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[melancholy music playing]

[man] I grew up in a little town

west of Minneapolis, about 110 miles,

called Sacred Heart.

Not only worked in town,

my father and I also worked at a farm

a mile and a half from town,

and when we got tired of living in town,

we'd move on the farm and do some farming.

I plowed with a team of horses

and a walking plow.

It was the boy that walked, not the plow, by the way.

And when the horses got tired

and I thought the old man wasn't looking,

I'd lie down, and let the horses breathe,

and I'd dream about somebody from the outside world

coming up with some fast-stepping horses

and tell me, "We've just been looking for a boy

that'll go out with us with our circus.

And how would you like it?"

"Oh, it would be wonderful," and so forth and so on.

By that time, the dream was over.

Time to go home and do the chores at night.

So, when I became 21,

I followed in my father's footsteps,

and went up to northwestern North Dakota,

right up on the Canadian border,

and homesteaded near a little railroad town called Crosby.

[clock ticking]

Just a day or two ago, I was rummaging around

in some old papers of mine,

and I came upon an old diary I didn't even know I had.

It was written by a fella I had known up there

on the claim near Crosby,

name of Ray Sorenson.

[soft music playing]

Ray's father, Henrik, had come up there in the '90s.

So, by now, Ray, together with his brother John

and the old man,

was working a decent size farm,

while I was still living in my old sod shack.

[clock ticking]

So, I figured I'm not necessarily

getting any younger at 94 years of age.

And here was an opportunity to put down a good yarn

about those old times.

Good times, too,

almost forgotten by most folks.

Times when we had the powers that be on the run.

I had Ray's diary to tell most of the story for me.

So, I sat down at my typewriter and got started.

[bluesy music playing]

[typewriter keys clicking fades]

[music stopping]

[wind howling]

[sharp exhale]

[Ray] March 19th, 1915.

Going to see Inga this afternoon.

Be tough and insist on an answer.

[whirring]

[engine puttering]

[indistinct exclamations]

[whirring]

[yelping]

You tell me!

I'll leave you here!

And I got you now.

Go on, tell me.

If you don't tell me, I'm gonna put snow down your back.

You put snow down my back, I'll say no.

Then I won't put snow down your back.

Then I won't say no.

What will you say?

[Inga] Yes.

[gentle music playing]

[spirited music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

[Ray] September 5th, 1915,

the day of my engagement party.

We started off in the Blind Pig

in the back of Gordon's elevator.

The joke is that Gordon steals your grain

from you in the front,

and bootlegs it back to you as booze in the rear.

[indistinct chatter]

But he's just a flunky for the big milling boys

in the Twin Cities.

Small potatoes compared to those grafters.

You're sold on this League, aren't you?

You're gonna be sold on it, too.

The next few months are gonna be critical.

Come on, don't get started on the League again!

Don't get serious on us, Sven.

I'm only saying, "Think about it."

[man] Time for another toast?

All right.

Let's see.

Here's to Ray.

I told him not to do it, but he did it.

[man] One brother down, one to go.

-You're next, John. -Yeah.

Five.

-Whatta you got? -[man] C'mon!

[chuckling]

I gotta go get cleaned up.

Come on, Ray. We don't want to keep Ma waiting.

I'm going to stay one more hand.

It's my deal then. I'm winning.

[man] What do you got?

You going, too?

[grunting]

See you in a little bit, Knut.

-[John] See you at home then? -I'll be there.

[John] And don't be late.

I'll be there!

[indistinct chatter]

[Ray] With John gone,

Sven got going on the League again.

I told him I'd join if I won enough money.

[indistinct chatter]

It's to you, Sven.

He gambled on a couple pairs, but I had three eights.

Very impressive, Ray.

Lay off, Sven, it's my engagement day!

[glasses clinking]

I never met an organizer yet with a sense of humor.

[Ray] When I finally got out of there,

I knew I'd be in trouble at home.

