Almont North Dakota
1906 Centennial 2006
ALMONT’S FIRST CAR
by Marshall Feland
Hiram Goff,
the lawyer of Almont, after reading about the new fangled invention,
the car, got the idea to buy one. One day as Mr. Goff met his close
friend, Cornelius Knutson, he said, “Well I made up my mind to
buy a car and I wondered if you would like to go along when I get it
tomorrow.
As the spring’s work was over, Mr. Knutson
replied, “Yes, I believe I would enjoy it very much.”
The lawyer said, “We’ll meet at
my office at eight in the morning.” The two parted in very good spirits
to do their work.
The next morning bright and early the two
met at the lawyers office. It was a little before eight, so the walked over
to Dave Peterson’s store. Mr. Peterson was very interested when he
heard Hiram Goff intended to buy a car.
Dave said, “I would like to buy a car
too, but I think I'll wait a while to see what they’re like.”
Mr. Goff replied, “Well, I guess it’s
about time to get to the depot.”
As they walked along Mr. Knutson made the remark. “I don’t
believe the town has ever seemed so still on a July Morning.”
“No,” said Mr. Goff, “but
it won’t stay quiet long, after we get back with my car.”
Unknown to them a lady had been in Dave Peterson’s
Store and had heard them talking. It didn’t take her but half an hour
to notify the whole town. The news proved very interesting; and kept the
town wondering the rest of the day.
Mr. Knutson and Mr. Goff arrived at the station
just as the train pulled in. They quickly got tickets and boarded the nearly
full train. The lawyer put on his spectacles and started to read a paper
as the train pulled away from the station.
Mr. Knutson remarked, “I guess we’ll
have a fairly pleasant trip if it doesn’t get too warm.”
The train went through Rattlesnake Cut and
rolled along at a good speed to Sims. At Sims, the train stopped a short
time to take on water, and they were bound for New Salem.
That morning in July proved to be a very exciting
for Mr. Goff and it wasn’t long until he put away his paper and removed
his glasses.
“You know, Cornelius“ Mr. Goff
said “I’ll bet the whole town will get excited over it.”
The two leaned back and said little the rest
of the way to New Salem. At New Salem the train stopped to load and unload
passengers. They got off for a short stretch, got back on, and settled down
for the ride to Mandan.
As the train rolled down the track Hiram expressed
himself by saying, “We got off at a good start so we should get back
sometime in the afternoon.”
“Yes we did,” answered Cornelius. “I
surely hope we can give the town a surprise when we get back.”
The two men made casual remarks as the train
rolled on. The train chugged to a stop in Mandan around eleven o’clock.
Mr. Goff and Mr. Knutson strolled over to the International Building and
were met by the dealer.
The dealer said, “Hello, Sirs, what
can I do for you this fine day.”
Mr. Goff answered, “I am interested
in buying a car.”
The dealer led them into a garage where three
1907 International Automobiles were setting. The cars were a nice bright
red color.
The dealer said, “The motors in these
cars are the two cylinder, air cooled type with chain drive to the rear
wheels.”
The motor was started and the three men drove
around a few blocks and back into the garage.
Mr. Goff liked the car very much and after
some arguing paid $800.00 for it. The man said he would get it loaded on
the train for them.
Hiram and Cornelius went to a restaurant and
ate their dinner.
The car was loaded, the two were seated for the ride home and in no
time they were on their way. The time went quickly by and the train
moved along.
Finally Mr. Goff said, “You know, Cornelius,
I’ve been thinking maybe some people will find out we went to get
a car and will meet us at the station, so instead of getting off at Almont,
we’ll get off at Sims.”
Cornelius replied, “I think that’s
a very good idea, because we can have some fun in Sims and really give the
people at Almont a surprise.”
By this time they had gone through New Salem
and were heading into Sims. They had been so absorbed in talking that they
hardly noticed Sims loom up ahead. When the train stopped they got off and
unloaded the car.
Mr. Goff hopped in the driver’s seat
and hollered "Okay, Cornelius crank her up.”
Cornelius cranked, the car started, Cornelius
jumped in, and Hiram started off. As they drove through Sims, a large crowd
gathered, Horses pawed and shrieked, the children screamed with delight.
