at the Bergson’s lost their friends in Marie, their own family member in Emil, and another friend in Amedee.After John died, the family divided the land into three parts. These three parts went to Alexandra, Lou, and Oscar. All three had difficulties within the first couple of years. It even got to the point to where they were discussing the idea of leaving and going back home. They discussed this idea because the land they were living on was not producing much for them and money was very hard to earn. Cather stated in Chapter two that John Bergson “spent his first five years on the Divide getting into debt, and the last six getting out.” After John died, the rest of the family took on the responsibility of repaying this debt. However, by the end of the novel, the land had become very fertile and hearty and they were able to make a living off of it. But most pioneers during this time were not so lucky. Some died of starvation. Some returned to the cities in which they came from. Carl Linstrums family, in this story, had such bad luck with the land; they were forced to return to the city.Violence and crime was also a problem for prairie dwellers. Most people in this area lived in seclusion, miles from the nearest town. Therefore there was no jurisdiction in these outer one or two home communities. Because there was no jurisdiction, it was increasingly easier for people to commit crimes and get away with it. And most times this happened but people did get caught. This was the case for Frank in the novel. He committed a crime and turned himself in. But if Frank and Marie were living in town, under the protection of jurisdiction, it could have been quite possible that Frank would not have committed his crime due to the fear of being caught and persecuted (even though he turned himself in).Pioneers during this time also had to deal with not having much of a personal life. Most pioneers were so caught up a...
