| Summary: | STORIES WORTH TELLING KNUT RENSLEN At one time he was going to cross the Red River. Spring had then set in, the river rose lifting the ice and leaving a strip of open water on both sides. The weather turned cold that night and a sheet of ice formed around the shore. This had to be broken to make a passage to the solid ice. He stood in the boat beating the ice sheet with an oar, some ice had broken from the sheet further up stream. This was floating down stream, and failing to notice the floating ice sheet, it struck the boat. The jar sent him toppling into the icy water. Luckily he grabbed the gunwale and escaped with just a soaking in icy water. The distance to the house was about sixty rods. The water running out of the heavy clothing froze to icicles and made a jingling sound as he ran into the house. Pastor Bersvend Anderson used to tell of an exciting experience he and his driver had in crossing the Red River during a spring flood near Belmont. They were driving a yolk of oxen from the Minnesota side by ferry, which was so water logged that it sank. They saved themselves from drowning by throwing themselves on the backs of the oxen, who swam across the river. Much of the church activity of the day was at the Sandhill Church across the river and a close link with the neighbors across the Red was more common then, than it is now. It involved a trip in a row boat and a long walk through the woods. One almost unbelievable story is of the time during the late spring when a special meeting was to be held at the Sandhill Church and the boat was on the other side of the river. The river was still swollen from spring waters but Mr. Severson swam across to get the boat and thus the problem of getting there was solved. Amond Erickson, coming from Fargo, No. Dak. to his homestead in Bentru Township with team and sled, got lost in a snow storm as he neared his home. As he drove along, his sled touched something that turned out to be the corner of Ole Loing's house. Mr. and Mrs. Loing were both home and they tried to take the team of horses inside the house to save them from the raging snow storm. It then occurred to them that the floor of the house might not hold up under their weight. They then thought of a lean-to on the north side of the house. Through this lean-to they slid the horses into the cellar under the house. The next day the storm was over and it was necessary to take the roof off the lean-to to get the horses out of the cellar. .1 i #■ " ,.?*** ^*';A: ■ ;"**" f& »_«JwS_. mmmm .ttt.-' iTr.'._C Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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