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All Good Things Must End
Jun 15, 2012
South Dakota's rural solitude is church-like to many of us. I don't know how many farmers and ranchers have told me through the years that they've felt closer to God on the land than in a pew.
When cowboy troubadour Kyle Evans sang "I'm in Heaven on a horse on the wide open prairies of Dakota ..." he spoke for everybody who has ever chewed on a blade of blue stem.
But as church-like as the prairie might be, it seemed even holier at Blue Cloud Abbey in Grant County — a picturesque little monastery that grew into a popular retreat center for all sorts of people, including South Dakota's reflective writer Kathleen Norris.
The true story of how the monks came to locate near Milbank is as sweet as the prairie grass. The priests and monks at St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana wanted to establish a new monastery in the Dakotas so they sent four brothers to scout the area in 1949. They liked a spot above the Missouri and James Rivers near Yankton, but WNAX's tall radio towers obstructed the view so they decided to drive to Fargo, North Dakota.
On the way (this was before I-29 was built) they stopped outside the tiny town of Marvin and saw a rolling, wooded string of hills above Grant County's Whetstone Valley. The land was rocky but they liked it so they went to nearby Milbank to inquire. They were directed to the Milbank banker, who told them that they land had just been listed for sale within the last 30 minutes. He offered them 300 acres at $22 an acre.
Their good timing and the banker's name were signs they couldn't ignore, so the Benedictine monks immediately inked the deal. The banker's name? Effner Benedict.
There were 40 founding members, but their numbers have now dwindled to a dozen and three are over 90. "What else can we do?" asked Abbot Denis Quinkert, as he solemnly spoke of the monastery's plan to close the doors.
Abbot Denis hopes a religious group will take over the monastery, but no one knows what will happen to the beautiful facility. The only thing we know for certain is that the same spiritual quality that was discovered by the Indiana monks 63 years ago — a spirituality that is very familiar to all who love the land in South Dakota — will be there to await the next tenants.
Comments
Just over sixty years later, I dare say, there is nothing but sadness in the neighborhood at their departure.
I have memories of camping near the Abbey for 4-H when I was young and often drove by it as my uncle once owned the only bar in Marvin (everyone just calls it "the bar") and we have many friends and relatives in the area.
However, many years later I had a humorous brush with someone that knew the Abbey better than I did. I was living in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts and it was the day of my daughter's baptism. Since it was a large parish, we did not know the individual priests well. In any case, as we were chatting with the priest, who was local and had a very thick Boston accent, he asked where we were from and I said South Dakota. He asked whether I knew about the Abbey as he was once posted there. I told him yes, and in fact that my uncle had once owned the only "tavern" in Marvin. He looked as me with a very puzzled look and said..."OH, you mean the BAAHH (bar)!
Also, a very special friend
(Dale Knebel) & I would assist in serving meals during retreats that were held their.
It was so beautiful & very peaceful place to visit! 🙏