There are two things Mother doesn't tolerate:

missing grace and talking politics at the table.

But Father would be all right.

I could just see him,

waiting to get that first drink under his belt.

-Amen. -Amen.

[overlapping chatter]

[Henrik] Christians! Bunch of hypocrites!

Not all of them, but most of them.

He was born two months late.

[dishes clanking]

Hello, Inga.

You come for dinner?

[chuckling]

[man] You gotta have a toast.

There's no hurry, really. This meal's good.

Nah, it's a special occasion.

[Ray] Of course it was a strange engagement party

without Inga's parents there.

Ole and Adelaide had decided to hire out

to a threshing crew at the last minute

and couldn't come.

Anything to make ends meet.

But Uncle Thor tried to cheer everybody up

by telling his grass story for the 100th time.

[mimicking rapid ticking]

[mimicking soft clicking]

So, where's the toast?

-What's that? -[John] Where's the toast?

If it's a toast you want, then you'll have a toast!

Here's to Inga and Ray...

Good people!

-Skol! -Skol!

But make sure, Ray,

that you make love like a Viking marauder!

[laughing]

[clearing throat]

For my part, I have...

I've written a...

I've written a poem.

And so, here it goes.

-[paper rustling] -[clearing throat]

Ole was a hunter Who hunted the buffalo

But Lena hunted Ole And laid the poor boy low

And when the couple went to bed To keep their marriage pledge

Lena stayed on her own side

Ole hugged the other edge

And so it went For one full year

And Lena's belly rose

And Ole's friends Came by to toast

The thing that they supposed

And Ole smiled And Lena smiled

And, uh, and let Their neighbors know

That they did sure appreciate The friends that loved them so

The next year, too A child was born

And once more guests came by

And Ole smiled and Lena smiled And no one questioned why

And finally One cold winter's night

Lena turned to Ole and said

Ole, don't you want to come To my side of the bed?

Said Ole, Lena dear...

I am a hunter Who hunts the buffalo

I learned my trade From the Indians

And I do things just so

In olden times The Indians rode up

And speared their prey

But now we have repeating guns We fire from far away

So, Lena dear, we have two sons By this method tried and true

I'd be nothing but a Tosken To come and sleep with you

[giggling]

[giggling]

To Ray and Inga, skol.

[laughing]

[clapping]

[vocalizing]

Forsythe has only given Papa a month.

[Ray] Charlie Forsythe, the banker from Crosby,

is demanding his mortgage payment.

--down to McGregor already.

Ole and Adelaide can work their fingers to the bone,

but only a good harvest can help them now.

[rooster crowing]

[chickens clucking]

Yeah.

Yeah.

[squeaking]

[moody music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

[Ray] After Inga and the guests had gone,

father and I took a walk up on the hill.

He drank a toast to my engagement,

but asked me to hold the wedding off

until after harvest.

Inga's parents are too worried

about mortgage payments right now.

But I wonder if he knows I'm more worried about him.

[wind howling]

[vocalizing]

[clock ticking]

Is everything all right?

That little gray bird

trying to get in,

kept trying.

Then I heard him at the kitchen window.

I covered that.

I could still hear him banging, trying to get in.

[soft clattering]

Better get some sleep, Far.

I'll leave the lamp.

-Good night, Far. -[in Swedish] Sleep well.

[scraping]

-[gunshot] -[pig screeching]

[Ray] September 15th, 1915.

Today we went to Ole and Adelaide's to butcher.

Ole's up against it.

This is the last of their pigs,

the one Inga and the kids raised on a bottle.

[indistinct remarks]

[saw scratching]

When we were through, Howard came over

and started to badger me about the League again.

[Ray] Howard and Sven want to start organizing

down around Wildrose and they need men to help.

Lot of talk, but nothing ever comes of it.

Anyway, I had to get home

to help father with the cattle.

[man] Come over here, boy!

-[cattle lowing] -[shouting]

[man] Go!

