Adkins, Mattas, Mize Family History

The Jim River and

the Mattas Place



 Long before it was the Mattas Place, it was home to buffalo and the Dakota people. The rolling grassland hills nestled around the James River.   

The Dakota people called the river E-ta-zi-po-ka-se Wakpa ("unnavigable river"). The buffalo would wallow in the hills, making indentations in the ground, as they rolled in the dirt to get relief from biting insects. These wallows were visible long after the buffalo were gone.

 In the 1950’s, as my father Pete Adkins and I walked along the hills of the old Mattas place, he would point them out to me.

 Last year, 65 years later, I took that same walk, I couldn't find them anymore. 


But the river is still there, as it has been for centuries. In 1794, Jean Trudeau, a French Trader, named the river "Riviere aux Jacques." The Dakota Territory Organic Act of 1861 renamed it the Dakota River, but that name never stuck. Common usage called it the James River, and that is what it remains. For those of us who are tied to it, it is the “Jim."

Territorial Map: Circa 1863

Jim River Photograph from the family archive: Circa 1900's.

Jim River Photograph from the family archive: Circa 1900's.

At that time, Martella and the Milltown community were in Armstrong County. Milltown was its county seat and ¼ mile north of Milltown, up Hog’s Back Hill, was Martella.

Hiram built a post office/home in Martella out of stones and mortar, it was a show case. At first, the front entrance welcomed a short-lived pony express and then the stagecoaches. Hiram was the Postmaster. In 1879, the territorial legislature erased Armstrong County and rolled it into Hutchinson County. Martella as a town and post office ceased existing. 

The ruts from the stagecoaches were still visible when my father and I walked along the hills of the old Mattas place. Last year, 65 years later, on that same walking place, I couldn't find them anymore. 

In 1859, the U.S. government forced the Dakota people to cede the land around the Jim River. In 1862, it was opened for homesteading. However, if you paid the U.S. government with cash for the land, the Homestead rules did not apply. You could buy land and establish a town if you so wished. Hiram Bowen, from Janesville, Wisconsin did just that. In 1877, he purchased many acres along the Jim River and called it “Martella.” 

Hiram Bowen died in 1886. In 1893, his son Marvin and wife Elizabeth sold Martella and its 325 acres to Joseph Mattas for $4,500. In 1894, Joseph, his wife Vincincia, and six children moved from Bon Homme County into the old post office and made it their home.


Family legend has it they drove a herd of horses and cattle from Tabor over the hills to the new place. Joseph, a cautious man, bundled his cash and hid it under one-year-old George’s shirt. He thought if someone were to confront them on the way, the last place they would look for money was on a baby!

Martella became "The Mattas Place."

Pictured below: The Mattas Family and their "Martella Home," Circa 1897

l-r, William, Henry, Steve, Joseph, George, Amelia, Lil and Vincincia. Behind George stands Joseph Jr.

Pictured left: The Mattas Family and their "Martella Home," Circa 1897

l-r, William, Henry, Steve, Joseph, George, Amelia, Lil and Vincincia. Behind George stands Joseph Jr.

The Mattas family grew over the years at the farm by the Jim River. By 1900, there were eight children.

Top Row: l-r, Joseph Jr, George, William, Bottom Row : l-r, Steve and Henry. Circa 1906

l-r:  Amelia, Mayme, and Lil. Circa 1908

  In 1903, Joseph purchased additional land. Theodore Roosevelt was U.S. President at the time.


The family all worked hard over the years to make the Mattas Place prosperous. Pictured above are George (left) and his friend Floyd Mohring laying the foundation for a new barn. To the top are Hazel Mattas (William's wife) and Lil, who is driving the manure spreader. 



The family all worked hard over the years to make the Mattas Place prosperous. Pictured above are George (left) and his friend Floyd Mohring laying the foundation for a new barn. To the left are Hazel Mattas (William's wife) and Lil, who is driving the manure spreader.  The background is of George standing and Steve leading a fine set of work horses.


