Homesteading
1,022,090
Published 2011-01-04
Production funding provided by the Minnesota Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund, the North Dakota Council on the Arts, the North Dakota Humanities Council, and by the members of Prairie Public
About the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
In 2008, Minnesota voters passed a landmark piece of legislation — the Minnesota Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment — which provided funding to public television stations serving audiences in Minnesota. Its mission is to help preserve and document the treasures of culture, history, and heritage that make Minnesota special, and to increase access to the natural and cultural resources we all share.
All Comments (21)
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who else watches this old stuff because modern day BS is so sad.
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I’m 3rd generation removed from our G-R Volga land when my Great Grandfather at age 9 in 1870s came with his parents and siblings— he lived to be nearly 100 years old. I remember him well. I am 77 born in 1942.
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These guys worked hard so that I can sit in a chair all day and write code. Definitely do not take this for granted. I love history videos like this one.
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Very cool video. My grandparents met and married on the boat from Sweden to America, they settled and homesteaded on the prairie of South Dakota, and my family still farm and live on the original land, bringing up the 5th generation. I have lived in SD all my life and not once have I ever looked across the land without thinking about the pioneers who busted their backs for us today. Oh, if they could see us now.
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Amazing, you had to be so strong to make it here back then. My family were homesteaders in ND outside of grand forks. We still own the land to this day and it’s made my family a fortune. So grateful for my hard working family.
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I am Norwegian and Celtic. One grandmother farmed on her own. Her husband was a sheepherder, and gone a lot. She was this generation and lived to her 90s. Another grandmother raised, alone, raised cattle and lived to her 90s. West side of North Dakota is cattle and wheat. Not much else in farming on any large scale. ND farming was on the east side of the state. You HAVE to deal with Winters -40°F, and colder. Animals have to eat year round. I lived in the Northwest part of the state for 7 years. I have asthma. I adjusted. Only sick twice. The cattle breed now, mainly black angus. Unpredictable temperaments, but very cold hardy. Mostly Lakota Sioux in this area. Very handsome people.
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The farm we own had its original land patent signed by President Grant. Also own 2 more pieces of land that were land patented by President Coolidge and President Wilson. One still has the original log cabin from the 1890s and is habitatable. Hand sewn logs. Lumber railroad ran through the 40 acres. Rail grade is still visible despite the forest reclaiming the land. Old ruins and even a cemetery. Finnish homesteaders... UP of Michigan ghost town of Johnswood
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Wonderful to be able to see and hear the struggles and understand what they these people endured
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all of my great grandparents were homesteaders in Dakota - all my grandparents were born before north and south dakota became states - some of the original homesteads are still owned by some of my cousins
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What I find remarkable when I read accounts of isolated homesteaders is the sense of community they felt for their neighbors who lived miles away in many cases. They would often visit and overnight and were more familiar with people living ten or fifteen miles away than we are today with people living in the next apartment : )
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My Grandma Cora (Irwin)Bowen homesteaded her own claim in Williams County ND in 1910.
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God bless the USA 🇺🇸 Greetings from Brazil 🇧🇷
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This has given me a whole new appreciation for the history and land of Dakotas, Nebraska, etc. My great-grandfather was born in 1891 in a small town in South Dakota. I've always wondered what they were doing out there in the middle of nowhere. Now it occurs to me he could have been a child of homesteaders!
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Hard life for sure! But I do LONG for simpler times. I think it would have been exciting to live and experience this time in U.S. history.
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Norwegian settlers were a tough people...Hard working...Probably not much tolerance for slacking....Im Norwegian....My dad was the most humble loving person...A carreer Electrical engineer after leaving the Farm In N.D...Both parents direct descendents of Norway....N.D..Minnesota....this was awesome ..much thanks...
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I watch this when I stop appreciating in how hard life was and how ignorant we are today.
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These homesteaders lived without electricity in these fortune shacks and survived... but now our governments won't let us build by ourselves and live off the land. it's a shame
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Many came from Scandinavia don't cha know, ya betcha. ☺
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This is awesome! I have an 1858 diary from MN, before and after it became a State. Entries from Red Wing, Goodhue,, Albert Lea, and many other areas. Amazing when you can see the daily life from one person's perspective. I struggle sometimes reading the old cursive writing in the videos I posted showing/reading the entries. Thank you for sharing! 😀
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The 7 brothers from Bohemia reminded me of my own family. My great great grand-parents who came from Bohemia in 1881 originally homesteaded in Minnesota (dairy farming, surnamed Ourada) and then 5 of the sons (one being my great-grandfather) @ 1910 came to Boise, Idaho and the family of my great-uncle still lives on their original claim and is a Centennial farm.
