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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/37765-8.txt b/37765-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..85688f1 --- /dev/null +++ b/37765-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3381 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Pioneers and Pilgrims on the Prairies +of Dakota, by John B. Reese and H. B. Reese + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Some Pioneers and Pilgrims on the Prairies of Dakota + Or, From the ox team to the aeroplane + +Author: John B. Reese + H. B. Reese + +Release Date: October 16, 2011 [EBook #37765] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME PIONEERS AND PILGRIMS *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | + | been preserved. | + | | + | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For | + | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + + SOME PIONEERS _and_ PILGRIMS + ON THE PRAIRIES OF + DAKOTA + + OR + + _From the Ox Team to the Aeroplane_ + + Edited and Published by + + REV. JOHN B. REESE, A.M., B.D. + + Assisted by + + H.B. REESE + + MITCHELL, SOUTH DAKOTA + AUGUST, 1920 + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + I. Occasion, Scope and Purpose of Record. + + II. Prying Open the Door to the Dakotas--Treaty of '58. + + III. The Second Coming of the Norsemen to America. The First + Settlement on the Missouri Bottom, 1860. + + IV. First Settlement and Settlers of the "South Prairie," + 67-71. A Memorable Trip in Search of Work. + + V. The Settlements on Turkey Creek and Clay Creek, 70-71. + + VI. The Great Immigration of 1880--Causes. + + VII. Landing at Yankton, Getting on the Land, and a Hard + Struggle to Live. + + VIII. The Pioneer Mothers and Their Share in the Privations. + + IX. Indians as Visitors and Guests. + + X. The Great Snow Winter of 1880 and the Flood of '81. + + XI. Beginning the Grapple with the Earth. + + XII. Bird's Eye View of the Settlements in 1880-3. + + XIII. The Prairie Fires--The Annual Terror of the Settlers. + + XIV. The Great Blizzard of '88. + + XV. When the Fathers and Mothers of Today were Boys and + Girls. + + XVI. Religious Movements and Workers Among These People. + + XVII. A Daughter Settlement. + + XVIII. Looking Down the Trail to the Years Ahead. + + + + +GREETING + + +There has been an often expressed desire on the part of the sons and +daughters of the immigrant pioneers that those brave men and women of +a generation ago who left home, friends, and the graves of a hundred +generations of ancestors, to go to a land which they knew not, there +to toil and sacrifice that we, their children might have a better +chance, should not be forgotten. For their lives went into the deep +and often overlooked foundations, material and spiritual, without +which our larger opportunities and comforts of today would be +impossible. Like the pioneer Abraham they had a large faith and went +out in search of a Promised Land, not knowing what would be in store +for them, for they saw it afar off. Like Moses, most of them died +without themselves enjoying the fruits of the land or seeing the +promise fulfilled. + +How little the young people of this generation can appreciate the hard +toil, and even less, the heartaches and the tragedies which were the +price paid by our fathers and mothers, for our better future! It has +been the fashion of some small and provincially minded "Americans" who +constituted themselves, as it were, into the original and only +Americans, to sneer at the immigrant, to affect certain superior +"airs" in relation to him. This self-appointed superiority, however, +did not seem to bar them from taking undue advantage of him because of +his lack of knowledge of the new country and its ways and methods. How +little this class of self-appointed Americans were capable of +understanding, not to speak of appreciating, the physical and mental +contribution, not to speak of the moral and spiritual--the soul--which +these immigrants brought to the land of their adoption. They +established schools for their children, meeting in private houses +before there were any public schools. They built churches for the +worship of God while they themselves still lived in shacks and +dugouts. + +So it is in response to this widespread desire, among those of the +second and third generation from the pioneers, that this rich heritage +of deeds and ideals, handed down to us by our brave and forward +looking fathers and mothers, should not be forgotten but handed down +in memory as an increasing inspiration and just pride in the lives of +their children and children's children, that we are moved to write +this record. For already I hear the tramp of countless numbers and +many generations of the children of these pioneers. For them I compile +these incidents of the settlers' first experiences with the new land +and write this narrative. For if there is any reward which our fathers +and mothers would ask of us, in return for giving up almost everything +on our behalf, it would be just this: Remembrance and a little +appreciation--understanding. + +As to the origin, scope and plan of this narrative, this explanation +should be made: + +The real mover in getting this narrative started is my brother, H.B. +Reese. He has also collected a part of the materials used and written +out some of it. In editing and incorporating this material and other +contributions into the book, I have made a free translation of it and +also made changes and additions here and there as seemed desirable. + +As to the scope and plan, especially as to the particular persons +included or left out, the question will no doubt arise in the minds of +some readers: "Why are just these individuals named and not others who +were equally worthy and whose experiences were no less interesting?" +The answer is simply this: This particular group and their experiences +are best known to us, while that of others is not so well known. Then, +too, the necessary limitations of space because of the costs involved, +compel us to leave out much of which we have, or could get sufficient +knowledge to use. Lastly, we present this work on the theory that the +people, incidents and circumstances here included, represent the +ordinary immigrant's experiences and thus serve to give a fairly +correct view of pioneer days as a whole. So if some reader should have +a feeling that such and such names or incidents should have been +included, remember this omission is not because other names may not +have been equally worthy, but rather that because of limitations of +space and knowledge we had to choose a few as types and +representatives of all the rest. The individual names of these +pioneers will all too soon be forgotten in any case. But these +pioneers as a class and their deeds, I trust, shall never be +forgotten. So kindly remember that tho your father and mother, dear +reader, may have been among the first settlers of the region here +described and otherwise also closely connected with the group here +mentioned, and still their names are not included, yet their lives are +included. For the life we attempt to reproduce in picture here with +its hardships and adventures, was the life and sacrifice of them all. +You may in many cases substitute almost any pioneer name, and the +picture of the period would be essentially correct. So, then, this is +written in honor and memory of them all, the un-named as well as the +named. + +Thus, then, to all the sons and daughters of the Viking pioneers of +the prairie who between the years of 1859-1889 took up the hard +struggle with untamed nature on the far-stretching prairies of Dakota +and Minnesota, I humbly dedicate this memorial. To all the brave men +and women who bore the heat and the brunt of those days of toil and +hardship, we, their children, together offer this little tribute of +our love and remembrance. + + JOHN B. REESE, + April 21, 1918. _Mitchell S.D._ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +PRYING OPEN THE DOOR INTO THE RICH LANDS OF THE DAKOTAS + + +Previous to April, 1858, Dakota Territory for a century or more had +been the hunting ground and undisputed possession of the Yankton +Sioux. However, for some years before this date many adventurous, +enterprising members of the white race in the adjoining states of +Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, had cast covetous eyes across the +borders. Not a few even followed their eyes and entered in spite of +the prohibition of the government and the hostilities of the Indian. +Many more, encamped along the borders were watching the negotiations +between the government and the Yanktons, eager and alert to step over +the line the very instant the door should be opened. + +According to the available data on the Indian history of this region, +previous to 1750 it was occupied by the Omahas, who held the Big Sioux +and James river valleys. These were driven out about 1750 by the Teton +Sioux, who came previously from the woods of Minnesota. The Teton +Sioux also engaged the Rees, then having strongholds on the Missouri, +especially in and around Pierre, and after a forty years' struggle +drove them north to Grand River and then to where their remnants are +still found in the vicinity of Fort Berthold, North Dakota. + +At this time of the Treaty, this region was held by the Yankton and +Yanktonais Sioux, who had been driven from western Iowa by the Ottos +about 1780 and had settled the lower James River Valley. + +The first attempt at a settlement at Yankton was made in the spring of +1858 by one W.P. Holman, his son C.J. Holman, both of Sergeants +Bluff, Iowa, and Ben Stafford, together with four or five others from +Sioux City. In anticipation of an early treaty these men came up on +the Nebraska side of the river and, crossing over at Yankton, built a +camp. But about a month later the Indians, jealous of their hunting +grounds and suspicious of the designs of the intruders, drove them +back across the river. + +The next May, however, on the strength of a false rumor that the +treaty had been ratified, these men floated logs across from their +Nebraska camp, working all night, and next day laid twelve +foundations. The following day construction of the first log cabin was +begun. But before this could be finished some seventy-five Indians +appeared and began to hurl the newly founded city of Yankton into the +river. It was fortunate, as Mr. Holman, who was one of the party, +suggests, that the new settlers had left their guns on the other side. +For had they had their arms they would hardly have been able to submit +to the destruction of their town without a fight, and if it had come +to a fight the Indians were as yet too many. As it was, the intruders +resorted to diplomacy, and by much "fine talk" succeeded in saving +most of their belongings as well as of the construction and in holding +their ground. The next day a feast was promptly made to Chief Dog's +Claw and his warriors, and as is always the case with men, red or +white, this feast had the desired effect, at least for the time being. +The log house was built altho subsequently burned in October, 1858. + +The first permanent buildings, as far as we can ascertain, were those +of the Frost, Todd Co. Trading Post. There were, of course, Indian +tepees scattered over the present city and vicinity of Yankton, but +these appeared and disappeared again with the movements of their +inhabitants. There was also about this time a cabin built on the east +side of the present James River bridge by J.M. Stone, who operated a +ferry boat. + +It is stated by the late Mayor J.R. Hanson of Yankton, who came to +Yankton with a party of pioneers from Winona, Minnesota, in 1858, that +more than one hundred locations of 160 acres had already been staked +out in the vicinity of Yankton on his arrival. These, of course, later +had to be filed on in the regular way when the land became legally +opened to settlers. + +As already indicated, the treaty for the opening of this land for +settlement was at last arranged in 1858, but it was not until July 10, +1859, that the land was legally opened for settlers by ratification of +the treaty. On that very date the streams of expectant immigrants, +waiting on the borders of Nebraska and Iowa, poured in like a flood +and the towns of Vermilion, Meckling, Yankton and Bon Homme were all +founded in a day. On the 22nd of July Elk Point was first settled. + +[Illustration: THE OLD SOD SHANTY ON THE CLAIM, NEAR ARMOUR, S. DAK.] + +An interesting story is told of the long extended Indian pow-wows and +the fiery harangues on the part of the chiefs before they finally +relinquished their ancient camping ground and the graves of their +fathers on the present site of Yankton. The government had made +tempting offers in the way of regular rations of food, blankets and +many other commodities, not to speak of money and large reservations +of land to be guaranteed for the exclusive possession of the tribe. +These immediate benefits and creature comforts made a powerful appeal +to the common crowd among the Indians. This faction was led by Chief +Struck by the Ree, who was friendly to the Whites. The other chiefs, +however, many of whom were shrewd and able men and thought with their +heads rather than, as the crowd did, with their stomachs, keenly +realized what the little act of signing this treaty involved. They saw +that it meant that when they should fold their tepees and journey +westward this time they could never return. They knew that it meant +the final abandonment of their immemorial hunting grounds and the +beautiful camping site of Yankton with the graves of their fathers, +to the pale faces who would come in like a flood and once in they +could no more be turned back than the tides of the sea. In many and +prolonged councils these chiefs, such as Smutty Bear and Mad Bull, had +pressed upon their people these and other considerations against the +signing of the White man's treacherous papers. With burning words of +appeal, now to this motive now to that, with stinging rebuke of those +who would so lightly sell out their birthright and ancestral heritage, +as well as that of their children and the unborn generations to come, +they spoke with an eloquence which seemed for the time to stir and +elevate even the craven spirits of those who had favored the treaty. +But just at this point, when it looked as tho the treaty would be +rejected and the Indians would stay where they were, a government boat +carrying large supplies of food and other desirable commodities +whistled down the river. The word was soon passed that these treasures +would be taken up the river some thirty miles to their new home near +the present site of Springfield, and be distributed to the Indians in +case they would now vacate and carry out the treaty. The temptation +was too great. All the oratory was forgotten in the prospect of food, +clothing and glittering spangles. There was no more argument. The +tepees with strange and significant rapidity and universality began to +come down and get loaded. The travaux, loaded with the whole household +belongings and also in some cases with children, began to move +silently but surely toward the West, heading for the rendezvous +appointed by the steam boat people. Deserted by their people, the +chiefs, realizing that they were face to face with an irresistible +tide and were fighting a hopeless fight, followed their people with +sad and bitter spirits as they all trekked toward the setting sun, +never more to return to the rich valley and far-flung prairies of the +lower Missouri. Before the vanquished and vanishing Indian had gotten +out of sight over the hills the eager White man was moving in. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE SECOND COMING OF THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA + + +It is now quite generally conceded that Leif Erikson and his party, as +also other adventurous spirits of Iceland and Norway, visited these +shores half a thousand years before Columbus. The second coming of the +Norsemen, or the immigration to America from Norway in any +considerable numbers, began about 1840. Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, +Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, about in the order named, came +to receive this large influx of the hardy Norsemen. Wherever they went +they took their full share, and more, of helping to build the +railroads, fell the forests, subdue the prairies and build a Christian +civilization. + +The first settlement of considerable size in South Dakota was, as far +as we can learn, made in 1860, between the James river and Gayville. +Other settlers followed in the succeeding years, spreading out over +the bottom and later up on the prairie to the north. Among those who +came to the vicinity of Yankton in the decade of 1860-70 we would +mention the following: Ole Odland, '62; Ole C. Pederson, '66; Lars +Hanson, '66; O.L. Hanson, '67; Ole Pederson, '67; Nec. Hanson, '68; +Lars Bergsvenson, '68; Andrew Simonson, '68; J.M. Johnson (Irene),'68; +Ole Bjerke, '69; Ole Lien (Volin), formerly of Brule, Union County, +'68, with his sons Charles and Edward Lien; Jorgen Bruget; Christian +Marendahl, '67; Nels Brekke, '67; Peder Engen; Gunder Olson, '68; +Haldo Saether, '69; Sivert Nysether also came about this time. + +Iver Bjerke and Mark Johnson appear to be the first native born +children of the Scandinavian immigrants in this part of the country, +both being born in '69. However, Ole Jelley of Clay County holds the +honor of being, not only the first child born of Norse parents in the +state, but of being, as far as is known, the first male white child +born in South Dakota. He was born March 2, 1860. + +Others who came in this period were Ole Skaane, '69; C. Freng, '69; +J.T. Nedved, '68; G. Gulbranson, '69; P.J. Freng, '69; Halvor Aune, +'69. + +In the next decade, 1870-80, we find these well known names: I.S. +Fagerhaug (Irene), '70; O. Kjelseth and two sons, George and C.J. +Kjelseth, '70; Ole Lee (Aune), '70; O.P. Olsen, '70; A.O. Saugstad, +'70; O.J. Anderson (Irene), '70; H. Hoxeng with his sons Thore and +Jens, '70; P.J. Nyberg, '72; J.J. Nissen, '72; John Aaseth, '72; Peter +Carlson, '72; the Bagstad brothers, Iver, Mathias and Emil; and Hans +Helgerson, '74; John Gjevik and Lars Aaen, '75. + +The settlement in Clay Creek was begun a little earlier than Turkey +Creek, or about '69. Among those who first broke the virgin sod there +were O. Skaane, O. Gustad, H. Hagen, and his son Albert, the latter +also sharing the honor with B.B. Haugan of breaking the first furrow +of the sod in Mayfield Township. Then there were Benjamin Anderson, +Peter Olaus, R. Olsen, A.O. Saugstad and Fredrik Aune. + +It was at the beginning of this decade, 1870-80, that the settlement +of the Turkey Creek Valley was begun by I. Fagerhaug, S. Hinseth, +Halvor Hinseth (1870); and Ole Solem; Jens Eggen to the south, and +John Rye to the north end of the valley. + +We are aware that this list of early settlers is far from complete. No +complete list could be made at this time, as many of them are long +since gone and forgotten. We hope, however, that this is fairly +comprehensive, and should we meet with enough favor to warrant another +edition of this memorial, then, by the help of some of our readers, we +may be able to gather up some of the missing names which ought to be +included. In such an edition there should also be a record of the +children, boys and girls, of these first settlers. This would be of +more interest and value in the years to come, as a matter of +reference, than we can now realize. To be able to prove by the records +that we came from one of the "old families" of first settlers may be +an object a hundred years from now. + +On the adventures, hardships, struggles and triumphs of these first +Norse settlers on the Missouri bottom we cannot dwell, nor do we have +much available material, as there are not many left now to tell the +story. There were Indians as in the Massacre of '62, when Judge Amiden +and his son were killed near Sioux Falls. There were fires, droughts +and blizzards. Then grasshoppers in '63, '64, '74, '76. And all the +time the lack of even what are now the common necessities, not to +speak of the comforts and conveniences of life. The table had to be +provided largely from what the settlers themselves could produce from +the untamed soil and the clothes from the coarse cheap cloth available +at the few towns, such as blue denim for men and calico for women. + +The settlers in this region had one advantage in their start on a bare +soil. Wood for fuel and timber was available. While this timber was +largely cottonwood and willow, yet out of the cottonwood, and +occasionally oak, they were able to construct log houses. This was +quite an advantage here, as dugouts on this level and low lying land +would not have been even as satisfactory as on the prairie. + +These men and women who led in subduing the raw, untamed soil may be +likened to soldiers in the first line trenches as also to shock +troops. In order that others might reap the fruits of victory some had +to be sacrificed. Many of these front liners perished early in the +struggle. Others have come down even to the present. But within and +outside they bear the marks, D.S.C's, may I say, of the great days of +battle. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE PRAIRIE FROM THE MISSOURI BOTTOM NORTH AS +FAR AS THE TURKEY CREEK VALLEY + + +Among the first to homestead and build on this tract, in early days +called the South Prairie, were, as far as we can learn, Christian +Marendahl; Nils Brekke, '67; John Sleeper, '68; Gunder Olsen, '68; +Peder Engen, Sivert Nysether, Esten Nyhus, Ole Liabo, Iver Furuness, +and Miss Marie Hoxeng came during '68-'69. Ole Bjerke and H. Sether +came in '69. About this time came also Lars Aaen. The Hoxengs came the +next year, or 1870, and Hans Dahl and Lars Eide a little later. + +It may be of interest as illustrating how these people got on their +chosen locations, to describe in brief the experiences of some of +them. + +Ole Bjerke came to Sioux City in the spring of '69. This little +village was then the "farthest west" as far as the railroad was +concerned. Thru an acquaintance of his, Joe Sleeper, I believe, he had +become interested in the far away prairie north of Yankton, which was +open for settlement. Accordingly he bought, thru Mr. Halseth of Sioux +City, a yoke of oxen and a wagon, the standard equipment of the +pioneer settler of those days. These oxen, like most of their tribe, +were wild and unruly; ran away, broke the wagon to pieces and were +lost for some weeks. Finally the trip was made over the winding +prairie trail westward thru Brule and Vermilion, thence along the +bluffs to their destination. It was a long, weary trip thru the tall +grass, and the accommodations in the way of food and sleep at the few +human habitations along the way were not of the kind to cheer the +weary pilgrims. For in most cases a rude shelter was all they could +obtain, having to provide food and bedding for themselves, the owners +often being bachelors, sometimes "at home" and often not at home for +months. + +On arriving at their destination, Mr. and Mrs. Bjerke were able to +share shelter with a kind neighbor already on the ground until they +could construct one of their own. Here, soon after their arrival, Iver +Bjerke was born and was the first child to receive baptism in this +settlement. In this hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. Bjerke were also +held the first religious services in this vicinity, in 1869. These +services were conducted by Rev. Nesse from Brule, who became the first +pastor of these people. There was at this time, '69, no neighbor to +the north nearer than Swan Lake, eighteen miles away. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +FIRST SETTLEMENT AND SETTLERS OF THE "SOUTH PRAIRIE," 1861-71, +MEMORABLE TRIP IN SEARCH OF WORK + + +However, in '69 and '70 there came to be a considerable settlement on +the South Prairie of the people already named and others who came in +the latter '60's and early 70's. + +When we say that people "settled" here at this time it must not be +interpreted to mean that they began to put up good buildings, break +the sod and raise grain and cattle. These activities were for many as +yet years away. As a general thing a rude dwelling of logs, sod, or a +dugout was made to shelter the family and to fulfil the law in regard +to getting deed to the land. Also a few acres were broken, perhaps +five or ten, to comply with these homestead requirements. Then about +the next thing was for the men folks to strike out for the forts on +the upper Missouri in order to earn a little money, by cutting wood or +working on other government jobs, to support themselves and their +families. This work and the wretched food and "accommodations" given +them would have broken these men in body and spirit had they not been +young and vigorous in body as well as unconquerable in spirit. + +Perhaps we can reproduce the experiences of many of the above named +homesteaders of the '60's and early '70's by giving the actual story +of one group who went up the river to find work, as related to us by +one of the parties, Ole Lee, now living near Volin. + +Mr. Lee came to America in 1870, May 18th, and landed, like most of +the above named, in Sioux City, where his brother Halvor Aune had +already preceded him. With only 35 cents with which to start in the +new country, Mr. Lee counted himself fortunate in finding a job at +$1.75 per day, even tho board had to be paid out of this. But even +this fortune did not last long, for Sioux City was a small place and +had little development at that time. Yet, however short Ole was in +cash, he did have some capital which could be invested in the new +country and would in time compel success. He had a good, sound body, +great courage, a cheerful disposition and a good talking apparatus, +altho as yet operating mostly in the Norwegian language. So having +learned that there was work and better pay than he had been getting, +in connection with the steamboat traffic and the government forts on +the upper Missouri, he in company with a number of others started west +to seek fortune as also adventure. As most of these men were young and +unmarried, the Viking spirit of adventure and daring was not absent. + +It was in the spring of 1871 that these young men, gathered at +Yankton, decided to trek over the country to Fort Sully, 300 miles +away, in search of work. + +They had among them scarcely any money and some even owed their +winter's board. So at first they thought of starting out afoot. But +thru an acquaintance of one of the party they were able to buy an ox +team on time, agreeing to pay $180.00 for the same, including an old +wagon. They were able to buy a few provisions, such as flour and salt +pork, for their own use on the way, and some sacks of oats for the +oxen as hay or grass could not be depended on, the vast prairie often +being burned off. + +There were eighteen of these young explorers in all and while one +drove the oxen by turns the other seventeen walked behind the wagon. +Besides the two brothers already mentioned, there were in this company +Emret and Sivert Mjoen; also Sivert and Christopher Haakker, +Ingibricht Satrum, Iver Furuness, Ole Solem, Ole Yelle, Albert Meslo, +Anders Krengness and Thomas Berg. I have not the names of the others +of the party. + +These young men, altho afoot and with meager provisions, on their way +toward a far-off destination and unknown conditions, yet trudged along +day after day with jokes and laughter. At noon or night, wherever they +happened to be on the broad plains, the same cooking routine was +performed, each taking his turn. Get out the long handled frying pan, +the fire having been built, fry pancakes or flap-jacks, and perhaps a +little pork, and boil some coffee. Then if it was the evening meal +they would sit around the fire a while to stretch their weary legs, +smoke a pipe, talk over and speculate on the prospects ahead and then +roll up in their blankets for the night. + +One day, as they were nearing Fort Thompson, having followed the +course of the river so far, they met a man driving a mule team. +Surmising from their appearance that these men were in a situation to +accept work of most any kind or on any condition, he stopped to parley +with them. He had a government contract to cut 900 cords of wood on an +island below Ft. Thompson. So he offered these men $2 per cord to cut +this wood. They were only too eager to grasp this first opportunity, +especially as he was to furnish them board. But what should they do +with their joint property--oxen and wagon? The man, realizing he had +made a "find" in these eager strong handed men, didn't let this stand +in the way but bought the outfit for $185.00. They thus made $5.00 on +the deal, and in regular democratic style it was voted in assembly to +send back the $180.00 due the former owner of the oxen; sell the +remainder of the oats and with the total proceeds have a little +"refreshment" before they began their summer's work. This they did in +reaching the fort, and the only refreshments to be had in those places +being in liquid form, there was just enough money in the treasury to +buy them "one each." + +Now, let it be remembered by this and all coming generations that this +was the first commercial co-operative enterprise, as far as we know, +in this part of the country, and that it yielded a profit--it +"liquidated." + +They now immediately began cutting wood on this island below Fort +Thompson, and it was well that they had had some "refreshment," for +what they now received in the way of board was fearfully and +wonderfully made. It consisted of spoiled pork and wormy flour, +rejected by the soldier commissary at the fort and bought for little +or nothing by this shameless contractor to feed these unsuspecting +men. Out of this material, a not over clean negro cook made two +standard dishes--soda biscuits and fried pork. Often the remnants of +the worms, embalmed and baked into the biscuits could be plainly seen. + +The men bore as patiently as they could with this sickening food, for +there was little else to do now under their circumstances. But their +stomachs rebelled, however, and the men became so weakened thru +continued diarrhea that they could scarcely lift the ax at times. Yet +with characteristic Viking spirit they "stuck it out" until the 900 +cords were hewn. The men now separated, some going back to Yankton or +vicinity. Ole Lee and his brother Halvor, however, pushed on up to +Fort Sully, or Cheyenne Agency, where the former remained for five +years without seeing civilization again in the meantime. By this time +Mr. Lee, as well as others of the above named company, had been able +to save up a little money and homesteaded in Yankton county, where +some of them and many of their descendants live to this day, not a few +of them being worth $100,000 each. You recall we began our narrative +of one of them with a capital of 35 cents. The explanation of this, of +35 cents to $100,000; of the borrowed ox team and rickety wagon to the +finest automobiles in the market; of the sod shanty or dugout to the +big modern houses with all the latest conveniences which some of +these men have today, lies in two or three words--America and the +Norse immigrants' great characteristics, industrially speaking--industry +and thrift. + +We have suggested the striking change which fifty years have wrought +in the outward circumstances of these men. Would that the intervening +years could have been equally kind to the men themselves as to their +earthly tabernacles! But such could not be the case, altho several of +them are still living and a number spending their declining years as +neighbors in the vicinity of Volin. The heat and toil of many summers +have wrinkled their brows; the snows of many winters and some sorrows +and cares have whitened the hair and given a stoop to the shoulders. +The step is a little less firm now than when they together marched +over the prairie to the west; their laughter has lost some of its +ring, and yet it is there. With their children and grandchildren they +are enjoying a little deserved rest before the final journey to the +last sunset of life's trail. + +There is Ole Lee, Ole Solem, Halvor Hinseth and the Hoxengs, still +active and living in good, comfortable homes and in the same +neighborhood. There is Ole Bjerke, once tall and straight as a young +pine of the forest, now a little bent over and gray. There, too, is +his wife, remarkably well preserved in both body and mental faculties. +How many generations of "newcomers" have received a hearty welcome and +hospitality in these homes and have been by them helped to get a start +in the new land! Long will they live enshrined in the hearts and +memories of the many who have enjoyed the hospitality of their +firesides. + +Yes, most of these pioneers of forty to sixty years ago have already +struck the long trail and gone to that "West" which is the farthest +and the final. Of the few who remain, the earthly tabernacles are +leaning more and more toward the earth from which they came, and in a +very short time not one will be left standing. Yet because man's +immortal hope burns strongly in many of them, the building of flesh, +tho feebler than of yore, is glorious with that light which the years +and the eternities cannot dim nor extinguish, for it is eternal in the +Heavens. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SETTLEMENTS ON TURKEY CREEK, AND CLAY CREEK, '70-71 + + +The settlement in Turkey Creek was made in 1870. A man by the name of +John Hovde, who had homesteaded in Union county some years previously, +made a trip back to Norway and on his return the following people came +over with him: Anfin Utheim and wife; Olaf Stolen; Haakon Hoxeng with +his two sons, already referred to, and one daughter; Stingrim Hinseth +with wife and one baby daughter, Mary; Halvor Hinseth; Ingebright +Fagerhaug; and Marit Nysether, who later became his wife, and a number +of other men and women who went to other parts of the country. + +These people reached Sioux City May 18, 1870. There some of the men of +the company found work on the railroad. The others, including S. and +H. Hinseth and Miss Nysether, journeyed on by ox team toward their +friends already described as settled on the South Prairie, i.e., north +of the present Volin. Their baggage went by steam boat to Yankton. Mr. +and Mrs. S. Hinseth, who had a little six-year-old baby daughter, went +by stage as far as Vermilion and there transferred to the ox team, the +stage going on to Yankton. + +We will here quote from a brief narrative which Mr. S. Hinseth, at our +request, prepared for this record just before his death (1918). As Mr. +Hinseth was one of the outstanding leaders in this immigration +movement and in the building up of the new country, both materially +and spiritually, we are very fortunate in getting these memoranda +directly from him. We regret that he was cut off before he could +finish them. + +"We reached our destination in Yankton county on a Sunday. That day +there was church service at the home of Mr. and Mrs. O. Bjerke, +conducted by pastor Nesse of Brule, Union county. + +"There was no possibility of getting work in the neighborhood, so a +number of us went up to Fort Randall, where we obtained work cutting +cord wood for steamboat use. We remained there until fall, when Halvor +Hinseth and myself homesteaded in Turkey Valley township and were the +first to settle there. + +"We lived in Iver Furuness' house that winter, and in the spring of +1871 we moved to the place belonging to Christian Marendahl, whose +field we rented that season. That fall we moved onto our own +homesteads on Turkey Creek. + +"Life was often dreary for us in those first years, for neighbors were +few and far apart. However, we had occasional visits from Rev. Elling +Eielsen, whom we knew from the time he visited our part of the country +in Norway, and we were very glad of those visits. We also had pastoral +visits from Gunder Graven, whom we later called, and who served us for +many years during our pioneer days. Throndhjem's congregation became +organized, I believe, in 1871. We belonged accordingly to the +Evangelical Lutheran Synod, or, as it was also called, Eielsen's +Synod, and still later became known as Hauge's Synod. This in turn +became merged, in 1917, in the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America. + +"In 1877, I believe, Throndhjem's congregation became divided into +what are now Zion's and Throndhjem's. This latter, in distinction from +the northern congregation, which kept the name Throndhjem, at first +took the name Throndhjem's Free Congregation and later Zion's. + +"This division arose from a disagreement as to the site for the +proposed church building. The site at first chosen was on Peder +Engen's farm, or practically where the Zion's church building now +stands. This seemed too far south for those living in the northern +part of the original parish, so they formed the present organization +of Throndhjem's and built on the present site in the early '80's. + +"In 1901 a terrible storm swept over the whole state, and in this +storm, in common with many others, these congregations lost their +church buildings. Also the buildings of Meldahl's and Salem's, which +congregations were organized considerably later than the above, were +destroyed. This was a great loss. However, under the energetic +leadership of Rev. C. Olberg, then pastor of all four congregations +above named as also of Salem's, the people rallied with splendid +loyalty and sacrifice so that soon the buildings were not only rebuilt +but in a more modern and substantial form than the structures +destroyed." + +Mr. Henseth also tells of the makeshifts for stables and granaries in +those first years. As lumber could not be afforded they would make a +grain storage by laying a square of rails after the fashion of a rail +fence, then they would line this with hay or straw to fill in the +large spaces between the rails and put the grain inside. + +Stables were made from a little frame work of rails, for roof at +least, and this was covered with hay or straw. The walls were usually +the same materials and were eaten up during the winter as a general +occurrence and had to be restored in the fall. + +We have heard Halvor Hinseth and other pioneers in these settlements +tell of their experiences in going to mill in the first ten years or +more. As the grasshoppers destroyed most of the small grain in '74 and +'76 the settlers had barely enough for flour and a little seed. The +nearest mill was three miles south of St. Helena, Nebraska. As this +was south of the present Gayville they would either have to go by +Yankton to cross the river or else cross on the ice in the winter. Mr. +H. Hinseth relates one trip, vivid in his memory, when they with their +loads got into deep snow out on the bottom; got lost in the brush +south of Gayville; were refused shelter when they at last found a +light from a cabin in the brush; how their horses gave out and the +sleds broke down and the men themselves were about used up. Sometimes +they would be overtaken by a snowstorm on their trip and be snowed in +for several days, so these mill trips would often take a week's time +and more toil and hardship than we can describe. But they managed to +get back sometime and with flour for the family. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE GREAT IMMIGRATION OF 1880--CAUSE OF + + +If a man had stood by the king's highway leading from Opdal, Norway, +to the seaport town of Trondhjem, in the month of April, 1880, he +could have witnessed a strange and significant scene. Here comes a +procession of twenty or more sleds, each drawn by a single small +horse. The sleds were heavily loaded with large, blue-tinted chests, +as also trunks, satchels and numerous smaller articles of household +and family use. Riding on top of these loads are mothers with little +children as also a number of grandmothers, the latter upwards of +seventy years of age. A number of lighter sleds, or cutters, are also +in the procession. These belong to friends of this pilgrim procession, +who are accompanying them part way and are now about to say, or have +already said, their final farewell and Godspeed to these +pilgrims--their friends and relations. This may explain in part the +fact that the men walk by the side of their loads in silence, with +downcast eyes and a lump in their throats, while the women show clear +traces of recent tears. Nor can we blame them for succumbing for the +moment to their emotions when we come to understand the meaning of +this strange scene. + +These people, about sixty in number, this day were leaving that spot +on God's earth most dear to them; leaving the birthplace and the +resting-place of a hundred generations of their ancestors, they were +looking for the last time on their former homes and on the dear +familiar spots so well known from their childhood. They had just +looked for the last time upon the faces of their friends and near +relatives and spoken the last words, and soon they were to see the +receding outlines of the mountain peaks of their beloved fatherland, +nevermore to see them again. For they were on the way to America, and +America was very far off in those days, and to most people going there +the way back was forever closed. So to these people these last +glimpses and handshakes and words were the final, as far as this world +went, and they were all too well aware of it. + +But let us pause in the journey at this point, while still under the +influence of the nearby majestic mountains, robed in evergreen and +crowned with the snows of generations, so as to get acquainted with +the individuals of this company and also to learn the causes which +could lead these people to an undertaking so fraught with momentous +destiny for all of them and for their descendants to the end of time. +As we have already surmised, these people were not light-minded +adventurers or people who had nothing to risk or lose. On the +contrary, they were deeply rooted where they were and they did not +pluck up their life by the roots to be transplanted in a far-off, +unknown soil without careful consideration and a great motive. + +First we meet Berhaug Rise (later written Reese) who seems to be a +leader in this particular group we have before us. He is a man of +about forty-five, of spare build and medium height. He has a family +consisting of wife and five children--four boys and one girl; also his +mother who is nearly seventy years of age. The children's names were +Ole, eleven years; Halvor, nine; John, coming seven; Sivert, five; and +Mary, three years, and named after the grandmother. + +Next we get acquainted with Halvor Hevle, a man also of about +forty-five, but because of a terrible affliction of rheumatism, was +bent over so that his face is toward the ground. He is accompanied by +his wife, Marit, but they have no children. + +Then there is Thore Fossem with his wife, his mother and one little +girl, Marie, named after the grandmother. It should be explained here +that while this last named family was not present in the above group +just at this point of the story but came a little later, yet because +Mr. Fossem belongs by every other circumstance to this group, and in +spiritual kinship and motive particularly with the above two, we +include him here. With Thore Fossem came Ingebricht Satrum with one of +his boys, I believe, but most of his family came over a year or two +later. + +The above three men had all been owners of small or medium sized farms +and had advanced money for transportation to most of the others in the +party from the recent sale of their properties. The remainder of the +party, as we shall see, was largely composed of middle aged tradesmen, +young unattached men and girls, practically all of them without means +of their own to make the long journey. Most of these middle aged men +of trades had left large families behind and expected to earn enough +money in the new land to repay their own passage and also to send for +their families as soon as possible. But more of this later, for the +when and the how of the repayment of some of these transportations +would be out of place here, tho not without some very interesting +features. + +One of these men who was master of a trade and who also belongs, in +the sense of an absolutely kindred spirit, to the above three, was +Iver Sneve. He left wife and five children, taking with him his two +older boys, Ingebricht and Ole. + +In much the same economic relation was Anders Ellingson Loe, a +shoemaker by trade. Also Arne Loe, who was a mason and left wife and +three children behind until he could send for them. + +To this class should also be added Ingebricht Brenden, having left his +wife and five children--Ingebricht, Knut, Elli, Sigrid and Kjerstine. + +Among the younger married men were John Lien with wife and one boy, +Esten, as also his mother, who was another member of the considerable +group of grandmas in the party. + +Here should be mentioned also Lars Hansen Almen with wife and two +boys--Hans and Olaus as also Mrs. Almen's mother, who makes the fourth +member of the remarkable grandmother class in this group of pilgrims +to a faraway country. + +Then there were the following young and middle aged unmarried men and +women: Ildri Loe, now Mrs. Sneve of Inwood, Iowa; Kari Rathe; Marit +Myren; Haakon Mellemsether or Haagenson; Sivert Aalbu; John Riskaasen; +and Jens Rise. + +In all there were fifty-two passages bought on the same boat for the +same place in America; viz., Yankton, South Dakota. One or two of the +group, I believe, went to Brookings, South Dakota, including Mr. +Haagenson. + +We left these people, while making this digression, on the king's +highway severing forever the strong ties that bound them to the land +and the people of their birth. As we now resume our journey with them, +especially if we have not made the trip before, we are irresistibly +attracted by the wild and rugged manifestations of nature along our +route. Both the way and its surroundings were prophetic of the much +further stretching way to be traversed, often with weary feet, by +these people, could they have foreseen it. + +The road, tho well built, winds endlessly and often in sharp turns +thru the narrow valley between the mountains which in places almost +form a gorge. In many places the road is cut out of the solid rock of +the mountain side so that on one side is the high and nearly +perpendicular cliff; on the other, and only a few feet away, the +almost perpendicular descent to the raging, roaring river hundreds of +feet below. The sun is only now (April) beginning to reduce the eight +months' snow on the mountains. This turns the river in the main +valleys, as well as the hundreds of smaller streams coming down the +mountain sides, into whitefoamed, tumultuous torrents rolling great +stones before them and resounding thru the adjacent valleys and +mountain sides with a deep and deafening roar--beware! beware! + +Looking up the mountain sides we see pine and evergreen creeping up +well toward the top. But while the sides are thus robed in beautiful +green, the tops are crowned with the pure white of the "eternal" +snows. So here was both music and raiment fit for kings and the sons +of Vikings, and these sounds and sights those people never forgot nor +could forget. + +After a two-day tramp thru the snow and slush we reach the railway +station, Storen, fifty miles from our starting point. Here the drivers +return and more sad partings and some tears. Fortunately the new +sights and experiences now begin to crowd upon the consciousness of +these people and help them forget for the time being, just what they +most need to forget, what lies behind, if they are to successfully +march forward. Most of these people had never before been out of the +parish in which they were born or seen a railway or locomotive, not to +speak of riding behind one. And being naturally intelligent and +forward looking men and women, they took a deep interest in the new +world which continually unfolded to them as they journeyed on toward +their faroff destination, covering nearly a month of time. + +We must now turn to the causes or motives which led these people to +undertake this long journey, so full of perils and uncertainties, and +also of hardships which can better be imagined than described in +detail. Transatlantic travel, forty years ago, was about as different +from what it is now as the ox team was different from the automobile. + +The causes of this emigration, as one might almost surmise, were both +economic and religious. The religious motive was especially apparent +as far as the leaders were concerned. + +Some years before this migration, a traveling evangelist had come thru +Opdal and had held meetings from house to house in the neighborhood +where these people lived, the state church building not being open for +that sort of religious exercises. His name was Hans Remen, or as he +was often called, Hans Romsdalen. He was a giant in physical +proportions and also had a moral courage and religious ardor to match +his body. He denounced the dead forms of religion current in the +Lutheran State Church as of no avail, and worse than nothing, in that +they caused people to rest their salvation on a false foundation. He +testified by reference to the Bible, and to personal experience, that +the only basis of salvation for man was a personal, vital relation to +Jesus Christ, entered into by faith; and that in Him alone could man +find forgiveness of sin, peace with God, and a good conscience. + +The ground was somewhat ready for this sort of seed in that there was +a considerable number of people who had come to feel about the State +Church, much as the evangelist expressed it. Among them were the +leaders of these emigrants, Berhaug Rise (or as the name came to be +spelled, Reese), Halvor Hevle, Iver Sneve and Thore Fossem. A revival +of religion resulted and there came to be a considerable group of +people who sought a more vital religion than what was manifested in +the State Church. Thru worship and preaching in private houses, +however, they could find an open door and they continued this +movement. This religious movement thus gained more and more adherents, +so that not only had most of the members of this exodus been touched +by it but also many more who were left behind at this time. + +It was a foregone conclusion that these lay preachers, especially the +above mentioned leaders, would soon find themselves marked for +persecution by the representatives of the established church and also +by petty government officials who of course stood back of that church +organization. Then, too, while looking upon the State Church not only +as dead religiously but also as a positive menace to true religion, in +that it led people astray, and persecuted those who were trying to +lead the way back to the teachings of the lowly Nazarene, yet they +were compelled to give a tithe of their principal farm produce toward +the upkeep of this institution. + +There was much discussion and many clashes between the adherents of +the old and the new. But as the chasm seemed to widen, and the hope of +vitalizing the State Church from within to lessen, being backed as it +was financially and otherwise by the whole machinery of the +government, this religious situation and persecution became a strong +motive for seeking a freer atmosphere. + +Then strongly re-enforcing the religious motive were both the general +as also some special economic conditions at this time, which pressed +upon these people. As aforesaid, the leaders of this movement had been +owners of small and medium sized farms, but with debts on them. Yet +under ordinary conditions they could have managed to take care of +these obligations, as they were long-time loans and at low rates of +interest. But worse than these larger obligations was the fact that +some of them had somehow fallen into the hands of the professional +loan sharks and usurers of the place. The method of procedure of these +parasites was to make short time loans, generally becoming due in the +fall of the year, and taking security in the milch cows or grain crop +of the small farmers. On the very day of maturity they would demand +immediate payment or threaten foreclosure with its attendant expense +and annoyance to the borrower. Having bullied and scared their victims +into the suitable state of mind they would, with hypocritical pretense +of graciousness, offer to compromise by buying the mortgaged +property, usually milch cows and seed grain, themselves, thus saving +the expense and disgrace of going to law. This was generally accepted +and the sale made, but of course at the lender's price. Then in the +spring the farmers had to have cows and seed grain to do any business +and usually had to buy both back again from these sharks, thus getting +into their hands again, and thus the vicious circle continued until +the poor borrower was finally worn out and had to give up the +struggle. + +However, the final blow, economically, which brought the leaders of +our party to the great decision of emigrating, was a certain +cooperative mercantile enterprise which they had helped to form +supposedly for the economic benefit of the community. This was in the +early dawn of the cooperative movement in Norway, and these people +were quick to see its economic possibilities, but had not yet learned +to know and to guard against the many pitfalls which such enterprises +have to face and avoid if they are to succeed. And dearly did they pay +for their first lesson. + +The shares of the company were assessable with unlimited liabilities +on the part of the share holder. Thus, of course the business had +almost unlimited credit with wholesalers. For a time the organization +seemed to prosper. After a while, however, suspicion began to form in +the minds of some that things were not just right. An investigation +was eventually made. The manager immediately disappeared. The +government now stepped in and declared a bankruptcy. The manager, +having gotten away beyond recall, the wholesale houses presented bills +of all kinds and large amounts for goods which the directors felt +certain had never been received. But with the manager absconded the +company could not disprove these claims, and the court, belonging +socially and politically to the big business class, naturally held the +scales of justice, socalled, in favor of the wholesale creditors. The +result was that these poor pioneers in the field of economic +cooperation found themselves liable and their property attached for +as much as 6000% of the face value of their shares. It goes without +saying that the government officials saw to it that they themselves +got their utmost limit out of the general slaughter. Berhaug Rise and +a couple of other victims appealed to the courts against the high +handed work of the big business concerns, and the petty government +officials involved, but lost the case, and all that they had was +attached and ordered sold. + +Finding revealed thru all this procedure the persecution both of the +civil and the ecclesiastical authorities, and seeing no chance at that +point of either religious or economic betterment for themselves and +their children, they came to the great decision to try their fortunes +in the far-away land of which they had heard many and strange tales. +For them, as for so many others of every race and tongue, this +far-away land was the land of their dreams; the land of the true where +they could live anew; where the song birds dwell; the land of promise, +and also of fulfillment, of hitherto crushed hopes and thwarted +aspirations. + +Returning now to follow our party from Trondhjem, where we left them, +to Yankton, South Dakota, we find that the journey was mostly the +uneventful, uncomfortable one which was the lot of immigrants of forty +years ago, or early '80's. There was much sea sickness and much +loathing and disgust with the food and accommodations, both of such a +quality as they had never experienced before. Fortunately most of them +had food of their own. + +The nearest to any mishap to any of the party fell to the lot of the +writer of this chronicle, who was a boy of six years. It happened in +the awful throng and confusion of Castle Garden, the old landing place +of immigrants at New York City. I was committed to the care of a +certain servant girl of the family, there being four other children to +be kept track of by father and mother. But in the noise and confusion +of embarking on certain transports taking us to the railway on the +main land, she seems to have lost her head as well as her charge, and +I recall that I found myself wandering alone among the vast spaces of +Castle Garden and the docks. I was crying because of the loss of +father, mother, and all my friends, and searching for them in vain. At +length some sort of official discovered me and after some questioning +he joined me in the search. We went out on some boats, I recall, where +people were embarking, and he inquired everywhere if anyone had lost a +boy. I recall very vividly how a woman at one place claimed me as her +very own and how I protested with more vehemence than politeness. The +official took my view of the case. We continued our search and at last +we met Father, who by this time had discovered my absence and started +out to search. Needless to say, there was more joy over my return than +over the four other children who had not strayed away. + +Thus the transportation company at length was enabled to carry out its +contract of delivering the same number of heads at Yankton as it took +on at Trondhjem. And they did it much in the same matter-of-fact and +impersonal way as a railroad company undertakes to deliver so many +head of cattle at the stockyards of Chicago.--All the honor to them +that they deserved! