Letters from Joe

© Copyright 2004 Jim Morrison

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CONTENTS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

JOE’S CHRONOLOGY

PART I

IN THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

PART II

THE LETTERS

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

PART III

THE AFTERMATH

CHAPTER 10

EPILOGUE

APPENDIX

NOTES

For the nieces and nephews

of Johan S. Opheim

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Joe’s Childhood

Growing up in the Thirties

The Salesman

Army Training

North Africa

Southern Italy

Burial

Except for a photograph supplied by Helen Klos as noted in the caption of the photograph, all other photos reproduced are owned by the author.

LIST OF MAPS

Northeastern Montana

Northwest Africa

Sicily

Campania

Slow Road to Rome

Southern France

All maps were produced by technical illustrator Chris Ceccarelli of Folsom, California.

PREFACE

Memories stored away in our minds, particularly when we are barely four years of age, may be foggy and gray at best and yet they become clearer to us with repeated reflection. This does not mean that what we actually remember becomes more accurate or the events are perceived the same by others who witnessed them, but it becomes real in our own minds. One of these memories was implanted in my mind in late September 1944 in Portland, Oregon when I was barely four years old. All that I remember of this particular event is my mother lying on the bed crying and then trying to explain to me why she was crying. She had just received a telegram from her parents in Wolf Point, Montana, dated September 27, 1944 which read Johan Killed in Action in France August 28 (stop) Letter Follows (stop) Mother & Dad. Her beloved brother Joe (Johan) would not be coming home—his life was now over.

Although I had seen Joe once when I was not quite two years old, I certainly did not remember him, other than reminders, such as his photograph taken at Fort Ord that was always on display in some prominent place in the house as long as I can remember. Then there were those other photographs of him and other relatives, including myself. Mom had several souvenirs and mementoes that he had sent her from Italy. There was the set of antlers in the attic from the deer he shot when he was in the CCC camp in western Montana. There were the numerous stories my mom told me about his character and talents, and her disappointment of his not being able to fulfill his ambitions.

Stored in her trunk, and dusted off every few years, were a stack of letters she had kept all these years from her brother, written to her not only while he was in the army but she had also kept many that were written to her during the 1930’s, even while he was yet in High School. A few years ago, I opened the pack of letters and began reading some and that event is what stimulated me to write this book about my Uncle Joe. To me these letters were not only interesting and intriguing, but they told a story in themselves. I decided to attempt to tell a story of his life, using the letters as living documentaries and then to try and fill in the pieces to sketch his life. Other family members have contributed many more letters that helped fulfill this effort and make it more complete.

His story is not that unusual from millions of others who have sacrificed their lives and dreams at a relatively young age so the rest of us can enjoy a more peaceful and rewarding life. Even if his story is considered quite common by some, it should still remain available to those who may want to share in it by reading it. In addition to outlining Joe’s life from the information that I could gather, this story should also add to the history of a time and a place in the American experience during the first half of the 20th century.

Another driving force to tell this story is the sense of gratitude I have not only from him, but others like him as well, that gave their lives for our nation. Also Joe was quite unique, with a character and potentials that I find interesting as did others who knew him. Now only a handful of relatives and friends even remember him or of his existence, yet we owe him at least this token of gratitude.

I fully regret that I did not attempt this task years ago, when more of his family was available so that I could have portrayed a more accurate and complete picture. In particular, it is very regretful that I did not obtain information from his brother Knute Opheim before his death in 1996. He was just a little over a year older than Joe and no doubt new him best of anyone. They not only grew up together, but also worked at many jobs together during the Great Depression years. Other now deceased family members and friends could also have been a valuable source of information and contribution. I am fortunate and thankful, however, for the information I was able to obtain from those that knew him.

As a novice writer I feel awkward and inadequate writing of someone who would have done a much better job of this than I. This is about his life based on what little bit I know of it and could gather, and he certainly would have portrayed his own life much more fully and accurate. Joe also was a journalist or at least tried to become one as an apprentice. He had a remarkable vocabulary and I know his writing skills and knowledge far exceeded mine. My mother would often tell me of his keen interest and skills in writing and the sorrow she felt that he was not given an adequate chance to fulfill his dreams in these endeavors. He had an excellent command of the English language and his vocabulary skills were well known. What is particularly remarkable is he obtained these skills mostly through his own initiative, since he did not have any formal education other than what was available to him at the time in the remote rural settings of eastern Montana. Legends were passed around as to how his fellow classmates and friends would all need dictionaries in order to interpret what Joe was saying. His brother Knute was always complaining that he could not understand Joe’s vocabulary and he would ask their mother to make Joe (Johan, as she always affectionately called him) to talk to him in plain English.

