. It was then I realized that I was “alldumb.” Any fool would have gotten a little advice on how to stop.

After the fact, it reminds me of what my Dad says. “We must be getting closer to town, because we’re running over more people.” As I barreled toward a skier who was in line for the lift, the best I could do was aim to cross over the back of his skis and yell, “LOOK OUT!!”

After I got up from my fall, and made sure the other guy was alright, I noticed the lodge was right in front of me. I was already cold so I decided to take a break and get some hot chocolate. I rather liked being a spectator, so I watched everyone else from the inside. If you include the hot chocolate my half hour on the slopes was pretty pricey. I was hoping the Jeep would need some gas soon, because I was running low on funds. I wanted to have at least one more big mac before we headed for home.Terry Peak..the view from inside the lodge

The Jeep gets us where we want to go if we treat it right. One cold day, Mark and I went for a drive. We were hoping to find an abandoned farmhouse to explore. Well, we got distracted and we were farther out than we thought. After the ski trip, the Texaco card was removed from my possession, so we were pretty low on gas. Actually we were out of gas.

We had to walk about a mile before we even got to the highway, and we were still at least three miles from town. I didn’t even have to think about it. When the next car going our direction got close, I planned to stick my thumb out. Mark said that under no circumstances would he hitchhike. We argued about that for a while, and kept on walking. Neither of us had to worry either way, because it was a cold winter day, and there weren’t many people out for a drive. Wait! We saw a car approaching. Even Mark got excited because we knew the people. It was Eldon Davis and his wife. Eldon and Alma are janitors at the school. We started yelling and jumping up and down! Eldon and Alma, smiled, and waved, even honked the horn…and drove on by.

We could not believe it! We finally got back to town (just before dark), and went to the store to tell Uncle Jeff we were going to have to get a gas can and a ride back to the Jeep. Shortly after we got to the store, who came in but Eldon and his wife. Mark and I started yelling at them. “Eldon, why didn’t you stop?”

Eldon said, “I told Alma, why that’s Mark Sanderson and Mary Francis!” He said he thought we were just out for a stroll.

Mark said, “Eldon…We were three miles from town, and freezing!”

I guess all is well that ends well.

We try to plan our outings around any pending rain because if you’ve got the windshield wipers on, you can’t step on the gas. Yesterday after school, I talked Mark into taking me to Kennebec. My friend Josephine got some penny loafers there, and I wanted some exactly like them. If the apparel I buy isn’t Connie like, it’s somebody else like. I don’t know what my personal taste is until I see it on someone else. I have quite a few Connie like things, but I’ll have to tell you how that worked out for me in another paper.

Anyway, we got to Kennebec and I found the shoes. They didn’t have them in my size, but I didn’t let a little thing like “not fitting” bother me. They had some a size too big, so I got them.

On the way home, it started raining. It was really coming down, so here’s what we had to do. We gunned it, then let up on the gas so the wipers would work. As soon as we could see a little, we gunned it again. We had to do that all the way back to town. Can you imagine what that must have looked like to the other cars on the road? Its a good thing the cops didn’t see us. We sure don’t have a ticket fund going.

We really love that old Willys Jeep! Uncle Jeff is going to give it to Mark when he turns 24.

