TRAVEL TO THE HOMESTEAD

      One thing I like about blogging it the questions that appear in the comments. As a writer there are often things I do not include. A good question reminds me to fill out the story.

      I think two of the men had been out to the area the year before . A Mr. Jansen from Nebraska helped them find land. 

     A question was asked about transportation across the prairie. The move from Manitoba to Esk , Sask was about 700 miles. By 1905 , when they moved , some railroads had been constructed. So they were able to get within 40 miles of their homesteads by rail. 

     The railroad gave the homesteaders a good deal on freight. So  a person could get a boxcar and put all their belongings in it for transportation. So an amazing amount of freight could be crammed in one box car. So here's the list: machinery, household effects, clothing, a couple of horses , a cow, a few pigs and chickens, some seed grain , farm tools. 

     One person would be allowed to ride in this freight car so that when the train stopped the animals could be taken off to be fed and watered. Sometimes a second person would be sneaked into the freight car but this was risky as there were police watching for this activity. There are many stories about people hiding amongst the freight.

    The remainder of the family would travel as passengers. 

    When the train got to Watson ,Sask. the car was put on the siding and unloaded. Women and children stayed  with some of the freight while the men hauled material to the homestead. They went to their homesteads following some trails. They didn't have a map but there were survey stakes the could be used to tell where they were. 

    The men put up shelters and went back for more freight and family. 

     They worked hard to put up a house for the winter. Three types of houses were built. There were some trees that were big enough to make a log house. Some homesteaders built a sod house and some  clay house. 

     There was not much variety for food. They seeded some potatoes. They had eggs. meet was supplied by game that was taken. A few groceries were bought such as flour and a few other staples. 

    It was a very difficult journey and new life but they knew that it would be better than what they left. 

CHALLENGES

      One thing I forgot to mention in the last post where they were self sufficient and made most of their needs is that there was always someone who could make very good wine and beer. They didn't have laws about making spirits so that the government was able to tax them.

     My last post consisted of some research about the German emigration to Russia.

     Before I go any further , I must say that I'm grateful to Virginia Beihn for writing many stories down. Gottleib lived with them for about 15 years. Virginia was his granddaughter. Virginia passed away in 2012.  I am also grateful to Carollynn Leggott who has tirelessly worked on the genealogy. It's amazing what she has found. 

     Before I move on I described the clay houses they lived in. I'm assuming that somehow lumber wasn't available or was too expensive. The clay house was much warmer than a lumber house. If the clay house was properly maintained it would last 50 years or more. Walls inside were painted with calsomine every year so the inside was pleasant. 

      When Gottleib came to Manitoba he found some land to farm. Information I have says he came in 1889 but I don't think that is correct. He built a very small wooden house. I guess there was lumber available and he liked the idea of a wooden house. Wooden houses built at that time were very, very cold. They had two ply of lumber. The lumber dried and left cracks for the wind to blow through. 

     Later they found homesteads at Esk , Sask and all of them moved there in 1905. Homesteads were a government promotion to bring settlers to western Canada. A person would pay $10.00 and be given 160 acres of land and if they did certain improvements in three years it was their land. Gottleib took his little wooden house apart and took it to his homestead where he put it together again. Gottleib was 63 years old so he was quite old to begin farming in a new area. 

     Gottlieb was a leader. He brought all his children and their in-laws to Canada. They moved to their homesteads ahead of many necessary parts of a community. There was not railroad in the area. He was a devote Lutheran. He held church services in his house . He baptised babies and conducted funerals until a church was built and a minister began coming to the area. He donated the land for a cemetery. 

   I always wondered why Gottleib never had any brothers or sisters here. Why didn't he bring other relatives. I found out that he was the only one in his family who survived. He had two sisters who passed away in their 20's. 

     His wife died in 1911 and he went to live with his daughter. His little house was moved to his daughter's yard and used as a small shop for repairing harness. Later it was used by his son-in-law to make furniture...mostly rocking chairs. Today that little house is in a museum at Humboldt, Sask. 

    Gottleib died in 1929. He had the ability to look at a sick horse and the horse would get better. The day before Gottleib died they brought a sick horse to the back steps for Gottleib to look at. The horse got better but Gottleib died. This talent was believed to be passed from one generation to another alternating from male to female. 

Gottlieb Klein

        Our family origin is from the Germans who went to Russia in the 1700's.

        During he 1700's economic and government conditions were very poor in Germany. They had the Seven Years war which had created much economic and social chaos. Security was limited. There was no central government. 

      Along came an offer many Germans could not refuse. Catherine II of Russia invited Germans to areas of Russia that were sparsely populated. Her idea was that these areas could be settled and developed. The Germans were given free land, self government, could keep their own language and religion, were given loans that were forgiven , no military service as they were pacifist and could leave Russia at any time.

      We don't know when the Klein family left Germany. They were the Germans who settled on the Volga. 

       All went fairly smoothly for about 100 years. They became successful farmers and traders. There were some problems. Marauders robbed them from time to time. Crops were not always successful.

      These people were peasants. They were given about 40 acres of land. Most of the work was done by hand. Some people had a horse that was used by several farmers. They had some farm animals. They grew crops , vegetables and some fruit. 

      Their houses were built of clay and probably had a thatched roof. They had dirt floors. These houses were warm in the winter and cool in the summer. 

