ERICKSEN, ALBERT E. AND FLORENCE M.

Albert F. Ericksen was the son of Erik Peter and Christine (Pedersen) Eriksen, immigrants from Denmark to the United States in 1868. They located in Chicago where their home, belongings, and employment as a cabinetmaker were lost in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Ensuing panic forced them to move west. In 1878 they settled on a farm in Platte Co. Nebr. Here Albert was born near Lindsay on September 2, 1882, the youngest of a family of seven.

Albert's older brother, Erik P. and brother-in-law, Simon Simonson had moved their families to homesteads near Mullen in Cherry County. In the spring of 1907, Albert filed claim to portions of Sections 9,10, and 15, Tw.25, R.34 about nine miles north of Hecla. With his brother's help, he measured his claim, built a shack, and started to break up the required ten acres of land, The first evening he turned his three horses loose to graze and the next morning they were gone. With halter ropes in hand, he started track-ing them, which was not difficult because of overgrazing near the source of water – first by the buffalo and then by the “101'' cattle. The horses were found 8 miles and 2 hours later. The ash, cedar, willow, and hackberry along the Middle Loup River provided the posts for the two-wire fence for the needed horse pasture. (The two foot cedar stumps attested to the fact that some trees had escaped the buffalo bulls and prairie fires a number of years before the white man came with ax and saw).

Delight School Dist. # 119 was formed and a frame schoolhouse was built in the commu-nity. The first teacher was Miss Florence Luke, who had taken a homestead in south Cherry Co. near that of her father, William Luke. Florence was born in Colfax Co., NE on July 26, 1886. On December 31, 1912, Florence and Albert were married at the home of her parents. Florence's two cows were combined with Albert's cattle under the “40'' brand which was later changed to the “4-0'' brand.

In the summer of 1914, Florence's father helped construct a 24 x 24 ft. frame house. This was prompted by the aversion to mice in the ceiling and rattlesnakes behind the door of the “soddy'' and the birth of a daughter, Wilameme on July 22, 1914. Three sons were added to this family: Wilbert, November 22, 1915; Paul, April 6, 1918; and Erik, January 5, 1920.

The Ericksens began to buy small tracts of land as homesteaders gave up the harsh life. Albert and Florence purchased their first Hereford cows in 1919 as a first step in improving the quality of their cattle and by that time they were experimenting on winter-ing cattle on cotton cake and range. Although they bought a share in the Mullen Telephone Co. in 1916, no phone was installed at the ranch until four years later. An Edison Cylinder-type phonograph provided much pleasure for the family and in the 1920s a new radio graced the home which the neighbors gathered to enjoy. Falling cattle prices in the eearly 2Os made for a serious situation. The automobile was put on blocks and horses were used exclusively.

In 1926 the frame buildings on the Loup River were loaded on wagons, pulled by 24 horses and hauled nine miles to establish the ranch home site on Section 2. In the middle of the Great Depression of the 30s, Albert died suddenly on January 4, 1934. The family struggled to carry on, the operation contin-ued to expand and The Ericksen Cattle Company was formed. Their accomplish-ments of conservation of the land was first acknowledged at a Pasture – Forage Banquet in the fall of 1941 at which time the family was recognized.

Albert and Florence participated in the civil and social functions of the area which included starting a rural Sunday School held at the school house. He was a Master Mason of Mullen Lodge #282 A.F.&A.M. and she was a member of Winifred Chapter #292, Order of the Eastern Star. They were both baptized in the Lutheran faith and later Florence became a member of the Methodist Church of Mullen. She was always interested in the betterment of her community and was the first to contribute toward a fund to build a hospital in Mullen.

In 1941 Wilbert and Paul left to serve their country and Florence and son, Erik, were left to operate the ranch. The daughter, Wilam-ene, taught school and married Henry J. Cox. Wilbert returned to marry Virginia Farrar of Maywood, NE.; Paul made a career in the army. He married Elsie Roberts of Gordon and they live in Newport News, VA. Erik married Mabell Osenbaugh of O'Neill, NE. He died as a result of multiple sclerosis in 1954.

Florence passed away March 16, 1950. She and Albert are both buried in Cedarview Cemetery in Mullen, Nebraska.

Life in the early days of the Sandhill area was harsh, but never discouraging because the love of the land and the improvement of its resources were ever upper most in the thoughts of this family.