Lögberg-Heimskringla - 21.05.1982, Qupperneq 4

4-T INNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 21. MAÍ 1982
Ritstj ór nargrein
Athyglisverð bók
Nýlega barst undirrituðum í hend-
ur einkar athyglisverð bók, sem
heitir á írummálinu A Tribute to
Soldiers and Pioneers of the Langruth
District. Þessi bók hefur að geyma
sögur um landnema í Langruth-
héraði og einnig skrá yfir þá sem
settust að í þessu héraði og
samkvæmt bókinni voru þeir allir
fyrsta flokks landnemar.
Sá sem þetta ritar hefur svolítið
gluggað í bækur og blöð, sem greina
frá örlögum íslendinga í
Vesturheimi. Þykist hann því
sæmilega vel heima í sögu þeirra í
Norður Ameríku en því verður samt
ekki leynt að áðurnefnda bók hefur
hann aldrei séð né heyrt nefnda á
nafn.
Á öðrum stað í blaðinu þessa viku
eru birtir kaflar úr ritinu og einnig
myndir, sem fáir lesendur hafa
barið augum. Eins og fram kemur í
þeim úrdrætti, þá voru íslendingar
ekki þeir einu, sem tóku sér land á
vesturbakka Manitóbavatns og í
héraðinu þar vestur af. Þar voru
breskir, þýskir og ungverskir
bændur og verslunarmenn og þeirra
saga er einnig skráð í verkinu. En
Lögberg-Heimskringla er blað
íslendinga í Vesturheimi og því
verður einungis fjallað um þeirra
framlag til bókarinnar.
í stuttum formála er greint frá því
að ákveðin nefnd var kjörin til að
safna efninu og annast útgáfuna.
Það er því enginn einn höfundur að
verkinu, heldur stóðu að því karlar
og konur sem í fimm ár settu saman
greinar og völdu óteljandi myndir
sem prýða þessa ágætu bók. Fyrsti
kafli hennar fjallar um þá
ógæfusömu menn sem létu lífið í
fyrri heimsstyrjöldinni. I öðrum
kafla segir frá þeim sem biðu bana í
síðari heimstyrjöldinni og í báðum
köflunum er getið um ættir þessara
föllnu kappa. Þetta er því hreinasti
fjársjóður fyrir þá sem leggja stund á
söguskoðun og ættfræði. Útgef-
endur voru ekki svo lánsamir að
komast yfir myndir af öllum þessum
hetjum en andlit margra þeirra
prýða fyrstu hundrað síðurnar.
Síðari hluta bókarinnar er skipt
niður í allmarga stutta kafla um
sögu héraðsins. Þar má finna höf-
unda íslenska, sem ef til vill hafa
ekki hlotið þann sess í bókmennta-
sögu Vestur-íslendinga sem þeim
ber.og kannski er þeirra framlag það
eina sem eftir þá hefur birst á
prenti. Meðal þeirra sem settu
saman greinargerð má nefna Láru
Finnbogason og Margréti Bjarnar-
son. Þessar ágætu konur fjalla um
Reprinted from the book “A Tri-
bute to Soldiers and Pioneers of
the Langruth District" published
in 1950 by the Langruth Com-
munity.
by G.W. Langdon
In the year 1907 two young men
of St. Thomas, Ontario, got a touch
of what was commonly known as
"the Western fever" and decided to
seek their fortunes in the Canadian
West. Their names were George W.
Langdon and W. Judson Ruth, later
to form a real estate partnership of
Langdon and Ruth. And now, forty-
three years later, the former at-
tempts this little sketch.
Western farm lands and
fabulously-advertised Western
townsites were attracting much at-
tention of Easterners not only for ac-
tual settlement but more so for in-
vestments by thousands not intend-.
ing to remove to the West. And
thus these two scented an oppor-
tunity to try and help satisfy some of
these peoples' ambitions, and of
course to the mutual advantage of
all concerned. So to the West.
After rhaking inspection of a few
of the many available and more like-
ly propositions in prairie lands sub-
mitted by some of the numerous
real estate firms and very eager land
agents they finally decided to at
least have a look at a considerable
area offered for sale to the West of
Lake Manitoba and where now the
prospering and delightful little town
of Langruth is the appropriate cen-
tre.
