The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-05-08

prairie; cattle and horses died of
starvation and the Canadian Indians
were literally starved out and died
of exposure and cold. Worse than
that was the after winter which fol-
! lowed along in April and May. The
settlers had begun coming into Gull
bertson early in the winter and as
soon as the first signs of spring came
they began moving out onto their
claims.
GAS the amount of correspondence
increased during the winter, my wife
and I began seriously to think of this
new colony n decided that since
we had started it we should finish it
and accordingly the next spring we
came out. We found about 200 set
tiers s%nowbound in Culbertson when
we arrived in March. Prices were ex-
orbitant and accommodations were
few. However, we managed to sur
vive until spring really came and
then the movement to the prairie
really began. Hauling lumber and
supplies and building lasted all sum-
mer with new settlers coming all the
time. 1 have counted as many as So
teams coming and going in one day.
liz spins vi 4UOt LbC1C Wd0 ~
time to break the prairie and only
small garden plots we're titled. But
the next spring the farmers settled
down to farm indeed and that fall
we harvested our first crop. The fall
lasted until nearly Christmas time.
which was indeed a blessing to tho
settlers.
"Up until the spring of 1909 the
cofflarC had hnnn fcnInffnrcD huf
that year the Homestead Act was
passed which gave every settler the
right to 800 acres-so we were en-
riched by our surveys being held up.
Good crops, and hard work, made
the colony progress remarkably the
first ten years. Modern farm homes
and buildings everywhere dotted the
prairie; good roads were made and
everyone %prospered.
"In 1917 came a drought which
lasted for three years. At the time
of the outbreak of the war the farm
ers were feeling the strain Of poor
crops. In every Liberty loan drive
we tried to do Jul part and made it
a rule to double every quota. In
1921 we had another old-time crop
stand was perfect and everyone
hoped for a bumper yield. On the
twelfth day of July came the most
hail storm ever seen in this
part of Montana: the crops were
swept from the fields so Clearly that
one doubted whether or not there
had ever been anything planted on
the bare, beaten ground. This put
many of the settlers back cruelty for
of us were just catching up
our other setbacks.
II called a mass meeting and we
decided to stick it out and do the
we could. A relief committee
organized and we were helped
the Danish church and others all
over the United States with a relief
'und of about $1,000. This was used
the way we saw most fit.
"Our schools, churches and gym
lasiums have been kept up by the
through it all in order to
bring the younger generation up to
be good citizens and Christians.
Mr.. Madsen was born in Denmark
1861; he came to America in 1878
directly to Waterloo, Iowa.
He has always had a passion for
and poetry and has beer a
journalist all his life; he writes poet
y, short stories, articles, and has
,lSO puDllSneu several DOCKS. MOSI
if his writing has been done in DAN
writing for the Danish papers,
.)annevirke, The Pioneer, Chicago
'osten, Ugeblodet, nj the monthly
magazine, Scandinavia.
A collection of his paintings is on
in Grandview College, Des
1oines, Iowa. His speciality is the
ainting of portraits from photos of
.ioneers, writer's and heroes who
ave passed away. He also does land
cape painting.
Before coming to Montana, Mr..
owned a large market farm
/ Clinton, Ia, and prior to that he
aught in the Danish High schools in
Iichigan and Wisconsin.
Since 1908 he has been United
land commissioner. He has
ever passed op an opportunity to
clip his colony and has aided them
!, become the flourishing settlement
lat it is.