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'''87. The First Fish Culture Pond'''

During the nineties the tract of land to the right as you turn on No. 212 at the Industrial School was occupied by 0. C. Beck and his family. Probably the member of the Beck family who will be remembered best by a few of the older residents was Charlie, a tall, six foot three or four fellow who was employed as a ranch hand by different parties in this locality. The reason that he will be remembered is that he always rode a little grey pony, really a youngster's pony in size, and whenever the snow was a foot deep, Charlie could not travel without getting his feet wet, for they dragged through the snow. It will also be recalled that he came to an untimely death in some shooting fracas at Beebe in which he was an innocent bystander.

The elder Mr. Beck was the man who drilled most of the artesian wells of 1890 to 1905. On this tract of land he had a wonderful flowing well and to take care of the runoff from the well, he constructed a pond just back of the present Standard Service Station and in that pond he planted German carp. This pond remained there for several years, and we believe to him belongs the distinction of having shipped in the first fish for planting in this community.