CHAPTER XLI

_The First Norwegian Pioneers in Northeastern Iowa_

In this chapter I shall give a brief account of the coming of Norwegians into northeastern Iowa and their founding of settlements there between 1846 and 1851. We are near the close of the period which this volume deals with. The founding of settlements in Iowa in 1849-50 is but a part of a larger movement now beginning, which, in the course of a few years, resulted in the establishment of numerous settlements in Wisconsin, Iowa, and southeastern Minnesota.[407] These settlements were founded in general through internal migration away from the older settlements in Racine, Rock, and Dane Counties. The latter were now becoming overcrowded and they furnished hundreds upon hundreds of recruits to the new settlements that were fast springing up. It is with the years 1848-49 that we associate this new trend in the movement, and which inaugurates this new period in the whole movement. Only its beginnings will here briefly be sketched as related to the counties of northeastern Iowa. Of the mass of material which has been placed at my disposal, I can only select what appears most essential to the purpose.

[407] And Texas.

The first county settled by Norwegians in northeastern Iowa was Clayton. The first settlers were Ole H. Valle and wife and Ole T. Kittelsland who located in Read Township in the summer of 1846. Both these men had, however, entered Iowa three years before. In 1843 they had come to the old Fort Atkinson in Winneshiek County, and had remained there for three years in the service of the government.[408] Valle and Kittelsland were both from Rollaug, Numedal; they had immigrated in 1841 to Rock Prairie, and had from 1841-1843 worked in the Dodgeville mines. In 1846 Sören O. Sörum from Land Parish, Norway, came to Fort Atkinson and in 1847 Ingeborg Nilsen, a cousin of Ole Valle, came there.

[408] Their duties being to show the Indians how to farm and in general to teach them the white man's ways.

In the summer of 1846 then, Valle and Kittelsland located in Clayton County,[409] buying a farm together, about three miles southeast of the present village of St. Olaf.[410] Through letters from Valle the locality was soon brought to the attention of Norwegian settlers in Rock Prairie and Koshkonong. In the spring of 1849 Ole Herbrandson and family came out there from Koshkonong; he was an immigrant from Mörkvold, Rollaug, in 1842 and had, it seems, visited Valle in Clayton County in 1848 and found the locality to his liking. In June[411] Halvor Nilsen Espeseth, Knut Hustad, Ole Sonde, and Ingbret Skarshaug, came from Rock Prairie;[412] going to the western part of the county, Nilsen selected land in Grand Meadow Township, becoming the founder of the Clermont extension of the settlement, which, as Norwegians began to come in gradually, expanded north into Fayette and Winneshiek Counties. Other arrivals of the same summer were Abraham Rustad and family, Bredo A. Holt, Jens A. Holt, all from Hadeland, Bertle Osuldson, Tallak Gunderson and family from Arendal, and Ole Hanson and family. These located in the Clermont region; Jens Holt on section 17, Marion Township, and Hanson on section 6 in the same township. About simultaneous with these, Fingar Johnson, Helge Ramstad and wife, Thorkel Eiteklep[413] Ole E. Sanden, with wife Guro and family, located in the eastern settlement.[414]

[409] The first white child born of Norwegian parents in the county was Jorund Valle (Mrs. Lars Thovson, St. Olaf), daughter of Ole Valle.

[410] See article by Rev. Jacob Tanner, entitled: "En kort Beretning 50 Aars kirkelight Arbeide; Clayton County, Iowa," in _Lutheraneren_, 45 (1901). My facts here are gathered in large part from this article.

[411] The date was June 11th according to _History of Clayton County_, 1882, p. 831.

[412] The last three were from Hallingdal.

[413] According to others these two did not arrive till 1850.

[414] Tanner's article. Sanden and Fingar Johnson settled in Wagner Township.

The founders of these settlements nearly all came from Rock Prairie, where they had lived the first few years after immigrating. During the years 1850-1851 a large number of immigrants joined the colony. The first of these were Lars Valle, Hellik Glaim,[415] and Austen Blækkestad, all from Numedal, Ole Engbrigtsen and Peter Helgeson from Sigdal in Numedal, and Ole Gunbjörnson and Knut Jæger from Hallingdal, while Halstein Gröth and family from Næs in Hallingdal and Kittil Rue located in the western part of the settlement. The Gröth family located in Marion Township, where also James and Jacob Paulson Broby, who came from Hadeland the next year, settled. Mrs. Holger Peterson and son (Peter Holgerson) came in 1851 and settled in Wagner Township. Sören O. Sörum and wife[416] settled in Farmersburg Township in 1850, being the first Norwegians there.[417]

[415] See above page 143.

