Adam & Carrie (Reel) Giltner
Adam Giltner came to the Black Hills in 1876 – like many another adventurous pioneers of the time he was in search of the riches of Black Hills gold. Adam was the youngest child of a family of ten. His grandfather had arrived from Germany in 1738. His father settled in Pennsylvania, then moved to Illinois before the Civil War. The family later moved to Nebraska.
Adam left Burt County, Nebraska on March 2, 1876 with a party of ten men to search for gold in the Black Hills. They arrived in the Hills the first part of June. An account of their trip was recorded in a daily diary written by the cook for the party – it told of the hardships of their journey. They had trouble with the cold weather, spring rains, horses getting sick and the rough terrain. Prospecting in the Hills was not without its hardships either. The diary tells of the epidemic of “mountain fever” and small pox, as well as encounters with Indians. The cook concluded his diary with this quote “…camped on Bear Butte Creek, ten miles from Deadwood, South Dakota will get there tomorrow and I am tired of this trip. I have made nothing.”
After prospecting in the Hills area some of the party went to Idaho, including Adam. Later he came back to Bear Creek near Beulah to do prospecting and established a homestead there in 1885.
Adam married Carrie Reel on March 10, 1890. Carrie was the daughter of James and Charlotte Reel who lived near Alva – Adam & Carrie had four children, Guy, Paris, Bertha, and John. The children attended the Hilton school, the Finch school and some members of the family graduated from the Beulah school.
Adam died of an apparent heart attack in 1908 at the home of the Hiltons. Carrie died in 1921 after a series of strokes which had left her partially paralyzed. Guy and John served in the army during World War I. Paris married Enid Nicholas in 1924 and they had two daughters. Bertha married Grover Lee Nitzel, they moved to Illinois where they raised one son. John left the Hills area in 1921 for Portland, Oregon where he worked for the city water department.
Guy and Paris, the two oldest brothers, kept the homestead and expanded their ranching and farming operation. They bought Hereford cattle from Billy Mathews and continued planting small grains. At harvest time the threshing crew managed by Jim Beasley and Joe Miller worked at the Giltners. In the early 1920s the Giltners purchased their first Fordson tractor. Paris bought his first Model T in about 1918 and they advanced their farming operation with the purchase of a Chevy truck in 1927. Paris worked at a sawmill for fifty cents a day during the winter months after the farm chores were completed. The mill operation, operated by Gus Hilton up Shepard Canyon stayed in operation until about 1920s. The family ranch survived the dry thirties and was still operated by descendants of Adam Giltner.
Adam Giltner came to the Black Hills in 1876 – like many another adventurous pioneers of the time he was in search of the riches of Black Hills gold. Adam was the youngest child of a family of ten. His grandfather had arrived from Germany in 1738. His father settled in Pennsylvania, then moved to Illinois before the Civil War. The family later moved to Nebraska.
Adam left Burt County, Nebraska on March 2, 1876 with a party of ten men to search for gold in the Black Hills. They arrived in the Hills the first part of June. An account of their trip was recorded in a daily diary written by the cook for the party – it told of the hardships of their journey. They had trouble with the cold weather, spring rains, horses getting sick and the rough terrain. Prospecting in the Hills was not without its hardships either. The diary tells of the epidemic of “mountain fever” and small pox, as well as encounters with Indians. The cook concluded his diary with this quote “…camped on Bear Butte Creek, ten miles from Deadwood, South Dakota will get there tomorrow and I am tired of this trip. I have made nothing.”
After prospecting in the Hills area some of the party went to Idaho, including Adam. Later he came back to Bear Creek near Beulah to do prospecting and established a homestead there in 1885.
Adam married Carrie Reel on March 10, 1890. Carrie was the daughter of James and Charlotte Reel who lived near Alva – Adam & Carrie had four children, Guy, Paris, Bertha, and John. The children attended the Hilton school, the Finch school and some members of the family graduated from the Beulah school.
Adam died of an apparent heart attack in 1908 at the home of the Hiltons. Carrie died in 1921 after a series of strokes which had left her partially paralyzed. Guy and John served in the army during World War I. Paris married Enid Nicholas in 1924 and they had two daughters. Bertha married Grover Lee Nitzel, they moved to Illinois where they raised one son. John left the Hills area in 1921 for Portland, Oregon where he worked for the city water department.
Guy and Paris, the two oldest brothers, kept the homestead and expanded their ranching and farming operation. They bought Hereford cattle from Billy Mathews and continued planting small grains. At harvest time the threshing crew managed by Jim Beasley and Joe Miller worked at the Giltners. In the early 1920s the Giltners purchased their first Fordson tractor. Paris bought his first Model T in about 1918 and they advanced their farming operation with the purchase of a Chevy truck in 1927. Paris worked at a sawmill for fifty cents a day during the winter months after the farm chores were completed. The mill operation, operated by Gus Hilton up Shepard Canyon stayed in operation until about 1920s. The family ranch survived the dry thirties and was still operated by descendants of Adam Giltner.