Hiram drove through the street and out on the country trail toward Almont.
As they drove along at eight miles an hour,
Mr. Goff said, “Boy, I haven’t had so much fun since I was a
kid.”
Cornelius declared, “This was fun, but
just wait until we get to Almont.”
As they drove into Almont it was nearing four
o’clock. The train had pulled out of the station and if there had
been any people around, they weren’t there now. Mr. Goff drove the
car down the avenue, turned the corner by Hyde’s Lumber Yard, and
stopped in front of Dave Peterson’s Store, blowing the air horn loudly.
a moment after the horn sounded, people stormed from every building in Main
Street. There was no real excitement, however, as there were no horses in
the street.
Dave Peterson shouted above the noise, “How
did you get it to Almont?”
“We drove it from Sims,” returned
Mr. Goff.
Mr. Goff spent the next hour or two driving
around with the car loaded with children. The car was quite a spectacle
with those high wheels, and if it wouldn’t have had the high steering
wheel, you would hardly have been able to tell it from a buggy. Last of
all Mr. Goff took Mr. Knutson home and then he drove back to town.
Mr. Goff spent the next few days driving around
the country. Dave Peterson, who was so interested in the car, rode along
with the lawyer to a friend’s home. He was amazed at the speed when
they were going ten miles an hour.
Later in the month of November, he asked, “Mr.
Goff, would you think of selling your car?”
Mr. Goff, who was interested in another make
of car answered, “Yes, I think I might sell it if I get a fair price.”
The two men got their heads together and made
a bargain.
Dave Peterson was very enthusiastic about
the bargain he had made and he decided to drive out to his brothers farm.
When he drove up, he saw his surprised brother Joe coming out of the barn.
“Hello, Joe,” Dave said, “how
do you like my car?”
Joe replied, “It might be alright, but
I’ll bet it isn’t worth the price you paid.”
He gave Joe a ride and then decided to head
for town as it was getting close to the time he had to meet a friend to
go skating. Going over the Cliff Hill, a surprised team of horses got him
so excited he kicked the car out of gear. The car must have been going nearly
25 miles an hour when it reached the bottom and he was mighty thankful he
didn’t tip it over.
When Dave pulled in behind his store, Hiram
Goff met him and said, “Well Dave, how are you coming with the car?”
“Just fine,” answered Dave, “but
one thing I don’t like is the way it scares horses. Someday someone
is going to sue me.”
“If they do,” Hiram said, “Just
step over to the lawyer’s office and we’ll work something out.”
Dave replied, ‘I might do that.”
Dave knew the ice was frozen so he got his
skates and went to meet his friend for some real thrills on the ice.
As he went to meet his friend, he said to
himself, “If there’s one thing I really like to do, it’s
to skate.”
After he had been skating for a while he went
home and put his car away in the garage for the winter.
But getting back to when Dave Peterson and
a group of other men were driving along in Dave’s car the next summer.
Dave replied, “I don’t think it
was worth the price, but I have had a lot of fun in it.”
It was an extremely hot day and the weight
of the men caused the little motor to work very hard. As the motor was air
cooled it could not take the heat and so a connecting rod burnt out.
Dave went to the store where he found his
brother, Joe.
Dave said, “Joe, could you pull my car
out to you place.”
“I guess I can.” replied Joe, “but
what happened to it?”
“Something in the motor burnt out,” returned
Dave.
The two left the store to get Joe’s
team.
After they had pulled the car out to Joe’s
farm, they took the motor apart and when they found out it would cost too
much to fix up, Dave decided to sell it.
“Joe would you care to buy my car cheap
and make it into a buggy?” Dave asked.
Joe bought the car and converted it into a
buggy, which served as transportation to and from school for the Peterson
children.
The remains of the car are still on the Peterson
Farm and the Peterson’s still have one picture of it.
These first old cars were not worth much,
but they were the background of one of the finest means of transportation
in the world today, even if they do take many lives in accidents. IF PEOPLE
WOULD OBEY ALL TRAFFIC SIGNS AND REGULATIONS, AND ABSOLUTELY NO DRINKING
IF THEY DRIVE, many of these accidents could be prevented.