The Spaulding Cabin

By Gary Helmer

On our farm about three miles southeast of Belle Fourche along the Redwater River was a log cabin. There were remnants of a yard fence as an old gate hung between two posts. Approximately 100 feet south of the gate was a hand-dug water well that was shored up with planks that were starting to bow in because of the deterioration of the wood. Approximately 200 feet to the southwest in a hillside were the remnants of the cellar. The cabin’s main entrance was at the south end. It had a walk-in door that was tied shut with wire. The second floor window was immediately above this door.

The old cabin was about 20 feet long and 14 feet wide. Built by Johnny Spaulding, it had a lean-to on the west side that was 12 feet wide by 26 feet long. The main house had two rooms on the main floor and a narrow, winding, steep stairway that led upstairs to 2 bedrooms. Some of the windows were broken out and the door was always tied shut to keep the livestock out of the items that were stored inside. The main cabin had a wooden floor, the first of its kind in the area. The lean-to had a dirt floor. Its door and windows were gone. The livestock could go in and out of the lean-to area.  

In the 1950s, my brother Larry and I, sometimes joined by our nephews Keith and Daryl, would play in this old cabin. I was about six years old at that time. In 1956 or 1957, a couple of members of the Belle Fourche Lions Club approached Dad about selling the cabin to the local Lions Club. Dad indicated that he would not sell the cabin to them, but he would be willing to donate it to the Lions Club. Later that year, the lean-to was removed and the cabin was moved to Belle Fourche.

Jim Snoozy and Bud Ginsbach were contacted to move the cabin. After they had lifted the cabin up using old railroad jacks, they realized that the equipment they had was not suitable for moving the log structure. They had Tom Mitchell move the cabin with his heavy equipment-moving low-boy trailer. That afternoon when I got home from school, Mom said that the cabin was on its way to town. I looked out the north living room window and could see the cabin going past the place where Snoozys lived (the present Curt Elson residence) on Helmer Road. 

The Lions Club placed the cabin across State Street from the Post Office, and refurbished the cabin. It was decorated with items from the Tri-State Museum. This made it look like an actual settler’s cabin. For several years the Lions Club hired a couple of ladies to serve as attendants during the summer months. These attendants would answer questions for the visitors that stopped by. 

In 1976, the local Senior Citizens organization took on the attending of the cabin as their bicentennial project. They continued serving as attendants until 1993 when they discontinued the project due to declining membership in their organization. To begin with, there were enough Senior Citizen volunteer attendants that each only had to be there for a half a day once a week. As their membership declined, the schedule for tending the cabin became more demanding. During the time that the Senior Citizens tended the cabin, my mother spent a lot of time helping out. After her death in 1985, our family had a plaque mounted in the cabin honoring our parents, Bill and Alma Helmer. for the gift of the cabin. In 1993, the cabin and the operation of the cabin was turned over the the City of Belle Fourche.

On June 26, 2006, the cabin was once again moved to the present site of the new museum and Chamber of Commerce Office along US Highway 85 on the south side of the Belle Fourche River Bridge. In May of 2007, I was asked by the Questers Organization to serve as master of ceremonies for the rededication of the cabin at the new site. The dedication was held on June 15, 2007. All of my brothers and sisters were in attendance. It was an honor to do this.