Per Pearl Olstad( Gerhard's niece by marriage), this photo was taken in about 1910. Sentinel Butte was the major town in the area of Gerhard's farm at that time.
According to beachnd.com, from 1906-1910 Sentinel Butte "...became a booming metropolis. Settlers arrived during that time to take advantage of the free homestead land or to invest in railroad land. The city boasted nearly 800 residents and about 40 businesses. It was a business mecca, but the prosperity was short lived." The article in beachnd.com added, "The 160-acre homesteads and low western North Dakota yields were not enough to provide a good family living on so few acres. Several years of drought left many homesteaders broke. Their credit gone, they had to leave. The growth of nearby Golva and Beach took from Sentinel Butte businesses. One after another, the businesses began to fold."
According to John Schumacher, Gerhard purchased /received additional land from another homesteader who had financial difficulties and had to leave the area.
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