Ulrik Knudson Gigstad

Ulrick came to the United States from Valdres Valley in Norway via Bergen in April of 1857 on the Gaugerolf, docking in Quebec. Ulrick came with two brothers, one of who was Benedict and the other is not known because he was killed and no one talked about it much. Initially, the three worked on the Missouri River cutting cord word, where they built a log cabin with squatter's rights. They sold the wood for $4.00 a cord, and could cut 7 cords a day --- they sold the wood to the steam boats plying the Missouri River. Ulrick told a story about the adobe fireplaces the Missourians had in their cabins; they would put a long uncut log into the fire, and use the protruding portion as a seat, pushing it along int the fire as it burned.

They worked as mule skinners on the Santa Fe Trail, with oxen pulling conestoga wagons. On one trip a whole wagon load of dry goods (mostly yardage) spilled into the river as they were crossing, and they had to set up camp and remain there until all the merchandise could be dried out and packed up again.

Later in Colorado they worked winters in a saloon, and summers in their own gold mine. They worked without wages in the saloon, partly to learn to speak English, and they were allowed to keep the gold dust from floor sweepings, which was used as money. Their gold mine was a Cripple Creek, and they had to travel 30 miles to Denver for their supplies; the prairie grass grew 6 feet high, and there was always a danger from snakes and from bears. At the mine, they had and inclined shaft, the rails were made out of wood. They used a winch and rope to pull the loaded car up the wooden track. They crushed the ore washed it in slush boxes, and made as much as $600.00 a winter. One day the rope broke, sending the car crashing backward down into the mine, and the unknown brother was crushed and killed. They gave up mining, and went back to visit another brother, Ole K. Gigstad who had settled in Wisconsin. (Manitowoc)

Ulrick was hauling logs, and one day met Bertha Strand, a school teacher from LaCross, Wisconsin, walking along the road. They became acquainted and were eventually married. Ulrick homesteaded a quarter section (160 acres) of land in Brown County, Kansas, near Everest, paying $1.25 an acre for the land. He built a house,

with four large rooms upstairs, and four downstairs. He hired Danish labor for help in the construction, mixed his own paint, and bought finished lumber and window glass from Atchison. He hauled it in a wagon, and stacked it so that at hole was left in the middle, where wife Bertha rode wrapped in blankets while he walked beside the team. The barn was constructed of 8 x 8's, dovetailed and notched with plugs.

Ulrick was a religious; there were no playing cards in the home, no alcoholic beverages, and the sons were not allowed to smoke. He was determined that his own sons had to be farmers, and each was given a portion fo land when he married. Until a church was built in the area, and at times when it was impossible to attend church, Ulrick conducted services in the home. He was among those early settlers who organized and founded a church, and he, together with his brother Benedict were two of the three members of the building committee. On April 27, 1895, it was decided to build the Zion Lutheran Evangelical Church. The first communion service was on September 22, 1895, and among those registering, twenty altogether were Bendik (Bennedict), Ulrick, and wife

Bertha and daughters, Rosella and Anna.

From a Gigstad Genealogy by Dennis Gigstad, itself compiled from various sources