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +LANDING AT YANKTON AND GETTING ON THE LAND + + +It may be of interest to take a look at the town of Yankton of forty +years ago, where we finally landed. Yankton was the terminal of this +division of the C.M. & St. P. Railway, or, as it was then called, the +Dakota Southern. It was also the capitol city of Dakota Territory +comprising the present states of North and South Dakota. Its buildings +were mostly small wooden houses, but, as may be surmised, it commanded +a large trade territory, for besides being the end of the railway it +was touched by a considerable steamboat traffic up and down the river +and had considerable Indian trade, besides that of the adjacent white +settlements. So it was then the most important city in the Dakotas and +had been decidedly so before that time. + +Here the immigrants were given a cordial welcome and temporary shelter +at the home of Mrs. Carrie Severson, a widow whom they had known from +the old country. We do not know, of course, how our fathers and +mothers felt about the enterprise by this time, but to us youngsters, +who as yet were not loaded with the burdens of life, the green grass +and the freedom to scamper about seemed good after a whole month's +confinement in a crowded steerage and more crowded railway coaches. + +Next day friends of the party, who had immigrated some ten years +before, came with teams and wagons to help these newer comers to get +on the land and make their start in the new and, to these people, +strange land. For this was indeed a very different country from the +one they had left and even from the picture many of them had had in +mind. There was much to learn and many disappointments at first as we +shall see. + +Among the men who undertook to receive this large company in their +homes and to help them get established in homes of their own, and who +extended the glad hand of welcome that day, should be mentioned these: +Stingrim Hinseth, Ingebricht Fagerhaugh, Haldo Saether, John Rye, John +Aalbu and Halvor Hinseth. These men loaded into their lumber wagons +the big blue chests and smaller parcels; deposited the passengers as +best they could and started out over the prairie on what was called +"The Sioux Falls Trail". This trail angled all the way to their homes +in Turkey Creek, over twenty miles to the northeast. Darkness soon +overtook the travelers and the following circumstance created +considerable merriment for the hosts, at least. The newcomers +observed, as they journeyed on thru the darkness, very many gleams of +light as it were from innumerable human habitations. These points of +light were, of course, fire flies, so called, or certain +phosphorescent bugs which at that time were very numerous because of +the abundant grass prevailing everywhere. At length one of the +passengers remarked in evident astonishment! "This country must be +very thickly populated, judging by the many lights we see"! When +daylight came, however, the lights and most of the supposed +inhabitants had utterly disappeared. + +It may be of some interest to the new and coming generations to take a +look at the country around Turkey Creek as it greeted the curious gaze +of these new comers of forty years ago on that first morning of their +arrival. Most of the friends who brought them out from town and +distributed them for temporary shelter were settled on the Turkey +Creek bottom and located about where they or their dwellings are now. +Farthest north up the valley was John Rye, then Halvor Hinseth, next +Steingrim Hinseth, I. Fagerhaug, Ole Solem and Jens Eggen, in order as +named. But back of the creek bottom where these earliest homesteaders +had located was the far stretching open prairie--a sea of waving +grass--with a lonely dug-out only here and there and vast stretches of +"no man's land" between. + +There were no regular highways, only some trails winding their way +over the endless grass, in some general direction, but with many +crooks and turns to avoid a hill, ravine or slough. These sloughs, or +small lakes, were very numerous and of considerable size and depth in +those days. There is today many a waving field of corn and grain where +we boys of the first generation of settlers once launched our home +made boats, hunted ducks, swam and occasionally came near drowning. + +The best travelled of the trails in the part of the country we are +describing was the old territorial trail called the Sioux Falls Road. +This angled in a north-easterly direction all the way from Yankton to +Sioux Falls, and many a prairie schooner could be seen moving with +stately slowness over this road, not to speak of other vehicles which +were numerous. As a boy I have seen long caravans of Indians, perhaps +twenty or thirty teams in a string, trekking over this road. When the +ruts became too deep, by reason of much travel and the action of the +water, another trail would be made close alongside the old. Thus in +places six or eight pairs of ruts, made by many wagons and feet, could +be seen side by side. + +There were no wire fences to mark boundaries between farms or to form +pastures in those days, and the cattle were herded far and wide. The +people in the Turkey Creek Valley herded as far as Clay Creek. The +writer of this, altho not of the earliest herd boys of the time, and +living near Turkey Creek, has taken his herd many a day to the +proximity of Clay Creek with practically open pasture all the way. + +I am speaking for many boys and some girls, too, of those days, boys +and girls who are fathers and mothers now, when I say that our pasture +fence was Clay Creek on the west and Turkey Creek on the east. Not +that we were not free to go farther but that the day was not long +enough to get any farther and back again the same day. + +There was at this time, when our pilgrims arrived, but very little of +the ground broken up. What little there was broken was mostly on the +creek bottom, but scarcely any on the upland. And when a little later +patches of prairie were broken up in order to comply with the +homestead law requirements for getting title to the land, these +patches were usually in a draw or low-lying strip between the hills. +Thus the fields of early days were not laid out with any reference to +north or south, but their direction was determined entirely by the +hills and valleys. The little breaking which was done was done with +oxen and sometimes the direction of the field to be was determined by +the oxen themselves more than by the driver. Some wheat, corn and oats +was raised, but the main dependence of the farmer was cattle and +milking. + +The dwellings were of three main types. There was the dug-out, usually +in a side-hill, with a sod roof, a few studdings and boards being used +to support the roof. The walls and floor were usually the native +earth. The sod house was a more advanced and perhaps more stylish +dwelling. Closely related to the sod house was the mud house where the +walls, about two or three feet thick, were made of well tramped mud +and straw. These mud houses were at times whitewashed and were both +comfortable and sightly. As for comfort in the cold winter the dug-out +and sod house were not so bad when properly built. But do not imagine +that they were equal to your furnace-heated, modern house. They were, +after all, a temporary hole in the ground to preserve life until +houses could be had. A house made of lumber was a luxury which many an +early settler had to look forward to for many a hard, long year, and +often he had to die in the dug-out or sod shanty. Finally, there was +the story-and-a-half frame house of two or three rooms with a +possible lean-to. This type of house put one in the class of the most +well-to-do; and such a habitation was the hope and dream of years for +many a pilgrim mother of those days. + +We have turned aside from our main narrative for a look at the country +as it appeared to our band of pilgrims as they looked about them on +that first morning of their arrival in the Turkey Creek Valley. And +the view was not all that they had hoped for. What could these +men--farmers and men of trades--do in this howling wilderness of +grass, grass and nothing but grass? Yes, there was something +else--mosquitoes--and oh, how they stung! Also flies, and how +incessantly and mercilessly they attacked the fair soft skin of these +pilgrims from the Norseland! Finally, there was the heat, which +literally took the fair skin off their faces in flakes and put on a +tan which made them almost unrecognizable. + +Moreover, what could these shoemakers, masons, painters or even +farmers do here? Shoes were bought; houses were of sod or earth and +needed no paint; years would be required to make cultivated fields out +of this sea of grass, and meanwhile they and their families must +somehow live. + +The kind hosts did all they could to encourage and make comfortable +the newcomers, sharing with them what accommodations they had. But we +must remember that these first comers had not been here long +themselves. The dwellings were small, without cooling porches, and in +summer necessarily hot, and they had no screens to protect the inmates +from the blood-thirsty fly and mosquito. So there was but little rest +or comfort by day or night, especially for those unused to these +conditions. This together with the unaccustomed food, which at first +completely upset them, made some of the newcomers very discouraged +with the new country. + +One of these "blue" ones said to Father soon after their arrival: "Do +you suppose you will ever get your money back which you loaned us for +our passage?" "That," replied father, "I do not know. But this I do +know, that now I have no money either to take myself or any of you +back again." "Then," rejoined the first one, "if now I could stand on +the highway where we started, even with nothing but a shirt on my +back, I should be the happiest man alive." Another said: "There is not +even grass here such as one can cut with a scythe and, as for land I +shall have none of it." And in his case it became so. He never +homesteaded and later worked at his trade in Yankton and Sioux City, +where he died many years later. + +Father tried to take a brighter view and to cheer those complaining +ones and said to Iver Sneve, who had just expressed the wish to be +back on the old sod: "In three years you will be butchering your own +pork, raised on your farm in this new land." Then Iver broke out into +his characteristically loud, uproarious laughter, full of incredulity +and almost scorn, and said: "Berhaug Rise, I have up till this time +considered you a man of sense and good judgment, but now I am +compelled to believe that your mind's eye is shimmering. I cannot even +_keep alive_ for _three years_ in this man-consuming wilderness. +Unless some one takes pity on me and helps me to return home, the +flies and mosquitoes alone will have finished me before that time. Oh, +that some of us older men could have had sense enough to return even +when we were as far as England," he added. This is a sample of many +conversations, and these expressions were by no means uttered as jokes +either. Nevertheless, this Iver Sneve lived some 35 years after this +conversation and was worth $25,000.00 when he died. + +However, these people were here and, with all bridges burned behind +them, they realized that mere lamentations would not meet the +situation. Something must be done to live and to keep their families, +here or in the old country, as was the case with some, alive. So in a +few days a party of the younger men set out afoot toward the present +site of Parker to seek work on the railroad which was just being +extended from that point westward toward Mitchell. They found work +with shovel and pick. But ten hours a day, in the hot sun and with an +Irish boss over them to see that these implements kept constantly +moving, was no soft initiation for these fair skinned men just out of +a much colder climate. However, with true Norse and immigrant grit +they "stuck it out" and earned a little money before the first winter +of 1880-1 came on. + +Berhaug Rise and Halvor Hevle, by the help of the good neighbors, got +some lumber hauled from Vermilion, the latter for a dug-out and the +former for a frame house 14 × 16 and 12 feet high. This house was +built by John Rye and is still standing in the old homestead after +nearly forty years. In this house made of one thickness of drop siding +and paper, we spent the terrible snow winter of 80-81. It was the +winter of the great blizzard which came in the middle of October. And +the deep snow never left until nearly the middle of April, when the +big flood of 1881 resulted. Luckily Father had filed without ever +seeing it, as also Grandma, on some land traversed by deep ravines. +There had been heavy hardwood timber in these ravines, but it was now +cut, with nothing left but young shoots--brush--and great stumps, some +4-6 feet in diameter. These stumps formed the winter's fuel, as also +most of the winter's work. With such a house it became necessary to +keep the stove about red hot in cold weather to have any comfort and, +of course, everything froze solid during the nights. But if it had not +been for the old oaken stumps and the warm woolen clothes we had +brought with us, it is hard to see how we could have survived that +first winter. Much better off, as far as the cold was concerned, were +those who had a good dugout. But by a sort of special dispensation of +providence there was no sickness requiring a doctor in our family or +in the neighborhood. And this was well, for doctors were far away and +expensive to get. We children waded and coasted in the deep snow, +getting hands and feet thoroly wet, but never had a better time in our +lives, as far as I can recall. There was yet no public school in that +neighborhood, so there was lots of time for play--mostly coasting down +the surrounding hillsides. + +A word ought also to be said about the outbuildings, if we may call +them such, for they were typical of what many others had. The stable, +for three cows and two ponies, was an excavation in the side hill. The +hill formed the full wall on the upper side and part of the wall on +the other sides, the rest being filled in with straw, hay or sod. Over +these walls was thrown brush with a little frame work of supports +underneath, and then the whole was covered with hay or straw. For a +door, in our case, Father took a bush, covered with an entanglement of +grape vines, set it in the doorway and piled hay against it. This +last, however, was an emergency measure as the notorious blizzard of +1880 above referred to, broke upon us before the structure was quite +finished. But as there were many emergency appliances in those days, +of every kind, this one was nothing out of the ordinary. + +The place where the two pigs were kept was built on the same plan, +only that it was divided into two stories--the chickens having roosts +over the pigs. But this combination did not prove a success, for +whenever the chickens fell down or ventured down to their room mates +below, they were eaten up by the pigs. + +Perhaps a word should also be said about two of the inmates of the +stable, for they also were common types of those and even much later +times. These were two Texas ponies which Father and Halvor Hevle had +purchased out of a herd driven to Yankton. After picking their choices +out of the herd in a large corral, and paying $20.00 apiece for their +choices, the men in charge lassoed the animals and turned them over to +the new owners, at the end of a fairly long new rope. It was well +that the ropes were new and fairly long, for it took three days of +both brave and skilled maneuvering to get these wild animals of the +plains to the home of their new masters. And the masters were +certainly tired and not over-enthusiastic over their new horse power +when they at last arrived. Matters were not so serene as could be +wished while these little savages were being picketed outside. But +when winter came and the animals which had never known any roof lower +than the blue sky, nor walls more confining than the far-flung +horizon, were to be quartered in a hole in the ground, real excitement +began. Whenever any one ventured into the stable he would no sooner +open the door than he would see these creatures on their haunches +trying to jump thru the roof, which feat they almost succeeded in +accomplishing. At first it was a problem how to get near enough to +tend to them. The hay could be poked down the roof to where their +heads ought to be, but the water was not so easy. In spite of +precaution they "got the drop" on Father once I recall, and he was in +bed for some time, but lucky to escape with his life. It should be +said to their credit, however, that by the help of Lars Almen, above +referred to, they were in due time subdued and served many years, and +faithfully, according to their size and strength, with only an +occasional runaway. These wild horses filled a useful place in the +needs of these scattered beginners far from each other and from towns. +But it was after all the ox who really helped subdue the soil and lay +the foundations for farming and prosperity in general. But for the +people we are now describing real farming had not yet begun, so more +of that a little later. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE PIONEER MOTHERS AND THEIR PART IN THE STRUGGLE + + +What we have said of the pioneers so far has reflected for the most +part what the pioneer fathers said, did or thought. If any one should +get the impression from this seemingly one-sided treatment that +pioneer mothers bore any lesser part of the burdens and sacrifices +incident to leaving the land of their birth, and beginning all over +again the long struggle of re-establishing themselves, and that, too, +on the bare prairie where there was absolutely nothing to begin with, +such a one has been greatly misled. While the work, not to speak of +the privations and feelings of our mothers, is more difficult to +record on paper, it is not one whit less real or deserving of any less +appreciation. We can only give a few outlines picturing their part of +the life. Yet if any one has a little imagination he can easily fill +in the picture with its various tints and shades. The shadows were +often both deep and tragic. + +For a woman, even more than for a man, the social ties of life mean a +great deal. Our mothers left their home relations, kindred and +neighbors close around them, to be set down on a lonely prairie, cut +off from all the dear relationships of childhood and womanhood. Even +where there were neighbors, or soon came to be, they were at first +strangers and often spoke a strange tongue. So for them there were +many long days and weary years of isolation and heart hunger for those +whom they had known and loved long ago, but now could never again see. + +Then, too, they had left homes, some of them very comfortable homes, +where they had always had the necessary equipment for ordinary +housekeeping. Here for years they had to do with little and in many +lines nothing. The average newcomer's larder from which our mothers +had to get the materials for three meals a day was generally confined +to these articles: Corn meal with more or less of wheat flour, often +less, and not seldom none at all; fat salt pork, at least part of the +time; milk in considerable quantity both for cooking, drinking in +place of tea or coffee and for making a number of dishes made almost +exclusively from milk. Butter they generally had, but as that was +about the only thing they had to sell it had to be conserved and lard +or a mixture of lard and molasses used instead. There were eggs, or +came to be, but while used more or less, they, too, had to go toward +getting such few groceries as could be afforded. These were coffee, +sugar, a little kerosene for one small lamp, and last, but, for many +of the men, not least--tobacco. Now let no pink tea scion or +descendant of these men who had to be the breaking plows of our new +state, hold up lilly fingered hands of horror at this last and often +not least item in the grocery list of that day. For if you are a man +child of this stock and you had been there and then, with all the +physical discomforts of the climate, lack of suitable clothes and +food, not to speak of the frequently loathsome drinking water, you +might have felt justified in the use of a nerve sedative too. It shall +be said to their credit, too, that while most of the men of that day +used the weed, few of them used it in such beastly excess as is often +seen today. But rightly or wrongly, they thought they had to have it. +Thus Lars Almen, when he arrived at Yankton, had 50 cents in money +left. He started to invest that last mite of the family resources in +tobacco. His wife remonstrated, saying it would be more fitting to get +a few provisions such as they could all partake of. The ever undaunted +Lars replied: "If I have tobacco I know I can do something or other to +make us a living, but if I have no tobacco I can do nothing". So he +bought tobacco, and he also made good on the "living." Forgetting, +then, the last named item in on the list of staple provisions, we find +that salt pork, usually fried, corn meal in some form, such as mush or +bread, more or less of wheat flour and milk or some dish made out of +milk in whole or part, were the resources out of which our pioneer +mothers had to provide three palatable meals a day, summer and winter. +This is not saying that these materials were always abundant, but +rather that it was these or nothing. There were, of course, special +occasions when a little pastry in the shape of home made cookies or +fried cakes was on the table, but cake and pie and such like luxuries +were not often seen the first years. + +The fuel with which to prepare this food was, for most of them, hay, +or in summer cow chips, and later on, when they began to raise corn, +corn cobs. But hay was the principal fuel, and huge piles of it were +required to do much cooking or for heating. For, as can be readily +seen, one had to keep stuffing it into the stove almost continually to +get any hot fire. Picture to yourself then a room--sod house, dugout +or a frame house about 12 × 14 which was kitchen, sitting room, +bedroom, and everything else combined. The hay, as was the case in +winter time, would cover a large part of the floor and, of course, +raise continual dust. The stove would get full of ashes in a short +time, and if the hay was damp would, of course, smoke more or less. In +such a place, with such conveniences and out of such materials, our +pioneer mothers had to solve the problem of three meals a day and do +all their other work besides. In summer, of course, it was not quite +so bad, as they usually had a lean to or cook shanty of some sort, for +use in warm weather. Is it strange that many of these women who came +to find a new and, as they supposed, a better home, found instead an +early grave, and what was worse, some even lost their minds? The men +could get away, at least to be outdoors a part of the time, but the +women had to live and move and have their whole being in these +surroundings and conditions. So let us not fail to speak the word of +appreciation to those of them who are still living or to cherish the +memory of those who have made their final pilgrimage. So let there be +flowers and kind words for the living and flowers and tears for the +dead. For our pioneer mothers gave more for us than we can ever know. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +INDIANS AS OCCASIONAL GUESTS AND VISITORS + + +While still speaking of life and conditions in the Turkey Creek Valley +and surrounding country as it was during the winter of eighty and +eighty one, and even later, I ought to mention our occasional Indian +visitors. They used to travel thru that country in considerable +numbers at that time over the Sioux Falls road already mentioned. As a +boy I have seen possibly twenty or thirty teams in a single +procession. They sometimes camped near the brush bordering the ravine +which was close by our house. The women would excavate the snow, +sometimes several feet deep, and pitch the tepees, while the children +scampered around them on the snow bank. The following incident may not +be out of place as showing the heartaches and difficulties for the +Indian incident to his transition from the free life of the plains to +that of civilization. One day an Indian family consisting of a man and +wife with some children, as also an old squaw which was evidently the +grandmother of the children, camped near our house. The man and the +younger squaw were trying to boil their kettle in the camp fire while +the old squaw went out into the adjoining gulches, presumably to dig +roots or hunt. The pot did not boil very fast and Father, by signs, +invited them to come into the house and boil their pot. They seemed +perfectly willing to do this, and coming inside they sat around our +fire with the pot on the stove. But in a little while the old squaw +returned, and not seeing her children by the fire where all good +Indians would be supposed to be, she suspected something wrong and +came into the house where she found her degenerate offspring located +as above described. We could not, of course, understand the words she +said, but we could easily make out that she was not complimenting them +any on their new-found quarters, for the language was very emphatic +and her face stern. She also got some immediate action. Having scolded +them soundly for forsaking the firesides and ways of their fathers to +enter the lodges of the palefaces, she snatched the kettle from the +stove and walked out followed by the now chastened son and daughter +with their children. + +We had many visits from the Indians and they never did us any harm. +However, I suspect that they were more welcome to us youngsters than +to our mothers who never seemed quite at ease with them. + +Most of those who came thru the country at that time had wagons. But +some used the travaux, consisting of two rails lashed to the saddle of +the pony, one on each side, and crosspieces behind the horse with +blankets or skins covering. The ends of the rails, of course, slid on +the ground. On this rude contrivance the Indian loaded his few +belongings, sometimes the squaw and children, and journeyed over the +country. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE GREAT SNOW WINTER OF 1880-1 AND THE GREAT FLOOD OF +1881--BUILDING A BOAT + + +We have already referred to this winter of 80-81 as the terrible snow +winter. May we add a few words on that in order to understand what +followed in the spring. + +The snow, a three days' snow storm or blizzard, came on October 15th, +and the snow never left, but kept piling up without thawing out to any +extent until April. Railroad connection with the outer world, as far +as the few towns in the state were concerned, was cut off, completely +in many instances, after the 1st of January. This, of course, made +coal as well as other provisions unobtainable in many cases. The +people in some towns, as for instance Watertown, had to take what they +could find to preserve life. So many empty buildings and other +property made of wood were taken for fuel. + +In the outlying country places the settlers could not get to them, +even when some provisions were available. In not a few cases, too, +there was nothing to sell and no money for buying. So barred by one or +all of the circumstances, the settlers had to get along and try to +preserve life as best they could. As for the few groceries which they +might ordinarily have used, they dispensed even with them for the most +part. Many lived on corn meal, ground on the coffee mill. But there +was one privation which for many proved the "unkindest cut of +all"--tobacco. Many and sore were the lamentations because of the lack +of this one commodity and many the devices to get it. A man can live +without coffee, sugar and wheat-bread, not to speak of less necessary +things, but tobacco--well, you can't do anything more to him after +that. + +As can easily be seen, when this vast quantity of snow began to go +out, especially going out so late in the spring, it created a flood. +Every creek became a raging river, the rivers became more like vast +moving lakes. So if communication with towns had been difficult before +it became well nigh impossible now. The whole Missouri bottom, for +instance, became one vast and roaring sea, coming up to the bluffs of +the present Mission Hill and Volin. But yet, can such a little thing +as fourteen miles of roaring water and floating debris stand between a +man and his tobacco, or a woman and her cup of coffee, especially when +the latter is the only thing approaching a luxury that she has? No! By +the shades of all our Viking ancestors, No! After looking over their +possible resources of men and materials for the undertaking of defying +the angry flood, they found that Ole Solem, who then lived on Turkey +Creek, had a few remnants of lumber. They also found that Anders Oien +had had a little experience in boat building, and Ole Johnson was an +ex-fisherman and thus could row a boat if they had one. So with the +help of those mentioned and others, such as Ingebricht Fagerhaug, who +was a carpenter, and Steingrim Hinseth, the boat was built. It was +crude, of course, and leaky, yet counted seaworthy because the +situation was getting desperate. It should be said in fairness that +mere personal and private needs were not the only motive with these +men. For instance, some of the leaders of this enterprise, like Solem +and Fagerhaug, had no need or use for tobacco, but needing other +things and realizing the general needs they joined with heart and +hand. + +When the craft was finished Steingrim Hinseth hauled the boat and the +men, Ole Solem, Ingebricht Fagerhaug, Thore Fossem and, I believe, Ole +Johnson, to the foot of the bluffs, a couple of miles northwest of +Volin, where the boat was launched. The cargo was all that the little +craft could carry, consisting of very many different parcels of butter +and some eggs. These, belonging to many different parties and being +the only things they had to sell, were to be exchanged for a few +necessities such as mentioned above. + +When the cargo was all in and the crew embarked there was about two +inches left of the boat above the water line and the boat a little +leaky besides. But with true Viking spirit they struck out over the +twelve or fourteen miles of angry flood towards Yankton. There they +were able to do the necessary shopping for the whole neighborhood, and +in three days from the time of starting they were back without mishap +and all errands carried out. It goes without saying that they were +welcomed by the many expectant ones in the whole neighborhood and that +there was great rejoicing on the part of both men and women, for the +women got their coffee and the men got--well--whatever was coming to +them. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BEGINNING THEIR REAL STRUGGLE WITH THE EARTH + + +The long and memorable winter of '80-'81 had at last come to an end. +The resulting flood, too, as in the time of Noah, at length subsided, +and now our new comers must begin their first real struggle with the +earth in the new land. Without tools or draught animals, and even any +knowledge of farming conditions on this new soil, and without means to +buy tools, this struggle became for many both hard and prolonged. They +had had during the winter their baptism in self-denial and privation. +They were now to learn further that while the new land might possibly +flow with milk and honey, yet if it was to flow for them, they would +have to do the milking and gather the honey. + +As an illustration of how the struggle in subduing the soil began for +these people, may I again refer to my Father as an illustration of +many others. I refer to him merely because I can recall these +circumstances better in his case than in that of others and, also +because the experiences of others were similar and in many cases much +worse. + +He had hired a man to break five acres the first summer. This was an +ordinary amount of plow land, largely because the government required +this much to be broken in order to comply with the homestead +regulations. During the winter he had made a small harrow and in the +spring sowed most of this ground to wheat and tried the best he could +to harrow it with the ponies already mentioned. The year was not very +favorable, as I can recall it, and with such equipment the results +can be surmised. I do not recall just what they were, but I am quite +sure we did not eat much wheat flour the following winter. He had one +acre of corn, which he worked with the hoe. He bought, like most of +the others, or, rather went into debt for, a pair of steers that +spring. These he, with the help of Lars Almen, who worked together +with him, as also Halvor Hevle, tried to "break" for work purposes. +These animals proved themselves notoriously stubborn and fractious and +made their drivers earn most of what they got out of them in the way +of work. This, however, may have been due to the inexperience of the +drivers. For, as already said, the ox, next to the cow, was the +beginner's best friend, and without him it is hard to see how the +pioneers could have gotten along at all. To be sure, some of these +animals did not take kindly to the yoke and many were the scrapes they +got their owners into, running away and breaking up both wagons and +tools. Yet when you consider the lot of the ox you cannot be too hard +on him for his occasional bad humor. As a boy I have driven him many a +day, and often lost my patience with him, for which I now humbly +apologize. We worked him on the plow, both stubble and breaking plow, +drag, stoneboat and the heaviest work that was to be done. At noon or +night we unyoked him and let him go to get a little grass or hay for +himself. No oats for him, only the long kind you administer with a +whip; no thanks to him when the long, hot day of pulling a breaking +plow at last is done, but very likely a parting kick. We have not +given the ox his well-earned place among the foundation builders of +our land, and I propose that even at this late date we should repent +and build in South Dakota a monument to the ox, our early, faithful +and indispensable friend. + +The first few years after arriving were required by our pioneers for +making temporary shelters for themselves and their few animals; also +in providing some way of obtaining the bare necessities of life while +they could lay the foundations for a larger prosperity and more +comforts. As already indicated, the first resource and dependence for +getting a little money was eggs, butter and hay. These commodities +were sold to get the few groceries and small necessities which they +could not well do without. Some of the men worked out to supplement +their meager income. + +By 1885, roughly speaking, these hardy men really began to wrestle +with the soil in earnest and thus make possible something more than a +bare existence. From about '83 to '90 a picturesque and ever recurring +scene, when spring and early summer came, was the breaking rig moving +slowly but majestically over the long furrows. There were from four to +six oxen to each plow and most generally it took two men to hold the +plow and keep the oxen in the straight and narrow way. The country I +am describing was very stony and there was many a hard lift and aching +back before these stones could be pried out of the ground and hauled +away sufficiently to make breaking possible. Even after spending many +weeks at this clearing work there would still be many stones left +which the plow would strike with such violence as to almost fell the +man at the handles. With the plow out of the ground and the load +suddenly lightening the oxen would make the most of this relief by +starting on a trot so that often the plow could not be gotten back +into the sod for a rod or two. Two neighbors would often go in +together in breaking, each furnishing one yoke of oxen. + +This sod would be put into corn or flax the first season and the next +into wheat. The returns were generally quite meager compared with what +that ground is producing now. But even a little meant much then. +Drought was the principal drawback. Then, too, these early beginners +did not have the modern machinery either for putting in, harvesting or +threshing grain, and this fact was also a large cause for small +yields. However, they kept on breaking up a little more each year, +and after a few years the ground was subdued enough to begin to raise +corn and consequently hogs. The beef cattle as a source of income had +been good earlier, but the price of cattle went so low during this +period that there was not much inducement. Then, too, as the country +came to be settled and broken there was less possibility of keeping +herds of cattle. I recall that during this depression in the latter +eighties good milch cows sold for $10.00-$15.00 and other cattle in +proportion. Of course, in the panic or notorious depression of 93-4, +even grain and hogs went down with everything else. Corn was sold for +eight cents per bushel and wheat as low as 35-40 cents. But generally +speaking, in the period we are describing, when these path-finders +were laying the foundations for permanent homes and farm equipment, +corn and hogs became their corner stone of prosperity, with milk and +butter a close second. + +There arose an industry in the latter '90's which came to be of +considerable economic importance--the creamery. These men at first +located a considerable distance away and the cream had to be +transported in hired wagons. Some of these creameries "failed" and +left the farmers to whistle for their long expected and much needed +cream checks. Later a co-operative creamery was organized and +successfully operated by Sven Vognild on the S. Hinseth place. This +was the first real co-operative enterprise in the vicinity. + +Returning to early farm conditions, we find that for several years +many of the new settlers did not have enough grain to have a +threshmachine on the place, but hauled what little they might have to +some nearby machine. + +As can be seen, there was not much grain to be sold for some time for +these farmers. Butter and eggs, and, a little later, cattle, were the +chief products which could bring a little ready money. To this should +be added hay, which many hauled to Yankton with oxen, getting +$2.50-$3.00 per ton. Even at this price, and with such slow +transportation, this hay traffic was for many the chief source of any +money, and some spent most of the fall and winter months at this work +when travel was possible. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE COUNTRY AS IT APPEARED IN 1800-3 + + +We ought, at this point, to make a visit around the neighborhood as it +appeared from '81-'83 and even much later. Beginning in the Turkey +Creek Valley, we have already indicated the half dozen families which +had located there in the early seventies. As we have spoken in another +chapter of this earlier wave of pioneer immigrants, I shall pass them +by now as also those of that same group who had settled to the south, +toward what is now Volin. + +Berhaug Rise moved his living house from where it was first placed, +viz., one quarter mile west of Ole Solem's, to about one mile west, +that is, from the creek bottom at the junction of the ravines which +traversed the place from east to west, to the higher land at the head +of these ravines. + +To the southwest of our place, about a mile distant, was John Johnson, +who had settled there in '74 and lived in a log house. To the west one +mile was Ole Johnson, who had filed in '79 and was living in a dugout +with his family. Another mile or so still farther southwest was Peter +Moen, also living in a dugout and having a considerable family. Then +going back to Ole Johnson and going north were Peter Johnson, Jonas +Vaabeno, Ole Liabo, and John Moene. To the east of Peter Johnson there +was in 1880 a man by the name of Roser who, however, left about that +time. All of these, as far as I remember, lived in dugouts, with the +exception of the first named, who lived in a loghouse. + +Going from five to six miles to the northwest of this Turkey Creek +settlement, we find another group of pioneers, some of whom had come +before 1880 and others a little later. We can mention a few. There was +Cornelius Nilsen, Albert Boe, Peter, Albert, and O.O. Gorseth; O. +Lokken; Steen Bakke, Mrs. Mary Boe, the Simonson Brothers--Halvor and +Ole. Also Asle Mikkelson. There may have been others, but these +comprise practically all who were there at that time. The sons and +daughters of many of these are either on the old places or in the +vicinity to this day. Of course, some have moved away to other parts. +Most of these pioneers are still living, but no longer in the +dug-outs. + +Going west to what was called the West Prairie, about six miles, could +be found H. Hagen, the Gustads, Stoems, Skaaness and others. These had +come in the earlier wave of immigration which we have mentioned +already, i.e. in the early '70's or later '60's. + +Going back to our starting point near Turkey Creek and going south, +after passing John Johnson already mentioned, we find next the +Lawrence place, now owned by Mr. Axlund; then Hans Dahl, followed in +order by Haldo Sether, Ole Bjerke, Lars Aaen and the Hoxeng Brothers, +both of them then living on the old home place now occupied by Thore +Hoxeng. There were, of course, others scattered on either side of this +line of settlers, but these were a sort of land marks in the early +eighties. + +Finally, going some eight miles north from our starting point, we find +these: Thore Fossem and Iver Sneve of our original party and a few +others like Ole Brunswick, Ingebricht Saatrum and John Rye, whom we +have already mentioned, and J. Larsen. The next to the last named and +a few others had settled in that vicinity before 1880. Here should +also be mentioned the Durums, Baks, Snoens, Ressels, Grudts, and Lees. +The old homesteaders of this group too, have for the most part found a +last resting place in the neighborhood cemetery. Their children, +however, are in most cases to be found on the old place or near by. + +I am conscious that this rough sketch of our neighbors and neighboring +settlements of 1880-'1 is far from complete. Yet it gives a fair idea +of the population over the prairie there at that time. There were +magnificent distances between neighbors and settlements. Yet there was +often more neighborliness and sociability than in later years. We +needed each other then, in fact could not well get along without +helping and being helped in various ways by one another. Now we can +help ourselves or rather think we can. But really we cannot, and if we +of the newer generations lose the old neighborliness we shall be +poorer and unhappier in our steam heated, electric lighted houses and +swift speeding automobiles than they were with their earth cellars and +ox teams and lumber wagons. So let us cherish and keep alive the old +neighborly kindness and great-hearted hospitality. Practically all +these early settlers at first lived in a one-room dwelling, seldom +over 12 × 14 or 16, and this dwelling was in most cases a dugout. Yet +in spite of this fact and of having large families of their own to +accommodate, the traveler or stranger was not turned out into the +night, and the visitor was always welcomed. There was always room, not +merely for one more but for half a dozen more if necessary. There +never was any lack of room then. In honor of this splendid trait of +our pioneer fathers and mothers, let us reserve a room in our big +house and, better still, in our hearts, for the occasional stranger or +friend, and in doing so we too shall find that while we may not always +have "entertained angels unawares", yet by doing so the angels have +somehow entertained us more than they otherwise could. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE ANNUAL PRAIRIE FIRES--THE TERROR OF THE SETTLERS + + +During this decade of getting the ground ready and gradually getting +an equipment for real farming there was one great enemy which was a +continual menace and terror to the homesteaders--the semi-annual +burning of the prairie. From times immemorial, before the White +settler came, the prairie fire had stalked in majestic splendor over +the vast and boundless sea of grass, covering this and adjoining +states, licking up with his red and cruel tongue everything before him +and leaving a barren desolation behind him. Sometimes set by the +lightning, or Indians, or the campfire of the early explorer or +trader, this fire, driven by the wind, would meander back and forth +over the prairie for days and weeks until rain or a considerable +stream might at last stay his stride. + +With the first influx of the settler the fire menace greatly +multiplied, for not understanding the nature of this menace, they +themselves unintentionally set many of these fires. Thus there came to +be a fairly certain expectation on the part of the homesteaders of a +visit from this monster twice a year--spring and fall--unless he made +a clean sweep in the fall, which was not generally the case. + +As a boy I recall waking up at night and seeing a strange glare +against the window, and upon looking out, I saw a great wave of fire, +a moving wall of flame, pass by our house and going on to the south. + +Let me give a brief sketch of one of these fires, well remembered by +the old settlers and reported to me by H.B. Reese, who was then old +enough to be out with the men on the fire fighting line. I give it +largely in his own words. + +It was Good Friday, 1887. In the morning we noticed smoke in the +northwest. There was also a strong wind from that direction. There had +just previously been several days of wind as also sunshine, so +everything was dry as tinder. We knew at once what the black flag, +hoisted to the sky in the northwest meant. It meant a challenge from +the Fire King to come out and fight for our own and our neighbors' +homes--buildings, stock and everything we had that could burn. We +hurriedly got our weapons of sacks and water ready and started out to +meet the giant and offer him all the resistance we could. But our +antagonist was terribly swift as well as strong, and when we reached +Jonas Vaabeno's place, three miles to the northwest, he had already +done his terrible work, making a clean sweep of all out-buildings, +mostly made of hay or straw, as also of the dugout which served for a +dwelling. Where the stable had stood were the remnants of some +half-burnt cattle. We hurried on to Peter Johnson's, but the Fire +Demon was victorious and took everything except the dugout dwelling. +The same fate was dealt out to Ole Liabo farther north. We were now +driven back on our own home premises, and after desperate efforts we +saved our buildings, but, of course, had to surrender everything not +on the premises where the buildings were, such as trees, hay, etc. +When night came and we could return to the house we just threw +ourselves flat on the floor completely exhausted, not having tasted +food during the whole day. + +Next day, looking out over the country to the northwest, we could see +very little except a vast desolation--how far no one seemed to +know--of blackened prairie, dotted with many ashpiles which in many +cases, as tho they were tombstones, marked the graves of all the +settlers' material possessions except the land and a few cattle. It is +a puzzle to know how they managed to keep these cattle with the +prairie burned off, but they did. Not only that, but tho sorely tried, +yet not broken in will or spirit, they borrowed money, even at +outrageous interest rates, rebuilt their temporary shelters and began +the struggle once more from the bottom up. + +The last and most terrible of all the fires, as far as known, swept +over that country only two years later, 1889. As the writer of this +was old enough to be an active participant in connection with this, I +recall it vividly. The day was in early spring and began very hazy +with so much smoke in the atmosphere that one could not see much +beyond half a mile. There was a strong wind from the northwest, such +as was common in spring in those days, and the prairie grass was +thoroly dried out and very abundant. This condition, however, was not +unusual in the spring of the year. On coming out after dinner I +noticed that the haze or smoke seemed thicker toward the northwest +than in other directions. On looking more closely I soon saw whirls of +smoke rolling up toward the sky. I immediately gave the alarm, and +every one at the house, including mother, rushed out to meet the foe. +We did not have to go far before we met him, and so swiftly did he +come that in our hasty retreat toward the house Mother was very nearly +overcome by the smoke and heat. Fortunately there was a piece of +plowed ground near by where she was able to find safety and lie down +until sufficiently recovered to go on to the house. Then we all took +our stand, some hauling water, others fighting at the front. There was +a strip of plowed ground, or fire break, around the place, but the +terrific wind continually threatened to carry the fire across, now at +one point, now at another. Moreover, some barn manure had been spread +on this plow land, and this, taking fire and blowing everywhere in the +terrific wind, made our situation quite desperate for a while. +However, we at last won to the extent of saving the buildings. This +fire, together with the one which raged next day, when the wind was +still more terrific, did enormous damage, burning out, in part or +whole, even some of the older settlers, such as James Hoxeng and +others. The town of Volin was almost completely destroyed. Some who +had suffered loss in the previous fire were again burned out in part +or whole, and the grass, as was the case after such a fire, was +damaged for years to come. Many are the stories of narrow escapes in +saving their homes and even their lives told by the old timers in +connection with these fires. Sometimes there would be a whole company +of women and children out on the middle of a plowed field, having fled +there as the only refuge. + +In every new country the Fire King, as tho endowed with a dramatic +instinct, seems to end his performances with a grand climax. So here +this was the last prairie fire of any consequence in that part of the +country. King Corn from now on began to reign and the Fire King had to +abdicate his immemorial sway and boundless dominions. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 1888 + + +Even at the risk of seeming to chronicle too many of the hardships and +afflictions of those times, I feel that I cannot leave this decade of +our pioneer life without referring to the great blizzard of Jan. 12th, +'88, for that, too, is a landmark and one which brings sad memories to +many a South Dakotan of those years. The writer was merely a young boy +then, yet the experience of that storm is very vivid in my mind. + +The day opened bright and very mild, almost thawing, with no +premonition that it held in store untold suffering, terror and death +to man and beast, such as no other day has held for South Dakota. +There was considerable loose snow on the ground, but the day being +exceptionally pleasant up till noon and after, men were out on their +various errands of going to town, hauling hay or other out-door +occupations. The cattle, too, taking advantage of the mild day, were +in the corn stalks and generally had scattered out some distance from +the buildings. It being shortly after noon when the storm struck, many +cattle were being taken to water, which in those days was often a +considerable distance from the stables. + +Suddenly and without the slightest warning, upon this peaceful +unsuspecting scene, the storm burst forth in all its deadly fury. The +wind having suddenly whipped around to the northwest, the temperature +fell in a very short time as much as 60 and 70 degrees. The wind +coming at the rate of about 60 miles an hour, picked up the loose snow +and whipped it into a fine powder, rushed over the prairie as it were +a rapidly moving wall of snow and fine particles of ice. Thus the air +was so thick with fine snow, driven along by the furious storm, that +it became very difficult to breathe and almost impossible to open +one's eyes even for a moment. This choking, blinding effect of the +storm soon exhausted either man or beast and, of course, all sense of +direction was lost. Thus it seems probable that many of the victims +were at first choked into exhaustion before they froze to death. + +Many narrow escapes are told of that day. But there were also many who +narrowly missed finding a shelter and never lived to tell their +experiences. Some lost their way even between house and barn, and some +were found frozen only a few rods from the house they had tried to +find, but in vain. This was the case with two girls to the east of our +place, who in going out to look for a younger brother never came back +but were found frozen to death a short distance from the house. My +younger brother Sivert and I were at the barn when the storm struck. +We did the best we knew how for the cattle, Father being absent at a +neighbor's and then we started for the house. We were only a short +distance from the house and there was also a small building between, +but even then we had to pause before starting out and take definite +aim from where we were and then run, as we say, "for dear life". We +reached the house to the great relief of Mother, who had become very +anxious about us by that time. + +The storm raged with merciless and demon-like destructiveness all that +afternoon and all thru that night, with the temperature getting colder +as the hours slowly rolled by. What terror and suffering the hours of +that afternoon and fearful night brought to many, no one will ever +know. There were those out in the storm, fighting desperately hour by +hour with death, and in most cases only to find themselves rapidly +nearing complete exhaustion. Then came the gradual numbness of all the +sensibilities, followed by nature's merciful growing unconsciousness +as drowsiness and sleep crept upon them and they at last stumbled over +in the snow not to rise again. But tho the many tragedies and +sufferings out in the open prairie that dreadful night were beyond +words or imagination, yet scarcely less was the suffering of fathers, +mothers and relatives of the lost ones who were utterly helpless in +most cases even to attempt a rescue. These latter, as they listened to +the merciless storm all thru that night, almost had a taste of the +agonies of the lost world--if such a thing can be in this world. For +in many cases their waiting thru the night was utterly without hope. +If they knew their loved ones were caught by the storm some distance +from the house, they also knew that there could be no hope. So they +could only follow them in thought and imagination out there in the +storm and the darkness as they were fighting their unequal and losing +fight with the cruel, relentless storm. But even those who were in +uncertainty as to the exact whereabouts of members of their families, +like parents who had children in school, scarcely suffered less, for +they had no assurance but that theirs, too, might be out there in the +storm, and in many cases their worst fears proved to be the fact. + +However, as all things come to an end, so this night of nights. The +storm let up somewhat toward morning, and the new day at last came on, +gray and terribly cold. The snow everywhere as far as eye could see +lay piled up in great drifts. The prairie, especially near farm +houses, was in many places dotted with frozen cattle, and other cattle +still alive. There were over the country thousands and thousands of +these cattle either already dead, dying or badly frozen. But worst and +saddest of all, there were in this state and adjoining parts of Iowa, +Minnesota and Nebraska, over two hundred men, women and children +scattered around, singly or in groups, in the snow. Some were found +sitting; some lying as tho in their last step they had stumbled +forward on their face exhausted. Some even standing and, as it were, +about to take one more step when the end had come. Not strange that +January 12, 1888, is the most memorable and terrible date in all the +world's story to many a settler whose loved ones were out in the storm +that fearful night and who never came back. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +WHEN THE FATHERS AND MOTHERS OF TODAY WERE BOYS AND GIRLS + + +We have spoken of the men and the women who broke the ground and +prepared the way for the prosperity and comforts we enjoy today. It +would be unfair not to mention the part which the boys and girls also +bore in this struggle with raw nature, poverty and many +discouragements. In the early spring, as soon as seeding was well +under way, the boys--and often, when there was no available boy on the +place, the girls--had to keep vigilant watch of the cattle, and this +thruout the long summer until the corn was all out. There were no +"pastures" or wire fences in the early eighties. This meant for most +boys that, either at home or away from home, they had to be out on the +prairie with the cattle beginning with early spring and ending late in +the fall, from early morning until night, rain or shine, and not even +a Sunday off, or at least very seldom. The food we carried for our +dinners would, of course, get mussed, stale and unpalatable, being +carried around all day and exposed to the hot sun. The water, or +whatever we carried to drink, would become even less palatable and +often scarce. Often in our extreme thirst we would drink out of the +sloughs or stagnant lake beds. Then in the spring and fall we would +frequently have a cold, drizzling rain continuing all day and often +soaking us to the skin as there was no shelter, and raincoats were +almost unknown. Every step we would take thru the wet grass the water +would churn in our shoes and we had to keep going, for the cattle were +generally restless at such times and insisted on starting off in +directions where lay the plowed land or hayland which must be guarded. + +Where there was no boy in the family, girls had to do this job, for +the cattle had to be herded. For them, as can readily be seen, this +job was even more difficult than for the boys, being impeded in their +chase after the cattle by their skirts dragging in the tall, wet +grass. Not strange that some of them sacrificed their health and +future in this task. Of course, when, as in the case of most girls, +they were at home, they would generally be relieved for at least part +of the day. But even half a day was long under those conditions. + +But let it not be inferred that we boys, and the girls, too, had no +good times during those long summer days. The sun shone anyway most of +the time, and we made the most of our opportunities while the sun +shone. We boys hunted gophers, digging them out or drowning them out +if near a pond; we dug Indian turnips in the spring and picked grapes, +plums and berries in their season if we could get to them; built stone +houses or caves; waded or swam in the sloughs or creeks; fished; +fought snakes and skunks and sometimes one another. We traded jack +knives, which were our chief valuables and consequently a standard +medium of exchange; we braided long, long whips made from old boot +legs or even willow bark; we broke young steers to ride on, at least +attempted to, and sometimes they in turn nearly broke our necks by +bucking and throwing us off; we concocted special modes of terrible +punishment for exasperatingly troublesome members of our flocks. Much +of the time, however, we could not get together or, as we said, "herd +together". Then time passed more slowly and we had lots of time to +think and even to brood over our job, which we considered about the +worst there was in the world. However, with all its drudgery and +sometimes loneliness and hardship, our job was a good preparation for +the jobs that lay ahead of us. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AND WORKERS AMONG THESE PEOPLE + + +We have mentioned Reverends Nesse, Graven and Eielsen as pioneers in +laying the foundations for the Church in these settlements. Among +those who gave many years of service in the formative period of church +development should also be mentioned Rev. Carlson, who followed +Graven, who wrought for many years and at last found his resting place +near one of the churches he had so long served. We cannot refrain from +offering, altho a far too inadequate tribute, to one who has given the +years of her life for the brightening and bettering of the lives of +others; one who, altho not a pastor, yet as one pastor's devoted +daughter and equally devoted as the wife of a succeeding pastor, gave +the years of her young womanhood as well as the maturer years of her +life to the service of these people--Mrs. C.T. Olberg, nee Carlson. +For many years as a teacher in the parochial schools and continuously +as a worker in the various activities of the church, especially among +the younger people, and later as the pastor's wife, going in and out +among the people, she has exerted an ennobling, Christianizing +influence which only the angels of God and the far-off shores of +eternity can estimate or measure. + +There are many more, both men and women, lay-men and clergy, who have +labored for their Master in this region, whose names I shall not be +able to dwell upon, but whose names and records are in the Book of +Life in Heaven and also written deep in the book of human life touched +by them here on earth. Just to name two or three, there was Rev. Dahl +of Gayville, who has put in a lifetime there. Then among the many +visiting clergymen were Rev. G. Norbeck, Governor Norbeck's father, +and a goodly number of others, lay and clerical preachers. + +There were in the earlier years extensive "revivals", generally +promoted by outsiders, often of other denominations, such as these of +the middle eighties and middle nineties. There were other movements by +laymen, both Lutheran and of other denominations. There were bitter +controversies at times between the leaders of these movements, +especially those promoted by men of other denominations than the +Lutheran and the more strict adherents of the local churches. There +were also bitter doctrinal controversies between members or adherents +of the various branches of the Lutheran faith. Of the words said and +the things sometimes done on these occasions none of the participants +would be proud now, and I shall not perpetuate them by repeating what +ought to be forgotten. The word "scorpion" is not just the right +substitute for "Christian brother", but I distinctly recall that it +was thus employed even between Lutherans. + +Suffice it to say, there was often narrowness and intolerance on both +sides, both as between denominations and between branches of the +Lutheran Church itself. There was some good in most of these revival +efforts and there were also some features which could justly be +criticised. + +There could be no doubt as to the sincerity of most of these +revivalists, but being for the most part men and women of very limited +education, they sometimes lacked balance and developed some vagaries. +There were those who specialized on "Tongues" and on written +revelations performed under spiritual ecstasy. Some had "revelations" +that they should go to Africa to convert the heathen and a few +actually went, soon returning sobered and saddened in their +disappointment that the tongue gift did not enable them to understand, +or to be understood by the natives. + +Others advocated communism, baptism by immersion as indispensable to +salvation, etc. In general there was a strong prejudice against any +kind of church organization and to any regularly paid ministry. These +extreme tendencies were, of course, a natural reaction against the +evil in churches where a mechanical organization and the repetition of +dead forms were all that reminded of what should have been a living +spirit. + +But to some people then and even now, a religious effort was either of +God or of the devil, and consequently either wholly black or wholly +white. + +Then, too, when people believe, as many did and do still, that one's +immortal salvation depends more on his holding a correct intellectual +creed than on the spirit and fruits manifest in his life, it was +inevitable that discussions of mere points of doctrine or creed, +should become so intense at times as to lose wholly, for the time +being, the Christian spirit. However, we shall, in this connection, +give our pioneer fathers and first settlers credit for one great +quality: They had convictions; they knew what they believed and +believed it heart and soul. They did not, as some of this generation +seem to do, doubt their beliefs and half believe their doubts. + +In closing this brief outline of the religious activities of these +people, allow me to give a boy's pleasant remembrance and loving +tribute to one of the many traveling lay preachers who came to our +house and also held services around in the neighborhood. John Aalbu +and his good wife had settled near Ash Creek, Union county, in the +sixties, and having retired from active farming in the eighties, they +would drive the distance of 30-40 miles to our settlement on Turkey +Creek several times a year. We children were always glad to see them. +They had a top buggy, which in itself was of interest to us, as there +was as yet no such luxury in our neighborhood. In this buggy, among +other things, was always to be found a good sized tin can of smoking +tobacco, for John and his wife both smoked. This was not considered +as anything peculiar then or as objectionable on the part of the +preacher and his wife, as it might be now. Now it seems that only +women in the highest society may smoke. So amid clouds of the burning +incense they would talk theology, religion, and also give practical +hints on household and farm matters to their hosts, who were +"newcomers." Mrs. Aalbu was a woman of very good mind and keen +intellect. She would often correct a quotation from the Bible when not +quite exact and serve as mentor to her husband when he, in the course +of the service or some ritual, would forget something. It was only in +later years, however, that he became ordained and in going thru the +rituals at the various sacraments and services she was the "better +half" in fact as well as name. This was owing to her splendid memory +as also to her generally keen mind. + +We did not see many strangers in those days, and how much these visits +meant to us children as well as our parents! The discussions of fine +theological points were often complicated and lasted far into the +night, but we enjoyed them as well as we enjoyed our visitors. May God +bless them, their work and their memory! + +As an illustration of the subtlety of these discussions we might give +a few of the topics: "Which Precedes in Christian Experience, +Repentance or Faith?" "Faith or Works, Order of Precedence and +Relative Worth." "Can a Man of His Own Accord and Strength Repent?" +"Can a Christian in This Life be Wholly Sanctified?" "Free Will or +Predestination?" