Best Homesteading Adventure EVER! 2,000 Miles on $21 to Montana
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- The Homesteading Journey of Johannes Van Dyke will Thrill you!
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Legal immigration was very different in 1903, when my great-grandparents came to Montana. There were less restrictions and less was required of those desiring to become an American citizen.
Just because the process was easier, didn't change what was legal and what was illegal. America want's good emigrants even today. We just need then to enter the country legally.
Loved the last 3 videos - don’t get to watch as much as I would like- some of the best content on RUclips
Well, thank you. I am humbled.
Couldn't agree more. Like you I very much enjoy watching Trinity's videos. This one especially because the majority of us Great Grandparents did just as did John VanDyke, they passed through Ellis Island and got their paperwork processed by someone who may or may not have understood their names or where they came from. The information that was recorded may or MAY NOT have been proper. Many did not know their name was not correct so they became known by the name that was on their paperwork. Most arrived in Ellis Island with very little money so how they found a way out of New York and bound toward the West had to have been a struggle most us would not have had the courage to undertake. Those who did not have the courage or the dream of becoming landowners would have stayed in NY. Once the train stopped they got off and commenced searching for their land. Can you imagine hw difficult it was to find the property handed to you? Wow!
My boyfriend told me he was going to be a rancher. He has the land his family's homesteaded. His grandfather held on working long enough for his grandson to get old enough to legally take over the ranch, then he retired. I absolutely love how much family history is here on my husband's ranch. I signed a prenup and I don't mind saying I was never offended when his parents and grandfather asked him to get one. I love our home.
Prenups in my opinion are a good legal protection against the (current) corrupt family court system, lawyers, attorneys, judges. Makes the marriage motive one of love and devotion, not a legal hack for the reason of getting wealth. Doesn't take a genius to quickly find enough evidence these days that women who've come to think along the lines of feminist movement are using men and the legal system to conspire to take half their wealth, as sincere love has nothing to do with it. National birth rates are below sustainable, dating rates are plummeting, men are avoiding marriage at crazy rates.
My grandparents did the same at about the same time from Norway. They ended up in the northwest corner of North Dakota and were mad that the damn Swedes took all the good land further east in Iowa, etc. They ended up dry farming wheat and raising cattle and kids. They stuck it out through the dust bowl and depression and were able to acquire neighboring Homesteads that were abandoned and did pretty well. Tough people!
This is great Trinity!! My great grandparents did a similar trek but from Siberia/Mongolia and came up over the Andes mountains before the Russian revolution and settled in the central valley of California to become cotton, alfalfa and grape farmers. What strong people they were at that time. We may get there again...
So many stories like that. Love it. Do you still live near there or have you moved on?
@LifeintheWest relatives still there and we are in Southern California. Growing small flocks of sheep currently and that has it's challenges...
100 years from now our kids may look back like yo did! My wife and i moved from the Netherlands in 1990, operating a dairy farm thanks to a Texas couple !
Shelby-Conrad (Sunrise) area was our destination in 1974 with a C-60 truck with a grain box. We loaded two Honda road bikes in MI and stopped in MN to load grain box hoists. Drove all the way to Montana at 55 mph (truck had a governor) and delivered the truck to a dealer in Sunrise I believe. We got on the bikes and continued into Canada and the west coast. 5 weeks/thousands of miles.
But Montana was something else. Seems like it goes on forever and then there are the peaks on the horizon. Great place.
Trinity my father's side of the family home steaded in Iowa, Colorado, and ended where we are in Washington. But my dad has double cousins from his dad and brother marrying sisters
I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. It is a very touching video. I love that you are still in touch with the land your ancestors settled and worked. I would love to be able to find some of my ancestors' homesteads across the west. I know where some of them are buried, so I may have to settle for visiting them. The photographs at the end were especially touching after hearing the history of the story of these hard working good people trying to do the best they could.
