Through all of time religion has dictated many peoples’ beliefs and to what lengths they would go to in achieving their dreams and goals. Unfortunately, war is usually a big factor in religion. This was not the case with my more recent ancestors. The reason my family decided to leave Sweden was because of several years of severe famine and more so to have religious freedom. The state controlled the churches and this was not to my grandparents liking. In 1878 they emigrated from the country they had lived all of their lives. America, the United States, was where they decided they would go, having learned that the government and churches were completely separate and you could worship however you pleased.

When arriving in this country, they also learned about homesteading. Many others, who arrived earlier, had done so and maybe had chosen the better locations for the purpose of farming with only outskirts in that area remaining. For my father, he saw the land that he homesteaded differently. To him, farming was less important than ranching and he was able to acquire the rest of the section connected to the 160 acres that was homesteaded. Knolls and hills dominated that land which was fine for ranching but it also provided a beautiful setting for our country home that he built. With a windmill perched on a knoll higher than our house, gravity provided us with pure, cold and very tasteful running water. A ravine about fifty yards from the house served as a leaching field for waste to run into, again by gravity. The ingenuity of a pioneer was evident in everything my father did.

The primary reason for coming to this country was religion. After worshipping in surrounding churches when first arriving, they soon wanted their own church. With an abundance of sod they built the church pictured at the top of this page. My father, at about age 35, is second from the left in this picture and most of the people are Swanson relatives. This sod church was completed about 1909, with the Swanson cemetery next to it. Unfortunately, the church was built on lower ground than the cemetery and a huge rain storm flooded the area. With water rising high on the walls, both inside and out, the sod settled and became just a big pile of mud. With the church gone the members soon were able to use the Dry Valley High School on Sundays for services. Guest preachers occasionally provided ministry but normally services were conducted, quite admirably, by members of the community, who served as lay ministers.

Who would have thought the desire for the freedom of choosing a place to live and worship would touch so many lives.