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +BIOGRAPHICAL AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES + + +It has seemed best to include as a supplement to this narrative a +number of sketches of individuals. Some of these individuals are +already mentioned in the general narrative, and in such instances +these separate narratives continue the record where we left off. Then +there are some not mentioned in the general record but who belong by +every right of circumstance to this Norse immigrant group and whose +separate chronicles are of special interest and importance in view of +our general purpose. This purpose, as already stated, is to hand down +to the sons and daughters of the Norse pioneer immigrants a picture of +the men and women who faced primitive nature in this part of the new +continent and tamed it, causing the wilderness to bloom into the +present prosperous, beautiful land. + + +A DAUGHTER SETTLEMENT + +(Narrated in part by H.B. Reese) + +It was a winter day of 1902 that Father said to me, "I have had a +letter from Halvor Hevle today. He wants to sell his land," he added. +"Yes, I suppose he will have no use for that now, seeing he has moved +away", I replied, and dismissed the matter from my mind. After a +pause, Father said, "I thought you might buy it." I smiled at what +seemed an absurd suggestion, for I had about a quarter of a dollar of +money about me just then and no immediate outlook for ready money. I +also knew that Father had none to lend me. So I replied: "He will have +to sell his farm without money and without pay if I am to buy it." + +Father thought for some time and finally added: "Hevle asks $1,000.00 +for his land (¼ Sec.) and half of it cash. You can get a loan of +$500.00 on it and he will be willing to take a second mortgage on the +land for the balance." + +Thus having nothing to risk in the deal, and moreover the idea of +owning a farm of my very own kindling my ambition and appealing to my +imagination, I readily agreed and the deal was made. + +There was a fairly good dug-out on the place built up of stone and +with a sod roof and board floor. The stable was of the usual kind, +straw, with a little framework of rails and posts to support the roof +and walls. But the layout seemed good to me because it was my own and +the first home founded by myself. + +I bought a team and broke some ground that summer, living at the old +homestead one mile south. The next spring, however, I married a wife +who consented to share the humble dwelling with me, and it became my +home. Her maiden name was Hanna Bjorlo. + +Soon, however, I was given to realize that in going into debt and in +founding a home of my own I had assumed new responsibilities and +burdens hitherto unknown. Thus after going into debt not only for the +land but for the necessary equipment to work it and a few household +necessities, we entered upon the year 1904 of notorious crop failures. +It was also the time of a great financial depression. So that fall, +instead of the original debt of $1,000.00, I found myself involved to +the extent of $1,700.00 with little to show for it besides putting in +two years of hard toil. + +In this situation of seeming failure I began to think that farming of +all occupations rewarded its devotees most stingily. A fellow gives to +it the best of his years and strength and moreover allows himself to +be tied down to a place only to be rewarded with crop failures and +ever increasing accumulations of debt. + +However, when one has the responsibilities of a family one cannot +well run away from a situation no matter how bad, even if one were +inclined to do so, the only possible procedure seemed to be to appease +ones creditors as far as possible, get an extension of time and try +again. I sold 40 acres of my farm, being the only thing I could sell, +for $450.00. This tided us over until the next year when we hoped for +better fortunes. + +The next year came and brought us a better crop, but the prices were +most discouraging. In 1895-6 I sold wheat at 43-45c per bushel, flax +for 48c, corn 15-18c and oats 13c. Hogs were from $2.50 to $2.80 per +cwt; cattle were from $15.00 to $18.00 for a milch cow and $25.00 for +a three-year-old steer. These prices continued more or less for +several years. Hired help was, however, correspondingly low, being +from $15.00 to $18.00 per month during the summer months. + +Nevertheless, after nine years of toil on this place with varying +fortunes, I was at last able to pay for the place and also to make +considerable improvements in buildings, both for the family and my +accumulation of stock. The place, in fact, was beginning to look quite +homelike, with trees and more sightly and comfortable buildings as +well. + +One would now expect me to feel somewhat satisfied and gradually +settled down there for the rest of my days, raising our family and +enjoying what we had or came to have. We had a nice little farm three +miles from town with our old friends, neighbors and near relatives all +around us. + +There is a trait in human nature which is designated by various names +according to the individual point of view. Some call it ambition, or +forward looking; others, greed, covetousness, etc. The underlying idea +seems to be a sort of discontent with one's present conditions and +attainments, no matter what they are, a sort of forever reaching out +for something greater ahead; to expand, explore new paths and to risk +in the hope of winning. Whether this trait is good or otherwise, I +shall not attempt to discuss, but I do know that it is strong in most +of us and often dominating. + +Thus I happened to make a trip to Charles Mix county (Bloomington) in +1902. The land there was much more level and the country more open +than where we lived in Yankton county. So it looked to me to have more +advantages for farming on a large scale. Moreover, the land was +cheaper than where we were. So before returning home I had bought a +quarter section near Bloomington, and that next spring we moved unto a +rented place adjoining it. + +But we had not been there a year before I realized my mistake. The +level land did not produce the crop which we had anticipated, and +there was not nearly the chance for cheap pasture either that we had +been led to believe. Any free range was a thing of the past. We had a +good start in cattle now, and I began to look around for some place in +the northwest where there would be more room and more chance for this +enterprise. + +To understand my next move it is necessary to go back in our family +tree to another branch and its development. + +My brother, J.B. Reese, who had gone away to college about the time I +began my independent farming, had now entered the work of the ministry +and had been called to Wessington Springs and to care for the church +work in the surrounding country as well. On a visit home he had told +us of the cheap land and the fine opportunities in that new country, +especially for cattle. A little later he bought a section of land up +there, getting his brother S.B. and sister, now Mrs. Nysether, and +also Martin Nysether to each take one quarter with him. The land was +bought for $5.00 per acre, and as far as the three last named owners +were concerned "sight unseen". + +As an illustration of how seemingly small circumstances lead to great +issues in our lives, I recall the first trip I made to size up this +section of land which I contemplated buying for the parties above +mentioned and myself. It was the year after the last big fire, the +notorious one of 1899, I believe. The fire had seemingly burned the +very roots out of the ground, so that the little grass visible at the +time of our visit in the latter part of July, was in tufts here and +there with vacant spaces in between. As I stood on the hill, east of +the present buildings on the J.B. Reese place, the land looked so poor +and desolate that I almost lost "my nerve" as far as recommending it +to my partners for purchase, even with all the faith I had in the new +country generally. But as I stood there realizing that the whole +decision rested with me whether to buy or not, I noticed an angling +trail across the corner of the land to the northeast along which the +fire had been put out. But the thing which drew my interest +particularly was that on the other side of this trail, or where the +fire had not gone the grass was much better. This decided me. I +purchased the land mostly on credit. This led to my brother's coming +up and buying and finally moving up. His coming in turn led to the +coming of practically the whole present settlement.--Editor. + +In August 1902 a friend by name of Ole Sletten and myself started out +to drive overland to see this country of which we had already heard +interesting reports thru my brother. We spent the first night of our +journey at Bridgewater, and the country around there seemed good to my +partner. But when we reached Mitchell and vicinity, where the soil was +sandy and dry, so that the prairie was quite seared over, it being in +the month of August, my partner thought we might as well turn back, as +there would be no use in exploring farther into a country like that. +The grass was too short and scant. Moreover, the buildings and other +improvements along the way gave no suggestion of prosperity among the +farmers. Up thru Hutchinson county we passed a great many of the long, +low mud houses belonging to the Russian German settlers there. These, +too, were responsible for our poor impression of the northwest country +at this point. + +Nevertheless, we proceeded to Wessington Springs, where we met my +brother, J.B. Reese, who took us out the next day to see the land he +had bought and the country generally. We went out some 15-16 miles +southwest of Wessington Springs, and if the land had seemed poor to us +before, now it seemed only worse. We passed a considerable number of +empty houses which indicated that the inhabitants had been forced to +abandon the land on which these stood. It was in August and dry so +that the prairie was quite seared over. Then, too, the last big +prairie fire which ravaged this section had just gone thru a couple of +years before, destroying the greater number of the buildings on the +many abandoned homesteads and also burning the very roots out of the +ground. What grass was left, or rather roots, stood in tufts with a +big vacant space of ground between these tufts. + +My partner did not express himself much as to the new country, but +what he thought about it can be guessed by the fact that he wanted +none of it for his own. However, I bought a quarter section of it +adjoining the tract which J.B. Reese had already bought, before +returning home, thinking it might do for pasture. I paid less than +$5.00 per acre for it, so I felt that I could not lose much anyway. + +May we digress for a moment here and point out the history of the +original homesteaders of this section we are just describing, for it +is full of interest and has also not a few of the tragedies of the +prairie. This part of the state has seen more than the average of the +disappointments incident to pioneer life. It has been the grave-yard +of many bright hopes and furnished a burial place instead of a +building place for not a few pioneers of the prairie. + +The valley between Templeton to the north and Crow Lake to the south, +with some of the adjacent land as well, was settled mostly by people +from New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania in the early eighties. These +people had some means, according to the standards of those times; were +above the average pioneer in education and in general started in to +build homes embodying not merely necessary shelter but even +refinement and comforts. They planted trees, both shade and fruit +trees; also flowers and shrubs. + +The first years of their settlement were sufficiently wet and the +crops were correspondingly good, some getting upward of 30 bushels of +wheat per acre on the newly broken ground. This encouraged the +settlers even to going into considerable debt for equipment to carry +on larger farm operations. Land rose in value from free homesteads to +$300.00 to $500.00 per quarter. Then came the dry years of 1893-'4-'5 +and others as well of small or no crops. Not only no crop, but all the +wells dried up so there was the greatest scarcity of water for man and +beast. Many of these people were heavily in debt and it was almost +impossible to borrow any more to tide over the emergency. + +Then it was that the people began to stampede, as it were, going out +as many as 30-40 in one company. Some who had many obligations but few +scruples are said to have made their departure less conspicuously, +quietly creeping away between sunset and dawn and without bidding +anyone good-bye. + +It was these conditions of the early years and the people who ran away +from here to report their experiences far and wide which gave South +Dakota a black eye and a bad name for years to come. + +Yet after the great exodus, when the country was almost depopulated in +a few months, there were found a few left behind. These were generally +the ones who had had little or nothing to begin with and who now did +not have enough to go anywhere else even if they wanted to do so. +Those who were left by 1900 had gotten their second wind, as it were, +having learned to adapt themselves to the country and were getting a +start in cattle. + +The big fire referred to above, sweeping over the section in '99 and +destroying many of the vacated buildings, as also the remnants of +orchards and groves, completed the wiping out of the visible monuments +of the first settlers, so the country was nearly back again to the +primitive conditions in the early years of 1900. + +It was at this time (1904) that we decided to remove from Charles Mix +county to Jerauld and the vicinity just described. To move such a +distance overland with all one's belongings, including cattle, as also +a family in which were several small children, and in the treacherous +month of March, was no joy ride for any one concerned. After looking +about for a partner in this difficult enterprise, I finally made +arrangements with one, Knut Lien, to join me. He had about 40 head of +cattle and was a single man. I took with me about 60 head, so on a +morning in the early spring of 1904 my partner and I started with our +first loads for the land of wide and roomy pasture if not of still +waters. On the evening of the second day we stopped in front of the +old house on my brother's place, which was to be our future home. But +the situation which met us was not especially encouraging to tired, +cold and hungry men. The window lights were broken; the floor, too, +the house having been used for a granary, had given way. There was no +shelter for our horses and, worst of all, not a drop of water on the +place. + +I was, indeed, discouraged at the outlook and said to Knut: "We will +not unload. We shall rest until morning and then return." He made no +reply, and after doing what we could for our horses we lay down on the +floor to get what rest we could. + +However, the next day the sun shone, and with the sunshine came +renewed courage. We put some supports under the floor and unloaded our +goods into the house. Then we went on to the springs for lumber and +soon had a shed built to shelter the horses. But the lack of water was +the worst of our needs and could not quickly be met. An artesian well +had been put down the year before in anticipation of our moving, but +it did not furnish any water even with a pump and wind mill. The +shallow wells on the place, too, were dry. It became evident to us +why the people who had preceded us in these parts had left the +country. + +However, having severed our connections where we had been living, and +with our cattle to dispose of somehow, there seemed nothing to do but +to go forward. So I returned to Bloomington, and hiring a man to help +us, we started, now with all our belongings, for the new home. On the +evening of the third day, or April 17th, 1904, we reached Crow Lake. +We, ourselves, as well as the cattle, were very tired, so we camped +there for the night, the family having gone on previously to the house +we were to move into. + +That night a snow and sleet storm broke upon us, lasting all of the +next day. With no hay and worn out from the trip, the cattle began to +succumb. Two were left on the place, nine died during the five or six +miles which remained of the way, and still five more after arriving at +our destination. Those which survived were so exhausted that it took +them most of that summer to recover. + +This, then, was our first taste of the new land, and it seemed at the +time just a little bitter. My cattle dead or nearly so; nothing to do +with; everything to be done. + +However, during that spring we managed to get a new well sunk, 1260 +feet deep, costing $650.00. I also put in 15 acres of wheat and 18 of +barley with 90 acres of corn. Fortunately we got a good crop that +year, which we also greatly needed. + +At first it seemed rather isolated in those days. There were sometimes +a couple of weeks in which we did not see a human being outside of our +own family. The distance to Mr. Smith, our nearest neighbor to the +north, was three miles. To the south, four miles, were Will Hughes and +Will Horsten and also the Rendels. Then there was Mr. Gaffin and two +or three others southwest of his place. So there was room and to spare +between neighbors in those days and for some time following. + +From this small beginning has now grown up a fine neighborhood with a +good community church and congregation; rural mail delivery; phones; +modern homes, and good roads. Among those who have helped build this +splendid community should be mentioned besides those above, the Moen +families, the Aalbus; the Fagerhaugs--Iver and Arnt; the Stolen +brothers--Emericht, Olalf, and Martin; Vognild brothers; Bjorlos; +Bjerkagers; Petersons, and others. It is a matter of just pride that +out of this little group above mentioned, no less than seven young men +served in the Great War. These were Reuben Peterson, Martin Peterson, +Hugo Peterson, Ole Sneve, Martin Stolen, William Linsted, and Roy +Goffin. Two of these--Reuben Peterson and Ole Sneve--were at the +"front" for months and went thru some of the bloodiest battles of the +War.--_Editor._ + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +LOOKING DOWN THE TRAIL TO THE YEARS AHEAD + + +We have followed the trail of the first immigrants for more than half +a century, from the time they left the old home until they have become +an integral part of the life of the new home of their adoption. So +marvelous has this experience been that to many it must seem almost +like a dream or fairy tale. They came out of a land of poverty and +hampering restrictions, social, political and religious. They found an +opportunity to attain a comfortable living and a chance to help at the +big job of working out a democracy. They came strangers to a strange +land, they have already come to share in every position of trust and +honor in the new land, with the exception of the presidency, including +a number of governors. They came out a comparatively small company; +they have become a multitude, there being already in this country more +people of Norse extraction than the whole population of the mother +country. + +As we look around us among the particular groups here described, and +see that the fourth generation from the pioneers is already coming on, +the thought comes to us: "What of these people and their descendants a +hundred years from now?" + +As I, in vision and imagination, put my ears to the ground of present +prophetic facts and tendencies, I hear the distant tramp of great +multitudes out of the oncoming generations. Who are these multitudes +which no man can number? They are the sons and daughters of the +immigrant, tho outwardly indistinguishable from the Mayflower product +which, too, are the descendants of immigrants. But while the Norse or +Scandinavian immigrant is more quickly amalgamated in the sense of +taking on all the outward colorings of his new environment than any +other nationality, what, if any, will be his distinctive impress upon, +or contribution to, the life he has come to share? + +As there has been, and is, much foolish talk, malicious +misrepresentation and manufactured-to-order hysterics about the +"menace of the immigrant", on the part of pink-tea patriots and that +whole breed of parasites who feed and fatten on stirring up and +keeping alive class prejudice and hatred, I want to turn on the light +here and now, the light of truth and facts. + +In the first place, then, I wish to call the attention of these self +constituted, Simon-pure and, in their own estimation, only Americans, +to the fact that there is not in itself any disparagement to a man to +be an immigrant or descendant of one. Did they ever read about the +Pilgrim Fathers, George Washington, Ben Franklin or Abraham Lincoln? +Well, these and multitudes of others they might read about were all +"immigrants" or descendants of immigrants; not only that, but our +self-appointed detractor of the immigrant is the descendant of +immigrants--unless he or she is an Indian--and even the Indians are +immigrants only of an earlier date. + +In the second place, while the immigrant should ever be mindful, and +in most cases is, of what the new land has offered him in opportunity, +yet be it remembered also that, as far as the "natives" around him are +concerned, he has given them immeasurably more than they have given +him. He has done the great bulk of the rough, hard work of the mine, +forest, factory and of subduing the untamed soil, and without him +there would have been far fewer soft-handed jobs for his critics and +far fewer of the comforts of life and developments of the country for +all the people to enjoy. He has built the railroads, literally by the +sweat of his brow, while the superior "native" manipulated them, +watered their stocks and rode on them, finding that part of the +enterprise more comfortable and profitable. But unless the "foreigner" +had been willing to wield the shovel and lay the rails as well as roll +them out red hot in the mill, where would the "American" have had a +chance to shine in the deal? + +Again, we are told that the immigrant comes here ignorant and without +ideals and standards of life which would make him a safe member of a +democracy. Of course, like most broad generalizations, this has a +grain of truth when applied to some of the present influx from +southern Europe. But when applied to immigrants generally, and +especially to the class we have here described, the above judgment is +just about the exact opposite of the truth. The illiteracy of the +Norse immigrant is far less than that of the land of his adoption, in +fact, practically negligible, and far less than that of any other +class of immigrants. As for ideals of life and standards of morality, +the immigrant was generally deeply shocked, on arriving here, at the +lawlessness, profanity, sordidness, crass materialism and godlessness +prevalent among the people around him who called themselves Americans. +And speaking of "ideals" he came here in most instances because of his +ideals of freedom--religious, political and economic; to have a chance +to live out and express these ideals. They built schools and churches +while many of them themselves lived in sod houses or dugouts. Their +sons and daughters are found in every college and university of the +Northwest and out of all proportion to their rank in the total +population. They more than take their share in the four learned +professions of teaching, medicine, the ministry and the law. In other +words, he came for the very same reason that the first immigrants, or +Pilgrim Fathers came--to find room for his growing ideals, as already +shown in this narrative. Then, of course, like them, he also came to +better himself economically thru realizing certain ideals of equality +of opportunity which he had come to cherish in his home land. + +Some time ago, Sinclair Lewis, the noted author, speaking on this +subject, said: + +"I chose 'Carl Erikson' as the hero, protagonist, whatever you call +him, of the 'Trail of the Hawk' because he is a typical young +American. Your second or third generation Scandinavian is the best +type of American. *** They are the New Yankees, these Scandinavians of +Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. They have mastered politics and +vote for honesty, rather than handshakes. **** They send their +children thru school. They accumulate land, one section, two sections, +or move into town and become Methodists and Congregationalists, and +are neighborly. *** And in a generation, thanks to our flag-decked +public schools, they are overwhelmingly American in tradition." + +"Boston, Dec. 16. President Charles W. Elliot, who in an address +before the Economic Club of this city has declared in favor of an +unrestricted immigration and proclaimed the ability of this country to +'digest' the newcomers of every religion, education and nationality, +has been at the head of Harvard University since 1869, was a graduate +of that institution in the class of 1853, and holds the degree of +LL.D. from Williams, Princeton and Yale. He is considered one of the +highest living authorities in his specialty of chemistry and has +written many scientific works." + +Permit me to offer a word of caution in this connection regarding +certain tendencies and attitudes toward the immigrant which are +working just the opposite result from what is intended. + +There is that splendid movement inaugurated during the war--the +Americanization movement. Many, and I would like to believe most of +the workers in this movement, approach the recent immigrant with +understanding and respect and not with that disgusting provincial type +of mind and patronizing air which we see here and there. Now it should +be said very emphatically that any one who regards himself as a +superior being merely because born on this side of the Atlantic and +the immigrant as an inferior because born on the other side, should +keep his or her hands off Americanization if for no other reason, for +this one: They are not themselves in any true sense Americans, lacking +both the American spirit and ideals. It is such sociological tinkerers +that often de-Americanize more immigrants than the others can +Americanize. These recent comers are as keen to detect a patriotic +sham as any native, and their disgust and resentment of it is +profound. And the inevitable result is that they will judge the +country by its supposed representatives. + +Even such organization as the American Legion and Home Guards should +refrain from every appearance of functioning as spies and censors of +the immigrant or even of organizations which may be considered radical +so long as they do not clearly advocate lawlessness or violence. +Yellow paint, personal violence and breaking up of peaceable +assemblies, in short, lawlessness, such as has already taken place +over the country, will not tend to teach regard for law or love for +country on the part of the victims. A mother cannot gain the love of a +child or even respect by the abuse of force, neither can a government +or organization inculcate patriotism by petty persecution and abuse. + +There are over one hundred ex-service men in this state who are the +sons and grandsons even of the few pioneers described in this +memorial. I had the privilege of addressing a part of them at the home +coming last summer. Let me say to such of them as may read these +pages: Do not permit selfseeking men, small Americans, to borrow your +splendid organization and glorious prestige to carry out their petty +aims or personal spites. Be such big Americans that more recent +arrivals seeing you, cannot help but admire you and learn to love the +country which could produce you. This is real Americanization. + +Have these people then a peculiar racial contribution to make to the +civilization of which they have become a part, and will they make it? +As to the latter, all I can say is that we should all make it our +sacred aim, privilege and duty to deliver this our gift. I am sure we +have it. + +What then is it? In the main it may be summarized in a few words: +Industry, Thrift, a Sane Conservatism, Social Genuineness and +Religious Devotion. + +I cannot believe that any one who knows the Norse immigrant would deny +that the above are outstanding expressions of his character and life. +The "newcomer" was not perhaps very "smart" in the Yankee sense, and +God forbid that he ever should become so, but he was a hard, +persistent worker, and he _saved_. The man who lived "by his wits" or +by hook and crook was not often found in his class, nor was he +encouraged in his efforts if found. + +In this age of enormous over-production of non-producers; of +innumerable hordes of swivel chair folks, of middle men, +"manipulators", runabouts, who are mostly parasites on the social +organism, is there not need of emphasizing the production of something +to meet real human needs? + +There is much talk and theorizing about the cause or causes of the +present high cost of living. There is, of course, no one single cause +responsible for this situation so full of hardship for many and so +great a menace to all. But one of the great causes, next to the +shameless profiteering by middlemen, is the alarming over-production +of non-producers. The great hordes of people who want somehow or other +to live by the sweat of the other fellow's brow rather than their own; +who by their clamor create innumerable jobs--paper jobs--in connection +with national, state, and municipal government as also in connection +with charitable and ecclesiastical organizations. It is a part of our +mission as the sons of producers to say to these parasites: "You've +got to get off the other fellow's back," at the same time calling him +by his right name--industrial slacker, social pauper, bum. + +So may we take for our slogan the great words of Carlyle: "Produce! +In God's name, Produce!" Let us, like the Fathers, keep close to the +world of real values and refuse to be enticed into that "paper world" +which is one of the real menaces of our country, far more so than the +"immigrant" ever was. In being industrious producers in our line, +whatever it may be, we need not be "grinds". In being thrifty in an +age of extravagance and criminal wastefulness, we do not need to be +stingy or niggardly. + +Yes, this our contribution is worth cherishing, for it is sorely +needed today. + +If industry and thrift are gifts which our fathers brought to this +land and which we should hand on as our peculiar offering, no less is +that of sane conservatism. In this age of social, economic, political +and even religious wildcat schemes and propagandas, America needs a +balance wheel. We need a sane conservatism that is not, on the one +hand, the corpselike immobility of the typical stand-patters, or +reactionaries to all progress, and who themselves are the cause of +much insane radicalism. And, on the other hand, if true to our +traditions and temperament, we shall not dance to everybody's fiddle +without investigation of what sort of a tune is being played. + +Ours, then, should be the open mind; the forward look, to examine, +search out, weigh men and issues. When we, amid the hordes of voices +who cry: "Lo here! Lo there!" occasionally find a prophet with a +message, let us follow him. Let us be a "holy terror" to all cheap +demagogs of every party and name, but let us also be the hope and +support of every true prophet, political, industrial or religious. +This is our part. + + +SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS + +There is a beautiful sincerity, a certain heartiness about our Norse +friendships and social relationships which I have not found elsewhere. +Writers in recent years have been bemoaning "the lost kindness" of the +world. Among our immigrant people, at least, you will find the +lingering fragrance of this old time kindness which for many in this +age of pretense and social sham relations has become only a sad, sweet +memory of the long ago. I charge us all, as inheritors and trustees of +this precious treasure--social sincerity and genuine kindness--let us +cherish it, cultivate it and guard it as one of the very greatest +valuables of life. For what is life without this, even with all the +fine houses and lands, automobiles and aeroplanes? On the other hand, +what is life with this genuine spirit of brotherliness in it? With +this you can have the lights of Heaven and music of the spheres in a +sod shanty. For where real good will is, Heaven is near. So let this +beautiful sincerity, or heartiness, vitalize your handshake, flame in +your look and thrill in your word of greeting to the fellow traveler +over life's way. + +If our Norse immigrant has a distinctive contribution to make to +America, industrially, politically and socially, no less certainly has +he an offering to make to the highest and most important department of +life, that of religion. The Scandinavian is almost instinctively +religious. You find among them comparatively few specimens of that +sleek, beefy, selfcomplacent, godless animal-type, so frequently +encountered today in other quarters. The immigrant had encountered too +many of the realities of life; had been too often face to face with +the ultimate facts of life and existence, to develop the shallow +conceits of a mere beef animal whose main experience of life has been +largely confined to a full stomach and the animal comforts. Not +strange that this creature should speak great swelling words against +the Church, the Christ and His followers, as well as against God +Himself. The fool has always said in his heart (and with his stomach): +"There is no God". + +Because of this deep religious devotion characteristic of the Norse +immigrant, and evolved amid the majestic mountains, the thundering +rivers and water falls, as well as the loudly resounding sea of his +birthplace, he built altars to God and established his worship almost +as soon as his feet touched the new soil. Partly because of his +religious sincerity the expression of his religious life has sometimes +showed a certain narrowness of outlook and an intolerance of different +religious forms which has not been to his credit. It is because of +this latter trait that so many of the Norse immigrants and their +descendants have been driven from the church of their fathers and are +found in almost every religious sect in the country. We have heard +"infant damnation" in its rankest form preached within the last year, +and other doctrines as well, which are remnants of Mediaeval barbarism +and which most Lutherans today would repudiate. Yet we believe the God +of Jesus Christ is becoming more clearly seen, and that the wider +horizons of truth are appearing. However, this is my plea: May we +cherish the religious devotion, the real piety characteristic of our +forebears. This is a contribution greatly needed in an age of +religious indifference, if not open hostility. And keeping alive in us +and inculcating in our children this religious devotion, may we never +be numbered among that class who religiously are lukewarm, neither hot +nor cold, only fit to be spewed out of the mouth of God and man. Let +us be a salt in the religious life of our country, for without genuine +religion there can be no morality worth talking about among the mass +of mankind; and without morality we can never succeed in developing, +or even keeping from destruction, our experiment in democracy. So may +we put this, too, our supreme gift, on the altar of our country. + +Now we close our humble effort with a word of tribute to those brave, +unselfish men and women who left home, friends and native land, that +we, their children and descendants, may have a better chance at life +and happiness. They have paid the price of those who have to take and +to hold the front lines in the great struggle with untamed nature in +a new, un-inhabited country. Many are the premature graves, the lonely +heartaches and tragedies, most of which only God knows. They have laid +the material foundations for us deep and strong. They have also left +us an inheritance of ideals and characteristics to hand on to the +coming generations. If "American" is a state of mind, a certain kind +and quality of ideals and aspirations, rather than a matter of +birthplace, then our immigrant fathers and mothers were often more +American than the native born. However, in any case these +characteristics and ideals above enumerated are the life of our nation +and ours to keep alive. And in holding aloft as our slogans, these +ideals of industry, thrift, sane conservatism, genuineness and +religious devotion, we shall both build the noblest possible monument +to the immigrant and also lay the sure foundations for the great +future before us and our children. + +To the few men and women who still remain of the first generation of +immigrants, let us show our love and respect while they still linger +with us, for it will not be long that we can have the opportunity. +When some political demagog, under the thin guise of super-patriotism, +would by legislation or social odium deprive them of the consolations +of religion in the old tongue to which they are accustomed, and thus +send them with sorrow if not bitterness to their graves, let us have +the courage and the manhood to fight these contemptible grand-standers +openly and to a finish. The language question will solve itself in a +few years in any case and without this violence and insult to a few +lingering men and women who have served this country so well and who +are now asking only that they be allowed to pass undisturbed to their +grave. There they will rest from their labors, but their works will +follow after them. + + +THE END. + +August 10, 1920. + + + + +I AM THE IMMIGRANT + + + I am the immigrant. + + I looked towards the United States with eyes kindled by the fire + of ambition and heart quickened with new-born hope. + + I approached its gates with great expectation. + + I have shouldered my burden as the American man-of-all-work. + + I contribute eighty-five per cent of all the labor in the + slaughtering and meat-packing industries. + + I do seven-tenths of the bituminous coal mining. + + I do seventy-eight per cent of all the work in the woolen mills. + + I contribute nine-tenths of all the labor in the cotton mills. + + I make nineteen-twentieths of all the clothing. + + I manufacture more than half the shoes. + + I build four-fifths of all the furniture. + + I make half of the collars, cuffs and shirts. + + I turn out four-fifths of all the leather. I make half the gloves. + + I refine nearly nineteen-twentieths of the sugar. + + And yet, I am the great American problem. + + When I pour out my blood on your altar of labor, and lay down my + life as a sacrifice to your god of toil, men make no more + comment than at the fall of a sparrow. + + But my brawn is woven into the warp and woof of the fabric of your + national being. + + My children shall be your children and your land shall be my land, + because my sweat and my blood will cement the foundations of the + America of to-morrow. + + If I can be fused into the body politic, the melting pot will have + stood the supreme test. + + FREDERIC J. HASKIN. + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Typographical errors corrected in text: | + | | + | Page 11: Skanne replaced with Skaane | + | Page 29: journied replaced with journeyed | + | Page 82: Knute replaced with Knut | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Pioneers and Pilgrims on the +Prairies of Dakota, by John B. Reese and H. B. 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Reese and H. B. Reese + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Some Pioneers and Pilgrims on the Prairies of Dakota + Or, From the ox team to the aeroplane + +Author: John B. Reese + H. B. Reese + +Release Date: October 16, 2011 [EBook #37765] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME PIONEERS AND PILGRIMS *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen" style="font-weight: bold;">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<br /> +<p class="noin">Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has been preserved.</p> +<p class="noin" style="text-align: left;">Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. +For a complete list, please see the <span style="white-space: nowrap;"><a href="#TN">end of this document</a>.</span></p> +<p class="noin">Click on the images to see a larger version.</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="img"> +<img border="0" src="images/cover.jpg" width="45%" alt="Book Cover" id='Coverpage' /> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h1>SOME PIONEERS <i>and</i> PILGRIMS<br /> +ON THE PRAIRIES OF<br /> +DAKOTA</h1> + +<br /> + +<h4>OR</h4> + +<h3><i>From the Ox Team to the Aeroplane</i></h3> + +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>Edited and Published by</h4> + +<h3>REV. JOHN B. REESE, A.M., B.D.</h3> + +<h5>Assisted by</h5> + +<h3>H.B. REESE</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>MITCHELL, SOUTH DAKOTA<br /> +AUGUST, 1920</h4> + +<br /> +<a name="toc" id="toc"></a><hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h3>TABLE OF CONTENTS</h3> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="60%" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdr" width="10%">I.</td> + <td class="tdl" width="90%"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Occasion, Scope and Purpose of Record.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">II.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">Prying Open the Door to the Dakotas—Treaty of '58.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">III.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">The Second Coming of the Norsemen to America. The First Settlement on the Missouri Bottom, 1860.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">IV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">First Settlement and Settlers of the "South Prairie," 67-71. A Memorable Trip in Search of Work.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">V.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">The Settlements on Turkey Creek and Clay Creek, 70-71.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VI.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">The Great Immigration of 1880—Causes.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">Landing at Yankton, Getting on the Land, and a Hard Struggle to Live.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">VIII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">The Pioneer Mothers and Their Share in the Privations.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">IX.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Indians as Visitors and Guests.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">X.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">The Great Snow Winter of 1880 and the Flood of '81.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XI.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Beginning the Grapple with the Earth.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">Bird's Eye View of the Settlements in 1880-3.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XIII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">The Prairie Fires—The Annual Terror of the Settlers.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XIV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">The Great Blizzard of '88.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">When the Fathers and Mothers of Today were Boys and Girls.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XVI.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">Religious Movements and Workers Among These People.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XVII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">A Daughter Settlement.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdr">XVIII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Looking Down the Trail to the Years Ahead.</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<h3>GREETING</h3> +<br /> + +<p>There has been an often expressed desire on the part of the sons and +daughters of the immigrant pioneers that those brave men and women of +a generation ago who left home, friends, and the graves of a hundred +generations of ancestors, to go to a land which they knew not, there +to toil and sacrifice that we, their children might have a better +chance, should not be forgotten. For their lives went into the deep +and often overlooked foundations, material and spiritual, without +which our larger opportunities and comforts of today would be +impossible. Like the pioneer Abraham they had a large faith and went +out in search of a Promised Land, not knowing what would be in store +for them, for they saw it afar off. Like Moses, most of them died +without themselves enjoying the fruits of the land or seeing the +promise fulfilled.</p> + +<p>How little the young people of this generation can appreciate the hard +toil, and even less, the heartaches and the tragedies which were the +price paid by our fathers and mothers, for our better future! It has +been the fashion of some small and provincially minded "Americans" who +constituted themselves, as it were, into the original and only +Americans, to sneer at the immigrant, to affect certain superior +"airs" in relation to him. This self-appointed superiority, however, +did not seem to bar them from taking undue advantage of him because of +his lack of knowledge of the new country and its ways and methods. How +little this class of self-appointed Americans were capable of +understanding, not to speak of appreciating, the physical and mental +contribution, not to speak of the moral and spiritual—the soul—which +these immigrants brought to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>land of their adoption. They +established schools for their children, meeting in private houses +before there were any public schools. They built churches for the +worship of God while they themselves still lived in shacks and +dugouts.</p> + +<p>So it is in response to this widespread desire, among those of the +second and third generation from the pioneers, that this rich heritage +of deeds and ideals, handed down to us by our brave and forward +looking fathers and mothers, should not be forgotten but handed down +in memory as an increasing inspiration and just pride in the lives of +their children and children's children, that we are moved to write +this record. For already I hear the tramp of countless numbers and +many generations of the children of these pioneers. For them I compile +these incidents of the settlers' first experiences with the new land +and write this narrative. For if there is any reward which our fathers +and mothers would ask of us, in return for giving up almost everything +on our behalf, it would be just this: Remembrance and a little +appreciation—understanding.</p> + +<p>As to the origin, scope and plan of this narrative, this explanation +should be made:</p> + +<p>The real mover in getting this narrative started is my brother, H.B. +Reese. He has also collected a part of the materials used and written +out some of it. In editing and incorporating this material and other +contributions into the book, I have made a free translation of it and +also made changes and additions here and there as seemed desirable.</p> + +<p>As to the scope and plan, especially as to the particular persons +included or left out, the question will no doubt arise in the minds of +some readers: "Why are just these individuals named and not others who +were equally worthy and whose experiences were no less interesting?" +The answer is simply this: This particular group and their experiences +are best known to us, while that of others is not so well known. Then, +too, the necessary limitations of space because of the costs involved, +compel us to leave out <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>much of which we have, or could get sufficient +knowledge to use. Lastly, we present this work on the theory that the +people, incidents and circumstances here included, represent the +ordinary immigrant's experiences and thus serve to give a fairly +correct view of pioneer days as a whole. So if some reader should have +a feeling that such and such names or incidents should have been +included, remember this omission is not because other names may not +have been equally worthy, but rather that because of limitations of +space and knowledge we had to choose a few as types and +representatives of all the rest. The individual names of these +pioneers will all too soon be forgotten in any case. But these +pioneers as a class and their deeds, I trust, shall never be +forgotten. So kindly remember that tho your father and mother, dear +reader, may have been among the first settlers of the region here +described and otherwise also closely connected with the group here +mentioned, and still their names are not included, yet their lives are +included. For the life we attempt to reproduce in picture here with +its hardships and adventures, was the life and sacrifice of them all. +You may in many cases substitute almost any pioneer name, and the +picture of the period would be essentially correct. So, then, this is +written in honor and memory of them all, the un-named as well as the +named.</p> + +<p>Thus, then, to all the sons and daughters of the Viking pioneers of +the prairie who between the years of 1859-1889 took up the hard +struggle with untamed nature on the far-stretching prairies of Dakota +and Minnesota, I humbly dedicate this memorial. To all the brave men +and women who bore the heat and the brunt of those days of toil and +hardship, we, their children, together offer this little tribute of +our love and remembrance.</p> + +<p class="right sc">John B. Reese,</p> + +<p>April 21, 1918. <i>Mitchell S.D.</i></p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span><br /> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h3> + +<h4 class="sc">Prying Open the Door into the Rich Lands of the Dakotas</h4> +<br /> + +<p>Previous to April, 1858, Dakota Territory for a century or more had +been the hunting ground and undisputed possession of the Yankton +Sioux. However, for some years before this date many adventurous, +enterprising members of the white race in the adjoining states of +Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, had cast covetous eyes across the +borders. Not a few even followed their eyes and entered in spite of +the prohibition of the government and the hostilities of the Indian. +Many more, encamped along the borders were watching the negotiations +between the government and the Yanktons, eager and alert to step over +the line the very instant the door should be opened.</p> + +<p>According to the available data on the Indian history of this region, +previous to 1750 it was occupied by the Omahas, who held the Big Sioux +and James river valleys. These were driven out about 1750 by the Teton +Sioux, who came previously from the woods of Minnesota. The Teton +Sioux also engaged the Rees, then having strongholds on the Missouri, +especially in and around Pierre, and after a forty years' struggle +drove them north to Grand River and then to where their remnants are +still found in the vicinity of Fort Berthold, North Dakota.</p> + +<p>At this time of the Treaty, this region was held by the Yankton and +Yanktonais Sioux, who had been driven from western Iowa by the Ottos +about 1780 and had settled the lower James River Valley.</p> + +<p>The first attempt at a settlement at Yankton was made in the spring of +1858 by one W.P. Holman, his son C.J. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>Holman, both of Sergeants +Bluff, Iowa, and Ben Stafford, together with four or five others from +Sioux City. In anticipation of an early treaty these men came up on +the Nebraska side of the river and, crossing over at Yankton, built a +camp. But about a month later the Indians, jealous of their hunting +grounds and suspicious of the designs of the intruders, drove them +back across the river.</p> + +<p>The next May, however, on the strength of a false rumor that the +treaty had been ratified, these men floated logs across from their +Nebraska camp, working all night, and next day laid twelve +foundations. The following day construction of the first log cabin was +begun. But before this could be finished some seventy-five Indians +appeared and began to hurl the newly founded city of Yankton into the +river. It was fortunate, as Mr. Holman, who was one of the party, +suggests, that the new settlers had left their guns on the other side. +For had they had their arms they would hardly have been able to submit +to the destruction of their town without a fight, and if it had come +to a fight the Indians were as yet too many. As it was, the intruders +resorted to diplomacy, and by much "fine talk" succeeded in saving +most of their belongings as well as of the construction and in holding +their ground. The next day a feast was promptly made to Chief Dog's +Claw and his warriors, and as is always the case with men, red or +white, this feast had the desired effect, at least for the time being. +The log house was built altho subsequently burned in October, 1858.</p> + +<p>The first permanent buildings, as far as we can ascertain, were those +of the Frost, Todd Co. Trading Post. There were, of course, Indian +tepees scattered over the present city and vicinity of Yankton, but +these appeared and disappeared again with the movements of their +inhabitants. There was also about this time a cabin built on the east +side of the present James River bridge by J.M. Stone, who operated a +ferry boat.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>It is stated by the late Mayor J.R. Hanson of Yankton, who came to +Yankton with a party of pioneers from Winona, Minnesota, in 1858, that +more than one hundred locations of 160 acres had already been staked +out in the vicinity of Yankton on his arrival. These, of course, later +had to be filed on in the regular way when the land became legally +opened to settlers.</p> + +<p>As already indicated, the treaty for the opening of this land for +settlement was at last arranged in 1858, but it was not until July 10, +1859, that the land was legally opened for settlers by ratification of +the treaty. On that very date the streams of expectant immigrants, +waiting on the borders of Nebraska and Iowa, poured in like a flood +and the towns of Vermilion, Meckling, Yankton and Bon Homme were all +founded in a day. On the 22nd of July Elk Point was first settled.</p> + +<br /> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/imagep09.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/imagep09.jpg" width="75%" alt="The Old Sod Shanty" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">THE OLD SOD SHANTY ON THE CLAIM, NEAR ARMOUR, S. DAK.</p> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>An interesting story is told of the long extended Indian pow-wows and +the fiery harangues on the part of the chiefs before they finally +relinquished their ancient camping ground and the graves of their +fathers on the present site of Yankton. The government had made +tempting offers in the way of regular rations of food, blankets and +many other commodities, not to speak of money and large reservations +of land to be guaranteed for the exclusive possession of the tribe. +These immediate benefits and creature comforts made a powerful appeal +to the common crowd among the Indians. This faction was led by Chief +Struck by the Ree, who was friendly to the Whites. The other chiefs, +however, many of whom were shrewd and able men and thought with their +heads rather than, as the crowd did, with their stomachs, keenly +realized what the little act of signing this treaty involved. They saw +that it meant that when they should fold their tepees and journey +westward this time they could never return. They knew that it meant +the final abandonment of their immemorial hunting grounds and the +beautiful camping site of Yankton with the graves <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>of their fathers, +to the pale faces who would come in like a flood and once in they +could no more be turned back than the tides of the sea. In many and +prolonged councils these chiefs, such as Smutty Bear and Mad Bull, had +pressed upon their people these and other considerations against the +signing of the White man's treacherous papers. With burning words of +appeal, now to this motive now to that, with stinging rebuke of those +who would so lightly sell out their birthright and ancestral heritage, +as well as that of their children and the unborn generations to come, +they spoke with an eloquence which seemed for the time to stir and +elevate even the craven spirits of those who had favored the treaty. +But just at this point, when it looked as tho the treaty would be +rejected and the Indians would stay where they were, a government boat +carrying large supplies of food and other desirable commodities +whistled down the river. The word was soon passed that these treasures +would be taken up the river some thirty miles to their new home near +the present site of Springfield, and be distributed to the Indians in +case they would now vacate and carry out the treaty. The temptation +was too great. All the oratory was forgotten in the prospect of food, +clothing and glittering spangles. There was no more argument. The +tepees with strange and significant rapidity and universality began to +come down and get loaded. The travaux, loaded with the whole household +belongings and also in some cases with children, began to move +silently but surely toward the West, heading for the rendezvous +appointed by the steam boat people. Deserted by their people, the +chiefs, realizing that they were face to face with an irresistible +tide and were fighting a hopeless fight, followed their people with +sad and bitter spirits as they all trekked toward the setting sun, +never more to return to the rich valley and far-flung prairies of the +lower Missouri. Before the vanquished and vanishing Indian had gotten +out of sight over the hills the eager White man was moving in.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER II<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">The Second Coming of the Norsemen to America</h4> +<br /> + +<p>It is now quite generally conceded that Leif Erikson and his party, as +also other adventurous spirits of Iceland and Norway, visited these +shores half a thousand years before Columbus. The second coming of the +Norsemen, or the immigration to America from Norway in any +considerable numbers, began about 1840. Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, +Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, about in the order named, came +to receive this large influx of the hardy Norsemen. Wherever they went +they took their full share, and more, of helping to build the +railroads, fell the forests, subdue the prairies and build a Christian +civilization.</p> + +<p>The first settlement of considerable size in South Dakota was, as far +as we can learn, made in 1860, between the James river and Gayville. +Other settlers followed in the succeeding years, spreading out over +the bottom and later up on the prairie to the north. Among those who +came to the vicinity of Yankton in the decade of 1860-70 we would +mention the following: Ole Odland, '62; Ole C. Pederson, '66; Lars +Hanson, '66; O.L. Hanson, '67; Ole Pederson, '67; Nec. Hanson, '68; +Lars Bergsvenson, '68; Andrew Simonson, '68; J.M. Johnson (Irene),'68; +Ole Bjerke, '69; Ole Lien (Volin), formerly of Brule, Union County, +'68, with his sons Charles and Edward Lien; Jorgen Bruget; Christian +Marendahl, '67; Nels Brekke, '67; Peder Engen; Gunder Olson, '68; +Haldo Saether, '69; Sivert Nysether also came about this time.</p> + +<p>Iver Bjerke and Mark Johnson appear to be the first native born +children of the Scandinavian immigrants in this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>part of the country, +both being born in '69. However, Ole Jelley of Clay County holds the +honor of being, not only the first child born of Norse parents in the +state, but of being, as far as is known, the first male white child +born in South Dakota. He was born March 2, 1860.</p> + +<p>Others who came in this period were Ole Skaane, '69; C. Freng, '69; +J.T. Nedved, '68; G. Gulbranson, '69; P.J. Freng, '69; Halvor Aune, +'69.</p> + +<p>In the next decade, 1870-80, we find these well known names: I.S. +Fagerhaug (Irene), '70; O. Kjelseth and two sons, George and C.J. +Kjelseth, '70; Ole Lee (Aune), '70; O.P. Olsen, '70; A.O. Saugstad, +'70; O.J. Anderson (Irene), '70; H. Hoxeng with his sons Thore and +Jens, '70; P.J. Nyberg, '72; J.J. Nissen, '72; John Aaseth, '72; Peter +Carlson, '72; the Bagstad brothers, Iver, Mathias and Emil; and Hans +Helgerson, '74; John Gjevik and Lars Aaen, '75.</p> + +<p>The settlement in Clay Creek was begun a little earlier than Turkey +Creek, or about '69. Among those who first broke the virgin sod there +were O. Skaane, O. Gustad, H. Hagen, and his son Albert, the latter +also sharing the honor with B.B. Haugan of breaking the first furrow +of the sod in Mayfield Township. Then there were Benjamin Anderson, +Peter Olaus, R. Olsen, A.O. Saugstad and Fredrik Aune.</p> + +<p>It was at the beginning of this decade, 1870-80, that the settlement +of the Turkey Creek Valley was begun by I. Fagerhaug, S. Hinseth, +Halvor Hinseth (1870); and Ole Solem; Jens Eggen to the south, and +John Rye to the north end of the valley.</p> + +<p>We are aware that this list of early settlers is far from complete. No +complete list could be made at this time, as many of them are long +since gone and forgotten. We hope, however, that this is fairly +comprehensive, and should we meet with enough favor to warrant another +edition of this memorial, then, by the help of some of our readers, we +may be able to gather up some of the missing names which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>ought to be +included. In such an edition there should also be a record of the +children, boys and girls, of these first settlers. This would be of +more interest and value in the years to come, as a matter of +reference, than we can now realize. To be able to prove by the records +that we came from one of the "old families" of first settlers may be +an object a hundred years from now.</p> + +<p>On the adventures, hardships, struggles and triumphs of these first +Norse settlers on the Missouri bottom we cannot dwell, nor do we have +much available material, as there are not many left now to tell the +story. There were Indians as in the Massacre of '62, when Judge Amiden +and his son were killed near Sioux Falls. There were fires, droughts +and blizzards. Then grasshoppers in '63, '64, '74, '76. And all the +time the lack of even what are now the common necessities, not to +speak of the comforts and conveniences of life. The table had to be +provided largely from what the settlers themselves could produce from +the untamed soil and the clothes from the coarse cheap cloth available +at the few towns, such as blue denim for men and calico for women.</p> + +<p>The settlers in this region had one advantage in their start on a bare +soil. Wood for fuel and timber was available. While this timber was +largely cottonwood and willow, yet out of the cottonwood, and +occasionally oak, they were able to construct log houses. This was +quite an advantage here, as dugouts on this level and low lying land +would not have been even as satisfactory as on the prairie.