So nice you were able to follow in the path of your ancestors. And thanks for highlighting how it was and still is in rural Montana! It's very similar to where I am, outside of Billings - can see mountains on 3 sides but they're about 60 miles away and 30 minutes to town. So many abandoned places of failed homesteads, so many stories never written down. Too bad they never got a census during the homesteading boom. Seeing the land the way it is explains the way Montanans are.
Nice story Trinity, well done - meshed well with Ivan Doig's - "Dancing at the Rascal Fair"!
trinity when you were eating the apple pie remembering your ancestor sitting eating an apple pie reminded me of the scene in 'starman' with jeff bridges. there is a wonderful moment when jeff, the alien starman, eats his first apple pie and is delighted beyond explanation.
So much better than MSM documentaries. Excellent narrations.
Great video Trinity. My Paternal Grandparents homesteaded north of your family outside of Gildford, MT. Grampa packed it up in 1937 after a wind storm blew away all the topsoil and seed from a fresh planting. One of my Uncles claimed they used 3/4" log chain as a wind guage. In jest I hope. LOL.
😄😄. I have seen years when that would be a good idea!
My father's parents came from Belgium at that same time and had a very similar experience. It is absolutely mind boggling that they made it ! What they endured !
Happy Holidays to you and your family Trinity.
Those were some Tough people! That’s for sure!
@LifeintheWest My folks came from Holland in the 1600s and were part of the Fort Amsterdam build, now Manhattan. They lived at 31-35 Stone Street. One of them married a VanWyck and once the Brits came to claim the fort, they moved their farms to Long Island. I'm now trying to find out who made it out west, as somebody made it to Nevada and homesteaded there but there's some paperwork missing. I may have to go to Nevada to dig for more info 🤷♀️ Now my husband's father came from Spain as a teenager in 1932 and even though they were supposed to stay down below, he did go up and see the Statue of Liberty. He said he told his mom "I thought it was bigger" 😂
My grandparents were German-Russian from a German community in today would be Ukraine in 1903 - 1907 though Philadelphia and settled in Central North Dakota to farm. Tough people!
My ancestors came from Germany and eventually settled in southern Indiana. I am 5th generation on our farm that was settled in about 1871.
Back in 2009 I built a pole shed, then made a 10' x 12' room to live in, with no running water. I built a 4' x 5' outhouse. I made it large enough I could pour heated water over me in the Wintertime to "shower" with. I heated the outhouse with some candles. I hauled water from my neighbors and siphoned it into a couple of 55 gallon barrels that I used for everything except drinking. I kept a 5 gallon jug for drinking water. In the Summertime I took my "showers" outside by the barrel and dipped water to pour over me. I'd wait until it started getting a bit dark and stand on a piece of foam board. I lived that way for a couple of years. You're careful with your water usage when you don't have much.
Trinity the 150 acres was what a person could care for with a team 8 for cows sheep 2 for house and barn and out buildings Total 160
That is why many farms 1700s to 1920s were that size Many farms back east 150 bigger thru marriage not buyout till after ww2 Property lines werent straight till after the Mason Dixon line
Chow chow is beans corn celery carrots with dill vinegar and sugar jarred
Pa Dutch German Netherlands there is your connection
Thank you for sharing
Best Wishes
Great stuff Trinity! I really enjoyed the whole NY trip and the history of your family's trek to Montana. Thanks for sharing and I can't wait to see what's next.
My grandfather came through San Francisco and grandmother through Ellis Island from Denmark.
Great Video, Thanks so much for sharing your story. Chow Chow was a relish, it had Onion, cabbage, green tomato's, bell peppers in a vinegar base.
That is definitely not what comes to mind when you say Chow Chow in today’s world. 😁
My great grandfather moved to Bloomfield Montana in 1904. My grandparents ended up with 2000 acres of farm land. We lived on that farm with my grandmother when I was born.
And imagine... or just look at pictures from Groningen, juicy green grasslands.
