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. |
From inside the book
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... passed their little commercial centers in the spring . Somewhat later , most became stagecoach stations , providing fresh horses and offering meals for the passengers . Both of the Phelps County ranches benefited briefly when the Pony ...
... passed by a slim margin.38 In the fall of 1876 the Swedes nominated their slate of candidates , but they had only modest success in the initial effort to unseat the old guard . Although Rolf blamed their loss on the unethical practices ...
... passing that during the first winter in the county many settlers , including himself and his brothers , were forced to " make their living " by collecting buffalo bones strewed across the prairie and selling them in Kearney for six ...
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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 |