</p> + +<p>These men and women who led in subduing the raw, untamed soil may be +likened to soldiers in the first line trenches as also to shock +troops. In order that others might reap the fruits of victory some had +to be sacrificed. Many of these front liners perished early in the +struggle. Others have come down even to the present. But within and +outside they bear the marks, D.S.C's, may I say, of the great days of +battle.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER III<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">The First Settlement of the Prairie From the Missouri +Bottom North as Far as the Turkey Creek Valley</h4> +<br /> + +<p>Among the first to homestead and build on this tract, in early days +called the South Prairie, were, as far as we can learn, Christian +Marendahl; Nils Brekke, '67; John Sleeper, '68; Gunder Olsen, '68; +Peder Engen, Sivert Nysether, Esten Nyhus, Ole Liabo, Iver Furuness, +and Miss Marie Hoxeng came during '68-'69. Ole Bjerke and H. Sether +came in '69. About this time came also Lars Aaen. The Hoxengs came the +next year, or 1870, and Hans Dahl and Lars Eide a little later.</p> + +<p>It may be of interest as illustrating how these people got on their +chosen locations, to describe in brief the experiences of some of +them.</p> + +<p>Ole Bjerke came to Sioux City in the spring of '69. This little +village was then the "farthest west" as far as the railroad was +concerned. Thru an acquaintance of his, Joe Sleeper, I believe, he had +become interested in the far away prairie north of Yankton, which was +open for settlement. Accordingly he bought, thru Mr. Halseth of Sioux +City, a yoke of oxen and a wagon, the standard equipment of the +pioneer settler of those days. These oxen, like most of their tribe, +were wild and unruly; ran away, broke the wagon to pieces and were +lost for some weeks. Finally the trip was made over the winding +prairie trail westward thru Brule and Vermilion, thence along the +bluffs to their destination. It was a long, weary trip thru the tall +grass, and the accommodations in the way of food and sleep at the few +human habitations along the way were not of the kind to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>cheer the +weary pilgrims. For in most cases a rude shelter was all they could +obtain, having to provide food and bedding for themselves, the owners +often being bachelors, sometimes "at home" and often not at home for +months.</p> + +<p>On arriving at their destination, Mr. and Mrs. Bjerke were able to +share shelter with a kind neighbor already on the ground until they +could construct one of their own. Here, soon after their arrival, Iver +Bjerke was born and was the first child to receive baptism in this +settlement. In this hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. Bjerke were also +held the first religious services in this vicinity, in 1869. These +services were conducted by Rev. Nesse from Brule, who became the first +pastor of these people. There was at this time, '69, no neighbor to +the north nearer than Swan Lake, eighteen miles away.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER IV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">First Settlement and Settlers of the "South Prairie," 1861-71, +Memorable Trip in Search of Work</h4> +<br /> + +<p>However, in '69 and '70 there came to be a considerable settlement on +the South Prairie of the people already named and others who came in +the latter '60's and early 70's.</p> + +<p>When we say that people "settled" here at this time it must not be +interpreted to mean that they began to put up good buildings, break +the sod and raise grain and cattle. These activities were for many as +yet years away. As a general thing a rude dwelling of logs, sod, or a +dugout was made to shelter the family and to fulfil the law in regard +to getting deed to the land. Also a few acres were broken, perhaps +five or ten, to comply with these homestead requirements. Then about +the next thing was for the men folks to strike out for the forts on +the upper Missouri in order to earn a little money, by cutting wood or +working on other government jobs, to support themselves and their +families. This work and the wretched food and "accommodations" given +them would have broken these men in body and spirit had they not been +young and vigorous in body as well as unconquerable in spirit.</p> + +<p>Perhaps we can reproduce the experiences of many of the above named +homesteaders of the '60's and early '70's by giving the actual story +of one group who went up the river to find work, as related to us by +one of the parties, Ole Lee, now living near Volin.</p> + +<p>Mr. Lee came to America in 1870, May 18th, and landed, like most of +the above named, in Sioux City, where <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>his brother Halvor Aune had +already preceded him. With only 35 cents with which to start in the +new country, Mr. Lee counted himself fortunate in finding a job at +$1.75 per day, even tho board had to be paid out of this. But even +this fortune did not last long, for Sioux City was a small place and +had little development at that time. Yet, however short Ole was in +cash, he did have some capital which could be invested in the new +country and would in time compel success. He had a good, sound body, +great courage, a cheerful disposition and a good talking apparatus, +altho as yet operating mostly in the Norwegian language. So having +learned that there was work and better pay than he had been getting, +in connection with the steamboat traffic and the government forts on +the upper Missouri, he in company with a number of others started west +to seek fortune as also adventure. As most of these men were young and +unmarried, the Viking spirit of adventure and daring was not absent.</p> + +<p>It was in the spring of 1871 that these young men, gathered at +Yankton, decided to trek over the country to Fort Sully, 300 miles +away, in search of work.</p> + +<p>They had among them scarcely any money and some even owed their +winter's board. So at first they thought of starting out afoot. But +thru an acquaintance of one of the party they were able to buy an ox +team on time, agreeing to pay $180.00 for the same, including an old +wagon. They were able to buy a few provisions, such as flour and salt +pork, for their own use on the way, and some sacks of oats for the +oxen as hay or grass could not be depended on, the vast prairie often +being burned off.</p> + +<p>There were eighteen of these young explorers in all and while one +drove the oxen by turns the other seventeen walked behind the wagon. +Besides the two brothers already mentioned, there were in this company +Emret and Sivert Mjoen; also Sivert and Christopher Haakker, +Ingibricht <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>Satrum, Iver Furuness, Ole Solem, Ole Yelle, Albert Meslo, +Anders Krengness and Thomas Berg. I have not the names of the others +of the party.</p> + +<p>These young men, altho afoot and with meager provisions, on their way +toward a far-off destination and unknown conditions, yet trudged along +day after day with jokes and laughter. At noon or night, wherever they +happened to be on the broad plains, the same cooking routine was +performed, each taking his turn. Get out the long handled frying pan, +the fire having been built, fry pancakes or flap-jacks, and perhaps a +little pork, and boil some coffee. Then if it was the evening meal +they would sit around the fire a while to stretch their weary legs, +smoke a pipe, talk over and speculate on the prospects ahead and then +roll up in their blankets for the night.</p> + +<p>One day, as they were nearing Fort Thompson, having followed the +course of the river so far, they met a man driving a mule team. +Surmising from their appearance that these men were in a situation to +accept work of most any kind or on any condition, he stopped to parley +with them. He had a government contract to cut 900 cords of wood on an +island below Ft. Thompson. So he offered these men $2 per cord to cut +this wood. They were only too eager to grasp this first opportunity, +especially as he was to furnish them board. But what should they do +with their joint property—oxen and wagon? The man, realizing he had +made a "find" in these eager strong handed men, didn't let this stand +in the way but bought the outfit for $185.00. They thus made $5.00 on +the deal, and in regular democratic style it was voted in assembly to +send back the $180.00 due the former owner of the oxen; sell the +remainder of the oats and with the total proceeds have a little +"refreshment" before they began their summer's work. This they did in +reaching the fort, and the only refreshments to be had in those places +being in liquid form, there was just enough money in the treasury to +buy them "one each."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>Now, let it be remembered by this and all coming generations that this +was the first commercial co-operative enterprise, as far as we know, +in this part of the country, and that it yielded a profit—it +"liquidated."</p> + +<p>They now immediately began cutting wood on this island below Fort +Thompson, and it was well that they had had some "refreshment," for +what they now received in the way of board was fearfully and +wonderfully made. It consisted of spoiled pork and wormy flour, +rejected by the soldier commissary at the fort and bought for little +or nothing by this shameless contractor to feed these unsuspecting +men. Out of this material, a not over clean negro cook made two +standard dishes—soda biscuits and fried pork. Often the remnants of +the worms, embalmed and baked into the biscuits could be plainly seen.</p> + +<p>The men bore as patiently as they could with this sickening food, for +there was little else to do now under their circumstances. But their +stomachs rebelled, however, and the men became so weakened thru +continued diarrhea that they could scarcely lift the ax at times. Yet +with characteristic Viking spirit they "stuck it out" until the 900 +cords were hewn. The men now separated, some going back to Yankton or +vicinity. Ole Lee and his brother Halvor, however, pushed on up to +Fort Sully, or Cheyenne Agency, where the former remained for five +years without seeing civilization again in the meantime. By this time +Mr. Lee, as well as others of the above named company, had been able +to save up a little money and homesteaded in Yankton county, where +some of them and many of their descendants live to this day, not a few +of them being worth $100,000 each. You recall we began our narrative +of one of them with a capital of 35 cents. The explanation of this, of +35 cents to $100,000; of the borrowed ox team and rickety wagon to the +finest automobiles in the market; of the sod shanty or dugout to the +big modern houses with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>all the latest conveniences which some of +these men have today, lies in two or three words—America and the +Norse immigrants' great characteristics, industrially speaking—industry +and thrift.</p> + +<p>We have suggested the striking change which fifty years have wrought +in the outward circumstances of these men. Would that the intervening +years could have been equally kind to the men themselves as to their +earthly tabernacles! But such could not be the case, altho several of +them are still living and a number spending their declining years as +neighbors in the vicinity of Volin. The heat and toil of many summers +have wrinkled their brows; the snows of many winters and some sorrows +and cares have whitened the hair and given a stoop to the shoulders. +The step is a little less firm now than when they together marched +over the prairie to the west; their laughter has lost some of its +ring, and yet it is there. With their children and grandchildren they +are enjoying a little deserved rest before the final journey to the +last sunset of life's trail.</p> + +<p>There is Ole Lee, Ole Solem, Halvor Hinseth and the Hoxengs, still +active and living in good, comfortable homes and in the same +neighborhood. There is Ole Bjerke, once tall and straight as a young +pine of the forest, now a little bent over and gray. There, too, is +his wife, remarkably well preserved in both body and mental faculties. +How many generations of "newcomers" have received a hearty welcome and +hospitality in these homes and have been by them helped to get a start +in the new land! Long will they live enshrined in the hearts and +memories of the many who have enjoyed the hospitality of their +firesides.</p> + +<p>Yes, most of these pioneers of forty to sixty years ago have already +struck the long trail and gone to that "West" which is the farthest +and the final. Of the few who remain, the earthly tabernacles are +leaning more and more toward the earth from which they came, and in a +very short time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>not one will be left standing. Yet because man's +immortal hope burns strongly in many of them, the building of flesh, +tho feebler than of yore, is glorious with that light which the years +and the eternities cannot dim nor extinguish, for it is eternal in the +Heavens.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER V<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">The Settlements on Turkey Creek, and Clay Creek, '70-71</h4> +<br /> + +<p>The settlement in Turkey Creek was made in 1870. A man by the name of +John Hovde, who had homesteaded in Union county some years previously, +made a trip back to Norway and on his return the following people came +over with him: Anfin Utheim and wife; Olaf Stolen; Haakon Hoxeng with +his two sons, already referred to, and one daughter; Stingrim Hinseth +with wife and one baby daughter, Mary; Halvor Hinseth; Ingebright +Fagerhaug; and Marit Nysether, who later became his wife, and a number +of other men and women who went to other parts of the country.</p> + +<p>These people reached Sioux City May 18, 1870. There some of the men of +the company found work on the railroad. The others, including S. and +H. Hinseth and Miss Nysether, journeyed on by ox team toward their +friends already described as settled on the South Prairie, i.e., north +of the present Volin. Their baggage went by steam boat to Yankton. Mr. +and Mrs. S. Hinseth, who had a little six-year-old baby daughter, went +by stage as far as Vermilion and there transferred to the ox team, the +stage going on to Yankton.</p> + +<p>We will here quote from a brief narrative which Mr. S. Hinseth, at our +request, prepared for this record just before his death (1918). As Mr. +Hinseth was one of the outstanding leaders in this immigration +movement and in the building up of the new country, both materially +and spiritually, we are very fortunate in getting these memoranda +directly from him. We regret that he was cut off before he could +finish them.</p> + +<p>"We reached our destination in Yankton county on a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>Sunday. That day +there was church service at the home of Mr. and Mrs. O. Bjerke, +conducted by pastor Nesse of Brule, Union county.</p> + +<p>"There was no possibility of getting work in the neighborhood, so a +number of us went up to Fort Randall, where we obtained work cutting +cord wood for steamboat use. We remained there until fall, when Halvor +Hinseth and myself homesteaded in Turkey Valley township and were the +first to settle there.</p> + +<p>"We lived in Iver Furuness' house that winter, and in the spring of +1871 we moved to the place belonging to Christian Marendahl, whose +field we rented that season. That fall we moved onto our own +homesteads on Turkey Creek.</p> + +<p>"Life was often dreary for us in those first years, for neighbors were +few and far apart. However, we had occasional visits from Rev. Elling +Eielsen, whom we knew from the time he visited our part of the country +in Norway, and we were very glad of those visits. We also had pastoral +visits from Gunder Graven, whom we later called, and who served us for +many years during our pioneer days. Throndhjem's congregation became +organized, I believe, in 1871. We belonged accordingly to the +Evangelical Lutheran Synod, or, as it was also called, Eielsen's +Synod, and still later became known as Hauge's Synod. This in turn +became merged, in 1917, in the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America.</p> + +<p>"In 1877, I believe, Throndhjem's congregation became divided into +what are now Zion's and Throndhjem's. This latter, in distinction from +the northern congregation, which kept the name Throndhjem, at first +took the name Throndhjem's Free Congregation and later Zion's.</p> + +<p>"This division arose from a disagreement as to the site for the +proposed church building. The site at first chosen was on Peder +Engen's farm, or practically where the Zion's church building now +stands. This seemed too far south for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>those living in the northern +part of the original parish, so they formed the present organization +of Throndhjem's and built on the present site in the early '80's.</p> + +<p>"In 1901 a terrible storm swept over the whole state, and in this +storm, in common with many others, these congregations lost their +church buildings. Also the buildings of Meldahl's and Salem's, which +congregations were organized considerably later than the above, were +destroyed. This was a great loss. However, under the energetic +leadership of Rev. C. Olberg, then pastor of all four congregations +above named as also of Salem's, the people rallied with splendid +loyalty and sacrifice so that soon the buildings were not only rebuilt +but in a more modern and substantial form than the structures +destroyed."</p> + +<p>Mr. Henseth also tells of the makeshifts for stables and granaries in +those first years. As lumber could not be afforded they would make a +grain storage by laying a square of rails after the fashion of a rail +fence, then they would line this with hay or straw to fill in the +large spaces between the rails and put the grain inside.</p> + +<p>Stables were made from a little frame work of rails, for roof at +least, and this was covered with hay or straw. The walls were usually +the same materials and were eaten up during the winter as a general +occurrence and had to be restored in the fall.</p> + +<p>We have heard Halvor Hinseth and other pioneers in these settlements +tell of their experiences in going to mill in the first ten years or +more. As the grasshoppers destroyed most of the small grain in '74 and +'76 the settlers had barely enough for flour and a little seed. The +nearest mill was three miles south of St. Helena, Nebraska. As this +was south of the present Gayville they would either have to go by +Yankton to cross the river or else cross on the ice in the winter. Mr. +H. Hinseth relates one trip, vivid in his memory, when they with their +loads got into deep snow out on the bottom; got lost in the brush +south of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>Gayville; were refused shelter when they at last found a +light from a cabin in the brush; how their horses gave out and the +sleds broke down and the men themselves were about used up. Sometimes +they would be overtaken by a snowstorm on their trip and be snowed in +for several days, so these mill trips would often take a week's time +and more toil and hardship than we can describe. But they managed to +get back sometime and with flour for the family.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER VI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">The Great Immigration of 1880—Cause of</h4> +<br /> + +<p>If a man had stood by the king's highway leading from Opdal, Norway, +to the seaport town of Trondhjem, in the month of April, 1880, he +could have witnessed a strange and significant scene. Here comes a +procession of twenty or more sleds, each drawn by a single small +horse. The sleds were heavily loaded with large, blue-tinted chests, +as also trunks, satchels and numerous smaller articles of household +and family use. Riding on top of these loads are mothers with little +children as also a number of grandmothers, the latter upwards of +seventy years of age. A number of lighter sleds, or cutters, are also +in the procession. These belong to friends of this pilgrim procession, +who are accompanying them part way and are now about to say, or have +already said, their final farewell and Godspeed to these +pilgrims—their friends and relations. This may explain in part the +fact that the men walk by the side of their loads in silence, with +downcast eyes and a lump in their throats, while the women show clear +traces of recent tears. Nor can we blame them for succumbing for the +moment to their emotions when we come to understand the meaning of +this strange scene.</p> + +<p>These people, about sixty in number, this day were leaving that spot +on God's earth most dear to them; leaving the birthplace and the +resting-place of a hundred generations of their ancestors, they were +looking for the last time on their former homes and on the dear +familiar spots so well known from their childhood. They had just +looked for the last time upon the faces of their friends and near +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>relatives and spoken the last words, and soon they were to see the +receding outlines of the mountain peaks of their beloved fatherland, +nevermore to see them again. For they were on the way to America, and +America was very far off in those days, and to most people going there +the way back was forever closed. So to these people these last +glimpses and handshakes and words were the final, as far as this world +went, and they were all too well aware of it.</p> + +<p>But let us pause in the journey at this point, while still under the +influence of the nearby majestic mountains, robed in evergreen and +crowned with the snows of generations, so as to get acquainted with +the individuals of this company and also to learn the causes which +could lead these people to an undertaking so fraught with momentous +destiny for all of them and for their descendants to the end of time. +As we have already surmised, these people were not light-minded +adventurers or people who had nothing to risk or lose. On the +contrary, they were deeply rooted where they were and they did not +pluck up their life by the roots to be transplanted in a far-off, +unknown soil without careful consideration and a great motive.</p> + +<p>First we meet Berhaug Rise (later written Reese) who seems to be a +leader in this particular group we have before us. He is a man of +about forty-five, of spare build and medium height. He has a family +consisting of wife and five children—four boys and one girl; also his +mother who is nearly seventy years of age. The children's names were +Ole, eleven years; Halvor, nine; John, coming seven; Sivert, five; and +Mary, three years, and named after the grandmother.</p> + +<p>Next we get acquainted with Halvor Hevle, a man also of about +forty-five, but because of a terrible affliction of rheumatism, was +bent over so that his face is toward the ground. He is accompanied by +his wife, Marit, but they have no children.</p> + +<p>Then there is Thore Fossem with his wife, his mother <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>and one little +girl, Marie, named after the grandmother. It should be explained here +that while this last named family was not present in the above group +just at this point of the story but came a little later, yet because +Mr. Fossem belongs by every other circumstance to this group, and in +spiritual kinship and motive particularly with the above two, we +include him here. With Thore Fossem came Ingebricht Satrum with one of +his boys, I believe, but most of his family came over a year or two +later.</p> + +<p>The above three men had all been owners of small or medium sized farms +and had advanced money for transportation to most of the others in the +party from the recent sale of their properties. The remainder of the +party, as we shall see, was largely composed of middle aged tradesmen, +young unattached men and girls, practically all of them without means +of their own to make the long journey. Most of these middle aged men +of trades had left large families behind and expected to earn enough +money in the new land to repay their own passage and also to send for +their families as soon as possible. But more of this later, for the +when and the how of the repayment of some of these transportations +would be out of place here, tho not without some very interesting +features.</p> + +<p>One of these men who was master of a trade and who also belongs, in +the sense of an absolutely kindred spirit, to the above three, was +Iver Sneve. He left wife and five children, taking with him his two +older boys, Ingebricht and Ole.</p> + +<p>In much the same economic relation was Anders Ellingson Loe, a +shoemaker by trade. Also Arne Loe, who was a mason and left wife and +three children behind until he could send for them.</p> + +<p>To this class should also be added Ingebricht Brenden, having left his +wife and five children—Ingebricht, Knut, Elli, Sigrid and Kjerstine.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>Among the younger married men were John Lien with wife and one boy, +Esten, as also his mother, who was another member of the considerable +group of grandmas in the party.</p> + +<p>Here should be mentioned also Lars Hansen Almen with wife and two +boys—Hans and Olaus as also Mrs. Almen's mother, who makes the fourth +member of the remarkable grandmother class in this group of pilgrims +to a faraway country.</p> + +<p>Then there were the following young and middle aged unmarried men and +women: Ildri Loe, now Mrs. Sneve of Inwood, Iowa; Kari Rathe; Marit +Myren; Haakon Mellemsether or Haagenson; Sivert Aalbu; John Riskaasen; +and Jens Rise.</p> + +<p>In all there were fifty-two passages bought on the same boat for the +same place in America; viz., Yankton, South Dakota. One or two of the +group, I believe, went to Brookings, South Dakota, including Mr. +Haagenson.</p> + +<p>We left these people, while making this digression, on the king's +highway severing forever the strong ties that bound them to the land +and the people of their birth. As we now resume our journey with them, +especially if we have not made the trip before, we are irresistibly +attracted by the wild and rugged manifestations of nature along our +route. Both the way and its surroundings were prophetic of the much +further stretching way to be traversed, often with weary feet, by +these people, could they have foreseen it.</p> + +<p>The road, tho well built, winds endlessly and often in sharp turns +thru the narrow valley between the mountains which in places almost +form a gorge. In many places the road is cut out of the solid rock of +the mountain side so that on one side is the high and nearly +perpendicular cliff; on the other, and only a few feet away, the +almost perpendicular descent to the raging, roaring river hundreds of +feet below. The sun is only now (April) beginning to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>reduce the eight +months' snow on the mountains. This turns the river in the main +valleys, as well as the hundreds of smaller streams coming down the +mountain sides, into whitefoamed, tumultuous torrents rolling great +stones before them and resounding thru the adjacent valleys and +mountain sides with a deep and deafening roar—beware! beware!</p> + +<p>Looking up the mountain sides we see pine and evergreen creeping up +well toward the top. But while the sides are thus robed in beautiful +green, the tops are crowned with the pure white of the "eternal" +snows. So here was both music and raiment fit for kings and the sons +of Vikings, and these sounds and sights those people never forgot nor +could forget.</p> + +<p>After a two-day tramp thru the snow and slush we reach the railway +station, Storen, fifty miles from our starting point. Here the drivers +return and more sad partings and some tears. Fortunately the new +sights and experiences now begin to crowd upon the consciousness of +these people and help them forget for the time being, just what they +most need to forget, what lies behind, if they are to successfully +march forward. Most of these people had never before been out of the +parish in which they were born or seen a railway or locomotive, not to +speak of riding behind one. And being naturally intelligent and +forward looking men and women, they took a deep interest in the new +world which continually unfolded to them as they journeyed on toward +their faroff destination, covering nearly a month of time.</p> + +<p>We must now turn to the causes or motives which led these people to +undertake this long journey, so full of perils and uncertainties, and +also of hardships which can better be imagined than described in +detail. Transatlantic travel, forty years ago, was about as different +from what it is now as the ox team was different from the automobile.</p> + +<p>The causes of this emigration, as one might almost <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>surmise, were both +economic and religious. The religious motive was especially apparent +as far as the leaders were concerned.</p> + +<p>Some years before this migration, a traveling evangelist had come thru +Opdal and had held meetings from house to house in the neighborhood +where these people lived, the state church building not being open for +that sort of religious exercises. His name was Hans Remen, or as he +was often called, Hans Romsdalen. He was a giant in physical +proportions and also had a moral courage and religious ardor to match +his body. He denounced the dead forms of religion current in the +Lutheran State Church as of no avail, and worse than nothing, in that +they caused people to rest their salvation on a false foundation. He +testified by reference to the Bible, and to personal experience, that +the only basis of salvation for man was a personal, vital relation to +Jesus Christ, entered into by faith; and that in Him alone could man +find forgiveness of sin, peace with God, and a good conscience.</p> + +<p>The ground was somewhat ready for this sort of seed in that there was +a considerable number of people who had come to feel about the State +Church, much as the evangelist expressed it. Among them were the +leaders of these emigrants, Berhaug Rise (or as the name came to be +spelled, Reese), Halvor Hevle, Iver Sneve and Thore Fossem. A revival +of religion resulted and there came to be a considerable group of +people who sought a more vital religion than what was manifested in +the State Church. Thru worship and preaching in private houses, +however, they could find an open door and they continued this +movement. This religious movement thus gained more and more adherents, +so that not only had most of the members of this exodus been touched +by it but also many more who were left behind at this time.</p> + +<p>It was a foregone conclusion that these lay preachers, especially the +above mentioned leaders, would soon find <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>themselves marked for +persecution by the representatives of the established church and also +by petty government officials who of course stood back of that church +organization. Then, too, while looking upon the State Church not only +as dead religiously but also as a positive menace to true religion, in +that it led people astray, and persecuted those who were trying to +lead the way back to the teachings of the lowly Nazarene, yet they +were compelled to give a tithe of their principal farm produce toward +the upkeep of this institution.</p> + +<p>There was much discussion and many clashes between the adherents of +the old and the new. But as the chasm seemed to widen, and the hope of +vitalizing the State Church from within to lessen, being backed as it +was financially and otherwise by the whole machinery of the +government, this religious situation and persecution became a strong +motive for seeking a freer atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Then strongly re-enforcing the religious motive were both the general +as also some special economic conditions at this time, which pressed +upon these people. As aforesaid, the leaders of this movement had been +owners of small and medium sized farms, but with debts on them. Yet +under ordinary conditions they could have managed to take care of +these obligations, as they were long-time loans and at low rates of +interest. But worse than these larger obligations was the fact that +some of them had somehow fallen into the hands of the professional +loan sharks and usurers of the place. The method of procedure of these +parasites was to make short time loans, generally becoming due in the +fall of the year, and taking security in the milch cows or grain crop +of the small farmers. On the very day of maturity they would demand +immediate payment or threaten foreclosure with its attendant expense +and annoyance to the borrower. Having bullied and scared their victims +into the suitable state of mind they would, with hypocritical pretense +of graciousness, offer to compromise by buying the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>mortgaged +property, usually milch cows and seed grain, themselves, thus saving +the expense and disgrace of going to law. This was generally accepted +and the sale made, but of course at the lender's price. Then in the +spring the farmers had to have cows and seed grain to do any business +and usually had to buy both back again from these sharks, thus getting +into their hands again, and thus the vicious circle continued until +the poor borrower was finally worn out and had to give up the +struggle.</p> + +<p>However, the final blow, economically, which brought the leaders of +our party to the great decision of emigrating, was a certain +cooperative mercantile enterprise which they had helped to form +supposedly for the economic benefit of the community. This was in the +early dawn of the cooperative movement in Norway, and these people +were quick to see its economic possibilities, but had not yet learned +to know and to guard against the many pitfalls which such enterprises +have to face and avoid if they are to succeed. And dearly did they pay +for their first lesson.</p> + +<p>The shares of the company were assessable with unlimited liabilities +on the part of the share holder. Thus, of course the business had +almost unlimited credit with wholesalers. For a time the organization +seemed to prosper. After a while, however, suspicion began to form in +the minds of some that things were not just right. An investigation +was eventually made. The manager immediately disappeared. The +government now stepped in and declared a bankruptcy. The manager, +having gotten away beyond recall, the wholesale houses presented bills +of all kinds and large amounts for goods which the directors felt +certain had never been received. But with the manager absconded the +company could not disprove these claims, and the court, belonging +socially and politically to the big business class, naturally held the +scales of justice, socalled, in favor of the wholesale creditors. The +result was that these poor pioneers in the field of economic +cooperation found <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>themselves liable and their property attached for +as much as 6000% of the face value of their shares. It goes without +saying that the government officials saw to it that they themselves +got their utmost limit out of the general slaughter. Berhaug Rise and +a couple of other victims appealed to the courts against the high +handed work of the big business concerns, and the petty government +officials involved, but lost the case, and all that they had was +attached and ordered sold.</p> + +<p>Finding revealed thru all this procedure the persecution both of the +civil and the ecclesiastical authorities, and seeing no chance at that +point of either religious or economic betterment for themselves and +their children, they came to the great decision to try their fortunes +in the far-away land of which they had heard many and strange tales. +For them, as for so many others of every race and tongue, this +far-away land was the land of their dreams; the land of the true where +they could live anew; where the song birds dwell; the land of promise, +and also of fulfillment, of hitherto crushed hopes and thwarted +aspirations.</p> + +<p>Returning now to follow our party from Trondhjem, where we left them, +to Yankton, South Dakota, we find that the journey was mostly the +uneventful, uncomfortable one which was the lot of immigrants of forty +years ago, or early '80's. There was much sea sickness and much +loathing and disgust with the food and accommodations, both of such a +quality as they had never experienced before. Fortunately most of them +had food of their own.</p> + +<p>The nearest to any mishap to any of the party fell to the lot of the +writer of this chronicle, who was a boy of six years. It happened in +the awful throng and confusion of Castle Garden, the old landing place +of immigrants at New York City. I was committed to the care of a +certain servant girl of the family, there being four other children to +be kept track of by father and mother. But in the noise and confusion +of embarking on certain transports taking <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>us to the railway on the +main land, she seems to have lost her head as well as her charge, and +I recall that I found myself wandering alone among the vast spaces of +Castle Garden and the docks. I was crying because of the loss of +father, mother, and all my friends, and searching for them in vain. At +length some sort of official discovered me and after some questioning +he joined me in the search. We went out on some boats, I recall, where +people were embarking, and he inquired everywhere if anyone had lost a +boy. I recall very vividly how a woman at one place claimed me as her +very own and how I protested with more vehemence than politeness. The +official took my view of the case. We continued our search and at last +we met Father, who by this time had discovered my absence and started +out to search. Needless to say, there was more joy over my return than +over the four other children who had not strayed away.</p> + +<p>Thus the transportation company at length was enabled to carry out its +contract of delivering the same number of heads at Yankton as it took +on at Trondhjem. And they did it much in the same matter-of-fact and +impersonal way as a railroad company undertakes to deliver so many +head of cattle at the stockyards of Chicago.—All the honor to them +that they deserved!</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER VII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">Landing At Yankton And Getting On The Land</h4> +<br /> + +<p>It may be of interest to take a look at the town of Yankton of forty +years ago, where we finally landed. Yankton was the terminal of this +division of the C.M. & St. P. Railway, or, as it was then called, the +Dakota Southern. It was also the capitol city of Dakota Territory +comprising the present states of North and South Dakota. Its buildings +were mostly small wooden houses, but, as may be surmised, it commanded +a large trade territory, for besides being the end of the railway it +was touched by a considerable steamboat traffic up and down the river +and had considerable Indian trade, besides that of the adjacent white +settlements. So it was then the most important city in the Dakotas and +had been decidedly so before that time.</p> + +<p>Here the immigrants were given a cordial welcome and temporary shelter +at the home of Mrs. Carrie Severson, a widow whom they had known from +the old country. We do not know, of course, how our fathers and +mothers felt about the enterprise by this time, but to us youngsters, +who as yet were not loaded with the burdens of life, the green grass +and the freedom to scamper about seemed good after a whole month's +confinement in a crowded steerage and more crowded railway coaches.</p> + +<p>Next day friends of the party, who had immigrated some ten years +before, came with teams and wagons to help these newer comers to get +on the land and make their start in the new and, to these people, +strange land. For this was indeed a very different country from the +one they had left and even from the picture many of them had had in +mind. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>There was much to learn and many disappointments at first as we +shall see.</p> + +<p>Among the men who undertook to receive this large company in their +homes and to help them get established in homes of their own, and who +extended the glad hand of welcome that day, should be mentioned these: +Stingrim Hinseth, Ingebricht Fagerhaugh, Haldo Saether, John Rye, John +Aalbu and Halvor Hinseth. These men loaded into their lumber wagons +the big blue chests and smaller parcels; deposited the passengers as +best they could and started out over the prairie on what was called +"The Sioux Falls Trail". This trail angled all the way to their homes +in Turkey Creek, over twenty miles to the northeast. Darkness soon +overtook the travelers and the following circumstance created +considerable merriment for the hosts, at least. The newcomers +observed, as they journeyed on thru the darkness, very many gleams of +light as it were from innumerable human habitations. These points of +light were, of course, fire flies, so called, or certain +phosphorescent bugs which at that time were very numerous because of +the abundant grass prevailing everywhere. At length one of the +passengers remarked in evident astonishment! "This country must be +very thickly populated, judging by the many lights we see"! When +daylight came, however, the lights and most of the supposed +inhabitants had utterly disappeared.</p> + +<p>It may be of some interest to the new and coming generations to take a +look at the country around Turkey Creek as it greeted the curious gaze +of these new comers of forty years ago on that first morning of their +arrival. Most of the friends who brought them out from town and +distributed them for temporary shelter were settled on the Turkey +Creek bottom and located about where they or their dwellings are now. +Farthest north up the valley was John Rye, then Halvor Hinseth, next +Steingrim Hinseth, I. Fagerhaug, Ole Solem and Jens Eggen, in order as +named. But back of the creek bottom where these earliest homesteaders +had located <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>was the far stretching open prairie—a sea of waving +grass—with a lonely dug-out only here and there and vast stretches of +"no man's land" between.</p> + +<p>There were no regular highways, only some trails winding their way +over the endless grass, in some general direction, but with many +crooks and turns to avoid a hill, ravine or slough. These sloughs, or +small lakes, were very numerous and of considerable size and depth in +those days. There is today many a waving field of corn and grain where +we boys of the first generation of settlers once launched our home +made boats, hunted ducks, swam and occasionally came near drowning.</p> + +<p>The best travelled of the trails in the part of the country we are +describing was the old territorial trail called the Sioux Falls Road. +This angled in a north-easterly direction all the way from Yankton to +Sioux Falls, and many a prairie schooner could be seen moving with +stately slowness over this road, not to speak of other vehicles which +were numerous. As a boy I have seen long caravans of Indians, perhaps +twenty or thirty teams in a string, trekking over this road. When the +ruts became too deep, by reason of much travel and the action of the +water, another trail would be made close alongside the old. Thus in +places six or eight pairs of ruts, made by many wagons and feet, could +be seen side by side.</p> + +<p>There were no wire fences to mark boundaries between farms or to form +pastures in those days, and the cattle were herded far and wide. The +people in the Turkey Creek Valley herded as far as Clay Creek. The +writer of this, altho not of the earliest herd boys of the time, and +living near Turkey Creek, has taken his herd many a day to the +proximity of Clay Creek with practically open pasture all the way.</p> + +<p>I am speaking for many boys and some girls, too, of those days, boys +and girls who are fathers and mothers now, when I say that our pasture +fence was Clay Creek on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>west and Turkey Creek on the east. Not +that we were not free to go farther but that the day was not long +enough to get any farther and back again the same day.</p> + +<p>There was at this time, when our pilgrims arrived, but very little of +the ground broken up. What little there was broken was mostly on the +creek bottom, but scarcely any on the upland. And when a little later +patches of prairie were broken up in order to comply with the +homestead law requirements for getting title to the land, these +patches were usually in a draw or low-lying strip between the hills. +Thus the fields of early days were not laid out with any reference to +north or south, but their direction was determined entirely by the +hills and valleys. The little breaking which was done was done with +oxen and sometimes the direction of the field to be was determined by +the oxen themselves more than by the driver. Some wheat, corn and oats +was raised, but the main dependence of the farmer was cattle and +milking.</p> + +<p>The dwellings were of three main types. There was the dug-out, usually +in a side-hill, with a sod roof, a few studdings and boards being used +to support the roof. The walls and floor were usually the native +earth. The sod house was a more advanced and perhaps more stylish +dwelling. Closely related to the sod house was the mud house where the +walls, about two or three feet thick, were made of well tramped mud +and straw. These mud houses were at times whitewashed and were both +comfortable and sightly. As for comfort in the cold winter the dug-out +and sod house were not so bad when properly built. But do not imagine +that they were equal to your furnace-heated, modern house. They were, +after all, a temporary hole in the ground to preserve life until +houses could be had. A house made of lumber was a luxury which many an +early settler had to look forward to for many a hard, long year, and +often he had to die in the dug-out or sod shanty. Finally, there was +the story-and-a-half frame house of two or three rooms <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>with a +possible lean-to. This type of house put one in the class of the most +well-to-do; and such a habitation was the hope and dream of years for +many a pilgrim mother of those days.</p> + +<p>We have turned aside from our main narrative for a look at the country +as it appeared to our band of pilgrims as they looked about them on +that first morning of their arrival in the Turkey Creek Valley. And +the view was not all that they had hoped for. What could these +men—farmers and men of trades—do in this howling wilderness of +grass, grass and nothing but grass? Yes, there was something +else—mosquitoes—and oh, how they stung! Also flies, and how +incessantly and mercilessly they attacked the fair soft skin of these +pilgrims from the Norseland! Finally, there was the heat, which +literally took the fair skin off their faces in flakes and put on a +tan which made them almost unrecognizable.</p> + +<p>Moreover, what could these shoemakers, masons, painters or even +farmers do here? Shoes were bought; houses were of sod or earth and +needed no paint; years would be required to make cultivated fields out +of this sea of grass, and meanwhile they and their families must +somehow live.</p> + +<p>The kind hosts did all they could to encourage and make comfortable +the newcomers, sharing with them what accommodations they had. But we +must remember that these first comers had not been here long +themselves. The dwellings were small, without cooling porches, and in +summer necessarily hot, and they had no screens to protect the inmates +from the blood-thirsty fly and mosquito. So there was but little rest +or comfort by day or night, especially for those unused to these +conditions. This together with the unaccustomed food, which at first +completely upset them, made some of the newcomers very discouraged +with the new country.</p> + +<p>One of these "blue" ones said to Father soon after their arrival: "Do +you suppose you will ever get your <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>money back which you loaned us for +our passage?" "That," replied father, "I do not know. But this I do +know, that now I have no money either to take myself or any of you +back again." "Then," rejoined the first one, "if now I could stand on +the highway where we started, even with nothing but a shirt on my +back, I should be the happiest man alive." Another said: "There is not +even grass here such as one can cut with a scythe and, as for land I +shall have none of it." And in his case it became so. He never +homesteaded and later worked at his trade in Yankton and Sioux City, +where he died many years later.</p> + +<p>Father tried to take a brighter view and to cheer those complaining +ones and said to Iver Sneve, who had just expressed the wish to be +back on the old sod: "In three years you will be butchering your own +pork, raised on your farm in this new land." Then Iver broke out into +his characteristically loud, uproarious laughter, full of incredulity +and almost scorn, and said: "Berhaug Rise, I have up till this time +considered you a man of sense and good judgment, but now I am +compelled to believe that your mind's eye is shimmering. I cannot even +<i>keep alive</i> for <i>three years</i> in this man-consuming wilderness. +Unless some one takes pity on me and helps me to return home, the +flies and mosquitoes alone will have finished me before that time. Oh, +that some of us older men could have had sense enough to return even +when we were as far as England," he added. This is a sample of many +conversations, and these expressions were by no means uttered as jokes +either. Nevertheless, this Iver Sneve lived some 35 years after this +conversation and was worth $25,000.00 when he died.</p> + +<p>However, these people were here and, with all bridges burned behind +them, they realized that mere lamentations would not meet the +situation. Something must be done to live and to keep their families, +here or in the old country, as was the case with some, alive. So in a +few days a party of the younger men set out afoot toward the present +site <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>of Parker to seek work on the railroad which was just being +extended from that point westward toward Mitchell. They found work +with shovel and pick. But ten hours a day, in the hot sun and with an +Irish boss over them to see that these implements kept constantly +moving, was no soft initiation for these fair skinned men just out of +a much colder climate. However, with true Norse and immigrant grit +they "stuck it out" and earned a little money before the first winter +of 1880-1 came on.</p> + +<p>Berhaug Rise and Halvor Hevle, by the help of the good neighbors, got +some lumber hauled from Vermilion, the latter for a dug-out and the +former for a frame house 14 × 16 and 12 feet high. This house was +built by John Rye and is still standing in the old homestead after +nearly forty years. In this house made of one thickness of drop siding +and paper, we spent the terrible snow winter of 80-81. It was the +winter of the great blizzard which came in the middle of October. And +the deep snow never left until nearly the middle of April, when the +big flood of 1881 resulted. Luckily Father had filed without ever +seeing it, as also Grandma, on some land traversed by deep ravines. +There had been heavy hardwood timber in these ravines, but it was now +cut, with nothing left but young shoots—brush—and great stumps, some +4-6 feet in diameter. These stumps formed the winter's fuel, as also +most of the winter's work. With such a house it became necessary to +keep the stove about red hot in cold weather to have any comfort and, +of course, everything froze solid during the nights. But if it had not +been for the old oaken stumps and the warm woolen clothes we had +brought with us, it is hard to see how we could have survived that +first winter. Much better off, as far as the cold was concerned, were +those who had a good dugout. But by a sort of special dispensation of +providence there was no sickness requiring a doctor in our family or +in the neighborhood. And this was well, for doctors were far <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>away and +expensive to get. We children waded and coasted in the deep snow, +getting hands and feet thoroly wet, but never had a better time in our +lives, as far as I can recall. There was yet no public school in that +neighborhood, so there was lots of time for play—mostly coasting down +the surrounding hillsides.</p> + +<p>A word ought also to be said about the outbuildings, if we may call +them such, for they were typical of what many others had. The stable, +for three cows and two ponies, was an excavation in the side hill. The +hill formed the full wall on the upper side and part of the wall on +the other sides, the rest being filled in with straw, hay or sod. Over +these walls was thrown brush with a little frame work of supports +underneath, and then the whole was covered with hay or straw. For a +door, in our case, Father took a bush, covered with an entanglement of +grape vines, set it in the doorway and piled hay against it. This +last, however, was an emergency measure as the notorious blizzard of +1880 above referred to, broke upon us before the structure was quite +finished. But as there were many emergency appliances in those days, +of every kind, this one was nothing out of the ordinary.</p> + +<p>The place where the two pigs were kept was built on the same plan, +only that it was divided into two stories—the chickens having roosts +over the pigs. But this combination did not prove a success, for +whenever the chickens fell down or ventured down to their room mates +below, they were eaten up by the pigs.</p> + +<p>Perhaps a word should also be said about two of the inmates of the +stable, for they also were common types of those and even much later +times. These were two Texas ponies which Father and Halvor Hevle had +purchased out of a herd driven to Yankton. After picking their choices +out of the herd in a large corral, and paying $20.00 apiece for their +choices, the men in charge lassoed the animals and turned them over to +the new owners, at the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>end of a fairly long new rope. It was well +that the ropes were new and fairly long, for it took three days of +both brave and skilled maneuvering to get these wild animals of the +plains to the home of their new masters. And the masters were +certainly tired and not over-enthusiastic over their new horse power +when they at last arrived. Matters were not so serene as could be +wished while these little savages were being picketed outside. But +when winter came and the animals which had never known any roof lower +than the blue sky, nor walls more confining than the far-flung +horizon, were to be quartered in a hole in the ground, real excitement +began. Whenever any one ventured into the stable he would no sooner +open the door than he would see these creatures on their haunches +trying to jump thru the roof, which feat they almost succeeded in +accomplishing. At first it was a problem how to get near enough to +tend to them. The hay could be poked down the roof to where their +heads ought to be, but the water was not so easy. In spite of +precaution they "got the drop" on Father once I recall, and he was in +bed for some time, but lucky to escape with his life. It should be +said to their credit, however, that by the help of Lars Almen, above +referred to, they were in due time subdued and served many years, and +faithfully, according to their size and strength, with only an +occasional runaway. These wild horses filled a useful place in the +needs of these scattered beginners far from each other and from towns. +But it was after all the ox who really helped subdue the soil and lay +the foundations for farming and prosperity in general. But for the +people we are now describing real farming had not yet begun, so more +of that a little later.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER VIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">The Pioneer Mothers And Their Part In The Struggle</h4> +<br /> + +<p>What we have said of the pioneers so far has reflected for the most +part what the pioneer fathers said, did or thought. If any one should +get the impression from this seemingly one-sided treatment that +pioneer mothers bore any lesser part of the burdens and sacrifices +incident to leaving the land of their birth, and beginning all over +again the long struggle of re-establishing themselves, and that, too, +on the bare prairie where there was absolutely nothing to begin with, +such a one has been greatly misled. While the work, not to speak of +the privations and feelings of our mothers, is more difficult to +record on paper, it is not one whit less real or deserving of any less +appreciation. We can only give a few outlines picturing their part of +the life. Yet if any one has a little imagination he can easily fill +in the picture with its various tints and shades. The shadows were +often both deep and tragic.</p> + +<p>For a woman, even more than for a man, the social ties of life mean a +great deal. Our mothers left their home relations, kindred and +neighbors close around them, to be set down on a lonely prairie, cut +off from all the dear relationships of childhood and womanhood. Even +where there were neighbors, or soon came to be, they were at first +strangers and often spoke a strange tongue. So for them there were +many long days and weary years of isolation and heart hunger for those +whom they had known and loved long ago, but now could never again see.</p> + +<p>Then, too, they had left homes, some of them very comfortable homes, +where they had always had the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>necessary equipment for ordinary +housekeeping. Here for years they had to do with little and in many +lines nothing. The average newcomer's larder from which our mothers +had to get the materials for three meals a day was generally confined +to these articles: Corn meal with more or less of wheat flour, often +less, and not seldom none at all; fat salt pork, at least part of the +time; milk in considerable quantity both for cooking, drinking in +place of tea or coffee and for making a number of dishes made almost +exclusively from milk. Butter they generally had, but as that was +about the only thing they had to sell it had to be conserved and lard +or a mixture of lard and molasses used instead. There were eggs, or +came to be, but while used more or less, they, too, had to go toward +getting such few groceries as could be afforded. These were coffee, +sugar, a little kerosene for one small lamp, and last, but, for many +of the men, not least—tobacco. Now let no pink tea scion or +descendant of these men who had to be the breaking plows of our new +state, hold up lilly fingered hands of horror at this last and often +not least item in the grocery list of that day. For if you are a man +child of this stock and you had been there and then, with all the +physical discomforts of the climate, lack of suitable clothes and +food, not to speak of the frequently loathsome drinking water, you +might have felt justified in the use of a nerve sedative too. It shall +be said to their credit, too, that while most of the men of that day +used the weed, few of them used it in such beastly excess as is often +seen today. But rightly or wrongly, they thought they had to have it. +Thus Lars Almen, when he arrived at Yankton, had 50 cents in money +left. He started to invest that last mite of the family resources in +tobacco. His wife remonstrated, saying it would be more fitting to get +a few provisions such as they could all partake of. The ever undaunted +Lars replied: "If I have tobacco I know I can do something or other to +make us a living, but if I have no tobacco I can do <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>nothing". So he +bought tobacco, and he also made good on the "living." Forgetting, +then, the last named item in on the list of staple provisions, we find +that salt pork, usually fried, corn meal in some form, such as mush or +bread, more or less of wheat flour and milk or some dish made out of +milk in whole or part, were the resources out of which our pioneer +mothers had to provide three palatable meals a day, summer and winter. +This is not saying that these materials were always abundant, but +rather that it was these or nothing. There were, of course, special +occasions when a little pastry in the shape of home made cookies or +fried cakes was on the table, but cake and pie and such like luxuries +were not often seen the first years.</p> + +<p>The fuel with which to prepare this food was, for most of them, hay, +or in summer cow chips, and later on, when they began to raise corn, +corn cobs. But hay was the principal fuel, and huge piles of it were +required to do much cooking or for heating. For, as can be readily +seen, one had to keep stuffing it into the stove almost continually to +get any hot fire. Picture to yourself then a room—sod house, dugout +or a frame house about 12 × 14 which was kitchen, sitting room, +bedroom, and everything else combined. The hay, as was the case in +winter time, would cover a large part of the floor and, of course, +raise continual dust. The stove would get full of ashes in a short +time, and if the hay was damp would, of course, smoke more or less. In +such a place, with such conveniences and out of such materials, our +pioneer mothers had to solve the problem of three meals a day and do +all their other work besides. In summer, of course, it was not quite +so bad, as they usually had a lean to or cook shanty of some sort, for +use in warm weather. Is it strange that many of these women who came +to find a new and, as they supposed, a better home, found instead an +early grave, and what was worse, some even lost their minds? The men +could get away, at least to be outdoors a part of the time, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>but the +women had to live and move and have their whole being in these +surroundings and conditions. So let us not fail to speak the word of +appreciation to those of them who are still living or to cherish the +memory of those who have made their final pilgrimage. So let there be +flowers and kind words for the living and flowers and tears for the +dead. For our pioneer mothers gave more for us than we can ever know.