ERICKSEN, ALBERT E. AND FLORENCE M.

by Wilbert Ericksen

Entry F124 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Albert Ericksen.

Florence Ericksen.

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.