7/27/2010:
People in North Dakota, even today, often do not feel the need to lock their doors. While some feel protected by low crime rates, others buy security systems to protect their homes. Some simply put out a "Beware of Dog" sign whether or not they actually have a dog. Mrs. Guilford didn't have a sign, but as reported on this date in 1887, she was certainly very glad that she did indeed have a dog.
The story arose from an incident that took place after Mr. Guilford had left for work at the Medina railway station. At the time, the station was pretty much all the city had. If you rode the train into town, all you would have seen was the railway, water tank, pump house and the occasional dwelling spread out across the wide prairie.
The town had been called Midway because of its middle position on the railway until 1880, when Mrs. Guilford reported a name change in a letter to her sister back home. Since the town was the median point on the train tracks, her husband had revised the name to Medina, which was also the name of Mrs. Guilford's New York hometown.
Seven years later, Medina was still a small outpost on the railway when the peculiar incident occurred. As she did her housework, Mrs. Guilford heard something. She went to the kitchen where, "she was confronted by a large, burly, hard-looking tramp." Whether they rode the rails or wandered on foot, "tramps" were men who drifted across the land.
He asked for some food and she started preparing something for the unwelcome intruder. He asked if she was home by herself. "No," she answered, thinking of her Newfoundland dog, Leo, in the next room. Ranging from 100-150 pounds, Newfoundland's are not small dogs.
Leaning forward and giving her a "hard look" he asked again, "Now ain't you alone?" She asked what concern it was of his, to which he replied that he "liked to catch the ladies alone." This was not hard to do as homes were spread far apart and there were few people around.
Mrs. Guilford, however, was not to be caught. "Do you?" she said, and calling Leo, it wasn't a moment before "...the brave dog had a death grip on Mr. Tramp." The man managed to get free of Leo and he scrambled out the door. Though the screen door swung back in Leo's face, the dog was quickly up, chasing the stranger into the hills.
Dakota Datebook written by Alyssa Boge
Sources:
The Daily Pioneer (Mandan) - July 27th, 1887
Jamestown Daily Alert - July 23rd, 1887
Medina North Dakota Centennial 1899-1999
www.akc.org/breeds/newfoundland/