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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Adventures in the West, 1876-1880 Rolf Johnson Richard E. Jensen. HAPPY AS A BIG SUNFLOWER Adventures in the West , 1876-1880 Rolf Johnson Edited and with an introduction by Richard E. Jensen BISON BOOKS. Front Cover.
... Richards 138 158 11 The Black Hills and the Southwest List of People Mentioned in Rolf Johnson's Diaries Notes Bibliography Index 217 227 257 265 Illustrations Following page 108 : Rolf Johnson , photographed in Illustrations.
... Rolf's diaries that squatting was not an uncommon practice both by Swedes and non - Swedes . On April 15 , 1876 , Rolf wrote that settlers had occupied Spring Creek for " nearly its entire length . " By the end of 1876 land records show ...
... Rolf referred to this group as the " Phelps County Ring " and he and the other Swedes were determined to seize ... Rolf's diary that there would have been an all - Swedish slate of candidates . After the Swedish party gained control they ...
... Rolf . The similarity ends there . Ruede felt he could not afford a stove so he built a fireplace out of sod , but it leaked smoke badly . Rolf never mentioned a stove , but their sod house had a wooden floor over a cellar so a stove ...
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 |