Lögberg-Heimskringla - 08.10.1999, Blaðsíða 7

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 8. október 1999 • 7
History
A short story frorn the settlement
Jón Austmann
J. Magnús Bjarnason
Translated by G. Isfeld
Jón Austmann was the son of Jón
Guðmundsson and Guðfinna
Erlendsdóttir, who lived at
Uppsalir at Hrunagerðishreppur in
Arnessýsla. He came to Winnipeg on
July 29, 1886. On August 3, he began
working on the Manitoba southwest
highway where he worked as long as
work was available that fall. The fol-
lowing winter he spent in Winnipeg
where he sawed lirewood. No other
work was available in winter for
unskilled labourers, and many men
walked the streets with an axe on their
shoulder, with a saw hanging from
it,and at times a sawhorse also. When
they spotted uncut wood by a house
they sought out the man of the house
and asked him: “Cut wood, sir?” If
agreement was reached, work began
immediately. This was a hard and poor-
ly paid job, yet it was the only income
many people had. This is described in
the poem “An Icelandic woodcutter in
America,” by J. Magnús Bjarnason.
In the spring of 1887 (April 2), four
Icelanders took off from Winnipeg
toward the Rocky Mountains. They
were Vigfús and Hannes Snæbjörnsson,
Olafur Þórðarson, and Jón Austmann.
They were hired to work on the Canada
Pacific highway. Here they first wit-
nessed forest fires, and painted Indians,
both an amazing sight to them. A forest
fire raged in the mountains for almost a
week. Some railway bindings and
poles, which held up the telegraph lines
along the tracks, burnt, although all
available men were sent out to protect
the tracks, night and day.
In October, in the fall, the four
companions took oíf eastward and did
not stop until they reached Winnipeg,
where they parted; the brothers (Vigfús
and Hannes) went home to Dakota,
while Jón and Ólafur continued on to
Lake Manitoba, after a short stay in
Winnipeg. They walked north across
the Prairie and after covering about thir-
ty English miles in the first day, they lay
down under a haystack in the evening
as there was no other accommodation to
be had. This was in late October when
the nights were cold, but bright. There
the companions spent the night. At day-
break the next moming they continued
on without stopping until they reached
north to the Álftavatn-settlement, to
Hinrik Jónsson, who had settled there
that spring, along with others. There
they were joined by two men, one of
whom was Magnús Ó. Freemann, and
the other H. Jónsson (one-handed). On
November 20, these four companions,
along with Helgi Einarsson, travelled
north to an island called “Birch Island.”
On the island was a log hut, in no way
neat looking, obviously built by some
fisherman; yet they managed to fix it
and make it a tolerable shelter from the
cold. At this time another group of
Icelanders, nine men, arrived on the
island. They were: Jón Goodman,
painter from Winnipeg, Jón Ágúst, the
brothers Pétur and Sigurður Pétursson,
Ólafur Thorlacius, Vigfús Magnússon,
B. Methúsalemsson, and Jóhann
Þorbergsson. Beds were made for all
and we could say that “those at peace
can occupy close quarters”—elegant
pieces of furniture did not take up
space. There were none aside from one
stove. Fishing was poor at the island for
which there were supposedly two rea-
sons: first there were few nets, and sec-
ond, unfamiliarity. After a short stay on
the island news was received that fish-
ing was good north at the Narrows on
the lake. Some of the men wanted to
take a look at the circumstances there.
They agreed that Jón Austmann and
Ólafur Thorlacius would go. The land
in between has many inlets with long
peninsulas and bays and as a result it
was not straight going; they did not
reach the Narrows in one day. They
spent the night in dense woods about
five to six English miles south of the
Namows. They reached Sifton’s just
after people rose the next morning. Mr.
Sifton farmed and ran a store. Jón and
Ólafur were well received. It appeared
to them that it was in many ways a bet-
ter place than south at Birch Island.
Some goods were available, although of
poor quality and very highly priced.
Goods from town were nearly depleted
on the island and the closest store, at St.
Laurent, lay about forty miles south of
there. At the Narrows was a vacant
house, by the lake, which was available
to the Icelanders. Jón and Ólafur bid
farewell to “King” Sifton and continued
south. (You could say he was a king as
he had available to him tens of miles of
land for his own use. He had Indians to
do all the work he needed. He also had
available to him fish in the lake and
birds in the air.)
After Jón Austmann and Ólafur
Thorlacius returned from the north,
nine members of the group began gath-
ering their possessions to move to the
Narrows, with four remaining. These
were the first Icelanders to come north.
Fishing was better than south by the
island and the companions stayed there
until March, when they all went back
south, some to the settlement, some to
Winnipeg, but Jón Austmann hired
himself as a worker for H. Martineau by
the Narross. Mr. Martineau had three
positions. He was an Indian agent, jus-
tice of the peace, and fish inspector. Jón
has reported that the stay would have
been rather dreary, had he not been able
to associate with lcelanders, but this
same spring a well liked man by the
name of Bjami Kristjánsson, his wife
Bjarney and their children, Guðrún and
Guðmundur, moved north to the
Narrows from the Álftavatnsbyggð.
Their daughter Þuríður, who will be
mentioned later, remained with her
grandparents who continued farming in
the settlement. All these people traced
their roots to Dýraíjörður, fsaíjarðarsýs-
la. Bjami was a merry man and in every
way well gifted. He was better educated
than was common for farmers or farm-
ers’ sons in those years. He held various
positions in his district and was on the
district council in ísafjarðarsýsla for
many years. In the spring Jón often vis-
ited this couple and we could say it was
his only enjoyment as he could not
speak much English during the first
months. However, Mr. Martineau and
his people were pleasant people.
When harvesting began Jón left the
Narrows and the friends he had made
there and went south to Dakota. There
he worked at harvesting and threshing
until late November. After that he head-
ed for Winnipeg where he studied
English for awhile the following winter
with William Anderson (Guðm.
Björnsson Árnason). Jón did not find
the outlook bright for the future in
Winnipeg and on April 1, 1888 he left
Winnipeg and headed north to the
Narrows.
This article will be continued in the next
issue.
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í ERFÐASKRÁM YÐAR
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