The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.2003, Page 30

166
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 57 #4
quarantine at an emergency, had had his
clothes completely disinfected, and had not
since come into any contact with the dis-
ease. Now he set out on foot, depending on
the news of the reimposition of the quaran-
tine not yet having reached the land patrol,
which proved to be the case. At Netley he
found only two Native women who
refused to convey him across the creek,
until he threatened them with an invasion
of the colonists. He summoned them in the
name of the great Queen to ferry him
across, which they did. In Winnipeg he
bought some 300 bushels of seeds, and a
sow which he named the "Metis." When
they reached the quarantine line at dusk,
the river patrol was so wrapped up in
smoke to ward off mosquitoes that they
did not recognize him, and he was allowed
to pass.
Meantime Taylor and the Icelanders
were anxiously waiting, for a policeman
had been sent to arrest the man who, it was
now rumoured, had broken the quarantine.
However, Fridjon and the officer by-
passed each other on the way, and Fridjon
was met with a great reception. Thereafter
it was generally rumoured outside the
colony that there were two Fridjon
Fridrikssons, one a reputable businessman,
and the other a disreputable vagabond!
When the government of New Iceland
was formed, Fridjon Fridriksson was elect-
ed vice-president of the colony, and later,
president. He was also secretary of the
meeting that framed the constitution of
New Iceland. Besides, he was a member of
the executive committee that founded the
colony newspaper Framfari, and assisted
with the school established at Gimli by the
wife of Rev. Jon Bjarnason, Fru Lara
Bjarnason. He was interpreter for Lord
Dufferin on his visit to Gimli.
He was appointed first postmaster of
the Gimli post office, the first official post
office established by the Canadian govern-
ment in New Iceland, December 1, 1877.
He continued his business operations as
well, and in 1879, in partnership with
Sigtryggur Jonasson, he purchased the
steamer “Victoria, ” and set up a sawmill to
produce lumber.
During the great exodus from the
colony, when only 16 farmers remained in
the Willow Point community, Fridjon
moved in the spring of 1881 to the
Icelandic River, to Sigtryggur Jonasson’s
former home, Modruvellir, where he
resided until the fall of 1884. Apparently he
continued the post office there under the
name of Gimli, which in 1886 was changed
to the Icelandic River. He was influential
that same year in having the post office at
Gimli restored.
He left the Icelandic River in 1884,
spending two years in Winnipeg and
Selkirk. From 1886 to 1906, he lived in
Glenboro, north of Argyle, where he main-
tained a successful general store business as
well as several farms. In 1906 he retired to
Winnipeg.
Fridjon was a member of the Glenboro
school board for 17 years.
His wife, Gudny Sesselja
Sigurdardottir, and he were married
the day before leaving Iceland. Two
of their sons died in childhood; the
other two, Kari and Haraldur, were
19 and 15 years of age in 1908. Their
only daughter, Aurora, married
Thomas H. Johnson, who was an
attorney general of Manitoba.
The Fridrikssons maintained a
charming, hospitable home. He is
described as a peaceable, consider-
ate, fair-minded man, characterized
by gentle, good humour. He was
fond of reading, as far as his busy life
permitted, and maintained well his
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