Compton Anniversary

In 1909 - 101 years ago this past September 4th — on the windswept plains of Saskatchewan, Canada, two children of homesteaders had reached adulthood amid the raging blizzards, searing summers, and other challenges of trying to tame the wilds of the North American west. However, ever the optimists, they displayed their faith in conquering all by being married.

The families of Henry Stimson Compton and Leafy Genevieve Emmerson had traveled parallel histories. Immigrating from Europe during the earliest years of settlement on this continent, their paths worked westward with the expansion. Over a...