Another part of Joe’s life that I often reflect upon was the closeness of his to some of my own experiences during his early days in the Army. This relationship I experienced to a certain extent a generation later. I too, was inducted into the Army, although for a different war, and we both served on some of the same army posts in California, most likely using some of the same period facilities, such as barracks built during the earlier years of World War II or previous to it. Weapons and training techniques were probably not that different between our two eras. When I received my basic training in the army at Ford Ord, I often thought of my Uncle Joe since I remembered my mother telling me that he served there. The same was true when I later served on a short detail at Camp Roberts. I particularly remember a few photographs he had taken of himself at Camp Roberts and Fort Ord and the memorabilia materials he had sent my mom of army life at the post at Camp Roberts during his basic infantry training.

Joe appeared to have had a keen sense of humor and wit, no matter the circumstances. He also seemed to look mostly at the positive side of things and took opportunities to both learn and enjoy life where and when he could.

I hope that this writing, which may serve at least as a partial biography, will help the reader understand the life of a young man who seemed to have so much to offer. His life was cut much short of it’s potential, at least that is how it appears to most of us as we do not understand the wisdom of God’s will. I pray that his life and his death may not have been in vain.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I owe to my mother, Tillie Christina (Opheim) Morrison, for the information she provided me throughout the years about her brother, and the interviews with me on the subject during her last year of life. I am especially grateful to her for saving those letters all those years, and the influence she bestowed upon me of his life and character. Without her, this project would not have happened.

I am also indebted to Joe’s sister, Martha (Opheim) Anno, now deceased, who also saved many of her letters from him during the war, and to her daughter, Lorna (Anno) Miller, who re-typed these letters and furnished me with copies to use. I am very grateful to his half-sister Eunice (Tjon) Smith, also deceased, who also had saved many of the letters he had written to her. She also had a collection of those letters he wrote to his mother, Lena, and a few he had written to his other siblings as well. I also thank her daughter, Janice (Smith) Kasson for gathering the letters for me.

I am indebted to Joe’s half-sister Dolores (Tjon) Bannon, recently deceased, and his half brother Kermit Tjon for their interviews with me and their time in reviewing the first draft of the manuscript. Appreciation goes out to Helen (Tong) Klos for her memories given to me in an interview as to the times when she and her husband teamed up with Joe for a year on the road selling magazines in the 1930’s.

A special thank you goes out to those I contacted and who responded back, that served with Joe in the campaigns in Africa, Sicily, Italy and France. These include Jerome Sapiro who was Joe’s Company Commander at times for both the Canon Company and the Headquarters Company of their regiment. He remembered Joe quite well and supplied me with information and details of his character, and his performance as he remembered. He also answered many of my questions regarding details in those combat situations. George Polick provided a wealth of information regarding Cannon Company’s activities in the war. I also found his published book Cannon’s Roar as a valuable source of information and reference, and I thank him for giving me permission to repeat some of his work’s in this book. Thanks to Robert Steele, Dale Simms, and Harold Peterson who all remember serving with Joe in Canon Company and their responses provided information that helped fill in some of the gaps.

I have Bill Burton and William Morrelle to thank for their telephone interviews regarding experiences they encountered serving in Canon Company during those campaigns. I am also appreciative of the many veterans who took the time to respond to my letters of inquiry even though some of them did not know Joe or remember serving with him, and to the many that tried to help me find information with their e-mail responses.

I am grateful for the cooperation I received from Bernard Cohn in supplying me with copies of Division and Regimental Combat Reports and to the Department of the Army’s Total Army Personnel Command for their time in researching files and providing me with a copy of Joe’s post-death file.

My sincere gratitude goes to my cousin, Dr. Bonnie (Anno) Harrison for reviewing the manuscript and providing editing, and to Patricia Heinlein who also helped edit and prepare the final manuscript for publication. I am also thankful for the cooperation and assistance Trafford Publishing has given in preparing this book for printing, and to Chris Ceccarelli for his development of the map illustrations. Thanks to my daughter Edith (Morrison) Busch and to my wife Conni Morrison for proving suggestions as they reviewed each part of the rough draft edition of the manuscript as I wrote them, and to my son James Morrison for providing technical guidance as needed with the computer.

