Happy as a Big Sunflower: Adventures in the West, 1876-1880In 1876 Rolf Johnson and his family left Illinois for Phelps County, Nebraska. There they faced the challenges of pioneering on the Great Plains: digging wells, building sod houses, plowing and planting crops, and fighting prairie fires. Johnson's diary goes beyond individual conquest, however, and provides insight into the great cooperative endeavor of plains settlement. Rolf's Swedish family and neighbors worked and socialized with other Swedes just as nearby Danish settlers remained in close physical and cultural contact with other Danish immigrants. A very eligible ninetten-year-old bachelor, Rolf also offers touching vignettes on the rituals of courting. Abruptly, with no explanation in his diary, and with no itinerary or prospects, Rolf left home in 1879 "with the intention of going west for a season." His departure may have been sparked by the marital fervor exhibited by a female suitor. Rolf felt he was "not quite prepared to leave the state of single blessedness for that of double misery." In Sidney, Nebraska, he ran with the "sporting" element, who showed him photographs of "fast women of the town stark naked." He found employment with a wagon freighter headed for the Black Hills, where he saw Calamity Jane in action. Rolf's education continued until the diaries end in Cubero, New Mexico, in 1880. He returned to Phelps County in 1882 and remained there for most of his life. Rolf's lively diaries offer an entertaining eyewitness account of pioneer life and an unmatched resource for historians. |
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... Nebraska Press Lincoln and London In association with the Nebraska State Historical Society © 2000 by the University of Nebraska Press All rights.
... Nebraska Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Most recent printing indicated by ... Nebraska - Phelps County - Diaries . 3. Swedish Americans - Nebraska - Phelps County - Diaries . 4. Frontier and ...
... Nebraska Prairie Museum at Holdrege , Nebraska . The publication of the diaries is with the permission of Mr. Chamberlin and the Phelps County His- torical Society . Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Note on ...
... Nebraska 3 Phelps County , Nebraska 4 Summer Rambles in Eastern Nebraska 5 Back to Phelps County 6 The Buffalo Hunt ix xi xiii xxxi 1 6 12 24 29 2 2 2 2 52 7 Home Again , Politics and Romances 75 8 The Harvest Circuit 102 9 More ...
... Nebraska State Penitentiary The body of Stephen D. Richards after his execution , 1879 Judge William Gaslin , Jr. The grave of Peter Anderson , Bethany Cemetery , Axtell , Nebraska Jordon Smith , photographed at the Nebraska State ...
Contents
Illinois Homeland | xxxi |
The Trip to Nebraska | 7 |
Phelps County Nebraska | 10 |
Summer Rambles in Eastern Nebraska | 20 |
Back to Phelps County | 25 |
The Buffalo Hunt | 48 |
Home Again Politics and Romances | 71 |
The Harvest Circuit | 98 |