History and beauty hidden along the James River Valley
BY JOY POWERS


Editor’s Note:This is the first in a series of articles that will focus on many interesting and historical places in LaMoure County.

Have you ever heard someone say, "Why come to North Dakota? What’s there?" At first glance if you look around at the vastness and openness, one might miss some of the beauty and history that can be found right here in our own LaMoure County. Beauty and history that can often be taken for granted as such an everyday part of our lives.

Throughout the past months County Commissioner Jerel Skattum and a committee made up of eight others spent many hours working on the LaMoure County Scenic Back Roads Project. Many hours went into collecting the historical, natural, archeological data and photographs before the proposal could be sent in requesting that LaMoure County Road 63 be marked as a Scenic Back Road.

Although this year the project was denied, the history remains. Through a series of stories we will travel down the 31 ½ miles of this road, stopping along the way to tell the story of each of the sites and reminisce through the history and heritage that has made LaMoure County what it is today.

The first stop begins at the south end of the LaMoure County Scenic Back Roads Project. Here the path leaves LaMoure County Road 63 to County Road 60, approximately six miles south of LaMoure, where a small country church sits.

Imagine the view the settlers first had when they arrived in LaMoure County. A view of beauty, vastness and openness and a valley filled with its own beauty waiting to be settled, a land so new, so strange and undauntedly these pioneers began their new lives here in LaMoure County.

The history of this small country church began back in 1882, when Lars Holm and Peder Jorgensen drove two stakes into the frozen ground in what would be later named Wright Township. In May the sod houses they’d constructed became their new homes for their families. They sang their old hymns and thanked God for all of his blessings.

Spring of 1883 brought them more neighbors and in June word was spread that there would be church services held on the following Sunday five miles north given by Rev. Hill from Lisbon, North Dakota. In the spring of 1884 Rev. Hill was able to come back to the area to do another service. The services were held in home of Mr. and Mrs. Peder Jorgensen where three small children were baptized. This was the first baptism and service in the township and the starting point of the St. Ansgar Congregation. When Rev. Hill was known to be passing through the area, services would be held in the people’s homes. The homes were crowded and the pews made of grocery boxes or nail kegs. Throughout the coming years services were held in homes or the school when a pastor or local laymen were available.

With the winter of 1888, a blizzard hit the valley hard. Many of the young children were still in the school. A young woman, fearing her children would be lost in the blizzard, set out across the valley to find her children. The children had made their way safely to a neighbor’s home to wait out the storm, but there was no way to contact their mother to let her know the children were safe. Mrs. Aamen Olson died in that blizzard trying to reach her children and was the first person to be buried in the church cemetery a mile up the road on January 12, 1888.

In January 1889 they realized they had a congregation without a name. They called Rev. Heiberg as pastor and later it was he who suggested the name of St. Ansgar. Through the years Pastor’s came and went and the congregation held strong in their faith.

It wasn’t until December of 1913 that building a church came to a vote. Three locations were offered for the church and J. G. Mattson’s offer of two acres of land for a church and cemetery located just south of the county line and west of Cottonwood Creek was accepted. Building would begin as soon as they could get $2,000 subscribed. By March of 1914, $2,100 was subscribed, the deed for the land secured, and building began. In November 1914 the congregation called St. Ansgar had their church. Completed at the time of the dedication the total expenses for the church were $4,401.71.

It wasn’t until years later that the congregation had their first wedding in the church building on September 22, 1940 when Rev. Haakonson married Alfred Willardsen and Hazel Welander.

Throughout the years St. Ansgar saw many pastors come and go but persevered through many hard times with strong faith and a supportive congregation. In January 1989, St. Ansgar Lutheran Church celebrated their 100th Anniversary.

The congregation gathered together to celebrate with the first of their annual "Heritage Days" celebration. The congregation came dressed in clothes from their ancestors and many brought items from the early days and shared the stories of their history. Those that were able made the walk about one mile up the road to the old cemetery where a special service was held in honor of those that had made this day of celebration possible. Heritage Days continues every summer with celebrations of heritage and faith.

Throughout the years the church’s history, the congregation’s heritage has shown through. As you enter this small country church, the history and beauty of its heritage shines through. A peaceful, quaint building erected many years ago surrounded by the beauty of the James River Valley stands proud, still serving its congregation with strength and peace.

Since 1985 Pastor John Estrem has served the congregation at St. Ansgar’s Lutheran Church as well as Zoar Lutheran Church in LaMoure. St. Ansgar’s remains a small church where approximately 20 families gather every Sunday morning at 9 a.m. continuing the traditions and heritage that began so many years ago.

St. Ansgar Lutheran Church is the first stop of our tour along the proposed Scenic Back Roads Project. Continue on our journey through the history and beauty of the James River Valley in our next feature on the Cottonwood Creek Recreation Area-Lake LaMoure.