I am very indebted to my wife Conni Morrison, for her patience and the support she provided me as I devoted so many months to this project. Most of all I thank God for giving me the inspiration and persistence to finish writing this biography.

INTRODUCTION

The initial idea for this book was stimulated from the collection of letters that Joe Opheim had written home to his sister Tillie during World War II. As one reads these letters, an interesting story evolves and the reader can piece together, however sketchy, an adventure from beginning to end of Joe’s experiences from his entry into the army at Camp Roberts to his untimely death in the South of France over 2 ½ years later. Due to the lack of detail and continuity in the letters of the campaigns and of the army’s activities in these letters, it would only beg the interested reader of these events to fill in the gaps for themselves. Therefore, just a collection of these letters alone without supportive narrative would lack effective usefulness. Recently there have been many publications of collections of war-time letters or excerpts from letters. This collection could be that, just another collection without an infilled narrative.

Another important value identified in this collection of letters is the detail and story that can be put together in particular regarding his family and their relationships. This alone may be of particular interest to family members and friends of the family, but probably not of great interest to the general reader, unless they are particularly interested in the social aspect of lives during those times.

So then the question arises, what if anything should be done with the letter collection. After much pondering I decided that there was a story here, not just about a lonely GI in a foxhole writing to his mother, but a story of a somewhat unique personality, whose experiences in life were both a reflection of the time and a reflection of a person who had a lot to offer to himself and others. I decided then, a biography was in order.

Should this book then be a biography with usage of only selected excerpts from the letters or should the letters be included complete and as written even if the some of the content might be considered mundane to the typical reader? I have taken a risk and elected to include the collection of letters as is, except for a few minor omissions. I did elect to re-type the letters, however, to help their readability— using a font similar to the original typing or handwriting. To only use excerpts and put the rest of the letters content to rest would devalue them for use other than being just a collection. These letters represent a history of the life and times of not only Joe and his family and friends, but a history of our country during those times. For this reason I chose to also add those letters he wrote to my mother during the 1930’s. Then with the offer from other relatives to use all of the 175 letters collected among family members, it made this concept all the more feasible to me. I concluded then to use the complete collection of letters and build a story around them. Part II of the book then was built on this concept. In this section I tried to fill in with brief content explanations of what I thought was needed, and to fill in with history between the letters. I also took the liberty to expand on selected issues and events which I thought would add more interest or completeness to the story.

Part I of the book reflects Joe’s life before his letter writing days as I understand it from information gathered from relatives, whereas Part III covers the aftermath of his life based also on information from relatives and from Army records.

Considerable research was done to help fill in the gaps with details for explanations of the thoughts and actions—in hopes the reader can easily follow the course of events with as much information as practical. Much has been written of this Great War and its consequences. It is not intended for this book to substitute any other efforts, but only to help substantiate them if it has any value in this regards at all. This is not intended to be either a comprehensive history or another war story, but a biography of a man involved, my Uncle Joe

JOE’S CHRONOLOGY

Aug 20, 1914—Johan S. Opheim, born near Fosston, Minnesota.

1917—Family moves to Montana homestead.

Oct 6, 1918—Father dies from Spanish influenza.

Nov 1918—Family moves back to Minnesota.

Spring 1919—Family returns to Montana homestead.

1920—Mother (Lena) marries Sjur Tjon.

1925—Family moves to Hedstrom place.

1933—Joined National Guard.

May 1933 to May 1934—Worked in Civilian Conservation Corps.

May 1936—Graduated from High School.

1935 to1937—Worked at Fort Peck Dam and WPA projects.

1937 to 1941—Salesman for Children’s Activities magazine.

Dec 3, 1941—Inducted into US Army.

Dec 8, 1941 to Mar 15, 1942—Basic training and infantry training at Camp Roberts, California.