-[sizzling] -[cow lowing]

[man] That'll do it.

[man] Go!

[Ray] With grain prices down, we need the cash now.

We spent the afternoon re-branding

for the new owners.

[Henrik] Get up!

Get up, you devil!

[Ray] Now all father's got left is "Black Toes."

He's so fond of the little calf,

I don't think anything could make him give it up.

[calf lowing]

[wind howling]

[grunting]

♪ Hallelujah ♪♪

[clock ticking]

Far?

[rooster crowing]

Far!

Far!

[echoes]

John!

[indistinct shouting]

[heavy breathing]

[somber music playing]

[clock ticking]

When the threshing crew gets here,

we've got to be ready.

Yeah, yeah...

[clanking]

[Inga] I'm so sorry, Ray.

They'll be here soon.

[grunting]

[somber music playing]

[music stopping]

[wheels squeaking]

[somber music playing]

[music stopping]

Ray, they're here.

Oh.

[engine puttering]

[Ray] The day after the funeral,

the threshing crew finally arrived.

[wind howling]

We worked straight up the section road

and finished our place and Knut's in five days.

Today, we're setting up at Ole's.

The wheat is still dry and in good shape,

but Ole's in bed with a high fever.

Kenny, Klaus, and some of the others

have rallied together to help.

But Uncle Thor is afraid

there's a new blizzard blowing in from Canada.

So, there's no time to lose.

[shouting]

[engine puttering]

[wind howling]

[door opening]

Inga, how soon?

About 10 minutes.

How's your Papa?

He's worried.

Well, don't you worry. Things will work out.

[engine puttering]

[man] Yes.

[indistinct chatter]

-[wind howling] -[machine whirring]

-[horse whinnies] -[indistinct shouting]

[indistinct speaking]

[machine whirring]

[horse nickers, squeals]

[indistinct shouting]

[indistinct chatter]

[Ray] But we did it.

When we went back to the cook car,

we had saved 90% of Ole's crop.

[indistinct chatter]

Thank God for friends and neighbors like these.

[indistinct chatter]

Harvest dance in town tomorrow night.

About time for a celebration.

[lively music playing]

-[chatter] -[laughter]

-Back. -Back.

-Over. -Over.

Over.

Back...

[indistinct chatter]

[laughing]

-Back. -Back.

-Right. -Right.

[soft music playing]

[Ray] November 1st, 1915.

Inga and I have set our wedding date,

but Mother won't be here.

[door opens]

[footsteps]

[indistinct chatter]

The farm no longer seems like home to her with Henrik gone.

Her sister Amanda is sick

back at the old home place in Ohio,

and Mother is going to visit her for the last time.

[indistinct whispers]

Let's go, John.

[cart wheels rattling]

[sentimental music playing]

[cattle lowing]

[Ray] But our lives go on

and now new problems have appeared.

Grain prices are still down,

we've had to take out a second mortgage

with Forsythe to meet expenses.

The railroads have raised shipping rates

to the Twin Cities again,

and everyone's feeling the pinch.

As times get harder,

League organizers like Howard and Sven don't waste any time.

Dreamers if they think they can fight the money boys head on.

Try to tell them that.

Sven never misses a chance to get on me about the League.

Howard and I were thinking,

your Uncle Thor Nyquist lives down the Wildrose Road?

Yeah, that's right.

[Sven] We don't have so many old rebel Norwegians down there.

Now the threshing's done,

you could go down there and talk to some of those men

with your Uncle Thor.

It'd really help us get things rolling.

[train clanging, chugging]

Well, John's gonna need me at the farm

now that Far is dead and, uh...

Well, in--in a month, uh,

I'm gonna be a married man.

Ray, you argued with me for six months

before you even signed up.

Now that we can use that big mouth of yours,

you've got nothing to say.

Well, I'd like to help, but...

I just can't.

[coins clatter]

I'll see you around.

I've got enough problems without Sven.

