MY ONLY SON

On October 23 was a day of heartbreak for Jens and Elsie Nielson. A blizzard and the long trek over Rocky Ridge challenged them every step of the way. Tragically, both young Niels Nielson and Bodil Mortensen (a friend traveling with the family) died that day. Jens wrote of the excruciating circumstances at their camp in Rock Creek Hollow, where Niels and Bodil were buried:  “We had to dig a hole and bury 13 bodies of our number, and my only son was among them, and a girl who I had along for Brother Mortensen.”