Jón Jónsson from Sleðbrjót wrote in Ólaf Þorgeirsson’s Almanak an article he called “Several episodes about Icelanders east of Lake Manitoba and around Grunnavatn (Shoal Lake)“. (published 1912) Among them was an article about Halldór Halldórsson and it says, among other things: (My predictions. JÞ)
The last years in the Westfjörðs: “Halldór grew up with his parents until he was 13 years old when his father died (Halldór Bjarnason from Álftafjörður). Halldór then lived with his mother until he was 17 years old, then he moved to his brother-in-law Gísli Gíslason in Bæ on Rauðasandur in Barðastrandarsýsla, who was married to Margrét, Halldór’s sister. He stayed there for two years. For the next four years, he stayed with his two other brothers-in-law, two years each. One of them was Bergþór Jónsson in Arnardal, and the other Ólafur Ólafsson in Hnífsdal; the former was married to Halldór’s sister Jónína, and the latter to his sister Elín. From there, Halldór moved to his uncle, Halldór Halldórsson, in Seljaland in Ísafjarðarsýsla. His wife was Elín Pálsdóttir, and Halldór and Elín were cousins. Kristín, who became Halldór’s wife and is mentioned before, was staying there as well. They immediately fell in love and got married on the last Saturday in the summer of 1874. In the spring of 1875, Halldór moved with his wife to Ísafjarðarkaupstaðar. He had a fishery there, but he himself worked in the fish trade for various merchants there, mostly at Ásgeir Ásgeirsson’s store. The last year that Halldór was in Iceland, he had a seat on the town council.”
Coming West: “The year 1878 was a very hard year in Ísafjarðarkaupstaður, and it was very difficult for farmers and traders. Trade debts were high. But the credit was drying up. Sigurður son of Rev. Andrés Hjaltason from Flatey in Breiðafjörður was then living in Ísafjörður. Sigurður was an “agent” for bookseller Sigfús Eymundsson in Reykjavík.(Sigfús set up a system of agents in Iceland, similar to what happened in Denmark. Agents hired “sub-agents” wherever there was a possibility to reach people and convince them of the advantages of the West. Sub-agents were paid for each traveler going west, only a fraction of what their commander received. Sigfús had agents all over the country and made good money. Interjection JÞ) “Sigurður believed that the common people were very much in favor of westward travel. He was so persuasive that about 100 people from Ísafjarðarsýsla signed up for the westward journey with Sigfús Eymundsson. The next few years went by. Halldór says that it is the only “export” that counts from Ísafjarðarsýsla, and he considers Sigfús the smartest export manager in Iceland, because he is the only one of them who has subdued the ancient constituency of Jón Sigurðsson. It must not have been pleasant for Halldór to go west. But he was an energetic and daring man. His mind burned with a desire for progress, and he was, and still is, a worker with possibilities. He must have thought the explanation doubtful, and the information lacking. But the glorious stories of their future in the west carried. He says that he was forced to leave his family and friends, but it would be more painful if he would never be financially independent and could never earn any other wage than a day laborer’s work, which is not the right way to start people’s minds to independence. So he, among others, took a trip west across the ocean with the Allan line and set off from Ísafjörður on the steamship Camoens on June 29, 1887. The trip was long and the children were sick on the way, and the couple had to leave one child behind in hospital in Quebec, the child did not arrive in Winnipeg until 9 days after them. They got a girl from the group, whom they knew faithfully, to look after the child because Kristín could not leave the other children, who were all more or less helpless.
Settlement in Manitoba: In Winnipeg they stayed three or four days. Halldór decided to seek settlement west of Lake Manitoba, for the same reasons as mentioned in Jón Sigfússon’s article. So he went to get a guide with a carriage and horses and met a local man who was willing to go and had everything he needed ready at hand. The night before the trip was to start, the guide came to look over the luggage. There was a lot of it to be stowed, and it was thought that Icelanders who came from home carried a lot of unnecessary junk with them, and he spoke about it in very derisive terms. Halldór’s wife Kristín told me that he said that if the Icelanders had the devil himself at home, they would have brought him with them. Kristín said that she had been so upset by the man’s blustering and sloppy manners, that she said she had asked Halldór to find another man, if possible, because she said that she had suffered from the brutishness of the guide, as weak and exhausted as she was over the sick children. Halldór said he would try, even though it had been a few days, and arrived shortly after with another Icelander. He was of good standing and manly and elegant in his demeanor. Kristín said that she looked at him quickly and immediately said: “I want this man as a guide. I trust him. And that trust did not fail”, she added, “because he proved to be like the warmest brother to us on the trip”. This man was Björn Líndal, now (1911) a farmer in Grunnavatnsbyggð (Shoal Lake Settlement). He was then a driver in Winnipeg and had previously gone out there to survey the land, as mentioned earlier. (See article on Björn Sæmundsson Líndal) They set off the next morning. The trip went without major accidents, although there were many troubles: the heat was intolerable and the flies were great, and the children were more or less sick. Halldór took land and settled a short distance from Lundar on land that is now (1911) the property of Mr. Kristján Fjeldsted in Winnipeg. Halldór had bought himself 2 cows, as well as a month’s supply of food. He now started working on haymaking and had to protect himself from prairie fires. Still, he gathered as much hay as he needed, and it was good, and when the haymaking was over, he began preparations to build a house, because they had all lived in a tent during the summer. In the fall, he built a temporary house in company with Hinrik Jónsson from Ísafjörður. Hinrik had taken land where they lived because he had come a year ago to the west by sea. The following spring, Halldór took land in the same section, and built a log house 16 feet long and 12 feet wide and a stable for 12 cattle. He named his farm Vällir. In 1891, Hinrik moved from the village; he had been a mail clerk at Lundar P.O., and Halldór took that job and has held it ever since, and his home has since been called Lundar like the post office. It should, of course, be named in Lund according to the correct Icelandic language. But the other name has now become a tradition here, like many other half-Icelandic names. In 1896, Halldór started a business, but ran it for only four years, and then Jóhann, his son, took over. The couple have seven children alive, and they are: Jóhann, a retailer at Oak Point, Halldór, a driver in Winnipeg married to Sigurveig Sigurðardóttir, doctor Bárðarson’s daughter; Kristján and Magnús (now Margrave) and María, all unmarried at home with their parents. Guðrún is unmarried in Winnipeg. Salome is a student at Wesley College in Winnipeg.
Prosperity: When Halldór came west to Winnipeg, his entire possessions amounted to $100. The first winter he lived, he only had ?? cow and 2 calves. But soon the number of animals increased, and sometimes he had about 80 cattle during the winter. Now his property is this: 3 parcels of land and a splendidly well-kept farm – he has bought two parcels; about 50 cattle, 11 horses and 26 ewes this spring (it is usually a ewe with two lambs here). Although Halldór is now well into his sixties, he still works and is as light and nimble in his movements as if he were young. The couple are very much in agreement in their activities and plans. Halldór is encouraging of all progress in the village and has worked diligently in various matters of its progress. He is the chairman of the Lutheran congregation there and one of its biggest supporters. He has been and still is in charge of various associations in the village… Halldór is an intelligent man and follows things closely if he makes a change. A lot of adversity has happened to him, but he has always kept his healthy courage and desire for progress, and that’s not because he’s not an emotional person.”
English version by Thor group.