This story was written from original notes taken by Mr. N. Tjernagel from facts as they were given by Mr. John Ritland himself, and it appeared in weekly installments in the Story City Herald (Story City, Iowa) from March 9th to April 6th 1922, and also, in the Roland Record (Roland, Iowa) about the same time.
Leading up to the time Mr. Ritland entered the army his life was like that of any ordinary man on the farm, spending most of his time splitting rails and breaking prairie with oxen. He came from Norway to Illinois in 1855, and to Iowa in 1857. He, together with many others, traveled across the prairies in wagons drawn by oxen. There were seventeen canvassed wagons in the party. His story reads as follows.
