From the land whence came the discoverers of the New World hails the subject of this article and June 1. 1864, was the date he was born. His parents, Mathis Hanson and Henricka Christopherson, were both natives of Norway also and the father followed railroad contracting. The mother died in 1895.
Our subject grew to manhood, was educated and worked on the railroad in his native land. When twenty he decided to come to the United States and settled in Olmstead County, Minnesota. Four years were spent there and in that time his brother John had come from Norway and they decided to see the west and accordingly made their way to Seattle, Washington.
Thence they traveled to Walla Walla and worked on the Palouse branch of the Northern Pacific. He came to Nez Perces County in 1888 and settled on his present place, about three miles southwest from Morrow. Here he has remained since, except he has spent considerable time in mining in the Elk country and other camps.
In 1900 Mr. Mathison went to the Klondike region and six months later returned to his home. He and his brother have also spent considerable time in steam boating on the Snake and are well experienced in the various callings of the industrial world. They now own one quarter section, having sold one recently, and they devote this to general crops and raising stock. Mr. Mathison was raised a Lutheran and in politics is a Democrat.
Back to: Nez Perce Biographies
Source: An Illustrated History of Northern Idaho, Embracing Nez Perce, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903