Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1905-02-03
Eo,AAonong~-zIotAe, Colony of Horwegtan
Settlements.
RoAood Homo Of Senator Hson. o/ssor nas,sos, lo,ms,
.Sovs-1o,, Jfs,7sid and .Ese, and Va.y 0kAsrs
DIsMrgmsAsa Public .is

which was then q wild territory, with
but few white inhabitsnts. They bent
their steps westward toward Koshko.
nong prairie in Dane county. After
many days Of trudging they reached .
small log hotel. called Smells tavern, +"
situated two miles east of the present
site of Cambridge. Mr. Smell the pro-
prietor of this frontier hostelry, was q
hardy poineer, . sort Of Daniel Boone,
who encouraged the three Norwegians
to push on to Koshkonong and select
land there He advised them how to
proceed and instructed them as to
government lnarkings" stakes which
stood at the corner Of every quarter
section, giving the number of each
After resting for two days at the
tavern, the wanderers continued west
ward. and soon emerged from the
woods out upon Koshkonong prairie.
The land seemed to them exceedingly
beautiful, here they saw . little
stretch of meadow, where focks could
feed; there they saw Q clump Of tim.
ber, affording fuel, rails for fences and
logs for houses. Near by flowed Kosh-
konong creek, teeming with fish.
For two days they roamed over the
prairie. Finally they selected land
about two miles from the spot where
Cambridge now stands, on the boundary
line between the towns of Christians
and Deerfield
FOUNDERS OF A SETTLEMENT.
These three men were the first Nor.
wegiane to set foot on Koshkonong soil
and they became the founders Of this
famous settlement, fact which gives
them an important place in Norwegian.
Alneicsn pioneer history.
Having selected suitable land, Gil.
derhus. Bolstad and Himle returned to
Illinois to spend the winter. They
told about their Journey to their Nor.
wegisn friends and aroused great inter.
eat in the new promised land they had
found in Wisconsin. t.
The next spring, in 1910, Glider
hus and Bolstad again set out for Kosh-
konong, accompanied by Magne Bystol
and Andrew Fenre They rode in
wagons drawn by oxen and took with
them sll their belongings. The grass
was just beginning to grow when they
started. and in April they reached their
destination. Some of them walked to
Milwaukee and filled their claims" in
the land Office there on the 9Th day of
May, 1910.
HARDsHIPs OF FIRST WINTER.
The first habitation of these four
pioneers was large log cabin, which
they speedily erected after their ar
rival They built it rather carelessly.
neglecting to insure warmth by plaster
ing mud or mortar between the logs, 80,
when winter came, they were at the
mercy of the cold. Every day, when
they had finished their work outside,
they would lie down on their beds and
cover up with robes to protect them
selves from the cold winds.
At last their condition became in
tolerable, and they dag cellar to live
In during the rest of the winter. That
was warm and served as their winter
residence for several years. The big
log cabin became in time the property
of Erick Lee, the father Of former Gov.
enor Lee Of South Dakota, and the
future executive lived in this rude
dwelling while boy.
In 1s41 these pioneers began to sepa'
rate. Bolstad built log hut in Deer.
field township. where he lived till his