Early in 1880, Jón was settled on land in the Akra settlement in N. Dakota and wrote the following letter in the town of Cavalier on January 7. Þórstína Þorleifsdóttir published the letter in her book Saga Íslendingi í N. Dakota probably because it describes well the customs of the country as well as the affairs of the settlers. Neither she nor Jón names the recipient, the letter is addressed as follows: “My Honored Fellow Country man”, but it is to someone called Jón, because in the final line Jón writes: “I wish you, my dear namesake, a good and happy year:” How this letter came into Þórstína’s hands in the thirties of the 20th century, is unclear, but either the recipient lived somewhere in the West or moved west later and had Jón’s letter with him. The second option is more likely because of the information that Jón puts in the letter, he describes everything as if the recipient knows nothing about the West. (JT)
“Letter written by doctor Jón Jónasson from Syðstavatn in Skagafjörður”.
“I sincerely thank you for the letter I received from you, dated December 2, of last year, arrived here on the 23rd this past month, which I loved very much, because since I came to this new place, I have written to few, and few to me. You recommend in your letter that I write you a little about this settlement, and I want to try it here in a few words. This settlement was formed by a few Icelanders last summer, but the next summer over one hundred people moved here, so now it will over tow h. (I don’t know the exact count), and there are about 60 homesteaders, but I know that many countrymen will come here this spring from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Fargo (a town south of here on the Red River), as well as from New Iceland. So it looks very much like there will be a lot of farms established by our countrymen in a few years; the settlement is mostly located to the south of the Pembina mountains, south of the Tunguá (Tongue River), which falls east into the Red River, and the distance is short from the settlement up to the mountains, which is rather uneven. The main landscape is like this; there are forests more and less in parts, and in between undulating grassland, in some places a bit of a combination of both, on the main hills in many places are decent meadows, and many farmers here have both forest, arable land ( flat grassland) and meadows, which is considered an ideal property. Almost from everywhere here is a beautiful view, the land is more of grassy plains than forest, and here to the south, east and west of the mountains, there, far and away, are some large areas where no one has settled; the air is clean, but it will often be cold here in the winter, and the heat is also strong in the summer, but the general health of people can be called good here. Wheat was harvested here this summer from 25 to 35 bushels (1 bushel = 27.22 kg. Jónas Þór’s input) per acre; oats from 50 to over 60 b. to an acre, I don’t know about corn, but it sprouted well . Potatoes from 14 to 28 per plant, people not all disappointed, and I don’t know about cabbage yields. We are still 28 miles from the main market, but we have every hope that a railway will soon come to us. As far as the future here is concerned, I can only say that it is many times better to live here than in New Iceland, despite all the misery and hardship moving here, there we could have been called broken and poor lot ; yes, brutally criticized by some administrators of the colony; because here the land is many times more easily broken and no less productive, much drier, almost everywhere the best roads with very little improvement needed, and so a man is a regular owner of his farm here, and can, if he wants, sell his produce from it immediately. Here three types of land are taken; the first is government land, 160 acres, and the papers cost $17 – otherwise free; another purchased land at $200 – the improvement on it interest-free for 30 months; a third so-called tree plantation land (that is on the woodless plains), where a forest is to be planted on 8 acres and one pays $17 for that land – otherwise free, and never has to live on it one night. The government here in the county can be considered good, no new obligations here for road work. There are now, as far as I know, 18 pairs of owned by our countrymen, which id not a small number in such a short time, but the number of other animals is unknown to me; many farms have planted quite a lot of wheat in the summer, about 160 acres in total. Reverend Páll Þorláksson, who is our pastor, has collected donations from the Norwegian farmers to help here, and most of us have accepted that help, and that is what people are building on here this winter in terms of food security, because in the summer that passed, people could not do more than build and having plowed or plowed themselves, and work for their and family clothing and care and food reserves. If this group can make it through to the next harvest and can maintain such a policy of working with their countrymen (which I have the best hope for), then I am convinced that in the second year we will greatly surpass our former settlement, because already more has been ploughed here in one summer than there in the last 4 years. Me and mine feel well, thank God, and here I am much calmer, especially for my children, I consider them better living here: I have taken land here and have plowed 6 acres, on which I intend to sow wheat in the summer; I have 2 pregnant cows, 2 spring-born oxen calves, and 1 team of oxen, owned by my son Jónas, who is sharing with me, so we can plow our fields. I have not yet completed my house, I am staying with Samson, my son-in-law, but I expect to move before start of summer. There is still little work on church matters, but 3 children’s schools have been established this winter (taught in three places), and it is progressing well. People expect a good day’s wages here in the summer, because the wheat here is starting to rise in price, 95 cents to $1.00 a bushel.
I ask you to bring my friend Brynjólfur my best regards, and that I ask him not to disrespect my delay in dropping him a line, in response to his last letter to me. Here I have been lazy with my pen. Forgive me these sloppy lines, and don’t let me pay for it in your next letter, since this letter is so hastily written, and I would like to make amends for it later, if I live.
I wish you, dear namesake, a good and happy year; yes, may God give you all a blessed and profitable year.
Yours alone.
J. Jónasson”
English version by Thor group.