Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.11.1997, Blaðsíða 8

8 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday, November 7, 1997
Bjarni Dalsted Biography
Continued frorn the previous issue.
By G. Leonard Dalsted
Reprinted with permission from the
diaries of his grandfather Bjarni Dalsted
Jón Hörgdal and I went to Pembina
in June to get some more food for
Rev. Páll to distribute. We had com
meal, wheat and other basic food. On our
way we were caught in a big rain just near
Bechtol’s. It was evening but we had in-
tended to keep on going. We got as far as
“Carl’s Point” which was north of where
Hamilton is now. We were soaked and it
was too dark to see. We unhitched the
oxen and fed them. Even though we were
wet to the skin, we wrapped blankets
around us and crawled under the wagon.
We were fairly comfortable. When day-
light broke, the rain had quit, the sun was
shining. We ate our food which we
brought with us. We started out and our
feet got dry as the day progressed. We
got along real well after that. Jón Hörgdal
often talked about this trip.
Later on we made several trips, as
new people were arriving from Canada.
Even though the weather was nice the
roads were always terrible. We often had
to put two teams of oxen on one wagon
to get it over the worst spots. We had to
wait for areas that had been burned off
to stop burning. Often the ground was
still hot and we worried it might be soft
where the slough grass had been bumed.
The mosquitos were another awful prob-
Iem. They were just terrible.
The wagons would get stuck and the
oxen had no peace from the mos-
quitos. They bit us so badly we were
bleeding. In the moming we met a new
settler by the name of Goggin. He taught
us to pull some green grass and put a fire
under it and this smudge smoke would
chase away the mosquitos. The poor oxen
were also relieved by the smoke. Near
Charlie Brown’s house we went south
and we came to Magnus Stefanson’s
place and woke him up at sunrise. We
got coffee and kept on going home. Jón
Hörgdal later talked about this night. He
did not know which night was the worst;
the night at Carl’s Point or this night go-
ing home.
I had been asked to come south to
Vík (Mountain) to break land for Páll
Gunlaugson, Bjöm Einarson and others
— one acre for each. I did it and every-
thing went well. The oxen had become
responsive to my calls. They had been
trained in Minnesota. The oxen were a
friend of the poor people. We could de-
pend on them. After the day was over, all
they wanted was grass to eat until they
were full. Horses were coming on the
market. They needed more attention than
the oxen. The horses were sold at $300
to $400 per team and the sellers would
take the oxen in trade. The sellers took
mortgages on any unpaid balances and
charged 12 percent interest. Many of the
horses were not well, and had been dam-
aged by former owners. Some people
even had to mortgage their farms. It did
not always go well. Some horses died,
and the buyers ended up losing the oxen,
the farm and the remaining horse. The
oxen tumed out to be a better investment.
The wagons would get stuck
and the oxen had no peace
from the mosquitos. They bit
us so badly we were bleeding.
I fmished plowing for those I had prom-
ised work for. Jón Hörgdal often talked
about this in later years. He remembered I
had broken up the first acre on his farm.
On my way home after plowing, I
stopped at Sveinn Sveinson, north-east
ofVík (Mountain). He had laid claim to
unsurveyed land there. The entire town-
ship had not been surveyed. Sveinn
wanted to sell me the land and make a
payment on it. He wanted me to give him
a wagon for the development he had done
on the farm. It consisted of a shack, a bam
and a well. He had also plowed some
land. I told him I could not get along with-
out the wagon. I wanted to include five
tons of hay. I took him up on his deal and
told him he could come north to my place
and get the wagon in two weeks.
The place was pretty good. I had hay,
trees and good land. A short time later I
got a ride to Pembina. There I found an
older wagon for ten dollars. The axles and
the wheels had been replaced and re-
worked. It had no box but I felt I could
get it into good shape with little cost. I
brought it home where I repaired it and
painted it. This was a strong wagon and I
owned it for a long time.
