My dad is first generation in this country; My grandparents were both born in Czechoslovakia, and my grandmother was a Novotny. She was raised between Rushville and Hay Springs , North, and my grandfather got a homestead north of Clinton. My grandparents had an arranged marriage.

It was a successful marriage. They were married over 50 years. 

So and then on my mom’s side, I have a kind of interesting story that my family  on my mom’s side, when we get together, always like to tell. My great-grandmother was traded for six horses. My great-grandfather was a French fur trapper, and his last name was Dubray. And he went over to Wyoming to a rendezvous, and he apparently must have been hunting for a wife because he took all these horses with him.

Well, there was a guy there, another French fur trader by the name of Gerry and he had my great-grandmother, and they had four kids. Well, they bartered back and forth, and so great-grandfather Dubray got my great-grandmother for the six horses; Gerry threw the four kids in. At every gathering we have to always remind, “hey, great grandmother got traded for six horses, or how many horses do you think you’d be?” You know, it was interesting, really interesting. 

Now Rushville has a Native American name. I can’t remember it right now, but I have it written at home and it translates out to the place where the, the material commodities, you know, supplies come in. The Pine Ridge Reservation is north of here, so all the supplies would come in by train, and it would stop at Rushville, and then they would come down and get them and then take them back up to the reservation. So, I guess that’s it.