A glimpse into the past --- skunk and all

This postcard image of a young man and his motorbike, dated 1916, seems to have become detached from its family, floated to the surface during a sale of some sort, was purchased by a collector and then passed on to the Lucas County Historical Society for safekeeping. Or at least that's what we think happened, based upon museum records.

The subject is not specifically identified as George L. Sams (1895-1963), but he wrote and dated the message on the back and the face here is similar to that in another photograph of Mr. Sams, at left.

George, whose parents were Sylvester R. and Mary Ellen (Cackler) Sams, was a native of the neighborhood northwest of Oakley and farmed there for most of his life.

The card is addressed to his first-cousin, A. Raymond Glass (1893-1957), who lived at Lemmon, a town located just south of the North Dakota line in the northwestern corner of South Dakota. Raymond's mother was Mahala A. Cackler, sister of Mary Ellen (Cackler) Sams, married to Elbert Glass.

The message is datelined Melcher, Iowa, Oct. 4, 1916, and we have no way of knowing why George apparently was living there at the time. He had married Rosetta L. Klages (1897-1949) two months earlier, on Aug. 6, 1916. Most of their married life was spent on a small farm northwest of Oakley.

The message on the back reads, "I received your letter a week ago but have been so busy I could not turn around. We are all well, but the dog caught a skunk."

And that's it --- a tiny glimpse into the past, skunk and all.