A North Dakota settler’s most deadly enemy didn’t have sharp claws, it couldn’t utter threats, it didn’t even have opposable thumbs. It was the weather. From the scorching heat of summer, to the blinding blizzards of winter, North Dakota homesteaders struggled year round to triumph over unruly conditions. Everyone faced these trials, from young Ole Melhouse, to widowed Carrie Severson; the prairie weather spared no one.

Ole Melhouse was born in Norway in 1870, and found himself traveling by covered wagon to Dakota Territory ten years later. He and his family settled near Blanchard where they lived comfortably in a sod home. During his time as a homesteader, Ole faced many common prairie challenges.

Ole’s family learned quickly how to plow a fire break. They also came to appreciate their county’s only doctor, Dr. McLean. Every winter Red River Fever, or Typhoid, would rage through the Red River valley. For days, Dr. McLean traveled constantly, only sleeping in between home visits, and changing drivers every 12 hours.

Blizzards, that whited out their world several times during the winter months, were feared by Ole and his family. A rope was tied from their front door to the barn door, but there were times that even the bravest Melhouse wouldn’t dare let the rope guide them into the storm. A couple years in Dakota Territory was enough time for the Melhouses to realize their isolation and they rejoiced at the building of a railroad.

In 1882, a railroad track was built from Fargo to Grand Forks. The track crossed directly through the southeast corner of the Melhouse’s farm. Although few of the predominantly Norwegian railroad crew understood English, they all seemed to understand their bosses’ heavy Irish brogue and Ole watched as the men worked like machines, building the roadbed, laying the ties, and finally laying the rails. The railroad gave the Melhouses and their neighbors a market for their produce, a connection to the outside world, and also raised the value of their land.

Ole Melhouse faced his trials as a homesteader with his parents, siblings and uncle, while Carrie Severson faced her trials with only her two small children by her side.
After her husband passed away in 1899, Norwegian born Mrs. Severson was left with few options. She continued to live in Granite Falls, Minnesota, where she worked to pay off her husband’s debts and care for her family. The work was unrewarding, and although Carrie had payed her debts and kept her family fed, she knew this wasn’t the life she wanted to live. She wanted a place of her own, and recalled her late husband’s dream of homesteading in North Dakota.

Ignoring her friends’ warnings and armed with determination and a knowledge of farming, Carrie staked a claim near White Earth, ND in 1903. One year later, she, her son Theodore, and her daughter Cora moved west where they started a new life as North Dakotans.

Upon arriving in White Earth, Mrs. Severson was faced with twelve foot high snow drifts. She was discouraged, but not willing to give up and although confronting frequent perils of prairie life, Carrie and her children found themselves at home on a farm, and in a predominantly Norwegian community.

Ole Melhouse and Carrie Severson are two very different North Dakota settlers, but each faced and braved the same prairie forces. From fires to illness, Ole and Carrie prevailed in the face of nature’s fury.

By Ann Erling

Sources:
“North Dakota’s Ethnic History: Plains Folk.” Sherman, Thorson, Henke, Kloberdanz, Pedeliski, Wilkins.
“WPA Ethnic History Files.”

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