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Fred Leistiko and Augusta Bleich were sweethearts in Germany. Fred immigrated in 1891. Augusta immigrated in 1892 and they were married the following January. On the way, Augusta got stranded in London and had to work at washing dishes until she had enough money to finish the trip to the United States. Fred's parents Johan Fryderk and Luiza (Rapsch) Leistikow and his sister Mary traveled with Augusta.
Prior to immigrating, the Leistikos were living on Russian land that had been deeded to the Germans. Fred's brother Adolph had spent 10 years in the Russian Army and his brother Albert served 5 years. Fred slipped across the Russian border to avoid being drafted in the Russian army. Fred's immigration path took him from Russia to Canada, to North Dakota where he worked on the railroad and played his fiddle for dances in Grand Forks and Fargo. He was listed in the 1900 census in Great Falls, along with his siblings John Adolph and Tina Leistiko, Albert and Elizabeth Leistiko, Mathilda and John Henschel, Otto Leistiko, and Mary Leistiko. He worked in the Great Falls smelter for three years.
In 1901 Fred moved from Great Falls to a place on the banks of the Missouri River, 25 miles out from Glasgow, MT. He bought the squatters rights on the property, along with a 2-room house and barn. He added 3 more rooms, and made it into a 5-room house. In 1908, bench land was opened up for homesteading and they bought 320 acres on the bench. Now they had 160 acres on the river and 320 acres on the bench. The bottomland by the river was previously in sagebrush and when it was cleared it made nice grass.
Fred's children, Otto Herman and Emma were born in North Dakota. Otto was born in 1893. Another child, born in 1894, died in 2 weeks, and one born in 1895 also died. Emma was born September 7, 1896. Fred, Robert, and Bertha were born on the farm by the river in Montana. Bertha was a 7-months baby and only weighed 2 and ˝ pounds. Augusta was sick after Bertha's birth, so Bertha was sent to Fred's brother Adolph's family in Anaconda. Ted was born 11 months later in Anaconda.
Emma explained that her father was not the best farmer as he had so many other things on his mind. He loved playing his violin. He started a lumber mill on the river with his dad and sold lumber to the new settlers coming in. The logs were all cut from cottonwood trees by hand. Nothing was motorized. They had a pit over which the logs were placed. One man was in the pit and the other on top, on either end of a two-man saw. It was very hard work. Their home was made completely of cottonwood logs except for the hardwood floors.
They were 25 miles out from Glasgow with few neighbors. There were no doctors, and when someone was sick they just had to get better on their own. If anyone got sick, lemon and whiskey was used for medicine. Fred never drank and there was no liquor in the house except for medicine.
Concerning schooling for the family, Emma and Otto started school in Glasgow and had to live in town for the winter. Then a school was started nearer their home with Miss Ford as teacher. All the kids graduated from high school except Otto. Fred had to help with the farm work so it took him a little longer. Emma had two years of business college in Great Falls. College was never considered, as "We were poor people". Emma started work at the Bon Ton in Great Falls but was called home to help when her mother was sick. She later worked in Glasgow.
There were Indians around. The Indians never hurt anyone but Emma was very scared of them. They would seem like a mile long group as they came by and begged for sugar for their papoose. They would camp near the school and do the cooking close by. Any stray dog was cooked in a pot over the fire. The Indians would hunt for game near ninth point on the river. There were no buffalo then, but they would hunt venison and elk.
There were many rattlesnakes to worry about. Once Augusta put little Fred by the corner of the house to get some sun. A big rattler happened to be right there, so she grabbed him up and ran in the house. Augusta was fussy about the house and tried to keep it clean. The clothes were washed on Mondays on the washboard. The clothes were hung outside to dry even in the freezing wintertime. Baths were Saturday night in a tub filled with warm water.
Grandpa Johan F. fished on the river and sold fish to customers in Glasgow. He kept them alive in wooden boxes by the river with running water and sent them to town every Friday with the mailman. He was a talented man and learned to do things on his own. He was good at figuring in the lumber business even though he only went to about the 4th grade, which was considered good in the old country. He was ahead of many of the settlers who could neither read nor write.
Fred farmed from about 1910 until his stroke in 1941or 42. He died in 1949 and then his son Ted took over farming. The farm was sold for $11,500.
Emma left in 1918 to work in Glasgow. There were about 300 people when the kids started school in Glasgow. Later there was a one-room schoolhouse closer to their home known as the Listmus School. All the kids spoke German and had to learn English.
When asked what they did for fun, Emma replied, "Work, there wasn't time for much else." Emma said, "I churned so much butter, I thought it would come out my ears." The girls and Rose Daum had to help with the fieldwork as well as in the house. They would help haul and trample hay. There were dances maybe once a month. When they moved to the bench, it might be every Saturday night.
They were not allowed to swim in the river. It was too swift. Some times they would play on the ice in the winter…with no skates, of course. Chores in the winter would be hauling in snow to melt in a barrel for water. In the winter they were in the house. They would play card games such as Norwegian Whist. Fred didn't like cards much and preferred to play his fiddle or play checkers with the kids. The kids would get 12 checkers, he would get 8 and he could still beat them. He could juggle and was talented in many things. They had a piano when they lived on the bench and they would roll up the rug and dance. The Daum's were just one-half mile away and they were always visiting. They got a record player about 1910.
During the depression they sold eggs in town for 8 cents a dozen, which helped with cash money. Also, cheese was sold. The grain was taken to town to grind for their flour. There was always a big summer garden to grow vegetables that were canned for the winter. Carrots and potatoes were put in sand to keep through the winter. To get food for winter they would take the horse and buggy into Glasgow and come home with 600 pounds of flour and 100 pounds of sugar and coffee, enough to last the winter. The rest of the food was raised or hunted.
Otto never married. At about age 20 he was taken to Rochester for a goiter operation. He was a nervous wreck after that and on a second visit to Mayo the doctor said it was not a goiter and he shouldn't have been operated on. They were never sent a bill for the second visit.
When Emma gave a reason for her Dad's long life she replied, "If God wills long life, you have it"
The farm on the Missouri River was eventually flooded when the Ft. Peck Dam was built. When Ted worked at the dam he fell in the river one day. He made his way to Frank Daum's house practically frozen. This was before Ted and Alice were married.
They were a close family. Fred was not religious and close to being an atheist. Augusta was religious but they never went to church as they were isolated the country. There were seldom any fights in the family and nothing serious.
The boys liked to hunt, and venison was the most common meat. Rifles were used for protection and hunting. Fred and Jacob Daum carried a rifle on their saddles.
There were no regrets about coming to America. "The old country was not good to us", Emma said. When asked about being German in America and whether there any feelings towards them from their neighbors she said there were only two German families in the Glasgow area, the Leistikos and the Daums, and the neighbors were always good and kind to them. In the First World War there was no strong feelings either way but it was different during World War II as everybody hated Hitler.
Fred learned to speak Russian, Polish, Dutch and German in Europe. Family lore says that Otto, Fred's brother, spoke seven languages.
In 1908, the area was opened for settlement because of the railroad. Supplies were brought in by rail and many settlers came from Iowa and the mid-west. Shoes were ordered from the Montgomery Ward catalog. Clothes were made by hand or "you did without" until 1920, bras, included. The Fred Leistiko family said good-bye to the two-holer in 1941.
[The family began to prosper, as did the rest of the country. At this time, the Leistiko descendants are interested in their family heritage and combining stories, pictures and vital information to have a better understanding of their family roots. June (Leistiko) Lundgren.]