Columbia Along The Platte

by

Jon Presco

Copyright 2018

Ten hours after I wrote this, I found Rena Christensen and her People, camping along the Platte.

“As the Chosen Prophet of The Church of Art, I have the ability to summon, reborn, and channel the Great Artists of our Past, in order to arrive at Lost Truths. I cast off my disguise to expose a younger version of myself, for We Artists – ARE ONE!

We made America – even greater! Freedom is a work in progress! As the artist Bartholdi, I bring a message from The Eternally Creative Afterlife………”

https://www.myheritage.com/names/ernest_christensen

I had looked at the name of Rena’s father again……Thomas Ernest Christensen. You will find a lineage of Danish men named Ernest due to the naming of the eldest son after his grandfather. The Christensens converted to Mormonism in Denmark, and came to America on the ship ‘Obetrit’. They came along the Platte thru Nebraska. Some Scandinavian families remained in the State Rena was born in. Some came here from Utah after being disillusioned. Rena’s kin, is Halfdan Christensen. Halfdan is the son of Frodi, also Frodo. J.R. Tolkien was inspired by Rena’s people. Rena did not know much about her family tree. This is a great genealogical search, a psychic search, verses a psycho search. The Mormon cosmology is based upon gathering the souls of their dear departed in a Tree of Eternal Life. Rena was searching for something, someone, when she came to California. We found each other in order to fulfill a Endeavor.  Will there be a new Nation?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muses

https://rosamondpress.com/2018/01/09/fire-and-furry/

“Last night I watched several episodes of ‘The West’ while I worked on a floor plan of a house I placed on this farm I googled. I had just finished a Cape Cod that I put in the Back Bay of Boston where in Fantasy World I lived with Rena Easton after I convinced her we were meant to spend the rest of our lives together. It was her eyes. I missed her look, her view of the world. Then there was her gate. She walked the earth like a great stalking cat. She had animal magnatism up the Yin Yang.  I assumed this was because there is nothing there – there! When I took the train across America I stopped to see her in Lincoln. I brought up the idea that I could move here, rent an old farm and have a studio.

“There’s nothing here. You wouldn’t be happy here! She carefully informed me.

“You’re here.” was my pitiful retort, that her silence dismissed. She had a new lover.”

Alas, I found her – all of her! With the Planatir I searched for her. I am her lost husband that she married in Denmark before she boarded that awful ship, and set sail – straight into the largest storms sailors had not seen in a century. Rena was terrified. Lutherans gathered on the docks to curse her and her family. She converted when her parents did. She did not have a choice. A Lutheran minister married us so she would not be swallowed up by heathens in a heathen land.

Rena cowered below deck in a rope locker. She recited a thousands poems to keep herself from being frightened to death. In sight of New Orleans, he mother went below to tell her the good news. They were about to land.  Miss Christensen…….was dead. She was buried on a little island. She never set foot on the mainland. Rena was terrified of the sea when we were together in 1970.

Everything now makes sense, why Rena did not like the girls her aged, that said wicked things behind her back. In her letter, she says I would be proud to know she alas has friends. She is such a lost soul. She does not seem to love the three men she married. Rena is contentious, a real fighter. She is the epitome of the Mormon History in the New World – where they did not find friends, only enemies. Rena’s roots have been ripped out of her being. She is not grounded in the reality she once knew.

As the Christensen family leaves Saint Louis in a covered wagon, Rena rises from her lonely tomb, and follows. She is not a Lutheran, not a Christian, nor a Mormon. She is the Goddess Freya. Here core being has returned to the ancient religion. She was the Muse of Mormon Exodus to America. Other people’s saw her spirit, and called her Columbia.

https://rosamondpress.com/2018/01/19/the-church-of-art-2/

Alas, my epic tale has been freed from the snags and mud. The argument over ownership of America is no longer Rena’s and my concern – our concern! The Last Question remaining, is……….Does God Dwell in America? Where is God?

Jon ‘The Prophet’

“By late 1852, those who had joined the Mormon Church in Denmark were feeling like outcasts in the predominantly Lutheran Danish society. When John Forsgren was preparing for his return to Utah, he put together a company of 297 converts to join him. The people in this company sold their property for only a fraction of its value before they left. They were known as the “Scandinavian Mormon Migration,” the first large group of Mormons to travel from Denmark to the Great Salt Lake. Christian and Margrethe Christensen and their two sons were a part of this migration.

Alas I have traced my grandfather’s mother, IDA LOUISIANA ROSE, to WILLIAM ROSE, who sailed for Cowes Isle of Wight, with William Penn. William and his wife, Jane Sarah Ridgway, landed in Philadelphia in December 3, 1699. They sailed on the Canterbury, perhaps the most important ship that sailed the waters of the Isle of Wight.