Inga's afraid that Forsythe might not give Ole

an extension on his mortgage in spite of the good harvest.

Ole can't sell his grain until prices go up,

but Forsythe may not want to wait that long.

[children shouting]

Mr. Sorenson, Mr. Forsythe will see you now.

He's delinquent here.

Yeah, that's three years ago.

That was a bad year for everyone.

Well, Ray, we get no pleasure out of foreclosure.

Ole's been a good customer of yours for many years.

[Forsythe] Yeah, I know, and my father knew his father.

It's a good family, I understand that.

He's a hard worker.

He can't help Flax Wilt.

I hope you'll, uh...

be able to give him a break, Charlie.

[train whistle]

Well, I'll tell you what, Ray. I'll do everything I can.

Thanks, Charlie.

[footsteps]

[door closes]

In spite of my protests,

Howard and Sven finally got me to go to a League meeting

up around Kenmare over the weekend.

The League program sounds good on paper.

Who wouldn't want state banks, elevators,

and a few good farmers in there running things

instead of those stuffed-shirts from Bismarck and Fargo.

But is it fair to raise people's hopes

if nothing can be done?

-[wind howling] -[birds chirping]

[liquid pouring]

Look.

Ray.

Here, let me have that.

Drinking and arguing about workers

doesn't get the work done.

We're alone here now.

It's just the two of us.

And you've got to take on a bigger share of the load.

[Ray] Eat your mush, John.

If we work, we live.

And if we don't, we die.

And it's that simple. It's survival.

Grain prices, short weights, dockage fees,

phony grading, land speculation, mortgage rates,

that's what survival's about.

-That's what survival's about. -No, no, no.

You guys can talk till you're blue...

[Ray laughs]

Tosken!

[indistinct shouting]

[laughing]

[horse neighs]

[laughing]

[horse snorts]

-[hooves galloping] -[wind howling]

Inga!

[indistinct chatter]

[engine revving]

[engine humming]

[horse whinnies]

[sheep bleating]

[horse whinnies]

[indistinct chatter]

Yeah, they're part of it.

[indistinct chatter]

Irv, be sure you get the door.

Yeah, I'll get it.

[horse whinnies]

[hammering]

[horse whinnying]

[indistinct shouting]

Looks like Ole's taking it pretty hard.

Yeah...

Yeah, I guess I should go talk to him.

[sheep bleating]

Don't say it.

Don't say anything.

No, Inga!

[indistinct chatter]

[cart bells rattling]

[metallic screeching]

[Ray] December 1st, 1915.

Inga's gone, and who knows what will happen to us now.

The family can stay with her Uncle Murphy

who runs a store in Crosby.

But Ole and Adelaide are farmers.

They'll be fish out of water in town.

[sharp thud]

[thudding continues]

You're not helping anything, you know.

And you are.

No, I'm not.

I'm doing the only thing I can do:

tend to my own business.

Good for you, John.

You smug bastard.

[bottle slams]

Never mind.

[John] Let's talk.

Let's talk.

[debris clatters]

[mutters]

All right! Go on!

You dumb, squarehead Viking!

You won't freeze to death, you're too drunk.

What do I care? Go on!

The hell with you, John!

[wind howling]

Damn.

[shouts]

[shouts]

[shouting]

[somber music playing]

It's right in here.

[rooster crowing]

[cow moos]

Ray...

Wake up, Ray.

Wake up, Ray.

Come on.

[groans]

Feeling pretty sorry for yourself.

Enough of that.

[bottle clinks]

Instead of this,

could have been up in Wildrose where we needed a man.

Let's go get some coffee.

Come on.

[wind howling]

[Ray] December 15th, 1915.

This was supposed to be my wedding day.

John's no help.

All he talks about is money.

He's still holding our grain off the market,

waiting for prices to go up, so we're broke.

The worse things get,

the more Sven and Howard lean on me

about organizing in Wildrose.

I'm going to bed.

Ray, don't do anything stupid.