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER IX<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">Indians As Occasional Guests And Visitors</h4> +<br /> + +<p>While still speaking of life and conditions in the Turkey Creek Valley +and surrounding country as it was during the winter of eighty and +eighty one, and even later, I ought to mention our occasional Indian +visitors. They used to travel thru that country in considerable +numbers at that time over the Sioux Falls road already mentioned. As a +boy I have seen possibly twenty or thirty teams in a single +procession. They sometimes camped near the brush bordering the ravine +which was close by our house. The women would excavate the snow, +sometimes several feet deep, and pitch the tepees, while the children +scampered around them on the snow bank. The following incident may not +be out of place as showing the heartaches and difficulties for the +Indian incident to his transition from the free life of the plains to +that of civilization. One day an Indian family consisting of a man and +wife with some children, as also an old squaw which was evidently the +grandmother of the children, camped near our house. The man and the +younger squaw were trying to boil their kettle in the camp fire while +the old squaw went out into the adjoining gulches, presumably to dig +roots or hunt. The pot did not boil very fast and Father, by signs, +invited them to come into the house and boil their pot. They seemed +perfectly willing to do this, and coming inside they sat around our +fire with the pot on the stove. But in a little while the old squaw +returned, and not seeing her children by the fire where all good +Indians would be supposed to be, she suspected something wrong and +came into the house where <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>she found her degenerate offspring located +as above described. We could not, of course, understand the words she +said, but we could easily make out that she was not complimenting them +any on their new-found quarters, for the language was very emphatic +and her face stern. She also got some immediate action. Having scolded +them soundly for forsaking the firesides and ways of their fathers to +enter the lodges of the palefaces, she snatched the kettle from the +stove and walked out followed by the now chastened son and daughter +with their children.</p> + +<p>We had many visits from the Indians and they never did us any harm. +However, I suspect that they were more welcome to us youngsters than +to our mothers who never seemed quite at ease with them.</p> + +<p>Most of those who came thru the country at that time had wagons. But +some used the travaux, consisting of two rails lashed to the saddle of +the pony, one on each side, and crosspieces behind the horse with +blankets or skins covering. The ends of the rails, of course, slid on +the ground. On this rude contrivance the Indian loaded his few +belongings, sometimes the squaw and children, and journeyed over the +country.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER X<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">The Great Snow Winter of 1880-1 and the Great Flood Of +1881—Building A Boat</h4> +<br /> + +<p>We have already referred to this winter of 80-81 as the terrible snow +winter. May we add a few words on that in order to understand what +followed in the spring.</p> + +<p>The snow, a three days' snow storm or blizzard, came on October 15th, +and the snow never left, but kept piling up without thawing out to any +extent until April. Railroad connection with the outer world, as far +as the few towns in the state were concerned, was cut off, completely +in many instances, after the 1st of January. This, of course, made +coal as well as other provisions unobtainable in many cases. The +people in some towns, as for instance Watertown, had to take what they +could find to preserve life. So many empty buildings and other +property made of wood were taken for fuel.</p> + +<p>In the outlying country places the settlers could not get to them, +even when some provisions were available. In not a few cases, too, +there was nothing to sell and no money for buying. So barred by one or +all of the circumstances, the settlers had to get along and try to +preserve life as best they could. As for the few groceries which they +might ordinarily have used, they dispensed even with them for the most +part. Many lived on corn meal, ground on the coffee mill. But there +was one privation which for many proved the "unkindest cut of +all"—tobacco. Many and sore were the lamentations because of the lack +of this one commodity and many the devices to get it. A man can <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>live +without coffee, sugar and wheat-bread, not to speak of less necessary +things, but tobacco—well, you can't do anything more to him after +that.</p> + +<p>As can easily be seen, when this vast quantity of snow began to go +out, especially going out so late in the spring, it created a flood. +Every creek became a raging river, the rivers became more like vast +moving lakes. So if communication with towns had been difficult before +it became well nigh impossible now. The whole Missouri bottom, for +instance, became one vast and roaring sea, coming up to the bluffs of +the present Mission Hill and Volin. But yet, can such a little thing +as fourteen miles of roaring water and floating debris stand between a +man and his tobacco, or a woman and her cup of coffee, especially when +the latter is the only thing approaching a luxury that she has? No! By +the shades of all our Viking ancestors, No! After looking over their +possible resources of men and materials for the undertaking of defying +the angry flood, they found that Ole Solem, who then lived on Turkey +Creek, had a few remnants of lumber. They also found that Anders Oien +had had a little experience in boat building, and Ole Johnson was an +ex-fisherman and thus could row a boat if they had one. So with the +help of those mentioned and others, such as Ingebricht Fagerhaug, who +was a carpenter, and Steingrim Hinseth, the boat was built. It was +crude, of course, and leaky, yet counted seaworthy because the +situation was getting desperate. It should be said in fairness that +mere personal and private needs were not the only motive with these +men. For instance, some of the leaders of this enterprise, like Solem +and Fagerhaug, had no need or use for tobacco, but needing other +things and realizing the general needs they joined with heart and +hand.</p> + +<p>When the craft was finished Steingrim Hinseth hauled the boat and the +men, Ole Solem, Ingebricht Fagerhaug, Thore Fossem and, I believe, Ole +Johnson, to the foot of the bluffs, a couple of miles northwest of +Volin, where the boat <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>was launched. The cargo was all that the little +craft could carry, consisting of very many different parcels of butter +and some eggs. These, belonging to many different parties and being +the only things they had to sell, were to be exchanged for a few +necessities such as mentioned above.</p> + +<p>When the cargo was all in and the crew embarked there was about two +inches left of the boat above the water line and the boat a little +leaky besides. But with true Viking spirit they struck out over the +twelve or fourteen miles of angry flood towards Yankton. There they +were able to do the necessary shopping for the whole neighborhood, and +in three days from the time of starting they were back without mishap +and all errands carried out. It goes without saying that they were +welcomed by the many expectant ones in the whole neighborhood and that +there was great rejoicing on the part of both men and women, for the +women got their coffee and the men got—well—whatever was coming to +them.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER XI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">Beginning Their Real Struggle With The Earth</h4> +<br /> + +<p>The long and memorable winter of '80-'81 had at last come to an end. +The resulting flood, too, as in the time of Noah, at length subsided, +and now our new comers must begin their first real struggle with the +earth in the new land. Without tools or draught animals, and even any +knowledge of farming conditions on this new soil, and without means to +buy tools, this struggle became for many both hard and prolonged. They +had had during the winter their baptism in self-denial and privation. +They were now to learn further that while the new land might possibly +flow with milk and honey, yet if it was to flow for them, they would +have to do the milking and gather the honey.</p> + +<p>As an illustration of how the struggle in subduing the soil began for +these people, may I again refer to my Father as an illustration of +many others. I refer to him merely because I can recall these +circumstances better in his case than in that of others and, also +because the experiences of others were similar and in many cases much +worse.</p> + +<p>He had hired a man to break five acres the first summer. This was an +ordinary amount of plow land, largely because the government required +this much to be broken in order to comply with the homestead +regulations. During the winter he had made a small harrow and in the +spring sowed most of this ground to wheat and tried the best he could +to harrow it with the ponies already mentioned. The year was not very +favorable, as I can recall it, and with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>such equipment the results +can be surmised. I do not recall just what they were, but I am quite +sure we did not eat much wheat flour the following winter. He had one +acre of corn, which he worked with the hoe. He bought, like most of +the others, or, rather went into debt for, a pair of steers that +spring. These he, with the help of Lars Almen, who worked together +with him, as also Halvor Hevle, tried to "break" for work purposes. +These animals proved themselves notoriously stubborn and fractious and +made their drivers earn most of what they got out of them in the way +of work. This, however, may have been due to the inexperience of the +drivers. For, as already said, the ox, next to the cow, was the +beginner's best friend, and without him it is hard to see how the +pioneers could have gotten along at all. To be sure, some of these +animals did not take kindly to the yoke and many were the scrapes they +got their owners into, running away and breaking up both wagons and +tools. Yet when you consider the lot of the ox you cannot be too hard +on him for his occasional bad humor. As a boy I have driven him many a +day, and often lost my patience with him, for which I now humbly +apologize. We worked him on the plow, both stubble and breaking plow, +drag, stoneboat and the heaviest work that was to be done. At noon or +night we unyoked him and let him go to get a little grass or hay for +himself. No oats for him, only the long kind you administer with a +whip; no thanks to him when the long, hot day of pulling a breaking +plow at last is done, but very likely a parting kick. We have not +given the ox his well-earned place among the foundation builders of +our land, and I propose that even at this late date we should repent +and build in South Dakota a monument to the ox, our early, faithful +and indispensable friend.</p> + +<p>The first few years after arriving were required by our pioneers for +making temporary shelters for themselves and their few animals; also +in providing some way of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>obtaining the bare necessities of life while +they could lay the foundations for a larger prosperity and more +comforts. As already indicated, the first resource and dependence for +getting a little money was eggs, butter and hay. These commodities +were sold to get the few groceries and small necessities which they +could not well do without. Some of the men worked out to supplement +their meager income.</p> + +<p>By 1885, roughly speaking, these hardy men really began to wrestle +with the soil in earnest and thus make possible something more than a +bare existence. From about '83 to '90 a picturesque and ever recurring +scene, when spring and early summer came, was the breaking rig moving +slowly but majestically over the long furrows. There were from four to +six oxen to each plow and most generally it took two men to hold the +plow and keep the oxen in the straight and narrow way. The country I +am describing was very stony and there was many a hard lift and aching +back before these stones could be pried out of the ground and hauled +away sufficiently to make breaking possible. Even after spending many +weeks at this clearing work there would still be many stones left +which the plow would strike with such violence as to almost fell the +man at the handles. With the plow out of the ground and the load +suddenly lightening the oxen would make the most of this relief by +starting on a trot so that often the plow could not be gotten back +into the sod for a rod or two. Two neighbors would often go in +together in breaking, each furnishing one yoke of oxen.</p> + +<p>This sod would be put into corn or flax the first season and the next +into wheat. The returns were generally quite meager compared with what +that ground is producing now. But even a little meant much then. +Drought was the principal drawback. Then, too, these early beginners +did not have the modern machinery either for putting in, harvesting or +threshing grain, and this fact was also a large cause for small +yields. However, they kept on breaking up a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>little more each year, +and after a few years the ground was subdued enough to begin to raise +corn and consequently hogs. The beef cattle as a source of income had +been good earlier, but the price of cattle went so low during this +period that there was not much inducement. Then, too, as the country +came to be settled and broken there was less possibility of keeping +herds of cattle. I recall that during this depression in the latter +eighties good milch cows sold for $10.00-$15.00 and other cattle in +proportion. Of course, in the panic or notorious depression of 93-4, +even grain and hogs went down with everything else. Corn was sold for +eight cents per bushel and wheat as low as 35-40 cents. But generally +speaking, in the period we are describing, when these path-finders +were laying the foundations for permanent homes and farm equipment, +corn and hogs became their corner stone of prosperity, with milk and +butter a close second.</p> + +<p>There arose an industry in the latter '90's which came to be of +considerable economic importance—the creamery. These men at first +located a considerable distance away and the cream had to be +transported in hired wagons. Some of these creameries "failed" and +left the farmers to whistle for their long expected and much needed +cream checks. Later a co-operative creamery was organized and +successfully operated by Sven Vognild on the S. Hinseth place. This +was the first real co-operative enterprise in the vicinity.</p> + +<p>Returning to early farm conditions, we find that for several years +many of the new settlers did not have enough grain to have a +threshmachine on the place, but hauled what little they might have to +some nearby machine.</p> + +<p>As can be seen, there was not much grain to be sold for some time for +these farmers. Butter and eggs, and, a little later, cattle, were the +chief products which could bring a little ready money. To this should +be added hay, which many hauled to Yankton with oxen, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>getting +$2.50-$3.00 per ton. Even at this price, and with such slow +transportation, this hay traffic was for many the chief source of any +money, and some spent most of the fall and winter months at this work +when travel was possible.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER XII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">A Bird's Eye View of the Country as it Appeared In 1800-3</h4> +<br /> + +<p>We ought, at this point, to make a visit around the neighborhood as it +appeared from '81-'83 and even much later. Beginning in the Turkey +Creek Valley, we have already indicated the half dozen families which +had located there in the early seventies. As we have spoken in another +chapter of this earlier wave of pioneer immigrants, I shall pass them +by now as also those of that same group who had settled to the south, +toward what is now Volin.</p> + +<p>Berhaug Rise moved his living house from where it was first placed, +viz., one quarter mile west of Ole Solem's, to about one mile west, +that is, from the creek bottom at the junction of the ravines which +traversed the place from east to west, to the higher land at the head +of these ravines.</p> + +<p>To the southwest of our place, about a mile distant, was John Johnson, +who had settled there in '74 and lived in a log house. To the west one +mile was Ole Johnson, who had filed in '79 and was living in a dugout +with his family. Another mile or so still farther southwest was Peter +Moen, also living in a dugout and having a considerable family. Then +going back to Ole Johnson and going north were Peter Johnson, Jonas +Vaabeno, Ole Liabo, and John Moene. To the east of Peter Johnson there +was in 1880 a man by the name of Roser who, however, left about that +time. All of these, as far as I remember, lived in dugouts, with the +exception of the first named, who lived in a loghouse.</p> + +<p>Going from five to six miles to the northwest of this Turkey Creek +settlement, we find another group of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>pioneers, some of whom had come +before 1880 and others a little later. We can mention a few. There was +Cornelius Nilsen, Albert Boe, Peter, Albert, and O.O. Gorseth; O. +Lokken; Steen Bakke, Mrs. Mary Boe, the Simonson Brothers—Halvor and +Ole. Also Asle Mikkelson. There may have been others, but these +comprise practically all who were there at that time. The sons and +daughters of many of these are either on the old places or in the +vicinity to this day. Of course, some have moved away to other parts. +Most of these pioneers are still living, but no longer in the +dug-outs.</p> + +<p>Going west to what was called the West Prairie, about six miles, could +be found H. Hagen, the Gustads, Stoems, Skaaness and others. These had +come in the earlier wave of immigration which we have mentioned +already, i.e. in the early '70's or later '60's.</p> + +<p>Going back to our starting point near Turkey Creek and going south, +after passing John Johnson already mentioned, we find next the +Lawrence place, now owned by Mr. Axlund; then Hans Dahl, followed in +order by Haldo Sether, Ole Bjerke, Lars Aaen and the Hoxeng Brothers, +both of them then living on the old home place now occupied by Thore +Hoxeng. There were, of course, others scattered on either side of this +line of settlers, but these were a sort of land marks in the early +eighties.</p> + +<p>Finally, going some eight miles north from our starting point, we find +these: Thore Fossem and Iver Sneve of our original party and a few +others like Ole Brunswick, Ingebricht Saatrum and John Rye, whom we +have already mentioned, and J. Larsen. The next to the last named and +a few others had settled in that vicinity before 1880. Here should +also be mentioned the Durums, Baks, Snoens, Ressels, Grudts, and Lees. +The old homesteaders of this group too, have for the most part found a +last resting place in the neighborhood cemetery. Their children, +however, are in most cases to be found on the old place or near by.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>I am conscious that this rough sketch of our neighbors and neighboring +settlements of 1880-'1 is far from complete. Yet it gives a fair idea +of the population over the prairie there at that time. There were +magnificent distances between neighbors and settlements. Yet there was +often more neighborliness and sociability than in later years. We +needed each other then, in fact could not well get along without +helping and being helped in various ways by one another. Now we can +help ourselves or rather think we can. But really we cannot, and if we +of the newer generations lose the old neighborliness we shall be +poorer and unhappier in our steam heated, electric lighted houses and +swift speeding automobiles than they were with their earth cellars and +ox teams and lumber wagons. So let us cherish and keep alive the old +neighborly kindness and great-hearted hospitality. Practically all +these early settlers at first lived in a one-room dwelling, seldom +over 12 × 14 or 16, and this dwelling was in most cases a dugout. Yet +in spite of this fact and of having large families of their own to +accommodate, the traveler or stranger was not turned out into the +night, and the visitor was always welcomed. There was always room, not +merely for one more but for half a dozen more if necessary. There +never was any lack of room then. In honor of this splendid trait of +our pioneer fathers and mothers, let us reserve a room in our big +house and, better still, in our hearts, for the occasional stranger or +friend, and in doing so we too shall find that while we may not always +have "entertained angels unawares", yet by doing so the angels have +somehow entertained us more than they otherwise could.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">The Annual Prairie Fires—The Terror Of The Settlers</h4> +<br /> + +<p>During this decade of getting the ground ready and gradually getting +an equipment for real farming there was one great enemy which was a +continual menace and terror to the homesteaders—the semi-annual +burning of the prairie. From times immemorial, before the White +settler came, the prairie fire had stalked in majestic splendor over +the vast and boundless sea of grass, covering this and adjoining +states, licking up with his red and cruel tongue everything before him +and leaving a barren desolation behind him. Sometimes set by the +lightning, or Indians, or the campfire of the early explorer or +trader, this fire, driven by the wind, would meander back and forth +over the prairie for days and weeks until rain or a considerable +stream might at last stay his stride.</p> + +<p>With the first influx of the settler the fire menace greatly +multiplied, for not understanding the nature of this menace, they +themselves unintentionally set many of these fires. Thus there came to +be a fairly certain expectation on the part of the homesteaders of a +visit from this monster twice a year—spring and fall—unless he made +a clean sweep in the fall, which was not generally the case.</p> + +<p>As a boy I recall waking up at night and seeing a strange glare +against the window, and upon looking out, I saw a great wave of fire, +a moving wall of flame, pass by our house and going on to the south.</p> + +<p>Let me give a brief sketch of one of these fires, well remembered by +the old settlers and reported to me by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>H.B. Reese, who was then old +enough to be out with the men on the fire fighting line. I give it +largely in his own words.</p> + +<p>It was Good Friday, 1887. In the morning we noticed smoke in the +northwest. There was also a strong wind from that direction. There had +just previously been several days of wind as also sunshine, so +everything was dry as tinder. We knew at once what the black flag, +hoisted to the sky in the northwest meant. It meant a challenge from +the Fire King to come out and fight for our own and our neighbors' +homes—buildings, stock and everything we had that could burn. We +hurriedly got our weapons of sacks and water ready and started out to +meet the giant and offer him all the resistance we could. But our +antagonist was terribly swift as well as strong, and when we reached +Jonas Vaabeno's place, three miles to the northwest, he had already +done his terrible work, making a clean sweep of all out-buildings, +mostly made of hay or straw, as also of the dugout which served for a +dwelling. Where the stable had stood were the remnants of some +half-burnt cattle. We hurried on to Peter Johnson's, but the Fire +Demon was victorious and took everything except the dugout dwelling. +The same fate was dealt out to Ole Liabo farther north. We were now +driven back on our own home premises, and after desperate efforts we +saved our buildings, but, of course, had to surrender everything not +on the premises where the buildings were, such as trees, hay, etc. +When night came and we could return to the house we just threw +ourselves flat on the floor completely exhausted, not having tasted +food during the whole day.</p> + +<p>Next day, looking out over the country to the northwest, we could see +very little except a vast desolation—how far no one seemed to +know—of blackened prairie, dotted with many ashpiles which in many +cases, as tho they were tombstones, marked the graves of all the +settlers' material possessions except the land and a few cattle. It is +a puzzle to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>know how they managed to keep these cattle with the +prairie burned off, but they did. Not only that, but tho sorely tried, +yet not broken in will or spirit, they borrowed money, even at +outrageous interest rates, rebuilt their temporary shelters and began +the struggle once more from the bottom up.</p> + +<p>The last and most terrible of all the fires, as far as known, swept +over that country only two years later, 1889. As the writer of this +was old enough to be an active participant in connection with this, I +recall it vividly. The day was in early spring and began very hazy +with so much smoke in the atmosphere that one could not see much +beyond half a mile. There was a strong wind from the northwest, such +as was common in spring in those days, and the prairie grass was +thoroly dried out and very abundant. This condition, however, was not +unusual in the spring of the year. On coming out after dinner I +noticed that the haze or smoke seemed thicker toward the northwest +than in other directions. On looking more closely I soon saw whirls of +smoke rolling up toward the sky. I immediately gave the alarm, and +every one at the house, including mother, rushed out to meet the foe. +We did not have to go far before we met him, and so swiftly did he +come that in our hasty retreat toward the house Mother was very nearly +overcome by the smoke and heat. Fortunately there was a piece of +plowed ground near by where she was able to find safety and lie down +until sufficiently recovered to go on to the house. Then we all took +our stand, some hauling water, others fighting at the front. There was +a strip of plowed ground, or fire break, around the place, but the +terrific wind continually threatened to carry the fire across, now at +one point, now at another. Moreover, some barn manure had been spread +on this plow land, and this, taking fire and blowing everywhere in the +terrific wind, made our situation quite desperate for a while. +However, we at last won to the extent of saving the buildings. This +fire, together with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>one which raged next day, when the wind was +still more terrific, did enormous damage, burning out, in part or +whole, even some of the older settlers, such as James Hoxeng and +others. The town of Volin was almost completely destroyed. Some who +had suffered loss in the previous fire were again burned out in part +or whole, and the grass, as was the case after such a fire, was +damaged for years to come. Many are the stories of narrow escapes in +saving their homes and even their lives told by the old timers in +connection with these fires. Sometimes there would be a whole company +of women and children out on the middle of a plowed field, having fled +there as the only refuge.</p> + +<p>In every new country the Fire King, as tho endowed with a dramatic +instinct, seems to end his performances with a grand climax. So here +this was the last prairie fire of any consequence in that part of the +country. King Corn from now on began to reign and the Fire King had to +abdicate his immemorial sway and boundless dominions.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">The Great Blizzard Of 1888</h4> +<br /> + +<p>Even at the risk of seeming to chronicle too many of the hardships and +afflictions of those times, I feel that I cannot leave this decade of +our pioneer life without referring to the great blizzard of Jan. 12th, +'88, for that, too, is a landmark and one which brings sad memories to +many a South Dakotan of those years. The writer was merely a young boy +then, yet the experience of that storm is very vivid in my mind.</p> + +<p>The day opened bright and very mild, almost thawing, with no +premonition that it held in store untold suffering, terror and death +to man and beast, such as no other day has held for South Dakota. +There was considerable loose snow on the ground, but the day being +exceptionally pleasant up till noon and after, men were out on their +various errands of going to town, hauling hay or other out-door +occupations. The cattle, too, taking advantage of the mild day, were +in the corn stalks and generally had scattered out some distance from +the buildings. It being shortly after noon when the storm struck, many +cattle were being taken to water, which in those days was often a +considerable distance from the stables.</p> + +<p>Suddenly and without the slightest warning, upon this peaceful +unsuspecting scene, the storm burst forth in all its deadly fury. The +wind having suddenly whipped around to the northwest, the temperature +fell in a very short time as much as 60 and 70 degrees. The wind +coming at the rate of about 60 miles an hour, picked up the loose snow +and whipped it into a fine powder, rushed over the prairie as it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>were +a rapidly moving wall of snow and fine particles of ice. Thus the air +was so thick with fine snow, driven along by the furious storm, that +it became very difficult to breathe and almost impossible to open +one's eyes even for a moment. This choking, blinding effect of the +storm soon exhausted either man or beast and, of course, all sense of +direction was lost. Thus it seems probable that many of the victims +were at first choked into exhaustion before they froze to death.</p> + +<p>Many narrow escapes are told of that day. But there were also many who +narrowly missed finding a shelter and never lived to tell their +experiences. Some lost their way even between house and barn, and some +were found frozen only a few rods from the house they had tried to +find, but in vain. This was the case with two girls to the east of our +place, who in going out to look for a younger brother never came back +but were found frozen to death a short distance from the house. My +younger brother Sivert and I were at the barn when the storm struck. +We did the best we knew how for the cattle, Father being absent at a +neighbor's and then we started for the house. We were only a short +distance from the house and there was also a small building between, +but even then we had to pause before starting out and take definite +aim from where we were and then run, as we say, "for dear life". We +reached the house to the great relief of Mother, who had become very +anxious about us by that time.</p> + +<p>The storm raged with merciless and demon-like destructiveness all that +afternoon and all thru that night, with the temperature getting colder +as the hours slowly rolled by. What terror and suffering the hours of +that afternoon and fearful night brought to many, no one will ever +know. There were those out in the storm, fighting desperately hour by +hour with death, and in most cases only to find themselves rapidly +nearing complete exhaustion. Then came the gradual numbness of all the +sensibilities, followed by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>nature's merciful growing unconsciousness +as drowsiness and sleep crept upon them and they at last stumbled over +in the snow not to rise again. But tho the many tragedies and +sufferings out in the open prairie that dreadful night were beyond +words or imagination, yet scarcely less was the suffering of fathers, +mothers and relatives of the lost ones who were utterly helpless in +most cases even to attempt a rescue. These latter, as they listened to +the merciless storm all thru that night, almost had a taste of the +agonies of the lost world—if such a thing can be in this world. For +in many cases their waiting thru the night was utterly without hope. +If they knew their loved ones were caught by the storm some distance +from the house, they also knew that there could be no hope. So they +could only follow them in thought and imagination out there in the +storm and the darkness as they were fighting their unequal and losing +fight with the cruel, relentless storm. But even those who were in +uncertainty as to the exact whereabouts of members of their families, +like parents who had children in school, scarcely suffered less, for +they had no assurance but that theirs, too, might be out there in the +storm, and in many cases their worst fears proved to be the fact.</p> + +<p>However, as all things come to an end, so this night of nights. The +storm let up somewhat toward morning, and the new day at last came on, +gray and terribly cold. The snow everywhere as far as eye could see +lay piled up in great drifts. The prairie, especially near farm +houses, was in many places dotted with frozen cattle, and other cattle +still alive. There were over the country thousands and thousands of +these cattle either already dead, dying or badly frozen. But worst and +saddest of all, there were in this state and adjoining parts of Iowa, +Minnesota and Nebraska, over two hundred men, women and children +scattered around, singly or in groups, in the snow. Some were found +sitting; some lying as tho in their last step they had stumbled +forward on their face exhausted. Some even standing and, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>it were, +about to take one more step when the end had come. Not strange that +January 12, 1888, is the most memorable and terrible date in all the +world's story to many a settler whose loved ones were out in the storm +that fearful night and who never came back.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER XV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">When The Fathers And Mothers Of Today Were Boys And Girls</h4> +<br /> + +<p>We have spoken of the men and the women who broke the ground and +prepared the way for the prosperity and comforts we enjoy today. It +would be unfair not to mention the part which the boys and girls also +bore in this struggle with raw nature, poverty and many +discouragements. In the early spring, as soon as seeding was well +under way, the boys—and often, when there was no available boy on the +place, the girls—had to keep vigilant watch of the cattle, and this +thruout the long summer until the corn was all out. There were no +"pastures" or wire fences in the early eighties. This meant for most +boys that, either at home or away from home, they had to be out on the +prairie with the cattle beginning with early spring and ending late in +the fall, from early morning until night, rain or shine, and not even +a Sunday off, or at least very seldom. The food we carried for our +dinners would, of course, get mussed, stale and unpalatable, being +carried around all day and exposed to the hot sun. The water, or +whatever we carried to drink, would become even less palatable and +often scarce. Often in our extreme thirst we would drink out of the +sloughs or stagnant lake beds. Then in the spring and fall we would +frequently have a cold, drizzling rain continuing all day and often +soaking us to the skin as there was no shelter, and raincoats were +almost unknown. Every step we would take thru the wet grass the water +would churn in our shoes and we had to keep going, for the cattle were +generally restless at such times and insisted on starting off in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>directions where lay the plowed land or hayland which must be guarded.</p> + +<p>Where there was no boy in the family, girls had to do this job, for +the cattle had to be herded. For them, as can readily be seen, this +job was even more difficult than for the boys, being impeded in their +chase after the cattle by their skirts dragging in the tall, wet +grass. Not strange that some of them sacrificed their health and +future in this task. Of course, when, as in the case of most girls, +they were at home, they would generally be relieved for at least part +of the day. But even half a day was long under those conditions.</p> + +<p>But let it not be inferred that we boys, and the girls, too, had no +good times during those long summer days. The sun shone anyway most of +the time, and we made the most of our opportunities while the sun +shone. We boys hunted gophers, digging them out or drowning them out +if near a pond; we dug Indian turnips in the spring and picked grapes, +plums and berries in their season if we could get to them; built stone +houses or caves; waded or swam in the sloughs or creeks; fished; +fought snakes and skunks and sometimes one another. We traded jack +knives, which were our chief valuables and consequently a standard +medium of exchange; we braided long, long whips made from old boot +legs or even willow bark; we broke young steers to ride on, at least +attempted to, and sometimes they in turn nearly broke our necks by +bucking and throwing us off; we concocted special modes of terrible +punishment for exasperatingly troublesome members of our flocks. Much +of the time, however, we could not get together or, as we said, "herd +together". Then time passed more slowly and we had lots of time to +think and even to brood over our job, which we considered about the +worst there was in the world. However, with all its drudgery and +sometimes loneliness and hardship, our job was a good preparation for +the jobs that lay ahead of us.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">Religious Movements And Workers Among These People</h4> +<br /> + +<p>We have mentioned Reverends Nesse, Graven and Eielsen as pioneers in +laying the foundations for the Church in these settlements. Among +those who gave many years of service in the formative period of church +development should also be mentioned Rev. Carlson, who followed +Graven, who wrought for many years and at last found his resting place +near one of the churches he had so long served. We cannot refrain from +offering, altho a far too inadequate tribute, to one who has given the +years of her life for the brightening and bettering of the lives of +others; one who, altho not a pastor, yet as one pastor's devoted +daughter and equally devoted as the wife of a succeeding pastor, gave +the years of her young womanhood as well as the maturer years of her +life to the service of these people—Mrs. C.T. Olberg, nee Carlson. +For many years as a teacher in the parochial schools and continuously +as a worker in the various activities of the church, especially among +the younger people, and later as the pastor's wife, going in and out +among the people, she has exerted an ennobling, Christianizing +influence which only the angels of God and the far-off shores of +eternity can estimate or measure.</p> + +<p>There are many more, both men and women, lay-men and clergy, who have +labored for their Master in this region, whose names I shall not be +able to dwell upon, but whose names and records are in the Book of +Life in Heaven and also written deep in the book of human life touched +by them here on earth. Just to name two or three, there was Rev. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>Dahl +of Gayville, who has put in a lifetime there. Then among the many +visiting clergymen were Rev. G. Norbeck, Governor Norbeck's father, +and a goodly number of others, lay and clerical preachers.</p> + +<p>There were in the earlier years extensive "revivals", generally +promoted by outsiders, often of other denominations, such as these of +the middle eighties and middle nineties. There were other movements by +laymen, both Lutheran and of other denominations. There were bitter +controversies at times between the leaders of these movements, +especially those promoted by men of other denominations than the +Lutheran and the more strict adherents of the local churches. There +were also bitter doctrinal controversies between members or adherents +of the various branches of the Lutheran faith. Of the words said and +the things sometimes done on these occasions none of the participants +would be proud now, and I shall not perpetuate them by repeating what +ought to be forgotten. The word "scorpion" is not just the right +substitute for "Christian brother", but I distinctly recall that it +was thus employed even between Lutherans.</p> + +<p>Suffice it to say, there was often narrowness and intolerance on both +sides, both as between denominations and between branches of the +Lutheran Church itself. There was some good in most of these revival +efforts and there were also some features which could justly be +criticised.</p> + +<p>There could be no doubt as to the sincerity of most of these +revivalists, but being for the most part men and women of very limited +education, they sometimes lacked balance and developed some vagaries. +There were those who specialized on "Tongues" and on written +revelations performed under spiritual ecstasy. Some had "revelations" +that they should go to Africa to convert the heathen and a few +actually went, soon returning sobered and saddened in their +disappointment that the tongue gift did not enable them to understand, +or to be understood by the natives.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>Others advocated communism, baptism by immersion as indispensable to +salvation, etc. In general there was a strong prejudice against any +kind of church organization and to any regularly paid ministry. These +extreme tendencies were, of course, a natural reaction against the +evil in churches where a mechanical organization and the repetition of +dead forms were all that reminded of what should have been a living +spirit.</p> + +<p>But to some people then and even now, a religious effort was either of +God or of the devil, and consequently either wholly black or wholly +white.</p> + +<p>Then, too, when people believe, as many did and do still, that one's +immortal salvation depends more on his holding a correct intellectual +creed than on the spirit and fruits manifest in his life, it was +inevitable that discussions of mere points of doctrine or creed, +should become so intense at times as to lose wholly, for the time +being, the Christian spirit. However, we shall, in this connection, +give our pioneer fathers and first settlers credit for one great +quality: They had convictions; they knew what they believed and +believed it heart and soul. They did not, as some of this generation +seem to do, doubt their beliefs and half believe their doubts.</p> + +<p>In closing this brief outline of the religious activities of these +people, allow me to give a boy's pleasant remembrance and loving +tribute to one of the many traveling lay preachers who came to our +house and also held services around in the neighborhood. John Aalbu +and his good wife had settled near Ash Creek, Union county, in the +sixties, and having retired from active farming in the eighties, they +would drive the distance of 30-40 miles to our settlement on Turkey +Creek several times a year. We children were always glad to see them. +They had a top buggy, which in itself was of interest to us, as there +was as yet no such luxury in our neighborhood. In this buggy, among +other things, was always to be found a good sized tin can of smoking +tobacco, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>for John and his wife both smoked. This was not considered +as anything peculiar then or as objectionable on the part of the +preacher and his wife, as it might be now. Now it seems that only +women in the highest society may smoke. So amid clouds of the burning +incense they would talk theology, religion, and also give practical +hints on household and farm matters to their hosts, who were +"newcomers." Mrs. Aalbu was a woman of very good mind and keen +intellect. She would often correct a quotation from the Bible when not +quite exact and serve as mentor to her husband when he, in the course +of the service or some ritual, would forget something. It was only in +later years, however, that he became ordained and in going thru the +rituals at the various sacraments and services she was the "better +half" in fact as well as name. This was owing to her splendid memory +as also to her generally keen mind.</p> + +<p>We did not see many strangers in those days, and how much these visits +meant to us children as well as our parents! The discussions of fine +theological points were often complicated and lasted far into the +night, but we enjoyed them as well as we enjoyed our visitors. May God +bless them, their work and their memory!</p> + +<p>As an illustration of the subtlety of these discussions we might give +a few of the topics: "Which Precedes in Christian Experience, +Repentance or Faith?" "Faith or Works, Order of Precedence and +Relative Worth." "Can a Man of His Own Accord and Strength Repent?" +"Can a Christian in This Life be Wholly Sanctified?" "Free Will or +Predestination?"</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">Biographical And Autobiographical Sketches</h4> +<br /> + +<p>It has seemed best to include as a supplement to this narrative a +number of sketches of individuals. Some of these individuals are +already mentioned in the general narrative, and in such instances +these separate narratives continue the record where we left off. Then +there are some not mentioned in the general record but who belong by +every right of circumstance to this Norse immigrant group and whose +separate chronicles are of special interest and importance in view of +our general purpose. This purpose, as already stated, is to hand down +to the sons and daughters of the Norse pioneer immigrants a picture of +the men and women who faced primitive nature in this part of the new +continent and tamed it, causing the wilderness to bloom into the +present prosperous, beautiful land.</p> +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">A Daughter Settlement</h4> + +<h4>(Narrated in part by H.B. Reese)</h4> + +<p>It was a winter day of 1902 that Father said to me, "I have had a +letter from Halvor Hevle today. He wants to sell his land," he added. +"Yes, I suppose he will have no use for that now, seeing he has moved +away", I replied, and dismissed the matter from my mind. After a +pause, Father said, "I thought you might buy it." I smiled at what +seemed an absurd suggestion, for I had about a quarter of a dollar of +money about me just then and no immediate outlook for ready money. I +also knew that Father had none to lend me. So I replied: "He will have +to sell his farm without money and without pay if I am to buy it."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>Father thought for some time and finally added: "Hevle asks $1,000.00 +for his land (¼ Sec.) and half of it cash. You can get a loan of +$500.00 on it and he will be willing to take a second mortgage on the +land for the balance."</p> + +<p>Thus having nothing to risk in the deal, and moreover the idea of +owning a farm of my very own kindling my ambition and appealing to my +imagination, I readily agreed and the deal was made.</p> + +<p>There was a fairly good dug-out on the place built up of stone and +with a sod roof and board floor. The stable was of the usual kind, +straw, with a little framework of rails and posts to support the roof +and walls. But the layout seemed good to me because it was my own and +the first home founded by myself.</p> + +<p>I bought a team and broke some ground that summer, living at the old +homestead one mile south. The next spring, however, I married a wife +who consented to share the humble dwelling with me, and it became my +home. Her maiden name was Hanna Bjorlo.</p> + +<p>Soon, however, I was given to realize that in going into debt and in +founding a home of my own I had assumed new responsibilities and +burdens hitherto unknown. Thus after going into debt not only for the +land but for the necessary equipment to work it and a few household +necessities, we entered upon the year 1904 of notorious crop failures. +It was also the time of a great financial depression. So that fall, +instead of the original debt of $1,000.00, I found myself involved to +the extent of $1,700.00 with little to show for it besides putting in +two years of hard toil.</p> + +<p>In this situation of seeming failure I began to think that farming of +all occupations rewarded its devotees most stingily. A fellow gives to +it the best of his years and strength and moreover allows himself to +be tied down to a place only to be rewarded with crop failures and +ever increasing accumulations of debt.</p> + +<p>However, when one has the responsibilities of a family <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>one cannot +well run away from a situation no matter how bad, even if one were +inclined to do so, the only possible procedure seemed to be to appease +ones creditors as far as possible, get an extension of time and try +again. I sold 40 acres of my farm, being the only thing I could sell, +for $450.00. This tided us over until the next year when we hoped for +better fortunes.</p> + +<p>The next year came and brought us a better crop, but the prices were +most discouraging. In 1895-6 I sold wheat at 43-45c per bushel, flax +for 48c, corn 15-18c and oats 13c. Hogs were from $2.50 to $2.80 per +cwt; cattle were from $15.00 to $18.00 for a milch cow and $25.00 for +a three-year-old steer. These prices continued more or less for +several years. Hired help was, however, correspondingly low, being +from $15.00 to $18.00 per month during the summer months.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, after nine years of toil on this place with varying +fortunes, I was at last able to pay for the place and also to make +considerable improvements in buildings, both for the family and my +accumulation of stock. The place, in fact, was beginning to look quite +homelike, with trees and more sightly and comfortable buildings as +well.</p> + +<p>One would now expect me to feel somewhat satisfied and gradually +settled down there for the rest of my days, raising our family and +enjoying what we had or came to have. We had a nice little farm three +miles from town with our old friends, neighbors and near relatives all +around us.</p> + +<p>There is a trait in human nature which is designated by various names +according to the individual point of view. Some call it ambition, or +forward looking; others, greed, covetousness, etc. The underlying idea +seems to be a sort of discontent with one's present conditions and +attainments, no matter what they are, a sort of forever reaching out +for something greater ahead; to expand, explore new paths and to risk +in the hope of winning. Whether this trait is good <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>or otherwise, I +shall not attempt to discuss, but I do know that it is strong in most +of us and often dominating.</p> + +<p>Thus I happened to make a trip to Charles Mix county (Bloomington) in +1902. The land there was much more level and the country more open +than where we lived in Yankton county. So it looked to me to have more +advantages for farming on a large scale. Moreover, the land was +cheaper than where we were. So before returning home I had bought a +quarter section near Bloomington, and that next spring we moved unto a +rented place adjoining it.</p> + +<p>But we had not been there a year before I realized my mistake. The +level land did not produce the crop which we had anticipated, and +there was not nearly the chance for cheap pasture either that we had +been led to believe. Any free range was a thing of the past. We had a +good start in cattle now, and I began to look around for some place in +the northwest where there would be more room and more chance for this +enterprise.</p> + +<p>To understand my next move it is necessary to go back in our family +tree to another branch and its development.</p> + +<p>My brother, J.B. Reese, who had gone away to college about the time I +began my independent farming, had now entered the work of the ministry +and had been called to Wessington Springs and to care for the church +work in the surrounding country as well. On a visit home he had told +us of the cheap land and the fine opportunities in that new country, +especially for cattle. A little later he bought a section of land up +there, getting his brother S.B. and sister, now Mrs. Nysether, and +also Martin Nysether to each take one quarter with him. The land was +bought for $5.00 per acre, and as far as the three last named owners +were concerned "sight unseen".</p> + +<p>As an illustration of how seemingly small circumstances lead to great +issues in our lives, I recall the first trip I made to size up this +section of land which I contemplated buying for the parties above +mentioned and myself. It was the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>year after the last big fire, the +notorious one of 1899, I believe. The fire had seemingly burned the +very roots out of the ground, so that the little grass visible at the +time of our visit in the latter part of July, was in tufts here and +there with vacant spaces in between. As I stood on the hill, east of +the present buildings on the J.B. Reese place, the land looked so poor +and desolate that I almost lost "my nerve" as far as recommending it +to my partners for purchase, even with all the faith I had in the new +country generally. But as I stood there realizing that the whole +decision rested with me whether to buy or not, I noticed an angling +trail across the corner of the land to the northeast along which the +fire had been put out. But the thing which drew my interest +particularly was that on the other side of this trail, or where the +fire had not gone the grass was much better. This decided me. I +purchased the land mostly on credit. This led to my brother's coming +up and buying and finally moving up. His coming in turn led to the +coming of practically the whole present settlement.—Editor.</p> + +<p>In August 1902 a friend by name of Ole Sletten and myself started out +to drive overland to see this country of which we had already heard +interesting reports thru my brother. We spent the first night of our +journey at Bridgewater, and the country around there seemed good to my +partner. But when we reached Mitchell and vicinity, where the soil was +sandy and dry, so that the prairie was quite seared over, it being in +the month of August, my partner thought we might as well turn back, as +there would be no use in exploring farther into a country like that. +The grass was too short and scant. Moreover, the buildings and other +improvements along the way gave no suggestion of prosperity among the +farmers. Up thru Hutchinson county we passed a great many of the long, +low mud houses belonging to the Russian German settlers there. These, +too, were responsible for our poor impression of the northwest country +at this point.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>Nevertheless, we proceeded to Wessington Springs, where we met my +brother, J.B. Reese, who took us out the next day to see the land he +had bought and the country generally. We went out some 15-16 miles +southwest of Wessington Springs, and if the land had seemed poor to us +before, now it seemed only worse. We passed a considerable number of +empty houses which indicated that the inhabitants had been forced to +abandon the land on which these stood. It was in August and dry so +that the prairie was quite seared over. Then, too, the last big +prairie fire which ravaged this section had just gone thru a couple of +years before, destroying the greater number of the buildings on the +many abandoned homesteads and also burning the very roots out of the +ground. What grass was left, or rather roots, stood in tufts with a +big vacant space of ground between these tufts.</p> + +<p>My partner did not express himself much as to the new country, but +what he thought about it can be guessed by the fact that he wanted +none of it for his own. However, I bought a quarter section of it +adjoining the tract which J.B. Reese had already bought, before +returning home, thinking it might do for pasture. I paid less than +$5.00 per acre for it, so I felt that I could not lose much anyway.</p> + +<p>May we digress for a moment here and point out the history of the +original homesteaders of this section we are just describing, for it +is full of interest and has also not a few of the tragedies of the +prairie. This part of the state has seen more than the average of the +disappointments incident to pioneer life. It has been the grave-yard +of many bright hopes and furnished a burial place instead of a +building place for not a few pioneers of the prairie.</p> + +<p>The valley between Templeton to the north and Crow Lake to the south, +with some of the adjacent land as well, was settled mostly by people +from New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania in the early eighties. These +people had some means, according to the standards of those times; were +above the average pioneer in education and in general started in to +build homes embodying not merely necessary shelter but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>even +refinement and comforts. They planted trees, both shade and fruit +trees; also flowers and shrubs.</p> + +<p>The first years of their settlement were sufficiently wet and the +crops were correspondingly good, some getting upward of 30 bushels of +wheat per acre on the newly broken ground. This encouraged the +settlers even to going into considerable debt for equipment to carry +on larger farm operations. Land rose in value from free homesteads to +$300.00 to $500.00 per quarter. Then came the dry years of 1893-'4-'5 +and others as well of small or no crops. Not only no crop, but all the +wells dried up so there was the greatest scarcity of water for man and +beast. Many of these people were heavily in debt and it was almost +impossible to borrow any more to tide over the emergency.</p> + +<p>Then it was that the people began to stampede, as it were, going out +as many as 30-40 in one company. Some who had many obligations but few +scruples are said to have made their departure less conspicuously, +quietly creeping away between sunset and dawn and without bidding +anyone good-bye.</p> + +<p>It was these conditions of the early years and the people who ran away +from here to report their experiences far and wide which gave South +Dakota a black eye and a bad name for years to come.</p> + +<p>Yet after the great exodus, when the country was almost depopulated in +a few months, there were found a few left behind. These were generally +the ones who had had little or nothing to begin with and who now did +not have enough to go anywhere else even if they wanted to do so. +Those who were left by 1900 had gotten their second wind, as it were, +having learned to adapt themselves to the country and were getting a +start in cattle.</p> + +<p>The big fire referred to above, sweeping over the section in '99 and +destroying many of the vacated buildings, as also the remnants of +orchards and groves, completed the wiping out of the visible monuments +of the first settlers, so the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>country was nearly back again to the +primitive conditions in the early years of 1900.</p> + +<p>It was at this time (1904) that we decided to remove from Charles Mix +county to Jerauld and the vicinity just described. To move such a +distance overland with all one's belongings, including cattle, as also +a family in which were several small children, and in the treacherous +month of March, was no joy ride for any one concerned. After looking +about for a partner in this difficult enterprise, I finally made +arrangements with one, Knut Lien, to join me. He had about 40 head of +cattle and was a single man. I took with me about 60 head, so on a +morning in the early spring of 1904 my partner and I started with our +first loads for the land of wide and roomy pasture if not of still +waters. On the evening of the second day we stopped in front of the +old house on my brother's place, which was to be our future home. But +the situation which met us was not especially encouraging to tired, +cold and hungry men. The window lights were broken; the floor, too, +the house having been used for a granary, had given way. There was no +shelter for our horses and, worst of all, not a drop of water on the +place.</p> + +<p>I was, indeed, discouraged at the outlook and said to Knut: "We will +not unload. We shall rest until morning and then return." He made no +reply, and after doing what we could for our horses we lay down on the +floor to get what rest we could.</p> + +<p>However, the next day the sun shone, and with the sunshine came +renewed courage. We put some supports under the floor and unloaded our +goods into the house. Then we went on to the springs for lumber and +soon had a shed built to shelter the horses. But the lack of water was +the worst of our needs and could not quickly be met. An artesian well +had been put down the year before in anticipation of our moving, but +it did not furnish any water even with a pump and wind mill. The +shallow wells on the place, too, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>were dry. It became evident to us +why the people who had preceded us in these parts had left the +country.</p> + +<p>However, having severed our connections where we had been living, and +with our cattle to dispose of somehow, there seemed nothing to do but +to go forward. So I returned to Bloomington, and hiring a man to help +us, we started, now with all our belongings, for the new home. On the +evening of the third day, or April 17th, 1904, we reached Crow Lake. +We, ourselves, as well as the cattle, were very tired, so we camped +there for the night, the family having gone on previously to the house +we were to move into.</p> + +<p>That night a snow and sleet storm broke upon us, lasting all of the +next day. With no hay and worn out from the trip, the cattle began to +succumb. Two were left on the place, nine died during the five or six +miles which remained of the way, and still five more after arriving at +our destination. Those which survived were so exhausted that it took +them most of that summer to recover.