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This is what Stjarna saw when she looked out the window on March 29, 1875. Mount Askja, in Iceland, had erupted and was sending streams of burning lava down its mountainside. Huge bursts of steam were shooting out of the ground in places on their farm. The thick ash from the lava and the poisonous sulfur fumes destroyed all the farmland in her town. Her parents and many of the other families decided they had to move away and many of them chose to go to Canada.
In Canada they would get a huge plot of free farm land in an area the Canadian government called New Iceland. Since 2020, there have been many volcanic eruptions in Western Iceland. Many families in several towns have had to leave their homes until the dangers caused by molten lava were over. The picture you see here shows what a volcanic eruption in Iceland looks like near the town of Grindavik. |
Photo Credit: www.visiticeland.com/eruption
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This is what Stjarna's home in Saenautasel looked like, built into the side of a hill. On page 65, Stjarna's father describes how their sod home in New Iceland would be different from their sod home back in Iceland. Photo Source - Patricia Squire Stjarna's father was a blacksmith. This is what his blacksmith work area probably looked like. Notice the blade sharpener in the far left corner. Photo Source - Patricia Squire Manitoba is not very hilly so Stjarna's sod home in New Iceland could not be built like her old home. Stjarna's father explains on page 65 that they would have to build their new home with four walls of sod bricks with one door and one window on each of the sides. At the back or side of the home they would attach their sod barn. This picture shows what the finished home would might like. Photo Source - www.pinterest.com This is what the inside of Stjarna's home would have looked like. Notice the stove at the back with the stovepipe going up through the top of one wall. The trunks are used as table tops or benches. Also notice the sheet of fabric stretched across the ceiling to catch dirt and raindrops that might fall inside. In this picture the floor is made of wood planks. In Stjarna's home, the floor was packed down dirt at first. Photo Source - www.teardroptrail.com I have written Stjarna's story with a great deal of historical accuracy. To make the story move smoothly along, I have chaned the timing of some of the events. In 1875, Glasgow, in Scotland was the closest port that Stjarna's family could go to, to get on a steamship that would cross the Atlantic Ocean to Quebec. This is a picture of the real Steamship Sardinian. It often made the trip from Glasgow to Quebec City but not in April, 1875 which is when Stjarna's family travelled to Quebec. Captain Baker was also a captain of the Sardinian but not on Stjarna's voyage. Photo Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-Sardinian This is a picture of what steerage was like. Notice how many people were crowded together both above and below decks. Steerage was the cheapest way to travel in 1875. Pages 12 and 13 tell some of the conditions they had to live with for 14 days. There were always hundreds of passengers in steerage. These were very poor people moving to a new land that they hoped would give them a better way of life. Steerage was located below the water line so there were no windows. It was a stuffy, smelly place with no fresh air. Meals were served exactly as Paddir explains on page 14. Photo Source - https://www.bing.com/images This picture shows what the train crossing at Niagara Falls looked like. It was built in the 1850's and was used until 1897. It was the world's first working railway suspension bridge. It had two decks - the top deck was for trains to cross between Canada and the United States while the lower deck was for people in carriages or walkers. Photo Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_Falls_Suspension_Bridge This shows the inside of the cheapest railway car in 1875. They were crowded, dirty and smelly like the conditions in steerage. Stjarna would have had very little privacy in this railcar. The seats were wooden benches with no padding. Chapter 10 describes what it was like. Photo Source - www.the-burgenland-burch.org This image is of a steamboat on the Red River. Notice the twin steamstacks and the paddlewheel on the side which was driven by steam. The picture shows the steamboat at a stop where the "wooders" are loading the ship with a fresh supply of wood to be burned to make the steam. Notice the bottom open deck which held wood, cargo and people. This is the space that cost the least to travel on. Stjarna's family had a spot on the open deck near the paddlewheel. The middle deck is where Karl and his family had a cabin. You can see why Paddir told Stjarna that she could not go up to the very top deck. There are no railings there like there are on the deck with the cabins. Photo Source -www.theamericanmenu.com This picture shows a flat boat being used to move cargo and people on Lake Winnipeg. When Stjarna's family and Karl's family were travelling to Silver Creek, their two flat boats were pulled by a steamboat. But, flat boats were built to move without steam power however. They had huge oars for steering and paddling as they moved downstream with the current in the lake. Flat boats did not sit very low in the water so they were easy to navigate over rough spots. Photo Source - www.pinterest.com |
Activities and Discussions
(1) If you had been born in Iceland, what would your name be? Look at what Stjarna said to the the captain of
the Sardinian on page 17 to help you with your answer.
(2) Have you ever kept a big secret from your parents like Stjarna did? How did that work out?
(3) Do you have a mean older brother or sister? What do they do? How do you handle it?
(4) If you were on a steamship crossing the Atlantic for two weeks, how would you spend your time if there
were no TV s, phones, iPads, or electronic games for you to use?
(5) Pizza ovens are very popular now. How are today's outdoor pizza ovens the same as Stjarna's cob oven
outside their sod home? How are they different? See Chapter 20 for cob oven details.
the Sardinian on page 17 to help you with your answer.
(2) Have you ever kept a big secret from your parents like Stjarna did? How did that work out?
(3) Do you have a mean older brother or sister? What do they do? How do you handle it?
(4) If you were on a steamship crossing the Atlantic for two weeks, how would you spend your time if there
were no TV s, phones, iPads, or electronic games for you to use?
(5) Pizza ovens are very popular now. How are today's outdoor pizza ovens the same as Stjarna's cob oven
outside their sod home? How are they different? See Chapter 20 for cob oven details.
