| Summary: | ning was ready to go to work. There was much water in the Bjerke slough in those days and they would row a boat between Old Griswold and Bjerkes. Charlie and others made a sail boat that they sailed the slough. One Sunday afternoon a sudden gust of wind tipped it over in the middle of the slough and the young men took a dunking. Stories That Could be Told Many more stories could be told. George Olson, son of Louis Olson, was the first white child born in Prairie Township; he now resides in a retirement home in LaMoure. How fifty pounds of salt pork would be a settlers meat for the winter, how they made dumplings all winter to take the place of potatoes, the year of the early frost. How the men made the coffins for the dead and the women sewed the shrouds. How they placed pails of cold water under the caskets in warm weather to "keep " the body until time for burial in summer or placed the body in a shed to freeze until such a time as they could dig a grave to bury it; then the next summer when the missionary pastor came they would have a commital service. The income of the early settler was small, but their needs were not great, one shared with another the things that they had, one mother shared the lovely baptismal dress she had made for her first born with most of the mothers for miles around. In thus sharing, they enjoyed life. There were hardships and heartaches, but there was also happiness and joy and fun, and people were apparently more content than they are today. "How can we fail these pioneers, who blazed a shining trail? How can we tear their altars down and raise none of our own? 0 sheltered people of today! We must not, dare not fail The bravest, strongest people that the world has ever known." Our Earliest Pioneers Svea, 1880: John, Charley and Gustav Anderson, brothers. Two had died and the other moved away by 1900. A man named Holter came there the same year, but was said to have been a land grabber. 1881; Gust Anderson, Peter Shoberg, Jorgen S. Aandahl (grandfather of Gov. Fred Aandahl.) 1882; S. J. Sortland, Rasmus Rasmusson, Ole Tvedt, Simeon Gemse, John Sandin, J. H. P. Apple- quist, Chas. Olson, S. S. Urang, August Frisk were other early - day settlers of the township Rosebud: Anders Mattson, August Anderson, Erick Pier- son, Andrew Hansen, J. Ottes. Coming a little later were Ole Hellesvig, Rasmus and R. B. Monson, Gust and Louis Miller, 0. Amundson, J. B. Christensen, James Petersen, Swan Anderson, Thos. Gudmestad, Wm. King, Anton Nelson. Greenland: Mr. and Mrs. Ingvart Brox were the townships first settlers, coming in 1882. Other early settlers were Eric Forslund, Gust Edin, Nels Forsmark, Albert Wolf, Mudgett. Meadow Lake: Lars Bergust, Pickens brothers, Peter Dickson, Mr. Barton (father of the late C, W. Barton), D. R. Jones, John Elliott. ^ Spring Creek; Hans Hendrickson, Halstein Peterson, Esten AUg, Sonsthagen, Ourenhagen, Dennis Kelley Sr. Skihdia: A. A. Gusaas, Riedman, A. J. Salthammer, Knudson [ brothers. Prairie; John M. and Louis Olson, John Lekvold, Steve Kohn, Martin Huhner, John Bruschwein, ^Gus Albers, G. Buetou, Ernest Boelter, Bassens, Wm. Haseleu, Henry Dibbern, Wm. Erdman, Henker, Ernest Busche, Fred Hendricks. , Litchville: H. J. Hanson, J. J. Hanson, Martin Wenne- son, Christ and Berends Smedshammer, Edmund and Peter Rockswold, Edward and C. T. Olson, Sivert Kulseth, Ole T. Bjerke and family, C. O. Bjerke, O. O. Bjerke. Black Loam: Otto Hanson, Karl Berg, Andrew and Elias Haarsager, Torger SjuIIi, Christoffer Sand, Andrew Veberg, Christian Fenstad. Gladstone: Halvor Johnson, Ole and Hans Holt, John Lind, Edward Jensen, Jens Egge, John J. Bubach, Ole J. Haarsager, Hans Ness. Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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