11 THOUGHTS ON “MURDO GIRL…THE JEEP”

VALERIE HALLAMay 27, 2016 / 10:12 pmWe have to find out where that jeep is for sure! Mark probably has it in his folks’ garage. Great stories!Liked by 1 personEditReply
- LIFELESSONSMay 27, 2016 / 10:56 pmCan we go for a ride in it when we are in Murdo in July???LikeEditReply
  - MARY FRANCIS MCNINCHMay 28, 2016 / 6:56 amHa! I think it now resides in the Pioneer Auto Museum, but we can get our picture taken with it!LikeEdit
- MARY FRANCIS MCNINCHMay 28, 2016 / 6:58 amSomeone told me it’s in the Pioneer Auto Museum..I’ll find out for sureLikeEdit Reply
LIFELESSONSMay 27, 2016 / 10:55 pmOur adventure vehicle was a Scout. Once the engine fell out of it on the way to White River. This happened on the top of a hill and we coasted down, not realizing why the car had stopped. We got someone to send a mechanic out from town and when he opened the hood he was amazed. “You don’t have an engine!” We told him we had to because we’d driven there. It took us awhile to figure out what had happened and sure enough, he drove up to the top of the hill and there was our engine in the middle of the road.LikeEditReply
- MARY FRANCIS MCNINCHMay 28, 2016 / 7:00 amHa! I think it now resides in the Pioneer Auto Museum, but we can get our picture taken with it!Liked by 1 personEditReply
  - LIFELESSONSMay 28, 2016 / 8:20 amWe must! For your loyal fans. and perhaps some of my readers, as well.LikeEdit
- MARY FRANCIS MCNINCHMay 28, 2016 / 7:01 amNow that is something..Did you get it fixed?LikeEditReply
  - LIFELESSONSMay 28, 2016 / 8:19 amYes… The screws that held it to the mountings just jiggled loose and fell out. They towed it in to White River, put the engine back in and we drove back home. I loved that vehicle. We would take the top shell off and load up the back with kids and drive around. It was a great conveyance for kids.LikeEdit
JOHN KUCKLEBURGMay 28, 2016 / 9:33 amI believe that is the same Jeep that Jeff hauled the
baseball team all over the country. He spent so much of his time coaching us; but as I recall we WON!Liked by youEditReply
- MARY FRANCIS MCNINCHMay 28, 2016 / 10:15 amIt was..I think it was a 1951 Willy’s. Jeff loved coaching baseball. Billy talks a lot about it.LikeEdit Reply

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(From Mark Sanderson) I want what dad would have wanted for his memory of the jeep and for himself. Dad wanted to be remembered for managing “The Boys Summer Baseball ⚾️ Program” that he so enjoyed! My dad’s dream was to be a coach when he went to college, but could not finish college due to lack of money and joined the Marines, etc……My dad took no compensation for himself each summer for about 20 summers…..The Jeep hauled baseball players to all the games.
He never wanted to be paid for expenses he incurred for supplies and the many trips he made for games played across SD…….unlike how it is now! ❤ Dad did this at the same time he was running his own business…..”The Sanderson Store” ❤as well as farmed mom’s 2000 acres she received from her mother’s estate when was 24 years old!

Murdo Girl…Inside my Grandma’s trunk

September 15, 2025Mary Francis McNinch

https://maryfrancismcninch.com/2021/05/14/murdo-girl-inside-my-grandmas-trunk-2/

Those 70ish girls… A message from Grandpa Sanderson

September 7, 2025Mary Francis McNinch

https://maryfrancismcninch.com/2023/10/19/those-70ish-girls-a-message-from-grandpa-sanderson/

September 4, 2025Mary Francis McNinch

Those 70ish Girls

Those 70ish girls…The Wayne Sanderson house by Mary Francis McNinch and Valerie Halla

August 27, 2025August 28, 2025Valerie Halla9 Comments

Uncle Wayne Sanderson

It feels strange to me that my Uncle Wayne’s house, which was at the end of Main Street in Murdo is no longer there.

I remember the dark gray color and the big front porch. Uncle Wayne and Aunt Emily lived there for years and raised their son, Terry there.

I remember their dog, Smokey. He was all black and I think he was mostly cocker spaniel. One time Grandma Sanderson who lived next door fed Smokey some of Uncle Sandy’s homemade caramels. She gave him one a day out the back door of her house until Smokey got sick. It was a while before they figured out that Grandma was the culprit.

Aunt Emily was a great cook. She made the best oatmeal cookies. “Do you know who the best cook is?” Grandpa Sanderson asked my mom once when he was eating noon dinner at our house. Mom smiled all big until Grandpa said, “Emily.”

I remember Uncle Wayne parked his big dirt mover between his house and the little park to the south of it. He built many a road in his day.

Yes, it feels strange to me that that house is now gone and in its place is a new house. Someone else will make new fond memories there.

The new house just put up on our Uncle Wayne’s old house lot.

Delicious cookie recipe by our Aunt Emily Sanderson. Aunt Emily was a hard worker, my Mother, Ella Sanderson (Leckey) used to say.