It was in the midst of a busy
harvest season on the Portage
samtök kvenna í sveitinni, sem
mynduð voru skömmu eftir alda-
mót. Þessir kaflar eru einnig prýddir
myndum og birtast nokkrar þeirra á
annari síðu L.-H. í dag.
Títtnefnd bók var gefin út árið
1950 af Langruth héraði. Erfitt er að
geta sér til um upplag en eins og
fram hefur komið er þessa bók ekki
Plains and there seemed to be a
threshing outfit on about every sec-
ond or third farm in a veritable sea
of stooks stretching far and wide, a
beautiful and unforgettable sight to
the two Easterners especially as
they had the full benefit of this
magnificent view from a livery
democrat driven out from Portage la
Prairie. The driver delivered a letter
from the owners of the land to the
late Mr. Thos. Robertshaw, of North
Lakeland, who joined the party in
giving the district a casual look-
over. This land, covered as it was
with poplar trees and willow scrub,
appealed to them as being more
Ontario-like than the open prairie,
besides having the advantage of
established markets and with a new
branch railway line pointing
through it. In fact, the railway grade
had already been constructed to a
couple of miles further North
though the steel had not yet been
laid. And a very important con-
sideration were the terms under
which this block might be handled
being such as to agreeably corres-
pond with their financial limita-
tions. So notwithstanding the soil of
some of it at least was not exactly
the best they had seen elsewhere in
the West such disadvantage was
easily offset in their minds by ad-
vantages evident not to mention
other advantages they thought they
could foresee and which the years
have since vindicated. And so after
a later inspection they finally
secured what appeared to be the
choice eight sections of this block.
This to be only a starter for their
proposed operations.
The Kinosota Ridge
The Kinosota ridge, the most prom-
inent of the many former beaches
of prehistoric Lake Agassiz which
more or less parallel the Western
shore of the present Lake Manitoba
appealed to them not only as a
splendid road-bed but as the
vertebrae of a future magnificent
mixed-farming district only
awaiting development. This ridge
extending a distance of approx-
imately sixty miles to near Kinosota,
the site of a former Hudson's Bay
Company trading post, near the
head of the Lake and an average of
að finna í sérhverri bókaverslun í
Winnipeg eða bókasöfnum þeirrar
ágætu borgar. Það er því sennilegt
að fá eintök séu til, en þeir lesendur
sem kannast við gripinn ættu að
skoða bókasöfn sín vandlega, athuga
bókakassana í kjallaranum og sjá
hvort ekki megi líta þessa merkilegu
bók. J.Þ.
about four or five miles out from its
Western shore had been used as a
trail no doubt ever since the first
habitation of man in these parts and
only a few years previous had been
surveyed by the Government as a
public road. It was at that time a
quite picturesque drive-way along
the gently winding ridge and not as
yet disfigured by motor traffic,
though the travelled path was for
the most part quite narrow and
more or less encroached upon by
trees. Another trail also then recent-
ly surveyed followed the more open
country near the Lake and was used
by the early settlers much more
than the Kinosota trail. It was com-
monly known as the Sandy Bay trail
but the registered name is the
Totogan trail. This trail has of
course long since been abandoned.
Another then recent improvement
by the Government, though taxed to
the assessable lands over a period of
thirty years, was the construction of
drainage ditches across the splendid
slope towards the lake in a little
over four townships' area. These
ditches, though placed at strangely
irregular distances apart, were
fulfilling admirably their intended
purpose in removing the surplus
water that formerly accumulated
behind the ridges and kept the land
to the East of them constantly more
or less water-logged and practically
unfit for cultivation.
Fishing on Lake Manitoba
And in addition to the dormant
agricultural possibilities of the
district the winter fishing on Lake
Manitoba was then already an in-
dustry of importance, especially to
the early pioneers, though the hardy
fishermen of those days were oblig-
ed to haul their frozen catch many
miles to market, chiefly to
Westbourne and Gladstone. And
they didn't have comfortably heated
vans either. It was the open sleigh
and faithful slow-moving team for
it. But the catch was usually
wonderful and well need it be for
the prices paid were very meagre in-
deed. It was a common sight to see
loads of frozen fish, mostly jackpike
and pickerel, piled up on sleighs and
Continued on page 5
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Sketch of Early Langruth