Mar 16, 1942 to Late April, 1942—Advanced infantry training at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Apr 30, 1942 to early Sept 1942—Stationed at Fort Ord, California

Sept 19, 1942 to Oct 23, 1942—Training at Camp Picket, Virginia

Nov 8, 1942 to March 15, 1943—Near Casa Blanca, Morocco

March 18, 1943 to May 5, 1943—Algeria

May 5, 1943 to July 7,1943—Near Bizerte, Tunisia

July 10, 1943 to Sept 19, 1943—Sicily

Sept 19, 1943 to Late Feb1944 Southern Italy

Late Feb 1944 to May 23, 1944—Anzio Beachhead, Italy

June 4, 1944 to Aug 12, 1944—Rome and then Pozzuoli, Italy

Aug 15, 1944 to Aug 28, 1944—Southern France

Aug 28, 1944—Killed in Action, Southern France

PART I

IN THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER 1

OCTOBER DAWN

Generally when one thinks of dawn, one thinks of daylight breaking in the eastern skies—a time that usually brings some contentment and promise of a new day. There may have been a pretty sunrise in the eastern Montana skies on the dawn on October 6, 1918, but it was probably not appreciated then by many of the homesteaders residing on the plains in northeastern Montana. This was particularly true for the Opheim family who were huddled in their small homestead shack in the northern portion of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, just a few miles south of the West Fork of the Poplar River. Severt Opheim, at 34 years of age, had succumbed from the flu that day.

The dreadful disease, now known as the infamous Spanish Flu of 1918, reaped the lives of an estimated 100 million people throughout the world, including approximately a half million in the United States. In India alone, 20 million died. Historically, this influenza epidemic was considered the fastest killing epidemic known, and compares with the mortality rates of the Bubonic Plague epidemic in the Middle Ages. In just 7 days, it swept across America and within three months, it affected the entire world. In some populations where immunity to man-caused diseases was low, such as with Eskimo and South Pacific populations, up to 60% of the populations died.

This mutant virus caused a severe infection in the lungs, which could eventually kill the victim by causing the lungs to fill up with blood and the victim to suffocate. Persons of any age were susceptible to the disease, but ironically, it was particularly threatening to men and women in their prime years, between 20 and 40 years of age, and usually those in the best of health. At least this was the situation regarding the deaths reported in the Scobey Sentinel of Friday, October 11, 1918, a local weekly newspaper published in Scobey, Montana representing the area in which the Opheim family had settled.¹ It reported of Severt’s death and 15 others that died that week of the flu in that sparsely populated area: one was an infant, one was age 65, and the others ranged between the ages of 25 and 41. In Wolf Point, a neighboring town 35 miles south of the Opheim homestead, 15 people had died. Schools and public places were closed by order of local health offices. It was reported the flu subsided quickly in that town, but persisted in the rural areas for many more months.²

A few days earlier, Sjur (Sam) Tjon (pronounced Chun), a friend of Severt’s, brought Severt home from the Gert Peterson place, which was located across the Poplar River to the east, where they had all been helping thresh grain. Severt had gotten sick in the middle of the night and he soon became unconscious at times and sometimes delirious.

Local doctors had an unbearable workload those weeks in October. The epidemic even caused some to resign from the profession, but most of doctors, as few as there were, were the typical country doctors whose dedication to their call was impeccable. Such was the case with Doctor Collinson, who heard about Severt’s illness and came out from Scobey to see him, but he could do nothing. Later a doctor from Poplar, a town at the mouth of the Poplar River about 40 miles away, came to the homestead since he was in the vicinity attending other flu victims. He gave Severt an injection of some substance not now known and Severt revived for a short time after the shot, but it was too late, and he died on October 6.

Severt’s wife, Lena, was six months pregnant at the time with their fifth child. Tillie, their second child, and their oldest son, Knute, both got the flu shortly after Severt died. The flu affected them for several days, but they both recovered. The oldest daughter, Martha, and the youngest son, Johan (Joe), were not affected. Tillie and Knute were of heavier stature than the other two were, and some think for some unknown reason, that may have been a factor. Lena, however, was not very heavy, but she was carrying a baby—she also got the flu immediately and Sam Tjon took her to the hospital in Scobey.

Tillie, who was eight years at the time, remembered some of the horror and grief they experienced. She recalled that Severt’s body was laid across chairs out in the lean-to kitchen to await transportation into Scobey for burial. She remembers that his body turned very blue. It was several days that the children, left mostly alone, had to stare at the body until John Hughes, a bachelor neighbor, could return from Scobey with his run-about car, which had room for a casket to fit in the back. His car must have been in great demand in those days, since it could make the 25-mile trip to Scobey much faster than a wagon and team. It is quite likely that Severt’s team and wagon still remained at Gert Peterson’s place or that there was not another team, wagon, and driver available. Several neighbors, upon hearing of Severt’s death, came to help the family as best they could. They stayed outside the shack to avoid being contaminated and visited through the windows. Mrs. Crawford, however, a county nurse, came in to take Tillie and Knute’s temperature.