Alas, the TWO ROSES are joined in my ROSY FAMILY TREE. This makes my family one of the foremost PATRIOTIC AMERICAN FAMILIES  in history. We fought off pirates to arrive here, so we could practice RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

https://rosamondpress.com/2016/06/15/william-rose/

 

https://user.xmission.com/~nelsonb/nebraska.htm

By 1850 about 400 Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes resided on the west coast. Another thirty- five Scandinavians who had crossed Nebraska included one Swedish-born person, thirty-two Norwegian-born people, and two Danish-born people who were living in the Utah Territory. Peter O. Hansen had been part of the very first company of about 150 Mormons, “three Negro ‘servants’,” and between two and six non-Mormons to leave eastern Nebraska for Utah in 1847. By 1850, however, Hansen had crossed the plains a second time and was back in his native Denmark. Twenty years later the Scandinavian population in Utah had grown to more than 7,000, that on the west coast was above 5,000, and the districts along the Platte River road (the state of Nebraska and the territory of Wyoming) had about 4,200 (about 4,000 of them resided in Nebraska). Some of the Scandinavians who settled in Nebraska came there directly, but others originally had different destinations in mind. Years of research on Danes in America led P.S. Vig to conclude that many of the earliest Danish settlers in western Iowa, particularly Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County, had been connected with Mormonism in one way or another before they left Denmark. Vig believed that the same was true for Danes in the eastern Nebraska areas of Omaha and Fremont as well as surrounding Douglas, Dodge, and Washington counties.² 

Their ship was in sight of Jamaica from February 23rd to the 25th. They all seemed happiest when there was a good wind because they could sail so much faster. After passing the West Indies their voyage was quite uneventful until the morning of March the 7th. This was a glorious morning for them as their eyes beheld the first glimpse of America. Later in the day they reached the Mississippi River and sailed up it until about four o’clock in the afternoon, when they dropped anchor. Shortly after dropping anchor John E. Forsgren went ashore to put in order the necessary preparations for the rest of the journey. That same evening a sister Jorgensen died. The following morning a casket was made and in the afternoon she was taken ashore and buried on a little island where there were many tree stumps and a little light house. Many of the company went ashore, this being their first chance to set foot on American soil. The ship remained at anchor here for several days, during which time several deaths occurred. On March 11th a Petersen child died, on the 12th a sister Christensen died, and on the 13th Brother Ipsen died. At about 1 A. M. March 14th, Jens Christian, the little son of Mads and Maren Jensen died. The Journal says, “and the body was buried. ” Family tradition has it that Jens Christian was buried in the Gulf of Mexico, but the Forsgren Company Journal places it on an island in the mouth of the Mississippi River.

As a result of his preaching against Lutheranism, Forsgren was charged with disruprion of the peace and ordered to be deported to the United States. The captain of the ship Forsgren was placed on allowed Forsgren to leave the ship when it docked temporarily in Denmark, and Forsgren traveled to Copenhagen and was reunited with Snow and Hansen. In February 1852, Snow appointed Forsgren as his successor as president of the church’s Scandinavian Mission, and Forsgren held this position until December, when he was replaced by Willard Snow.

Leader of pioneer company[edit]

Upon completion of his mission, Forsgren became the leader of an emigrating company of approximately 300 Latter Day Saints from Scandinavia and northern Europe. The company departed from Liverpool on 1 January 1854 and arrived in Salt Lake City on 30 September.

Later life and excommunication[edit]

In Utah, Forsgren initially settled in Brigham City, and later lived in Moroni, Santaquin, and Dover. He also lived in Carson City, Nevada for several years.

In 1879, Forsgren was excommunicated from the LDS Church for proclaiming himself to be a prophet and for denouncing Church President Brigham Young. Forsgren began to refer to himself as “John J. Branch”. He became regarded as an eccentric and was occasionally ridiculed in the Deseret News as the “Bench Prophet” because he lived in a tent near a bench in Salt Lake City, Utah. After his tent burnt down, he moved to Blaine County, Idaho to live with a daughter. He died in Salt Lake City at a friend’s house and was buried at Brigham City, Utah.

Two stories preserved by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus (died circa 1205 AD), who is widely recognized as having drawn his inspiration for the first nine books of his history of Denmark from the mythic material available to him, shed light on these otherwise obscure poetic references. They are the story of Frodi and his beautiful sister Gunvara, who weds the peasant Erik in Book V of Saxo’s Historica Danica, and the tale of Otharus and Syritha, whose very names reflect the Old Norse Odr and Syr, in Book VII. Together these two stories preserve the memory of Freyr and Freyja’s captivity among the giants, and how Freyja in particular was rescued by the mortal Odr, also called Erik, and how she became his bride. To some Saxo Grammaticus may seem like an unlikely source of Germanic Mythology, thus let us first examine the nature of Saxo’s histories, so that his value as a source is clear.

