_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.