Severt’s body was laid to rest in the Scobey cemetery, located on the west edge of that town. Tillie and Knute were much too sick to attend the funeral as the flu lasted with them several days. Lena, was also much too sick to attend her husband’s funeral as she laid in the local hospital. Severt’s brother, Otto, came out from Minnesota in time to attend the funeral. Shortly later Lena’s brother Benjamin also came out from the same Minnesota community by train upon hearing of Severt’s death. He and Otto then took care of the children and the homestead until Lena’s health recovered. Soon Lena, Tillie, and Knute all recovered and the family then tried to return to some sense of normality. The flax crop had yet to be threshed. Mr. Lekvold, a neighbor in the Silver Star community, and others came and threshed the flax crop.³ Ironically, Mr. Lekvold also died shortly after that from the flu.

What a sorrowful and challenging time that must have been on the emotions and the physical well being of those homesteaders and their families. Severt, still just a young man, left a young family on the lonesome plains to seek out a living without him. His dream of having his own place in the sun had just started and he would not see it fulfilled. Johan, the youngest child at the time, was only four years old—old enough to experience the horror, but certainly not old enough to understand it. He must have carried the scars of the loss of his father with him for the rest of his life as well as the memory of his traumatic death.

CHAPTER 2

JOE’S BEGINNINGS

On August 20, 1914, in a farmhouse near the small rural community of Olga, Minnesota, Johan Saeter Opheim became the fourth child of Severt Victor Opheim and Olena (Lena) Antoinette Aune Opheim. He was named after a Lutheran Pastor, Johan Saeter, who had baptized all their children, including Johan. He joined a family of 2 older sisters, Martha and Otillia (Tillie), ages 6 and 4 respectively, and a brother, Knute, who was then 16 months old. Olga included a post office and not much else. It was located about 10 road miles north and east of Fosston, Minnesota, the nearest trade center.

Several years earlier than this, Johan’s parents, Severt and Lena, journeyed to the Olga area and purchased a farm. They both had been raised on farms farther west near the town of Fertile, Minnesota and there they were married in 1907. Severt was born there, but Lena’s family, the Ole Aune’s, moved to Fertile from Lake Park, Minnesota in 1881, the same year in which Lena was born. Both of them were of Norwegian heritage as was very common for the settlers in that part of Minnesota.

Severt’s father, Knute Pederson Opheim, and his mother, Martha (Marta) Sjursdatter Brekhus, both immigrated from Voss, Norway. They did not immigrate together, but they obviously knew each other in Voss and stayed in touch with one another, for they somehow rejoined and were married in Dodge County in Southern Minnesota. Knute, however, had first settled in Spring Prairie, Wisconsin prior to moving to Dodge County. Soon after their marriage, they finally settled on a farm about 1 and 1/2 miles southeast of the town of Fertile in the Garfield Township. Lena’s father, Ole Olsen Aune, was born in Surendal, Trondhjem, Norway and immigrated first to Lake Park, Minnesota, which is about 50 miles south of Fertile. He and his family then settled on a farm in the Sundal Township south and east of Fertile in neighboring Norman County. Lena’s mother, Synneva Iverson, was born in America at Spring Prairie, Wisconsin. Her parents also had emigrated from Norway.

Although the family most often called him Johan all his life, he was also known as Johnnie when he was small, because he always wanted Johnnie cake for his birthday. In later years, he became known as Joe, particularly to those outside of the family.

Johan had started out life with difficulties immediately at birth. He had a severe abscess in his ear and almost died within the first few days of his life. Tillie particularly remembered this incident as they were having a family picture taken outside their farm house near Olga back in Minnesota, and she felt bad because Johan, who was just a few days old, was too sick to be taken outside and was not included in the picture. He was sick quite often as a child. He was somewhat thinner in structure than his brother Knute.

There were still a lot of woods in the Olga area at that time, since much of the land had not yet been cleared for farming. There were also some remnant populations of wolves and a few reported sightings of bears yet in the vicinity. Lena often worried about the children’s safety because of this and continually warned them to stay near the house and not to venture beyond the banks of the small river nearby and not to cross the bridge. The Olga community was located in a township called Eden, which was somewhat appropriate since the area was quite fruitful with wild berries, especially bringebaer, or more commonly known as raspberries in English. Often relatives from Fertile and Erskine would come to visit and share in harvesting the fruit.