Although the Christianization of Scandinavia beheld a new institution in Scandinavia, the church, that sought to demonize the native gods, belief and reverence in the gods, including Freyja, remained into the modern period and melded into Scandinavian folklore. Britt-Mari Näsström (sv) comments that Freyja became a particular target under Christianization:

Freyja’s erotic qualities became an easy target for the new religion, in which an asexual virgin was the ideal woman […] Freyja is called “a whore” and “a harlot” by the holy men and missionaries, whereas many of her functions in the everyday lives of men and women, such as protecting the vegetation and supplying assistance in childbirth were transferred to the Virgin Mary.[38]

http://gersey.tripod.com/religion/mythology/freya_odr.html

Finn and Hengest is a study by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Alan Bliss and published posthumously in book form in 1982.

Finn and Hengest are two Anglo-Saxon heroes appearing in the Old English epic poem Beowulf and in the fragment of “The Fight at Finnsburg“. Hengest has sometimes been identified with the Jutish king of Kent. He and his brother Horsa (the names meaning “stallion” and “horse”) were the legendary leaders of the first Anglo-Saxon immigrants to Britain as mercenaries in the 5th century.

The book is based on an edited series of lectures Tolkien made before and after World War II. In his lectures, Tolkien argued that the Hengest of “The Fight at Finnsburg” and Beowulf was a historical rather than a legendary figure and that these works record episodes from an orally composed and transmitted history of the Hengest named in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.^[1] This view has gained acceptance from a number of medieval historians and Anglo-Saxon scholars both since Tolkien’s initial lectures and since the publication of this posthumous collection.

Tolkien’s lectures describe what he called the “Jutes-on-both-sides theory”, which was his explanation for the puzzling occurrence of the word ēotenas in the episode in Beowulf. Tolkien read the word as Jutes, and theorised that the fight was a purely Jutish feud, and Finn and Hnæf were simply caught up by circumstance. Tolkien explained both their presence and their ambiguous loyalty with his interpretation of the story.

Synopsis and interpretation by Tolkien[edit]

Hnæf, son of Hoc Half-Dane, is the lord of a Danish people who have conquered part of Jutland (probably the northern part of the Cimbrian Peninsula) and exiled its former Jutish rulers. Finn, king of Frys-Land (modern-day Friesland in the Netherlands) has allowed dispossessed Jutes to settle in his lands and enter his service. Finn marries Hnæf’s older sister Hildeburh, and sends their son (whose name was probably Friðuwulf) to be fostered in Hnæf’s household.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finn_and_Hengest

In the recent translation of Saxo’s Histories, titled Saxo Grammaticus, The History of the Danes Books I-IX” translated by Peter Fisher (1996), the renowned Old Norse scholar Hilda Ellis Davidson comments:

“The first nine books, presented here in the translation of Peter Fisher, are regarded by many as no more than a hotch-potch of ancient legends, speeches from heroic poems, selections from Icelandic sagas, rationalized myths, bits of Danish folklore, references to genealogies, echoes from Latin chroniclers and snippets of ….approved authors who featured in university syllabuses of the early Middle Ages.”

“As a token of her confidence, she told him he need no longer call
her, “Auntie.” The previous year, Bilbo had suggested that Frodo no
longer address him as, “Uncle,” if he wished. Plain, “Bilbo,” would
do. Frodo still called Bilbo, “Uncle,” now and then; it had become
too ingrained a habit. But, following suit, Rosamunda suggested Frodo
might call her, “Rosa,” or, “Rosamunda.” Frodo forgot, and called
her, “Auntie,” many times, but, within the space of an afternoon
tea, “Rosa,” she became.”

Rosamunda Bolger (née Took) was the mother of Fredegar “Fatty” Bolger
and Estella Brandybuck. She was married to Odovacar Bolger and was
known as Rosamunda Took prior to the marriage. They lived in
Budgeford in Bridgefields in the Eastfarthing of the Shire. Rosamunda
and Odovacar both attended the Bilbo’s Farewell Party in 3001 along
with their children.

https://rosamondpress.com/2014/01/14/i-dont-know-where-you-are/ https://rosamondpress.com/2017/12/25/a-english-rose-born-to-america/

https://rosamondpress.com/2017/08/29/seeing-into-the-planatir/

https://www.myheritage.com/names/ernest_christensen

https://rosamondpress.com/2017/08/28/rosamunda-bolger-brandybuck/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_River,_Nebraska

When the Mormon missionary Johan Erik “John” Forsgren was banished from Sweden in 1850, he and his partner Erastus Snow continued their missionary work in København. There they converted Christian and Margrethe Christensen, who named their second son Johan “Jon” Erastus Christensen (born June 11, 1852) in honor of those two missionaries.7

By late 1852, those who had joined the Mormon Church in Denmark were feeling like outcasts in the predominantly Lutheran Danish society. When John Forsgren was preparing for his return to Utah, he put together a company of 297 converts to join him. The people in this company sold their property for only a fraction of its value before they left. They were known as the “Scandinavian Mormon Migration,” the first large group of Mormons to travel from Denmark to the Great Salt Lake. Christian and Margrethe Christensen and their two sons were a part of this migration.

