It was great getting your call from somewhere south of Salt Lake City, as you make your way north from LA: Eventual destination Rolfsrud Reunion, Keene, North Dakota.
I am so happy that you're going to join us in our blue Rendezvous as your mother and I take I-94 over the prairies to honor my Norwegian roots. We've got reservations at the Teddy Roosevelt Hotel in Watford City just north of where the old Rough Rider spent time exploring, riding and hiking in a stunning natural area that helped inspire the creation of our nation's parks.This reunion is all about Nils and Rebecca Rolfsrud. They were my immigrant grandparents that I never knew. They came here from Norway at the beginning of the last century. It was time for the descendants to gather and renew ties. Actually it is about 105 years since Grandma and Grandpa got here, but it took us a while to get this centennial organized.
Grandma and Grandpa both came from Norway but they didn't know each other in Norway. Grandpa was the second born son so his chances of success in Norway were somewhat diminished, the rule was that the farm and family property was to be held together by the oldest son. Primogeniture. It's a survival tradition, I guess, meant to preserve a strong family base. Anyway, Nils did some storekeeping for a while in Norway, then he made his big decision to come to America and try to make some money and then maybe return to Norway and establish himself in his own business.Meanwhile, Rebecca Heide was doing about the same thing. She didn't want to stay in Norway where she'd have to marry a cousin who did not appeal to her. A liberated woman, my grandma, she packed up and sailed away.
Where ever did they get the courage to take such chances? To risk everything in a new world?
Nils got work in Minnesota on a farm near Elbow Lake and then he took work as a lumberjack, cutting down Minnesota trees during the winter in Paul Bunyan country. Labor was cheap, working conditions were miserable. Remember, he had nothing but his spirit and ambition.Rebecca got a job in Grand Forks cleaning hotel rooms. That's a job that lots of immigrants often take to this very day.
Nils and Rebecca -- I don't know exactly where and when they met -- went with friends in a wagon to western North Dakota because that was the only place left that you could get free land from the government by just living on it for a year or so. Nils and Rebecca chose a piece of land at Clear Creek, near what is now Keene, North Dakota.
They weren't married at the time. That way they were able to file separate claims with the government and assemble more land. The spaces are so huge in that part of the country that overcoming loneliness requires some planning. These days they have good cars and pickups, paved roads and big gas tanks. Eventually Nils and Rebecca married and had five children.
You will meet the descendants of those five children: Halvor, Rena, Agnes, Hannah, and of course, my dad, Erling.
The piece of land that Nils and Rebecca worked so hard for is still in the Rolfsrud family. Harold Rolfsrud, who is Halvor's son, still toils on that land, as well as thousands of adjacent acres, with his sons. These modern, successful farmers, along with Agnes' daughter, Rosalie, are co-hosting our reunion.In the late 60s my brothers and I worked for Harold and his father. His father, Halvor, was in the state legislature; Harold was a county commissioner for many years.
I will tell you more about the Rolfsrud family history as you get closer to Shakopee. I hope you can drive Aunt Linda and Uncle Ron to their new home in Minnesota.
I know you will enjoy meeting everyone in No Dak. I know how important family is to you and how you enjoy these get-togethers.
Love,
Stan
(Stan is Jennifer's stepfather, Jennifer is Kathleen's daughter. She's 35, single, and travels a lot. But she's never been to Keene, North Dakota. You'll see her there July 7. She's on the left in the photo with her sister, Marcelline.)Photos: Top photo is Nils Rolfsrud in the New World, taken in Albert Lea, Minn. in 1900. The photo of Rebecca Heide was taken in Norway at about the same time. Their firstborn, Halvor, was photographed with his parents in 1906. The closeup of Nils was taken in a farmhouse near Elbow Lake about 1901. The formal picture of the children: youngest to oldest, Hannah, Erling, Agnes, Rena, Halvor. The three kids outside of the Rolfsrud Hotel in Watford City are Erling, Rena and Agnes, I think. Hotel? I didn't mention the hotel? Yes, there once was a Rolfsrud Restaurant and Lodging House in Watford City.
We're staying at the Roosevelt.