Norwegian was the prominent language in the area at that time and was spoken almost exclusively at home. Although both Severt and Lena had learned English at least well enough to get by, they refrained from speaking it at home while in Minnesota. Interestingly, when they later moved to Montana, the trend became reversed and the youngest children in the family never learned to speak Norwegian. Martha and Tillie both went to school part-time for a year or two and tried to learn English, but were not very successful at it and had to learn it later when they were in Montana, where it was compulsory.

Severt kept hearing glowing stories about great opportunities for farming in Montana. Eastern Montana, and in particular the northeastern portion of Montana, was late to develop under the Manifest Destiny era initiated in the 19th century. This area was one of the last to become developed and settled agriculturally in the continental United States, exceptions being some of the later developing irrigation project areas under land reclamation efforts. It was not until after 1895 that a few adventurous pioneers established cattle and sheep ranches along the various forks of the Poplar River in what is now Daniels County.

Since Thomas Jefferson’s Corps of Discovery team led by Captains Lewis and Clark in 1805 first traveled along the Missouri River, only minimal settlement had occurred in that area and that was only at a few strategically located sites for trading furs and goods near the Missouri River bottom. After the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne uprisings in 1876 and their subsequent submission to the U.S. Government soon afterwards, the Fort Peck Indian Reservation was established, primarily for the Assiniboine Tribe. The Assiniboines had been the dominant aboriginal group occupying that area from the Missouri River to the Saskatchewan River in Canada. In 1881 after Sitting Bull’s escorted surrender back to the United States at the Woody Mountains just north of the border, some bands of the Sioux were moved onto the Fort Peck Reservation where they eventually became the numerically dominant population on the reservation. The reservation boundaries continued to undergo modifications until 1889, which now remains as the current boundary. The Indians resided almost exclusively along the immediate north side of the Missouri River, which also served as the reservation’s south boundary. This left the vast remaining area of the reservation as unoccupied and open rangeland. Only occasionally would the natives traverse north across the reservation, mainly for trips into Canada for seasonal activities and to visit relatives there. Except for some unauthorized use by range cattlemen and sheepmen, most Anglo-Americans at the time thought of the area as lying in waste and that it should be developed and be productive. From their viewpoint, the Indians seemed to have little use for the area since they adapted to a more sedentary lifestyle. Long-gone were the bison hunting and other food gathering days, except for an occasional wild berry-harvesting excursion. The Missouri River bottom was always their mainstay residence, because there they had dependable water, shelter, and ample forage for their horses. Now it became their permanent year-round abode.

After the boundary change, much of the land north of the reservation to the Canadian border soon became available for homesteading.¹ Congress had only recently expanded the land allowance under the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 from 160 acres to 320 acres. This was, to the many farmers in the mid-west who struggled to make ends meet on 160 acres or less, a temptation that they could not resist. At the same time, the Great Northern Railroad leader, Jim Hill, was busy promoting development of the area primarily for his railroad and offering free transportation for settlers and low rates to transport their stock and supplies for homesteading.

In 1913, the surplus lands not allocated to the Indian population under Indian allotment procedures were opened up to homesteading. Procedures for homesteading on the reservation were somewhat different than the procedures for the outside-lying public domain lands in that there was an actual purchase of the land required. By this time most of the choicest parcels of land outside the reservation had been claimed. Jim Hill had just completed a spur railroad line that linked the strip of land north of the reservation to the main Great Northern line at a juncture at Bainville, Montana, over 100 miles to the south-east. The town of Scobey, named for a previous agent of the Fort Peck Reservation, was relocated to where the spur line stopped at that time, and soon it became a major grain-marketing hub.

Sometime in 1915, Severt sold the farm near Olga and brought his family back to Fertile to live on a farm next to his dad. He then took a trip to Eastern Montana to see for himself this supposed land of Zion. Some acquaintances from the Fertile area had proceeded him there and spread encouraging words of the area back to Minnesota. His Aunt Anna, whose previous husband, Brown Horvick who had passed away in 1905, re-married in 1912 to Gullick Fadness, a widower. Gullick had developed a ranch on the Middle Fork of the Poplar River in 1907. The ranch was located about 15 miles northwest of the town of Scobey and ran cattle, but was most famous as a horse ranch supplying horses to the settlers in the local area. Anna, no doubt, had encouraged Severt to come out to Montana and investigate for himself.

