This book tells the story of the Bauske family who emigrated from Germany. They were among many German families who immigrated to the Dakota Territory in the 1800s. Early in that century, a million Germans arrived in America from SW Germany because of the potato blight. The next million arrived from NW Germany because of grain prices dropping. Still more emigrated because the American Civil War was over, and the German farmers saw the possibilities of prospering and owning their own farms on the prairies of Central America. The Continental Railroad was near completion and the owners wanted towns to be settled near the rails; the railroad agents in Germany offered to buy the local farmers' equipment, household items and any lands that they owned for a fair price. They also offered to coordinate the trip to America - first setting up German train tickets to either Hamburg Port or Bremen Port and arranging for ship transportation. Once in America, the farmers were promised a safe and quick train trip to the free lands of the Dakota Territories, with available land grants. The Railroad agents had good reputations and the German farmers trusted them. It all came to fruition; the farmers first applied for naturalization, then applied for land grants. They could further apply for "tree" grants - where the government gave the farmer an allotted number of trees to plant, and the farmer could keep the land. Many farmers had sons and nephews settle near-by; in that manner, many acres, many prairie miles were owned by "one family." All four of my grandparents were Germans, coming to the Dakotas for a promised new life. While the city folk in the 1800s had many amenities, the farmers worked hard with no sophisticated machinery, no electricity, and no running water. One of my grandfathers was born on an earthen floor in a grass house - as were his 6 siblings. This was in the 1890s, not that long ago. We owe our ancestors a great deal of thanks; without the toil of the farmer, America would not be what it is today.