It must have been rough for them. The best way to survive was to stick together and believe.
Awesome story, Trinity. Thank you.
Love this, Trinity! Thank you for all you do!❤️🙏🏻✝️
Loved your video on following your family's journey to settle in America! I"m on the other side of the Sweet Grass Hills in Canada but our stories are similar here! You've motivated me to find out more of my family homesteading here in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Amen
My surname made the trip pre revolution from Ireland. Still freaks me out to think of how they picked up and transplanted themselves in a totally different world. The unknown hazards and hardships they would endure
To get the American dream.
It’s what we’re about!
Keep on Truckin!😎🇺🇸
The subject of YOUR FAMILIES quest for a better life is one reason I love history and the hardships they endured and how in this day we take so much for granted. Todays youth does not even have a good work ethic
This was such an amazingly well put together video. I loved every minute of it. I bet when your great grandpa her great-great-grandpa got off that train. They didn't even know where they were going to stay that night. That had to been so scary and terrifying. It had to be strong and very ambitious people. Thanks Trinity for sharing
Thank you Trinity. As a Montanan, I love the West. I live on the north shore of Flathead Lake, but have hunted in N Dakota and the East side of Montana for many years.
As the story goes that was in a book about Montana in the early 1920’s, the homesteads had been relatively stable, since WWI had created demand for beef, horses and grain. But after the war Montana suffered about seven years of drought and war demand had dried up. Many homesteaders had borrowed money to buy an additional 160 acres, so now they couldn’t make the loan payments.
So, they had to abandon the farm and move on. There was a sign on an old sod cabin that read, “20 miles to water, 40 miles to wood; we’re leaving old Montana, and we’re leaving for good”. As they went west they found that the fertile valleys of Western Montana had already been picked over and they continued on to the California, Oregon and Washington areas.
Of course, the homesteads they left behind were available for purchase by those other Montanans who had the fortitude to stick it out.
I have some Dutch in me, too. One of my great-grandpas came over from Holland (Haarlem in Nord Holland) in 1915 (WWI). Everyone was afraid of a German invasion (that didn't happen). His plan was to return to Holland after the war, but he met and married my great-grandma, an American. He stayed here for another 50 years, never became an American citizen, and swore every day that he was moving back to Holland to die as a Dutchman. I'm old enough to remember him as a kid. 😅
Trinity, Thank you !!! Fascinating nuggets of family history ❤ have a great weekend!!!
❤🎉 Thank you Trinity for a great video. I guess it's not all that different today, parts of The Frontier still pose a big challenge to someone wanting to setup a homestead.. Your Winters get so unbelievably cold, the channels I watch with horses, cattle, or other farm animals -- even in modern times, it's no picnic, brrrrr 🥶. The story of your two ancestral families joining together was so interesting, I wonder if there was any opportunity at all for privacy or family secrets lol 😂.. kinda the social media of it's time 😅.. God bless!! 🤠❤️🇺🇲🙂🎄🐴🐂
Very interesting. My grandmother came from Sweden when she was 13 by herself. She's gone and she never told us stories of her life. I know after her marriage but nothing before.
Amazing as always. Looked like an old Western movie!
The world needs a Western movie featuring Trinity Vandanacre, directed by Kevin Costner 🤠
There you go! Let’s do that!
Yeah it would probably be the real thing not the Taylor Sheridan bulshit
I've been thinking about this ever Since you met Kevin in New York and said to myself, dang it, has Kevin offered you a role in his upcoming projects?
This is great! Thanks for sharing it with us all!
I am very glad you liked it. I love history, but I want my content to appeal to my core audience.
So I appreciate your input.
Very interesting. I love how you tried to retrace their steps.
Have you ever thought of visiting where your family came from or at least find photos of the area?
I was kind of seeing if there was any interest in this type of story first.
My Father came to Australia, from Rotterdam, after WW2. Cornelius became Casey. Ended up in a small town in SE New South Wales.
