The Swensons And Engstroms In America Analysis

The Swensons and Engstroms in America

Although no definitive explanation exists for William’s father, Charley Swenson, remaining in Sweden instead of emigrating with his parents and siblings, prospects of a sustainable livelihood accorded him by the inheritance of his father’s property suggests a plausible reason. Conversely, the rocky land of northern Gotland, hardly suitable for agriculture, provided an inhospitable environment for any farmer wishing to flourish.1 Nevertheless, perhaps with encouraging letters from his parents extolling the virtues of the rich fertile soil in Minnesota, Charley embarked on a course to join his next of kin. If letters from his parents brought promise of a prosperous future, they undoubtedly also disclosed grief, bringing news of the deaths of his sisters Zela Johanna and Anna Helena, both prior to 1875.2
The family’s oral history presents divergent narratives on Charley’s successful attempt to reach America.
In one account, Charley worked as a fisherman on the Baltic Sea and earned the funds required to procure his 1881 passage across the Atlantic.3 In a seconded version, while a sailor in the Swedish Royal Navy, he abandoned his ship in England and clandestinely boarded a sailing vessel bound for New York as a stowaway.4 Once at sea and discovered, the captain conscripted the intruder for duty on the ship and employed him for long shifts in the rigging. Later in his life, Charley attributed his arthritic hands to gripping lines in the frigid dampness of the crossing.5 The details of the stowaway crossing confer credence to that version, relegating the alternate explanation as an attempt to conceal Charley’s
transgressions.

Regardless of which trans-Atlantic storyline is authentic, the narrative converges once again when Charley arrives on the Eastern Seaboard with inadequate funds to finance his trip to Minnesota. Unfortunately, details of his overland journey are merger, leaving a combination of oral history and conjecture to illustrate his trek toward the center of the continent. Subsequent to landing in New York City and following an exhaustive search for employment, he obtained his initial job on a farm, remaining there only a short time before venturing forth. Charley literally worked his way to his family, picking up a series of temporary jobs to sustain both his physical being and his westward odyssey. Traveling over the top of the Great Lakes through Canada, wilderness overtook dense settlement when he reached the grandest of scale and westernmost of the lakes, Superior. From Superior’s eastern shore, a hike in excess of six hundred miles still separated Charley from his family. According to the family’s oral history, he primarily relied on his feet to traverse Superior’s rugged North Shore through the boreal forests of western Ontario and northeastern Minnesota.6

The alternate and less detailed account of Charley’s trek inland, confirms two aspects of his journey: he arrived in America with meager funds and he traveled through Canada to reach his family. Furthermore, in the alternate storyline, Charley walked from the coast, which seems implausible until he reached the thinly populated shores of Lake Superior.7 The one feature of the detailed narrative that seems suspect is Charley’s arrival in New York City. It is true that a majority to immigrants conformed to the romanticized version of entering the United States by passing under the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. If Charley landed in New York City, why did he travel through Canada to reach his family? The shortest distance between New York and Fish Lake Township, Chisago County, Minnesota is not over the top of the Great Lakes, particularly since rail service existed from New York City to within ten miles of Charley’s final destination without crossing into Canada. However, if he crossed the Atlantic as a stowaway on a randomly selected sailing ship, he conceivably reached landfall at any number of Eastern Seaboard ports. Perhaps Charley first set foot in America on Canadian soil, which is consistent with his choice of routes. Nevertheless, even if Charley landed somewhere in Canada, why didn’t he shorten his trip by entering the United State in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan? Due to an unorthodox trans-Atlantic passage, perhaps he legitimately foresaw difficulties entering the United States at an officially controlled site and sought out his option of utilizing a clandestine crossing in the remote forests of Lake Superior’s north shore.

Although Charley’s motivation for journeying over the top of Lake Superior is debatable, the family’s oral history leaves no doubt that he took that route. Charley traversed the region during a relatively quiet period; decades subsequent to the great fur trading era, during the infancy of both the western grain handling and the logging eras, and just prior to the commencement of the robust iron mining of northeastern Minnesota. Nevertheless, he did encounter modest and remote fishing villages in inlets along the rugged shoreline.8 Furthermore, he did hike through vast stretches of virgin forests, crossed numerous streams cascading down to the inland sea, and witnessed the majestic beauty and power of untamed waterfalls. Time erased the memories of Charley’s likely encounters with wildlife while passing through a land inhabited by moose, black bear, and timber wolves. The family’s oral history provides no guidance as to the items that Charley carried. Did he tote a gun for hunting and protection? Did he pack a tent for shelter? Perhaps these exceeded his financial means and he relied upon humble items: a knife, a drop line for fishing, and a blanket for warmth.

Charley conceivably visited Fort William in the Thunder Bay area, but its glory as a flourishing North West Company rendezvous site of the fur trade lingered only in its history. When Charley passed through the area in 1881, only two years prior to the historic fort’s permanent closure, it primarily functioned as a Hudson Bay Company fishing station.9 However, optimism for a prosperous future abounded in the Thunder Bay communities, with the reported news of the incorporation of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company for the sole purpose of constructing Canada’s first transcontinental railroad.10 The completion of the section of railway west from Thunder Bay in 1882 ushered in Port Arthur’s era as a great grain handling terminal and shipping port.11

Following the route of footpaths used by Native Americans and European fur traders, a crude wagon trail wound its way through the woods along Minnesota’s section of Superior’s North Shore. Charley undoubtedly utilized this trail to hike between the modest settlements of Grand Portage, Grand Marais, Beaver Bay, Two Harbors, and others. Lake Superior fishing, the economic mainstay for these villages, existed alongside other ventures, such as farming for local consumption, and small-scale sawmilling. Although prospectors began searching northeastern Minnesota for gold, copper, and iron years prior to Charley’s trek, the first shipment of iron ore didn’t occur until 1884, three years after his journey.12 Only two years prior to Charley passing through the area, regular U. S. Mail delivery began between Two Harbors and Grand Marais by the Anishinabe mail carrier, John Beargrease. In the wintertime, Beargrease undoubtedly used the same trail, the Lake Shore Trail, which Charley used, performing the weekly mail deliveries with a team of four dogs and a toboggan like sled. He issued commands to his dogs in his native language while running behind the sled wearing snowshoes. Unless a chance encounter occurred in one of the villages, Charley probably didn’t meet John Beargrease, given that Beargrease preferred using water transport in the warmer months.13 Charley undoubtedly experienced many hours of solitude during his hike; ample time to appreciate the natural beauty of his surroundings, to reminisce on a land and life forever in his past, and to reflect upon his forthcoming reunion with his family and a promising future in his adopted country.