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LIFE IN SWEDEN IN THE 1880s was very hard for the common people. It was the custom to divide the family farm among the sons when they were of age, and many farms had been divided too often over time. Because of this, there was not enough good land to support growing families. Most of the farmland was rocky and hilly as well, and crop failures, followed by famine, plagued the people. The social class system of the country prevented the farmer from getting ahead. He was obliged to be subservient to the king, the sheriff and the churchwarden, and to pay high taxes. People were not able to worship as they chose and this caused discontent.
When travel by ship became possible to the new world in North America, this offered an escape for vast numbers of Swedes. The people who had forged ahead sent back glowing accounts of the richness of the land, freedom of religion and equality among all of the people. In 1862, the Homestead Act was passed giving settlers land to live on and cultivate.
Sweden’s farmers started to think about moving when their crops failed, and their children were starving. America seemed to be the land of hope and salvation.
Families sold what little they had to buy passage to the new country, and often arrived with only a trunk of belongings. They left behind the familiar for a land where they didn’t know the culture, language or people. Parents left behind in Sweden would rarely see their sons, daughters or grandchildren again. And most of these New World emigrants would never again set foot on Sweden’s soil.
The courage and strength it took for families to strike out on their own were phenomenal. With only the strength of their backs and the sweat of their brows, they turned native prairie land into self-sufficient farms. In the earliest days of homesteading, the few new towns were often far away. There was little money to buy supplies or food, so they had to make do with what was available on the land. Neighbors might be miles away, which made life on the farm a world of its own. Husband and wife were totally dependent on each other for food, shelter, and support.
Extremely cold winters and hot, humid summers made life miserable in the crude early shelters in which many immigrant families and their animals lived. Crop failures, disease, and death, were common in the first few years. Only perseverance and faith in God kept the people alive, sane and forging on. The picture may seem grim, but that was the life of the homesteader.
Life on the farm usually got better as the years went by. After the farmers had broken enough acres, they often sold their extra crops for cash and bought lumber and tools to improve their homes and barns.
Almost all of the land available in the Smoky Valley region was homesteaded or bought by the late 1870s. Soon neighborhoods of farms sprung up, followed by trading centers, churches, and schools.
Whenever possible, money was sent back to Sweden so parents and other relatives could come to the new country.
The land along the Smoky Hill River was settled mostly by Swedes. Farms flourished and were passed on to future generations. Today, more than 100 years later, the influence of these pioneers can still be seen and felt.
GO BACK TO A TIME WHEN there are no streets, roads or cars. Imagine there are no buildings, homes, hospitals or grocery stores around the corner. All of your family’s belongings fit in a small wooden wagon. The year is 1868. There is nothing but tall, green waving grass as far as the eye can see. The scent of warm spring air after a morning rain surrounds you. Spring blows gently in your face. The snort of the horse and an occasional meadowlark, whistling its call, are the only sounds. You are alone on the virgin land of the vast prairie.