Severt soon filed on a homestead for a parcel of available land on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation approximately 20 miles south of Scobey. Severt stayed with Anna and her family at the Fadness ranch periodically until he had built a small house and barn on the homestead. By early 1917, his homestead was ready for his family and he sent for them.

Lena and the 4 children came by train to Scobey in the spring of 1917. They met Severt in Scobey and Tillie remembers that they stayed their first night at the Thunem place in town. Thunems also had a ranch on the West Fork about 7 or 8 miles from the homestead. Severt never had a car, but a friend of his drove the family out to the homestead the next day. What a different landscape this was than what the family had previously experienced. Martha recorded that we all went to live in this place, with rolling prairies, clear blue skies, and where we could see for miles and miles, and so vastly different from the lush and lovely Minnesota. This was probably a common first impression for most homesteaders when entering this area. Whether they were from the mid-western states or had emigrated directly from Europe, this was the most sparsely populated—arid— and open land they had ever seen. Many never did get used to it and yet others learned to love it. For many it was like a tranquil sea with unlimited space, freedom and its own beauty—to others, it was harsh and bleak, and for most, it was probably either one at different times. Lena at first thought it was a terrible place with no trees. She also found the train-ride into Montana depressing with all the openness and the dust storms, but in time, the country grew on her.

The four Opheim kids, however, seemed to enjoy it. They soon explored all the hills, coulees, and badlands. They learned, often the hard way, how to avoid the prickly-pear cactus that often was hiding where the grass was tall. They found ancient buffalo trails and skeletons, discovered tipi ring sights, and gathered buffalo and cattle chips for firewood, learned which wild berries were edible and where to find them. It is interesting to note that an 1859-60 War Department map labeled these hills as Buffalo Bluffs. This map pre-dated the extinction of the buffalo from the region by several decades, so it was probably good buffalo habitat at one time. Occasionally, Indians or Gypsies would traverse the area within sight of the homestead. Lena would warn the kids that Gypsies, in particular, might steal them and they were to stay away from them and come into the house. Other than this and occasional severe weather, there was not much to keep the kids from enjoying the freedom that this type of landscape offered. As there was very little school available the first few years, there was ample time for the kids to learn the surrounding area. Besides spending leisure time playing in the hills, they would ride Lady, a tame old riding and buggy horse.

Trips to town or even to visit neighbors were few and far between. Their form of transportation was a buggy, a grain wagon, or a sleigh in winter when there was sufficient snow. There were two draft horses for fieldwork and pulling the grain wagon, Prince and Polly. Later Severt purchased two more draft horses, Dick and Rowdy (who was well named since he was hard to catch). Lady had a colt they named Maude and later, they added Babe, who was a mid-sized horse used for draft and riding, probably a Percheron.

The family, though poor and isolated, always ate well and never went hungry. There was always a cow or two for milk, chickens and pigs for a food source as well as a garden. Wild berries were not always dependable if there was a late frost in the spring or a drier than normal year. When available, however, there would be chokecherries for making jelly, syrup, and sometimes wine; June berries (also known as sarvice berries or Saskatoons in other locales); bull or buffalo berries; and sometimes, though rare, gooseberries. One time they even camped overnight a few miles away in the hills southwest of the homestead while picking berries. Lena also planted rhubarb plants and raspberry bushes brought from Minnesota.

Severt was especially proud of the good water source he had found in locating the homestead. The water was in a spring located in a coulee below the house. It was then carried up the hill either in buckets or put in a barrel on a stone-boat (skid-sled) and hauled to the house by a horse. The house was a one-room shack with a lean-to kitchen and a small, crude upstairs loft for the kids and an occasional hired hand to sleep in. Fuel for cooking and heating was catch-as-catch-can situation. Wood was very scarce and a premium item. Low quality coal was surfaced-mined by hand at a few locations in the hills. Often buffalo or cow chips were used. The kids would get a nickel for each gunnysack full they collected. Probably most of the chips were from domestic cattle as the buffalo had vanished from the area decades before and most of their droppings would have disintegrated by then; however, they called them buffalo chips just the same.

Tillie recalled that first Christmas on the homestead when Severt went to town and bought the kids skis and Christmas candy. The kids cherished Severt and, of course, their mother also. They would follow him all over the homestead when he was trying to work, especially when he was fencing in the boundary of the homestead. He liked kids and the feeling seemed to be mutual. The kids had to pitch in and help where they could. Knute and Johan were pretty small yet to be of much help, but the girls did light chores.

