John Thune was born in Norway and was married to Annie Hauge before emigrating to America. The first home of the Thunes was made of sod well supported by logs.
The Thune farm was located on part of the widespread campsite of the Sibley Expedition of 1863. As at all of Sibley's camp sites, there were extensive earthworks thrown up around the camp, and these remained visible long after most of the land had been broken up for fields.
Nels, the oldest of the four Thune children grew up to serve as sheriff of Griggs County for a time, and Clara, the eldest daughter was married to Carl Anderson. Nellie, one of the twin girls, married Elva Weldon, and Ida became mother to Kenneth Ethen.
It was the Ethens who made their home on the old Thune farm and helped to identify the various historic sites on their farm and immediate vicinity. The Ethen family consisted of Clarice Ethen, Kenneth Ethen, Wallace Ethen and Chester Ethen, all of whom were born and raised in Addie Township like their mother.
Their father, Theodore Ethen, came from Cold Springs, Minnesota in the early 1900's. He worked for a time for Herb Church, one of the bonanza farmers, who owned a great many good horses, which were allowed to run loose all winter. The family has taken a keen interest in the historical lore of the county and in the sites located on their property.
John Thune was born in Vang, Valdres, Norway on June 19, 1855. In 1877 he came to America with his sister and her husband. They first settled near Northfield, Minnesota
In 1882 John Thune went with his brother-in-law, Knute Alstad, to Dakota Territory. They came up the Great Northern railroad to Hope, North Dakota From Hope they drove with their wagonload of goods towards Lake Jessie. At Mardell they had to stay about a week because of high water at the river crossing.
When they reached Lake Jessie, the man who had advised them, in 1881, to come out, had only a little sod shanty to live in and could not take them in, so he sent them on to Frank Pfeifer. Mr. Pfeifer, at that time, lived on the spot where the town of Jessie was later located. He had the room and disposition to take them in. He had just received a barrel of pork from his relatives in the east and was able to feed his guests.
They spent several days prospecting for land, in a westerly direction. The land seekers spent one dreary, rainy day at the home of Jens Anderson, about one mile south of where Binford was later built. This was the first pan of April 1882.
Mr. Thune was able to find some vacant land on the W ½ of Section 28-147-60. His relatives got the east half of the same Section. They first built a sod house for Mr. Thune's relatives. This house was quite large in order to have a place to live while they were building the other places.
When they had some building done, they went back to Hope to get the goods they had left when they unloaded there. They also got some lumber to roof their sod shanties. They spent the summer of 1882 improving their new homes. They had no income or way of earning money until fall.
The first winter Mr. Thune had his mother keep house in his sod shanty on the prairie. They went to Lake Jessie for fuel. By this time most of the hard wood had been cut away. The poorer stuff was good enough for fuel and there was enough for several years. In later years they went back and dug out the big oak stumps from the lake. These were broken up into smaller pieces. They also hauled out some old logs that had been submerged in the lakebed.
None of the first settlers wanted the timberland bad enough to file on it. They preferred to take a full quarter Section when they used their homestead rights. Finally Mr. W. T. McCulloch came out and he, and his sons, filed on the land in the vicinity of Lake Jessie.
Mr. Thune gradually improved his land. The first years were very dry and they had little crop in and had to make most of their living by working out. He gradually added to his cattle herd by natural increase, and they pulled him through many hard years. His mother lived with him part of the time. The remainder of the time she was with his brother who lived some miles West.
The girl, Anna Hauge, who had encouraged him to go out to America, soon came to be his housekeeper and they were married. She was his companion and helper for many years. (Their daughter, Ida, to whom this record was sent, was born in January, 1887.)
Mr. Thune has cooperated with the State Historical Society in protecting and marking this place and is always willing to help with such things for the improvement of the community. Such men are the ones who have built the foundation on which the prosperity and safety of the state rests and they are entitled to the respect and consideration of all good citizens. The explorer, the soldier and then the pioneer, have each done their part but none are entitled to more respect than such honest, hardworking, and Christian men as John Thune.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 187