Sveinn came to pick up the wagon
and I asked him to write a letter of agree-
ment on the land transaction. I moved on
the land in early September. It was fifty
dollars and included all the rights to the
land.
It was mid-July and nó word from
Ben on payment for the black oxen. Not
even the $30.00 he had promised to pay.
I had witnesses he promised to pay me
on June 1. I heard the oxen was dead.
Early one moming I took off south to
Park (Gardar) to see if the oxen was dead.
It had rained and it was difficult to walk
in the tall, wet grass. I got soaking wet.
Later in the moming the weather got very
hot and stayed that way all day. I finally
reached Park and saw Ben.
was quite surprised to see me
and looked so guilty. He barely
answered me when I greeted him. I now
saw that Ben was alive and well. I
promptly told him why I was there. He
got angry. He accused me of cheating him
and said the oxen were dead. He had been
told by someone he did not have to pay
one single cent. I asked him if it was not
tme that he had used the oxen all spring
as his neighbours had told me. Ben asked
me who told on him. I refused to tell him
who they were. His neighbours said the
oxen were worked so hard that one of
them died. I asked him if he didn’t re-
member that I knew little more about the
oxen than he did because I had only
driven them one day from Pembina to
Peterson’s. He sort of agreed so there was
no more about the oxen. Now he refused
to talk. There I Iost $50.00 I never saw
again. This kind of crooked business was
unusual in those days. I saw a gun out-
side and I asked him if he would let me
have the gun since he would not pay me.
Just then his wife came out and told her
husband to let me have the gun. I was
surprised because she reportedly had a
bad temper. He tumed it over to me and I
left. I went over to some old friends who
Iived near by. I got something to eat and
rested before I started back home.
One day Gunnar Hallson came mn-
ning to our place and I saw immediately
something had happened or someone got
hurt. He told me that 25 Indians with
weapons had circled their home. Gunnar’s
in this picture of her grandsons,
Brant and Brock Macaulay, sitting
on their late afi's car.
father had asked me to come right away
with him and bring something sharp. I
told my wife that there was nothing to
worry about because the Indians had writ-
ten passes. She did not get excited either.
I ran south with Gunnar. When I got to
Jóhann’s place the Indians were sitting
around the house. The leader came di-
rectly to me and handed me a piece of
paper. I saw immediately it was a permit
from the military commander of Fort
Pembina. It introduced him as a leader of
his Indians and that they could go through
the neighbourhood without interference
and tell the Icelanders to help them. The
white men were to give the Indians some
food and eat with them at the next house.
I went home and got bacon, bread and
milk for them. We took them to three dif-
ferent homes. The first home was Johann
Hallson’s where they got plenty to eat.
As Indians usually do they got up right
away and got ready to leave. I took Gunnar
with me to show the Indians where to cross
the Tongue River at the place where a big
tree had fallen across the river. They were
all friendly except one with a great deal
of paint on his face. He was a Sioux who
looked at us with a mean look. The oth-
ers were Chippewas. They were going to
Fort Totten near Devil’s Lake. They kept
on going up the mountains and found the
old Fort Totten trail.
In September we moved south to the
Tongue Ri ver because we had a lot of hay
and oats. I had a lot of hay myself plus hay
I received in pay for working for others.
Sveinn Sveinson and his wife asked
us to let them stay with us for the winter,
which we granted them.
To be continued in the next issue.
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Lúterska
Kirkja
Pastor Ingthor I. Isfeld
10:30 a.m. The Service
First Lutheran Church
580 Victor St., Winnipeg
R3G 1R2 Ph. 772-7444
Minnist
DCTEI
DE Jl JCII4
I ERFÐASKRÁM ÝÐAR
* Do you have friends interested in Icelandic culture
and stories about Icelanders around the world?
Lögberg-Heimskringla is the ideal way
for your friends and family to keep in touch with
news about Icelanders — all year long!