Lögberg-Heimskringla - 26.04.1996, Side 5

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 26. apríl 1996 • 5
The lcelanders of Argyle
Contlnued
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Near there were two
Englishmen living in a shack
built the fall before. We could
not find shelter or help from
them. Sigurður and I and fami-
lies settled near them until the
middle of the month. It was cold
but there was not much snow.
During that time we moved a bit
of hay and wood onto our land.
On April 15, Good Friday, we
parted and each went to his own
land. That day it was mild and
thawed a lot; a few days later the
snow at least was gone.
There was a distance of about
three miles to Kristoferson’s, a
little farther to the Englishman
and six miles to Skúli’s and quite
a bit farther to anyone else. To a
store, if you could call it a store,
it was about 20 miles - there
was also a blacksmith there and
if anything needed doing by a
smithy, you had to take it that
far. That was also the nearest
post ofBce.
Here I had arrived at this des-
olate spot with a wife and two
young children, a few animals in
poor condition, about a hun-
dred pounds of flour and practi-
cally nothing else in the line of
food, three dollars in money, no
household or work implements
other than the poor sleighs we
had arrived on and one very
poor plough.
Shortly after we had settled
in, one of my cows had a calf
and even though she was very
thin, she did better than feed the
calf. When the flour was finished
I started off for Milford which
was the nearest store on the
Souris River. When I arrived
there, there wasn’t any flour or
other food to be had. It was too
early in the spring for the steam-
boats to go on the Assiniboine
River to carry the supplies to
Milford. On the way home I was
able to buy 50 pounds of flour
from a farmer for $2.50.
During the summer a few
more Icelandic families moved
into the district, also some of the
other nationalities so that by fall
I was able to see quite a number
of houses from my home,
although the distance between
neighbors remained about the
same. There was little change in
our day-to-day living - we were
quite well and did not suffer
hunger. Eveiything that had to
be bought was very expensive,
for example, coffee 40 cents a
pound, raisins 25 cents a pound,
brown sugar eight pounds for a
$1.00, side of pork 18 cents a
pound. We received a good
price for what we had to sell.
Wages were high - breaking
land $3.50 to $5.00 an acre. The
following year (1882) with my
own money I was able to buy
grain to sow in the 18 acres that
I had prepared for a crop. The
cattle had increased and were in
good condition and the cows
produced well.
The latter part of the winter
of 1882 people began moving
into he community and building
homes. Although we did not
have much to offer these people,
we did what we could to help
them in giving them shelter for
themselves and their animals. In
our little humble home, 13 feet
long and 11 feet wide, without
any upstairs, we gave shelter to
28 people one night. Some
nights, although the weather
was bad, we had to turn our
own animals out in order to
house the horses and the oxen
of the travellers.
When we had wheat to sell,
we had to take it forty miles to
market and it was a slow trip by
oxen - as most people had oxen.
I got a team of horses in March
of 1883 for which I paid
$450.00. These horses, as well as
a third one I had bought the
same year, died in the year 1886.
I suffered a great loss through
fire - stock, implements and
other possessions. (Prairie fire of
1886.)
During the summer the rail-
road was built to Glenboro, at
which time most of the land had
been talcen and pretty well built
up. I could see or count about
200 homes from my home/
Schools had also been built here
or there in the community. The
first Icelandic church was built
in the year 1889 and that sum-
mer the fifth anniversaiy of the
Kirkjufélag was celebrated at our
place. Progress in the settlement
grew rapidly.
Skapti Arason was married
July 20, 1877, to Anna Guðrun
Jóhansdóttir from ísólfestöðum
in Tjömes. They were married at
Kjalvík in New Icelémd. Anna
was bom in 1848. Their children
were as follows:
Tryggvi — bom at Kjalvík,
April 27,1878, farmer at Cypress
River, Man., married to Olive
Siguigeirsdóttir Thordarson.
Guðrun — bom at Kjalvík,
May 20, 1880, married to Peter
G. Magnús, storekeeper in
Glenboro.
Óli S. — bom in Glenboro,
March 12,1882, married to Olga
Olgeirsdóttir Frederickson. Óli
was the first Icelandic child bom
in the Icelandic district.
Herman — bom Februaiy 1,
1884, died Febmary2,1920.
August — born Glenboro,
August 15, 1886, married
Aurora Olgeirsdóttir Freder-
ickson.
Gudný — born Glenboro,
November 7, 1888, married Jón
Baldwin, real estate salesman.
Skapti Arason died June 24,
1903, aJfter farming in the Argyle
district for 22 years. He was a
very remarkable and farsighted
in all his undertakings. He was a
good farmer and left a flourish-
ing farm when he died. He was
independent and true to his
beliefe. Slcapti, being one of the
oldest and first homesteaders,
first in Nýja ísland and then in
Argyle, left his own mark
through his many good deeds
performed during his lifetime.
That’s The Spirit
With spring in our spirits
And spirits in our glasses
Let us SKOAL to spry lads
And all spirited lasses
Teething
Teething is a common chore
And painful in the main
Not suffered by Adam and
According to Mark Twain
“CATCH 22”
Get with it, grow up they say
Everyone wishes you would
When you do to please them
all
They call it second child-
hood
Timely SKÁL
Let us SKOAL to old times
Good times, inbetween times
Jolly times and sad times
Times to come
And then some
Hopeless Ass
It is an established rule
A dictator is like a mule
Neither has pride in ancestry
And no hope for posterity
Happy Birthday
If one could wish upon a star
And make dreams come true
There would be a lot of good
ones
On their way to you
Short on Wine
He celebrates a rose
A beautiful thought
Unique poems and prose
Battles won and well fought
Advancing a good cause
To well eamed applause
At EIGHTY he is fine
But, pray tell, short on wine
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Under Community Places, grants of up to 50 per cent
of eligible project costs, to a maximum of $50,000, are
available to recreational, cultural, heritage and other
nonprofit community organizations in Manitoba.
For more information or an application package,
please contact the Community Places Office in
Winnipeg at 945-0502. Outside Winnipeg,
call toll-free 1-800-894-3777.
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