I can't roof by myself.

And they'll be all right without your help.

[water splashing]

[chicken clucking]

[rooster crows]

[hay clattering]

I'm going.

I'm going, John.

Is the League going to roof this barn for us?

The League gonna sweet-talk Forsythe

into forgetting our loan?

I gotta have you this week, Ray.

I've got to, or we're gonna lose this place.

[Ray] You're right.

I'm right.

So, you'll stay?

That's why I'm gonna go because I'm not gonna let

fellas like Forsythe steal another farm...

Ours included.

[footsteps]

[hay rustles]

-[engine cranking] -[engine humming]

[energetic music playing]

I drove south of Crosby to Corinth

and then turned east to Wildrose,

stopping at farms all along the way.

Everywhere I've found farmers skeptical or scared.

They've been stung by politicians for so long,

they're suspicious.

I traveled as far east as Hamlet and McGregor

and found the same thing.

A lot of discontent,

but reluctance to do anything about it.

Inga and I tried to stay in touch while I was gone,

but only a few of her letters reached me.

Her family had gone on to stay with relatives in Milwaukee,

and Inga was left alone with Murphy in the store.

I'd only seen her a couple of times

since the foreclosure,

so it was a welcome relief

to go up to Crosby for a weekend.

I found that Murphy's store is being boycotted

by local businessmen as a hotbed of League activity.

[man] Take out the banker,

and one of these grain commission boys,

and throw in a railroad man.

Put 'em in a barrel, roll it down the hill,

and you know there'd be a son-of-a-bitch

on the top every time.

[laughing]

[Ray] Murphy is planning a meeting about the problem,

and Inga is helping with preparations.

[Inga sighs]

How's it going?

There's a lot to do.

Well, we better get busy.

[Inga] Yeah.

[hooves clopping]

-What time is it? -[man] 8:30.

[engine rumbling]

[Ray] January 4th, 1916.

I had to leave early so I could reach Wildrose by nightfall

and still make some stops along the way.

Late in the afternoon, I spotted a couple of farms

set near the Little Muddy River and decided to try my luck.

Have a mortgage with Forsythe, don't you?

Um, that's kind of a personal question there.

Well, I know you do.

[man] I've got a little one with him.

Now what happens if you get in the hole and...

he decides to foreclose on you?

And there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

He'd have to grow a mite before he'd foreclose on me.

[Ray] If you get in a hole, he can do it.

I'm not in the hole yet.

See, I've got the same problems.

If I want to be able to get the price I want for my grain,

something's going to have to change.

That's what the League is trying to do.

I just don't see where it's gonna do us much good.

I'll tell you what I'll do.

Being you're so serious about this thing,

I'll make you an offer.

I'll rassle you for it.

If I pin you, you get out of here

and leave me and Harry alone.

If you pin me, we'll join up with you.

You game for that?

He's gonna take us up on it.

[bucket clatters]

[bucket clatters]

[cow moos]

[grunting]

[man] You had enough, sod-buster?

You just lost, you dumb cowboy.

[man] How you figure that?

You just lost!

[somber music playing]

[hooves clopping]

[hooves clopping]

-[indistinct chatter] -[rocks clatter]

You gettin' played out now, huh?

Well, there you go, Krist, no more rocks.

There's more of them out in the field.

Oh, come on, Krist, gimme a break.

So you can pick them up, too, at the same time.

Why don't we come and-- come and talk with me.

Yeah, all right, all right, I'll go then.

I'll get over there with you.

So...

I don't think you're very smart,

you come out to the farm and haul rocks.

I did it to show you that we were working for you.

That we want to work for the farmers.

Oh, well, you figured you could trick me into joining up.

We're not trying to trick you into anything.

-We're farmers ourselves. -Yeah, but I think...

You guys are too slick to deal with.

If you get in the hole, and the bank forecloses,

no one to help you now.

Yeah, but a small farmer

is better off to stay by himself.

Well...

