Source: Winnipeg Free Press, June 18, 1994

The first Hecla Settlers came from the second or "large group" of Icelanders in 1876. The original Icelandic immigrants had good reasons for leaving their homeland to seek a new colony in North America. The history of Iceland for centuries before the immigration movement to Canada was full of misery and hardships. The eruption of Mount Hekla in the Dyngja Mountains in March 1875 spewed lava and volcanic ash some two to three inches thick over an area of some 2,500 miles, destroying the villages and land, making it almost uninhabitable.

Perhaps too, it was the spirit of adventure, the same spirit to travel and explore that had stimulated the Vikings in the ninth and tenth centuries to explore parts of Russia, the Mediterranean and even as far as the northeastern coast of Canada (now called Newfoundland), that caused the Icelanders to come to North America. Whatever the reason, the dream was the same: to establish a separate Icelandic colony where they could maintain their own culture, laws, language, and traditions.

In September 1872, native Icelander Sigtryggur Jónasson had left Iceland to go to Canada to seek a colony in the Interlake of Manitoba. The first group of some 235 Icelandic settlers arrived in 1875, settling in the area today known as Gimli. During the winter of 1875, Jónasson returned to the stricken north of Iceland to encourage further immigration to the new Icelandic Colony as an agent of the Dominion of Canada. Throughout the winter, he distributed literature and conducted public meetings where he extolled the virtues of the new land and pointed out the futility of continued life in Iceland. By the spring of 1876, Jónasson had encouraged some 1,200 persons to leave for Canada. Their departure, however, was delayed by drift ice along the northern coats of Iceland, but on July 2, 1987, Jónasson along with a group of 792 persons boarded a steamer for Canada, while an additional 392 remained awaiting the return of the vessel. For the most part, the immigrants of 1876 were destitute. They had among them less than $4,000 and the majority of this was in the hands of three or four individuals.

The immigrants to Canada generally arrived in Canada in good health, but the crowded steamer conditions from Quebec to Manitoba took its toll. Most of the settlers came down with a severe stomach disorder, and between thirty and forty persons died, mostly infants. When they arrived in Winnipeg, the immigration sheds which had not been build to accommodate the large numbers of persons now arriving, proved to be unsanitary and encouraged further disease. The second group of immigrants were, in some ways, better off than the first group of Icelandic immigrants. Having arrived earlier in the season, the trail was already broken for them, and at least they were met with some hospitality. In other ways, they were worse off. They were complete strangers to the habits and work methods of the new land. Many had never even seen a tree, let alone cleared land. Many were still ill from the journey, and adequate housing could not be build quickly enough for the oncoming winter.

It was difficult for the Icelanders to sell off all of their posessions in Iceland, and were often criticized by their countrymen for wanting to leave their homeland. One of the original immigrants, Sigurður Erlendsson, shares his story in "Mikley - The Magnificent Island", written by Ingibjörg Sigurgeirsson McKillop in March, 1979:

As I recall, the ship bearing the immigrants sailed from Akureyri June 1, 1876, or it might have been July 1st, although that is not as likely, so I, my wife and five children will have set out from my home at Klömbrum May 27th.

I had to buy a horse and hire an experienced guide, it was a long way to Akureyri, we had also to cross five rivers, Laxá, Reykjadalsá, Skjálfandafljót, Fnjóská, and Eyjafjarðará. Our journey led by way of Fljótsheiði at Skjálfandafljóti. We crossed these rivers by raft while the horse swam. From there we carried on to Þingmannaleið in Ljósavatnsskarð at Sigríðarstöðum where Skuli Kristjánsson welcomed us with food and rest at no charge. Guests there at that time included Benedikt Sveinsson, sherrif over Þingeyíngum, and my uncle, Jón Sigurðsson. They told me they were ashamed of me, that I was a traitor to my country, however my uncle Jón mellowed and wished me all the best in my future. We next came to Fnjóská; there again my wife and children crossed by raft while the guide and I crossed on horse back. On we went to Vaðlaheiði at Eyjafjarðará, where we parted with the horse and once again were ferried over the fjörd; at last we had arrived at Akureyri. Our ship arrived the day after, we now paid our passage and that evening boarded ship. I had unfortunately lost the registration fe for my daughter Sigrún (10 - 20 Kronurs) who had to be left behind as I had been unable to collect enough money for her share. She joined us the following summer.

