Friðrik Guðmundsson emigrated from an Icelandic, rural community to the Canadian Prarie in Saskatchewan in 1905. The location had caught the attention of Icelandic immigrants in Manitoba, N. Dakota and Minnesota. These settlers shared Guðmundsson´s interest in this uninhabited part of the Prairie. Friðrik brought his family there and immediately began the construction of a hut and the task of cleaning his land. It was located in the Lake District, a short distance from Mozart and during the years that followed he learned much about Canadian farming, both raising cattle and grain growing. He witnessed and participated in the development of a new farming community, in part based on Icelandic heritage but also on North American farming traditions as well as religious and political issues. He was observant, writing down interesting things about the pioneer years and later he sent an account to Ólafur S. Thogeirsson in Winnipeg, the editor and publisher of the so-called Almanak. Ólafur published the first part in 1917 and here follows a segment: ” The settlement period in this part began in 1891 and ended in 1908 or a total of 17 years. After that, free land was still available but were either of poor quality, thus of little value or had been abandoned for whatever reason by the original settlers. The Lake Settlement is probably the largest, Icelandic settlement yet to be established in America. From the east to the west it is 48 miles long (76.8 km). From the south to the north its width varies, from 12-24 miles (19,2-38,4 km). Best to my knowledge it lies 1810 feet above sea level or some 800 feet higher than Hólsfjöll (mountains in eastern Iceland) and the farms highest in Jökuldalur in Iceland. The part of this settlement mostly occupied by Icelanders seems to be on average 10 miles (16 km) wide and 48 miles (76,8 km) long or 480 square miles (869 square km)”.
Number of farms and inhabitants: Friðrik continues and next he focuses on type of farms and their size. He points out that some are the so-called homesteads i.e. land was free while others were bought from railway companies. Farmers often sold their land after a few years but with all this in mind he estimates that there were some 1200 occupied farms in the settlement. He added;”If I base my conclusion on my neighborhood and the part of settlement I know best I estimate that two-thirds of farmers are Icelandic. In other words some 800 Icelanders own farms in this settlement. I am confident with my estimation as it is quite similar to the figure the observant supervisor of immigrants, Tómas Pálsson had told me prior to my own research. Population reports in Iceland from 1860 show that the total number of the two most populated townships (sýslur) in the country, namely Árnessýsla and Þingeyjarsýsla has 750 farms. It is not likely that the above number has grown much since. From the above it is clear that the number of farms here in this settlement and the two counties in Iceland are quite similar. If, on the other hand, I attempt to estimate the total number here, I have a problem as no local census exists yet. Actually, it has been suggested that the pastors in each congregation, with some local help, will make a list of Icelandic farms and number of people on each. Apparantly in some places this work has already started but is still incomplete and of no use to me and my calculations. Another problem is the constant move of drifting workers, individuals arriving, looking for work, others departing for better luck elsewhere.
Conclusion: Friðrik estmates that same number of farms are in all parts of the settlement, namely east, west and central. He states he counted Icelandic homes in three communities and the number of people on each is just over four. He continues:”If I base my theory on the assumption that there are on average 4.5 persons per farm then the total number of people with a permanent home in this settlement is 3.600. This figure does not include all those workers drifting in and out, nor the many living in the villages or towns, managing their business, without ever homsteading and living in the countryside. I, threfore, conclude that the number of Icelanders in the settlement is higher. As I now have discussed my census, readers will probably wonder what the attraction may be? And how this large ethnic group is doing? We did not need to make the law and regulations in our new country, as our ancestors who discovered Iceland had to and thus prepared themselves for their own and their desendents future. Here, on the other hand, settlers, protected by the British Crown, could devote all their time and effort on the cultivation of their land. It was obvious from the beginning that the soil was fertile. It, therefore, goes without saying that it was in everyone´s interst and ambition of all to be able to start work on the land in preparation for grain growing.”