The Dahlberg Years 1936-1945
Don Johnson Journals and Letters

12/5/44 Light S. wind - cloudy +30. Election day. Ran kicker to end of Neil Point, crossed mainland to Vallads Bay and then walked via fire tower to Island View. Ev's donuts a flop. Played 6 games of whist, 3 - 3. In to town at 6 p.m. Letter from Alma Lee - in stew because Japs were quitting. [Kay & June Uenida were mother and daughter who had been released from an internment camp to work as domestic help for the Dahlbergs and went with them to California at the end of the Rainy Lake season.]

12/6/44 Wrote letters to Alma Lee, Lila and Gilda. Made rush for home just before dark and made it, by God. Left car at Vallads and resisted all temptation to stand around and gab. Letters from June - wrote "Please keep our address confidential from the Dahlbergs. We never want to see Mrs. D. again. You'll understand. Thanks a lot." Alma Lee wrote "Kay and June walked out on Gilda." I'll bet they ran!

11/3/42 Election day at Island View. We were there all day. Great gray squirrel feed at lodge in evening - after a Tom & Jerry made by Bob Cole - with milk. Mr. & Mrs. Cole, Tom and Tommy Mallon, Ed Somers, Bud & Ev, O.C. Olson, Florence, Don & Layna.

[Between 1/22 and 1/29/40 Don & Layna worked at harvesting ice at the Backus, Scheldrup, Jacobsen, Husted, Lysne, French and Dahlberg summer homes.]
• Started Scheldrup ice, one helluva ice house.
• Finished up at Lysne’s. Broke one slide - otherwise O.K.
• Put up ice at our place [Dahlbergs]. Buck, Byrne, Raymond, Carlson, Harry, Frank & Ed. Everything went swell. 5 tiers. Thru at 5 p.m. Beautiful day.

A Typical Ice Job
Alarm rings at 6:45. I jump up and build fire. By 7:00 the house is warm and tea kettle boiling. We get up. Layna to make breakfast, me to listen to news and write in diary - it is still dark. Breakfast 7:30 -7:45. Layna cleans up house, makes lunch. I cut wood for next night. 8:30 we put on snow shoes and start 1-1/2 mile hike to French's.
Ernie [Maki] never ready. He putters around full hour - drinking coffee, going to toilet, complaining about lumbago, pleurisy, a polinital hernia or maybe that pain is appendicitis. Finally get going with horse 10:15. We haul all equipment to scene of day's operation. Put up slides and determine where field will be. Clean off snow with horse drawn scraper. Cut hole and put slide in lake to join up with others. Cut enough ice by hand to make one tier - usually 18 cakes 22" by 44".
Time for lunch. Layna makes tea over open fire and we sit in smoke to eat sandwiches outside. Start actual production. Ernie drives horse who pulls rope run around pulley in ice house then on down to hook on ice cake. Layna places hook, up comes ice. I pack it in house. Layna carries back hook and so on until tier is up. Layna and Ernie start sawing for next tier while I shave top of 1st tier smooth and pack shaved ice between cakes. When I finish, I go down and help cut another 18 cakes. Water has come up thru hole we cut and we are wallowing around in six inches of water. Time out for tea at 4 p.m. Work on second tier until 6. Time to go home. Ernie drives horse straight for French's. Layna and I cut straight for home - three miles. A helluva long ways on snow shoes after a hard day. Get home about 7 - dark. I carry wood, water, empty slop pail. Layna makes supper. Eat. Do dishes. Read in bed, listen to radio - 10 p.m. sleep. Next morning back on job. To hell with the weather. One day 20 below. Next a blizzard. Same as yesterday until we get to ice job. Finish up 3 or 4 tiers depending on thickness. Tear down slides, load up outfit and so on to tomorrow's job. Hike home and repeat.