I believe the ship sailed from Akureyri June 1st, and its name was Verona. We sailed direclty to Leith Scotland, cleared customs and boarded a waiting railroad coach that took us to Glasgow that very day. We were detained in Glasgow for more than a week; here I can remember nothing eventful until we docked in Quebec. I cannot even remember how long it took us to get there.

My youngest child was a son nearly two years old. The purser in charge of the people on ship inspected the inside of his mouth as we in Iceland might have done to a horse, however I did find him heedful and observant.

Our stay in Quebec was not long; Montreal came next where we were well received with board and room; there followed Toronto where as I remember we were again detained over a week, here our party was split in half, one half went by rail to Sarnia and the other to Collingwood. My family and I were on the Sarnia route, there we boarded a large wheel-ship, this was not a comfortable journey. I had been designated a place on deck for my wife and family, during the night a wind came up, rousing the water fiercely, I was requested to move my wife and children in order that the crew could roll water-filled barrels to balance the ship. This made it necessary to me to stand watch over my family all night through.

From Duluth we travelled again by rail to Minnesota Plains, not far from the Red River. Here we lived in tents under a burning hot sun for two or three days, suddenly a train came from Heaven, or was it Hell, and took us to Fishers-Landing as it was then called. This was a station for steamships and railroad trains that carried passengers to Winnipeg, Oh!oh! how slow it was.

Winnipeg was a small village. There, the government had men to build large or small boats as the passengers required for their journey to New Iceland. The larger boats resembled square boxes, a flat bottom and a steering wheel at both ends. Into this vast box we loaded all our earthly belongings, trunks, boxes, bedding, women, children and men. The stream carried us down to the mouth of the Red River, loose smaller boats floated with us and on some of them were men. I seem to recollect that we left Winnipeg the 16th of August. Between Winnipeg and Selkirk some of the boats stranded on the rocks. The men rowed to shore with a rope tied to the stranded boat in order to pull it from off the rock. When we got to the north of the Red River (three to four miles from the lake) there was a wind from the north and an inflow. A rope was again brought ashore, if it can be called a shore because the water reached from knee to thigh on the men and the grass was as high as their heads, a train of ten to fourteen men picked up the rope and dragged these boxes to the mouth of the river.

For two days the wind galed from the north, the first possible morning we set out for Gimli. There most of the men were able to get a boat with two oars, the new pioneers likened these to tubs, a cross board was nailed to either side, they were estimated to have been able to carry fourteen hundred pounds in fair weather. I was able to get one of these at the mouth of the river and into it I put our boxes, bed clothes, my wife and four children.

With this cargo and two oars I rowed north as close to shore as possible and landed in a bay not far from Gimli at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Suddenly up sprang a thunder storm which soaked us and our belongings. We tied up our boat at the north side of the bay and set out on foot to Gimli, my wife carrying the soaking wet baby in her arms. I carried another one while our boys walked beside us. There we were able to spend the night in a flat-roofed shanty without a door. This was not much comfort to very tired people. In the boat at the mouth of the river I had left my wife's green wardrobe trunk, it also carried chewing tobacco, coffee, chickory brought from home (no sugar). But for that coffee I could not have lieved throught the winter. In Scotland I had it hidden in the bed clothes and got it through customs.

Landing at Willow Point in 1875
Painting by Árni Sigurðsson
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More than a week I roamed around Gimli, meagre comforts and no idea what to do. I bought, with the last few cents I had, a small loaf of bread for ten cents, one and a half quarts of milk for fifteen cents. Pike were then thirty cents each and suckers fifteen cents. I had brought flour, potatoes, tea and sugar from Winnipeg.

At Gimli I had a talk with Helgi Tómasson, later of Reynistað. We decided to accompany one another to Mikley, and we did. I loaded all we had onto my boat, the following night I pulled into the banks at Dögurðarnesi, there was no way of getting sleep on account of the mosquitoes. I couldn't imagine that it could be worse in Hell! (The next day) we continued our journey north to Mikley.

