75 years old
Son of Clara C (Weathers) and George Washington Smith. Brother of Paul and Emma.
Robert's fist marriage was to Grace L Anderson March 24, 1915 in Mitchell, Davison County, SD. Robert and Grace had 2 children - Robert Hallock "Hal" and Florence. Robert and Grace divorced in about 1920 and left with the children to live with her parents in Ellensburg, Kittitas County, WA.
Robert married Katherine "Katy" Ann (Heintz) October 10, 1921 in Mitchell, Davison County, SD. Robert and Katy had 4 children - Alan Ritchie, Robert Leroy, Louis Russell and Keith Rodney.
Robert "Watermelon Bob" (as he was called around town) was the owner of one of the finest melon and berry farms around Mitchell, SD. He started raising some of the first strawberries on the farm in the 1940's. The rigorous prairie climate made it difficult to profitably grow strawberries since no cultivars were sufficiently adapted to the area. Robert started an on-farm strawberry-breeding program in the 1950's, with assistance from Dr. I. C. Haut from the USDA breeding program at Salisbury, MD. Dr. Haut and Mr. Smith made crosses and planted their seedlings to select from on the Mitchell, SD farm. Other selections from Dr. Power's USDA work at Cheyenne, Wyoming were also used. A superior selection from the Smith breeding program was informally named ‘Dakota Chief' and was first planted commercially during the 1970's.
Son of Clara C (Weathers) and George Washington Smith. Brother of Paul and Emma.
Robert's fist marriage was to Grace L Anderson March 24, 1915 in Mitchell, Davison County, SD. Robert and Grace had 2 children - Robert Hallock "Hal" and Florence. Robert and Grace divorced in about 1920 and left with the children to live with her parents in Ellensburg, Kittitas County, WA.
Robert married Katherine "Katy" Ann (Heintz) October 10, 1921 in Mitchell, Davison County, SD. Robert and Katy had 4 children - Alan Ritchie, Robert Leroy, Louis Russell and Keith Rodney.
Robert "Watermelon Bob" (as he was called around town) was the owner of one of the finest melon and berry farms around Mitchell, SD. He started raising some of the first strawberries on the farm in the 1940's. The rigorous prairie climate made it difficult to profitably grow strawberries since no cultivars were sufficiently adapted to the area. Robert started an on-farm strawberry-breeding program in the 1950's, with assistance from Dr. I. C. Haut from the USDA breeding program at Salisbury, MD. Dr. Haut and Mr. Smith made crosses and planted their seedlings to select from on the Mitchell, SD farm. Other selections from Dr. Power's USDA work at Cheyenne, Wyoming were also used. A superior selection from the Smith breeding program was informally named ‘Dakota Chief' and was first planted commercially during the 1970's.
75 years old
Son of Clara C (Weathers) and George Washington Smith. Brother of Paul and Emma.
Robert's fist marriage was to Grace L Anderson March 24, 1915 in Mitchell, Davison County, SD. Robert and Grace had 2 children - Robert Hallock "Hal" and Florence. Robert and Grace divorced in about 1920 and left with the children to live with her parents in Ellensburg, Kittitas County, WA.
Robert married Katherine "Katy" Ann (Heintz) October 10, 1921 in Mitchell, Davison County, SD. Robert and Katy had 4 children - Alan Ritchie, Robert Leroy, Louis Russell and Keith Rodney.
Robert "Watermelon Bob" (as he was called around town) was the owner of one of the finest melon and berry farms around Mitchell, SD. He started raising some of the first strawberries on the farm in the 1940's. The rigorous prairie climate made it difficult to profitably grow strawberries since no cultivars were sufficiently adapted to the area. Robert started an on-farm strawberry-breeding program in the 1950's, with assistance from Dr. I. C. Haut from the USDA breeding program at Salisbury, MD. Dr. Haut and Mr. Smith made crosses and planted their seedlings to select from on the Mitchell, SD farm. Other selections from Dr. Power's USDA work at Cheyenne, Wyoming were also used. A superior selection from the Smith breeding program was informally named ‘Dakota Chief' and was first planted commercially during the 1970's.
Son of Clara C (Weathers) and George Washington Smith. Brother of Paul and Emma.
Robert's fist marriage was to Grace L Anderson March 24, 1915 in Mitchell, Davison County, SD. Robert and Grace had 2 children - Robert Hallock "Hal" and Florence. Robert and Grace divorced in about 1920 and left with the children to live with her parents in Ellensburg, Kittitas County, WA.
Robert married Katherine "Katy" Ann (Heintz) October 10, 1921 in Mitchell, Davison County, SD. Robert and Katy had 4 children - Alan Ritchie, Robert Leroy, Louis Russell and Keith Rodney.
Robert "Watermelon Bob" (as he was called around town) was the owner of one of the finest melon and berry farms around Mitchell, SD. He started raising some of the first strawberries on the farm in the 1940's. The rigorous prairie climate made it difficult to profitably grow strawberries since no cultivars were sufficiently adapted to the area. Robert started an on-farm strawberry-breeding program in the 1950's, with assistance from Dr. I. C. Haut from the USDA breeding program at Salisbury, MD. Dr. Haut and Mr. Smith made crosses and planted their seedlings to select from on the Mitchell, SD farm. Other selections from Dr. Power's USDA work at Cheyenne, Wyoming were also used. A superior selection from the Smith breeding program was informally named ‘Dakota Chief' and was first planted commercially during the 1970's.
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