Part 2- Corny But True by Valerie Halla

I remember getting to go inside Uncle Wayne’s house when my family visited Murdo from Pennsylvania almost every summer as a kid. It felt like a sanctuary to me being allowed to go inside their cool, dark, mysterious old house. Uncle Wayne adored my Mom since she was the next oldest of six Sanderson kids, with him being the oldest. I often thought it was interesting that the two oldest kids each only had one child. Was it because of the tough times they knew living on the prairie being raised in poor, almost poverty level circumstances on the farm on Horse Creek during the Dirty 30’s ? WWI was raging across the Atlantic when Wayne and my Mother were born and farm goods were in demand for the troops. The two oldest Sanderson kids knew life was a battle and not like the battles of WWI but at home with little cash and less food a different kind of battle. Some nights my Mom related to me that dinner would be boiled beets. That’s all. That was dinner. They knew the meaning of “dirt poor”. Wayne must have felt good to start his own family as a young man, and buy such a solid comfortable house when he finally broke free from hard farm life to start out on his own.

The brick trimmed house at the end of Main Street in Murdo must’ve seemed like a mansion to Uncle Wayne and Aunt Emily. So much nicer than the log cabin at Horse Creek. It seemed sadly nostalgic and tragic when I heard it was being torn down to make way for a new specially constructed home by the state of South Dakota to accommodate low income families. It is a refreshing new chapter though in Murdo life and changes in life move us all forward. Progress can be positive.

Aunt Emily getting ready for a Sanderson Christmas gathering.

Grandma and Grandpa Sanderson opening gifts with Aunt Elna at their house which was next door to Uncle Wayne’s.

On the other hand, I’m having deep, dark, dusty spiderweb like thoughts between the house I remember and the new one just recently built. Can I please just believe that the old comfy, cozy, warm home that we thought of as Uncle Wayne’s House is still standing? Too many fuzzy, foggy memories there for me to give up and sling aside like an old lint filled hokey, hole infested sock.

Also some people in my wonderful Sanderson side of the family might not feel the same way about the feelings I have regarding the past with Uncle Wayne and Aunt Emily. Plus their old house isn’t equivalent to them. It’s just a shelter for humans. To me it was a part of my Aunt, Uncle and cousin all rolled into one with the house as the symbol to my childhood.

As a young kid visiting in the 1950’s and 1960’s then living there in Murdo for two years in junior high, I was naive about who this uncle was. To me he was loved by my mother and her four siblings. Aunt Elna said Wayne literally kept the family alive during tough times growing up down on Horse Creek as a young boy and one who felt responsible for seven other family members, a young boy being a man before his time.

When a relative to my Uncle Bill Francis visited from Southern California in the early 1960’s, we cousins looked at her like she had two heads. She wore her hair styled and ironed her Bermuda shorts and lightweight blouses every day when she stayed at Aunt Loretta and Uncle Bill’s house. She had big expressive eyes. She was petite. Nadine was like a magnet to young girls like us. She talked kind of loud and told entertaining stories. She seemed carefree. No job, no working in her world was crazy yet seemed normal. We were mesmerized. She also started riding around town with Wayne’s son, Terry Sanderson, in his new VW bug- a car which we had never seen before. It clearly was not a Ford nor a Chevy. We were astounded by it all. To us she was like a TV celebrity, new and different. Murdo seemed too small and confining for Nadine. We thought it so romantic that she was hanging out with our oldest cousin.

In the early 1960’s the Bug was new and unique. Our oldest cousin dared to have one and drove it all over. Terry was suddenly cool.

Now the house we knew is gone but it’s around somewhere yet. It’s in old photographs of Christmases spent there, in pictures of the family visiting there, with Grandma and Grandpa living right next door to Uncle Wayne and Aunt Irma and Uncle Jeff two doors away. It will stay with the folks who are now the “Old Folks”- namely all of my family, with my dear cousins. It will stay in our memories, no matter if the house is gone or just a ghost from the past. It held a lot which will never be replaced.

Murdo Girl…Old people are funny

August 14, 2025Mary Francis McNinch

https://maryfrancismcninch.com/2017/05/31/murdo-girl-old-people-are-funny/

Those 70ish Girls

August 9, 2025Valerie Halla3 Comments

Get in Line on Time for Line Dancing Lessons

By Valerie Cowgal Halla

I’m ready to learn line dancing even though I don’t own a cowboy hat nor boots.

Howdy. I’m getting out of my comfort zone tonight to go to line dancing lessons with a friend. I’m not sure what to expect and I do not even know what to wear but I decided to just wear gym clothes and comfy shoes for my first time. I’m ready. I’m practicing saying, “Yee haw!”