[416] See note, on p. 213.

[417] In 1867 he moved to Wagner Township.

But in the very beginning of this period the movement was directed to the counties to the North, Allamakee and Winneshiek. The immigration of Norwegians into Clayton County had practically ceased by 1855, the chief reason for this probably being that the Germans came in very large numbers, particularly to Clayton County, during the early fifties and soon occupied all the best land.[418] Northeastern Iowa was but little settled, and the development of the wilderness had only begun. Clayton County had in 1850 a population of three thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, while Fayette had only eight hundred and twenty-five, and Allamakee seven hundred and seventy-seven. The population of Winneshiek County had reached four thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven.

[418] Rev. Tanner writes: "When we look at this Norwegian settlement as it was then and is to-day largely, it immediately strikes us that it was wood and water the colonists looked for, and therefore they let the prairie lie and chose the hills along the Turkey River. Not until later did they learn to understand the value of the prairie, but then the Germans had taken most of it."

Allamakee was the next county in order of settlement.[419] This county was opened to settlement in 1848, but land was not put upon the market before 1850.[420] In 1849 Ole L. Rothnem, Ole O. Storlag, Ole K. Grimsgaard and Erik K. Barsgrind came from Rock County to Allamakee County and selected land. In 1850 they moved out with their families and in company with them came: Ole K. Stake, Arne K. Stake, Syver Wold and Thomas A. Grönna. Others who came about the same time were: Thomas Anderson[421] and wife Emilie, Sven E. Hesla,[421] Björn Hermundson, Nils T. Rue, Östen Peterson, Lars Jeglum, Halvor E. Turkop, Ole S. Lekvold, all from Hallingdal, and Nils N. Arnesgaard, who was from Numedal. Among others who followed the next year I shall mention: Knut Knutson,[422] G. H. Fagre and wife Katherine, and Ole Smeby (b. 1804), wife and sons Hans, Ole, and John. They settled on the prairie north of Paint Creek, living in their canvas-covered wagons until houses were built. Those here named formed the nucleus of the Paint Creek Settlement, which already the next year received large accessions.

[419] The Fayette County settlement about Clermont is a western extension of the second settlement in Clayton County; its beginnings have been referred to above.

[420] The first entry of purchase appears under the date of October 7, 1850. The earliest settler in the county was Henry Johnson, after whom Johnsonsport was named, but I do not know of what nationality he was.

[421] Hesla had came to America in 1845, Anderson in 1846.

[422] Settled in Makee Township; he had came from Norway in 1849.

The early settlers of Allamakee and neighboring counties experienced all the trials and hardships of pioneer life in an unsettled country. There was no railroad nearer than Milwaukee. At McGregor there were a few stores where the necessaries of life could be had.[423] The process of home building and the clearing of the forests was slow and often attended with many difficulties. The pioneers generally brought with them no other wealth than stout hearts and strong hands, and it was only by industry and severe economy that they were able to make a living for themselves and their families. Those who hired out to others received very small wages, and as there was little money among the pioneer farmers this was paid in large part in food or other articles. It may serve as an illustration that in the winter of 1850-51 a pioneer in Clayton County[424] split seven thousand rails of wood for fifty cents a hundred; for this he was paid $3.50 in cash and the remainder in food.[425]

[423] In the Clermont Settlement there was a log-cabin store at the village of Clermont.

[424] This pioneer is still living.--See Tanner's article.

[425] A barrel of flour at that time cost twelve dollars in Iowa, and a bushel of corn seventy five cents. The usual wages was 25c a day, sometimes a little more.

Most of the Norwegians who first settled in Allamakee County came from Rock County, Wisconsin; later, some came from Dane County, Wisconsin, and also from Winneshiek County, where a settlement was formed in June, 1850. Several, however, came from Norway by way of New Orleans and the Mississippi, as did Gilbert C. Lyse in 1851.

In 1856 there were in the whole county five hundred and five Norwegians; one hundred and eighty-one of these had settled in Paint Creek (then Water-ville) Township, the rest being located mostly in the neighboring towns of Center, La Fayette, Taylor, Jefferson and Makee. In the meantime a new settlement had been established in the northwestern part of the county, in Hanover and Waterloo, which soon extended into Winneshiek County. But the earliest Norwegian settlement in Winneshiek was formed on Washington Prairie in June, 1850,[426] when a number of families moved in from Racine and Dane Counties, Wisconsin. Eastern Winneshiek County received in the following year a large Norwegian population.