Source: Excerpts from "Mikley - The Magnificent Island" written & published by Ingibjörg Sigurgeirsson McKillop March 1979

My grandparents left Iceland with little knowledge of this vast Canada of ours. Neither did they know where they would eventually settle. However, by the time they landed in Gimli, Manitoba, they knew that they would go on and settle at Mikley. While in Gimli, grandfather bought a cow. This transaction left him twenty-five cents in his pocket. He and Sigurður Erlendson and their families rowed on a small craft from Gimli to Mikley - a distance of some forty miles. They made a raft for the cow so they could take her with them. Darkness fell before the weary travellers reached land on the west side of the Island. Just before they reached the Island, they discovered the cow was not with them. Nevertheless, the despondent group built a fire and made themselves as comfortable as possible. Some hours later, they awoke to a great deal of rustling noise in the bushes nearby. Fear gripped the newcomers, especially as this animal seemed to be coming nearer and nearer. They heard an enormous roar and suddenly something leaped into their midst. They could hardly believe their eyes. It was their cow! They were sure she must have swum ashore elsewhere, and sensing or discovering the fire in the distance, made for the warmth. What a joyous occasion! The cow was one of their greatest assets as this same cow served more than those who owned her. Her milk was shared with as many as four and five families.

The Icelanders were not, however, the first settlers on Hecla Island. A Scotchman named Thomas Hillgrow from Selkirk was already operating a saw mill on the island since 1868. Before that it had been used as a stopover point by Indian fisherman on Lake Winnipeg. The fact that there was already a sawmill operating on the island was a factor in the decision of several Icelanders to settle on Mikley. (The island, in those days was known as Big Island, or Mikley to the Icelandic immigrants. The Icelanders called themselves Mykleyingar. Today the island is known as Hecla Island) The first Icelander to arrive at Mikley is reported to be Magnús Hallgrímson who arrived to work at the saw mill in the spring of 1876. Hallgrímson obtained land from the government on Hecla and named it Ingólfsvík, after his son who was named after the first settler in Iceland, Ingólfur Árnasson.

When the following group of Icelanders arrived in Mikley in 1876, they did not benefit as much from the mill as they thought. Relations with Hillgrow, the owner of the mill, were strained right from the start. Hillgrow, however, later married an Icelandic girl and relations between Hillgrow and the Icelanders started to improve. Whatever the difficulties were, Hillgrow had been taught the art of ice fishing by the Indians, and this he passed on to the Icelandic settlers.

The settlers on Mikley were generally better off than those in other parts of New Iceland during this period because of their access to timber, pastures and fishing on the lake. The quality of life was generally improving in the fall of 1876 as winter was set to close in. The men learned new skills of hunting, ice-fishing and lumbering, while the women learned to supplement their diet using such things as wheat kernels for coffee, sweet sap for sugar, and plant leaves for tea.

Just as the settlers' circumstances were beginning to brighten, disaster struck again...Small pox. The disease, unfamiliar to the settlers, began to show itself around the Icelandic River settlement in late September. Mild at first, it was considered something like chicken pox and was attributed to the overcrowded conditions on the journey. Early in October, however, the disease began to erupt, and the disease was carried from the Icelandic River settlement to Gimli by a woman who walked there and died shortly after her arrival. By late October, the disease had spread throughout New Iceland.

On Hecla, more than a third of the poplulation contracted the disease and during the winter of 1876, one of the coldest in history, of the 145 settlers, approximately 30 are reported to have died leaving the population of the island at 115. A quarentine was imposed on the entire Icelandic colony on November 27th, 1876 and while the disease had subsided by New Years and disappeared completely by April, the quarantine was not lifted until July 20, 1877 when the Icelanders marched in protest to the quarantine line.

During the quarantine period, the colony was avoided and feared and no one from the island or the rest of New Iceland could obtain employment. All letters leaving the colony were dipped in carbolic acid. Provisions had run out and no fish or food from the colony were allowed to be sold outside the colony. One islander recalls that he spent his days chopping and splitting wood to keep his neighbours warm, but remarked that he always worked upwind from the homes that had been stricken. In the first days of summer, after all signs of the epidemic had disappeared, he left for Selkirk for much needed supplies. At Gimli, the government had set up a quarantine line and he was given new clothing and doused with some sort of chemical, similar, he thought, to what was done to infested sheep in Iceland. He left Gimli on foot, he recalls, glad of heart and armed with a certificate saying he had been cleansed. He was stopped, however, at a line just north of Selkirk and was not allowed to proceed any farther.

Thus the second winter in the colony ended and that spring the settlers on the island set about to build their permanent homesteads and clear the land. Food, materials and tools were often lacking because of the strict quarantine, but the Icelanders improvised and proceeded to build their new nation.