In some reading I've done it's said the boxcar passengers had to help load wood or coal for the engine
I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Great work. I wish the younger generation would view videos like this in order to REALLY understand what America really is.
I love this video and thank you for sharing! My great grandpa was from Norway, came to Illinois and Missouri as a farmer. I haven't had that much information on him so I keep on trying to find him and his story how he came here and his families.
What a amazing journey Trinity.. Thank you for sharing ..
Happy Holidays from California 🎄
That was great
I love family history
And finding out how other people settled in America
It never gets old
Not from my family or yours
I also find it fascinating that religion played a big part in your family life
Just like mine
Faith did help the settlers of this country make it through all lifes ups and downs
People need to learn that again these days
❤💯✝️
One of my most favorite videos Mr. Trinity. Sorry I can’t remember the correct spelling of your last name. Super interesting!
Just watched this video Trinity. What an amazing trip and I also tried to imagine what it was like for them. Nowadays, people seem to complain about every little thing. If only people could walk a mile in their shoes, they would know what real hardship is.
When I was 13 I went to the logwoods of northern Mississippi for 2 weeks. They had very little equipment. They would cut the trees with chainsaw and skid the logs to the truck with a mule team. One of the mules always tested the direction to the truck. The grandfather tended to the mules. One morning the mule didn’t want to get started and grandpa took a log chain to him to get him to pull. Even back in 1970 this might have not been socially acceptable but they were trying to make a living hauling pulpwood. When a work animal wouldn’t work… persuasion was part of it.
Trinity, it’s crazy how many people’s families came over. My wife’s great great grand parents on both mom and dad’s side did this in 2 different parts of Montana. Both around 1880 by Red Lodge and Scobey. Pretty cool you’re doing these videos. Thank you sir.
I might add, we are the next generation to work and live out at one of these places. My wife and our 4 boys are the only ones left without selling the homestead to someone probably from California.
I drove to Conrad, MT with my lowbed truck the summer of 2012. Thank you for sharing your history.
That is so cool! I wish I could have accounts and knowledge of my first ancestor to arrive in America but it was a little too long ago.... I love history and genealogy and really enjoyed this one!
Glad you enjoyed it. I am a little concerned it is too focused on me and won’t do well on RUclips, but I thought it was worth trying.
@ it will do well. It's your story but we all want to do the same so it's encouraging. Plus, your channel is so humble... a lot of popular RUclipsrs make it all about them (to what normal folks would find unreasonable) and have no issues getting views. Haha.
There is a lot that you can find out online in genealogy sites. If you know your grandparents names and approximate birth and death dates, you can get on the journey of discovery!
@@KeepUSAFree4real definitely! I have gone way back in genealogy. It's just these more personal stories that I'm referencing.
I really enjoyed watching your video. I find it fascinating how our ancestors came with little to nothing and some of their hardships that they faced. My great-grandparents grew up in Missouri and drove a herd of cattle to Havre, Montana and homesteaded there in 1911.
thanx 4 the video bro ❤God bless my friend
Thank you so much for sharing your family’s story and experiences. God Bless y’all
It's amazing history you've traced. My mothers mom was a direct line from the first boy born off the mayflower and my dads dads dad came over from Scotland to the Ohio valley before ending up on the eastern slopes of the Washington Cascades. Love it when you find all the documentation of your ancestry, shows where we come from!
Trinity you have some of the best videos on You Tube, keep them coming!! Stay safe God Bless
Thank you for your videos! It's very important to be reminded that we have it so much easier than our ancestors. Please keep up the great work!
Thank you. Loved seeing your history.
Thank you, Trinity! Pastor Chuck Baldwin in Kalispell MT can add to this story!
So cool you could find all that info out and retrace the steps of your ancestors
Loved all the history! The research library at the museum in Fort Benton is also a tremendous resource 😊
Awesome video Trinity, definitely need more like this. Thank you for sharing your family history.
