The whistle of a steam locomotive, short surges of excitement, brief twinges of fear, the final fond farewells, and the Cashatt family is leaving Iowa for a home in North Dakota.

Edward Nilsen and fiancee Sophie were natives of Norway and emigrated in 1884 to Mayville, N.D. where they were married. He took the name Edward Neil Bjornstad in the United States. They soon moved to Grand Forks, N.D. where he engaged in the construction trade. In 1906 Edward and several friends took homestead claims in McKenzie County, N.D. where Ed moved his family later that year. Edward and Sophie raised 6 children.