They camped on Tuesday, July 26, by the Wood River, and on Wednesday, July 27, by the Platte River. When they camped near the rivers, they had plenty of water and firewood. As they traveled along the Platte for the next couple of weeks, some of the deeper streams that needed crossing had bridges that had been constructed by earlier Mormon companies, while others were shallow enough to ford. The streams they had to cross had descriptive names, including Elm Creek, Buffalo Creek, Six Spring Creek, Black Mud Creek, Bluff Creek, Petite Creek, Rattlesnake Creek, Wolf Creek, Watch Creek, Crab Creek, and Sand Hill Creek. They camped near Buffalo Creek on Saturday, July 30. On Sunday, July 31, John Forsgren informed the travelers that when they reached their destination they would not choose where to stay but would be appointed a place.

The naming convention in Denmark at that time was for the first-born son to be named after his paternal grandfather and for the second-born son to be named after his maternal grandfather. This might lead one to believe that Peter had an older brother named Christen. However, in some locations the naming convention might have been different for an illegitimate son, who would be named instead after his maternal grandfather.6 With this in mind, it can be assumed that Peter was the oldest son in the family.

On Saturday, August 6, Christian Munk’s child fell off of the wagon, but was not injured.26 At their Sunday meeting on August 7, John Forsgren warned the people not to leave the camp without permission from their group’s captain, so that they could know where everyone was at all times. On Monday, August 8, Christian Christiansen died.27 On Wednesday, August 10, they were visited by a group of sixty Indians, begging for food, which the travelers gave to them. At their Sunday meeting on August 14, John Forsgren admonished the people to take care of themselves and not to try to take care of others.

On Saturday, August 20, they reached Fort Laramie, where they crossed the Platte River. By Monday, August 22, they were into the Rocky Mountains. Among the places they passed by and camped in along this leg of the journey were Little Spring Creek, Deer Creek, LaBonte River, Boyd Stream, La Prele Creek, Bad Slough, Sweet Water River, Devils Gate, Alkali Lake, Strawberry Creek, Pacific Creek, Little Sandy, Black’s Fork, and Ham’s Fork. On Thursday, August 25, Charlotte Thorp was run over by a wagon, but she survived the accident. On Sunday, August 28, Hans Larsen was married to Anne Marie Jorgensen.28 On Monday, August 29, Herman DePlade died. On Tuesday, September 13, Peter Madsen was mending a broken harness when one of his oxen got scared and dragged him for some time. He had to remain in the wagon for ten days before he could walk again.

On Tuesday, September 20, they arrived at Bridger’s Fort, where trail split. To the north, it became the Oregon Trail; to the west it became the Mormon Trail, heading toward the Salt Lake Valley. During this last leg of the trip, they passed Muddy Creek, Bear River, Echo Canyon, Cache Cave, East Canyon Creek, and Last Creek, until they finally arrived at Salt Lake City on Friday, September 30. Brigham Young directed the Danish immigrants to settle in what would later become Sanpete County, along the Sanpitch River.

Peter’s parents were Christian Christensen (born March 4, 1819, in Kirke Såby, Voldborg, Roskilde, Denmark)¹ and Margrethe Hansdatter (born April 26, 1826 in Skulleløv, Frederiksborg, Denmark).² They were married September 16, 1849, in København, Denmark. At the time they were married, Christian was working as a farm hand.³ During the early years of their marriage, they lived in København, where Christian worked as a laborer in a soap factory.⁴

Peter was born August 17, 1849 in København, Denmark,⁵ approximately one month before his parents were married. He was baptized the same day as his parents’ marriage, and the moral judgment of the parish priest seems to be evident in the comment uægte [illegitimate] included in two separate places on Peter’s birth and baptism record. His name at birth was Hans Peter Christensen. Apparently, he was known by his middle name during his early years, because he spent the rest of his life as Peter, probably never knowing that his original name was Hans. He also spent his life thinking his birthday was December 5, 1849, which is the date of birth listed on his death certificate.

https://rosamondpress.com/2011/12/02/tolkien-influenced-by-pre-raphaelite-brotherhood/

 

https://rosamondpress.com/2011/12/01/joaquin-miller-as-gandalf-the-grey/

https://rosamondpress.com/2017/08/29/palanatir/

https://rosamondpress.com/2017/08/29/rosamunda-took/

New Nation of Fromond

Footnotes for “From Saint Louis to Sanpete County”:

     20The journals from the journey simply say “The wife of C. Christiansen.” According to Conquerors of the West: Stalwart Mormon Pioneers, Vol. 1–2, edited by Florence C. Youngberg (Agreka Books, 1999), Christian Christiansen was the first Mormon convert in Denmark, and he married Christina Maria Hedvig Bruun in 1850. This book mentions their birth of stillborn twins near Keokuk.
21According to the LSD Church History web site, the child born on May 22, was Hannah Andersen, daughter of Wilhelm and Henrietta Andersen, but Hannah Andersen had actually been born on January 1, while the Forest Monarch was anchored in the River Mersey, so this couldn’t be her. The identity of this “Sister Andersen” remains a mystery.