</p> + +<p>This, then, was our first taste of the new land, and it seemed at the +time just a little bitter. My cattle dead or nearly so; nothing to do +with; everything to be done.</p> + +<p>However, during that spring we managed to get a new well sunk, 1260 +feet deep, costing $650.00. I also put in 15 acres of wheat and 18 of +barley with 90 acres of corn. Fortunately we got a good crop that +year, which we also greatly needed.</p> + +<p>At first it seemed rather isolated in those days. There were sometimes +a couple of weeks in which we did not see a human being outside of our +own family. The distance to Mr. Smith, our nearest neighbor to the +north, was three miles. To the south, four miles, were Will Hughes and +Will Horsten and also the Rendels. Then there was Mr. Gaffin and two +or three others southwest of his place. So there was room and to spare +between neighbors in those days and for some time following.</p> + +<p>From this small beginning has now grown up a fine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>neighborhood with a +good community church and congregation; rural mail delivery; phones; +modern homes, and good roads. Among those who have helped build this +splendid community should be mentioned besides those above, the Moen +families, the Aalbus; the Fagerhaugs—Iver and Arnt; the Stolen +brothers—Emericht, Olalf, and Martin; Vognild brothers; Bjorlos; +Bjerkagers; Petersons, and others. It is a matter of just pride that +out of this little group above mentioned, no less than seven young men +served in the Great War. These were Reuben Peterson, Martin Peterson, +Hugo Peterson, Ole Sneve, Martin Stolen, William Linsted, and Roy +Goffin. Two of these—Reuben Peterson and Ole Sneve—were at the +"front" for months and went thru some of the bloodiest battles of the +War.—<i>Editor.</i></p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<h4 class="sc">Looking Down The Trail To The Years Ahead</h4> +<br /> + +<p>We have followed the trail of the first immigrants for more than half +a century, from the time they left the old home until they have become +an integral part of the life of the new home of their adoption. So +marvelous has this experience been that to many it must seem almost +like a dream or fairy tale. They came out of a land of poverty and +hampering restrictions, social, political and religious. They found an +opportunity to attain a comfortable living and a chance to help at the +big job of working out a democracy. They came strangers to a strange +land, they have already come to share in every position of trust and +honor in the new land, with the exception of the presidency, including +a number of governors. They came out a comparatively small company; +they have become a multitude, there being already in this country more +people of Norse extraction than the whole population of the mother +country.</p> + +<p>As we look around us among the particular groups here described, and +see that the fourth generation from the pioneers is already coming on, +the thought comes to us: "What of these people and their descendants a +hundred years from now?"</p> + +<p>As I, in vision and imagination, put my ears to the ground of present +prophetic facts and tendencies, I hear the distant tramp of great +multitudes out of the oncoming generations. Who are these multitudes +which no man can number? They are the sons and daughters of the +immigrant, tho outwardly indistinguishable from the Mayflower product +which, too, are the descendants of immigrants. But while <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>the Norse or +Scandinavian immigrant is more quickly amalgamated in the sense of +taking on all the outward colorings of his new environment than any +other nationality, what, if any, will be his distinctive impress upon, +or contribution to, the life he has come to share?</p> + +<p>As there has been, and is, much foolish talk, malicious +misrepresentation and manufactured-to-order hysterics about the +"menace of the immigrant", on the part of pink-tea patriots and that +whole breed of parasites who feed and fatten on stirring up and +keeping alive class prejudice and hatred, I want to turn on the light +here and now, the light of truth and facts.</p> + +<p>In the first place, then, I wish to call the attention of these self +constituted, Simon-pure and, in their own estimation, only Americans, +to the fact that there is not in itself any disparagement to a man to +be an immigrant or descendant of one. Did they ever read about the +Pilgrim Fathers, George Washington, Ben Franklin or Abraham Lincoln? +Well, these and multitudes of others they might read about were all +"immigrants" or descendants of immigrants; not only that, but our +self-appointed detractor of the immigrant is the descendant of +immigrants—unless he or she is an Indian—and even the Indians are +immigrants only of an earlier date.</p> + +<p>In the second place, while the immigrant should ever be mindful, and +in most cases is, of what the new land has offered him in opportunity, +yet be it remembered also that, as far as the "natives" around him are +concerned, he has given them immeasurably more than they have given +him. He has done the great bulk of the rough, hard work of the mine, +forest, factory and of subduing the untamed soil, and without him +there would have been far fewer soft-handed jobs for his critics and +far fewer of the comforts of life and developments of the country for +all the people to enjoy. He has built the railroads, literally by the +sweat of his brow, while the superior "native" manipulated them, +watered their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>stocks and rode on them, finding that part of the +enterprise more comfortable and profitable. But unless the "foreigner" +had been willing to wield the shovel and lay the rails as well as roll +them out red hot in the mill, where would the "American" have had a +chance to shine in the deal?</p> + +<p>Again, we are told that the immigrant comes here ignorant and without +ideals and standards of life which would make him a safe member of a +democracy. Of course, like most broad generalizations, this has a +grain of truth when applied to some of the present influx from +southern Europe. But when applied to immigrants generally, and +especially to the class we have here described, the above judgment is +just about the exact opposite of the truth. The illiteracy of the +Norse immigrant is far less than that of the land of his adoption, in +fact, practically negligible, and far less than that of any other +class of immigrants. As for ideals of life and standards of morality, +the immigrant was generally deeply shocked, on arriving here, at the +lawlessness, profanity, sordidness, crass materialism and godlessness +prevalent among the people around him who called themselves Americans. +And speaking of "ideals" he came here in most instances because of his +ideals of freedom—religious, political and economic; to have a chance +to live out and express these ideals. They built schools and churches +while many of them themselves lived in sod houses or dugouts. Their +sons and daughters are found in every college and university of the +Northwest and out of all proportion to their rank in the total +population. They more than take their share in the four learned +professions of teaching, medicine, the ministry and the law. In other +words, he came for the very same reason that the first immigrants, or +Pilgrim Fathers came—to find room for his growing ideals, as already +shown in this narrative. Then, of course, like them, he also came to +better himself economically thru realizing certain ideals of equality +of opportunity which he had come to cherish in his home land.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>Some time ago, Sinclair Lewis, the noted author, speaking on this +subject, said:</p> + +<p>"I chose 'Carl Erikson' as the hero, protagonist, whatever you call +him, of the 'Trail of the Hawk' because he is a typical young +American. Your second or third generation Scandinavian is the best +type of American. *** They are the New Yankees, these Scandinavians of +Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. They have mastered politics and +vote for honesty, rather than handshakes. **** They send their +children thru school. They accumulate land, one section, two sections, +or move into town and become Methodists and Congregationalists, and +are neighborly. *** And in a generation, thanks to our flag-decked +public schools, they are overwhelmingly American in tradition."</p> + +<p>"Boston, Dec. 16. President Charles W. Elliot, who in an address +before the Economic Club of this city has declared in favor of an +unrestricted immigration and proclaimed the ability of this country to +'digest' the newcomers of every religion, education and nationality, +has been at the head of Harvard University since 1869, was a graduate +of that institution in the class of 1853, and holds the degree of +LL.D. from Williams, Princeton and Yale. He is considered one of the +highest living authorities in his specialty of chemistry and has +written many scientific works."</p> + +<p>Permit me to offer a word of caution in this connection regarding +certain tendencies and attitudes toward the immigrant which are +working just the opposite result from what is intended.</p> + +<p>There is that splendid movement inaugurated during the war—the +Americanization movement. Many, and I would like to believe most of +the workers in this movement, approach the recent immigrant with +understanding and respect and not with that disgusting provincial type +of mind and patronizing air which we see here and there. Now it should +be said very emphatically that any one who regards himself as a +superior being merely because born on this side of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>Atlantic and +the immigrant as an inferior because born on the other side, should +keep his or her hands off Americanization if for no other reason, for +this one: They are not themselves in any true sense Americans, lacking +both the American spirit and ideals. It is such sociological tinkerers +that often de-Americanize more immigrants than the others can +Americanize. These recent comers are as keen to detect a patriotic +sham as any native, and their disgust and resentment of it is +profound. And the inevitable result is that they will judge the +country by its supposed representatives.</p> + +<p>Even such organization as the American Legion and Home Guards should +refrain from every appearance of functioning as spies and censors of +the immigrant or even of organizations which may be considered radical +so long as they do not clearly advocate lawlessness or violence. +Yellow paint, personal violence and breaking up of peaceable +assemblies, in short, lawlessness, such as has already taken place +over the country, will not tend to teach regard for law or love for +country on the part of the victims. A mother cannot gain the love of a +child or even respect by the abuse of force, neither can a government +or organization inculcate patriotism by petty persecution and abuse.</p> + +<p>There are over one hundred ex-service men in this state who are the +sons and grandsons even of the few pioneers described in this +memorial. I had the privilege of addressing a part of them at the home +coming last summer. Let me say to such of them as may read these +pages: Do not permit selfseeking men, small Americans, to borrow your +splendid organization and glorious prestige to carry out their petty +aims or personal spites. Be such big Americans that more recent +arrivals seeing you, cannot help but admire you and learn to love the +country which could produce you. This is real Americanization.</p> + +<p>Have these people then a peculiar racial contribution to make to the +civilization of which they have become a part, and will they make it? +As to the latter, all I can say is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>that we should all make it our +sacred aim, privilege and duty to deliver this our gift. I am sure we +have it.</p> + +<p>What then is it? In the main it may be summarized in a few words: +Industry, Thrift, a Sane Conservatism, Social Genuineness and +Religious Devotion.</p> + +<p>I cannot believe that any one who knows the Norse immigrant would deny +that the above are outstanding expressions of his character and life. +The "newcomer" was not perhaps very "smart" in the Yankee sense, and +God forbid that he ever should become so, but he was a hard, +persistent worker, and he <i>saved</i>. The man who lived "by his wits" or +by hook and crook was not often found in his class, nor was he +encouraged in his efforts if found.</p> + +<p>In this age of enormous over-production of non-producers; of +innumerable hordes of swivel chair folks, of middle men, +"manipulators", runabouts, who are mostly parasites on the social +organism, is there not need of emphasizing the production of something +to meet real human needs?</p> + +<p>There is much talk and theorizing about the cause or causes of the +present high cost of living. There is, of course, no one single cause +responsible for this situation so full of hardship for many and so +great a menace to all. But one of the great causes, next to the +shameless profiteering by middlemen, is the alarming over-production +of non-producers. The great hordes of people who want somehow or other +to live by the sweat of the other fellow's brow rather than their own; +who by their clamor create innumerable jobs—paper jobs—in connection +with national, state, and municipal government as also in connection +with charitable and ecclesiastical organizations. It is a part of our +mission as the sons of producers to say to these parasites: "You've +got to get off the other fellow's back," at the same time calling him +by his right name—industrial slacker, social pauper, bum.</p> + +<p>So may we take for our slogan the great words of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>Carlyle: "Produce! +In God's name, Produce!" Let us, like the Fathers, keep close to the +world of real values and refuse to be enticed into that "paper world" +which is one of the real menaces of our country, far more so than the +"immigrant" ever was. In being industrious producers in our line, +whatever it may be, we need not be "grinds". In being thrifty in an +age of extravagance and criminal wastefulness, we do not need to be +stingy or niggardly.</p> + +<p>Yes, this our contribution is worth cherishing, for it is sorely +needed today.</p> + +<p>If industry and thrift are gifts which our fathers brought to this +land and which we should hand on as our peculiar offering, no less is +that of sane conservatism. In this age of social, economic, political +and even religious wildcat schemes and propagandas, America needs a +balance wheel. We need a sane conservatism that is not, on the one +hand, the corpselike immobility of the typical stand-patters, or +reactionaries to all progress, and who themselves are the cause of +much insane radicalism. And, on the other hand, if true to our +traditions and temperament, we shall not dance to everybody's fiddle +without investigation of what sort of a tune is being played.</p> + +<p>Ours, then, should be the open mind; the forward look, to examine, +search out, weigh men and issues. When we, amid the hordes of voices +who cry: "Lo here! Lo there!" occasionally find a prophet with a +message, let us follow him. Let us be a "holy terror" to all cheap +demagogs of every party and name, but let us also be the hope and +support of every true prophet, political, industrial or religious. +This is our part.</p> +<br /> + +<h4 class="sc">Social And Religious</h4> + +<p>There is a beautiful sincerity, a certain heartiness about our Norse +friendships and social relationships which I have not found elsewhere. +Writers in recent years have been bemoaning "the lost kindness" of the +world. Among our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>immigrant people, at least, you will find the +lingering fragrance of this old time kindness which for many in this +age of pretense and social sham relations has become only a sad, sweet +memory of the long ago. I charge us all, as inheritors and trustees of +this precious treasure—social sincerity and genuine kindness—let us +cherish it, cultivate it and guard it as one of the very greatest +valuables of life. For what is life without this, even with all the +fine houses and lands, automobiles and aeroplanes? On the other hand, +what is life with this genuine spirit of brotherliness in it? With +this you can have the lights of Heaven and music of the spheres in a +sod shanty. For where real good will is, Heaven is near. So let this +beautiful sincerity, or heartiness, vitalize your handshake, flame in +your look and thrill in your word of greeting to the fellow traveler +over life's way.</p> + +<p>If our Norse immigrant has a distinctive contribution to make to +America, industrially, politically and socially, no less certainly has +he an offering to make to the highest and most important department of +life, that of religion. The Scandinavian is almost instinctively +religious. You find among them comparatively few specimens of that +sleek, beefy, selfcomplacent, godless animal-type, so frequently +encountered today in other quarters. The immigrant had encountered too +many of the realities of life; had been too often face to face with +the ultimate facts of life and existence, to develop the shallow +conceits of a mere beef animal whose main experience of life has been +largely confined to a full stomach and the animal comforts. Not +strange that this creature should speak great swelling words against +the Church, the Christ and His followers, as well as against God +Himself. The fool has always said in his heart (and with his stomach): +"There is no God".</p> + +<p>Because of this deep religious devotion characteristic of the Norse +immigrant, and evolved amid the majestic mountains, the thundering +rivers and water falls, as well <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>as the loudly resounding sea of his +birthplace, he built altars to God and established his worship almost +as soon as his feet touched the new soil. Partly because of his +religious sincerity the expression of his religious life has sometimes +showed a certain narrowness of outlook and an intolerance of different +religious forms which has not been to his credit. It is because of +this latter trait that so many of the Norse immigrants and their +descendants have been driven from the church of their fathers and are +found in almost every religious sect in the country. We have heard +"infant damnation" in its rankest form preached within the last year, +and other doctrines as well, which are remnants of Mediaeval barbarism +and which most Lutherans today would repudiate. Yet we believe the God +of Jesus Christ is becoming more clearly seen, and that the wider +horizons of truth are appearing. However, this is my plea: May we +cherish the religious devotion, the real piety characteristic of our +forebears. This is a contribution greatly needed in an age of +religious indifference, if not open hostility. And keeping alive in us +and inculcating in our children this religious devotion, may we never +be numbered among that class who religiously are lukewarm, neither hot +nor cold, only fit to be spewed out of the mouth of God and man. Let +us be a salt in the religious life of our country, for without genuine +religion there can be no morality worth talking about among the mass +of mankind; and without morality we can never succeed in developing, +or even keeping from destruction, our experiment in democracy. So may +we put this, too, our supreme gift, on the altar of our country.</p> + +<p>Now we close our humble effort with a word of tribute to those brave, +unselfish men and women who left home, friends and native land, that +we, their children and descendants, may have a better chance at life +and happiness. They have paid the price of those who have to take and +to hold the front lines in the great struggle with untamed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>nature in +a new, un-inhabited country. Many are the premature graves, the lonely +heartaches and tragedies, most of which only God knows. They have laid +the material foundations for us deep and strong. They have also left +us an inheritance of ideals and characteristics to hand on to the +coming generations. If "American" is a state of mind, a certain kind +and quality of ideals and aspirations, rather than a matter of +birthplace, then our immigrant fathers and mothers were often more +American than the native born. However, in any case these +characteristics and ideals above enumerated are the life of our nation +and ours to keep alive. And in holding aloft as our slogans, these +ideals of industry, thrift, sane conservatism, genuineness and +religious devotion, we shall both build the noblest possible monument +to the immigrant and also lay the sure foundations for the great +future before us and our children.</p> + +<p>To the few men and women who still remain of the first generation of +immigrants, let us show our love and respect while they still linger +with us, for it will not be long that we can have the opportunity. +When some political demagog, under the thin guise of super-patriotism, +would by legislation or social odium deprive them of the consolations +of religion in the old tongue to which they are accustomed, and thus +send them with sorrow if not bitterness to their graves, let us have +the courage and the manhood to fight these contemptible grand-standers +openly and to a finish. The language question will solve itself in a +few years in any case and without this violence and insult to a few +lingering men and women who have served this country so well and who +are now asking only that they be allowed to pass undisturbed to their +grave. There they will rest from their labors, but their works will +follow after them.</p> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>THE END.</h4> + +<p>August 10, 1920.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr2"> +<h3>I AM THE IMMIGRANT</h3> + +<p class="hang">I am the immigrant.</p> + +<p class="hang">I looked towards the United States with eyes kindled by the fire +of ambition and heart quickened with new-born hope.</p> + +<p class="hang">I approached its gates with great expectation.</p> + +<p class="hang">I have shouldered my burden as the American man-of-all-work.</p> + +<p class="hang">I contribute eighty-five per cent of all the labor in the +slaughtering and meat-packing industries.</p> + +<p class="hang">I do seven-tenths of the bituminous coal mining.</p> + +<p class="hang">I do seventy-eight per cent of all the work in the woolen mills.</p> + +<p class="hang">I contribute nine-tenths of all the labor in the cotton mills.</p> + +<p class="hang">I make nineteen-twentieths of all the clothing.</p> + +<p class="hang">I manufacture more than half the shoes.</p> + +<p class="hang">I build four-fifths of all the furniture.</p> + +<p class="hang">I make half of the collars, cuffs and shirts.</p> + +<p class="hang">I turn out four-fifths of all the leather. I make half the gloves.</p> + +<p class="hang">I refine nearly nineteen-twentieths of the sugar.</p> + +<p class="hang">And yet, I am the great American problem.</p> + +<p class="hang">When I pour out my blood on your altar of labor, and lay down my +life as a sacrifice to your god of toil, men make no more +comment than at the fall of a sparrow.</p> + +<p class="hang">But my brawn is woven into the warp and woof of the fabric of your +national being.</p> + +<p class="hang">My children shall be your children and your land shall be my land, +because my sweat and my blood will cement the foundations of the +America of to-morrow.</p> + +<p class="hang">If I can be fused into the body politic, the melting pot will have +stood the supreme test.</p> + +<p class="right sc">Frederic J. Haskin.</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Typographical errors corrected in text:</p> +<br /> +Page 11: Skanne replaced with Skaane<br /> +Page 29: journied replaced with journeyed<br /> +Page 82: Knute replaced with Knut<br /> +</div> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Pioneers and Pilgrims on the +Prairies of Dakota, by John B. Reese and H. B. 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Reese and H. B. Reese + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Some Pioneers and Pilgrims on the Prairies of Dakota + Or, From the ox team to the aeroplane + +Author: John B. Reese + H. B. Reese + +Release Date: October 16, 2011 [EBook #37765] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOME PIONEERS AND PILGRIMS *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | + | been preserved. | + | | + | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. For | + | a complete list, please see the end of this document. | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + + SOME PIONEERS _and_ PILGRIMS + ON THE PRAIRIES OF + DAKOTA + + OR + + _From the Ox Team to the Aeroplane_ + + Edited and Published by + + REV. JOHN B. REESE, A.M., B.D. + + Assisted by + + H.B. REESE + + MITCHELL, SOUTH DAKOTA + AUGUST, 1920 + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + I. Occasion, Scope and Purpose of Record. + + II. Prying Open the Door to the Dakotas--Treaty of '58. + + III. The Second Coming of the Norsemen to America. The First + Settlement on the Missouri Bottom, 1860. + + IV. First Settlement and Settlers of the "South Prairie," + 67-71. A Memorable Trip in Search of Work. + + V. The Settlements on Turkey Creek and Clay Creek, 70-71. + + VI. The Great Immigration of 1880--Causes. + + VII. Landing at Yankton, Getting on the Land, and a Hard + Struggle to Live. + + VIII. The Pioneer Mothers and Their Share in the Privations. + + IX. Indians as Visitors and Guests. + + X. The Great Snow Winter of 1880 and the Flood of '81. + + XI. Beginning the Grapple with the Earth. + + XII. Bird's Eye View of the Settlements in 1880-3. + + XIII. The Prairie Fires--The Annual Terror of the Settlers. + + XIV. The Great Blizzard of '88. + + XV. When the Fathers and Mothers of Today were Boys and + Girls. + + XVI. Religious Movements and Workers Among These People. + + XVII. A Daughter Settlement. + + XVIII. Looking Down the Trail to the Years Ahead. + + + + +GREETING + + +There has been an often expressed desire on the part of the sons and +daughters of the immigrant pioneers that those brave men and women of +a generation ago who left home, friends, and the graves of a hundred +generations of ancestors, to go to a land which they knew not, there +to toil and sacrifice that we, their children might have a better +chance, should not be forgotten. For their lives went into the deep +and often overlooked foundations, material and spiritual, without +which our larger opportunities and comforts of today would be +impossible. Like the pioneer Abraham they had a large faith and went +out in search of a Promised Land, not knowing what would be in store +for them, for they saw it afar off. Like Moses, most of them died +without themselves enjoying the fruits of the land or seeing the +promise fulfilled. + +How little the young people of this generation can appreciate the hard +toil, and even less, the heartaches and the tragedies which were the +price paid by our fathers and mothers, for our better future! It has +been the fashion of some small and provincially minded "Americans" who +constituted themselves, as it were, into the original and only +Americans, to sneer at the immigrant, to affect certain superior +"airs" in relation to him. This self-appointed superiority, however, +did not seem to bar them from taking undue advantage of him because of +his lack of knowledge of the new country and its ways and methods. How +little this class of self-appointed Americans were capable of +understanding, not to speak of appreciating, the physical and mental +contribution, not to speak of the moral and spiritual--the soul--which +these immigrants brought to the land of their adoption. They +established schools for their children, meeting in private houses +before there were any public schools. They built churches for the +worship of God while they themselves still lived in shacks and +dugouts. + +So it is in response to this widespread desire, among those of the +second and third generation from the pioneers, that this rich heritage +of deeds and ideals, handed down to us by our brave and forward +looking fathers and mothers, should not be forgotten but handed down +in memory as an increasing inspiration and just pride in the lives of +their children and children's children, that we are moved to write +this record. For already I hear the tramp of countless numbers and +many generations of the children of these pioneers. For them I compile +these incidents of the settlers' first experiences with the new land +and write this narrative. For if there is any reward which our fathers +and mothers would ask of us, in return for giving up almost everything +on our behalf, it would be just this: Remembrance and a little +appreciation--understanding. + +As to the origin, scope and plan of this narrative, this explanation +should be made: + +The real mover in getting this narrative started is my brother, H.B. +Reese. He has also collected a part of the materials used and written +out some of it. In editing and incorporating this material and other +contributions into the book, I have made a free translation of it and +also made changes and additions here and there as seemed desirable. + +As to the scope and plan, especially as to the particular persons +included or left out, the question will no doubt arise in the minds of +some readers: "Why are just these individuals named and not others who +were equally worthy and whose experiences were no less interesting?" +The answer is simply this: This particular group and their experiences +are best known to us, while that of others is not so well known. Then, +too, the necessary limitations of space because of the costs involved, +compel us to leave out much of which we have, or could get sufficient +knowledge to use. Lastly, we present this work on the theory that the +people, incidents and circumstances here included, represent the +ordinary immigrant's experiences and thus serve to give a fairly +correct view of pioneer days as a whole. So if some reader should have +a feeling that such and such names or incidents should have been +included, remember this omission is not because other names may not +have been equally worthy, but rather that because of limitations of +space and knowledge we had to choose a few as types and +representatives of all the rest. The individual names of these +pioneers will all too soon be forgotten in any case. But these +pioneers as a class and their deeds, I trust, shall never be +forgotten. So kindly remember that tho your father and mother, dear +reader, may have been among the first settlers of the region here +described and otherwise also closely connected with the group here +mentioned, and still their names are not included, yet their lives are +included. For the life we attempt to reproduce in picture here with +its hardships and adventures, was the life and sacrifice of them all. +You may in many cases substitute almost any pioneer name, and the +picture of the period would be essentially correct. So, then, this is +written in honor and memory of them all, the un-named as well as the +named. + +Thus, then, to all the sons and daughters of the Viking pioneers of +the prairie who between the years of 1859-1889 took up the hard +struggle with untamed nature on the far-stretching prairies of Dakota +and Minnesota, I humbly dedicate this memorial. To all the brave men +and women who bore the heat and the brunt of those days of toil and +hardship, we, their children, together offer this little tribute of +our love and remembrance. + + JOHN B. REESE, + April 21, 1918. _Mitchell S.D._ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +PRYING OPEN THE DOOR INTO THE RICH LANDS OF THE DAKOTAS + + +Previous to April, 1858, Dakota Territory for a century or more had +been the hunting ground and undisputed possession of the Yankton +Sioux. However, for some years before this date many adventurous, +enterprising members of the white race in the adjoining states of +Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, had cast covetous eyes across the +borders. Not a few even followed their eyes and entered in spite of +the prohibition of the government and the hostilities of the Indian. +Many more, encamped along the borders were watching the negotiations +between the government and the Yanktons, eager and alert to step over +the line the very instant the door should be opened. + +According to the available data on the Indian history of this region, +previous to 1750 it was occupied by the Omahas, who held the Big Sioux +and James river valleys. These were driven out about 1750 by the Teton +Sioux, who came previously from the woods of Minnesota. The Teton +Sioux also engaged the Rees, then having strongholds on the Missouri, +especially in and around Pierre, and after a forty years' struggle +drove them north to Grand River and then to where their remnants are +still found in the vicinity of Fort Berthold, North Dakota. + +At this time of the Treaty, this region was held by the Yankton and +Yanktonais Sioux, who had been driven from western Iowa by the Ottos +about 1780 and had settled the lower James River Valley. + +The first attempt at a settlement at Yankton was made in the spring of +1858 by one W.P. Holman, his son C.J. Holman, both of Sergeants +Bluff, Iowa, and Ben Stafford, together with four or five others from +Sioux City. In anticipation of an early treaty these men came up on +the Nebraska side of the river and, crossing over at Yankton, built a +camp. But about a month later the Indians, jealous of their hunting +grounds and suspicious of the designs of the intruders, drove them +back across the river. + +The next May, however, on the strength of a false rumor that the +treaty had been ratified, these men floated logs across from their +Nebraska camp, working all night, and next day laid twelve +foundations. The following day construction of the first log cabin was +begun. But before this could be finished some seventy-five Indians +appeared and began to hurl the newly founded city of Yankton into the +river. It was fortunate, as Mr. Holman, who was one of the party, +suggests, that the new settlers had left their guns on the other side. +For had they had their arms they would hardly have been able to submit +to the destruction of their town without a fight, and if it had come +to a fight the Indians were as yet too many. As it was, the intruders +resorted to diplomacy, and by much "fine talk" succeeded in saving +most of their belongings as well as of the construction and in holding +their ground. The next day a feast was promptly made to Chief Dog's +Claw and his warriors, and as is always the case with men, red or +white, this feast had the desired effect, at least for the time being. +The log house was built altho subsequently burned in October, 1858. + +The first permanent buildings, as far as we can ascertain, were those +of the Frost, Todd Co. Trading Post. There were, of course, Indian +tepees scattered over the present city and vicinity of Yankton, but +these appeared and disappeared again with the movements of their +inhabitants. There was also about this time a cabin built on the east +side of the present James River bridge by J.M. Stone, who operated a +ferry boat. + +It is stated by the late Mayor J.R. Hanson of Yankton, who came to +Yankton with a party of pioneers from Winona, Minnesota, in 1858, that +more than one hundred locations of 160 acres had already been staked +out in the vicinity of Yankton on his arrival. These, of course, later +had to be filed on in the regular way when the land became legally +opened to settlers. + +As already indicated, the treaty for the opening of this land for +settlement was at last arranged in 1858, but it was not until July 10, +1859, that the land was legally opened for settlers by ratification of +the treaty. On that very date the streams of expectant immigrants, +waiting on the borders of Nebraska and Iowa, poured in like a flood +and the towns of Vermilion, Meckling, Yankton and Bon Homme were all +founded in a day. On the 22nd of July Elk Point was first settled. + +[Illustration: THE OLD SOD SHANTY ON THE CLAIM, NEAR ARMOUR, S. DAK.] + +An interesting story is told of the long extended Indian pow-wows and +the fiery harangues on the part of the chiefs before they finally +relinquished their ancient camping ground and the graves of their +fathers on the present site of Yankton. The government had made +tempting offers in the way of regular rations of food, blankets and +many other commodities, not to speak of money and large reservations +of land to be guaranteed for the exclusive possession of the tribe. +These immediate benefits and creature comforts made a powerful appeal +to the common crowd among the Indians. This faction was led by Chief +Struck by the Ree, who was friendly to the Whites. The other chiefs, +however, many of whom were shrewd and able men and thought with their +heads rather than, as the crowd did, with their stomachs, keenly +realized what the little act of signing this treaty involved. They saw +that it meant that when they should fold their tepees and journey +westward this time they could never return. They knew that it meant +the final abandonment of their immemorial hunting grounds and the +beautiful camping site of Yankton with the graves of their fathers, +to the pale faces who would come in like a flood and once in they +could no more be turned back than the tides of the sea. In many and +prolonged councils these chiefs, such as Smutty Bear and Mad Bull, had +pressed upon their people these and other considerations against the +signing of the White man's treacherous papers. With burning words of +appeal, now to this motive now to that, with stinging rebuke of those +who would so lightly sell out their birthright and ancestral heritage, +as well as that of their children and the unborn generations to come, +they spoke with an eloquence which seemed for the time to stir and +elevate even the craven spirits of those who had favored the treaty. +But just at this point, when it looked as tho the treaty would be +rejected and the Indians would stay where they were, a government boat +carrying large supplies of food and other desirable commodities +whistled down the river. The word was soon passed that these treasures +would be taken up the river some thirty miles to their new home near +the present site of Springfield, and be distributed to the Indians in +case they would now vacate and carry out the treaty. The temptation +was too great. All the oratory was forgotten in the prospect of food, +clothing and glittering spangles. There was no more argument. The +tepees with strange and significant rapidity and universality began to +come down and get loaded. The travaux, loaded with the whole household +belongings and also in some cases with children, began to move +silently but surely toward the West, heading for the rendezvous +appointed by the steam boat people. Deserted by their people, the +chiefs, realizing that they were face to face with an irresistible +tide and were fighting a hopeless fight, followed their people with +sad and bitter spirits as they all trekked toward the setting sun, +never more to return to the rich valley and far-flung prairies of the +lower Missouri. Before the vanquished and vanishing Indian had gotten +out of sight over the hills the eager White man was moving in. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE SECOND COMING OF THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA + + +It is now quite generally conceded that Leif Erikson and his party, as +also other adventurous spirits of Iceland and Norway, visited these +shores half a thousand years before Columbus. The second coming of the +Norsemen, or the immigration to America from Norway in any +considerable numbers, began about 1840. Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, +Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, about in the order named, came +to receive this large influx of the hardy Norsemen. Wherever they went +they took their full share, and more, of helping to build the +railroads, fell the forests, subdue the prairies and build a Christian +civilization. + +The first settlement of considerable size in South Dakota was, as far +as we can learn, made in 1860, between the James river and Gayville. +Other settlers followed in the succeeding years, spreading out over +the bottom and later up on the prairie to the north. Among those who +came to the vicinity of Yankton in the decade of 1860-70 we would +mention the following: Ole Odland, '62; Ole C. Pederson, '66; Lars +Hanson, '66; O.L. Hanson, '67; Ole Pederson, '67; Nec. Hanson, '68; +Lars Bergsvenson, '68; Andrew Simonson, '68; J.M. Johnson (Irene),'68; +Ole Bjerke, '69; Ole Lien (Volin), formerly of Brule, Union County, +'68, with his sons Charles and Edward Lien; Jorgen Bruget; Christian +Marendahl, '67; Nels Brekke, '67; Peder Engen; Gunder Olson, '68; +Haldo Saether, '69; Sivert Nysether also came about this time. + +Iver Bjerke and Mark Johnson appear to be the first native born +children of the Scandinavian immigrants in this part of the country, +both being born in '69. However, Ole Jelley of Clay County holds the +honor of being, not only the first child born of Norse parents in the +state, but of being, as far as is known, the first male white child +born in South Dakota. He was born March 2, 1860. + +Others who came in this period were Ole Skaane, '69; C. Freng, '69; +J.T. Nedved, '68; G. Gulbranson, '69; P.J. Freng, '69; Halvor Aune, +'69. + +In the next decade, 1870-80, we find these well known names: I.S. +Fagerhaug (Irene), '70; O. Kjelseth and two sons, George and C.J. +Kjelseth, '70; Ole Lee (Aune), '70; O.P. Olsen, '70; A.O. Saugstad, +'70; O.J. Anderson (Irene), '70; H. Hoxeng with his sons Thore and +Jens, '70; P.J. Nyberg, '72; J.J. Nissen, '72; John Aaseth, '72; Peter +Carlson, '72; the Bagstad brothers, Iver, Mathias and Emil; and Hans +Helgerson, '74; John Gjevik and Lars Aaen, '75. + +The settlement in Clay Creek was begun a little earlier than Turkey +Creek, or about '69. Among those who first broke the virgin sod there +were O. Skaane, O. Gustad, H. Hagen, and his son Albert, the latter +also sharing the honor with B.B. Haugan of breaking the first furrow +of the sod in Mayfield Township. Then there were Benjamin Anderson, +Peter Olaus, R. Olsen, A.O. Saugstad and Fredrik Aune. + +It was at the beginning of this decade, 1870-80, that the settlement +of the Turkey Creek Valley was begun by I. Fagerhaug, S. Hinseth, +Halvor Hinseth (1870); and Ole Solem; Jens Eggen to the south, and +John Rye to the north end of the valley. + +We are aware that this list of early settlers is far from complete. No +complete list could be made at this time, as many of them are long +since gone and forgotten. We hope, however, that this is fairly +comprehensive, and should we meet with enough favor to warrant another +edition of this memorial, then, by the help of some of our readers, we +may be able to gather up some of the missing names which ought to be +included. In such an edition there should also be a record of the +children, boys and girls, of these first settlers. This would be of +more interest and value in the years to come, as a matter of +reference, than we can now realize. To be able to prove by the records +that we came from one of the "old families" of first settlers may be +an object a hundred years from now. + +On the adventures, hardships, struggles and triumphs of these first +Norse settlers on the Missouri bottom we cannot dwell, nor do we have +much available material, as there are not many left now to tell the +story. There were Indians as in the Massacre of '62, when Judge Amiden +and his son were killed near Sioux Falls. There were fires, droughts +and blizzards. Then grasshoppers in '63, '64, '74, '76. And all the +time the lack of even what are now the common necessities, not to +speak of the comforts and conveniences of life. The table had to be +provided largely from what the settlers themselves could produce from +the untamed soil and the clothes from the coarse cheap cloth available +at the few towns, such as blue denim for men and calico for women. + +The settlers in this region had one advantage in their start on a bare +soil. Wood for fuel and timber was available. While this timber was +largely cottonwood and willow, yet out of the cottonwood, and +occasionally oak, they were able to construct log houses. This was +quite an advantage here, as dugouts on this level and low lying land +would not have been even as satisfactory as on the prairie. + +These men and women who led in subduing the raw, untamed soil may be +likened to soldiers in the first line trenches as also to shock +troops. In order that others might reap the fruits of victory some had +to be sacrificed. Many of these front liners perished early in the +struggle. Others have come down even to the present. But within and +outside they bear the marks, D.S.C's, may I say, of the great days of +battle. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE PRAIRIE FROM THE MISSOURI BOTTOM NORTH AS +FAR AS THE TURKEY CREEK VALLEY + + +Among the first to homestead and build on this tract, in early days +called the South Prairie, were, as far as we can learn, Christian +Marendahl; Nils Brekke, '67; John Sleeper, '68; Gunder Olsen, '68; +Peder Engen, Sivert Nysether, Esten Nyhus, Ole Liabo, Iver Furuness, +and Miss Marie Hoxeng came during '68-'69. Ole Bjerke and H. Sether +came in '69. About this time came also Lars Aaen. The Hoxengs came the +next year, or 1870, and Hans Dahl and Lars Eide a little later. + +It may be of interest as illustrating how these people got on their +chosen locations, to describe in brief the experiences of some of +them. + +Ole Bjerke came to Sioux City in the spring of '69. This little +village was then the "farthest west" as far as the railroad was +concerned. Thru an acquaintance of his, Joe Sleeper, I believe, he had +become interested in the far away prairie north of Yankton, which was +open for settlement. Accordingly he bought, thru Mr. Halseth of Sioux +City, a yoke of oxen and a wagon, the standard equipment of the +pioneer settler of those days. These oxen, like most of their tribe, +were wild and unruly; ran away, broke the wagon to pieces and were +lost for some weeks. Finally the trip was made over the winding +prairie trail westward thru Brule and Vermilion, thence along the +bluffs to their destination. It was a long, weary trip thru the tall +grass, and the accommodations in the way of food and sleep at the few +human habitations along the way were not of the kind to cheer the +weary pilgrims. For in most cases a rude shelter was all they could +obtain, having to provide food and bedding for themselves, the owners +often being bachelors, sometimes "at home" and often not at home for +months. + +On arriving at their destination, Mr. and Mrs. Bjerke were able to +share shelter with a kind neighbor already on the ground until they +could construct one of their own. Here, soon after their arrival, Iver +Bjerke was born and was the first child to receive baptism in this +settlement. In this hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. Bjerke were also +held the first religious services in this vicinity, in 1869. These +services were conducted by Rev. Nesse from Brule, who became the first +pastor of these people. There was at this time, '69, no neighbor to +the north nearer than Swan Lake, eighteen miles away. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +FIRST SETTLEMENT AND SETTLERS OF THE "SOUTH PRAIRIE," 1861-71, +MEMORABLE TRIP IN SEARCH OF WORK + + +However, in '69 and '70 there came to be a considerable settlement on +the South Prairie of the people already named and others who came in +the latter '60's and early 70's. + +When we say that people "settled" here at this time it must not be +interpreted to mean that they began to put up good buildings, break +the sod and raise grain and cattle. These activities were for many as +yet years away. As a general thing a rude dwelling of logs, sod, or a +dugout was made to shelter the family and to fulfil the law in regard +to getting deed to the land. Also a few acres were broken, perhaps +five or ten, to comply with these homestead requirements. Then about +the next thing was for the men folks to strike out for the forts on +the upper Missouri in order to earn a little money, by cutting wood or +working on other government jobs, to support themselves and their +families. This work and the wretched food and "accommodations" given +them would have broken these men in body and spirit had they not been +young and vigorous in body as well as unconquerable in spirit. + +Perhaps we can reproduce the experiences of many of the above named +homesteaders of the '60's and early '70's by giving the actual story +of one group who went up the river to find work, as related to us by +one of the parties, Ole Lee, now living near Volin. + +Mr. Lee came to America in 1870, May 18th, and landed, like most of +the above named, in Sioux City, where his brother Halvor Aune had +already preceded him. With only 35 cents with which to start in the +new country, Mr. Lee counted himself fortunate in finding a job at +$1.75 per day, even tho board had to be paid out of this. But even +this fortune did not last long, for Sioux City was a small place and +had little development at that time. Yet, however short Ole was in +cash, he did have some capital which could be invested in the new +country and would in time compel success. He had a good, sound body, +great courage, a cheerful disposition and a good talking apparatus, +altho as yet operating mostly in the Norwegian language. So having +learned that there was work and better pay than he had been getting, +in connection with the steamboat traffic and the government forts on +the upper Missouri, he in company with a number of others started west +to seek fortune as also adventure. As most of these men were young and +unmarried, the Viking spirit of adventure and daring was not absent. + +It was in the spring of 1871 that these young men, gathered at +Yankton, decided to trek over the country to Fort Sully, 300 miles +away, in search of work. + +They had among them scarcely any money and some even owed their +winter's board. So at first they thought of starting out afoot. But +thru an acquaintance of one of the party they were able to buy an ox +team on time, agreeing to pay $180.00 for the same, including an old +wagon. They were able to buy a few provisions, such as flour and salt +pork, for their own use on the way, and some sacks of oats for the +oxen as hay or grass could not be depended on, the vast prairie often +being burned off. + +There were eighteen of these young explorers in all and while one +drove the oxen by turns the other seventeen walked behind the wagon. +Besides the two brothers already mentioned, there were in this company +Emret and Sivert Mjoen; also Sivert and Christopher Haakker, +Ingibricht Satrum, Iver Furuness, Ole Solem, Ole Yelle, Albert Meslo, +Anders Krengness and Thomas Berg. I have not the names of the others +of the party. + +These young men, altho afoot and with meager provisions, on their way +toward a far-off destination and unknown conditions, yet trudged along +day after day with jokes and laughter. At noon or night, wherever they +happened to be on the broad plains, the same cooking routine was +performed, each taking his turn. Get out the long handled frying pan, +the fire having been built, fry pancakes or flap-jacks, and perhaps a +little pork, and boil some coffee. Then if it was the evening meal +they would sit around the fire a while to stretch their weary legs, +smoke a pipe, talk over and speculate on the prospects ahead and then +roll up in their blankets for the night. + +One day, as they were nearing Fort Thompson, having followed the +course of the river so far, they met a man driving a mule team. +Surmising from their appearance that these men were in a situation to +accept work of most any kind or on any condition, he stopped to parley +with them. He had a government contract to cut 900 cords of wood on an +island below Ft. Thompson. So he offered these men $2 per cord to cut +this wood. They were only too eager to grasp this first opportunity, +especially as he was to furnish them board. But what should they do +with their joint property--oxen and wagon? The man, realizing he had +made a "find" in these eager strong handed men, didn't let this stand +in the way but bought the outfit for $185.00. They thus made $5.00 on +the deal, and in regular democratic style it was voted in assembly to +send back the $180.00 due the former owner of the oxen; sell the +remainder of the oats and with the total proceeds have a little +"refreshment" before they began their summer's work. This they did in +reaching the fort, and the only refreshments to be had in those places +being in liquid form, there was just enough money in the treasury to +buy them "one each." + +Now, let it be remembered by this and all coming generations that this +was the first commercial co-operative enterprise, as far as we know, +in this part of the country, and that it yielded a profit--it +"liquidated." + +They now immediately began cutting wood on this island below Fort +Thompson, and it was well that they had had some "refreshment," for +what they now received in the way of board was fearfully and +wonderfully made. It consisted of spoiled pork and wormy flour, +rejected by the soldier commissary at the fort and bought for little +or nothing by this shameless contractor to feed these unsuspecting +men. Out of this material, a not over clean negro cook made two +standard dishes--soda biscuits and fried pork. Often the remnants of +the worms, embalmed and baked into the biscuits could be plainly seen. + +The men bore as patiently as they could with this sickening food, for +there was little else to do now under their circumstances. But their +stomachs rebelled, however, and the men became so weakened thru +continued diarrhea that they could scarcely lift the ax at times. Yet +with characteristic Viking spirit they "stuck it out" until the 900 +cords were hewn. The men now separated, some going back to Yankton or +vicinity. Ole Lee and his brother Halvor, however, pushed on up to +Fort Sully, or Cheyenne Agency, where the former remained for five +years without seeing civilization again in the meantime. By this time +Mr. Lee, as well as others of the above named company, had been able +to save up a little money and homesteaded in Yankton county, where +some of them and many of their descendants live to this day, not a few +of them being worth $100,000 each. You recall we began our narrative +of one of them with a capital of 35 cents. The explanation of this, of +35 cents to $100,000; of the borrowed ox team and rickety wagon to the +finest automobiles in the market; of the sod shanty or dugout to the +big modern houses with all the latest conveniences which some of +these men have today, lies in two or three words--America and the +Norse immigrants' great characteristics, industrially speaking--industry +and thrift. + +We have suggested the striking change which fifty years have wrought +in the outward circumstances of these men. Would that the intervening +years could have been equally kind to the men themselves as to their +earthly tabernacles! But such could not be the case, altho several of +them are still living and a number spending their declining years as +neighbors in the vicinity of Volin. The heat and toil of many summers +have wrinkled their brows; the snows of many winters and some sorrows +and cares have whitened the hair and given a stoop to the shoulders. +The step is a little less firm now than when they together marched +over the prairie to the west; their laughter has lost some of its +ring, and yet it is there. With their children and grandchildren they +are enjoying a little deserved rest before the final journey to the +last sunset of life's trail. + +There is Ole Lee, Ole Solem, Halvor Hinseth and the Hoxengs, still +active and living in good, comfortable homes and in the same +neighborhood. There is Ole Bjerke, once tall and straight as a young +pine of the forest, now a little bent over and gray. There, too, is +his wife, remarkably well preserved in both body and mental faculties. +How many generations of "newcomers" have received a hearty welcome and +hospitality in these homes and have been by them helped to get a start +in the new land! Long will they live enshrined in the hearts and +memories of the many who have enjoyed the hospitality of their +firesides. + +Yes, most of these pioneers of forty to sixty years ago have already +struck the long trail and gone to that "West" which is the farthest +and the final. Of the few who remain, the earthly tabernacles are +leaning more and more toward the earth from which they came, and in a +very short time not one will be left standing. Yet because man's +immortal hope burns strongly in many of them, the building of flesh, +tho feebler than of yore, is glorious with that light which the years +and the eternities cannot dim nor extinguish, for it is eternal in the +Heavens. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SETTLEMENTS ON TURKEY CREEK, AND CLAY CREEK, '70-71 + + +The settlement in Turkey Creek was made in 1870. A man by the name of +John Hovde, who had homesteaded in Union county some years previously, +made a trip back to Norway and on his return the following people came +over with him: Anfin Utheim and wife; Olaf Stolen; Haakon Hoxeng with +his two sons, already referred to, and one daughter; Stingrim Hinseth +with wife and one baby daughter, Mary; Halvor Hinseth; Ingebright +Fagerhaug; and Marit Nysether, who later became his wife, and a number +of other men and women who went to other parts of the country. + +These people reached Sioux City May 18, 1870. There some of the men of +the company found work on the railroad. The others, including S. and +H. Hinseth and Miss Nysether, journeyed on by ox team toward their +friends already described as settled on the South Prairie, i.e., north +of the present Volin. Their baggage went by steam boat to Yankton. Mr. +and Mrs. S. Hinseth, who had a little six-year-old baby daughter, went +by stage as far as Vermilion and there transferred to the ox team, the +stage going on to Yankton. + +We will here quote from a brief narrative which Mr. S. Hinseth, at our +request, prepared for this record just before his death (1918). As Mr. +Hinseth was one of the outstanding leaders in this immigration +movement and in the building up of the new country, both materially +and spiritually, we are very fortunate in getting these memoranda +directly from him. We regret that he was cut off before he could +finish them. + +"We reached our destination in Yankton county on a Sunday. That day +there was church service at the home of Mr. and Mrs. O. Bjerke, +conducted by pastor Nesse of Brule, Union county. + +"There was no possibility of getting work in the neighborhood, so a +number of us went up to Fort Randall, where we obtained work cutting +cord wood for steamboat use. We remained there until fall, when Halvor +Hinseth and myself homesteaded in Turkey Valley township and were the +first to settle there. + +"We lived in Iver Furuness' house that winter, and in the spring of +1871 we moved to the place belonging to Christian Marendahl, whose +field we rented that season. That fall we moved onto our own +homesteads on Turkey Creek. + +"Life was often dreary for us in those first years, for neighbors were +few and far apart. However, we had occasional visits from Rev. Elling +Eielsen, whom we knew from the time he visited our part of the country +in Norway, and we were very glad of those visits. We also had pastoral +visits from Gunder Graven, whom we later called, and who served us for +many years during our pioneer days. Throndhjem's congregation became +organized, I believe, in 1871. We belonged accordingly to the +Evangelical Lutheran Synod, or, as it was also called, Eielsen's +Synod, and still later became known as Hauge's Synod. This in turn +became merged, in 1917, in the Norwegian Lutheran Church of America. + +"In 1877, I believe, Throndhjem's congregation became divided into +what are now Zion's and Throndhjem's. This latter, in distinction from +the northern congregation, which kept the name Throndhjem, at first +took the name Throndhjem's Free Congregation and later Zion's. + +"This division arose from a disagreement as to the site for the +proposed church building. The site at first chosen was on Peder +Engen's farm, or practically where the Zion's church building now +stands. This seemed too far south for those living in the northern +part of the original parish, so they formed the present organization +of Throndhjem's and built on the present site in the early '80's. + +"In 1901 a terrible storm swept over the whole state, and in this +storm, in common with many others, these congregations lost their +church buildings. Also the buildings of Meldahl's and Salem's, which +congregations were organized considerably later than the above, were +destroyed. This was a great loss. However, under the energetic +leadership of Rev. C. Olberg, then pastor of all four congregations +above named as also of Salem's, the people rallied with splendid +loyalty and sacrifice so that soon the buildings were not only rebuilt +but in a more modern and substantial form than the structures +destroyed." + +Mr. Henseth also tells of the makeshifts for stables and granaries in +those first years. As lumber could not be afforded they would make a +grain storage by laying a square of rails after the fashion of a rail +fence, then they would line this with hay or straw to fill in the +large spaces between the rails and put the grain inside. + +Stables were made from a little frame work of rails, for roof at +least, and this was covered with hay or straw. The walls were usually +the same materials and were eaten up during the winter as a general +occurrence and had to be restored in the fall. + +We have heard Halvor Hinseth and other pioneers in these settlements +tell of their experiences in going to mill in the first ten years or +more. As the grasshoppers destroyed most of the small grain in '74 and +'76 the settlers had barely enough for flour and a little seed. The +nearest mill was three miles south of St. Helena, Nebraska. As this +was south of the present Gayville they would either have to go by +Yankton to cross the river or else cross on the ice in the winter. Mr. +H. Hinseth relates one trip, vivid in his memory, when they with their +loads got into deep snow out on the bottom; got lost in the brush +south of Gayville; were refused shelter when they at last found a +light from a cabin in the brush; how their horses gave out and the +sleds broke down and the men themselves were about used up. Sometimes +they would be overtaken by a snowstorm on their trip and be snowed in +for several days, so these mill trips would often take a week's time +and more toil and hardship than we can describe. But they managed to +get back sometime and with flour for the family. