text: Grit kept trying but couldn't seem to find anything that would suit him for work. One day he was speaking with a foreman at one of the lumber companies who said, "Why don't you form your own company?"
  
  "Doing what?"
  
  "Logging. You could buy acreage, log it off, sell the logs to a lumber mill for the right price. Or, even better, you could form your own lumber company, saw the logs and sell the lumber."
  
  The more Grit thought about it, the more he thought it was right for him. And then he saw an advertisement in the Nebraska State Journal, published in Lincoln:
  
  "The Burlington & Missouri River R.R. Company of Nebraska own the alternate sections, in whole or in large part, in every township within the areas north of the Platte, and south of the Platte. These embrace 2,500,000 acres, of which over 1,000,000 acres are sold. The remainder comprising some of the finest lands in the west, are for sale on very long credit, very low interest, and at very low prices, with large discounts for improvements and for cash."
  
  Grit came home that evening and told Colleen, "I'm going into the lumber business, and I need to travel to Omaha and buy the land I need from the railroad."
  
  Colleen surprisingly had lots of questions, and Grit answered them fully, grateful that she had such an interest in what he wanted to do. Afterward, Colleen said, "I think it's perfect for you, something you can really sink your teeth into."
  
  After traveling by rail to Omaha, Grit met with the railroad officials and got several maps for various properties. He spoke with T. J. Woody, manager of all land sales for the railroad.
  
  "Look over the maps, and I'll give you a railroad pass that you can use to travel and assess the acreage. It's a big decision, so look over each parcel carefully."
  
  Grit spent a week and found more than 10,000 acres he wanted to buy, but if he couldn't afford the full acreage, he'd identified nearly 5,000 acres that he wanted more than the rest. When he returned to Omaha, he asked, "How much for the acreage?"
  
  "That much land we'll sell for two dollars an acre," Woody said.
  
  "What kind of loan can I get?"
  
  "Ten percent down and two percent interest on the balance."
  
  "In that case, I'll take 10,000 acres," Grit said. "I've marked the sections I'd want on this map."
  
  As he rode home after signing all the papers, he thought, "Now I have to find a buyer for my logs or build a sawmill and find a buyer for the lumber."
  
  Within a matter of days, he'd found a buyer in Omaha for every log he could supply. But then he found a wholesale buyer for all the lumber he could provide and his profits would double if he supplied lumber instead of logs. Days later, he found a used but very serviceable portable steam-powered sawmill and an industrial planer. He could burn the waste from the trees to create the steam for the sawmill and planer.
  
  "So where does all this lead?" Colleen asked.
  
  "It leads to us setting up a sawmill on our land along the Platte River at a rail siding and starting to deliver and sell lumber. Once we start getting paid, the whole thing will come together... I think." Grit laughed. "It'd better work, or we're gonna be broke, and I'll have to get a real job."
  
  Colleen laughed. "So, are you going to be gone a lot?"
  
  "For a while I will be, no question," he said. "But after two or three months, I'll be supervising and home most of the time. I'm going to hire good people."
  
  Despite his travel, Grit had noticed that Colleen was happier than he'd ever seen her. She'd taken to college with glee. She and Astrid skipped out of the house each day, Colleen to the university and Astrid to her little friend, Emily's, house. It did Grit's heart good to know he'd brought such happiness into Colleen's life. Grit had asked, but Colleen couldn't explain why she wanted more education; she just knew that she was happiest when she was learning.
  
  Then Grit was on the go again. He hired a mechanic to keep the sawmill and planer working properly, a German named Harry Heins, and he hired a lumberjack foreman named Pete Early, whom he charged with hiring six other lumberjacks and getting onto the property they were about to log off. He hired a full-time cook for the men and had to buy incredible amounts of food because of the toll the hard work took on the men.
  
  A week later, Heins had set up the sawmill and planer in a temporary building the new lumberjacks had helped him construct with a metal roof to keep the saw and planer dry. The building and equipment could be taken down and moved to wherever the logs were being cut. There was lots of equipment needed, and Grit had set up an account at Johnson Hardware in Omaha so that Early and Heins could get any equipment needed.
  
  Grit figured it was best to work with the lumberjacks and establish himself as one of them because it was the part of the business that he knew best. He'd brought up his four mules and chains to haul the logs.
  
  Early had done a good job with hiring. Every one of the lumberjacks seemed solid, but there was one named Ralph Frampton who was cocky and seemed to have a bad attitude. When things didn't go just right, he was cursing and swearing to the high heavens, but he was a good worker.
  
  They'd been out a week when Frampton got angry with Alex Simko, a short Hungarian with muscles to match anybody. He spoke only broken English, but he understood perfectly when Frampton started cussing him out, and he was ready to fight.
  
  Grit happened to be nearby and walked over and got between the men. "Enough, get back to work," he said.
  
  "If he doesn't shape up, I'm gonna pound that little Hunk into the ground," Frampton said.
  
  "You start a fight, you lose your job, so think before you do it," Grit said.
  
  When Frampton turned around to walk away, Grit said to Simko, "Grab your ax and come with me, Alex." He worked with Alex the rest of the day and found no fault with his work or his attitude.
  
  When Grit got into camp that night, he told Early to keep an eye on Frampton. "You may have to fire him. I'm gonna work another week with the men, then I've got lots of other things to do to keep this business alive and prospering."
  
  "Working with the men was a good idea, Grit," Early said. "They know you're the boss and not somebody to trifle with." Early chuckled and added, "They also know you can outwork any two of 'em."
  
  Meantime, Grit got word that the homesteads had been sold, both his and Paulie's for a total of $1,050. After deducting the lawyer's fees, it added another thousand dollars to the Yankton bank account.