Anders A. Falla came from Norway in the 1890s and homesteaded in the Red Willow Lake region of Griggs County. At least two of his children had nearby homesteads, as well – his son, Anton, and his daughter, Marie. Getting started was a major challenge for any homesteader. In Anton’s case, he lived under a hayrack until he could build himself a small house.

Old Anders proved self-reliant to the end. During his life, he had provided services as a mason, veterinarian and carpenter and also made grave markers for three of his relatives. Later, when he moved in with son Anton, Anders prepared for his own funeral; he constructed his own coffin and roughbox and also made his own concrete grave marker. On it, he chiseled, in Norwegian, his name, Falla, A. A., and his birth-date, May 2nd, 1850. He left a space for chiseling in his date of death, which was on this day in 1931.

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