One day in the spring of 1881, a starved hunter, Mr. Matt, came along and wanted to board with the John Hogenson family. He had a gun and some ammunition. As the meat supply was almost gone, they promised to help him out, providing he could get some meat for them. Mr. Matt promised to do all he could although game was not plentiful at that time of the year.
He shot a couple of prairie chickens the first few days, but they did not last long and one morning, when the meat supply was all gone, a large lone goose came soaring through in the air, looking for a place to settle down. (Mr. Hogenson believed that it was Providence that sent it just at that time when meat was needed so badly.) When the goose came over a bluff east of their location, she must have noticed a small lake formed by the melting snow close to their camp, and there she settled. Mr. Matt got his gun and started off, remarking, "There's a dead goose.” This was true enough for as soon as they heard the report of the gun, the goose flopped her wings and could move no more.
The next thing was to get the bird on dry land, without getting too wet. At the time, Mr. Hogenson had an ox, which they had trained for bareback riding; so he got the ox and started out into the little lake to get the goose. When he came close to the bird and reached down to get it, the ox became frightened and started doing some bronco stunts, which flopped Mr. Hogenson off into the water. The ox made for the shore and John Hogenson picked up the goose and started for camp. The goose was roasted, and Mr. Hogenson remembered later that they had a real feast for once, after their first hunting experience in Romness Township.
Source: Cooperstown, North Dakota 1882-1982 Centennial page 266