owned land in Norway - they called it a gaard over there.) As a farmer he raised cattle, pigs, horses and grain. He butchered cattle and hogs for their own meat. For entertainment they visited neighbors.

Ragnild and Halvor Pederson

Ragnhild married Halvor Pederson. They called themselves Rachel and Howard in this country. Halvor (16 Apr 1837-7 Dec 1885) was from Norway. They were married 27 Dec 1867 at M. Pederson’s house by the First Congregational minister, Rev. Ephraim Smith. Ragnhild met Halvor at a circus in Cresco, IA. Halvor was a veterinarian for the circus. They lived at Decorah, Saude, and Fremont Co. near Harmony. Finally they settled on Ragnhild’s farm in Madison Twp. He farmed and was a well-known auctioneer. In the summer of 1885 he had a stroke or heart attack. Decorah Poster) reported he didn’t do very well after that. They had 3 children: Ida Oline (17 Oct 1868) married Andrew Lee on 12 Mar 1890. Louisa Dorthea (14 Sep 1870) married Andrew Knutson. Even Orlando (4 Dec 1871-17 Apr 1940) married IdaM. Borseth. Even lived on the farm. He was baptized in the old Myron schoolhouse. Ida Oline was baptized at Decorah Lutheran Church 10 Jan 1869. Ida Oline and Andrew Lee had 5 children: Henry Theodre (12 Jul 1890) (28 years old in 1920 census), Mina Randina (9 Oct 1891, near Madison Church, IA), Albert (9 Sep 1892), Maxim “Minnie” (born in MN) (age 25 in 1920 census), and Elizabeth Lee (age 22 in 1920 census). After Albert was born they moved to Jamestown, ND.

Louisa Dorthea lived near Harmony, MN about 1913. An article in the Decorah Poster) reported that someone had a party at Ridgway, IA and the people coming from farthest away were Louisa and Ruth Pederson. Ruth was her niece and was about 4 years old at that time. After she married Andrew Knutson, they lived at Manchester, MN.

Fye, Jacob and Susan (Oswold)

(Mel Faldet)

Jacob and Susan (Oswold) Fye left their home near Pittsburg, PA in the spring of 1849. They were a sturdy, brave, pioneer family with 7 children, the youngest was under a year old. One cannot help but admire the courage of these pioneers. The family was much too large to get into the covered wagon with all of their belongings in it.

Many of the pioneers used oxen to draw their covered wagon but Jacob was using a team of horses in hopes that it would shorten the travel time used by the slower oxen.

The new land that opened up for settlement was in Iowa, that meant a long journey across part of Pennsylvania, all of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and a part of Iowa on pioneer trails. Present day highway maps would tell us that journey would be something over 900 highway miles.

A terrible problem befell them in IL near Lake Michigan, when one of the horses foundered and died. Jacob considered hitching up the cow, which they had been leading behind, but instead fashioned shafts from the green saplings to enable them to use one horse to draw the wagon. This meant the family would need to help pushing, pulling, and holding back the heavy wagon for the rest of the way.

The Fye family had to spend the winter in Wl, possibly Prairie du Chien. There Jacob found a temporary job at a government mill working for fifty cents per day. The family spent a long cold winter in a dugout. The Fyes became acquainted with a Norwegian by the name of Mike Olson Borsheim at the sawmill camp. He decided to set out with the Fyes in the spring on their journey to Locust Lane with their single horse.

The Fye family’s destination on their epic journey was Locust Lane, IA. At the time of their arrival the area where they built was included in the Locust Lane Census.

Michael Musser and Elizabeth Fye Musser

After crossing the Mississippi, the difficult task of negotiating the steep hills lay ahead. They had to block the wheels to keep the wagon from rolling back down the hill in addition to pushing and conveying the wagon up the hill.

The pioneer Jacob Fye family passed through Decorah when only a handful of buildings existed. They crossed