In one photo, Dale and Ruth Paulson are standing in front of the cabin with their granddaughter, Ruthe. In another photo, next to the Paulson ranch is shown a herd of buffalo owned by John and Peggy Christensen of Wessington. In the other photo is the inside view of the one-room cabin showing one of the beds. The cabin has two beds, a crib, a chair and a heater. Water is brought in and an outhouse sits down the hill a few feet from the cabin. PHOTOS BY ROGER KASA/PLAINSMAN

WESSINGTON – Nestled in the Wessington Hills is the 3,000 acre cattle farm owned by Dale and Ruth Paulson.

Paulson bought the farm in 1994 and moved in in March of 1995.

Later he learned of a couple of cabins owned by a minister friend in Hill City. The minister was planning to move to Marshall, Minn. and Paulson asked to buy one of the cabins.

He brought a flat-bed trailer to Hill City and loaded the cabin up for its trip back to the Wessington Hills.

The cabin sits on a hill above the Paulson farm. Just a few yards to the west is a steep drop-off – an area filled with Burr Oak trees. There’s also a nice picnic area among the trees, but it not visible from the hill.

Further to the west is a herd of buffalo owned by John and Peggy Christensen.

Paulson is a native of Wewela, S.D., which sits on the South Dakota-Nebraska border south of Colome. It is 27 miles east of Winner.

He said his hometown recently celebrated its centennial.

As for the cabin, Paulson said “it’s kind of a nice setting for people wanting to get away and think.”

Ruth Paulson said the cabin is ideal for a single mom and her children. The Paulson do not charge for people to use the cabin, although they will accept a donation.

But, unfortunately not too many people know about the getaway and the Paulson’s are using this means to introduce people to their treasure.

“A lot of people in Beadle County don’t know about the cabin,” Paulson said. “We feel it is getting wasted.”

Mrs. Paulson said the cabin has been used by several hunters and some of their relatives. The hunters usually come to the Paulson house to take a shower before going to church.

But if they are here for the hunting, they get up early and start looking for the game.

“Some people really like roughing it,” he said.

Paulson said they have found a number of Indian artifacts on the property. Among the finds, he said, are 22 tepee rings.

The area below the cabin is a deer hideout among the Burr Oak trees. The name of the township is Burr Oak. The area is located in Beadle County.

On the farm is an eagle rock which is a National Historic landmark, Paulson said. There is an article about the rock in the 1909 issue of the Wessington Springs newspaper.

Paulson also tells the story of Hugh Glass, who was attacked by a bear in northwestern South Dakota in the 1800s. He was badly mauled by the bear and his hunting party left two people to stay with him while the rest left for Pierre.

The two that remained behind were fearful of the Indians and left him alone. The story goes that Glass was able to crawl miles until he finally reached safety.

Paulson dug into the ground and came up with an Indian turnip which helped him to survive.

He said there’s a story about Glass on the wall at the Cedar Shores Resort near Chamberlain.

Dale and Ruth Paulson have three daughters and 16 grandchildren. Tera (Joe) Lopez and family live on the Paulson farm; Margo (Steve) Mitchell reside 45 miles south of Kansas City; and Tracy (Jason) Short, live in the same vicinity.

The Paulson’s address is 21187 375th Ave., Wessington, 57381. Their telephone number is 458-2376.



For the complete article see the 07-25-2009 issue.

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