     They had very little money . They were able to sell some of their produce but most of it they used for themselves. They milled flour from their grain. They grew many vegetables. They grew lots of cabbage that was turned into sauerkraut as this would keep for the year. So some people had businesses as in milling grain. Leather was produced and used to make their shoes. Wool was spun and some weaving was done. Very little was bought. 

    They were happy with this life. After Catherine II they gradually lost some of the rights they were first given. They first lost some of their independent government. Things were slowly taken away. My Grandfather was in the Russian army for two years. 

    Many Germans came to North America starting in the 1870's . Our family began coming to America in the late 1890's. Grandfather Gottlieb was born in the 1840's and brought all his adult children to America. Gottlieb had three daughters and four sons  who were all married. Gottlieb was about 60 when he came here so some of his grandchildren were also married. Over a period of ten years the whole family left Russia. They came to Manitoba , Canada and North Dakota . USA. Mennonites had given them some aid to make the trip to America. So when they first came some of the Kleins worked on farms to payoff their loans.

     Borders were not big deals in those days as some of them lived in Canada and some in the USA. Some of them lived at Neche North Dakota and some at Gretna Manitoba.

To be continued...

    

MORE AGES AND STAGES

      A few posts ago I thought about how I'm in my eighties with some great ancestors. I had photos of my Dad on his 80th birthday, and my Grandpa when he was about 84.

   I also said that I would like to get the three of us in one photo but I didn't know how to do that. My friend , Bill saw this and couldn't resist so sent me a photo of the three of us in one photo. It's done by melding. Then I found a photo of another guy...my great Grandfather. 

     So here is the first meld. 

Then I thought , I wonder if Bill would put the four of us together.

So here we are! Great Grandpa is on the right at about 84. It is difficult to meld there are four different types of technology in making these photos.

     So next I will do some short biographies . 

WHITE CHRISTMAS

  In many places people wish to have a white Christmas. It's a romantic idea and is probably encouraged by Irving Berlin's classic I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.

     I am definitely going to have a white Christmas here. We had a heavy snowfall three days ago. 

       There is also another color for Christmas that I must remember...the blue Christmas. So some people have had losses and sadness for many other reasons. There are many places where a blue Christmas ceremony is held. 

      Here's wishing all my fellow bloggers a Merry Christmas.

MORE ON WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY CHILDREN

     In the last post I got off on a tangent and veered off my idea. So that raised some questions and I thought I would give some background.

     My daughter commented that I was wrong that both of them were picked up on the same day two years apart.  So she is right but neither one of knows the exact date which is in files.  We agree that they were two or three days apart. 

     There was much more behind the last post that would explain some things.

     I mentioned that the application process was long and detailed. We also had a long interview. We were also told that it may be two years before a placement might be made. Okay if that's the situation we'll live with it. I told the Micro Manager not to buy any baby stuff because if for some reason we were turned down she would be extremely  disappointed .

     This was September. Life went merrily on. I was teaching and she was nursing. 

     So Dec. 21 the Micro Manager received a call at 2:30 PM to say that we had been accepted into the program but that they couldn't say when a placement would be made. At 3:30 PM , one hour later she received a call to say that a pending placement had been made. They wanted us to come up the next day and pick up the baby.  This was a Thursday afternoon and Friday would be the last day of school. Remember now we had absolutely no baby stuff! So the Micro Manager is pretty fast so told them of the situation and asked for a delay until the Monday. 

     So Friday and Saturday the Micro Manager did what she is good at...shop. She had a list and madly dashed around to pick stuff up. Every once in a while I would get a phone call to come down town and pick up a load of stuff. By Saturday closing time we had everything we needed. 

    So it was a big surprise and very exciting. Basically it took one hour for us to become parents. 

   Monday when we picked our son up was a very exciting and stressful day. We went through more interviews. We were given backgrounds and asked many times if we still wanted to adopt. Finally our son was brought in to us. They left us alone with him and than came back and asked us if we still wanted to adopt. The answer was a quick yes . Then the paper started flying. 

    You are on probation for 6 months. If you mess up the child will be taken back. It is STRESSFUL.

    So off on the two hour drive to home. It was late but we were ready to feed and look after our son and put him to bed.

    What I remember about both kids is that when we first held them they were stiff and tense. They knew that something was going on. They were not relaxed like most babies. In a couple of days with us they relaxed. 

    This whole  procedure was a shock to us but it was also a big surprise for our family and friends.

I'M A PRETTY AGILE OLD FELLOW

       Today was our Christmas bird count. I've done the same area close to 50 times. I know the area well as I go through it summer and winter. The bike trail goes through the area. 

      Today was not a good day . I found ten species but only about 50 birds.

      Now the area is a small valley that has a stream running through it. Like most valleys it's variable terrain.  Some of the terrain is very rough.

     I had been following a game trail that I wanted to leave and go back to the top again. I had to find my own trail which is something I've done all my life. I chose a route to go up and of course some of it's steep. I put my foot on something that was covered with snow but not solid. I started moving backwards and then lost control. So when I was finished I'd done a backward roll and my feet were much higher than my head. So I was proud of myself that I completed a backward roll! Do I hear the applause?

    When I stopped my feet were much higher than my head so I had to roll over and get my feet lower than my head before I got up. 

     A couple of things: I'm happy no one was watching to see this embarrassing situation. And second I thought about the possibility of serious injury. The micro Manager wouldn't miss me for a long time and when she would notice that I hadn't returned, had no idea where I had gone, So reminder to self. Tell people where I'm going.

     Anyway, how many of you can do a backward roll and live to tell about it?