On December 25, 1913 Far Guys Grandparents were married in Iowa. They were headed for Minnesota. The brides entire family was going. Her parents and her siblings. Land prices in Iowa were very high. The gumbo soil was hard to farm anyway. The price of farm land was much lower in Minnesota. They sold what they could, and then loaded what animals, equipment and household possessions were left on a boxcar for the trip North. The women and children rode in the passenger section of the train.
They arrived in Park Rapids, Minnesota in the winter of 1914. Far Guy's Grandpa H. was disappointed when he looked at the farm land that he had purchased. It was nothing but Jack Pines and sand. He rented a different farm for two years until finally trading off his parcel of Jack Pines for some land he could actually farm. Of course he had to pay extra to make the trade. They bought good land this time, and spent the rest of their lives on the farm. It is still in the family and still known as "The Farm" Far Guys Uncle owns it and it is just four miles down the road from us..or two miles as the crow flies. What this young couple liked most about Minnesota was the trees.
On January, 01 1914 Far Guys Great Uncle and Great Aunt were married. When they got to Minnesota, Great Aunt Emma said " There were no roads, only trails winding through the woods and the wolves howled every night."
I love Great Aunt Emmas head piece. She was always a colorful woman..she probably designed it herself.
Far Guy and I had always wondered why the move from Iowa to Minnesota, two relatives were kind enough to answer our questions. So that we could put more of the puzzle pieces together. It must have been some adventure:)
