| A History of STRUM and the TOWN OF UNITY by Roy Matson |
| THIS IS PAGE 14 | TABLE OF CONTENTS | PAGE BACK | PAGE FORWARD |
| learn of an appendectomy. Much bartering took place those early days as cash was scarce. Interest was 10% on loans, subtracted at the borrowing date. If payment was made by bank notes another 10% for exchange was subtracted. Norwegians were good woodsmen and had little difficulty obtaining work in the pineries. Pay was up to $15 per month those first years, bed and board included. Work began at daylight and ended at dusk. Compensation insurance was unheard of. Even Holte’s brother was killed by a falling branch on a Christmas Day. The woods boss bemoaned the time necessary to remove the body. It was a harsh life. After a shelter had been provided the first objective of an 1870 settler was to break the virgin soil. As mentioned earlier there was little timber because Indians had burned the hills periodically to insure a good blueberry crop. C. E. Wenberg, the first Chimney Rock settler, made a special mention of hilltops and knolls having a blue haze when this crop was ripe. The small brush was not too difficult to clear. Two span of oxen hitched to a breaking plow and tended by two men would turn an acre a day. A seed bed for wheat was usually planned because it was the only cash crop. Annual Delivery of Champion Binders. About 1895. (Picture-Description). Markets were far away prior to 1870 but the Western Wisconsin Railroad (WWR) reached Eau Claire that year and provided Beef River farmers with a one day trip. Return trips were risky as hold-ups occurred frequently. Settlers would travel in a group if possible. The amount of wheat raised was stupendous when one considers the equipment used. First tales tell of men using a cradle to down the grain. Just about everyone learned to tie the sheaves and shock, afterwhich cam stacking so the grain would cure. Then some small hand-fed separaters were used to thresh the wheat. Reapers had been in use since 1835 and undoubtedly the New Englanders had these implements. Esten Johnson was the first Norwegian to obtain one. Horsepower sweeps |