Jacob Moger (Born 1873 Iowa)
Emma Anderson (Born 1872 Norway)

Emma moved to the United States with her parents
in 1884. Jake Moger and Emma Anderson were married
in 1898 and, for a time, lived in Minot, North Dakota -
but didn't like it there. About 1905, they heard there was
land available for homesteading in Canada, they decided
to move. They sold out and moved near Whitla, Alberta,
about 20 miles from Medicine Hat. With them were their
four young children, Alpha, Judith, Violet and Joseph.
They landed on the open prairie without any shelter, so
they had to quickly put up a makeshift until a home could
be built. Alpha could remember living in a "soddy", a
shack constructed of blocks of sod cut from the tough-
rooted prairie wool so characteristic of the area. She
remembers all huddled together under a parasol to keep
the rain off, inside the shack. Pots and pans were set
all over to catch the water that poured through the roof.
She also remembers blizzards being so bad they had to
tie a rope from the house to the barn, so they would not
get lost and freeze to death when they had to go out and
look after the animals.

There were no schools in the district, so the parents got
some books and taught the children as much as they
could. When more settlers moved in, a school was
built. Hopes of golden harvasts were high; the school
was called the Golden Sheaf. Whitla no longer appears
on maps of Albert and has been listed as one of the ghost
towns of southeastern Alberta. The school was closed in
1964. A new paved highway had bypassed the community
and the surrounding district had become large farms and
even larger ranches.