Lögberg-Heimskringla - 17.04.1992, Blaðsíða 6

6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 17. apríl 1992
The personal account ofan Icelandic immigrant’s
experiences in America - from 1886 to 1930
Continued
by Stefan Jónsson
(changed to Johnson in U.S.A.)
Translated from the oríginal
hand-written lcelandic
byStefan Johnson’s eldest grandson,
Jon Willard Freeman.
Finally the ice got so thick the horses
stopped and one lay down. The wagon
was practically afloat and there were the
women! One (my wife) with one child in
her arms and the other at her side, and
the other woman aged and unwell. The
old man, Ásgrímur, wasted no time. He
grabbed an old axe, jumped into the ice
and water and broke the ice ahead of the
horses.
God protects us
The wagon now was almost on its side
but it righted and the horses continued
and they were safe. My wife has often
said that God had willed that the wagon
be not upset into such deep and cold
water after being almost on its side. And
so it is in our life. God protects us when
we believe and trust in Him.
We were now forced to turn back to
father’s knoll, for I had the same trouble
with my oxen and the livestock that I led
and drove before me. They could not
break the ice, and were deathly afraid of
it. It was sorrowful to see the poor ani-
mals standing in water and ice suffering
cold and hunger, particularly our milk
cows on which we depended so much.
The rext day the weather was much
milder. We waited until noon when the
ice had melted considerably and then
Stefán's children: Jón Magnús, Þórunn Sigríöur
(married Oliver S. Freeman), Anna Gísiína
were able to reach the high ground near
the Laxdahl place without serious trou-
ble. The shanty floated like a ship where
the water was deep enough even thou we
had a stove and various household goods
in it.
We had hoped to get shelter and ac-
commodations, at least for our cows,
from the Laxdahls but there were so
many there ahead of us who had also
fled the flood. We were able to make do
with an old corral over one corner of
which we made a make shift roof.
The brothers, Guðmundur and
Jóhann (Laxdahls?) did all they could to
help us and certainly proved to be fine,
compassionate men.
Lost Cattle
There we were in the spring of 1893,
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having moved there May lOth. Then on
May 18th a blizzard struck with such
force that men could not remember such
weather so late in spring. We had about
100 head of cattle, 5 were mine, but
mostly cattle that we had agreed to care
for and feed. All disappeared, having
drifted south ahead of the storm.
When the weather cleared we had to
go to look for them. John Goodman went
with me. Werodegood horsesand headed
south, expecting the stray cattle would
have gotten into some of the big ranch-
ers’ herds, which were everywhere. We
had ridden about 8 miles when we came
upon a herd being driven by a cowboy.
We rode along with him and he said he
had been rounding up cattle which had
strayed in the storm. Áfter a bit I spotted
many of our strays and saw that 3 were
branded and wondered about this and
we questioned him. He said these were
all his cattle that had strayed and that be
had not branded any for a long time. But
we saw that the brands were bare and
obviously new. This man’s name was
Saeng Boorney and he said that many
men were out from the ranch looking for
their cattle that had strayed in the storm.
He said furtherthat any unbranded strays
could be branded and would then be the
property of the brand owner. This was
the law and it favored the hig ranchers
and ifthey found and put their brand on
an unbranded critter it was theirs and
could not be claimed by the rightful owner
even though he had witnesses, etc. I
thought this very unfair, although I was
advised by many to abide with the law.
I can be stubbom
I was determined to secure the cattle
I owned regardless of the brand. So here
was one who admitted that many were
not his and we were free to take those
that were unbranded but not my 3 that
were branded. He was very straightfor-
ward. But I was determined and when
we cut out the strays, I also took my 3
home with them. I was told by many,
including George Freeman, that I was in
the wrong. They said I could be arrested
and even jailed. Not a pleasant prospect
for a poor man who only wanted what he
knew was his, but I can be stubbom.
I still lacked 2 of mine and on my next
search I found quite a few belonging to
the others and one of mine and took him.
He was branded like my other ones and
I could not understand why they branded
mine and not the others. The only expla-
nation could be that since mine had been
together since they were calves and ani-
mals tend to stay together thereafter, so
they were caught and branded at the
same time. I don’t know that any others
had the same experience but I do know
that many were not found and probably
were taken and branded.
Continued next week
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