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JAN AND ELLI, KEEPING a tight hold of the rail and their children, watched the shore of Council Bluffs disappear, while ahead Omaha drew closer. The city was the capital of the Nebraska Territory, but Jan and Karl had read things in the Norwegian papers about statehood coming, perhaps soon, for parts of this vast land.
Elli looked down and shuddered. The river churning beneath their feet was a thick, muddy brown from upstream runoff. As placid as the wide river appeared on the surface, they had been told of its treacherous currents. A man falling into the river might be sucked down into the silty waters and not resurface for miles. Elli gripped Kristen tighter.
When they reached the other side, the ferrymen herded them off and began the task of unloading the ferry’s cargo into a holding enclosure. Jan and Karl made sure everything of theirs was stacked together and that nothing was missing. Over the rails of the enclosure, wagon masters clamored for their business.
“Is there a Svens Jensen?” Jan hollered in Riksmål.
“Here!” A wiry man with sandy colored hair and a great beard pushed his way toward them. “I am Svens Jensen. Are you Norwegian then?”
“Ja,” Jan returned. He introduced Karl. “Olafsson told us to look for you. Said you were a good man.”
Jensen stroked his beard and laughed. “Ja; I treat my customers well and my friends even better. Come! What do you have for me to haul?”
The Thoresens and Jensen began to shift the Thoresens’ cargo to his wagon.
“Pappa.” Søren’s crestfallen face peered up at Jan.
“What is it, Sønn?”
“Pappa, the pigs. Two have died.” Tears stood in his eyes.
Jan and Karl quickly ran to the pigs’ crates. Sure enough, two of the weaners lay dead inside their crates. The other three looked fine and squealed, hoping to receive some food.
Karl took one of the dead pigs out of its crate and looked it over. “I cannot tell why it died,” he muttered darkly, “so now we must keep the rest separate from each other.”
Jan nodded in agreement. If the pigs had died of something infectious, their best chance of keeping any alive was to keep them from each other.
Jan noted that one of the dead pigs was a male. Their hope to establish a herd of their father’s Landrace pigs in America depended on keeping at least one of each gender alive. They now had two females and one male remaining.
While Søren disposed of the dead piglets, the men washed their hands and separated the pigs’ crates from each other. When the cargo was reloaded into a new freight car late that afternoon, Karl and Jan took pains to place each crate as far from the others as possible. They both carefully washed their hands after handling one crate, before touching another.
Karl secured a second car from the freight master before leaving the rail yard. Then Jensen drove them past a hardware store and gave them directions to the stock yards before delivering them to a boardinghouse.
“This store is owned by Petter Rehnquist, a Swede,” Jensen told them, pointing to it. “If you have questions, he will help you. Tell him I sent you!” He scratched under his beard. “Maybe he will let his boy, Sauli, take you around. He speaks English and could help you a lot.”
“We thank you, Herr Jensen, for all of your help and kindness. God bless you,” Jan said.
He and Karl shook Jensen’s hand with real gratitude as they parted. They would remain in Omaha until they had bought and loaded everything into the two freight cars. It would be an arduous undertaking.
In yet another boardinghouse not far from the rail yard, the two Thoresen families bathed and rested that night. Jan and Karl worked on the list of supplies and other necessities to buy on the morrow. Elli and Amalie composed a list of staples and other foods the families would need for their journey and after they reached their land.
—
OVER BREAKFAST, KARL and Jan planned their day. “We should go to the hardware store first,” Karl suggested, “and introduce ourselves. It would be good if the hardware man’s sønn comes with us to the stock yards, don’t you think?”
Jan agreed. He, Karl, and Søren walked into town and toward the hardware store. The bell on the door tinkled, announcing their entrance. Both men immediately liked what they saw.
The store was large and well stocked; out a side door was a fenced yard filled with cut lumber. The owner greeted them pleasantly. Jan and Karl introduced themselves and Søren, saying that Jensen had sent them.
“We must buy wagons and oxen today and then come back to make our purchases. Would your sønn be willing to come with us? We do not know the town or the language. He would be a great help to us.”
