m a r k e r i c k s o n p a i n t i n g s Frank Severin Erickson Ernest Julius Erickson Andrew Anders Sebran Erickson American Expeditionary Force 1918 - 1919 Out West & North Dakota
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In early 1917 my grandfather Frank Severin Erickson and his older brother Ernest Julius Erickson had gone out west by train from North Dakota together seeking adventure and warmer climates. Also on their minds was buying some land along the west coast. Deep into Winter when they arrived on their first stop at Astoria, they were surprised how cold it could get in Oregon. Over the next months they considered how the Great Northwest was similar to where they had come from in Dakota. Frank and Ernest Julius were working by mid Summer as deputies on the Oregon Railroad out of La Grande. Both had joined the army in June and had full intention of becoming members of the American Expeditionary Force that was being formed at hundreds of army camps all over the states. goes simply: "Went and signed up for Uncle Sam today, so if he wants me, I’m ready to go."
Ernest Julius would be first to enter service in late 1917 and train at Camp Lewis
near Tacoma, Washington. He shipped out to England from Brooklyn Harbor on July
6th, 1918 and ported in Liverpool. By September of 1918 Ernest would find himself in
the Argonne Forest in France serving with the 361st Infantry.
In late September of 1917 Frank and Ernest Julius went deer hunting near Mt. Baldy and Granite Creek, Oregon. They camped, went fishing, cooked outdoors and enjoyed the time together up in the woods. In the photograph below, a deer hangs from a tree after a successful hunt. The photo was taken on September 25th, 1917. By the end of 1918, with Ernest Julius already at Camp Lewis training, Frank would move to Tacoma and await his induction into the AEF. Soon enough he would be at Camp Lewis preparing for combat duty.
On August 8th, 1918 Frank like his brother would ship out of Brooklyn Harbor heading
to England. In September he along with other members of his Company H of the 308th
Infantry would be preparing to take part in the Meuse Argonne Offensive. An odd twist
of fate was in store for Frank by early October.
Fortunately Frank would become a surviving member of the Lost Battalion when 194 men would escape through a pocket in the Argonne. The 356 remaining men were either killed, went missing in action or were captured by the Germans. The quality of photographs unlike the one below taken by Frank and Ernest Julius in September of 1917 are superb with two examples here: The photo below along with others had quite a life. One hundred years old and they have gone through the mill as Frank would say. Forty years in a photo album and then in 1952 the Missouri River, North Dakota Flood hit Bismarck and my grandparents house was waist high in Missouri water. They told me of items floating out the open windows and things lost or damaged.
It is quite fortunate that these photographs even exist. This and other similar images
taken on September 25th, 1917 up in Oregon all faded and water damaged, but still stunning
and in my opinion true Cowboy gems. |
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