It is difficult to find more information about this Niels Pedersen. The most likely candidate would be a Niels Pedersen whose gravestone in the Little Denmark Cemetery in Gowen, Michigan, says he was born in 1815 in Denmark and died in 1882. 

When the Mormon missionary Johan Erik “John” Forsgren was banished from Sweden in 1850, he and his partner Erastus Snow continued their missionary work in København. There they converted Christian and Margrethe Christensen, who named their second son Johan “Jon” Erastus Christensen (born June 11, 1852) in honor of those two missionaries.7

By late 1852, those who had joined the Mormon Church in Denmark were feeling like outcasts in the predominantly Lutheran Danish society. When John Forsgren was preparing for his return to Utah, he put together a company of 297 converts to join him. The people in this company sold their property for only a fraction of its value before they left. They were known as the “Scandinavian Mormon Migration,” the first large group of Mormons to travel from Denmark to the Great Salt Lake. Christian and Margrethe Christensen and their two sons were a part of this migration.

https://ericroots.wordpress.com/tag/peter-christian-christensen/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_E._Forsgren

https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Halfdan%20Christensen

All in all, the Smiths considered eastern Nebraska “a paradise of nature!” Two years earlier Christian Nielsen wrote that western Iowa was filled with endless fields of the best sort of grass. Nielsen commented that the oxen got fat and the fields and woods were “full of fruit.”²³

Hazards of the Trail

Even at its best, however, no journey across the plains in the second half of the 1800s was a pleasure cruise. (Including by rail, which will not be discussed here.) In relating the story of his experiences as part of one of the two handcart companies of 1857, C.C.A. Christensen mentioned the difficulties of the trip, as well as some of the lighter aspects. Christensen applauded the replacement of a Scottish leader by a Danish one when the company he was traveling in was re-organized after arriving in Florence from Iowa City. Christensen regretted the fact that so many books had to be left behind due to weight limitations, and remarked that the food supply was poor. Christensen also observed that the rigors of the walk led to fatigue, illness, and even death among the migrants. The story of kindness by the leader of a provision train ahead of them was also noted: An injured ox was given to the handcarters for food. The constant fear of stampeding bison and the inexperience of the Scandinavians as hunters meant that the company seldom ate the meat of the great shaggy beasts, so the ox was a welcome gift. Christensen’s journey was made more pleasant by the presence of a blind Norwegian woman whose laughter rang out when she unexpectedly found herself wading through a stream or river. He was also amused when an Indian carried several young girls, one at a time, across the Loup Fork River on horseback. Although footsore and tired from the long march, the men took turns at guard duty with the result that “we were not molested by either wild people or wild animals.” Christensen felt that the people were generally in good spirits and to top things oft`, the entire walk was concluded with the lead handcart flying a Danish flag.²⁴ Between 1856 and 1869 an estimated 4,000 Mormon converts, about one fourth of whom were Scandinavians, crossed the plains pulling handcarts.²⁵ Christensen’s company was fortunate that several stations had been set up along the last 400 miles of the trail to provide the migrating Mormons with flour. As the group got closer to Salt Lake City, wagons brought them additional supplies and carried the weakest and sickest people into the valley.²⁶ These measures had been taken in response to the fate of the handcart companies of 1856. In that year some 2,000 Latter Day Saints in five handcart companies crossed the plains. The first three arrived in relatively good condition, but the last two got a late start and were caught in freezing weather and snow on the trail. When the fourth handcart company of 1856 finally reached its destination on November 9, its numbers (originally 500) had been reduced by the deaths of an estimated sixty-two to sixty-seven people. No one is really certain how many lives were lost from the 575 members of the fifth company, but estimates range from 135 to over 200. (Allowance must be made for the migrants who dropped out at Ft. Laramie and took up residence there and others who trailed backwards to that point.) In addition to the handcarters who perished on the trail itself, there were those who died after their arrival in Utah, prompting one pair of historians to call the 1856 handcart migration “the worst disaster in the history of Western migration.”²⁷ The lesson had been learned. There were no more late starts after 1856. Even when the migrants made the largest part of the journey by rail between 1861 and 1868, some 2,016 “teams,” consisting of a wagon and four yoke of oxen and accommodating from eight to ten persons, were sent out from Utah as “church trains” to aid the emigrants in completing their journey.²⁸

http://files.lib.byu.edu/mormonmigration/articles/AfterWinterQuartersAndCouncilBluffsTheMormons.pdf

