Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - III. The Arrival of my Father and Brother—Journey to Illinois—Work on a Railroad—The Ague—Doctor Ober—Religious Impressions—The Arrival of my Mother, Sister and her Husband—A Burning Railroad Train—We go to Minnesota—Our Experience as Wood Choppers and Pioneers
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38 Story of an Emigra.it.
Olson, often chopped three cords a day. They were quiet,
industrious, and generous fellows, so that we soon became
attached to each other, and we were all very fond of the little
Zelma. My sister managed our household affairs so well
and kept the little house so neat and tidy that when spring
came we were all loth to leave.
The weather being fine and the sleighinggood in the
begin-ing of January, we hired John Day to take us with his team
to our claims while there was vet snow, so that we might
chop and haul out logs for the house which Mr. Willard and
1 intended to put up in the spring. My sister remained in
the cabin, but Albert went with us for the sake of company.
We put some lumber on the sled, and provided ourselves with
hav and food enough to last a few days, and plenty of quilts
and blankets for our bedding. John Day, who was an old
frontiersman with an instinct almost like that of an Indian,
guided us safely to Willard Spring. A few hundred yards
below this, in a deep ravine, we stopped near some sheltering
trees, built a roaringcamp-fire, and made ourselves as
comfortable as possible. Having supped and smoked our evening
pipe, we made our beds by puttinga few boards on the snow,
and the hay and blankets on top of those. Then nil four of
us nestled down under the blankets and went to sleep.
During the night the thermometer fell down to forty
degrees below zero, as we learned afterwards. If we had
sus-pectcd this and kept our fire burning there would, of course,
have been no danger. But being very comfortable early
in the night and soon asleep, we were unconscious of danger
until aroused by an intense pain caused by the cold, and
then we were already so benumbed and chilled that we lacked
energy to get up or even move. We found, on comparingnotes
afterwards, that each one of us had experienced the same
sensations, namely, first an acute pain as if pricked with
needles in every fibre, then a deep mental tranquillity which
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