[426] The county was organized in 1850, and the first term of court convened on October 5th, 1851.

Those who came in the latter part of June, 1850, and settled on Washington Prairie were: Eric Anderson (Rudi),[427] the brothers Ole and Staale T. Haugen from Flekkefjord, Ole G. Jevne, Ole and Andrew A. Lomen, Knut A. Bakken, Anders Hauge, John J. Quale, and Halvor H. Groven, all from Valders, and Mikkel Omli from Telemarken. On July third another party headed by Nels Johnson[428] arrived, including Tollef Simonson Aae, Knud Opdahl, Jacob Abrahamson,[429] Iver P. Quale, Gjermund Johnson (Kaasa),[430] and John Thun.

[427] See above page 232.

[428] The father of Martin N. Johnson, member of Congress from North Dakota. Nelson Johnson was one of the founders of the Muskego Settlement in Wisconsin in 1839. He later entered the Methodist ministry and was for two years, 1855-1857, pastor of the Norwegian M. E. Church in Cambridge, Wisconsin. With the exception of these two years he lived in Winneshiek County until his death in 1882.

[429] Father of Rev. Abraham Jacobson, to whom I am in part indebted for facts on the early settlement of Washington Prairie. Rev. Jacobson has also printed a pamphlet: _The Pioneer Norwegians_, Decorah, 1905, 16 pages, which is a most valuable contribution to the pioneer history of Winneshiek County. A very brief chapter on the "Pioneer Norwegians" may also be found in Alexander's _History of Winneshiek County_, 1882, pages 185-186.

[430] A brother of Nels Johnson. Thun was from Valders.

Of the coming of this party Reverend Jacobson has given the following account: In the spring of 1850 his parents and a number of other families left Muskego to move out west. The leader of the party was Nels Johnson; he had a large military wagon drawn by six oxen. "This had a big box on, filled with household goods and covered with white canvas. On the outside was placed, lengthwise, the wagon box, several joints of stove pipe, so the outfit, with a little stretch of imagination," says Rev. Jacobson, "looked like a man-of-war; this was the so-called 'prairie-schooner.' Then there were other vehicles of all sizes and shapes, from truck wagons, the wheels of which were made of solid sections of oak logs, down to the two-wheel carts." At Koshkonong, Dane County, so many more joined them that they were in all over one hundred individuals; the caravan included furthermore now two hundred head of cattle, a few hogs and sheep, a mare and a colt. They drove on via Madison, then a little village, to Prairie du Chien, where the party divided one-half going to Vernon County,[431] Wisconsin, the other half to Iowa. Reverend Jacobson says of the journey at this point:

The Wisconsin river had to be crossed on a small ferry boat, the propelling power was furnished by a horse placed on a tread-power which worked the paddle-wheels. Only one wagon and a team at a time could be taken aboard. The herd of loose cattle had to swim over the river, all of which was accomplished without any accident worthy of note. The ferry boat at Prairie du Chien was larger and propelled by four mule power, but the water being high, the Mississippi River was nearly two miles wide, and much time was taken to get all to the western bank. Thirteen miles northwest from McGregor at Poverty Point, since called Monona, another halt of a creek was made. The scouting party before alluded to had visited several localities, and opinions were divided as to which was the best point to settle down. The company was now divided into three divisions, we going with the original leader to the vicinity of Decorah, landing on our claims on the third of July. The journey had taken five weeks, counting from the time of starting. Those who had room enough slept under the wagon covers, the others slept on the bare ground under the wagons.[432]

[431] The Norwegian settlement at and about Westby, Vernon Co., dates from this time, 1850.

[432] Speaking of the Indians Rev. Jacobson says, "They had their homes in the Territory of Minnesota, and did not molest the settlers in the least." On the banks of the Upper Iowa river many Indian graves were found. The bodies were buried in a sitting position, with the head sometimes above the ground. A forked stick put up like a post at each end of the grave held a ridge pole on which leaned thin boards, placed slanting to each side of the grave. Thus each grave presented the appearance of the gable of a small house.