Sauli, a thirteen-year-old boy, was pleased to be asked to help. Although five years separated them, Sauli and Søren grinned and began chatting away, some in Swedish or Riksmål, some in English.
Jan was glad for it. Søren could use some time with another boy, he thought. And, who knows? Maybe he will learn more English today.
Even with Sauli’s help, it took most of the day to find three good wagons and three sound yoke of oxen for sale. And the purchases were more expensive than Jan or Karl had imagined.
“So!” Karl allowed grudgingly. “They will be worth that much more when we get off the train, ja?”
The wagons they bought were not covered like “prairie schooners.” They were large, plain boxes with high sides. Jan and Karl did not expect the trip from where they left the railroad to their land to take more than three days, if that. They planned to cover their goods with canvas tarpaulins during the trip and sleep under the wagons at night.
The men tested the wagons and the oxen for an hour, driving up and down a worn track outside the stock yards. Karl was concerned about one of the oxen that had a particularly surly and unpredictable temperament. Jan and Karl gave both boys sound warnings not to stand within reach of any of the oxen’s horns or hooves, especially the temperamental one’s.
They then looked for and found a wagon repair shop and purchased two spare wheels and a spare axle and tongue. When Jan and Karl were satisfied with their purchases, they allowed Sauli to drive one of the empty wagons to his father’s store.
The boys rode together, Sauli pointing out interesting things to Søren as they wound through town. With every hour he spent with Sauli, Søren picked up new English words.
The three wagons pulled to a stop in front of the Rehnquists’ store, spanning the full length of the storefront. It was past three o’clock in the afternoon and they had not stopped to eat at midday.
Each driver set the wagons’ brakes; Jan and Karl tied the first team to a thick post. They tied the second and third teams to the wagons in front of them. Jan left Søren with the wagons with orders to keep the oxen calm.
“Mind their hooves and horns, Sønn,” Jan reminded him yet again.
Karl produced the list he and Jan had worked so hard on and began to read it off to Mr. Rehnquist: Two plows, two sickles, an axe, two hatchets, a whetstone, a pickaxe, a pry bar, a shovel, two hoes, a rake.
“May I suggest that you also buy a sod cutter?” Mr. Rehnquist explained the sharp, plow-like tool’s use in cutting through prairie grass and removing blocks of thickly rooted sod. “Even if you do not use the blocks for building, you will want to cut the grass and its roots out so you can plant in the soil beneath.”
“Ja, one of those,” both Thoresen men spoke at the same time.
Two hammers, a saw and extra blades. Two sizes of nails, one keg each.
Mr. Rehnquist pointed out smaller tools. “Will you need a rasp or an auger? Chisels? A planer?”
“My brother is a woodworker,” Karl replied. “We brought his finer woodworking tools with us.”
Candles and matches. Lamps, wicks, cans of kerosene. A cask of grease. A washtub. Two large cast-iron cauldrons. Cast-iron skillets, pots, and Dutch oven. Grain grinder.
The items stacked up; Mr. Rehnquist had Sauli fetch some boxes and crates. Sauli and Jan packed the items in them as tightly as they could.
Two iron bedsteads. Yards of ticking and burlap. A dozen spools of thick, cotton thread. Waterproof canvas tarpaulins and yards of oilcloth. Lengths of rope, twine, and wire.
Buckets and tin pails. Boxes of jars and paraffin. Another strong lock and key. Oats, seed corn, and hard wheat seed.
“Will you not plant a green garden? It is not yet June,” Rehnquist suggested, pointing to his selection of seeds.
“Ja, we will,” Karl answered. “We have brought many seeds from home with us.”
Chicken wire. A bag of feed. A dozen chicks.
Sauli lined a box with flannel and lifted the chicks in one at a time. He tacked on a slatted lid, but lightly so it could be easily removed.
As they packed the items and loaded them into the middle wagon, Mr. Rehnquist listed them and their cost on a piece of paper. “Your wives, will they wish to buy dishes also?” he asked.
“Nei,” Karl replied. “We have brought much of that with us. Even my sister-in-law’s cookstove! But we will need a second stove since we will build and live in our barn first. One for heating. And some stove blacking.”