Later:

Line dancing is fun and challenging especially for people in their ‘70’s. Heck, it’s challenging for people any age. We first had an hour lesson with a pretty, middle aged gal wearing jeans, surprise surprise, a white sleeveless billowy top, boots – hiking style not cowboy ones – and a cowboy hat with a shiny medal on the front like a medal for bravery maybe because she had the courage to teach about 40 older people how to dance together, without bumping into one another, hitting posts, chairs, tables and anything in our way.

Then my friend,who brought me there, and I danced up front right by the baby grand piano which we skillfully avoided. It was covered with a waterproof – maybe even bullet proof – black cover. There was a giant sign on top of the baby grand piano that said, “Don’t put anything on the piano.” About halfway through doing toe taps, Lindy steps and grapevine steps, both left and right directions, and the k step forward and then back diagonally I actually was tempted to crawl on top of that giant, solid piece of furniture called a baby grand to take a nap. So which is it? Is it a baby sized piano or a grand humongous one? And can a piano even be baby like?

Cover that sucker up!

The dance instructor had a sweet little microphone that bellowed out her instructions and line dance terminology from anywhere on the tiled dance floor. She mostly stuck to the front of the room right below the raised stage where the live band would perform later. She demonstrated each step and had us mimic her moves. She was strict, smart and wasn’t putting up with any wisecracks or crap. She got down to business promptly at 6:00 pm. She had a lilting kinda cool accent that threaded its way throughout her speech. Her dark brown eyes simmered at everyone as she viewed the crowd, calling to some experienced expert line dancers she knew to come forward and show their skills off, the dirty little so and sos and teachers pets. Uhh, I’m getting distracted. Couple deep breaths and I’m good. Here we go.

We had to stay in four straight lines she said or rather commanded. I was getting the hang of things (barely bumping into posts or walls or people) when the line style became a circle. I was not ready for that command. I followed the cattle into a big big circle or corral. Now I must do the steps I’d learned in a curve not in a line. One guy was actually trying not to get irritated as I kept grapevining into a line and not curving around. Clearly the experienced dancers were getting miffed at a newby like me. I was just concentrating on the instructors boots and her graceful moves, but when you must turn around she wasn’t there to watch so I kept an eye out for my friend or the smarty pants dancers to copy. The sweat was building up on my forehead.

Next we had an hour of dancing with the band. The teacher called for music and directed which songs we would hear and which steps we would do. The count was always 1/2/3/4 then the step would change. I could feel perspiration dripping into my bra and other places I cannot mention. I kept dancing- kinda.

She looks like she has it together out in the backyard but how’s she on the dance floor?

I liked the band. They all had gray hair but it didn’t seem to dull their musical abilities nor blur their voices or mess with their guitar playing talent. One song was about a Cattle Drive, which I could identify with and many were about lovey dovey romance stuff between dance partners. In line dancing you don’t have someone to hold onto. I had no time to sing along since I didn’t know the songs and my brain was concentrating on the next step. One lady next to me told me to, “Just copy what your friend does!”

Sure lady, easy for you to say. How did she know it was my first time? Right! True. I should have said: “This is my first time and you’re not the boss of me”but I was too nice and just swallowed my pride along with sweat from my lip.

The music helped as did the instructors crisp fast directing. Now more than my forehead was sweating.

My friend said she usually leaves the dance at 8:00 pm when everyone takes a break so she kept looking at her old timey watch and let me know when our two hours was almost up. When the time came, I skipped or rather side stepped and sashayed outa there.

Thank goodness for signs, pardner.

Then I drank about a gallon of water and my good friend drove me to my car. I thanked her, got in my car and stepped on the gas. I couldn’t wait to get home to rest. Maybe I would even practice the line dance steps. Naw.

It was fun line dancing and also great exercise. I will definitely go again. Maybe I will even take in a rodeo beforehand. Of course it won’t be my first rodeo. Might be my second. Yeehaw!

August 1, 2025Mary Francis McNinch

Murdo Girl…Don’t lose your story

Those 70ish Girls

July 27, 2025Mary Francis McNinch

https://maryfrancismcninch.com/2024/06/19/those-70ish-girls-18/

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Those 70ish Girls…The Jeep

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11 THOUGHTS ON “MURDO GIRL…THE JEEP”

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