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE GREAT IMMIGRATION OF 1880--CAUSE OF + + +If a man had stood by the king's highway leading from Opdal, Norway, +to the seaport town of Trondhjem, in the month of April, 1880, he +could have witnessed a strange and significant scene. Here comes a +procession of twenty or more sleds, each drawn by a single small +horse. The sleds were heavily loaded with large, blue-tinted chests, +as also trunks, satchels and numerous smaller articles of household +and family use. Riding on top of these loads are mothers with little +children as also a number of grandmothers, the latter upwards of +seventy years of age. A number of lighter sleds, or cutters, are also +in the procession. These belong to friends of this pilgrim procession, +who are accompanying them part way and are now about to say, or have +already said, their final farewell and Godspeed to these +pilgrims--their friends and relations. This may explain in part the +fact that the men walk by the side of their loads in silence, with +downcast eyes and a lump in their throats, while the women show clear +traces of recent tears. Nor can we blame them for succumbing for the +moment to their emotions when we come to understand the meaning of +this strange scene. + +These people, about sixty in number, this day were leaving that spot +on God's earth most dear to them; leaving the birthplace and the +resting-place of a hundred generations of their ancestors, they were +looking for the last time on their former homes and on the dear +familiar spots so well known from their childhood. They had just +looked for the last time upon the faces of their friends and near +relatives and spoken the last words, and soon they were to see the +receding outlines of the mountain peaks of their beloved fatherland, +nevermore to see them again. For they were on the way to America, and +America was very far off in those days, and to most people going there +the way back was forever closed. So to these people these last +glimpses and handshakes and words were the final, as far as this world +went, and they were all too well aware of it. + +But let us pause in the journey at this point, while still under the +influence of the nearby majestic mountains, robed in evergreen and +crowned with the snows of generations, so as to get acquainted with +the individuals of this company and also to learn the causes which +could lead these people to an undertaking so fraught with momentous +destiny for all of them and for their descendants to the end of time. +As we have already surmised, these people were not light-minded +adventurers or people who had nothing to risk or lose. On the +contrary, they were deeply rooted where they were and they did not +pluck up their life by the roots to be transplanted in a far-off, +unknown soil without careful consideration and a great motive. + +First we meet Berhaug Rise (later written Reese) who seems to be a +leader in this particular group we have before us. He is a man of +about forty-five, of spare build and medium height. He has a family +consisting of wife and five children--four boys and one girl; also his +mother who is nearly seventy years of age. The children's names were +Ole, eleven years; Halvor, nine; John, coming seven; Sivert, five; and +Mary, three years, and named after the grandmother. + +Next we get acquainted with Halvor Hevle, a man also of about +forty-five, but because of a terrible affliction of rheumatism, was +bent over so that his face is toward the ground. He is accompanied by +his wife, Marit, but they have no children. + +Then there is Thore Fossem with his wife, his mother and one little +girl, Marie, named after the grandmother. It should be explained here +that while this last named family was not present in the above group +just at this point of the story but came a little later, yet because +Mr. Fossem belongs by every other circumstance to this group, and in +spiritual kinship and motive particularly with the above two, we +include him here. With Thore Fossem came Ingebricht Satrum with one of +his boys, I believe, but most of his family came over a year or two +later. + +The above three men had all been owners of small or medium sized farms +and had advanced money for transportation to most of the others in the +party from the recent sale of their properties. The remainder of the +party, as we shall see, was largely composed of middle aged tradesmen, +young unattached men and girls, practically all of them without means +of their own to make the long journey. Most of these middle aged men +of trades had left large families behind and expected to earn enough +money in the new land to repay their own passage and also to send for +their families as soon as possible. But more of this later, for the +when and the how of the repayment of some of these transportations +would be out of place here, tho not without some very interesting +features. + +One of these men who was master of a trade and who also belongs, in +the sense of an absolutely kindred spirit, to the above three, was +Iver Sneve. He left wife and five children, taking with him his two +older boys, Ingebricht and Ole. + +In much the same economic relation was Anders Ellingson Loe, a +shoemaker by trade. Also Arne Loe, who was a mason and left wife and +three children behind until he could send for them. + +To this class should also be added Ingebricht Brenden, having left his +wife and five children--Ingebricht, Knut, Elli, Sigrid and Kjerstine. + +Among the younger married men were John Lien with wife and one boy, +Esten, as also his mother, who was another member of the considerable +group of grandmas in the party. + +Here should be mentioned also Lars Hansen Almen with wife and two +boys--Hans and Olaus as also Mrs. Almen's mother, who makes the fourth +member of the remarkable grandmother class in this group of pilgrims +to a faraway country. + +Then there were the following young and middle aged unmarried men and +women: Ildri Loe, now Mrs. Sneve of Inwood, Iowa; Kari Rathe; Marit +Myren; Haakon Mellemsether or Haagenson; Sivert Aalbu; John Riskaasen; +and Jens Rise. + +In all there were fifty-two passages bought on the same boat for the +same place in America; viz., Yankton, South Dakota. One or two of the +group, I believe, went to Brookings, South Dakota, including Mr. +Haagenson. + +We left these people, while making this digression, on the king's +highway severing forever the strong ties that bound them to the land +and the people of their birth. As we now resume our journey with them, +especially if we have not made the trip before, we are irresistibly +attracted by the wild and rugged manifestations of nature along our +route. Both the way and its surroundings were prophetic of the much +further stretching way to be traversed, often with weary feet, by +these people, could they have foreseen it. + +The road, tho well built, winds endlessly and often in sharp turns +thru the narrow valley between the mountains which in places almost +form a gorge. In many places the road is cut out of the solid rock of +the mountain side so that on one side is the high and nearly +perpendicular cliff; on the other, and only a few feet away, the +almost perpendicular descent to the raging, roaring river hundreds of +feet below. The sun is only now (April) beginning to reduce the eight +months' snow on the mountains. This turns the river in the main +valleys, as well as the hundreds of smaller streams coming down the +mountain sides, into whitefoamed, tumultuous torrents rolling great +stones before them and resounding thru the adjacent valleys and +mountain sides with a deep and deafening roar--beware! beware! + +Looking up the mountain sides we see pine and evergreen creeping up +well toward the top. But while the sides are thus robed in beautiful +green, the tops are crowned with the pure white of the "eternal" +snows. So here was both music and raiment fit for kings and the sons +of Vikings, and these sounds and sights those people never forgot nor +could forget. + +After a two-day tramp thru the snow and slush we reach the railway +station, Storen, fifty miles from our starting point. Here the drivers +return and more sad partings and some tears. Fortunately the new +sights and experiences now begin to crowd upon the consciousness of +these people and help them forget for the time being, just what they +most need to forget, what lies behind, if they are to successfully +march forward. Most of these people had never before been out of the +parish in which they were born or seen a railway or locomotive, not to +speak of riding behind one. And being naturally intelligent and +forward looking men and women, they took a deep interest in the new +world which continually unfolded to them as they journeyed on toward +their faroff destination, covering nearly a month of time. + +We must now turn to the causes or motives which led these people to +undertake this long journey, so full of perils and uncertainties, and +also of hardships which can better be imagined than described in +detail. Transatlantic travel, forty years ago, was about as different +from what it is now as the ox team was different from the automobile. + +The causes of this emigration, as one might almost surmise, were both +economic and religious. The religious motive was especially apparent +as far as the leaders were concerned. + +Some years before this migration, a traveling evangelist had come thru +Opdal and had held meetings from house to house in the neighborhood +where these people lived, the state church building not being open for +that sort of religious exercises. His name was Hans Remen, or as he +was often called, Hans Romsdalen. He was a giant in physical +proportions and also had a moral courage and religious ardor to match +his body. He denounced the dead forms of religion current in the +Lutheran State Church as of no avail, and worse than nothing, in that +they caused people to rest their salvation on a false foundation. He +testified by reference to the Bible, and to personal experience, that +the only basis of salvation for man was a personal, vital relation to +Jesus Christ, entered into by faith; and that in Him alone could man +find forgiveness of sin, peace with God, and a good conscience. + +The ground was somewhat ready for this sort of seed in that there was +a considerable number of people who had come to feel about the State +Church, much as the evangelist expressed it. Among them were the +leaders of these emigrants, Berhaug Rise (or as the name came to be +spelled, Reese), Halvor Hevle, Iver Sneve and Thore Fossem. A revival +of religion resulted and there came to be a considerable group of +people who sought a more vital religion than what was manifested in +the State Church. Thru worship and preaching in private houses, +however, they could find an open door and they continued this +movement. This religious movement thus gained more and more adherents, +so that not only had most of the members of this exodus been touched +by it but also many more who were left behind at this time. + +It was a foregone conclusion that these lay preachers, especially the +above mentioned leaders, would soon find themselves marked for +persecution by the representatives of the established church and also +by petty government officials who of course stood back of that church +organization. Then, too, while looking upon the State Church not only +as dead religiously but also as a positive menace to true religion, in +that it led people astray, and persecuted those who were trying to +lead the way back to the teachings of the lowly Nazarene, yet they +were compelled to give a tithe of their principal farm produce toward +the upkeep of this institution. + +There was much discussion and many clashes between the adherents of +the old and the new. But as the chasm seemed to widen, and the hope of +vitalizing the State Church from within to lessen, being backed as it +was financially and otherwise by the whole machinery of the +government, this religious situation and persecution became a strong +motive for seeking a freer atmosphere. + +Then strongly re-enforcing the religious motive were both the general +as also some special economic conditions at this time, which pressed +upon these people. As aforesaid, the leaders of this movement had been +owners of small and medium sized farms, but with debts on them. Yet +under ordinary conditions they could have managed to take care of +these obligations, as they were long-time loans and at low rates of +interest. But worse than these larger obligations was the fact that +some of them had somehow fallen into the hands of the professional +loan sharks and usurers of the place. The method of procedure of these +parasites was to make short time loans, generally becoming due in the +fall of the year, and taking security in the milch cows or grain crop +of the small farmers. On the very day of maturity they would demand +immediate payment or threaten foreclosure with its attendant expense +and annoyance to the borrower. Having bullied and scared their victims +into the suitable state of mind they would, with hypocritical pretense +of graciousness, offer to compromise by buying the mortgaged +property, usually milch cows and seed grain, themselves, thus saving +the expense and disgrace of going to law. This was generally accepted +and the sale made, but of course at the lender's price. Then in the +spring the farmers had to have cows and seed grain to do any business +and usually had to buy both back again from these sharks, thus getting +into their hands again, and thus the vicious circle continued until +the poor borrower was finally worn out and had to give up the +struggle. + +However, the final blow, economically, which brought the leaders of +our party to the great decision of emigrating, was a certain +cooperative mercantile enterprise which they had helped to form +supposedly for the economic benefit of the community. This was in the +early dawn of the cooperative movement in Norway, and these people +were quick to see its economic possibilities, but had not yet learned +to know and to guard against the many pitfalls which such enterprises +have to face and avoid if they are to succeed. And dearly did they pay +for their first lesson. + +The shares of the company were assessable with unlimited liabilities +on the part of the share holder. Thus, of course the business had +almost unlimited credit with wholesalers. For a time the organization +seemed to prosper. After a while, however, suspicion began to form in +the minds of some that things were not just right. An investigation +was eventually made. The manager immediately disappeared. The +government now stepped in and declared a bankruptcy. The manager, +having gotten away beyond recall, the wholesale houses presented bills +of all kinds and large amounts for goods which the directors felt +certain had never been received. But with the manager absconded the +company could not disprove these claims, and the court, belonging +socially and politically to the big business class, naturally held the +scales of justice, socalled, in favor of the wholesale creditors. The +result was that these poor pioneers in the field of economic +cooperation found themselves liable and their property attached for +as much as 6000% of the face value of their shares. It goes without +saying that the government officials saw to it that they themselves +got their utmost limit out of the general slaughter. Berhaug Rise and +a couple of other victims appealed to the courts against the high +handed work of the big business concerns, and the petty government +officials involved, but lost the case, and all that they had was +attached and ordered sold. + +Finding revealed thru all this procedure the persecution both of the +civil and the ecclesiastical authorities, and seeing no chance at that +point of either religious or economic betterment for themselves and +their children, they came to the great decision to try their fortunes +in the far-away land of which they had heard many and strange tales. +For them, as for so many others of every race and tongue, this +far-away land was the land of their dreams; the land of the true where +they could live anew; where the song birds dwell; the land of promise, +and also of fulfillment, of hitherto crushed hopes and thwarted +aspirations. + +Returning now to follow our party from Trondhjem, where we left them, +to Yankton, South Dakota, we find that the journey was mostly the +uneventful, uncomfortable one which was the lot of immigrants of forty +years ago, or early '80's. There was much sea sickness and much +loathing and disgust with the food and accommodations, both of such a +quality as they had never experienced before. Fortunately most of them +had food of their own. + +The nearest to any mishap to any of the party fell to the lot of the +writer of this chronicle, who was a boy of six years. It happened in +the awful throng and confusion of Castle Garden, the old landing place +of immigrants at New York City. I was committed to the care of a +certain servant girl of the family, there being four other children to +be kept track of by father and mother. But in the noise and confusion +of embarking on certain transports taking us to the railway on the +main land, she seems to have lost her head as well as her charge, and +I recall that I found myself wandering alone among the vast spaces of +Castle Garden and the docks. I was crying because of the loss of +father, mother, and all my friends, and searching for them in vain. At +length some sort of official discovered me and after some questioning +he joined me in the search. We went out on some boats, I recall, where +people were embarking, and he inquired everywhere if anyone had lost a +boy. I recall very vividly how a woman at one place claimed me as her +very own and how I protested with more vehemence than politeness. The +official took my view of the case. We continued our search and at last +we met Father, who by this time had discovered my absence and started +out to search. Needless to say, there was more joy over my return than +over the four other children who had not strayed away. + +Thus the transportation company at length was enabled to carry out its +contract of delivering the same number of heads at Yankton as it took +on at Trondhjem. And they did it much in the same matter-of-fact and +impersonal way as a railroad company undertakes to deliver so many +head of cattle at the stockyards of Chicago.--All the honor to them +that they deserved! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +LANDING AT YANKTON AND GETTING ON THE LAND + + +It may be of interest to take a look at the town of Yankton of forty +years ago, where we finally landed. Yankton was the terminal of this +division of the C.M. & St. P. Railway, or, as it was then called, the +Dakota Southern. It was also the capitol city of Dakota Territory +comprising the present states of North and South Dakota. Its buildings +were mostly small wooden houses, but, as may be surmised, it commanded +a large trade territory, for besides being the end of the railway it +was touched by a considerable steamboat traffic up and down the river +and had considerable Indian trade, besides that of the adjacent white +settlements. So it was then the most important city in the Dakotas and +had been decidedly so before that time. + +Here the immigrants were given a cordial welcome and temporary shelter +at the home of Mrs. Carrie Severson, a widow whom they had known from +the old country. We do not know, of course, how our fathers and +mothers felt about the enterprise by this time, but to us youngsters, +who as yet were not loaded with the burdens of life, the green grass +and the freedom to scamper about seemed good after a whole month's +confinement in a crowded steerage and more crowded railway coaches. + +Next day friends of the party, who had immigrated some ten years +before, came with teams and wagons to help these newer comers to get +on the land and make their start in the new and, to these people, +strange land. For this was indeed a very different country from the +one they had left and even from the picture many of them had had in +mind. There was much to learn and many disappointments at first as we +shall see. + +Among the men who undertook to receive this large company in their +homes and to help them get established in homes of their own, and who +extended the glad hand of welcome that day, should be mentioned these: +Stingrim Hinseth, Ingebricht Fagerhaugh, Haldo Saether, John Rye, John +Aalbu and Halvor Hinseth. These men loaded into their lumber wagons +the big blue chests and smaller parcels; deposited the passengers as +best they could and started out over the prairie on what was called +"The Sioux Falls Trail". This trail angled all the way to their homes +in Turkey Creek, over twenty miles to the northeast. Darkness soon +overtook the travelers and the following circumstance created +considerable merriment for the hosts, at least. The newcomers +observed, as they journeyed on thru the darkness, very many gleams of +light as it were from innumerable human habitations. These points of +light were, of course, fire flies, so called, or certain +phosphorescent bugs which at that time were very numerous because of +the abundant grass prevailing everywhere. At length one of the +passengers remarked in evident astonishment! "This country must be +very thickly populated, judging by the many lights we see"! When +daylight came, however, the lights and most of the supposed +inhabitants had utterly disappeared. + +It may be of some interest to the new and coming generations to take a +look at the country around Turkey Creek as it greeted the curious gaze +of these new comers of forty years ago on that first morning of their +arrival. Most of the friends who brought them out from town and +distributed them for temporary shelter were settled on the Turkey +Creek bottom and located about where they or their dwellings are now. +Farthest north up the valley was John Rye, then Halvor Hinseth, next +Steingrim Hinseth, I. Fagerhaug, Ole Solem and Jens Eggen, in order as +named. But back of the creek bottom where these earliest homesteaders +had located was the far stretching open prairie--a sea of waving +grass--with a lonely dug-out only here and there and vast stretches of +"no man's land" between. + +There were no regular highways, only some trails winding their way +over the endless grass, in some general direction, but with many +crooks and turns to avoid a hill, ravine or slough. These sloughs, or +small lakes, were very numerous and of considerable size and depth in +those days. There is today many a waving field of corn and grain where +we boys of the first generation of settlers once launched our home +made boats, hunted ducks, swam and occasionally came near drowning. + +The best travelled of the trails in the part of the country we are +describing was the old territorial trail called the Sioux Falls Road. +This angled in a north-easterly direction all the way from Yankton to +Sioux Falls, and many a prairie schooner could be seen moving with +stately slowness over this road, not to speak of other vehicles which +were numerous. As a boy I have seen long caravans of Indians, perhaps +twenty or thirty teams in a string, trekking over this road. When the +ruts became too deep, by reason of much travel and the action of the +water, another trail would be made close alongside the old. Thus in +places six or eight pairs of ruts, made by many wagons and feet, could +be seen side by side. + +There were no wire fences to mark boundaries between farms or to form +pastures in those days, and the cattle were herded far and wide. The +people in the Turkey Creek Valley herded as far as Clay Creek. The +writer of this, altho not of the earliest herd boys of the time, and +living near Turkey Creek, has taken his herd many a day to the +proximity of Clay Creek with practically open pasture all the way. + +I am speaking for many boys and some girls, too, of those days, boys +and girls who are fathers and mothers now, when I say that our pasture +fence was Clay Creek on the west and Turkey Creek on the east. Not +that we were not free to go farther but that the day was not long +enough to get any farther and back again the same day. + +There was at this time, when our pilgrims arrived, but very little of +the ground broken up. What little there was broken was mostly on the +creek bottom, but scarcely any on the upland. And when a little later +patches of prairie were broken up in order to comply with the +homestead law requirements for getting title to the land, these +patches were usually in a draw or low-lying strip between the hills. +Thus the fields of early days were not laid out with any reference to +north or south, but their direction was determined entirely by the +hills and valleys. The little breaking which was done was done with +oxen and sometimes the direction of the field to be was determined by +the oxen themselves more than by the driver. Some wheat, corn and oats +was raised, but the main dependence of the farmer was cattle and +milking. + +The dwellings were of three main types. There was the dug-out, usually +in a side-hill, with a sod roof, a few studdings and boards being used +to support the roof. The walls and floor were usually the native +earth. The sod house was a more advanced and perhaps more stylish +dwelling. Closely related to the sod house was the mud house where the +walls, about two or three feet thick, were made of well tramped mud +and straw. These mud houses were at times whitewashed and were both +comfortable and sightly. As for comfort in the cold winter the dug-out +and sod house were not so bad when properly built. But do not imagine +that they were equal to your furnace-heated, modern house. They were, +after all, a temporary hole in the ground to preserve life until +houses could be had. A house made of lumber was a luxury which many an +early settler had to look forward to for many a hard, long year, and +often he had to die in the dug-out or sod shanty. Finally, there was +the story-and-a-half frame house of two or three rooms with a +possible lean-to. This type of house put one in the class of the most +well-to-do; and such a habitation was the hope and dream of years for +many a pilgrim mother of those days. + +We have turned aside from our main narrative for a look at the country +as it appeared to our band of pilgrims as they looked about them on +that first morning of their arrival in the Turkey Creek Valley. And +the view was not all that they had hoped for. What could these +men--farmers and men of trades--do in this howling wilderness of +grass, grass and nothing but grass? Yes, there was something +else--mosquitoes--and oh, how they stung! Also flies, and how +incessantly and mercilessly they attacked the fair soft skin of these +pilgrims from the Norseland! Finally, there was the heat, which +literally took the fair skin off their faces in flakes and put on a +tan which made them almost unrecognizable. + +Moreover, what could these shoemakers, masons, painters or even +farmers do here? Shoes were bought; houses were of sod or earth and +needed no paint; years would be required to make cultivated fields out +of this sea of grass, and meanwhile they and their families must +somehow live. + +The kind hosts did all they could to encourage and make comfortable +the newcomers, sharing with them what accommodations they had. But we +must remember that these first comers had not been here long +themselves. The dwellings were small, without cooling porches, and in +summer necessarily hot, and they had no screens to protect the inmates +from the blood-thirsty fly and mosquito. So there was but little rest +or comfort by day or night, especially for those unused to these +conditions. This together with the unaccustomed food, which at first +completely upset them, made some of the newcomers very discouraged +with the new country. + +One of these "blue" ones said to Father soon after their arrival: "Do +you suppose you will ever get your money back which you loaned us for +our passage?" "That," replied father, "I do not know. But this I do +know, that now I have no money either to take myself or any of you +back again." "Then," rejoined the first one, "if now I could stand on +the highway where we started, even with nothing but a shirt on my +back, I should be the happiest man alive." Another said: "There is not +even grass here such as one can cut with a scythe and, as for land I +shall have none of it." And in his case it became so. He never +homesteaded and later worked at his trade in Yankton and Sioux City, +where he died many years later. + +Father tried to take a brighter view and to cheer those complaining +ones and said to Iver Sneve, who had just expressed the wish to be +back on the old sod: "In three years you will be butchering your own +pork, raised on your farm in this new land." Then Iver broke out into +his characteristically loud, uproarious laughter, full of incredulity +and almost scorn, and said: "Berhaug Rise, I have up till this time +considered you a man of sense and good judgment, but now I am +compelled to believe that your mind's eye is shimmering. I cannot even +_keep alive_ for _three years_ in this man-consuming wilderness. +Unless some one takes pity on me and helps me to return home, the +flies and mosquitoes alone will have finished me before that time. Oh, +that some of us older men could have had sense enough to return even +when we were as far as England," he added. This is a sample of many +conversations, and these expressions were by no means uttered as jokes +either. Nevertheless, this Iver Sneve lived some 35 years after this +conversation and was worth $25,000.00 when he died. + +However, these people were here and, with all bridges burned behind +them, they realized that mere lamentations would not meet the +situation. Something must be done to live and to keep their families, +here or in the old country, as was the case with some, alive. So in a +few days a party of the younger men set out afoot toward the present +site of Parker to seek work on the railroad which was just being +extended from that point westward toward Mitchell. They found work +with shovel and pick. But ten hours a day, in the hot sun and with an +Irish boss over them to see that these implements kept constantly +moving, was no soft initiation for these fair skinned men just out of +a much colder climate. However, with true Norse and immigrant grit +they "stuck it out" and earned a little money before the first winter +of 1880-1 came on. + +Berhaug Rise and Halvor Hevle, by the help of the good neighbors, got +some lumber hauled from Vermilion, the latter for a dug-out and the +former for a frame house 14 x 16 and 12 feet high. This house was +built by John Rye and is still standing in the old homestead after +nearly forty years. In this house made of one thickness of drop siding +and paper, we spent the terrible snow winter of 80-81. It was the +winter of the great blizzard which came in the middle of October. And +the deep snow never left until nearly the middle of April, when the +big flood of 1881 resulted. Luckily Father had filed without ever +seeing it, as also Grandma, on some land traversed by deep ravines. +There had been heavy hardwood timber in these ravines, but it was now +cut, with nothing left but young shoots--brush--and great stumps, some +4-6 feet in diameter. These stumps formed the winter's fuel, as also +most of the winter's work. With such a house it became necessary to +keep the stove about red hot in cold weather to have any comfort and, +of course, everything froze solid during the nights. But if it had not +been for the old oaken stumps and the warm woolen clothes we had +brought with us, it is hard to see how we could have survived that +first winter. Much better off, as far as the cold was concerned, were +those who had a good dugout. But by a sort of special dispensation of +providence there was no sickness requiring a doctor in our family or +in the neighborhood. And this was well, for doctors were far away and +expensive to get. We children waded and coasted in the deep snow, +getting hands and feet thoroly wet, but never had a better time in our +lives, as far as I can recall. There was yet no public school in that +neighborhood, so there was lots of time for play--mostly coasting down +the surrounding hillsides. + +A word ought also to be said about the outbuildings, if we may call +them such, for they were typical of what many others had. The stable, +for three cows and two ponies, was an excavation in the side hill. The +hill formed the full wall on the upper side and part of the wall on +the other sides, the rest being filled in with straw, hay or sod. Over +these walls was thrown brush with a little frame work of supports +underneath, and then the whole was covered with hay or straw. For a +door, in our case, Father took a bush, covered with an entanglement of +grape vines, set it in the doorway and piled hay against it. This +last, however, was an emergency measure as the notorious blizzard of +1880 above referred to, broke upon us before the structure was quite +finished. But as there were many emergency appliances in those days, +of every kind, this one was nothing out of the ordinary. + +The place where the two pigs were kept was built on the same plan, +only that it was divided into two stories--the chickens having roosts +over the pigs. But this combination did not prove a success, for +whenever the chickens fell down or ventured down to their room mates +below, they were eaten up by the pigs. + +Perhaps a word should also be said about two of the inmates of the +stable, for they also were common types of those and even much later +times. These were two Texas ponies which Father and Halvor Hevle had +purchased out of a herd driven to Yankton. After picking their choices +out of the herd in a large corral, and paying $20.00 apiece for their +choices, the men in charge lassoed the animals and turned them over to +the new owners, at the end of a fairly long new rope. It was well +that the ropes were new and fairly long, for it took three days of +both brave and skilled maneuvering to get these wild animals of the +plains to the home of their new masters. And the masters were +certainly tired and not over-enthusiastic over their new horse power +when they at last arrived. Matters were not so serene as could be +wished while these little savages were being picketed outside. But +when winter came and the animals which had never known any roof lower +than the blue sky, nor walls more confining than the far-flung +horizon, were to be quartered in a hole in the ground, real excitement +began. Whenever any one ventured into the stable he would no sooner +open the door than he would see these creatures on their haunches +trying to jump thru the roof, which feat they almost succeeded in +accomplishing. At first it was a problem how to get near enough to +tend to them. The hay could be poked down the roof to where their +heads ought to be, but the water was not so easy. In spite of +precaution they "got the drop" on Father once I recall, and he was in +bed for some time, but lucky to escape with his life. It should be +said to their credit, however, that by the help of Lars Almen, above +referred to, they were in due time subdued and served many years, and +faithfully, according to their size and strength, with only an +occasional runaway. These wild horses filled a useful place in the +needs of these scattered beginners far from each other and from towns. +But it was after all the ox who really helped subdue the soil and lay +the foundations for farming and prosperity in general. But for the +people we are now describing real farming had not yet begun, so more +of that a little later. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE PIONEER MOTHERS AND THEIR PART IN THE STRUGGLE + + +What we have said of the pioneers so far has reflected for the most +part what the pioneer fathers said, did or thought. If any one should +get the impression from this seemingly one-sided treatment that +pioneer mothers bore any lesser part of the burdens and sacrifices +incident to leaving the land of their birth, and beginning all over +again the long struggle of re-establishing themselves, and that, too, +on the bare prairie where there was absolutely nothing to begin with, +such a one has been greatly misled. While the work, not to speak of +the privations and feelings of our mothers, is more difficult to +record on paper, it is not one whit less real or deserving of any less +appreciation. We can only give a few outlines picturing their part of +the life. Yet if any one has a little imagination he can easily fill +in the picture with its various tints and shades. The shadows were +often both deep and tragic. + +For a woman, even more than for a man, the social ties of life mean a +great deal. Our mothers left their home relations, kindred and +neighbors close around them, to be set down on a lonely prairie, cut +off from all the dear relationships of childhood and womanhood. Even +where there were neighbors, or soon came to be, they were at first +strangers and often spoke a strange tongue. So for them there were +many long days and weary years of isolation and heart hunger for those +whom they had known and loved long ago, but now could never again see. + +Then, too, they had left homes, some of them very comfortable homes, +where they had always had the necessary equipment for ordinary +housekeeping. Here for years they had to do with little and in many +lines nothing. The average newcomer's larder from which our mothers +had to get the materials for three meals a day was generally confined +to these articles: Corn meal with more or less of wheat flour, often +less, and not seldom none at all; fat salt pork, at least part of the +time; milk in considerable quantity both for cooking, drinking in +place of tea or coffee and for making a number of dishes made almost +exclusively from milk. Butter they generally had, but as that was +about the only thing they had to sell it had to be conserved and lard +or a mixture of lard and molasses used instead. There were eggs, or +came to be, but while used more or less, they, too, had to go toward +getting such few groceries as could be afforded. These were coffee, +sugar, a little kerosene for one small lamp, and last, but, for many +of the men, not least--tobacco. Now let no pink tea scion or +descendant of these men who had to be the breaking plows of our new +state, hold up lilly fingered hands of horror at this last and often +not least item in the grocery list of that day. For if you are a man +child of this stock and you had been there and then, with all the +physical discomforts of the climate, lack of suitable clothes and +food, not to speak of the frequently loathsome drinking water, you +might have felt justified in the use of a nerve sedative too. It shall +be said to their credit, too, that while most of the men of that day +used the weed, few of them used it in such beastly excess as is often +seen today. But rightly or wrongly, they thought they had to have it. +Thus Lars Almen, when he arrived at Yankton, had 50 cents in money +left. He started to invest that last mite of the family resources in +tobacco. His wife remonstrated, saying it would be more fitting to get +a few provisions such as they could all partake of. The ever undaunted +Lars replied: "If I have tobacco I know I can do something or other to +make us a living, but if I have no tobacco I can do nothing". So he +bought tobacco, and he also made good on the "living." Forgetting, +then, the last named item in on the list of staple provisions, we find +that salt pork, usually fried, corn meal in some form, such as mush or +bread, more or less of wheat flour and milk or some dish made out of +milk in whole or part, were the resources out of which our pioneer +mothers had to provide three palatable meals a day, summer and winter. +This is not saying that these materials were always abundant, but +rather that it was these or nothing. There were, of course, special +occasions when a little pastry in the shape of home made cookies or +fried cakes was on the table, but cake and pie and such like luxuries +were not often seen the first years. + +The fuel with which to prepare this food was, for most of them, hay, +or in summer cow chips, and later on, when they began to raise corn, +corn cobs. But hay was the principal fuel, and huge piles of it were +required to do much cooking or for heating. For, as can be readily +seen, one had to keep stuffing it into the stove almost continually to +get any hot fire. Picture to yourself then a room--sod house, dugout +or a frame house about 12 x 14 which was kitchen, sitting room, +bedroom, and everything else combined. The hay, as was the case in +winter time, would cover a large part of the floor and, of course, +raise continual dust. The stove would get full of ashes in a short +time, and if the hay was damp would, of course, smoke more or less. In +such a place, with such conveniences and out of such materials, our +pioneer mothers had to solve the problem of three meals a day and do +all their other work besides. In summer, of course, it was not quite +so bad, as they usually had a lean to or cook shanty of some sort, for +use in warm weather. Is it strange that many of these women who came +to find a new and, as they supposed, a better home, found instead an +early grave, and what was worse, some even lost their minds? The men +could get away, at least to be outdoors a part of the time, but the +women had to live and move and have their whole being in these +surroundings and conditions. So let us not fail to speak the word of +appreciation to those of them who are still living or to cherish the +memory of those who have made their final pilgrimage. So let there be +flowers and kind words for the living and flowers and tears for the +dead. For our pioneer mothers gave more for us than we can ever know. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +INDIANS AS OCCASIONAL GUESTS AND VISITORS + + +While still speaking of life and conditions in the Turkey Creek Valley +and surrounding country as it was during the winter of eighty and +eighty one, and even later, I ought to mention our occasional Indian +visitors. They used to travel thru that country in considerable +numbers at that time over the Sioux Falls road already mentioned. As a +boy I have seen possibly twenty or thirty teams in a single +procession. They sometimes camped near the brush bordering the ravine +which was close by our house. The women would excavate the snow, +sometimes several feet deep, and pitch the tepees, while the children +scampered around them on the snow bank. The following incident may not +be out of place as showing the heartaches and difficulties for the +Indian incident to his transition from the free life of the plains to +that of civilization. One day an Indian family consisting of a man and +wife with some children, as also an old squaw which was evidently the +grandmother of the children, camped near our house. The man and the +younger squaw were trying to boil their kettle in the camp fire while +the old squaw went out into the adjoining gulches, presumably to dig +roots or hunt. The pot did not boil very fast and Father, by signs, +invited them to come into the house and boil their pot. They seemed +perfectly willing to do this, and coming inside they sat around our +fire with the pot on the stove. But in a little while the old squaw +returned, and not seeing her children by the fire where all good +Indians would be supposed to be, she suspected something wrong and +came into the house where she found her degenerate offspring located +as above described. We could not, of course, understand the words she +said, but we could easily make out that she was not complimenting them +any on their new-found quarters, for the language was very emphatic +and her face stern. She also got some immediate action. Having scolded +them soundly for forsaking the firesides and ways of their fathers to +enter the lodges of the palefaces, she snatched the kettle from the +stove and walked out followed by the now chastened son and daughter +with their children. + +We had many visits from the Indians and they never did us any harm. +However, I suspect that they were more welcome to us youngsters than +to our mothers who never seemed quite at ease with them. + +Most of those who came thru the country at that time had wagons. But +some used the travaux, consisting of two rails lashed to the saddle of +the pony, one on each side, and crosspieces behind the horse with +blankets or skins covering. The ends of the rails, of course, slid on +the ground. On this rude contrivance the Indian loaded his few +belongings, sometimes the squaw and children, and journeyed over the +country. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE GREAT SNOW WINTER OF 1880-1 AND THE GREAT FLOOD OF +1881--BUILDING A BOAT + + +We have already referred to this winter of 80-81 as the terrible snow +winter. May we add a few words on that in order to understand what +followed in the spring. + +The snow, a three days' snow storm or blizzard, came on October 15th, +and the snow never left, but kept piling up without thawing out to any +extent until April. Railroad connection with the outer world, as far +as the few towns in the state were concerned, was cut off, completely +in many instances, after the 1st of January. This, of course, made +coal as well as other provisions unobtainable in many cases. The +people in some towns, as for instance Watertown, had to take what they +could find to preserve life. So many empty buildings and other +property made of wood were taken for fuel. + +In the outlying country places the settlers could not get to them, +even when some provisions were available. In not a few cases, too, +there was nothing to sell and no money for buying. So barred by one or +all of the circumstances, the settlers had to get along and try to +preserve life as best they could. As for the few groceries which they +might ordinarily have used, they dispensed even with them for the most +part. Many lived on corn meal, ground on the coffee mill. But there +was one privation which for many proved the "unkindest cut of +all"--tobacco. Many and sore were the lamentations because of the lack +of this one commodity and many the devices to get it. A man can live +without coffee, sugar and wheat-bread, not to speak of less necessary +things, but tobacco--well, you can't do anything more to him after +that. + +As can easily be seen, when this vast quantity of snow began to go +out, especially going out so late in the spring, it created a flood. +Every creek became a raging river, the rivers became more like vast +moving lakes. So if communication with towns had been difficult before +it became well nigh impossible now. The whole Missouri bottom, for +instance, became one vast and roaring sea, coming up to the bluffs of +the present Mission Hill and Volin. But yet, can such a little thing +as fourteen miles of roaring water and floating debris stand between a +man and his tobacco, or a woman and her cup of coffee, especially when +the latter is the only thing approaching a luxury that she has? No! By +the shades of all our Viking ancestors, No! After looking over their +possible resources of men and materials for the undertaking of defying +the angry flood, they found that Ole Solem, who then lived on Turkey +Creek, had a few remnants of lumber. They also found that Anders Oien +had had a little experience in boat building, and Ole Johnson was an +ex-fisherman and thus could row a boat if they had one. So with the +help of those mentioned and others, such as Ingebricht Fagerhaug, who +was a carpenter, and Steingrim Hinseth, the boat was built. It was +crude, of course, and leaky, yet counted seaworthy because the +situation was getting desperate. It should be said in fairness that +mere personal and private needs were not the only motive with these +men. For instance, some of the leaders of this enterprise, like Solem +and Fagerhaug, had no need or use for tobacco, but needing other +things and realizing the general needs they joined with heart and +hand. + +When the craft was finished Steingrim Hinseth hauled the boat and the +men, Ole Solem, Ingebricht Fagerhaug, Thore Fossem and, I believe, Ole +Johnson, to the foot of the bluffs, a couple of miles northwest of +Volin, where the boat was launched. The cargo was all that the little +craft could carry, consisting of very many different parcels of butter +and some eggs. These, belonging to many different parties and being +the only things they had to sell, were to be exchanged for a few +necessities such as mentioned above. + +When the cargo was all in and the crew embarked there was about two +inches left of the boat above the water line and the boat a little +leaky besides. But with true Viking spirit they struck out over the +twelve or fourteen miles of angry flood towards Yankton. There they +were able to do the necessary shopping for the whole neighborhood, and +in three days from the time of starting they were back without mishap +and all errands carried out. It goes without saying that they were +welcomed by the many expectant ones in the whole neighborhood and that +there was great rejoicing on the part of both men and women, for the +women got their coffee and the men got--well--whatever was coming to +them. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BEGINNING THEIR REAL STRUGGLE WITH THE EARTH + + +The long and memorable winter of '80-'81 had at last come to an end. +The resulting flood, too, as in the time of Noah, at length subsided, +and now our new comers must begin their first real struggle with the +earth in the new land. Without tools or draught animals, and even any +knowledge of farming conditions on this new soil, and without means to +buy tools, this struggle became for many both hard and prolonged. They +had had during the winter their baptism in self-denial and privation. +They were now to learn further that while the new land might possibly +flow with milk and honey, yet if it was to flow for them, they would +have to do the milking and gather the honey. + +As an illustration of how the struggle in subduing the soil began for +these people, may I again refer to my Father as an illustration of +many others. I refer to him merely because I can recall these +circumstances better in his case than in that of others and, also +because the experiences of others were similar and in many cases much +worse. + +He had hired a man to break five acres the first summer. This was an +ordinary amount of plow land, largely because the government required +this much to be broken in order to comply with the homestead +regulations. During the winter he had made a small harrow and in the +spring sowed most of this ground to wheat and tried the best he could +to harrow it with the ponies already mentioned. The year was not very +favorable, as I can recall it, and with such equipment the results +can be surmised. I do not recall just what they were, but I am quite +sure we did not eat much wheat flour the following winter. He had one +acre of corn, which he worked with the hoe. He bought, like most of +the others, or, rather went into debt for, a pair of steers that +spring. These he, with the help of Lars Almen, who worked together +with him, as also Halvor Hevle, tried to "break" for work purposes. +These animals proved themselves notoriously stubborn and fractious and +made their drivers earn most of what they got out of them in the way +of work. This, however, may have been due to the inexperience of the +drivers. For, as already said, the ox, next to the cow, was the +beginner's best friend, and without him it is hard to see how the +pioneers could have gotten along at all. To be sure, some of these +animals did not take kindly to the yoke and many were the scrapes they +got their owners into, running away and breaking up both wagons and +tools. Yet when you consider the lot of the ox you cannot be too hard +on him for his occasional bad humor. As a boy I have driven him many a +day, and often lost my patience with him, for which I now humbly +apologize. We worked him on the plow, both stubble and breaking plow, +drag, stoneboat and the heaviest work that was to be done. At noon or +night we unyoked him and let him go to get a little grass or hay for +himself. No oats for him, only the long kind you administer with a +whip; no thanks to him when the long, hot day of pulling a breaking +plow at last is done, but very likely a parting kick. We have not +given the ox his well-earned place among the foundation builders of +our land, and I propose that even at this late date we should repent +and build in South Dakota a monument to the ox, our early, faithful +and indispensable friend. + +The first few years after arriving were required by our pioneers for +making temporary shelters for themselves and their few animals; also +in providing some way of obtaining the bare necessities of life while +they could lay the foundations for a larger prosperity and more +comforts. As already indicated, the first resource and dependence for +getting a little money was eggs, butter and hay. These commodities +were sold to get the few groceries and small necessities which they +could not well do without. Some of the men worked out to supplement +their meager income. + +By 1885, roughly speaking, these hardy men really began to wrestle +with the soil in earnest and thus make possible something more than a +bare existence. From about '83 to '90 a picturesque and ever recurring +scene, when spring and early summer came, was the breaking rig moving +slowly but majestically over the long furrows. There were from four to +six oxen to each plow and most generally it took two men to hold the +plow and keep the oxen in the straight and narrow way. The country I +am describing was very stony and there was many a hard lift and aching +back before these stones could be pried out of the ground and hauled +away sufficiently to make breaking possible. Even after spending many +weeks at this clearing work there would still be many stones left +which the plow would strike with such violence as to almost fell the +man at the handles. With the plow out of the ground and the load +suddenly lightening the oxen would make the most of this relief by +starting on a trot so that often the plow could not be gotten back +into the sod for a rod or two. Two neighbors would often go in +together in breaking, each furnishing one yoke of oxen. + +This sod would be put into corn or flax the first season and the next +into wheat. The returns were generally quite meager compared with what +that ground is producing now. But even a little meant much then. +Drought was the principal drawback. Then, too, these early beginners +did not have the modern machinery either for putting in, harvesting or +threshing grain, and this fact was also a large cause for small +yields. However, they kept on breaking up a little more each year, +and after a few years the ground was subdued enough to begin to raise +corn and consequently hogs. The beef cattle as a source of income had +been good earlier, but the price of cattle went so low during this +period that there was not much inducement. Then, too, as the country +came to be settled and broken there was less possibility of keeping +herds of cattle. I recall that during this depression in the latter +eighties good milch cows sold for $10.00-$15.00 and other cattle in +proportion. Of course, in the panic or notorious depression of 93-4, +even grain and hogs went down with everything else. Corn was sold for +eight cents per bushel and wheat as low as 35-40 cents. But generally +speaking, in the period we are describing, when these path-finders +were laying the foundations for permanent homes and farm equipment, +corn and hogs became their corner stone of prosperity, with milk and +butter a close second. + +There arose an industry in the latter '90's which came to be of +considerable economic importance--the creamery. These men at first +located a considerable distance away and the cream had to be +transported in hired wagons. Some of these creameries "failed" and +left the farmers to whistle for their long expected and much needed +cream checks. Later a co-operative creamery was organized and +successfully operated by Sven Vognild on the S. Hinseth place. This +was the first real co-operative enterprise in the vicinity. + +Returning to early farm conditions, we find that for several years +many of the new settlers did not have enough grain to have a +threshmachine on the place, but hauled what little they might have to +some nearby machine. + +As can be seen, there was not much grain to be sold for some time for +these farmers. Butter and eggs, and, a little later, cattle, were the +chief products which could bring a little ready money. To this should +be added hay, which many hauled to Yankton with oxen, getting +$2.50-$3.00 per ton. Even at this price, and with such slow +transportation, this hay traffic was for many the chief source of any +money, and some spent most of the fall and winter months at this work +when travel was possible. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE COUNTRY AS IT APPEARED IN 1800-3 + + +We ought, at this point, to make a visit around the neighborhood as it +appeared from '81-'83 and even much later. Beginning in the Turkey +Creek Valley, we have already indicated the half dozen families which +had located there in the early seventies. As we have spoken in another +chapter of this earlier wave of pioneer immigrants, I shall pass them +by now as also those of that same group who had settled to the south, +toward what is now Volin. + +Berhaug Rise moved his living house from where it was first placed, +viz., one quarter mile west of Ole Solem's, to about one mile west, +that is, from the creek bottom at the junction of the ravines which +traversed the place from east to west, to the higher land at the head +of these ravines. + +To the southwest of our place, about a mile distant, was John Johnson, +who had settled there in '74 and lived in a log house. To the west one +mile was Ole Johnson, who had filed in '79 and was living in a dugout +with his family. Another mile or so still farther southwest was Peter +Moen, also living in a dugout and having a considerable family. Then +going back to Ole Johnson and going north were Peter Johnson, Jonas +Vaabeno, Ole Liabo, and John Moene. To the east of Peter Johnson there +was in 1880 a man by the name of Roser who, however, left about that +time. All of these, as far as I remember, lived in dugouts, with the +exception of the first named, who lived in a loghouse. + +Going from five to six miles to the northwest of this Turkey Creek +settlement, we find another group of pioneers, some of whom had come +before 1880 and others a little later. We can mention a few. There was +Cornelius Nilsen, Albert Boe, Peter, Albert, and O.O. Gorseth; O. +Lokken; Steen Bakke, Mrs. Mary Boe, the Simonson Brothers--Halvor and +Ole. Also Asle Mikkelson. There may have been others, but these +comprise practically all who were there at that time. The sons and +daughters of many of these are either on the old places or in the +vicinity to this day. Of course, some have moved away to other parts. +Most of these pioneers are still living, but no longer in the +dug-outs. + +Going west to what was called the West Prairie, about six miles, could +be found H. Hagen, the Gustads, Stoems, Skaaness and others. These had +come in the earlier wave of immigration which we have mentioned +already, i.e. in the early '70's or later '60's. + +Going back to our starting point near Turkey Creek and going south, +after passing John Johnson already mentioned, we find next the +Lawrence place, now owned by Mr. Axlund; then Hans Dahl, followed in +order by Haldo Sether, Ole Bjerke, Lars Aaen and the Hoxeng Brothers, +both of them then living on the old home place now occupied by Thore +Hoxeng. There were, of course, others scattered on either side of this +line of settlers, but these were a sort of land marks in the early +eighties. + +Finally, going some eight miles north from our starting point, we find +these: Thore Fossem and Iver Sneve of our original party and a few +others like Ole Brunswick, Ingebricht Saatrum and John Rye, whom we +have already mentioned, and J. Larsen. The next to the last named and +a few others had settled in that vicinity before 1880. Here should +also be mentioned the Durums, Baks, Snoens, Ressels, Grudts, and Lees. +The old homesteaders of this group too, have for the most part found a +last resting place in the neighborhood cemetery. Their children, +however, are in most cases to be found on the old place or near by. + +I am conscious that this rough sketch of our neighbors and neighboring +settlements of 1880-'1 is far from complete. Yet it gives a fair idea +of the population over the prairie there at that time. There were +magnificent distances between neighbors and settlements. Yet there was +often more neighborliness and sociability than in later years. We +needed each other then, in fact could not well get along without +helping and being helped in various ways by one another. Now we can +help ourselves or rather think we can. But really we cannot, and if we +of the newer generations lose the old neighborliness we shall be +poorer and unhappier in our steam heated, electric lighted houses and +swift speeding automobiles than they were with their earth cellars and +ox teams and lumber wagons. So let us cherish and keep alive the old +neighborly kindness and great-hearted hospitality. Practically all +these early settlers at first lived in a one-room dwelling, seldom +over 12 x 14 or 16, and this dwelling was in most cases a dugout. Yet +in spite of this fact and of having large families of their own to +accommodate, the traveler or stranger was not turned out into the +night, and the visitor was always welcomed. There was always room, not +merely for one more but for half a dozen more if necessary. There +never was any lack of room then. In honor of this splendid trait of +our pioneer fathers and mothers, let us reserve a room in our big +house and, better still, in our hearts, for the occasional stranger or +friend, and in doing so we too shall find that while we may not always +have "entertained angels unawares", yet by doing so the angels have +somehow entertained us more than they otherwise could. