Stordahl Shares History of the Stubblefield Ranch

Once upon a time in the early years of the twentieth century, a family of sons decided to look for better work and took off from Michigan traveling west. They stopped traveling and claimed sections of land north of Malta. The father, James Stubblefield, claimed the first half section and received the patent on it in 1916. Then, gradually, each son proved up on a half section close by their father's land.

Archie Stubblefield proved up on the half section to the east. As time went on, James' land went to his wife, Jerusha, in 1920. In 1925, Everett bought her out. Archie's land was in Pearl Stubblefield's name from 1923 until Everett bought it in 1943. So that's how the home place was owned by my Grandpa Stubblefield!

Grandpa never talked about the hard times of the 20's and 30's but I know they had rough times. With growing most of the food they ate they were some of the lucky ones. Grandpa and Grandma had three daughters, Audrey, Barbara and Thelma Jean.

The brothers continued proving up on their half sections of land. George settled on the section directly east of the home place, in 1915. And the east half of that section was claimed by Everett getting the patent in 1918. George had trouble raising a crop and meeting his obligations so it went to the loan company for $1,074 in 1921. It was bought by the Colombian Company in 1925 for $4510.75. In June of 1942, it was sold to Ray Barkuloo who sold it to Everett Stubblefield in September of that same year.

In 1924, Everett and Millie Stubblefield must have felt the pinch of the depression and sold their half section to the First State Bank who sold it to Blanche Hurlbert in 1925. But Grandpa and Grandma rallied and were able to buy it back in 1934.

North of these two sections, several families started homesteads on 320 acres each. In December of 1914 Joseph and Christina Heiertz Webber claimed a plot of land which was sold in 1926 to Mary Heiertz. She sold it to Everett Stubblefield in 1943.

The NE half of section 28 was originally registered in the name of Kaminowniqutik in January 1920. Then, in June of '20 Mary Olson owned it for several months, when she sold it to Henry Shaver in November. He let it go for taxes in 1933. Everett Stubblefield bought it in 1946.

E.B. Stubblefield owned the three sections until he passed in 1971, when his daughters inherited the land. At that time, Eugene and Barbara Cowan bought out the two sisters and ran the farm until dad, Gene, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and it was planted to grass in the CRP program. It stayed in Barbara's name until she died in 2016 when it was entrusted into the Cowan Sisters LLC. On December 1, 2022 it was sold to TJ and Char Wasson. I'm proud to have been a part of the Stubblefield ranch for so many decades!