VALHALLA, THE GRIFTER AND HARRY V. JORGENSON

VALHALLA , THE GR[FTER and HARRY V. JORGENSON

The  Governor’s castle or valhalla in the hills.

Beware of Governors who would be kings.

When Kipling wrote of the Magna Carta  signed by King John in 1215 he said:

And still when mob or Monarch lays
Too rude a hand on English ways,
The whisper wakes, the shudder plays,
Across the reeds at Runnymede.
And Thames, that knows the moods of kings,
And crowds and priests and suchlike things,
Rolls deep and dreadful as he brings
Their warning down from Runnymede!

King John  lost his “Divine Rights” at Runnymede in 1215.

OUR VERY OWN GRIFTER

Harry V.  Jorgenson and Byron T “Bud” Brown  - 1964

In response to an article about Governor Round’s Valhalla playhouse in the hills in The Rapid City Journal of August 2010 a reader stated:

“Many years ago, in the late 1950's there was a man that came to Custer and the Black Hills and he was a grifter of the greatest source. He came strictly to separate hard working Black Hills residents and money. He blew into Custer driving one of the first convvertible Lincoln Contitnental 4 doors. He also managed to rent Valhalla for the summer. He used it to impress "investors" and then get away with their money. It worked for a while. He had all manner of plans, one being a tram over Custer, an oil well between Custer and Newcastle, a huge entertainment center between Custer and Hill City. Anything that would get investors. He wrote many bad checks to many businesses through out the Black Hills and then took off and returned to Las Vegas where he came from. His name was Bud Brown. “

 Byron T. “Bud” Brown ran for Congress on the Democrat ticket in 1964  from what was then known as the West River congressional seat. At that time South Dakota had two congressional districts.

In that same year I ran for Tripp County State’s attorney against Jack Grieves. It was a Democrat landslide year, even in Tripp County. Lyndon Johnson was elected  President over Barry Goldwater in a nationwide landslide. I beat Jack Grieves.

Bud Brown came to Winner to campaign. \His reputation had preceded him. The Tripp county democrats had a meeting for him at St Mary’s hall. Harry  Vixtor Jorgenson was the Tripp County chairman.

Now Harry was never at a loss for words and was one of the most honest, hardworking men I have ever met.

Harry saved the introduction of Congressional candidate Brown for himself. He reiterated every charge that had been made against Bud Brown, from bad checks to wife abuse and every other charge you could think such a “musicman” salesman  could be rightfully accused of at the time.

Without batting an eye, Harry then paused and announced that if all of those charges were lies then he was about to introduce the man who would explain each and every charge that was made against him.

Nonplussed, Brown spoke to the assembled Tripp County Democrats. He never could or would  explain or answer any of the charges.

When he finished he approached Harry and said he needed to get to Pierre in a hurry, but for some now forgotten reason needed a ride to Pierre that very night.

I’ll fix him, Harry muttered, and the three of us rode to Pierre in Harry’s old (1930’s o r was IT 40”s) K-7 International dump truck, springs jutting from the never really upholstered seats, smoke oil spewing from the old International engine, and dump residue flying from the old dump truck box.

A fitting ending to Mr. Brown’s South Dakota  political career.

But the Navajo tribe in Arizona would soon become the object of Bud Brown’s shenanigans.

They should have consulted  Harry V Jorgenson.

Brown v. Arizona Department of Real Estate, 890 P.2d 615, 181 Ariz. 320 (Ariz.App.Div.1 02/16/1995)

Byron T. Brown and Kurion T. Tracy conspired with Peter D. MacDonald, Sr., Chairman of the Navajo Nation Tribal Council, and his son, Peter D. MacDonald, Jr. to defraud the Navajo Nation ("the Tribe") of several million dollars through a double-escrow real estate transaction. When the Tribe discovered the existence of the illegal conspiracy, it filed a civil action against the conspirators in Maricopa County Superior Court. The trial court entered judgment in favor of the Tribe and against Brown, MacDonald, Jr., and MacDonald, Sr.^*fn1 MacDonald, Jr. and Brown both appealed. MacDonald, Sr. is not a party to this appeal. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm