Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.08.1981, Blaðsíða 17

WINNIPEG, HÁTÍÐARBLAÐ 1981-17
Icelandic Summer Resort at Fishing Lake
It is believed that the original set-
tlers in the Foam Lake district came
from the Thingvalla settlement in
the early 1890s. In his book, "The
Saskatchewan Icelanders", Walter
Lindal offers the following reasons.
"By the time of 1891, the settlers in
Thingvalla were beginning to realize
that they had struck a very dry area.
Changing cycles, wet and dry, were
unheard of and people began to
think that the lack of moisture
would be permanent, The herds o.f
cattle and sheep, which were very
small at first, were increasing and it
was feared that the difficulties of
finding hay in the district would
become increasingly formidable and
might result in an acute shortage of
fodder. Word had reached the set-
tlers that there were lakes
somewhere west of Yorkton and
plenty of hay around them."
The Icelandic settlers certainly
thought this was worth examining
and in the spring of 1891, Ingimund-
ur Eiriksson and Christjan J.
Helgason decided to explore the
area described above and with a
team of horses and a wagon they
travelled west. They reached
Fishing Lake in the fall of 1891 and
were soon followed by other
pioneers in the Thingvalla settle-
ment. For example, three families
are said to have found their way to
the lake in the spring of 1892.
Those early settlers had brought
some cattle and sheep and found
plenty of hay on the south of the
lake. The good news soon reached
the ears of other settlers who
gradually moved west and soon a
small Icelandic settlement had been
established. Cabins and stables
were built and the Icelanders felt
they finally had found what they
so long had'. looked for. This,
however, was not to be. A prairie
fire swept through and ruined the
hay meadows completely, In a
desperate need for hay, the settlers
examined the area south of the lake.
There they found a large meadow
full of hay. This was what now is
Foam Lake but at that time it was
completely dry. So again the settlers
abandoned a settlement and moved
south. By 1894 the small Icelandic
settlement on the shore of Fishing
Lake had come to an end.
Today, however, Fishing Lake is
far from being abandoned. The
Icelanders who now settle the shore
of the lake are not farming there as
their ancestors did almost a decade
ago, They come there every summer
to their cottages and enjoy the
beautiful lake. As the pictures,
taken in May of this year, clearly
show, the lake is clear, and its sur-
Inga and Ed Skagfeld in front of "Ásgarður".
The Skagfeld family.
from
Mr. and Mrs. Carl Olafsson.
Carl was born in 1916 in "Vat-
nabyggð" and has been a farmer
all his life until recently when he
retired and moved to Wynyard.
From left to right Baldvin
Juliusson, holding his son
Baldvin, Gunnar Paulson, Jonas
Thor and Chris Paulson.
roundings unspoiled nature. One
can travel, either by foot or by boai
from one cottage to another and find
Icelandic speaking people who
come from different parts of Saskat-
chewan. Some are from Wynyard
like the Paulsons and Olafsons, the
Juliusons come from Regina and
the Skaftfelds from Saskatoon to
name a few. Some of the cottages
have Icelandic names such as Asgar-
dur owned by the Skaftfelds. Dur-
ing a nice weekend one finds some
golfers on a nine hole course. Some
fish, others swim or simply tan on
the beautiful beach. At night, bon-
fires are often lit and friends gather
for some light refreshments and
Icelandic songs can quite often be
heard.
During my brief visit there this
spring I witnessed a chess tourna-
ment, which I understand is an an-
nual event at the Lake. This time
Chris Paulson defeated all his op-
ponents with some excellent play. I
also learnt that a few years back an
amateur ballet dancer performed on
the beach much to the delight of a
large number of spectators. From
the above it is obvious that the
Fishing Lake is an extremely en-
joyable summer resort and offers
not only relaxation but entertain-
ment for everyone. I certainly en-
courage anyone travelling near
Fishing Lake to stop by and ex-
perience not only the beautiful
nature but also the friendliness of
the people. J.TH.
With Compliments of . . .
TARGET STORE
DRY GOODS
PfioM: «42-524«
83 « 3rd Av«.
GiaU,
Greetings to our icelondic Friends and Customers
GIMLI HOTEL
GIMLI, MAN.
Phone 642-9288
Compliments of . . .
KARDY'S PRO HARDWARE
Phone 642-8838
CENTRE STREET
GIMLI, MAN.
Compliments of . . .
ARNASON INDUSTRIES LTD.
Contractors — Engineers
LOT 7
Winnipeg, Man.
KING EDWARD ST. N.
Phone 633-2567

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AGUST 1981
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