Davidson Family - Strawberry Hill Dance ~ 1918
About the Photo - “Strawberry Hill Dance – 1918” captures a milestone in the Davidson family’s Wyoming story, rooted in the journey of Even and Astri Lee, who immigrated from Norway in 1877 and 1887, respectively. After marrying in Willow, ND in 1888 and raising three children, the couple moved to Crook County in 1917, where their two sons homesteaded side by side.
History - The dance shown here celebrated the completion of eldest son Ole Lee’s cabin in 1918 — a classic moment of community cheer. Ole later married Allegra Nemetz in 1923, and their daughter Ruth, born in this very cabin in 1924, carried the family legacy forward when she married fellow Crook County native Stanley Davidson. Their son, Keith, continued the lineage, raising four children and later welcoming five grandchildren — Even and Astri’s 3x great-grandchildren. More than a century after this dance, much of the original cabin still stands on the homestead and remains in the hands of the Davidson family, who were honored with the Wyoming SHPO Centennial Farm & Ranch designation in 2017. The photograph represents not only a celebration in 1918, but the enduring connection of six generations to the land that became their home.