He and Jan looked over the stoves. “This one, I think.” Karl pointed to a square one with a large burn box. Jan agreed. Mr. Rehnquist selected pipe for it while Jan and Karl started to break down the stove.
“Do you have a gun?” Mr. Rehnquist asked. “Do you need shells?”
Karl and Jan looked curiously at the hardware man’s selection of guns and at each other. “Our father has guns we hunted with, but we did not bring any,” Karl answered.
Rehnquist raised his brows. “Ach! You cannot be without guns out on the prairie! You both must have one—perhaps even one for the boy. To hunt, yes, but also for protection.”
“So? Protection from what? Indians?” Karl and Jan both frowned. They had not anticipated this need.
“No, no, that is not likely, but you will surely have coyotes and wolves sniffing around your animals. Those you must shoot. Foxes and weasels, too, although you might trap them and rabbits.”
“And you will want to shoot antelope and quail for meat. You might even see buffalo! Good meat and a very good hide.”
After a long discussion between the two brothers, they selected a shotgun and a rifle. Mr. Rehnquist added bullets and shells for the guns.
Karl pulled at his bottom lip. The costs were piling up—even after eliminating some items on their list. Things were more expensive than they had thought they would be.
Then Jan and Karl began on the lumber. They told Mr. Rehnquist how much of each type of board they wanted and how much black tar paper. After Mr. Rehnquist wrote the order down, Sauli started pulling the lengths. Jan and Karl stacked and carried them out the yard’s gate and laid them into the last wagon in the row.
The lumber wagon was full. The front wagon was nearly so. Karl studied Mr. Rehnquist’s numbers and told the total to Jan.
“And still we need to buy food supplies, eh?” Jan remarked wryly.
“Ah! We almost forgot!” Karl tsked. He turned to Mr. Rehnquist. “Can you recommend a good grocer to us?”
“Surely. Go around that corner two blocks. You will see the sign. It is owned by a German, Evard Koehler. An honest man. You will like him.”
Karl paid the man and thanked him for his excellent service. Jan and Karl took turns shaking hands with Sauli and his father.
Jan cleared his throat. “Your sønn has been a blessing to us, Herr Rehnquist. He is a good boy, a good man already.” Jan said this in front of Sauli because he wanted the young man to hear what he said.
Jan turned to Sauli. “You have earned a good wage today.” Jan placed a quarter in Sauli’s hand. “We thank you.”
The boy glowed under Jan’s praise and clasped the coin eagerly. His father smiled with pride.
“Come, Søren!” Jan called. “We will take all this to the train now, eh?”
Søren was glad to get underway. He had spent two hours in the late afternoon sun minding the oxen. Now he took up reins—his far had said he could drive the empty wagon behind them to the rail yards. In reality, his wagon’s oxen were still tethered to the wagon in front of his.
Karl pulled ahead of them in the lumber wagon and set a sedate pace. Jan followed after him. Søren waved goodbye to Sauli and called to his oxen. They moved out smartly behind Jan.
—
THE THORESENS LABORED for another two hours unloading the wagons and packing their purchases in the freight cars. They stacked much of it into the first car atop their other cargo.
All the lumber went into one end of the second car except for some lengths Karl kept back. Jan found the crate with the tools and nails and kept it back, too. Then Karl and Jan set to work building a sturdy fence across the car separating the lumber from the rest of the car.
The fence was nose high to the oxen, high enough and strong enough to keep the lumber on one side and the oxen on the other. The six oxen would have two-thirds of the car to travel in.
Finally, they unhitched the oxen and led them into a pen. Jan paid a man to feed and water the beasts. The freight master assured them that the oxen and wagons would be safe overnight.
It was dusk when the three Thoresens dragged themselves back to the boardinghouse, exhausted and hungry. Even after eating a hearty dinner, Jan closed his eyes against a bad headache.
Elli saw him frown and rub his eyes. She stood behind his chair and gently massaged his temples. “Amalie and I have our list ready,” she whispered, nuzzling the back of his neck.
“Ja, that’s good,” he replied. He leaned his head back and rested it on her bosom, breathing in her sweet scent. “Don’t fret, my love. I will be better in the morning. It has just been a long day.”
~~**~~
