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Jack Brutsche, 66, of Omaha, NE.., said he grew up in a log cabin at White Rock during the 1930s with his parents and four brothers and sisters. According to Jack, his father Delbert bought 160 acres in the area from his father, Burt Brutsche. Delbert lost 120 acres to the bank during the depression, but managed to keep the other 40 acres.
Because times were tough in 1933, Delbert decided to move out of town and build a log cabin on the property. Jack and his brothers and sisters helped a carpenter named Thompson cut the logs from the vicinity, and haul them to the building site with horses. It took almost a year to build, with a kitchen on the south side and a finished upstairs with plaster on the inside. The main room downstairs was faced with logs on the inside as well as the outside.
The Brutsche children went to the White Rock school, a one room school house with about 20 students. The school was located between what is today the Ivan Brewer place and the River House. About 40 years ago the school house was hauled to Coon Rapids across the fairgrounds were it became Emery’s Drive Inn. The children went to high school in Coon Rapids.
Delbert cleared the surrounding land with horses. He farmed the ridge to the east of the cabin and the bottom land on the other side of the river, which was also part of the 40 aces. They grew mostly corn, and kept a big garden on the other side of the river. In 1933, because Delbert’s wife had asthma, they moved to Omaha with Jack’s older brother. For three more years Jack stayed on the farm but in 1941, when he was 21 years, he sold his machinery and joined the navy. The cabin was vacant during the war, but afterwards, Jack’s brother, Frank, lived there and farmed for a few years. In the 1950’s Larry Cady lived there one winter in the 50’s. After that, the property was left vacant.
In the mid-1950’s the land was sold to Stephen Garst. The land is now part of the Garst Farm Resort. The cabin site can be found on a trail map available on the farm resort web site.
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