By January 1877, many Icelanders had settled on Big Island with the 1878 census reporting 204 souls living on the island. Most of the settlement was on the east side of Hecla. Each homestead fronted on Lake Winnipeg, approximately 20 chains in width and each comprising about 160 acres. These long and narrow plots of earth provided each settler the opportunity to have access to the water of Lake Winnipeg.

Homestead	Translation	Settler
1. Fagratún	Fair Field	Jón Straumfjörd
2. Víðimýri	Willow Marsh	Jón Bjarnason
3. Hólmar	Islets	Sigfús Steinþórsson
4. Skógarhöfði	Woody Headland	Pétur Bjarnason
5. Þórbergsengi	Thorberg's Meadow	Þórbergur Fjeldstað
6.Leiruvik	Clay Cove	Árni Egilsson
7. Þórsgarður	Thor's yard	Eggert Sigurgeirsson
8. Bessahóll	Bessi's Hill	Bessi Tómasson
9. Öldubær	Wavy Homestead	Ólafur Ólafsson
10. Tjörnes	Pond Ness	Benedikt Sigurðsson
11. Vogur	Cove	Eiríkur Sigurðsson
12. Nybær	New Homestead	Bjarni Guðmundsson
13. Borðeyri	Board Bank	Sveinn Þórsteinsson
14. Jaðar	Edge	Jóhannes Jónasson
15. Fagriskógur	Fair Forest	Grímólfur Ólafsson
16. Reykjanes	Smoke Point	Halldór Friðriksson Reykjalín
17. Barkarstaðir	Barkstead	Jóhann Elías Straumfjörð
18. Skógarnes	Forest Point	Sigvaldur Þorvaldsson
19. Kirkjuból	Church Abode	Halldór Þorgilsson
20. Þurabrekka	Dry Slope	Stefán Jónsson
21. Hvammur	Dell	Jósef Guðmundsson
22. Flugumýri	Fly Mire	Pétur Bjarnason
23. Sandnes	Sandpoint	Helgi Sigurðsson
24. Skjaldartröð	Shield Lane	Guðmundur Guðmundsson
25. Þingvellir	Parliament Plains	Tómas Ásbjörnsson
26. Helgavatn	Helgi's Place	Hjörtur Þararinn Ámundsson
27. Helgastaður	Helgi's Place	Vilhjálmur Ásbjörnsson
28. Sunnuhvoll	Sunny Knoll	Rev. Sigurgeir Jakobsson
29. Birkiland	Birch Land	Friðbjörn Stefánsson
30. Bjarg	Boulder	Guðmundur Guðmundsson
31. Fagrahóll	Fair hill	Hjálmar Hjálmarsson
32. Fagravík	Fair Cove
33. Melstaður	Dunestead	Eliís Magnússon
34. Guðabólstaður	Broadstead	Guðlaug Hannesdóttir
35. Lundi	Grove	Benedikt Pétursson
36. Höfði	Headland	Eggert Þórðarsson
37. Halldórstaðir	Halldor's Place	Sigurður Johnson
38. Reynistaður	Dwarf Juniper Place	Helgi Sigurður Tómasson
39. Reynivellir	Dwarf Juniper Plains	Vilhjálmur Sigurgeirsson
40. Mulnuvík	Mill Bay
41. Ingólfsvík	Ingolf's Bay	Magnús Hallfrímsson
42. Ölduland	Wave Land	Einar Jónsson
43. Söndum	Sands
44. Brekka	Slope	Sigurður Sigurðson
45. Steinnes	Stony Point	Þáll Jakobsson
46. Skógar	Forest	Sigurður Erlendsson
47. Hlíðarhús	Side Building	Halldór Halldórsson
48. Hlíðarendi	Side End	Sólmundur Símonarson
49. Hamar	Cliff	Árni Jónsson
50. Straumnes	Stream Point	Flóvent Jónsson
51. Jónsnes	John's Point	Stefán Jónsson
52. Steinstaðir	Stony Point	Theodore Thordarson
53. Ljóshústanginn	Light House Point	Þorbergur Fjeldsted
54. Grund	Grassy Plain	Jón Jónsson

