Happy As a Big Sunflower

In 1876 Rolf Johnson and his family left Illinois for Phelps County, Nebraska. There they faced the challenges of pioneering on the Great Plains: digging wells, building sod houses, ploughing and planting crops, and fighting prairie fires. Johnson's diary goes beyond individual conquest, however, and provides insight into the great co-operative endeavour of plains settlement. Rolf's Swedish family and neighbours worked and socialised with other Swedes just as nearby Danish settlers remained in close physical and cultural contact with other Danish immigrants. A very eligible 19-year-old bachelor, Rolf also offers touching vignettes on the rituals of courting. Abruptly, with no explanation in his diary, and with no itinerary or prospects, Rolf left home in 1879 'with the intention of going west for a season'. His departure may have been sparked by the marital fervour exhibited by a female suitor. Rolf felt he was 'not quite prepared to leave the state of single blessedness for that of double misery'. In Sidney, Nebraska, he ran with the 'sporting' element, who showed him photographs of 'fast women of the town stark naked'. He found employment with a wagon freighter headed for the Black Hills, where he saw Calamity Jane in action. Rolf's education continued until the diaries end in Cubero, New Mexico, in 1880. He returned to Phelps County in 1882 and remained there for most of his life. Rolf's lively diaries offer an entertaining eyewitness account of pioneer life and an unmatched resource for historians. Richard E. Jensen is a research anthropologist with the Nebraska State Historical Society. He is co-editor of "Eyewitness at Wounded Knee (Nebraska 1992)" and author of numerous articles for "Nebraska History" magazine.