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE ANNUAL PRAIRIE FIRES--THE TERROR OF THE SETTLERS + + +During this decade of getting the ground ready and gradually getting +an equipment for real farming there was one great enemy which was a +continual menace and terror to the homesteaders--the semi-annual +burning of the prairie. From times immemorial, before the White +settler came, the prairie fire had stalked in majestic splendor over +the vast and boundless sea of grass, covering this and adjoining +states, licking up with his red and cruel tongue everything before him +and leaving a barren desolation behind him. Sometimes set by the +lightning, or Indians, or the campfire of the early explorer or +trader, this fire, driven by the wind, would meander back and forth +over the prairie for days and weeks until rain or a considerable +stream might at last stay his stride. + +With the first influx of the settler the fire menace greatly +multiplied, for not understanding the nature of this menace, they +themselves unintentionally set many of these fires. Thus there came to +be a fairly certain expectation on the part of the homesteaders of a +visit from this monster twice a year--spring and fall--unless he made +a clean sweep in the fall, which was not generally the case. + +As a boy I recall waking up at night and seeing a strange glare +against the window, and upon looking out, I saw a great wave of fire, +a moving wall of flame, pass by our house and going on to the south. + +Let me give a brief sketch of one of these fires, well remembered by +the old settlers and reported to me by H.B. Reese, who was then old +enough to be out with the men on the fire fighting line. I give it +largely in his own words. + +It was Good Friday, 1887. In the morning we noticed smoke in the +northwest. There was also a strong wind from that direction. There had +just previously been several days of wind as also sunshine, so +everything was dry as tinder. We knew at once what the black flag, +hoisted to the sky in the northwest meant. It meant a challenge from +the Fire King to come out and fight for our own and our neighbors' +homes--buildings, stock and everything we had that could burn. We +hurriedly got our weapons of sacks and water ready and started out to +meet the giant and offer him all the resistance we could. But our +antagonist was terribly swift as well as strong, and when we reached +Jonas Vaabeno's place, three miles to the northwest, he had already +done his terrible work, making a clean sweep of all out-buildings, +mostly made of hay or straw, as also of the dugout which served for a +dwelling. Where the stable had stood were the remnants of some +half-burnt cattle. We hurried on to Peter Johnson's, but the Fire +Demon was victorious and took everything except the dugout dwelling. +The same fate was dealt out to Ole Liabo farther north. We were now +driven back on our own home premises, and after desperate efforts we +saved our buildings, but, of course, had to surrender everything not +on the premises where the buildings were, such as trees, hay, etc. +When night came and we could return to the house we just threw +ourselves flat on the floor completely exhausted, not having tasted +food during the whole day. + +Next day, looking out over the country to the northwest, we could see +very little except a vast desolation--how far no one seemed to +know--of blackened prairie, dotted with many ashpiles which in many +cases, as tho they were tombstones, marked the graves of all the +settlers' material possessions except the land and a few cattle. It is +a puzzle to know how they managed to keep these cattle with the +prairie burned off, but they did. Not only that, but tho sorely tried, +yet not broken in will or spirit, they borrowed money, even at +outrageous interest rates, rebuilt their temporary shelters and began +the struggle once more from the bottom up. + +The last and most terrible of all the fires, as far as known, swept +over that country only two years later, 1889. As the writer of this +was old enough to be an active participant in connection with this, I +recall it vividly. The day was in early spring and began very hazy +with so much smoke in the atmosphere that one could not see much +beyond half a mile. There was a strong wind from the northwest, such +as was common in spring in those days, and the prairie grass was +thoroly dried out and very abundant. This condition, however, was not +unusual in the spring of the year. On coming out after dinner I +noticed that the haze or smoke seemed thicker toward the northwest +than in other directions. On looking more closely I soon saw whirls of +smoke rolling up toward the sky. I immediately gave the alarm, and +every one at the house, including mother, rushed out to meet the foe. +We did not have to go far before we met him, and so swiftly did he +come that in our hasty retreat toward the house Mother was very nearly +overcome by the smoke and heat. Fortunately there was a piece of +plowed ground near by where she was able to find safety and lie down +until sufficiently recovered to go on to the house. Then we all took +our stand, some hauling water, others fighting at the front. There was +a strip of plowed ground, or fire break, around the place, but the +terrific wind continually threatened to carry the fire across, now at +one point, now at another. Moreover, some barn manure had been spread +on this plow land, and this, taking fire and blowing everywhere in the +terrific wind, made our situation quite desperate for a while. +However, we at last won to the extent of saving the buildings. This +fire, together with the one which raged next day, when the wind was +still more terrific, did enormous damage, burning out, in part or +whole, even some of the older settlers, such as James Hoxeng and +others. The town of Volin was almost completely destroyed. Some who +had suffered loss in the previous fire were again burned out in part +or whole, and the grass, as was the case after such a fire, was +damaged for years to come. Many are the stories of narrow escapes in +saving their homes and even their lives told by the old timers in +connection with these fires. Sometimes there would be a whole company +of women and children out on the middle of a plowed field, having fled +there as the only refuge. + +In every new country the Fire King, as tho endowed with a dramatic +instinct, seems to end his performances with a grand climax. So here +this was the last prairie fire of any consequence in that part of the +country. King Corn from now on began to reign and the Fire King had to +abdicate his immemorial sway and boundless dominions. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 1888 + + +Even at the risk of seeming to chronicle too many of the hardships and +afflictions of those times, I feel that I cannot leave this decade of +our pioneer life without referring to the great blizzard of Jan. 12th, +'88, for that, too, is a landmark and one which brings sad memories to +many a South Dakotan of those years. The writer was merely a young boy +then, yet the experience of that storm is very vivid in my mind. + +The day opened bright and very mild, almost thawing, with no +premonition that it held in store untold suffering, terror and death +to man and beast, such as no other day has held for South Dakota. +There was considerable loose snow on the ground, but the day being +exceptionally pleasant up till noon and after, men were out on their +various errands of going to town, hauling hay or other out-door +occupations. The cattle, too, taking advantage of the mild day, were +in the corn stalks and generally had scattered out some distance from +the buildings. It being shortly after noon when the storm struck, many +cattle were being taken to water, which in those days was often a +considerable distance from the stables. + +Suddenly and without the slightest warning, upon this peaceful +unsuspecting scene, the storm burst forth in all its deadly fury. The +wind having suddenly whipped around to the northwest, the temperature +fell in a very short time as much as 60 and 70 degrees. The wind +coming at the rate of about 60 miles an hour, picked up the loose snow +and whipped it into a fine powder, rushed over the prairie as it were +a rapidly moving wall of snow and fine particles of ice. Thus the air +was so thick with fine snow, driven along by the furious storm, that +it became very difficult to breathe and almost impossible to open +one's eyes even for a moment. This choking, blinding effect of the +storm soon exhausted either man or beast and, of course, all sense of +direction was lost. Thus it seems probable that many of the victims +were at first choked into exhaustion before they froze to death. + +Many narrow escapes are told of that day. But there were also many who +narrowly missed finding a shelter and never lived to tell their +experiences. Some lost their way even between house and barn, and some +were found frozen only a few rods from the house they had tried to +find, but in vain. This was the case with two girls to the east of our +place, who in going out to look for a younger brother never came back +but were found frozen to death a short distance from the house. My +younger brother Sivert and I were at the barn when the storm struck. +We did the best we knew how for the cattle, Father being absent at a +neighbor's and then we started for the house. We were only a short +distance from the house and there was also a small building between, +but even then we had to pause before starting out and take definite +aim from where we were and then run, as we say, "for dear life". We +reached the house to the great relief of Mother, who had become very +anxious about us by that time. + +The storm raged with merciless and demon-like destructiveness all that +afternoon and all thru that night, with the temperature getting colder +as the hours slowly rolled by. What terror and suffering the hours of +that afternoon and fearful night brought to many, no one will ever +know. There were those out in the storm, fighting desperately hour by +hour with death, and in most cases only to find themselves rapidly +nearing complete exhaustion. Then came the gradual numbness of all the +sensibilities, followed by nature's merciful growing unconsciousness +as drowsiness and sleep crept upon them and they at last stumbled over +in the snow not to rise again. But tho the many tragedies and +sufferings out in the open prairie that dreadful night were beyond +words or imagination, yet scarcely less was the suffering of fathers, +mothers and relatives of the lost ones who were utterly helpless in +most cases even to attempt a rescue. These latter, as they listened to +the merciless storm all thru that night, almost had a taste of the +agonies of the lost world--if such a thing can be in this world. For +in many cases their waiting thru the night was utterly without hope. +If they knew their loved ones were caught by the storm some distance +from the house, they also knew that there could be no hope. So they +could only follow them in thought and imagination out there in the +storm and the darkness as they were fighting their unequal and losing +fight with the cruel, relentless storm. But even those who were in +uncertainty as to the exact whereabouts of members of their families, +like parents who had children in school, scarcely suffered less, for +they had no assurance but that theirs, too, might be out there in the +storm, and in many cases their worst fears proved to be the fact. + +However, as all things come to an end, so this night of nights. The +storm let up somewhat toward morning, and the new day at last came on, +gray and terribly cold. The snow everywhere as far as eye could see +lay piled up in great drifts. The prairie, especially near farm +houses, was in many places dotted with frozen cattle, and other cattle +still alive. There were over the country thousands and thousands of +these cattle either already dead, dying or badly frozen. But worst and +saddest of all, there were in this state and adjoining parts of Iowa, +Minnesota and Nebraska, over two hundred men, women and children +scattered around, singly or in groups, in the snow. Some were found +sitting; some lying as tho in their last step they had stumbled +forward on their face exhausted. Some even standing and, as it were, +about to take one more step when the end had come. Not strange that +January 12, 1888, is the most memorable and terrible date in all the +world's story to many a settler whose loved ones were out in the storm +that fearful night and who never came back. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +WHEN THE FATHERS AND MOTHERS OF TODAY WERE BOYS AND GIRLS + + +We have spoken of the men and the women who broke the ground and +prepared the way for the prosperity and comforts we enjoy today. It +would be unfair not to mention the part which the boys and girls also +bore in this struggle with raw nature, poverty and many +discouragements. In the early spring, as soon as seeding was well +under way, the boys--and often, when there was no available boy on the +place, the girls--had to keep vigilant watch of the cattle, and this +thruout the long summer until the corn was all out. There were no +"pastures" or wire fences in the early eighties. This meant for most +boys that, either at home or away from home, they had to be out on the +prairie with the cattle beginning with early spring and ending late in +the fall, from early morning until night, rain or shine, and not even +a Sunday off, or at least very seldom. The food we carried for our +dinners would, of course, get mussed, stale and unpalatable, being +carried around all day and exposed to the hot sun. The water, or +whatever we carried to drink, would become even less palatable and +often scarce. Often in our extreme thirst we would drink out of the +sloughs or stagnant lake beds. Then in the spring and fall we would +frequently have a cold, drizzling rain continuing all day and often +soaking us to the skin as there was no shelter, and raincoats were +almost unknown. Every step we would take thru the wet grass the water +would churn in our shoes and we had to keep going, for the cattle were +generally restless at such times and insisted on starting off in +directions where lay the plowed land or hayland which must be guarded. + +Where there was no boy in the family, girls had to do this job, for +the cattle had to be herded. For them, as can readily be seen, this +job was even more difficult than for the boys, being impeded in their +chase after the cattle by their skirts dragging in the tall, wet +grass. Not strange that some of them sacrificed their health and +future in this task. Of course, when, as in the case of most girls, +they were at home, they would generally be relieved for at least part +of the day. But even half a day was long under those conditions. + +But let it not be inferred that we boys, and the girls, too, had no +good times during those long summer days. The sun shone anyway most of +the time, and we made the most of our opportunities while the sun +shone. We boys hunted gophers, digging them out or drowning them out +if near a pond; we dug Indian turnips in the spring and picked grapes, +plums and berries in their season if we could get to them; built stone +houses or caves; waded or swam in the sloughs or creeks; fished; +fought snakes and skunks and sometimes one another. We traded jack +knives, which were our chief valuables and consequently a standard +medium of exchange; we braided long, long whips made from old boot +legs or even willow bark; we broke young steers to ride on, at least +attempted to, and sometimes they in turn nearly broke our necks by +bucking and throwing us off; we concocted special modes of terrible +punishment for exasperatingly troublesome members of our flocks. Much +of the time, however, we could not get together or, as we said, "herd +together". Then time passed more slowly and we had lots of time to +think and even to brood over our job, which we considered about the +worst there was in the world. However, with all its drudgery and +sometimes loneliness and hardship, our job was a good preparation for +the jobs that lay ahead of us. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AND WORKERS AMONG THESE PEOPLE + + +We have mentioned Reverends Nesse, Graven and Eielsen as pioneers in +laying the foundations for the Church in these settlements. Among +those who gave many years of service in the formative period of church +development should also be mentioned Rev. Carlson, who followed +Graven, who wrought for many years and at last found his resting place +near one of the churches he had so long served. We cannot refrain from +offering, altho a far too inadequate tribute, to one who has given the +years of her life for the brightening and bettering of the lives of +others; one who, altho not a pastor, yet as one pastor's devoted +daughter and equally devoted as the wife of a succeeding pastor, gave +the years of her young womanhood as well as the maturer years of her +life to the service of these people--Mrs. C.T. Olberg, nee Carlson. +For many years as a teacher in the parochial schools and continuously +as a worker in the various activities of the church, especially among +the younger people, and later as the pastor's wife, going in and out +among the people, she has exerted an ennobling, Christianizing +influence which only the angels of God and the far-off shores of +eternity can estimate or measure. + +There are many more, both men and women, lay-men and clergy, who have +labored for their Master in this region, whose names I shall not be +able to dwell upon, but whose names and records are in the Book of +Life in Heaven and also written deep in the book of human life touched +by them here on earth. Just to name two or three, there was Rev. Dahl +of Gayville, who has put in a lifetime there. Then among the many +visiting clergymen were Rev. G. Norbeck, Governor Norbeck's father, +and a goodly number of others, lay and clerical preachers. + +There were in the earlier years extensive "revivals", generally +promoted by outsiders, often of other denominations, such as these of +the middle eighties and middle nineties. There were other movements by +laymen, both Lutheran and of other denominations. There were bitter +controversies at times between the leaders of these movements, +especially those promoted by men of other denominations than the +Lutheran and the more strict adherents of the local churches. There +were also bitter doctrinal controversies between members or adherents +of the various branches of the Lutheran faith. Of the words said and +the things sometimes done on these occasions none of the participants +would be proud now, and I shall not perpetuate them by repeating what +ought to be forgotten. The word "scorpion" is not just the right +substitute for "Christian brother", but I distinctly recall that it +was thus employed even between Lutherans. + +Suffice it to say, there was often narrowness and intolerance on both +sides, both as between denominations and between branches of the +Lutheran Church itself. There was some good in most of these revival +efforts and there were also some features which could justly be +criticised. + +There could be no doubt as to the sincerity of most of these +revivalists, but being for the most part men and women of very limited +education, they sometimes lacked balance and developed some vagaries. +There were those who specialized on "Tongues" and on written +revelations performed under spiritual ecstasy. Some had "revelations" +that they should go to Africa to convert the heathen and a few +actually went, soon returning sobered and saddened in their +disappointment that the tongue gift did not enable them to understand, +or to be understood by the natives. + +Others advocated communism, baptism by immersion as indispensable to +salvation, etc. In general there was a strong prejudice against any +kind of church organization and to any regularly paid ministry. These +extreme tendencies were, of course, a natural reaction against the +evil in churches where a mechanical organization and the repetition of +dead forms were all that reminded of what should have been a living +spirit. + +But to some people then and even now, a religious effort was either of +God or of the devil, and consequently either wholly black or wholly +white. + +Then, too, when people believe, as many did and do still, that one's +immortal salvation depends more on his holding a correct intellectual +creed than on the spirit and fruits manifest in his life, it was +inevitable that discussions of mere points of doctrine or creed, +should become so intense at times as to lose wholly, for the time +being, the Christian spirit. However, we shall, in this connection, +give our pioneer fathers and first settlers credit for one great +quality: They had convictions; they knew what they believed and +believed it heart and soul. They did not, as some of this generation +seem to do, doubt their beliefs and half believe their doubts. + +In closing this brief outline of the religious activities of these +people, allow me to give a boy's pleasant remembrance and loving +tribute to one of the many traveling lay preachers who came to our +house and also held services around in the neighborhood. John Aalbu +and his good wife had settled near Ash Creek, Union county, in the +sixties, and having retired from active farming in the eighties, they +would drive the distance of 30-40 miles to our settlement on Turkey +Creek several times a year. We children were always glad to see them. +They had a top buggy, which in itself was of interest to us, as there +was as yet no such luxury in our neighborhood. In this buggy, among +other things, was always to be found a good sized tin can of smoking +tobacco, for John and his wife both smoked. This was not considered +as anything peculiar then or as objectionable on the part of the +preacher and his wife, as it might be now. Now it seems that only +women in the highest society may smoke. So amid clouds of the burning +incense they would talk theology, religion, and also give practical +hints on household and farm matters to their hosts, who were +"newcomers." Mrs. Aalbu was a woman of very good mind and keen +intellect. She would often correct a quotation from the Bible when not +quite exact and serve as mentor to her husband when he, in the course +of the service or some ritual, would forget something. It was only in +later years, however, that he became ordained and in going thru the +rituals at the various sacraments and services she was the "better +half" in fact as well as name. This was owing to her splendid memory +as also to her generally keen mind. + +We did not see many strangers in those days, and how much these visits +meant to us children as well as our parents! The discussions of fine +theological points were often complicated and lasted far into the +night, but we enjoyed them as well as we enjoyed our visitors. May God +bless them, their work and their memory! + +As an illustration of the subtlety of these discussions we might give +a few of the topics: "Which Precedes in Christian Experience, +Repentance or Faith?" "Faith or Works, Order of Precedence and +Relative Worth." "Can a Man of His Own Accord and Strength Repent?" +"Can a Christian in This Life be Wholly Sanctified?" "Free Will or +Predestination?" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +BIOGRAPHICAL AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES + + +It has seemed best to include as a supplement to this narrative a +number of sketches of individuals. Some of these individuals are +already mentioned in the general narrative, and in such instances +these separate narratives continue the record where we left off. Then +there are some not mentioned in the general record but who belong by +every right of circumstance to this Norse immigrant group and whose +separate chronicles are of special interest and importance in view of +our general purpose. This purpose, as already stated, is to hand down +to the sons and daughters of the Norse pioneer immigrants a picture of +the men and women who faced primitive nature in this part of the new +continent and tamed it, causing the wilderness to bloom into the +present prosperous, beautiful land. + + +A DAUGHTER SETTLEMENT + +(Narrated in part by H.B. Reese) + +It was a winter day of 1902 that Father said to me, "I have had a +letter from Halvor Hevle today. He wants to sell his land," he added. +"Yes, I suppose he will have no use for that now, seeing he has moved +away", I replied, and dismissed the matter from my mind. After a +pause, Father said, "I thought you might buy it." I smiled at what +seemed an absurd suggestion, for I had about a quarter of a dollar of +money about me just then and no immediate outlook for ready money. I +also knew that Father had none to lend me. So I replied: "He will have +to sell his farm without money and without pay if I am to buy it." + +Father thought for some time and finally added: "Hevle asks $1,000.00 +for his land (1/4 Sec.) and half of it cash. You can get a loan of +$500.00 on it and he will be willing to take a second mortgage on the +land for the balance." + +Thus having nothing to risk in the deal, and moreover the idea of +owning a farm of my very own kindling my ambition and appealing to my +imagination, I readily agreed and the deal was made. + +There was a fairly good dug-out on the place built up of stone and +with a sod roof and board floor. The stable was of the usual kind, +straw, with a little framework of rails and posts to support the roof +and walls. But the layout seemed good to me because it was my own and +the first home founded by myself. + +I bought a team and broke some ground that summer, living at the old +homestead one mile south. The next spring, however, I married a wife +who consented to share the humble dwelling with me, and it became my +home. Her maiden name was Hanna Bjorlo. + +Soon, however, I was given to realize that in going into debt and in +founding a home of my own I had assumed new responsibilities and +burdens hitherto unknown. Thus after going into debt not only for the +land but for the necessary equipment to work it and a few household +necessities, we entered upon the year 1904 of notorious crop failures. +It was also the time of a great financial depression. So that fall, +instead of the original debt of $1,000.00, I found myself involved to +the extent of $1,700.00 with little to show for it besides putting in +two years of hard toil. + +In this situation of seeming failure I began to think that farming of +all occupations rewarded its devotees most stingily. A fellow gives to +it the best of his years and strength and moreover allows himself to +be tied down to a place only to be rewarded with crop failures and +ever increasing accumulations of debt. + +However, when one has the responsibilities of a family one cannot +well run away from a situation no matter how bad, even if one were +inclined to do so, the only possible procedure seemed to be to appease +ones creditors as far as possible, get an extension of time and try +again. I sold 40 acres of my farm, being the only thing I could sell, +for $450.00. This tided us over until the next year when we hoped for +better fortunes. + +The next year came and brought us a better crop, but the prices were +most discouraging. In 1895-6 I sold wheat at 43-45c per bushel, flax +for 48c, corn 15-18c and oats 13c. Hogs were from $2.50 to $2.80 per +cwt; cattle were from $15.00 to $18.00 for a milch cow and $25.00 for +a three-year-old steer. These prices continued more or less for +several years. Hired help was, however, correspondingly low, being +from $15.00 to $18.00 per month during the summer months. + +Nevertheless, after nine years of toil on this place with varying +fortunes, I was at last able to pay for the place and also to make +considerable improvements in buildings, both for the family and my +accumulation of stock. The place, in fact, was beginning to look quite +homelike, with trees and more sightly and comfortable buildings as +well. + +One would now expect me to feel somewhat satisfied and gradually +settled down there for the rest of my days, raising our family and +enjoying what we had or came to have. We had a nice little farm three +miles from town with our old friends, neighbors and near relatives all +around us. + +There is a trait in human nature which is designated by various names +according to the individual point of view. Some call it ambition, or +forward looking; others, greed, covetousness, etc. The underlying idea +seems to be a sort of discontent with one's present conditions and +attainments, no matter what they are, a sort of forever reaching out +for something greater ahead; to expand, explore new paths and to risk +in the hope of winning. Whether this trait is good or otherwise, I +shall not attempt to discuss, but I do know that it is strong in most +of us and often dominating. + +Thus I happened to make a trip to Charles Mix county (Bloomington) in +1902. The land there was much more level and the country more open +than where we lived in Yankton county. So it looked to me to have more +advantages for farming on a large scale. Moreover, the land was +cheaper than where we were. So before returning home I had bought a +quarter section near Bloomington, and that next spring we moved unto a +rented place adjoining it. + +But we had not been there a year before I realized my mistake. The +level land did not produce the crop which we had anticipated, and +there was not nearly the chance for cheap pasture either that we had +been led to believe. Any free range was a thing of the past. We had a +good start in cattle now, and I began to look around for some place in +the northwest where there would be more room and more chance for this +enterprise. + +To understand my next move it is necessary to go back in our family +tree to another branch and its development. + +My brother, J.B. Reese, who had gone away to college about the time I +began my independent farming, had now entered the work of the ministry +and had been called to Wessington Springs and to care for the church +work in the surrounding country as well. On a visit home he had told +us of the cheap land and the fine opportunities in that new country, +especially for cattle. A little later he bought a section of land up +there, getting his brother S.B. and sister, now Mrs. Nysether, and +also Martin Nysether to each take one quarter with him. The land was +bought for $5.00 per acre, and as far as the three last named owners +were concerned "sight unseen". + +As an illustration of how seemingly small circumstances lead to great +issues in our lives, I recall the first trip I made to size up this +section of land which I contemplated buying for the parties above +mentioned and myself. It was the year after the last big fire, the +notorious one of 1899, I believe. The fire had seemingly burned the +very roots out of the ground, so that the little grass visible at the +time of our visit in the latter part of July, was in tufts here and +there with vacant spaces in between. As I stood on the hill, east of +the present buildings on the J.B. Reese place, the land looked so poor +and desolate that I almost lost "my nerve" as far as recommending it +to my partners for purchase, even with all the faith I had in the new +country generally. But as I stood there realizing that the whole +decision rested with me whether to buy or not, I noticed an angling +trail across the corner of the land to the northeast along which the +fire had been put out. But the thing which drew my interest +particularly was that on the other side of this trail, or where the +fire had not gone the grass was much better. This decided me. I +purchased the land mostly on credit. This led to my brother's coming +up and buying and finally moving up. His coming in turn led to the +coming of practically the whole present settlement.--Editor. + +In August 1902 a friend by name of Ole Sletten and myself started out +to drive overland to see this country of which we had already heard +interesting reports thru my brother. We spent the first night of our +journey at Bridgewater, and the country around there seemed good to my +partner. But when we reached Mitchell and vicinity, where the soil was +sandy and dry, so that the prairie was quite seared over, it being in +the month of August, my partner thought we might as well turn back, as +there would be no use in exploring farther into a country like that. +The grass was too short and scant. Moreover, the buildings and other +improvements along the way gave no suggestion of prosperity among the +farmers. Up thru Hutchinson county we passed a great many of the long, +low mud houses belonging to the Russian German settlers there. These, +too, were responsible for our poor impression of the northwest country +at this point. + +Nevertheless, we proceeded to Wessington Springs, where we met my +brother, J.B. Reese, who took us out the next day to see the land he +had bought and the country generally. We went out some 15-16 miles +southwest of Wessington Springs, and if the land had seemed poor to us +before, now it seemed only worse. We passed a considerable number of +empty houses which indicated that the inhabitants had been forced to +abandon the land on which these stood. It was in August and dry so +that the prairie was quite seared over. Then, too, the last big +prairie fire which ravaged this section had just gone thru a couple of +years before, destroying the greater number of the buildings on the +many abandoned homesteads and also burning the very roots out of the +ground. What grass was left, or rather roots, stood in tufts with a +big vacant space of ground between these tufts. + +My partner did not express himself much as to the new country, but +what he thought about it can be guessed by the fact that he wanted +none of it for his own. However, I bought a quarter section of it +adjoining the tract which J.B. Reese had already bought, before +returning home, thinking it might do for pasture. I paid less than +$5.00 per acre for it, so I felt that I could not lose much anyway. + +May we digress for a moment here and point out the history of the +original homesteaders of this section we are just describing, for it +is full of interest and has also not a few of the tragedies of the +prairie. This part of the state has seen more than the average of the +disappointments incident to pioneer life. It has been the grave-yard +of many bright hopes and furnished a burial place instead of a +building place for not a few pioneers of the prairie. + +The valley between Templeton to the north and Crow Lake to the south, +with some of the adjacent land as well, was settled mostly by people +from New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania in the early eighties. These +people had some means, according to the standards of those times; were +above the average pioneer in education and in general started in to +build homes embodying not merely necessary shelter but even +refinement and comforts. They planted trees, both shade and fruit +trees; also flowers and shrubs. + +The first years of their settlement were sufficiently wet and the +crops were correspondingly good, some getting upward of 30 bushels of +wheat per acre on the newly broken ground. This encouraged the +settlers even to going into considerable debt for equipment to carry +on larger farm operations. Land rose in value from free homesteads to +$300.00 to $500.00 per quarter. Then came the dry years of 1893-'4-'5 +and others as well of small or no crops. Not only no crop, but all the +wells dried up so there was the greatest scarcity of water for man and +beast. Many of these people were heavily in debt and it was almost +impossible to borrow any more to tide over the emergency. + +Then it was that the people began to stampede, as it were, going out +as many as 30-40 in one company. Some who had many obligations but few +scruples are said to have made their departure less conspicuously, +quietly creeping away between sunset and dawn and without bidding +anyone good-bye. + +It was these conditions of the early years and the people who ran away +from here to report their experiences far and wide which gave South +Dakota a black eye and a bad name for years to come. + +Yet after the great exodus, when the country was almost depopulated in +a few months, there were found a few left behind. These were generally +the ones who had had little or nothing to begin with and who now did +not have enough to go anywhere else even if they wanted to do so. +Those who were left by 1900 had gotten their second wind, as it were, +having learned to adapt themselves to the country and were getting a +start in cattle. + +The big fire referred to above, sweeping over the section in '99 and +destroying many of the vacated buildings, as also the remnants of +orchards and groves, completed the wiping out of the visible monuments +of the first settlers, so the country was nearly back again to the +primitive conditions in the early years of 1900. + +It was at this time (1904) that we decided to remove from Charles Mix +county to Jerauld and the vicinity just described. To move such a +distance overland with all one's belongings, including cattle, as also +a family in which were several small children, and in the treacherous +month of March, was no joy ride for any one concerned. After looking +about for a partner in this difficult enterprise, I finally made +arrangements with one, Knut Lien, to join me. He had about 40 head of +cattle and was a single man. I took with me about 60 head, so on a +morning in the early spring of 1904 my partner and I started with our +first loads for the land of wide and roomy pasture if not of still +waters. On the evening of the second day we stopped in front of the +old house on my brother's place, which was to be our future home. But +the situation which met us was not especially encouraging to tired, +cold and hungry men. The window lights were broken; the floor, too, +the house having been used for a granary, had given way. There was no +shelter for our horses and, worst of all, not a drop of water on the +place. + +I was, indeed, discouraged at the outlook and said to Knut: "We will +not unload. We shall rest until morning and then return." He made no +reply, and after doing what we could for our horses we lay down on the +floor to get what rest we could. + +However, the next day the sun shone, and with the sunshine came +renewed courage. We put some supports under the floor and unloaded our +goods into the house. Then we went on to the springs for lumber and +soon had a shed built to shelter the horses. But the lack of water was +the worst of our needs and could not quickly be met. An artesian well +had been put down the year before in anticipation of our moving, but +it did not furnish any water even with a pump and wind mill. The +shallow wells on the place, too, were dry. It became evident to us +why the people who had preceded us in these parts had left the +country. + +However, having severed our connections where we had been living, and +with our cattle to dispose of somehow, there seemed nothing to do but +to go forward. So I returned to Bloomington, and hiring a man to help +us, we started, now with all our belongings, for the new home. On the +evening of the third day, or April 17th, 1904, we reached Crow Lake. +We, ourselves, as well as the cattle, were very tired, so we camped +there for the night, the family having gone on previously to the house +we were to move into. + +That night a snow and sleet storm broke upon us, lasting all of the +next day. With no hay and worn out from the trip, the cattle began to +succumb. Two were left on the place, nine died during the five or six +miles which remained of the way, and still five more after arriving at +our destination. Those which survived were so exhausted that it took +them most of that summer to recover. + +This, then, was our first taste of the new land, and it seemed at the +time just a little bitter. My cattle dead or nearly so; nothing to do +with; everything to be done. + +However, during that spring we managed to get a new well sunk, 1260 +feet deep, costing $650.00. I also put in 15 acres of wheat and 18 of +barley with 90 acres of corn. Fortunately we got a good crop that +year, which we also greatly needed. + +At first it seemed rather isolated in those days. There were sometimes +a couple of weeks in which we did not see a human being outside of our +own family. The distance to Mr. Smith, our nearest neighbor to the +north, was three miles. To the south, four miles, were Will Hughes and +Will Horsten and also the Rendels. Then there was Mr. Gaffin and two +or three others southwest of his place. So there was room and to spare +between neighbors in those days and for some time following. + +From this small beginning has now grown up a fine neighborhood with a +good community church and congregation; rural mail delivery; phones; +modern homes, and good roads. Among those who have helped build this +splendid community should be mentioned besides those above, the Moen +families, the Aalbus; the Fagerhaugs--Iver and Arnt; the Stolen +brothers--Emericht, Olalf, and Martin; Vognild brothers; Bjorlos; +Bjerkagers; Petersons, and others. It is a matter of just pride that +out of this little group above mentioned, no less than seven young men +served in the Great War. These were Reuben Peterson, Martin Peterson, +Hugo Peterson, Ole Sneve, Martin Stolen, William Linsted, and Roy +Goffin. Two of these--Reuben Peterson and Ole Sneve--were at the +"front" for months and went thru some of the bloodiest battles of the +War.--_Editor._ + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +LOOKING DOWN THE TRAIL TO THE YEARS AHEAD + + +We have followed the trail of the first immigrants for more than half +a century, from the time they left the old home until they have become +an integral part of the life of the new home of their adoption. So +marvelous has this experience been that to many it must seem almost +like a dream or fairy tale. They came out of a land of poverty and +hampering restrictions, social, political and religious. They found an +opportunity to attain a comfortable living and a chance to help at the +big job of working out a democracy. They came strangers to a strange +land, they have already come to share in every position of trust and +honor in the new land, with the exception of the presidency, including +a number of governors. They came out a comparatively small company; +they have become a multitude, there being already in this country more +people of Norse extraction than the whole population of the mother +country. + +As we look around us among the particular groups here described, and +see that the fourth generation from the pioneers is already coming on, +the thought comes to us: "What of these people and their descendants a +hundred years from now?" + +As I, in vision and imagination, put my ears to the ground of present +prophetic facts and tendencies, I hear the distant tramp of great +multitudes out of the oncoming generations. Who are these multitudes +which no man can number? They are the sons and daughters of the +immigrant, tho outwardly indistinguishable from the Mayflower product +which, too, are the descendants of immigrants. But while the Norse or +Scandinavian immigrant is more quickly amalgamated in the sense of +taking on all the outward colorings of his new environment than any +other nationality, what, if any, will be his distinctive impress upon, +or contribution to, the life he has come to share? + +As there has been, and is, much foolish talk, malicious +misrepresentation and manufactured-to-order hysterics about the +"menace of the immigrant", on the part of pink-tea patriots and that +whole breed of parasites who feed and fatten on stirring up and +keeping alive class prejudice and hatred, I want to turn on the light +here and now, the light of truth and facts. + +In the first place, then, I wish to call the attention of these self +constituted, Simon-pure and, in their own estimation, only Americans, +to the fact that there is not in itself any disparagement to a man to +be an immigrant or descendant of one. Did they ever read about the +Pilgrim Fathers, George Washington, Ben Franklin or Abraham Lincoln? +Well, these and multitudes of others they might read about were all +"immigrants" or descendants of immigrants; not only that, but our +self-appointed detractor of the immigrant is the descendant of +immigrants--unless he or she is an Indian--and even the Indians are +immigrants only of an earlier date. + +In the second place, while the immigrant should ever be mindful, and +in most cases is, of what the new land has offered him in opportunity, +yet be it remembered also that, as far as the "natives" around him are +concerned, he has given them immeasurably more than they have given +him. He has done the great bulk of the rough, hard work of the mine, +forest, factory and of subduing the untamed soil, and without him +there would have been far fewer soft-handed jobs for his critics and +far fewer of the comforts of life and developments of the country for +all the people to enjoy. He has built the railroads, literally by the +sweat of his brow, while the superior "native" manipulated them, +watered their stocks and rode on them, finding that part of the +enterprise more comfortable and profitable. But unless the "foreigner" +had been willing to wield the shovel and lay the rails as well as roll +them out red hot in the mill, where would the "American" have had a +chance to shine in the deal? + +Again, we are told that the immigrant comes here ignorant and without +ideals and standards of life which would make him a safe member of a +democracy. Of course, like most broad generalizations, this has a +grain of truth when applied to some of the present influx from +southern Europe. But when applied to immigrants generally, and +especially to the class we have here described, the above judgment is +just about the exact opposite of the truth. The illiteracy of the +Norse immigrant is far less than that of the land of his adoption, in +fact, practically negligible, and far less than that of any other +class of immigrants. As for ideals of life and standards of morality, +the immigrant was generally deeply shocked, on arriving here, at the +lawlessness, profanity, sordidness, crass materialism and godlessness +prevalent among the people around him who called themselves Americans. +And speaking of "ideals" he came here in most instances because of his +ideals of freedom--religious, political and economic; to have a chance +to live out and express these ideals. They built schools and churches +while many of them themselves lived in sod houses or dugouts. Their +sons and daughters are found in every college and university of the +Northwest and out of all proportion to their rank in the total +population. They more than take their share in the four learned +professions of teaching, medicine, the ministry and the law. In other +words, he came for the very same reason that the first immigrants, or +Pilgrim Fathers came--to find room for his growing ideals, as already +shown in this narrative. Then, of course, like them, he also came to +better himself economically thru realizing certain ideals of equality +of opportunity which he had come to cherish in his home land. + +Some time ago, Sinclair Lewis, the noted author, speaking on this +subject, said: + +"I chose 'Carl Erikson' as the hero, protagonist, whatever you call +him, of the 'Trail of the Hawk' because he is a typical young +American. Your second or third generation Scandinavian is the best +type of American. *** They are the New Yankees, these Scandinavians of +Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas. They have mastered politics and +vote for honesty, rather than handshakes. **** They send their +children thru school. They accumulate land, one section, two sections, +or move into town and become Methodists and Congregationalists, and +are neighborly. *** And in a generation, thanks to our flag-decked +public schools, they are overwhelmingly American in tradition." + +"Boston, Dec. 16. President Charles W. Elliot, who in an address +before the Economic Club of this city has declared in favor of an +unrestricted immigration and proclaimed the ability of this country to +'digest' the newcomers of every religion, education and nationality, +has been at the head of Harvard University since 1869, was a graduate +of that institution in the class of 1853, and holds the degree of +LL.D. from Williams, Princeton and Yale. He is considered one of the +highest living authorities in his specialty of chemistry and has +written many scientific works." + +Permit me to offer a word of caution in this connection regarding +certain tendencies and attitudes toward the immigrant which are +working just the opposite result from what is intended. + +There is that splendid movement inaugurated during the war--the +Americanization movement. Many, and I would like to believe most of +the workers in this movement, approach the recent immigrant with +understanding and respect and not with that disgusting provincial type +of mind and patronizing air which we see here and there. Now it should +be said very emphatically that any one who regards himself as a +superior being merely because born on this side of the Atlantic and +the immigrant as an inferior because born on the other side, should +keep his or her hands off Americanization if for no other reason, for +this one: They are not themselves in any true sense Americans, lacking +both the American spirit and ideals. It is such sociological tinkerers +that often de-Americanize more immigrants than the others can +Americanize. These recent comers are as keen to detect a patriotic +sham as any native, and their disgust and resentment of it is +profound. And the inevitable result is that they will judge the +country by its supposed representatives. + +Even such organization as the American Legion and Home Guards should +refrain from every appearance of functioning as spies and censors of +the immigrant or even of organizations which may be considered radical +so long as they do not clearly advocate lawlessness or violence. +Yellow paint, personal violence and breaking up of peaceable +assemblies, in short, lawlessness, such as has already taken place +over the country, will not tend to teach regard for law or love for +country on the part of the victims. A mother cannot gain the love of a +child or even respect by the abuse of force, neither can a government +or organization inculcate patriotism by petty persecution and abuse. + +There are over one hundred ex-service men in this state who are the +sons and grandsons even of the few pioneers described in this +memorial. I had the privilege of addressing a part of them at the home +coming last summer. Let me say to such of them as may read these +pages: Do not permit selfseeking men, small Americans, to borrow your +splendid organization and glorious prestige to carry out their petty +aims or personal spites. Be such big Americans that more recent +arrivals seeing you, cannot help but admire you and learn to love the +country which could produce you. This is real Americanization. + +Have these people then a peculiar racial contribution to make to the +civilization of which they have become a part, and will they make it? +As to the latter, all I can say is that we should all make it our +sacred aim, privilege and duty to deliver this our gift. I am sure we +have it. + +What then is it? In the main it may be summarized in a few words: +Industry, Thrift, a Sane Conservatism, Social Genuineness and +Religious Devotion. + +I cannot believe that any one who knows the Norse immigrant would deny +that the above are outstanding expressions of his character and life. +The "newcomer" was not perhaps very "smart" in the Yankee sense, and +God forbid that he ever should become so, but he was a hard, +persistent worker, and he _saved_. The man who lived "by his wits" or +by hook and crook was not often found in his class, nor was he +encouraged in his efforts if found. + +In this age of enormous over-production of non-producers; of +innumerable hordes of swivel chair folks, of middle men, +"manipulators", runabouts, who are mostly parasites on the social +organism, is there not need of emphasizing the production of something +to meet real human needs? + +There is much talk and theorizing about the cause or causes of the +present high cost of living. There is, of course, no one single cause +responsible for this situation so full of hardship for many and so +great a menace to all. But one of the great causes, next to the +shameless profiteering by middlemen, is the alarming over-production +of non-producers. The great hordes of people who want somehow or other +to live by the sweat of the other fellow's brow rather than their own; +who by their clamor create innumerable jobs--paper jobs--in connection +with national, state, and municipal government as also in connection +with charitable and ecclesiastical organizations. It is a part of our +mission as the sons of producers to say to these parasites: "You've +got to get off the other fellow's back," at the same time calling him +by his right name--industrial slacker, social pauper, bum. + +So may we take for our slogan the great words of Carlyle: "Produce! +In God's name, Produce!" Let us, like the Fathers, keep close to the +world of real values and refuse to be enticed into that "paper world" +which is one of the real menaces of our country, far more so than the +"immigrant" ever was. In being industrious producers in our line, +whatever it may be, we need not be "grinds". In being thrifty in an +age of extravagance and criminal wastefulness, we do not need to be +stingy or niggardly. + +Yes, this our contribution is worth cherishing, for it is sorely +needed today. + +If industry and thrift are gifts which our fathers brought to this +land and which we should hand on as our peculiar offering, no less is +that of sane conservatism. In this age of social, economic, political +and even religious wildcat schemes and propagandas, America needs a +balance wheel. We need a sane conservatism that is not, on the one +hand, the corpselike immobility of the typical stand-patters, or +reactionaries to all progress, and who themselves are the cause of +much insane radicalism. And, on the other hand, if true to our +traditions and temperament, we shall not dance to everybody's fiddle +without investigation of what sort of a tune is being played. + +Ours, then, should be the open mind; the forward look, to examine, +search out, weigh men and issues. When we, amid the hordes of voices +who cry: "Lo here! Lo there!" occasionally find a prophet with a +message, let us follow him. Let us be a "holy terror" to all cheap +demagogs of every party and name, but let us also be the hope and +support of every true prophet, political, industrial or religious. +This is our part. + + +SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS + +There is a beautiful sincerity, a certain heartiness about our Norse +friendships and social relationships which I have not found elsewhere. +Writers in recent years have been bemoaning "the lost kindness" of the +world. Among our immigrant people, at least, you will find the +lingering fragrance of this old time kindness which for many in this +age of pretense and social sham relations has become only a sad, sweet +memory of the long ago. I charge us all, as inheritors and trustees of +this precious treasure--social sincerity and genuine kindness--let us +cherish it, cultivate it and guard it as one of the very greatest +valuables of life. For what is life without this, even with all the +fine houses and lands, automobiles and aeroplanes? On the other hand, +what is life with this genuine spirit of brotherliness in it? With +this you can have the lights of Heaven and music of the spheres in a +sod shanty. For where real good will is, Heaven is near. So let this +beautiful sincerity, or heartiness, vitalize your handshake, flame in +your look and thrill in your word of greeting to the fellow traveler +over life's way. + +If our Norse immigrant has a distinctive contribution to make to +America, industrially, politically and socially, no less certainly has +he an offering to make to the highest and most important department of +life, that of religion. The Scandinavian is almost instinctively +religious. You find among them comparatively few specimens of that +sleek, beefy, selfcomplacent, godless animal-type, so frequently +encountered today in other quarters. The immigrant had encountered too +many of the realities of life; had been too often face to face with +the ultimate facts of life and existence, to develop the shallow +conceits of a mere beef animal whose main experience of life has been +largely confined to a full stomach and the animal comforts. Not +strange that this creature should speak great swelling words against +the Church, the Christ and His followers, as well as against God +Himself. The fool has always said in his heart (and with his stomach): +"There is no God". + +Because of this deep religious devotion characteristic of the Norse +immigrant, and evolved amid the majestic mountains, the thundering +rivers and water falls, as well as the loudly resounding sea of his +birthplace, he built altars to God and established his worship almost +as soon as his feet touched the new soil. Partly because of his +religious sincerity the expression of his religious life has sometimes +showed a certain narrowness of outlook and an intolerance of different +religious forms which has not been to his credit. It is because of +this latter trait that so many of the Norse immigrants and their +descendants have been driven from the church of their fathers and are +found in almost every religious sect in the country. We have heard +"infant damnation" in its rankest form preached within the last year, +and other doctrines as well, which are remnants of Mediaeval barbarism +and which most Lutherans today would repudiate. Yet we believe the God +of Jesus Christ is becoming more clearly seen, and that the wider +horizons of truth are appearing. However, this is my plea: May we +cherish the religious devotion, the real piety characteristic of our +forebears. This is a contribution greatly needed in an age of +religious indifference, if not open hostility. And keeping alive in us +and inculcating in our children this religious devotion, may we never +be numbered among that class who religiously are lukewarm, neither hot +nor cold, only fit to be spewed out of the mouth of God and man. Let +us be a salt in the religious life of our country, for without genuine +religion there can be no morality worth talking about among the mass +of mankind; and without morality we can never succeed in developing, +or even keeping from destruction, our experiment in democracy. So may +we put this, too, our supreme gift, on the altar of our country. + +Now we close our humble effort with a word of tribute to those brave, +unselfish men and women who left home, friends and native land, that +we, their children and descendants, may have a better chance at life +and happiness. They have paid the price of those who have to take and +to hold the front lines in the great struggle with untamed nature in +a new, un-inhabited country. Many are the premature graves, the lonely +heartaches and tragedies, most of which only God knows. They have laid +the material foundations for us deep and strong. They have also left +us an inheritance of ideals and characteristics to hand on to the +coming generations. If "American" is a state of mind, a certain kind +and quality of ideals and aspirations, rather than a matter of +birthplace, then our immigrant fathers and mothers were often more +American than the native born. However, in any case these +characteristics and ideals above enumerated are the life of our nation +and ours to keep alive. And in holding aloft as our slogans, these +ideals of industry, thrift, sane conservatism, genuineness and +religious devotion, we shall both build the noblest possible monument +to the immigrant and also lay the sure foundations for the great +future before us and our children. + +To the few men and women who still remain of the first generation of +immigrants, let us show our love and respect while they still linger +with us, for it will not be long that we can have the opportunity. +When some political demagog, under the thin guise of super-patriotism, +would by legislation or social odium deprive them of the consolations +of religion in the old tongue to which they are accustomed, and thus +send them with sorrow if not bitterness to their graves, let us have +the courage and the manhood to fight these contemptible grand-standers +openly and to a finish. The language question will solve itself in a +few years in any case and without this violence and insult to a few +lingering men and women who have served this country so well and who +are now asking only that they be allowed to pass undisturbed to their +grave. There they will rest from their labors, but their works will +follow after them. + + +THE END. + +August 10, 1920. + + + + +I AM THE IMMIGRANT + + + I am the immigrant. + + I looked towards the United States with eyes kindled by the fire + of ambition and heart quickened with new-born hope. + + I approached its gates with great expectation. + + I have shouldered my burden as the American man-of-all-work. + + I contribute eighty-five per cent of all the labor in the + slaughtering and meat-packing industries. + + I do seven-tenths of the bituminous coal mining. + + I do seventy-eight per cent of all the work in the woolen mills. + + I contribute nine-tenths of all the labor in the cotton mills. + + I make nineteen-twentieths of all the clothing. + + I manufacture more than half the shoes. + + I build four-fifths of all the furniture. + + I make half of the collars, cuffs and shirts. + + I turn out four-fifths of all the leather. I make half the gloves. + + I refine nearly nineteen-twentieths of the sugar. + + And yet, I am the great American problem. + + When I pour out my blood on your altar of labor, and lay down my + life as a sacrifice to your god of toil, men make no more + comment than at the fall of a sparrow. + + But my brawn is woven into the warp and woof of the fabric of your + national being. + + My children shall be your children and your land shall be my land, + because my sweat and my blood will cement the foundations of the + America of to-morrow. + + If I can be fused into the body politic, the melting pot will have + stood the supreme test. + + FREDERIC J. HASKIN. + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Typographical errors corrected in text: | + | | + | Page 11: Skanne replaced with Skaane | + | Page 29: journied replaced with journeyed | + | Page 82: Knute replaced with Knut | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Some Pioneers and Pilgrims on the +Prairies of Dakota, by John B. Reese and H. B. 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