Pioneer Woman in Minnesota

Mathilda Olson's father, Ole S. Olson and his wife Martha immigrated from Christiana, Norway in the year 1866 with their three children.

Three more children were born before Martha passed away in 1880. Mathilda was only five years old when her Mother died.

She was baptized and confirmed at the Rolling Forks Church near Glenwood, Minnesota. After her Mother's death, she was raised by her older sister, Hannah, on the farm in Rolling Forks Township and was responsible for much of the cooking and cleaning around the
house.

Billy and Mathilda were married in Duluth in 1904, and lived in a house on West First Street in Duluth, Minnesota. Their first child Lloyd was born in the spring of 1905. Their second child , Gladys was born in the winter of 1907. Mathilda's third pregnancy resulted in twin girls, Vivian and Myrna, in the fall of 1911. After the birth of the twins, the family moved to Bear River, Minnesota where they homesteaded in a cabin for three years.

They lived off the land, and raised vegetables, chickens, cows and pigs. During this time, Billy (William) worked in Duluth. Mathilda and the children stayed on the homestead so that they could file a claim on the property. Mathilda earned extra money by driving their horse and sled through the snowy and rough roads as a school bus. She would heat bricks and place them on the floor of the sled under a blanket to keep the children's feet warm.

One winter while they were living in Bear River, the logging camp in Buel, Minnesota near Hibbing, MN, needed a cook. Mathilda went to work in the camp as a cook, and Billy and his brother, Earl, worked at the logging camp.

"This is Duluth, Dora Mary MacDonald, published by the Central High School Printing Dept. 1950, Duluth MN."

"The buildings have succumbed to the ravages of time. But the memories remain in all their rich detail. That was October 12, 1918."

In 1918, Billy bought a new house in Duluth when they had satisfied the homestead on the cabin. In the fall of 1918, a Spanish influenza epidemic struck the country. On October 11,1918 all public gatherings were forbidden, all schools, theaters and churches were closed. The following day was the beginning of one of the worst forest fires in the history of Minnesota. It was reported that 11,382 families registered for aid, 2,100 were injured and 106 died of flu and pneumonia. It was later estimated that more than 1,000 people were lost, many of whom were never identified."

In a story written by my Aunt, Myrna, the family didn't know about the fire until the day they had planned to move to their new house. Their new house had been destroyed. The hospitals were full and the National Guard Armory was opened to the refugees.

"On the day our Dad came to bring us to our new home we were very aware of something strange about his behavior. We found to our dismay he had been fighting fire for days but could not save our beautiful home on the Fairview Road. So they took a long hard look at the situation with the conclusion we still had our health and more importantly, each other. So hitched old Clive up to the wagon for the last time and drove off. Leaving the only home I had known in all my short life at Bear River, Minn.

We soon had a cow and fared quite well. But not many days later we were all sick with the "flu" bug that was sweeping the country. My older sister Gladys came down with pneumonia. I can still see my Dad on his knees praying that God would spare her life.

We were taken to the hospital where they took people from the "poor farm" to. The boys pelted the sled with snowballs as the horses clopped along. There was no room at the Hospital for us so we were admitted to the nurses' home next door. We were all so thankful for this merciful respite. Soon we were well enough to go home except my sister who was still fighting for life. But now she had some help to make it." Gladys survived the flu and went on to live and long and happy life.

The Houck family later moved to a house on East 2nd Street in Duluth where Billy and Mathilda spent the rest of their lives. Billy died in 1939 from a heart attack at the age of 63. Mathilda died in 1945 of throat cancer at the age of 70.