These were the words my second great grandfather Hiram, 59 said to his wife Mary Elizabeth Smith Gibbs 53. For $10 homesteading fee, they could own 160 acres, after they "proved up" in three years. The entire family agreed to this new venture except for oldest daughter, Nellie Mary back in Iowa. What trials and tribulations did my Gibbs families endure? I have taken liberties to tell their story from census, court, birth and death records. Gilpin, Alberta is now not on any map, but the location is near Ryley and Viking, Alberta.
