Herbst

Peter Herbst traveled to Plevna for the first time in 1909 by train. Walked five miles over the open land and found land. He then decided to head back home and start packing up his wife and boys to homestead in Montana. When they finally took the trip they had two boys, Melchoir and Earnest. When they got to Montana they built and added a house onto their land. Just a few miles away a neighboring family, the Korths, had become good friends with Pete and his wife Mary. After they knew each other better they started to help each other with butchering, threshing or building on each other’s properties. In 1919, Pete decided to sell off his land to his brother-in-law, Fred Brummer, and then proceeded to buy a half section of land nine miles south of Plevna. Pete had an easier time farming this way, because it was closer to his farming land. Pete several jobs in his lifetime. A carpenter, barber, helped on a farm in Iowa, a postmaster from 1933 to 1953, and whatever he could find in his spare time. He also once took up auctioneering at Korth’s auction sale and for some reason had a knack for it, so it became a side job. His grandson, Robert, remembers attending auctions with his dad Ernest and grandpa Pete. “For some reason Grandpa always brought a gunny sack full of tin cups. I’m not sure why but he supplied the cups for the beverages at auction.”

As soon as Earnest was old enough he was out helping his father on the farm. He often got the job of driving the horses. The Korth’s and Herbst’s often celebrated the holidays together. The Fourth of July was often the favorite holiday for the kids. There was music and kids danced and sang all night long. Often they would just have each other over for dinner and would simply just have a good time. They also often had card nights, the adults would play and the children would run off and find fun games to play with each other. By the end of Pete and Mary’s lifetime they had six children total, Melchoir (Millie), Earnest (Emie), Wilda, Margret, MaryAnne, and Joe. Their son Ernie married the neighbor Korth girl, Delilah. To this marriage they had one son, Robert E. Herbst who still resides in Baker today.