Grandmas Story

"In 1862 we heard about the Homestead Act that was being passed in the United States. It said that one hundred and sixty acres of land would be given to each man and his family for free or very cheap."  This is my great great grandmas' story. She loved to tell us these kind of old tales all of the time. She would always start the story just like that.

"I was six years old when father said that North and South America was passing a Homestead Act. We were in Russia at the time when Catherine the Great became in power. Catherine wasn't doing that great of a job feeding us, and keeping everybody happy, I guess you could say."

Great great grandma would always stress on the fact that Catherine the Great really wasn't all that. Grandma would always say "she was the worst leader after her husband died and she came in power."

"We got to America around 1865 . We took a ship across the ocean. It took FOREVER!" She would over react on that word, "FOREVER." "I was eight years old when we landed. We had to buy a horse, wagon, and some food and supplies. So we 'headed towards the land in North America to what is now called Eureka, South Dakota.

The journey took about three years. When we got to where going to stay I was about eleven or twelve years old. We rested that night and in the morning we began making the land OURS."

     "Father told my brother to start collecting the biggest stones he could find. He told me to start mixing the clay. Fathers' job was to collect as much wood he could find, and mothers' job was to make sure we never got hungry or thirsty." Grandma would always say that last part with a giggle in her voice, it would make all of us kids giggle with her. "Father thought that we had enough rocks, wood, and clay to at least start building our house. My job now was to make these medium sized square/rectangle cubes of clay. It was fun the first few blocks," she said. "But after ten or so it got really boring. So that is how father began building our house. In the summers the clay would keep the inside surprisingly cool. During the winters it would stay very warm and cozy from the fire. "

"Now the land was very flat which was good for tilling, but there were a lot of bones and rocks under the first layer of soil. And lucky me I had yet another job of picking them up while brother used the horse and till. After that job had been done mother and I had the job of planting the seeds. This was hard labor on our backs but the job had to be done.

A few years after this, mother had gotten very sick. It was like the flu you children know of today, but much worse. Mother had a fever and very awful night terrors for what seemed like months. I was fifteen or sixteen at the time." Grandma started to tear up, so all of us kids jumped up to hug and kiss her at the same time.  smile and her story started again.

"Mother finally died on Fathers birthday, July sixth 1871. Now Father was a tough man, but Brother and I knew that he was falling apart inside out. He loved mama with all of his heart. "I think that if he could have, he would have traded places with mama in an instant." Grandma thought out loud when she was saying this. "Father knew that everything has to happen for a reason. Just like us Germans had to come from Russia no matter how silly that sounds."

Grandma saw that most of her great great grandchildren had fallen asleep. So she dozed off also, dreaming about her journey here as a German from Russia.