Ole Olsen Tveten and Anna Herbjornsdatter Bakkan

Ole Olsen Tveten
Father
b. March 31, 1886, North Tveito farm, Hovin, Telemarken, Norway
d. April 15, 1964, Drumheller, Alberta

Anna Herbjornsdatter Bakkan
Mother
b. June 3, 1887, Gudbrannsgard farm, Hovin, Telemarken, Norway
d. August 26, 1926, Rivercourse, Alberta

by Thea (Tveten) Piffer

My father, Ole Tveten, was born on March 31, 1886, in Hovin, Telemarken, Norway. At the tender age of sixteen, he left home to seek his fortune. Traveling to the United States, he worked on farms in North Dakota and Minnesota. He returned to Norway three years later after a severe bout of diphtheria. He always claimed this illness the reason for having lost his hair.

He again set sail two years later, this time for Canada. He worked on the shipping docks at Lake Superior, then on to Alberta where he helped with the installation of irrigation south of Calgary. He then went on to logging camps, also worked with the railroad until finally ending up in the Dina district about 1910. There he worked at several farms including Oscar Bratvold's. In 1914, he began homesteading on a quarter of land in the Woodford School District. This bordered on the Battle River. Following the clearing of the land, which was mostly sloughs surrounded by willows and poplars, the breaking of the soil began. This was done with the help of a neighbour “big Andrew” Andersen, his ox teamed with Dad's horse.

Mother, Anne Bakkan, a former classmate of Dad's arrived in the summer of 1918. They were married at the home of Mr. Campbell, the local Justice of Peace. They later expanded their land to include the leasing of the nearby pasture land known as the school section, also purchased a quarter of C.P.R. Land n the Oslo school district in Saskatchewan, years later bought a section in this same area.

On August 26, 1926, tragedy struck with the death of Mother. This left Dad with five very young daughters to care for. Fortunately, Mother's father, Herbjorn Bakken, was with us at this time; he was a great help and a comfort to us all.

Even though the summer meant a lot of hard work we still found time for swimming and playing ball. During the winter which seemed one endless round of chores, we spent many happy hours skating and skiing with our many friends.

Dad retired in 1954. He lived at Lloydminister until moving to be with his daughters. In 1960, he returned to Norway, where he stayed for two years. On his return, he lived with his daughter, Helen, in Drumheller until his death on April 7, 1964, at the age of seventy-eight.