| Summary: | A history of Watford City, North Dakota including family biographies. 303 pages : illustrations, portraits 28 cm. MR. MRS. HANS OKLAND The other five children and seventeen grandchildren are all residents of the state of North Dakota. Bertha is an associate professor at Minot State College, Lilly, (Mrs. Norman Rolf son) lives at Bismarck, Arthur is in business at Watford City, Hilmer farms in Schafer Township, and Clifford is employed in Minot. MR. AND MRS. HANS OKLAND Mr. and Mrs. Hans Okland homesteaded about 61/2 miles northeast of Watford City in Garden Township. Hans was born at Fitjar, Bergen, Norway on February 22, 1888. Mrs. Okland (Kristine) Storien, Bergen, Norway on March 28, 1889. Hans left his home in Norway at the age of fifteen for economic reasons. He spent one year as a cook's apprentice on board a fishing vessel between Norway and Iceland in order to earn enough for a passage to America. He worked on farms in South Dakota and in the eastern part of North Dakota until he was old enough to file on a homestead. Then, in the spring of 1909, he came to McKenzie County to the post office of Schafer where his brother Knut and his childhood friend, Marselius Rolfson, had already homesteaded. Kristine, orphaned at the age of ten, was sent to live with relatives at Fitjar, Norway. She attended the same school as Hans. After he came to America, he urged her to come across the ocean to marry him. She had to wait until she reached the age of eighteen to be released from her guardians. She then left for America and arrived in 1907 at Finley, N. D. She worked as house maid in various homes in eastern North Dakota and in South Dakota. She came to Schafer to be married to Hans Okland on November 24, 1909. Their wedding took place in the Lutheran parsonage in the Farland community. The ceremony was performed by the Reverend M. T. Berntson who had just arrived at the parsonage. They only had the bare nec- cessities in the line of furniture. Apple boxes were used for chairs on this occasion. The bridal party had travelled about fifteen miles in a horse drawn sled across trackless snow-covered prairie to the parsonage. Mr. and Mrs. Hans Okland spent the rest of their days in the Watford City community. They were members of the Garden Lutheran Church. Kristine died on April 29, 1949, and Hans died on September 14, 1955. Their six children attended the public school of Watford City. One son, Thomas, died on January 5, 1961, and a grandson, Thomas, was drowned on May 5, 1957. GEORGE M. MANGOLD Two young men living in Bottineau County heard that land was being opened for homesteading in McKenzie County and thought it would be fun to go out there and live for a while and at the same time acquire a piece of land. In 1906 George Mangold and Dougal McMillan came to Williston by train, hired a team and driver and drove the fifty miles over the winding prairie trail to Schafer where they contacted Bill Jan- sen, a "Locater." He showed them land west of Shafer four and one-half miles and that Roy Neuman had under fence. They filed on adjoining claims there but did not take up residence until that fall when they built their little tar papered shacks and lived through one of the coldest winters Dakota has ever known, or so they said. They walked to Schafer every day for mail and supplies and to visit with the folks. Time passed quickly and on August 5, 1907, they made final proof before Judge F. S. Kellog and became the owners each of 160 acres of land. Dougal later sold his quarter to George. George's homestead is located on highway 85 just south of and adjoining the present town of Watford City. He is a blacksmith by trade and lives at Phoenix, Arizona. His hobby is making articles such as lamps, candle sticks, ash trays, door knockers, etc. He has three children. They are Kenneth, Enid, and Betty. They are all married and reside in Arizona. His wife died in 1959. His sister Mrs. Ethel Robinson lives in Watford City. 144 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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