In those days it was rare to see any native big game, such as mule deer, white-tail deer, and antelope which are now quite common. There were game birds such as sharp-tail grouse and ducks and geese along the river. Most of the rabbits were jackrabbits (prairie hares) and were not very desirable to eat.

Severt had a lever action 1899 Savage Model 25-35 rifle that he kept handy in the house at all times.² An incident about this rifle as told by family members is that Severt lent his rifle to a German immigrant neighbor. This neighbor and Severt were evidently on speaking terms, but there was still some friction between the two. The neighbor was very patriotic to the Kaiser, and probably since America was by then involved in the war, there were some disagreements between the two of them concerning national loyalties. In time, the neighbor returned the rifle; however he plugged it with wire so when it was next fired, the barrel would probably explode and seriously injure or kill whom ever would fire it. Severt luckily noticed this before he ever fired it. He removed the wire and cleaned the barrel, but never confronted the neighbor about it. This may have been what we now call a hate crime. Ironically, the neighbor and his family became close friends with Severt’s family for many years and nothing was said to them about the incident. The wire in the barrel evidently did permanent damage since it would never shoot accurately after that, so the barrel must have become warped on the inside.³

The nearest neighbors were the Otto Krause’s who lived a little more than a mile to the north of the homestead, and to the west about the same distance were the McMullins.⁴ Mrs. McMullins parents also lived in a dug-out shack a short distance from their house. They always gave the Ophiem kids cookies when they visited there. Other than that, neighbors were many miles away. Much of the land on that side of the West Fork and in the hills to the south and west was Indian or tribal-owned land and it remains so to this day. In 1918, a post office named Kahle, was located a little north of the Krause place. Lillian Krause, Severt’s Aunt Anna’s stepdaughter and Gullick Fadness’s daughter, was the first postmistress. Later the Kahle Post Office was moved farther north across the West Fork, located in what is now Daniels County.

School was almost non-existent in those days. On the north side of the West Fork and about three miles from the homestead, a school called the Liberty School was open for three months that first summer that the Opheim family moved there. Johan was too young to attend, but the other three children did attend and tried to converse in English the best they could. That was the only school the kids got that year. The next year, the McMullins opened up their home for a school for a few months and they continued that service for the immediate community for the next year or two. There, school was usually limited to the summer months only. The same situation existed for the Liberty school when they could find a teacher, and the older kids would occasionally attend there.⁵

How much of this life Johan remembered or comprehended before his father’s death was probably rather dim, but no doubt he would carry some of these experiences and values-formed from them into adulthood.

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After Johan’s father’s (Severt) death, Lena and her family all moved back to Minnesota and by Thanksgiving 1918, they were residing with her parents on a farm near Gary, Minnesota, which is about ten miles south of Fertile. Lena was heavy with child and needed all the help she could in raising the other four children. At Christmas time, Severt’s parents came and got Knute to stay with them, but he would not go unless Tillie also went with them. Tillie and Knute then stayed with them the rest of the school year. Martha and Johan stayed with Lena and her parents and Martha went to school there. On January 25, 1919, Lena gave birth to a baby girl, whom she named Verna Lenora.

Lena was determined to go back to Montana and try to make the homestead a success, so in the late spring of1919, she, Tillie and baby Verna returned to the Montana homestead. She left Martha with Severt’s sister Ellen Bolstad, Knute remained at the Opheims and Johan stayed with Lena’s parents, the Aunies. How devastating this must have been for Lena, her husband now gone, separated from her children by hundreds of miles, and to return to the open dry prairie, which was experiencing a drought—a drought that started in 1918 and continued through 1920. It was particularly dry during the growing season of 1919, known as the driest year on record in Montana. Only a trace of rain, if any at all, fell during the month of June, which is normally one of the wettest months in that region of Montana. To make matters even worse, grain prices soon plummeted after World War I, adding to the despair of making ends meet. Lena was both brave and determined to make a go of it regardless of the difficulties.

It is not clear how long Severt’s brother, Otto or Lena’s brother, Benjamin stayed in Montana after Severt’s death, or who took care of the homestead and the livestock until Lena returned. There was a friend of Severt’s, who was in the community and available to help—a Norwegian immigrant by the name of Sjur (Sam) Tjon. He was the one who brought Severt home when he contracted the flu. Sam and his cousin, Per (pronounced pear), had first immigrated to Canada, like many during at hat time,