Well, you're a mighty stubborn man, Krist.

[Krist] No, I'm pretty hard to get.

I gotta study it out and figure it out.

Okay, you do that, you do that.

See how it'll work.

We're pretty stubborn too, you know.

[Krist] Got to be stubborn once in a while.

[chuckles]

I'm gonna see you when I come back.

I don't think it will do you any good.

Well, I am.

-I'll see you. -Well, goodbye then.

[engine rumbling]

[Ray] February 5th, 1916.

When I got back to Crosby,

all I wanted to do was see Inga.

But Murphy, always the staunch Socialist,

was starting to wonder about the League,

so I had to hear him out.

Ray, I'm worried about Townley.

He's out telling people anything to get their six dollars

and nobody can control him anymore.

What do you mean?

He doesn't have a long-range plan.

All he wants to do is to get the six dollars...

And when Townley and--

[indistinct]

--the Socialist Party,

they went out and started organizing farmers,

and they were successful,

and, uh, what happened?

They got booted out of the Socialist Party.

Socialists just don't like success, that's all.

-No, that isn't true, Ray. -It's true.

I've never met a successful Socialist.

No, they all think we're crazy.

[Ray] I don't care what you say.

As far as I'm concerned, Townley's honest.

[Murphy] Where did you hear that?

[Ray] I've heard it.

[distant children playing]

Momma says he hates the city.

He just sits in his room all day.

He worked in a factory for a while...

but they laid him off.

-[indistinct chatter] -[dog barking]

Doesn't even talk to the kids anymore.

[engine rumbling]

[Ray] This morning Inga and I went back to the farm together.

[lively music playing]

Can't catch me!

[laughing]

-[whooping] -[laughing]

[wind howling softly]

[soft music playing]

[shrieks]

[mysterious music playing]

-[Ray roars] -[Inga shrieks]

Give me a kiss! Give me a kiss!

I love you, I love you!

[mysterious music playing]

[shrieks]

Smelly lutefisk! Aquavit!

You're a horse!

[Ray "snorting"]

Good horsey. Good horsey.

Time to go into your stall, horsey.

[Ray "neighing"]

Nice horsey.

Can I get out now?

[both sigh]

When was the last time we did this?

-Mm. -Let's see, I was...

-I was 12. -I was eight.

[laughing softly]

-Poor monsters. -Yeah.

-You're my monster. -Mm-hm.

[soft music playing]

[Ray] We both wished that our day could go on forever.

But, of course, it ended.

The old life was over for us now.

Our only hope lay in building something new.

February 15th, 1916.

The price of wheat finally went up to $1.12 a bushel,

so John came up to Crosby to sell.

It looked like his waiting tactics had finally paid off.

I came up from Wildrose to help him at the elevator,

but the roads were bad and I got in late.

[indistinct speaking]

[John] Nobody else has got wheat like this.

You can't find wheat like this!

[man] Sorry, I'd like to, but that's all I can do.

Number Four.

-Now--now wait, Gordon. -Look, John, just calm down.

Is that Number Four?

Well, don't blame me for the snow.

But there's no damage. Look at the stuff.

All I know is, you threshed in the snow.

Now, look, John, I'm a businessman.

I have to sell this stuff in Minneapolis

after I buy it from you.

Now wait, Gordon.

This is going to ruin me.

Take it or leave it.

Come on, look at it, goddammit!

This is Number One North Dakota hard wheat!

Come on, take it easy!

[John breathes heavily]

Come on, take it easy.

[John] I checked every sack, Ray.

That's beautiful wheat in there.

You're some booster.

You never give up, do you?

[chuckling]

God.

[Ray] He thought he could get along

without choosing sides, just as I once had.

But it didn't take a genius to figure out

why Gordon had rejected our wheat.

Sven and Howard had been downgraded, too.

If we can't sell our grain, we'll go under,

probably before planting time.

[wind gusting]

When Uncle Thor heard what had happened,

he was furious.