The Religious Debates

In early 1877, a meeting was called to discuss the subject of a pastor for the colony. Some of those in attendance favored the Rev. Pall Thorlaksson, a member of the Norwegian Synod in the United States (Unitarian) while others felt his religious views were too narrow and that he placed too much stress on the literal interpretation of the Bible. Another group favored Rev. Jón Bjarnason. On November 22, 1877 accompained by his wife Lára, Rev Bjarnason arrived at Mikley, and the first church service was held at the home of Benedikt Pétursson that following Sunday. Fifty people attended this first service. Later during the winter of 1878, Rev Pall Thorlaksson also arrived at the colony. As a result, both pastors came to serve the colony and the community of New Iceland split into two congregations. The Hecla community favored Rev Bjarnason and formed the Hecla Lutheran Church that would be affiliated with the Icelandic Lutheran Synod. Tensions between the Unitarian and Lutheran followers in all of New Iceland continued to grow, and at a public service in 1878, Rev Thorlaksson refused to join Bjarnason in prayer because he considered him a heretic and said his conscience would not allow him to call Bjarnason a brother in Christ. Friends and neighbours who had helped each other through earlier adversities ceased communicating. In 1878 Thorlaksson began to champion the cause for further migration to North Dakota. At the end of the year, some settlers left the colony for North Dakota, followed in 1879 by more families, while others left for other settlements further into the Interlake of Manitoba. On Mikley, the congregation had purchased a building where they could meet regularly, while plans for building their own church progressed rapidly. This new church was completed the summer of 1890 on land bought from Vilhjálmur Sigurgeirsson, Reynivellir.

Some months later, Good Friday 1891, a Unitarian minister, Rev. Magnús Skaptason, held a sermon at Mikley, condemning the beliefs of the Lutheran denomination. This same sermon was preached all through New Iceland and gave grave doubt to many of the Lutheran followers. Many resigned from the Lutheran congregation, following the Unitarian views, which caused great debate and feuding about what to do about the new church as all had donated to the building of the church. This reached a peak in 1891 and a lock was placed on the church door. The Icelandic Lutheran Synod send Rev Jónas Sigurðsson to the aid of the undecided. He was able to restore order to the extent of re-opening the church doors. The debate, however continued, further dividing the colony. It was not until 1900 that Jón Jónsson from Grund took upon himself to call all the Unitarians in one body and persuaded them that the two different religions, Lutheran and Unitarian, could each have their own belief and both use the same House of God. The church bells rang that day, September 14, 1902 and ever after. The Hecla Lutheran Church was dedicated by Rev Jón Bjarnason assisted by Rev. Steingrimur Þórlaksson and Rev. Rúnólfur Marteinsson. That day a dream had come true.

The first church at Hecla had a high arched ceiling painted light blue, the windows of corrugated glass were tall and arched at the top. The highest row of glass had parallel tiers of blue, green and red colored glass which cast beautiful colors upon the congregation as the sun shone through them on Sunday mornings. Upon entering the church a statue of Jesus Christ welcomed you; in front of the statue stood the alter adorned with beautiful dark red velvet, embroidered in gold floral and lettering of gold as well. On both sides and to the back of the altar were five steps up. There on a platform stood the pulpit of carved wood painted ivory and gold. To the side of the altar sat the choir.

About 1927, with the original church showing signs of decay, (the logs had been plastered with a sand formula which proved undurable, another church was soon built in its place. The church was completed and the dedication ceremonies took place August 21st, 1938. The president of the Icelandic Lutheran Synod, Rev. K. K. Olafsson, of Seattle Washington, administered the dedication. Life on Mikley, scarred by the religious debates and controversies, continued with Unitarians and Lutherans worshipping side by side.

The Schools

The schooling at Hecla was in no means primitive, despite the modest resources available on the island. It boasted an extensive library of Icelandic and English books. The community also established a Commuunity Library at Steinnes, which was entirely Icelandic, whose books came by ship directly from Iceland. This library was founded on February 6th, 1896 and was named "Morgunstjarnan" (Morning Star). The public library remained in operation until 1967 when the Islanders would have no further need of it. The school had a chemistry lab, and Latin was an essential course at that time. English, geography, mathematics, physical education and music were all mainstays of the educational program at Hecla.

The school year was split into two terms; the first from September to November, and March to June. The long winter break was because of the extremely cold temperatures, and the many miles that some of the pupils had to walk back and forth to school. Hence an entire years work of schooling was crammed into those 8 months. The determination of the Islanders to establish their own community is clearly evidenced in their committment to the pursuit of education on Hecla Island.

In 1881, the special status of the colony ended and New Iceland became a part of Manitoba, ending a dream of the original settlers which had only partially been realized.

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