Lögberg-Heimskringla - 26.03.1999, Blaðsíða 6

6 * Lögberg-Heimskringla « Friday 26 March 1999
From Iceland to the New World—today
Vidar Waage
Reykjavik, Iceland
Afew years ago when I read about my great-
grandmother, Ingveldur Ámadóttir, Sigurðs-
son, I decided to take this trip to Canada. She
moved to Canada in 1897, fifty-five years old at the
time. In 1891 she lost her husband and had lived with
her brother at Stóri-Kroppur in Borgaríjörður, and
supported herself with little means. Her eldest son,
Jón, moved to Canada in 1896 and he received his
mother and siblings when they arrived in Winnipeg.
With Ingveldur went three of her children, but my
grandmother, Ólöf, remained in Iceland.
On June 12, 1897 they took off from Stóri-
Kroppur. Ólöf and Eggert, her fiancé at the time, trav-
elled with them to Reykjavík and were married at the
Reykjavík cathedral, before the family left to Canada.
They first travelled by ship to Scotland and continued
on with another ship to Halifax. From there they trav-
elled to Winnipeg using the transportation which was
avaijable at that time.
My trip began from Stóri-Kroppur on June 12,
1997.1 was one day short of fifty-five years.
A hundred years ago there were no cars available
for travelling. There were only horses and people had
to transport all their luggage on them. There were no
roads, only slow-to-travel trails. Rivers had no bridges
for crossing. The first leg of the trip one hundred years
ago was a two-day joumey on horseback, and the last
was a trip by boat across the Faxaflói to Reykjavík. I
travelled this distance in two hours. I drove on a paved
road in my pickup tmck. I crossed Faxaflói gulf by a
ferry as they had done long ago.
A few days later I took a plane to Halifax. At first
I had planned to travel by train from Halifax to
Winnipeg, but it became clear that taking a bus would
be more suitable, which was both cheaper and took
less time.
I left from Halifax on Wednesday June 25. The
bus continued night and day and I arrived in Winnipeg
in the evening on Friday June 27. I had to change
buses three times during the trip.
After sleeping off the tiredness from the trip from
Viðar Waage with Paula and Ken Olafson.
Halifax, I rented a car in Winnipeg and continued my
joumey, tracing my great-grandmother’s route.
Ásgeir Sigurðsson, my cousin and Ingveldur’s
grandson, had told me that Ingveldur had lived north
of Winnipeg, called Argyle district today, for the first
two years after moving to Canada. I found this place
easily and it was as if an invisible hand directed me
there. Argyle is a small country village. I had a short
stop there. A caim had been erected there in memory
of the settlers with Icelandic names on it. I found
nothing concrete there from the days of my great-
grandmother, but I had a very strong and painful feel-
ing from a time long passed. Ásgeir, who remembered
Jtis grandmother well, told me that here our people
had to endure a very difificult life.
I continued on to Lundar. It was a strange feeling
to enter a restaurant and see the people there.I felt that
I was back home in Iceland. The people had the same
demeanour as at home.
As I sat looking at the people, I must have looked
like some kind of a strange creature. But so be it. You
know the rest of the story in Lundar. I remember this
short stay with thanksgiving to both of you.
When I left from you [the Olafsons] and contin-
ued to Swan-River, it was late in the day. I drove
through a very sparsely populated area north of Lake
Manitoba and found a very good motel in a small vil-
lage west of there.
I continued on to Elfros where I stayed with my
cousin Hughe and his mother Alice.
Please see lceland on page 10
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