He set up a meeting for Howard and me

with some of the key men over at Krist Toresen's soddie.

All right, let me--let me ask you fellas a question, then.

If you buy a pound of coffee,

who sets the price for that coffee?

God only knows, Ray.

God set the price to the coffee you buy, Gordon?

No, Andy Ingwalson and his missus--and that missus!

One week, she'll have it a cent up,

and the next week, it will be another cent up.

Andy's missus sets the price, that what

you're trying to tell me?

Yeah, I think so.

But where does she get the coffee?

[Ray] But who is that?

I think that has to be Ted from Minot, brings it up.

About once a week or so.

I don't think he comes that often,

I think, more like once a month.

No, I always had it in my head it was

just once a week, or twice a week.

No, it's only once a week.

[Ray] Beside that, that's beside the point.

Does Ted set the price?

[group] He's just a salesman.

[Ray] He just works for another company.

-And what about that company? -That company is skunks.

But are they in there alone, are they doing it

all by themselves?

And the railroads are involved there, too.

They're getting their costs,

bet your boots about that.

So, you got so many things there,

it gets pretty confusing.

Maybe--maybe God does set the price.

[laughter]

But I mean...

What it comes down to,

what you're paying is

the cost of bringing the coffee into Minneapolis,

the cost of processing and packaging it there,

the cost of bringing it into North Dakota,

the cost of distributing it throughout the whole state,

and then finally, on top of that,

And then, Mrs. Ingwalson.

[Ray] Then you got Mrs. Ingwalson,

putting her five or ten cents on top of that, right?

-That's right. -That's what you're paying.

That's what's setting the price.

And the kicker in the whole thing, though, is,

where does that coffee really come from?

Comes from Brazil, where it's grown.

Farming is the only business where you buy retail,

you sell wholesale,

lower than wholesale.

You have no control over your product.

You're just a damn slave.

That's what the League's all about,

and that's what we're trying to change.

But we can't do it without the farmers.

[man] Ray.

You're pretty sharp there, Ray.

For not even having a high school education.

[laughter]

[laughter]

Yeah, but it's not how we say it,

it's what we say, and that's the truth.

[laughter]

That's right, the darned truth.

♪ I opened my Bible ♪

♪ And it brought back Old times ♪

♪ I could hear Mother's Teardrops on every line ♪

♪ There on the pages The fragments still lay ♪

♪ Of a faded blue ribbon And a lilac bouquet ♪♪

[jaunty accordion music playing]

But I've been busy and haven't seen Inga at all.

She writes that Murphy's going to Minot this weekend,

so we'll have the house to ourselves.

Going to stop in at Gordon's first, though.

Sven and I are meeting with some Kenmare farmers

about the upcoming nominating conventions.

After that, no more politics until Monday.

[laughter]

[clock ticking softly]

[puffing softly]

[utensils clattering]

[knocking at door]

[slightly more insistent knocking at door]

[door opens]

[softly weeping]

Inga.

[clattering]

[dog barking]

[knocking at door]

[knocking at door]

[door opens]

[door closes]

[footsteps approach]

[Inga] You've been at Gordon's.

Yeah.

[Inga] Papa was always gone.

Soon as the harvest was over,

he'd be out on the road selling books.

"To make ends meet," he said.

[softly scoffs]

He was a terrible salesman.

So silent and tall.

I think people were afraid of him.

He just wanted to get away.

Mother and I sat alone on the farm all winter,

trying to keep the girls happy.

Mother never said what she was feeling.

You don't complain, you know, it isn't done.

But you can worry.

You can worry,

and fret it to death.

The roof needed mending.

The fence wasn't fixed.

The cistern leaked.

The chimney needed cleaning.

And wasn't somebody gonna do something about it

so that you wouldn't have to worry all the time?

But you never said...

You never spoke up.

Never once,

in that good, God-fearing home, ever said what you meant.

I'm lonesome.

I want him there when I turn over at night.