Some of the Scandinavians who left Utah and the Mormon religion behind no doubt objected to their marriage practices. Members of the Sinamark and Watt families often stated that they left Utah so that their daughters would not have to become the second or third wife of a polygamist at young ages. When Anna Maria Sinamark (who had journeyed to Utah as part of a handcart company while still a child) married Claus Andersen (Clausen) in Fremont in 1874, she was about eighteen years old. Anna Maria’s sister, Mary Anne, was also approximately eighteen when she married Mads Peter Hansen at his home in Colfax County, Nebraska on October 8, 1883. Anna C. (or Hannah) Watt, who had come to Nebraska from Utah as a ten year old, also happened to be about eighteen when she married John R. McCulley in 1875.³⁹ During the 1850s about half of the Scandinavian converts to Mormonism who emigrated to Utah were farm families, and in the 1860s they were a third of the total.⁴⁰ This statistic was reflected in the eastward migration, even when it went to the cities. John Schow, who later lived in Nance and Howard counties in Nebraska, claimed that he helped Mark (Markus) Hansen stack wheat in Spanish Fork, Utah. Hansen later settled in Omaha where he is best known for having started the Danish-American newspaper Den danske pioneer [The Danish Pioneer] and the organization that became the Danish Brotherhood in America. Hansen is believed to have come to Omaha in 1860 with others from his home county of Ribe. Hansen’s wife, Anna Nielsen and her parents had also come to Nebraska with Mormons. Anna stayed in Omaha where she married Mark in 1866, but her parents continued westward to Utah. Other farming families included the Borglums near Fremont, who owned 6,000 acres. The wood carver James Borglum went east from Provo, Utah to St. Louis, Missouri in 1868 (apparently to study medicine). Borglum’s sons, Guzton and Solon Hannibal, who later carved the monument at Mt. Rushmore, managed the farm while their father practiced medicine. Members of the Borglum family were found in the Omaha census in 1880 and the Fremont census for 1885.⁴¹

One possible motivation for farmers to leave Utah was that the homestead law took effect in the United States in 1862. It did not become valid in Utah, however, until 1869, by which time all the good land had been taken.⁴² The farming community in Utah was also affected by unrest among the Native Americans in the 1860s. In 1863 the Ute Chief Black Hawk began raiding communities in Utah. The raids continued throughout the 1860s. In Seiver County, Utah several farms were abandoned during the “Indian war” of 1865. The federal census for Seiver County revealed that many of the farms remained unoccupied in 1870.⁴³

The Danites and the Native Americans were blamed for numerous murders and killings on the Mormon trail and in Utah. The Danites were an alleged secret order of Mormons. Supposedly formed around 1837, the Danites were rumored to have killed many apostate Mormons and others who defamed the church of the Latter Day Saints. John Schow (a son of Søren Schow) said he knew of “several Danes” whose lives had ended at the hands of the Danites. John Ahmanson seemed to suspect that the deaths of Secretary Babbitt of the Utah Territory and later of two apostate families who were on their way back to England, were the work of Mormon avengers rather than Indians.⁴⁴ Stories of such killings may have motivated some Scandinavians to journey no further than Nebraska and others to return there.

Young reviewed information on the Great Salt Lake Valley and the Great Basin, consulted with mountain men and trappers, and met with Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Jesuit missionary familiar with the region. Young also organized a vanguard company to break trail to the Rocky Mountains, evaluate trail conditions, find sources of water, and select a central gathering point in the Great Basin. A new route on the north side of the Platte and North Platte rivers was chosen to avoid potential conflicts over grazing rights, water access, and campsites with travelers using the established Oregon Trail on the river’s south side.

Seeing Into The Planatir

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_Trail

https://user.xmission.com/~nelsonb/nebraska.htm

Personality conflicts, frustration, or anger with the way Mormon leaders dealt with various aspects of the migration process, and personal tragedy played a role in causing some of the faithful to lose their faith. A handful of Danes, including J.P. Jakobsen and his family, left the Mormon church upon arrival in Florence, Nebraska in 1862. In a letter from Omaha dated October 5, 1862, Jakobsen explained that he and his wife had suffered the heartbreak of losing four of their children to the measles while sailing from Hamburg to New York. Jakobsen had no complaints about the six day train ride to St. Joseph, Missouri, but was disgusted to discover that the leader of his group made at least a $2 per person profit on the tickets for the steamer from St. Joseph to Florence. According to Jakobsen, the immigrants were treated little better than freight on the steamboat, while the group’s leader rode in a fine passenger cabin. The Jakobsens rented a room in a boarding house in Omaha, where ten other families of Danes and Swedes were living.14

Halfdan Christensen (12 December 1873 – 17 September 1950) was a Norwegian stage actor and theatre director. He was married twice, first to actress Gyda Christensen, and later to actress Gerda Ring. He had his stage début at Den Nationale Scene in 1896. He was among the leading actors at the National Theatre from its opening in 1899, and was theatre director from 1911 to 1923, and again from 1930 to 1933. During the Second World War he had to flee to Sweden, and there he led the theatre Fri norsk scene together with his wife Gerda Ring.[1]