Joseph embraced new technology and was one of the first to own a tractor. Background picture is of the family in the field. Below, is Steve on the new tractor.

Joseph embraced new technology and was one of the first to own a tractor. Background picture is of the family in the field. Below, right, is Steve on the new tractor.

Though technology improved farming, the success of the Mattas Place was in part due to location on the Jim River.  Water was plentiful for their substantial livestock herd.

It also supplied an ample number of fish for the table. Legend has it that Steve caught the biggest fish ever for the family! It was a seventy-five pound catfish, so heavy that he had to throw it over his back to get it to the house. Pictured above are Mayme in a straw hat and her friend Grace Adkins displaying their catch.  On the top, men fishing below the Mattas Place.

Pictures: Circa 1910's. 

It also supplied an ample number of fish for the table. Legend has it that Steve caught the biggest fish ever for the family! It was a seventy-five pound catfish, so heavy that he had to throw it over his back to get it to the house. Pictured at right are Mayme in a straw hat and her friend Grace Adkins displaying their catch.  On the left, men fishing below the Mattas Place.

Pictures: Circa 1910's. 

Background picture from the family archives. Circa 1910

The river was not always a friend to the farm. When it flooded, it took out acres of farmland for the season. It could also be treacherous in the winter. George and Steve went ice fishing one year and George fell through the ice. Steve jumped into the cold water to save him. They both survived, but Steve became crippled from the near drowning.

Lil throwing her hat in the air with Mayme looking on, made light of a flood in the 1910's.

The family not only worked hard but took time out for picnics and dancing and entertaining. The Mattas Place became a hub for many visitors. Some would be invited for a picnic and end up staying for days!


After Joseph retired in 1923, the Mattas Place remained in the family for years. The last one to live on the property were son, George and his wife, Grace Adkins Mattas. Sometime in the late 1940’s, the mortar around the stones of the house became inundated with bull snakes that came up from the Jim River. There were pliers on the table in the living room, and she would use them to pull the snakes out of the walls.

 It was too much for her, and they abandoned the home. 


The land was rented out by George and Grace for a number of years. Every year, for many years, Grace would make a pilgrimage there when the Pasque Flowers were blooming. To her, they were Easter Flowers. Sometimes I would go with her. There was a large flat rock, nestled in the hill above the old house, she called it her “praying rock.” She would sit down on the rock, fold her hands, and pray silently.

After she passed, I returned often to that same place when the Pasque Flowers bloomed, find the rock and honor my relatives - great grandfather Joseph Mattas and his family. Last year, as I walked the hills I couldn't find that rock. 


Pictured below:

Back row: l-r, Joe Jr., Steve, Joseph, Vincincia, Henry, Bill, George.

Seated: l-r, Lil, Amelia, Mayme.


The land was rented out by George and Grace for a number of years. Every year, for many years, Grace would make a pilgrimage there when the Pasque Flowers were blooming. To her, they were Easter Flowers. Sometimes I would go with her. There was a large flat rock, nestled in the hill above the old house, she called it her “praying rock.” She would sit down on the rock, fold her hands, and pray silently.

After she passed, I returned often to that same place when the Pasque Flowers bloomed, find the rock and honor my relatives - great grandfather Joseph Mattas and his family. Last year, as I walked the hills I couldn't find that rock. 


Back row: l-r, Joe Jr., Steve, Joseph, Vincincia, Henry, Bill, George.

Seated: l-r, Lil, Amelia, Mayme.

No one of Mattas descent owns the land now. The house is just a pile of rubble. The only thing that remains is the barn foundation. However, when I walk down the road to the old Mattas place, I feel like I am going home, though I never lived there. The place has woven itself into my DNA.


Next spring, when the Pasque Flowers are on the hill, I am going to find that rock and send a prayer for all the people who have called this place home.

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