In his work “Frá Austri til Vesturs” (From East to West), Þorleifur Jóakimsson had this to say about Jónas: “Jónas in Hulduárhvammur was a peculiar man, witty but on occasion did not choose his words carefully so at times he sounded impolite, even rude, but a person rarely felt insulted as the smirk on his face indicated his words were not supposed to hurt anyone or insult… Jónas firmly believed that living conditions in New Iceland could be improved.”
Jónas expressed his opinion in a letter to Framfari which was published October 29, 1879. Many settlers in the young colony had lost all hope and started moving to a new Icelandic colony in North Dakota. Jónas says: “It would be a great thing if the sale of firewood could get under way here, for just as you say, it is unemployment which is fettering progress. What a storehouse would the lake not be if our financial means increased to the point that we could have suitable boats and fishing equipment. What a storehouse would the shore not be after it had been cleared and ploughed, and it will be beautiful to see fine boats and enterprising fellows sail on the lake past beautiful farms and fine fields, and when the herds run out of green pastures down onto the sand to get a breath of the cool current of air coming across the water and shake off themselves the swarms of flies.
It has been a disadvantage for Icelanders to have paid too much attention to their short term economy, and that is probably the reason people have so much regard for Dakota, but 20 acres in Dakota will hardly prove more productive in the course of time than 5 acres here. When the abundance of fish to be had here is taken into consideration, 25 here will be the equivalent of 100 there. The Myvatn district in old Iceland provides an example brighter than day to substantiate my view, for no region of the country could be compared with the Myvatn district when pack ice and volcanic eruptions pressed hard on the land. That was due to the availability of trout, which God preserved in the lake even though the earth around it stood in the dark red flames of the lava flowing from the volcanoes.” (Transl. Dr. George Houser)