Christensen was appointed Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1932, he was Commander of the Danish Order of the Dannebrog, and Commander of the Swedish Order of Vasa.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halfdan_Ragnarsson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halfdan_Ragnarsson

The invaders are usually identified as Danes, although the tenth-century churchman Asser stated that the invaders came “de Danubia“, which translates as “from the Danube“; the fact that the Danube is located in what was known in Latin as Dacia suggests that Asser actually intended Dania, a Latin term for Denmark.[6]

Halfdan (Old Norse: Halfdan, Old English: Healfdene, Medieval Latin: Haldānus, Proto-Norse: *Halbadaniz, “half Dane“) was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding (Skjöldung) lineage, the son of king named Fróði in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings who succeeded him in the rule of Denmark, kings named Hroðgar and Halga in the Old English poem Beowulf and named Hróar and Helgi in Old Norse accounts.

According to the Chronicon Lethrense and Saxo Grammaticus‘ Gesta Danorum (Book 2), Halfdan had two brothers named Ro and Skat who also sought the throne. Both were killed by Halfdan. Saxo adds that his brothers’ supporters were hanged and that Halfdan continued to reign with great cruelty, but that he reigned long and died peaceably in extreme old age.

The Ynglinga saga gives Halfdan (in this work also son of a king named Fróði) a brother named Fridleif and says both were great warriors but that Halfdan was the better of the two. This might have been a lead-in to a feud between the brothers if Snorri had been dealing with Danish matters rather than Swedish matters.

Snorri here only tells us that Halfdan attacked King Aun of Sweden and drove him into exile into Götaland. Halfdan then ruled Sweden for twenty years until he died in Uppsala of sickness and was buried in a mound.

According to Ynglinga saga, a Danish king named Fróði the Bold aided Aun’s successor Egil against the rebelling thrall Tunni. This may be Froda the Heathobard of Beowulf who becomes Fróði the slayer of Halfdan in other Norse traditions which do not make his end peaceful.

In the Saga of Hrolf Kraki, this Fróði is Halfdan’s younger brother but in the Latin epitome to the Skjöldunga saga the younger brother, here a half-brother, is named Ingjalldus and this Ingjalldus is later father of a son named Frothi. Since in Beowulf Froda is father of a son named Ingeld, it is usually considered that the names have accidentally been interchanged in the tradition behind the Skjöldunga saga. In the Saga of Hrolf Kraki, Fróði brother of Halfdan is ruler of a separate kingdom. Halfdan was calm and good-natured but Fróði was cruel and vicious. Fróði attacked Halfdan’s hall by night and burned it. Halfdan was killed in the battle and Fróði took over his country and his widow.

But eventually Halfdan’s sons in turn killed Fróði to avenge their father’s death. Thus the tradition in Beowulf of a feud between the Danes and Heathobards in which Fróda king of the Heathobards was slain appears in Norse texts as a family feud in which Halfdan’s brother Fróði kills Halfdan and Halfdan’s sons kill Fróði.

Fróði (Old Norse: Frōði; Old English: Frōda; Middle High German: Vruote) is the name of a number of legendary Danish kings in various texts including Beowulf, Snorri Sturluson‘s Prose Edda and his Ynglinga saga, Saxo Grammaticus‘ Gesta Danorum, and the Grottasöngr. A Danish king by this name also appears as a minor character in the Middle High German epic Die Rabenschlacht. The name is possibly an eponym for the god Freyr.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fróði

The form Fróði is still in use in Icelandic and Faroese and appears Latinized as Frotho or Frodo. This form of the name is used by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings for the main character. Alternative Anglicizations are Frode, Fródi, Fróthi and Frodhi. The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish form is Frode. The meaning of the name is “clever, learned, wise”.[1]

As of the end of 2008, the number of men with the name Frode in Scandinavia is: Norway (ca.) 11384,[2] Denmark (ca.) 1413,[3] Sweden (ca.) 307.[4]

The Gesta Danorum describes six Frothos.

• Frotho I

• Frotho II

• Frotho III

• Frotho IV

• Frotho V

• Frotho VI

https://www.myheritage.com/names/ernest_christensen

Rosamunda Bolger & Brandybuck

Map image of the auto tour route driving directions for the Mormon Pioneer NHT across Nebraska.

Ernest A Christensen was born circa 1913, at birth place, Washington, to Halfdan M Christensen and Dagmar E Christensen.

Ernest had 6 siblings: Thomas H Christensen, Vivian E Christensen and 4 other siblings.

Ernest Burton Jense or Christensen, 1875 – 1955

Ernest Burton Jense or Christensen was born on month day 1875, at birth place, Utah, to Jens (or James) Christian Christensen and Johanne Kirstine Christensen (born Pedersen).

Jens was born on August 10 1832, in Ruberg, Hjorring, Denmark.

Johanne was born on March 6 1835, in Vejby, Hjorring, Denmark.

