Nils J. Brakke Biography This biography appears on pages 51-52 in "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm NILS J. BRAKKE. For an extended period Nils J. Brakke was actively connected with agricultural interests in Yankton county, but is now living retired, making his home in Volin. He arrived in Yankton county in October, 1866, and through the intervening period of almost a half century has been an interested witness of the growth and development of that part of the state. He was born in Norway, near Christiania, on the 4th of July, 1844. His parents died in that country, his father in 1847 and his mother in 1876. Nils J. Brakke spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his native land and the educational privileges which he enjoyed were those afforded by the public schools. At length he determined to try his fortune in the new world and embarked on a sailing vessel at Christiania, spending six weeks at sea. He landed at Quebec and by way of the Great Lakes proceeded to Chicago and thence by rail to Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He spent that summer in Vernon county, Wisconsin, and then started for Dakota, making the overland trip from La Crosse, Wisconsin, by ox team and wagon. It required four weeks to complete the journey. He could have traveled by rail only to the Des Moines river. Sioux City at that time was no larger than the town of Volin today and there were no settlers between the Des Moines river and Sioux City. The man with whom Mr. Brakke traveled had a team of horses, while other emigrants of the party had ox teams. They camped out along the way and proceeded by slow stages, but ultimately reached their destination. Mr. Brakke first secured work at fifty cents per day digging post holes, building fences and cutting hay and also in that first week he with another man cradled five acres of wheat. In 1867 he filed on land under the preemption law four miles west of Volin and later be sold that property and homesteaded five miles northwest of Volin, at which time there were no houses between his place and Sioux Falls. He experienced all of the hardships and privations of pioneer life. One of the worst storms that he ever saw occurred in March, 1B68, when a blinding blizzard broke over the country. He was in town when the storm came and started home, but had to remain over night a mile from his home, for the snow fell so fast and the wind blew at such a gale that he could not see to proceed further. The worst storm in his remembrance, however, occurred on the 13th of January, 1870, when for three days he could not leave his house to go as far as the stable and feed the stock. It was like the storm of 1888, but lasted much longer. There were a few deer to be seen in this section of the country at the time of Mr. Brakke's arrival and occasionally one would pass his shanty. He lived first in a log house, but soon replaced it with a frame dwelling. The settlers suffered from grasshoppers for eleven years, but only on a few occasions did the pest take all of the crops, although one year their devastation was so great that what Mr. Brakke could secure from his fields would have hardly sold for a dollar. In the 70's the settlers suffered from drought. For a year the family lived on little more than bread, butter and milk. Their cow was their mainstay and they bought a little flour and meal. As the years passed, however, conditions changed and industry found its reward in success. Mr. Brakke erected fine buildings upon his farm, all of which are in a splendid state of repair. He continued to reside upon his farm until 1900, at which time he had accumulated six hundred acres of valuable and productive land, but now lives retired in Volin. From his property he derives a substantial annual income and his success is indeed well merited, as it is the direct reward of persistent, earnest labor. Mr. Brakke was married near Gayville on the 9th of August, 1868, to Miss Liza Olsberg, who was born in Norway and came to the IJnited States in 1868, only a short time before her marriage. In his political views Mr. Brakke has always been a stalwart republican since becoming a naturalized American citizen and he served as county commissioner in the years 1893-94-95, making a creditable record in office. He has ever been loyal to the best interests of the community and has cooperated in various measures for the public good, while at the same time through his agricultural interests he has contributed much to the material progress and benefit of Yankton county. There is no phase of pioneer life here with which he is not familiar and his reminiscences of the early days are most interesting.