Thank you Trinity I absolutely enjoyed it. The 2 sides of my family came from England and Germany and settled in northern Illinois and Wisconsin
In Butte MT you can see beautiful orthodox christian serbian church founded 1897 by 35 serbian familys who came in MT! Love you❤
Fantastic content! Keep up the great work! Your family history is both interesting and important! Thank you very much! Merry Christmas and God bless you and your family, my friend!
Trinity ,,, love all your work my friend ! You should run for political office. ( in sure you would win ) THANK YOU FRANK MARULLO .......
Thank you my friend. I appreciate that. 😁
@LifeintheWest Trinity , I watched your video on new york. I'm not sure if you read my comment on that one , If not you should look it up . its very interesting . THANK you for your response. .. Frank Marullo
Great video boy do I know about living on cistern water, it’s how I live here in southern Indiana…
Those of us who live on wells, just don’t understand how different that is.
All the way from Grijpskerk in Groningen.
That is so interesting. I even found the original, official passenger list with his name on it with a quick Google search.
And of course his name quickly turned into John. Which makes sense, Johannes=Jan=John.
Very cool.
Trinity, this is a really great video! I've spent the past few years doing my ancestry research and have planned on doing a similar video for my family to enjoy! Germany to New Orleans in 1847, then settled in Eastern Iowa where my family continues to farm. You've given me some great ideas on how to make my video better! Thank you!
What an enjoyable video. Thanks for sharing your family's story with us all.
Another great show..long time watcher. We should all retrace the steps.
Thank you for sharing l found it was interesting 😊👍🇦🇺
New Subscriber here 😁
Interestingly enough to me, I was in that train station in Chicago as a child. Had to b 1968ish. The station looks exactly how I remember it then. Mega high ceiling. Of course there seems to b some new paint and definately New floor covering (I think), but for the most part, I just want to let u know, there wasn't anything smaller about it, even back to 1903. It was "old" but grand. As much as a 10 year old child can hold in memory. If u check out alot of the older cities back at the turn of the century in early 1900s, everything was large, tall & grand, as far as buildings go. Hard to imagine they had it in them back then, but they did. Thanx for such great content 😊
Trinity you are one of my favorite podcasters! Always interesting content! Thank you for all you do. My family immigrated here early 2000 from California and we wouldn’t change a thing ! Live on a dirt road and embrace all there is here! My daughter’s family lives in Townsend and works for Broadwater County Sheriff Department. Son lives in Butte and loves it. We live in the mountains in Jefferson City. So…we are kind of neighbors. In fact when I drive to Townsend I always look for ya. Lol
This was awesome. Loved it. Thanks for taking the time to make and share with us!
Outstanding sir
Loved this video your storytelling is top notch. Great job! We all started somewhere and it’s great you have so much information on your family.
I really enjoyed this video. Thanks for uploading 💪
Wow Holland 🎉
Be really interesting to retrace Johannes back to Holland ❤
Absolutely Great Vid 👍🇺🇸🙏
I’m so glad you made this bc being an immigrant has become an ugly word. My parents brought my brother and I from England in 1976. Leaving behind 4 older children and all their families. I had a sister here, who became a citizen so she could sponsor us. My father had to have a job and we could not take any assistance from the government for 5 years. Which my parents never did.. They worked hard and made a better life for my brother and I. Which I am eternally greatful for my fathers pioneering spirit. But today I am afraid to even say I am an immigrant. So thank you for showing most of us did come here legally.
I love family histories!! This was such a fun video!
Great video. Family history is so great. My story is a little different. They got off the boat in 1679 in Massachusetts. It was a lot different than England.
On my mother’s side of the family I have an ancestor who signed the Declaration of Independence. Abram Clark.
Loved the History journey Looking forward to more.
My great great grandparents came from Holland and settled in Michigan .
My Great Grandfather was quite possibly the fireman that kept the steam engine fueled on one of those trains.