Of this party Simonson, Opdahl, Abrahamson, and Quale settled in Springfield, the rest in Decorah and Glenwood Townships.[433] Most of the members of these parties had come to America several years before, as Opdahl in 1848 and Tostenson in 1847; three of them, as we know, Rudi and the two Johnsons, had immigrated in 1839.

[433] The eastern two-thirds of Winneshiek County clear to the Minnesota line in a few years became extensively settled by Norwegians.

A small party from Jefferson Prairie, Wisconsin, including Tore P. Skotland and his brother Endre P. Sandanger, Ellef and Lars Land, natives of Ringerike, also came the same summer; these secured claims around Calmar. The first list of landed assessments in Winneshiek County[434] records the names of Jacob Abrahamson, Knud Guldbrandson (Opdahl), Ole Gullikson (Jevne), Egbert Guldbrandson (Saland), Erik Clement (Skaali), Halvor Halvorson (Groven), O. A. Lomen, Ole Larsen Bergan, Mikkel Omli, Tollef Simonson (Aae), T. Hulverson, and Ole Tostenson.

[434] According to Reverend Jacobson, _The Pioneer Norwegian_ p. 5; the list is for 1852.

Among other settlers of 1850, not named above, I may name: Nils Thronson, who had come from Valders in 1848, settling in Dane County, Wisconsin he located in Glenwood Township in the summer of 1850; Christopher A. Estrem from Vang Parish, who had immigrated to Chicago in 1848; he came to Winneshiek County and located in Frankville Township as one of the very first Norwegians there; Engebret Haugen, who had immigrated in 1842, locating near Beloit, Wisconsin; the family settled near Decorah in 1850, purchasing the old Indian Trading Post then owned by J. G. Rice.

In the fall of 1850 Johannes Evenson, Ole L. Bergan, Knud L. Bergan, and Jörgen Lommen came. Of these Evenson located west of Decorah, in Madison Township, becoming the first Norwegian to settle there.[435] As near as I can tell, Lars Iverson Medaas and family were the first Norwegians to settle in Canoe Township. Iverson who was born at Tillung, Voss (in 1802), but had married Sigrid Vikingsdatter in Graven, Hardanger (1835) and settled on the farm Medaas, emigrated to America in 1850. They spent the first winter on Liberty Prairie, Dane County, Wisconsin, and moved to Winneshiek County early in the spring of 1851, locating in Canoe Township, on section two, where they lived till their death.[436]

[435] Helge N. Myrand and his widowed mother, who had immigrated in 1841 and settled in Muskego County, came west and located in Madison in 1851.

[436] Iverson died in 1887, his wife in 1890. Iver Larson, well known merchant and for many years treasurer of the United Norwegian Lutheran Church, who died in 1907, was a son of Iverson.

The first Norwegians to enter Hesper Township were a party of immigrants who came by the ship _Valhalla_ from Tönsberg in the summer of 1852. They were from Tolgen, in northern Österdalen, and from Röraas and Guldalen,[437] hence from a much more northerly region than their countrymen in southern Winneshiek County. The party consisted of the following: Trond Laugen, John Losen, Sr., Bendt Pederson, Ingbrigt Bergh, Mons Monsen, all of whom were married, and John Vold and Jocum Nelson. These were followed in the next year by John S. Losen, Jr., and Ole B. Anderson Borren. Among the earliest settlers from other regions were Paul Thorsen, Salve Olson and Torjus Gunderson from Sætersdalen, Knut Herbrandson and Christian Lien from Hallingdal, Aadne Glaamene and family from Voss, Lars Bakka and Bendik Larson from Sogn, and Peder Wennes from Vardalen.[438]

[437] They were the first emigrants to America from this district.

[438] For the facts on Hesper Township I am indebted to Mr. J. A. Nelson of Prosper, Minnesota, a student in the State University of Iowa.

From the towns of Springfield, Decorah, and Glenwood, the settlement thus soon spread into the neighboring townships--north into Canoe, Hesper, and Highland, where it united with the settlement in northwestern Allamakee County, and south through the towns of Calmar and Military, uniting with the settlement in north central Fayette County in Door Township. This last settlement extends through Pleasant Valley southward into Clayton County. Together these settlements form the eastern part of Clayton County, west through Fayette, and north through Winneshiek to northern Allamakee. In Allamakee it extends as far as Harper's Ferry and Lansing. The bulk of the population, however, is found in Winneshiek County. The principal Norwegian townships are: Glenwood, Decorah, Springfield, Madison, and Highland. About half of the population of the county is of Norwegian birth, or of that descent.