I want him!

I need him!

[shattering crash]

Have you ever looked at your face, Ray?

It's so hard and stiff.

That's the way Papa's face was.

Maybe I've loved you because of it.

You said "loved."

I have loved you.

And I'm trying to love you.

But you love what you're doing.

It'll end.

I promise you.

The people you're fighting don't give up, Ray.

If we win,

we'll be fighting them off for the rest of our lives.

And if we lose...

If we lose,

we'll have each other.

That's not enough.

No.

It isn't.

[engine puttering]

Look who's coming in here all dressed up.

-Must have got a raise. -Are you ever looking sharp.

You gonna be a little nervous tonight?

Never mind about that, just make sure you're there.

I'll be there, don't worry about that.

-We'll all be there, Ray. -Don't worry, we'll be there.

We're all pulling for you.

Okay, I'll see you fellas tonight, then.

-You bet. -Good luck to you.

[paper crinkling]

[whispering to himself]

[sighs deeply]

Well, folks, we're all here together tonight

to meet a man we've all heard about.

If he was an old gang politician,

I would stand up here and talk about

how great a fella he was,

until you fell asleep like you do in church.

But I can't do that.

Lucky for me, he's a farmer.

So, now, I'd like to introduce you to

the next governor of the state,

farmer,

Leaguer,

our friend, Lynn J. Frazier.

[paper crinkling]

[pensive music playing]

Election eve, 1916.

Last night, a terrible storm hit most of the state.

All day, we've been going from farm to farm,

helping people dig out and feed their livestock,

then get their cars and rigs going

so they can go to town and vote.

Telephone and telegraph wires are down all over the state,

so we have no idea what's happening in other areas.

We can only hope that everyone is doing

the same thing we are:

getting the farmers to the polls

by whatever means possible.

[train whistle wails]

Well, I guess the crooks made it.

They fixed it.

[Ray] This morning, the Soo came in

with the Fargo newspapers.

The League had lost badly in all the Eastern cities.

It seemed impossible

that all our efforts could end this way.

[bell pealing]

[train's engine chuffing]

But then, the late mail train came in.

The rural vote had turned things around.

We won!

We won!

[exultant music playing]

[Ray] With the primary won,

we all set our sights ahead

to the general elections in the fall.

Much work remains to be done,

and there isn't much time to celebrate.

But as John and I drove back to the farm tonight,

we felt, for the first time in our lives, powerful.

But leave it to the powers that be,

they don't get there by accident.

The long-feared letter from Forsythe

was there when we got back.

The mortgage is up

and no elevator in the area will accept our wheat.

Even if the League wins in September,

help from the Farmers' government

will still be months away.

Forsythe has played his last card...

but it's a good one.

[wind howling]

[high-pitched metallic scraping]

♪ Helen was the keeper Of the Northern Lights ♪

♪ Cold winds here, disappear ♪

♪ Hopes that never end ♪

♪ They shine, they glow ♪

♪ Blue, yellow, green ♪

♪ Never what they seem ♪

♪ There then gone ♪

♪ Nothing lasts long ♪♪

[soft music playing]

Shh, quiet. Shh, quiet!

Inga came out to the farm

when she heard about the foreclosure.

[wind gusting]

Inga.

I know.

[scoffs softly]

[sighs]

You struggle for a good life, and...

You never get to live it.

Where are you going now?

Well, Howard wants me up in Fortuna.

I'll be in Crosby for the election.

I'll see you there, then.

[pensive music playing]

[Ray] I picked up Howard, and we headed for Fortuna,

up near the Montana border.

Who can say what is coming next?

But, win or lose, I'm a part of it.

I have a place.

[uplifting music playing]

[soulful music]

[Henry] One of these days, they'll go too far,

and, well, you know what I'm talking about.

I'm an optimist, and I know

that good comes out of the bad.

Things are going to change. I'm sure of it.

I've got time.

I can wait.

[bright music playing]