This is a short paragraph in the life of Ottis B. Skarloken, a Griggs County farmer, written by Mrs. Sylvester Pederson as she remembers him telling about it.

He had just been married, leaving his wife in South Dakota. He decided to come to North Dakota to find employment and later send for his wife. He had no way of traveling and money was very short. He decided to ride his bicycle. It was a very hard trip and he had to stop many times to patch a tire or repair the chain. He came to Hannaford to find work. The only job he could get was setting up machinery. He was able to save enough to send for his wife. He also worked at Finley, where he had several cousins living. It was there that my brother LeRoy was born. I remember my mother telling me that he was baptized by a Reverend Boe who was a pastor there at that time.

My parents later moved back to Hannaford and the Dover Township community where they farmed and he also owned and operated a steam threshing machine for many years. His partnership was with MR. KNUTE THOMPSON and later MELVIN MICHAELSON. They threshed for many farmers in the community. There was also a cook car where they fed the many threshers. Many of them were strangers who came to Hannaford to look for work. All the neighbors hired out their teams and bundle racks to make a little money in the fall.

Cooks in the cook car were Mrs. Selma Rise and Mrs. Nora Nelson. Both of these ladies now live in Cooperstown. Later cooks were Alma, Inga and Myrtle Stamnes, all who live in Wimbledon and Jamestown. Threshing was a very exciting time of the year.

Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 288