W.J. Link (Walt’s grandfather) did a lot of different jobs, threshing, pulling stumps, laying drain tile and drilling wells over the years. We found a couple of pictures in the latest batch that show some of his worksites.

There was no location or date on this picture of a well being drilled. We are guessing it is near West Point as the names listed are common to the area.

William J Link, Raymond Baker, Neil Knabe drilling a well

We place the picture in the 1920s. W.J. used his tractors to run a lot of equipment, and a drilling rig would not be unlikely. We are not sure if he would be using the Minnesota or the Rumley steam engine for this. You can read more about his Minnesota here.

This next picture says Threshing, Dakota on the back. It is again undated, but seems to be of similar age. It appears to have a water tank and wagon of wood. This would be needed to run W.J.’s Rumley engine, as it was wood fired.

The picture shows what appears to be a drilling rig in the background, so we aren’t sure if the pictures are related and the Dakota part was an assumption. We’d be happy to have any information anyone may have about these pictures.