Family History: Part 2

I thought' I'd continue on with the Norgaard family history Part II.  This history was compiled by Charles Norgaard who was the brother of my great great grandfather, James.  I have taken the liberty of shortening his stories and only telling the significant parts.  My ancestors encountered many hardships during their early years.  I doubt I would have left the city to brave the unexpected.

In the fall after settling in their homestead Carrie and Nels were expecting letters from their folks.  The nearest post office was 120 miles away in Sioux City, Iowa.  Nels decided to walk there before winter set in, but he got caught in a monstrous blizzard.  He struggled through the snow and wind doing everything he could to keep his face and eyes from freezing.  He crawled on his hands and knees and somehow came upon a sod house.  He frightened a woman when he burst inside.  She was French and didn't understand English.  Soon the woman's husband and another man arrived.  The next morning the storm had calmed, the family sent him on his way after a good breakfast.  Nels said he passed many cattle that had frozen to death in the storm.

After retrieving his mail and purchasing some groceries he started on the long journey home.  He came across a small, starved, half frozen pig on the way home.  He carried the pig home in a gunny sack slung over his shoulder.  He and the pig reached home safely.

In January 1873 another blizzard arrived which completely buried the homesteader's huts.  The window was covered and Nels and Carrie only had one candle to last until spring.  A neighbor was able to come dig them out when he saw the smoke rising through the 8-10 foot snowdrifts  from the wood burning stove.  After freeing Nels and Carrie they went to dig out the barn.  Surprisingly all the livestock survived, but the challenge of getting food and water to them was immense.  The wood burning stock came in handy for melting snow for the livestock.

In April 1873, their first child, Tena, was born.  Soon Nels began construction on a new house made of logs.  One day when Carrie was home alone she left the house to get some water when the new home was hit by a bolt of lightening and burned to the ground.  They lived in the barn while the house was rebuilt by Nels and their neighbors which was completed before winter arrived.  This was the second house burning attributed to Carrie.  Their original sod house had burned also.

Every year for the Norgaard reunion the current owners of the Norgaard farm allow the descendants to come take a tour.  Although the original barn is gone, this one remains.

We even get to walk through the house.  One the wall is a photo of what it looked like long ago.

I remember visiting the house when I was about nine years old, but it was abandoned at that time.  It has been expanded and looks wonderful now.

In 1874 a train arrived and a flour mill was built about 60 miles away in Minnesota.  In 1877 the homesteaders were expecting a good crop until swarms of locusts arrived and devoured everything.  By 1878 the train and a flour mill arrived in Sioux Falls only 25 miles away.  They could buy most everything they needed in Sioux Falls.  The future was looking more promising.

A public school was established in 1879.  Also in that year the railroad was extended and passed over my grandparents homestead.  The crops were good that year, the farmers were becoming prosperous as reflected in the new homes they were building and the farm implements they were able to buy.  More settlers kept arriving in the area.

There was massive flooding in 1881.  Buildings and livestock were seen floating down the river along with sections of the new railroad.

In the early 1880's Nels and Carrie were visited by the Jesse James gang.  The kids were ordered to pump the well to water their horses then the gang entered the house with pistols in hand and ordered Carrie to fix them a meal.  They ate quickly and then left a gold ring on the table to thank Carrie.  (Charles' history said it was Jesse and Frank, but my dad left a note saying his grandfather told him it was only Frank.)

Nels returned to Denmark for a visit in 1884.  After his return he started work on the famous Norgaard barn which took two years to complete.  It was the largest barn in the area and stood there for many years until it was recently taken down because it wasn't safe anymore.  My dad loved that barn and even asked my mom to paint it for him.  My brother Bob has the painting now.  I think my dad was heartbroken when the barn was taken down.

In 1888 a group of Danish Baptist neighbors decided to build a Baptist Church.  The land was donated by by great great grandparents.  The same church still stands there today.  The Norgaard reunion every year includes a service at that church where I believe the Norgaard descendants donate enough to keep it going for awhile.

What's funny is that my Danish relatives were Baptist when they lived in Denmark and the state religion was Lutheranism.  They came to America where they could worship freely and now most of the descendants are Lutherans.

The church became a National Historic Site in 2000.

IN 1893 Nels journeyed to the World's Fair in Chicago.  My dad left me a pair of little wall sconces that he said had come from a World's Fair.  I wonder if Nels had purchased them while he was there.  Anyway, they have been in the family for a long time and although they are made of plaster they are a family heirloom.  I hope one of my kids will remember to grab them when I'm gone so the history can continue.

In fall of 1893 a massive hail storm destroyed the majority of the crops and in 1894 a severe drouth left little harvest.  Livestock were left starving and wells had gone dry.  Many homesteaders left the area that year.

Nels made one final trip to Denmark in 1903.  His mother had passed away by then, but his father was still alive.  His father told Nels of the hardships he too had endured--hand to hand fighting under the command of Napoleon in the early 1800s, plundering for existence, the victorious enemies plundering their home and lands.  His father died in 1905.

By 1903 the Norgaard farmstead had expanded to nine surviving children, 700 fertile acres in the Sioux Valley, vast equipment to operate the farm, many horses, cattle and hogs.  The two oldest sisters were married and James (my great grandfather) had returned from the Spanish American War.

Life was tough for these pioneers.  I am extremely grateful for their persistence and dedication.  I've had such an easy life compared to them.  I hope that some day my kids will value this history that Uncle Charles left for us.  I have another cousin who has written a book and I plan to read it one of these days to discover more details.

What I'm most grateful for is my dad leaving South Dakota.  Even in modern times I wouldn't be able to withstand a South Dakota winter.