Paradise in the desert
A picture of the Bolyard farm in 1936. According to Dan Bolyard, the big bunch of trees in the middle are still there and would obscure the view of his house today if he were to retake this photo. The building towards the right center with the windmill behind it survives as well, though in poor shape. Note the tank on top of the building. The family would fill it with water from the windmill, then pipe it everywhere. There are still bits of those pipes on the property. The buildings with the white-looking roofs on the right have fallen in. The house seen to the left of the big bunch of trees …
Courtesy photo/Dan Bolyard
Harriet Zinn Bolyard and Doliver Otto Bolyard in 1945. Doliver and Harriet are Dan Bolyard’s great-grandparents who first moved to the property in 1926.
Doliver and Harriet's house, taken in 1945, is still standing today. This is the building the Bolyard family calls ‘grandma's house’ even though Harriet was Dan’s great-grandmother.
Oscar and Selma, Dan Bolyard’s grandparents, three years after their marriage in June 1945. The house they are standing in front of is still standing too, but is in very poor condition, Dan said.
COULEE CITY — While he may not know the reason behind his family swapping land in 1926 with a man called Badger, Dan Bolyard still lives off the land that has been in his family ever since.
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