Ernest had 7 siblings: Nels Thomas Christensen or Jense, Anne Marie Christensen and 5 other siblings.

Ernest married Florence Leona Jense or Christensen (born Pierce) on month day 1918, at age 43 at marriage place, Utah.

Florence was born on February 21 1897, in Pleasant Grove, Utah, UT.

They had 4 children.

Ernest passed away on month day 1955, at age 80 at death place, Utah.

He was buried on month day 1955, at burial place, Utah.

Ernest Adolph Christensen, 1912 – 2003

Ernest Adolph Christensen was born on month day 1912, at birth place, Washington, to Halfdan Martinius Christensen and Dagmar Leonora Petersen Christensen.

Halfdan was born on April 9 1878, in Modum, Buskerud, Norge.

Dagmar was born on March 4 1880, in Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

Ernest had 6 siblings: Lillian Anita Neal (born Christensen), Torbjørn (Thomas Hartmann Christensen) Christensen and 4 other siblings.

Ernest married Audrey Winifred Christensen.

Audrey was born on February 7 1915.

They had one son: Perry Ernest Christensen.

Ernest passed away on month day 2003, at age 91 at death place, Washington.

Documents of Ernest Adolph Christensen

Ernest C Christensen, 1893 – 1980

Ernest C Christensen was born on month day 1893, at birth place, Nebraska.

Ernest married Esther Christensen (born Lundsgaard) on month day 1916, at age 22.

Esther was born on April 7 1894, in Nebraska, United States.

They had 2 children: Jerome E Christensen and one other child.

Ernest lived in 1930, at address, Nebraska.

He lived in 1935, at address, Nebraska.

He lived in 1940, at address, Nebraska.

His occupation was occupation.

Ernest passed away of cause of death on month day 1980, at age 86.

He was buried at burial place, Nebraska.

Ernest Christensen in 1940 United States Federal Census

Ernest Christensen was born circa 1881, at birth place, South Dakota.

Ernest married Clara Christensen.

Ernest lived in 1935, at address, Montana.

He lived in 1940, at address, Montana.

Ernest Jerome Christensen was born on month day 1918, at birth place, Nebraska, to Ernest C. Christensen and Esther Christensen (born Lundsgaard).

Ernest was born in 1894.

Esther was born in 1894.

Ernest had one sister: Lorraine Kastrup (born Christensen).

Ernest married Angela Soledad Cabrera Christensen (born Garcia).

They had 2 children.

Ernest passed away on month day 1987, at age 68.

Jerome Christensen in 1940 United States Federal Census

Jerome Christensen was born circa 1919, at birth place, Nebraska, to Ernest Christensen and Esther Christensen.

Jerome had one sibling: Lorraine Christensen.

Jerome lived in 1935, at address, Nebraska.

He lived in 1940, at address, Nebraska.

Ernest Leonard Christensen, 1884 – 1892

Ernest Leonard Christensen was born on month day 1884, at birth place, Utah, to Jens Christian Christensen and Ana Katrina Christensen (born Jensen).

Jens was born on February 9 1836, in Jerslev, Hjorring, Denmark.

Ana was born on March 23 1849, in Jerslev, Jerslev, Hjørring, Denmark.

Ernest had 7 siblings: Ane Tomine Maria Galli (born Christensen), Charles Christian Carl Christensen and 5 other siblings.

Ernest passed away on month day 1892, at age 7 at death place, Utah.

Ernest Christensen was born on month day 1905, to Ellen Fredrika Kaas (born Kasper).

Ellen was born on September 1 1877, in Daretorp Parish, Skaraborg County, Sweden.

Ernest had 4 siblings.

Ernest married Lillian Christensen (born Jørgensen) on month day 1936, at age 31.

Lillian was born on January 21 1914, in Dagmar, Montana.

They had 3 children: Leroy Christensen and 2 other children.

Ernest passed away on month day 1988, at age 83.

Ernest Christensen in U.S. Social Security Death Index (SSDI)

Ernest Christensen was born on May 8 1905.

Ernest lived in Plentywood, Montana 59254, USA.

Ernest passed away on August 8 1988, at age 83.

Ernest Anthony Christensen was born on month day 1900, at birth place, Utah, to Steffin(Stephen) Christian Jorgensen* Christensen and Inger Ane Christine Christensen (born Jensen).

Steffin(Stephen) was born on June 22 1849, in Worrsehause, Verjlev, Hjrrng..

Inger was born on September 28 1862, in Taars, Hjrrng, Denmark.

Ernest was baptized in 1900, at baptism place, Utah.

He had 10 siblings: Louis Adolph Christensen, Hertha Marie Paystrup (born Christensen) and 8 other siblings.

Ernest married first name Christensen (born Bodell).

They had 5 children.

Ernest passed away on month day 1949, at age 49 at death place, Utah.

He was buried on month day 1949, at burial place, Utah.