Travel During Freeze-up
12/1 - 12/12/44 Surprise! Not a speck of ice on the lake yesterday and altho no radical change in temperature, this morning there was a bridge of ice at the teepee. We decided to go to Bancroft and as ice wouldn't be strong enough even in the bay, take Ben's trail to highway. We rowed - two pair of oars and it went fine. Surprise again. Ice all the way from Carlson's to Hapgood’s point. Rowed along edge and made a landing - after breaking ice for about 200 ft. on Wrangler's point. One hour walk to road - slough still unfrozen due to snow protection. Lots of deer tracks. Heater line frozen in car. One hour to thaw it out. Rushed to town, got kids out of school at 3 p.m. and wasted no time in getting on road back. Tried ice on Bancroft and found it pretty good. Walked across bay and took to woods in far corner. Saved 20 minutes walking time. Woods most beautiful. Light snowfall of past few days clinging to everything - until you knocked it loose to slide down your neck. Grand view of lake from high ridge. Open lake coal black, frozen lake pure white. Sunset brilliant, rest of sky softest blue. As we rowed along ice field, sun's rays hit it at low angle, coloring it pale organdy (according to Sal). Don and Buck rowing, Byrne and Layna paddling, Sally lookout for ice, we came the two miles in 20 minutes. Beats kickering all to hell on a cold day. Took Harry's mail and bread over to him - almost forgot — helped him pull his boat out this a.m. before going to town. Boys and I pulled Carl's boat up after we got home. Kids wisecracked until bedtime 10 p.m. - A good day!

Decided kids might as well go to school via same route as followed coming home as ice in narrows pretty squeaky. Took them to mainland in kicker. Ice along shore there almost 2 inches thick. Pulled bow of boat up on ice and kids got out and walked 100 yards to shore.

Another fancy trip to town. Rowed to Ober's planning to go on ice from there. No soap. All open around his island. Back to boat and rowed to guest house point on Deer Island. Walked along island to main dock and then on ice to Bancroft Bay. Had to walk over Wrangle Island as ice was bad off point. Walked up slippery road - each fell once - to Vallads. Picked up kids in town and reversed process to get home.

Got kids ready about 4:30 and took them with kicker to Deer Island. Ice forming on lake so decided not to go to town ourselves.

Lake made feeble attempt at freezing over. Ice as far east as Backus Point and south to reefs. Narrows with about 3/4”. Maybe we can cross tomorrow. Ice on north side of island all the way from town to Goose Portage.

A tough day. Started out early to see what prospects were of getting off island. Tried ice in dozen places west of teepee but no go. Got about 1/2 way across but wouldn't hold. Came home and pushed boat on top of ice from boat house to open water at Backus narrows. Broke ice from there south about 300 yards to open lake. Some places got out and pulled boat. Broken ice out about 100 yards from shore on south side. Had helluva time landing boat. Pulled it up and over knowing that Buck could never get back that way. Walked over hills to highway.

Travel During Break-up
5/3/40 - 5/11/40 Made trip to town after kids. Annual tough one. Canoe from teepee to Deer Island - walk to Bald Rock, Canoe to Carlson’s, walk to highway, walk to Ben’s and car. Ride on to town and reverse process to get home. Three kids made it with nary a whimper, in fact, seemed to enjoy it. Ed Johnson walked on ice from Sheldrup's but went like us to town from here.

Wind blew like hell from south but couldn’t move main ice. It is getting pretty honey combed tho.

Ice caught hell today. Wind boxed compass from NE to NW The whole ice sheet began moving. Will take several more like this to open it up, tho. Frank and Audrey came over for dinner. Came in canoe all the way [from Frenches].

Strong, cold, NW wind. Frank, Audrey, Layna, Harry E. and our 3 kids paddled in canoe from teepee to Carlson’s. Got cold and wet.

Raw and cold. Ice moved practically not at all.

Warm but no wind. Ice melted out about 200 yards from shore in front of house.

Lake ice not doing much. Seems to be getting more rotten every hour. A good wind should take it.

Ice sitting pretty tight but loosening up. Opened enough so we could cut straight to Hapgood’s point on way to town. Brought kids home.

Clear, warm and windy - lake opened. Went to Island View in morning. Had to break fresh ice to get out and then had to go around Jackfish and Deer Islands. Wind blew like hell from SW all day and ice went out slick and clean.