His oldest son in that family, my Grandfather, was drafted into the Army and served as an infantryman 1917-1919. He was wounded in France shot by an 8mm Gatling gun.
Interestingly, the ship Ryndam was seized by the US along with other Dutch ships and used as a troopship.
Trinity, If you could supply us with some links, I bet many would love to pay you for that direction!!! I'd love to be able to follow my ancestors' paths! My Mom's Dad's family (Scotch/Irish) had a cattle ranch in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. my Dad's Norwegian/Danish, ancestors I don't know. How do you pursue finding homesteads?
EXCELLENT POST 😊
My grandfather born in
1902, on a reservation
In OK. 👍😎👌✌🏻✌🏻
There are so many stories and history around that should be told, or at least recorded.
@5:35 "...he had twenty bucks..." Now-A-Daze that would be nearly $720. Interesting journey you are on tracking down your history. My mother's family settled in Siskiyou County California in 1854 during the Gold Rush era. Like your family mine were farmers. They sold their beef, milk products, and grain to the gold miners. In 1954 two of my uncles stopped the gold dredger on the Scott River because they refused to sell their bottom ground to the mining company. Two adjoining neighbors also refused to sell. It was too expensive to disassemble the dredger and move it two miles overland downstream. The straight line where the dredger tailings stopped is visible in satellite images on Google Earth today. All but three cousins have moved away now because the farm couldn't support us all.
Reaking loving your videos especially since I like the history given
Great commentary. Thank you
Great story, so glad you shared with us!!
excellent video
Thank you. Took forever to edit that.
@@LifeintheWest well you got two birds with one stone as I noticed you combined the train ride and this together, pretty cool history, my great grandfather came before Ellis Island so there's no documentation and he didn't write anything down, got married in 1876 to a woman who came here from Sweden with him, The original house is 1320ft from me and some else lives there now, of course it's been totally rebuilt, we'll all die and someone else will own it. on a side note.....you have a respectable amount of subscribers but get low views now, I noticed mine drop several years ago also, I have my theories................what's yours?
This was fascinating. My ancestors did something similar here in Texas. In fact there is a Williamson County just north of Austin which they founded.
Great story
I heard basically the same story from my family from Nebraska to Wyoming
I think there are a lot of people who have this same story.
One side of my family has secrets, but I know Daniel Boone had a daughter who was fascinated by the German culture and that's where my family comes in but not much was known about her outside she married a German. I digress to say much more as I was shocked by too much as certain things are still underlining problems even today and sadly certain people get caught in history in bad ways. Just have to live life best you can and dodge the political crap as best you can.
My great grandfather immigrated from Denmark and he changed his name as well. His name was Johan Nielsen and he changed it to John Nelson.
Hi Trinity, I'm from South Africa and am conversant with the local language which is Afrikaans, which is an old version of Dutch. So just to correct you on how you pronounce Johannes correctly. So the J is pronounced like a Y, so Johannes spelt grammatical Yohannes. Your channel is great by the way.
Very probable that Johannes van Dyk met at least one of my great-grandfathers IF he found the CRC/RCA church in the south side of Chicago (Roseland); 6 of my great-g's came from Fiesland, the other two (women) from Groningen (no van/vanden/vander that I remember).
Ok That Great
How interesting! I really like to hear about history of families like this. I thought you are from Michigan around the Grand Rapids area?
My grandparents moved to Michigan for like 2 years. My dad was born there and then they moved back to Conrad when my dad was 6 months old.
@@LifeintheWest I remember you talking about someone living in Michigan. We live about 45 miles from GR. I'd rather be out where you are but we are your parents age so we won't be moving anywhere at this age.
During WWII, many farm families moved to MI to work in the factories for the war effort. Thank goodness my family came back to Texas after the war.
That's why most of our ancestors were tougher brother. They would laugh at us for the things we complain about today.
Great Video