Getting Land and Getting Married

(Dietrich and Kathrina Olfert continue their life story. You may notice a discrepancy in the spelling of the name of the man who took Dietrich to Montana–at first he is called Mr. Muller and then Mr. Miller. Not knowing which spelling of the name is accurate, the spelling is given as it was in Dietrich’s account. Kathrina’s grandfather whose death delayed their marriage is Oma’s great-grandfather, Peter Teichroew, who was born in Wernersdorf, Molotschna, South Russia, in 1832 and died in Mountain Lake, Minnesota, on December 6, 1915. A good summary of the homesteading boom in Montana which drew Dietrich to the state may be found at http://www.umt.edu/this-is-montana/columns/stories/homestead-act-part-two.php.)

I, Dietrich, also attended the Christian Day School at about the age of 19. This school was like a Bible College today, studying Bible and related subjects for working in the church. I stayed home the last six weeks and helped on the farm, so could not graduate, but Kathrina did. We met in this school. I invited her and her sister to come to the Valley Church for revival meetings, and they did. Now came the big, long-awaited moment to finally have the courage to ask if I could walk her home, about one mile. Sure enough, she let me walk close beside her, and that was our start of friendship. Marriage was not my interest at this time, but she was a friend I could visit with and enjoy in a clean and good atmosphere.

A Mr. Muller in Montana heard about a group of Mennonites living in Mt. Lake. They had the reputation of being good farmers and being dependable. He came to Mt. Lake to offer people 320 acres of land for homesteading. Our whole family had only 360 acres in Minnesota. When I was 21 in the fall of 1915, the Montana land was opened for filing. In October many young people and a few older ones wanted to go to Montana. My Dad said to me and David, “Why don’t you two go to Montana and take up a homestead? I will pay all your expenses.” I prayed about it and finally drove to Franz’s and asked Kathrina what she thought about going to Montana. She said, “I’ll go where you go,” and that settled the question. In March of 1915 David and I, along with other men, went by train to Montana. We got off in Oswego, and they took us out in four or five carloads with 35 to 40 men. We had an awful time getting through Todd Lakes and Oswego Creek. We pushed each other through and followed trails, as there were no roads. On the first day’s travel we got within ten miles from our 320 acres. Travel time would have been faster, but there were no bridges and we had to cross the icy creeks. When we stopped the first night we slept in the cars, as the weather was cold.

Before leaving St. Paul, Minnesota, we stopped there overnight, and in the evening Mr. Miller showed us the map of the area in Montana. I saw two red strips marked 33 and 34. He said they were available. I asked, “Can we apply for them now?” He said we could. I told him I would like to cinch them right then. The others said they wanted to see the area first and examine the soil. I said I really didn’t know that much about soil in that area anyway.

As we went out that morning, Henry Fast, Otto Waitschies, C. K. Dick, Peter Teichroew, Abe Siemens, Abe Toews, Jake Toews, Pete Olfert, Abe Olfert, George Rahn, George Teichroew, Alex Pankratz, Duerksen, Hepner, and others, all filed. When it was almost dark he said he had to show the Olfert boys their area. Then we returned to Oswego to fill out papers. Someone wanted the land I had filed for and also wanted to build a church there, so I was supposed to back out. Dave said if I didn’t file, he wouldn’t either. Mr. Miller said that since we asked for it back in St. Paul already, it was ours. Dave asked which side I wanted. I said, “Whatever side you don’t want. After looking at the map, I said, “The west side has a lot of hills. I’ll never farm 320 acres anyway. The east side has all clear land except for 15 acres with a draw. If you want that, I’ll take the west side and have grazing land for my cattle.” So that is what we did. I took section 33, township 31, range 44. Posts were stationed at each corner of land with the initial and section number. In the middle were posts 33 and 34. Directly north was a puddle of water to feed our horses. Grass was knee deep. I paid $6.00 an acre for the land, but had to ‘prove up’ the homestead.

We went back to Minnesota. Soon the parents said that if we wanted to go to Montana together in spring, we better get married now to have time to prepare to go. We decided on a wedding date, but just then my grandmother died, so we got another date and had our wedding date printed. We started to get ready for the wedding, and then Kathrina’s grandfather died, so we had to postpone our date again. The third time we set the date for December 11, 1915, and this time all went well.

We were married at the Franz home. Rev. H. H. Regier married us and then, because he had to leave, my uncle David Harder, preached a sermon. Our wedding was simple. We faced the bay window where the preachers sat. There was quite a crowd. All the rooms were filled with people, and after the ceremony all were served a lunch with sausage and zweibach, etc. The weather was nice with just a trace of snow on the ground. We went outside to have some pictures taken. Kathrina got a nice bedroom set, a stove, utensils and bedding. Oh, yes—a wash board and tub was given too. She also got a cow and a dozen chickens. I got 3 horses and one cow. We bought a hand plow, a grass mower and rack, a disk, wagon, lots of hay to feed the horses and cows, plus some oats for feed for the chickens. Kathrina married with the knowledge that land was scarce in Minnesota and that her future as a pioneer would be a long way from her family.