The Cost of Free Land by Rebecca Clarren

Author:Rebecca Clarren [Clarren, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2023-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

“Bronco Lou,” circa 1919.

A few years ago, I spent an early morning at Wall Drug, the famous South Dakota roadside attraction, visiting with a group of locals who regularly gather there over coffee and donuts before heading out to work their ranches. Not one of them told me about the WPA dam that Louie fought to have built in 1937 on Jew Flats, something that brought critical jobs during the height of drought, when many neighbors were struggling to feed their kids. Not one of them remembered the lobbying that Louie did at the state legislature in the early ’40s on behalf of ranchers and farmers.

One old-timer told me that Louie’s dream of oil set him apart from the many ranchers who didn’t want to be bothered with outsiders on their land. Other ranchers in the area worried that drilling operations would hurt their cattle. Another one told me there had been rumors of gangsters visiting Louie, the thinking being, “He’s a Jew, so maybe he’s with the mafia.”

Over time, I spoke with more locals. One echoed the sentiment of several, telling me, “being Jewish didn’t alarm anybody,” and both Louie and Diane insisted they never felt any antisemitism while living on Jew Flats. But it certainly made them different in the eyes of at least some people. Once, when I asked an old-timer if he remembered my uncle, he said, “Oh, you mean the Jew?” Another neighbor said his dad dreaded Louie’s visits, as they often involved requests for money or proposals to sell or buy equipment that usually stalled. “We figured his family didn’t want him in Minneapolis, and that’s why they kept him out here,” that same neighbor told me.

Being an outsider doesn’t always feel great, but it often leads to greatness. For so many successful people, it has fueled tenacity and verve. In Louie’s case, I believe this longing to fit in was part of his drive to become an oil tycoon, a drive that leads our story to a hot summer day in either 1952 or ’53, when Louie’s dreams of grandeur hung in the balance.

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