Estelline, SD

The weather this week has been tantalizing. Most of the snow we have been looking at since Thanksgiving has disappeared and thoughts of spring jump into our minds. Someone said we have one more blizzard coming, as it always does during the boys basketball tournaments. I suppose they were being somewhat cynical but I know the feeling well.

We will know we are there when the smell of spring arrives. Most of us underrate our use of smell but there is nothing like the smell of freshly cut hay, or freshly cut lawn grass, or freshly turned soil for the garden. Purlin Fjerestad plowed a lot of gardens fifty years ago with a horse and a walk-behind plow. This job required a lot of experience with both the horse and the plow.

We will know spring is really here when we smell the freshly turned soil in our gardens? The geese have been flying over for the last several days, the Blue Jays are back, next the Robins, then at last potato planting time on Good Friday.

The survivors of the past winter (07-08) will soon forget the long cold nights when the smell of of freshly turned soil returns to our nostrils.

Get out the seeds and plant those potatoes on Good Friday!

The Welcome Wagon subcommittee has had several meetings to get started on putting a Welcome Wagon together for our area.  They are now looking for businesses and area groups that wish to get their information out to new residents in our area.  Please  contact Lisa Loomis at 873-2261 with questions on how to be part of this program.  If you need to develop some promotional materials for your business, help will be available to create flyers, coupons, etc.

 I do not know if anyone else put the crew up that completed the Leadership Plenty Series last fall with the “Can Do” T-shirts but I have one to share with the group!  Again, since I attended the blog traning, I am trying to catch up by sharing some photos. 

I learned how to blog this week at the blog training in Estelline from Cheryl and am sharing photos of the group that attended the program last September in Huron.   Harvey was part of the panel discussion of communities attending and represented the Estelline Horizons group extremely well.

Why do maps of our area show the drainage east of Estelline named Peg Munky Run while all of the long-time local residents refer to it as Pee Monkey Run?

Driving east on State Highway 28 out of Estelline, one quickly leaves Hamlin County and enters Duel County. Driving another mile and a half east, you cross a small concrete bridge just before starting up a hill that marks the eastern boundary of the Sioux River Valley. The bridge crosses a natural drainage depression, which if it contained water much of the time would be called a creek. When it does contain water, locals like to think of it as a creek, but the early settlers must have recognized it for what is known as a run.

This run starts up in the hills to the north and east of Estelline and meanders its way down under the highway 28 bridge then continues south finally emptying into the Big Sioux River in Brookings County near the first bridge we cross when we drive south to Bruce.

The Problem

When I was growing up, everyone I knew called this little geographically insignificant depression in the South Dakota landscape “PEE MONKEY RUN.” Yes! We all called it Pee Monkey Run. Just how and when and where this permutation from Pee Monkey Run appeared on maps as Peg Munky Run was interesting to me so I started asking questions and lo and behold I found an answer!

I would guess that all of the geographers, geologists, and hydrologists in the world would be surprised to learn that we call their Peg Munky Run, Pee Monkey Run. They would be surprised because they all have maps that show in plain English a drainage depression named Peg Munky Run. It was such a map that brought my attention to the problem of two different names for the same drainage run.

A Solution

When I asked David Johnson about this dilemma he relayed a story to me that Hazel Lohr told him. Hazel’s father, Charles Lohr, was an early pioneer in Estelline. Hazel said her father was asked by the cartographer who was mapping the area, “what is the name of that little creek east of town?” Charles, being a sly guy, invented the name on the spot and told the man it was called Pee Monkey Run. The cartographer, thinking the name was too crude to be placed on a map, simply wrote Peg Munky Run on his map.

Without a doubt, Charles Lohr shared the newly invented name with friends around Estelline. As noted above, the name Pee Monkey Run was used by everyone I have known. Even my 94 year-old father, when asked, said “Pee Monkey Run.”

I have no other stories to compete with this one, so for the time being, it will have to answer the question about how the same small feature carries two names, one used locally, the other used by the rest of the world.

Searching the Internet using Google, reveals there are no hits for “Pee Monkey Run”. Google finds many references to “Peg Munky Run” revealing many interesting facts. The information on the Internet revealed the bridge over Peg Munky Run is about to be rebuilt. It also revealed an interest in our beloved ditch related to Topeka shiners, a minnow found in the pools of water remaining after some rains.

Like so many stories that are disappearing with our pioneers passing on, I hope this story lives on. It may be a little story about a little run near Estelline, but stories like this add spice to our lives.

Here are a couple of links:

Look at this map and see Peg Munky in the upper right hand corner. You can arrow around and follow it to the Big Sioux River.

Find Peg Munky Run on this page.

Then do the Google or other search on Peg Munky Run. It is a lot of fun.

The next monthly meeting of the Estelline Area Horizons will be Tuesday March 18th at 6:30 p.m., at the Trails Edge.  Everyone is invited to hear updates on current projects or to become involved in various projects or bring forth ideas.  Monthly meetings are scheduled for the 3rd Tuesday of each month.  Please plan on attending.  For further information, please feel free to contact David Ebbers at davide@reliabank.com or 873-2261.

Thanks to all who attended the blog training on Tuesday night! I know we went through a lot of information in a short amount of time but I hope that you all feel comfortable in doing basic posting. The best way to hone your blogging skills is to use them! I’d love to see some new posts in the next few days from each of you. Thanks to Karl for “cleaning up” things today from our training. Thanks for all your work Estelline!

The application for the SD Arts Council Artist in Communities has been submitted to the state for their consideration.  We have applied for artist Mark Zimmerman to visit the community for two weeks sometime in July and August 2008.  Zimmerman would be educating community members in further mural  creation through a short series of seminars and hands-on art creation.

Estelline will have a farmers market in place for the 2008 season.  Vendors are being sought to supply garden-fresh vegetables for sale during the weekly farmers market.

Join the SD Extension Educator specialist for computer training and access to this blog site as an editor, contributor, or administrator. Class Tuesday March 11th at the High School Library from 6:30-9:00p.m. with take home materials and sign on at the site. Snacks and baby-sitting available. No beverages in the library though, sorry. See you there!