A story about how southeastern Montana (along the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad [CMStP&P]—a.k.a. the “Milwaukee Road”) was settled in the early 20th Century by homesteaders being duped by the US Government and the Railroad about the quality of the land. Turns out this section of America has terrible topsoil (“320 acres of dust”), but there was all this propaganda at the time about “dry earth farming” that really deceived people.
Well, all these hard-working American farmers—many recent European emigrants—move out with great hopes and dreams, work their butts off, and then find out how brutally hard it is with horrifically unproductive land and atrocious elements. At one point in the book, this man must pull down the fencing he’s spent countless hours erecting to use as firewood lest his family freeze to death. (And then you, Reader, think to yourself, ya know…I’m not sure I’d characterize my day as hard anymore.)
It’s very well-researched and laid out, but the reason this is a favorite of mine is that my paternal grandmother’s family went through this in this very same county. In fact, she was born there, but when she was still quite young (a toddler?), her family cut their losses and caught that eastbound train back to Wisconsin to start all over (before they starved). As it were, the Lutheran Church helped them finance it, and so when my grandmother became Roman Catholic years later, her parents were resentful because of how indebted they felt to the Lutheran Church.
Fascinating read and great antidote for feeling sorry for yourself.
— ᴘ. ᴍ. ʙ.
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