Gunnar Nerheim

The replica of the sloop Restauration visiting Ramsvig old Trading Post for seafarers in the calm waters of the Sjernarøyene islands.

1825 – the beginning of organized emigration from Norway

Quakers in the town of Stavanger gave Cleng Peerson an assignment to travel to New York in 1821. They wanted him to explore the conditions for Norwegian immigrants. The assignment was fulfilled in 1825 with the first organized group of emigrants from Norway to the Americas. Cleng Peerson was born in Tysvær, Rogaland county, western

1825 – the beginning of organized emigration from Norway Les mer »

Melville was founded at the foot of the Crazy Mountains.

Step-by-step migration to Montana

Some of the early Norwegian settlers in Montana came from the Rushford area in Fillmore County, Minnesota. Several people in Rushford organized a society with the aim of exploring for better land in Montana. Because of several years with crop failures caused by hail, bugs, and rust in Minnesota they began to dream about better

Step-by-step migration to Montana Les mer »

Construction of the mine with technology and facilitites for social and cultural life, a school and hospital, as well as housing, took place from 1865 at Vigsnes on the island of Karmøy, Rogaland County, western Norway.

From the Vigsnes Copper Mine to the copper mines in Montana

In the 1870s and into the 1880s the copper and pyrite mine at Vigsnæs in Avaldsnes on the west coast island of Karmøy was the largest mine in Norway. For more than a decade the newcomer, now known as Visnes or Vigsnes, on the North Sea surpassed the 300-year-old Royal silver mining establishment at Kongsberg

From the Vigsnes Copper Mine to the copper mines in Montana Les mer »

Farmers arrived in southern Alberta in large numbers after 1900

A surprising number of Norwegian-American farmers participated in the settler boom in southern Alberta after 1900. Many among their children and children’s children still live and farm in the region today. Seen from a Norwegian perspective it is both fascinating and surprising that so many Norwegians, used to farming under very wet conditions, and where

Farmers arrived in southern Alberta in large numbers after 1900 Les mer »

The early settling of Manitoba

Homesteaders exploring opportunities for settlement on the Canadian prairie west of Winnipeg, traveled along either the north or south branches of the Saskatchewan Trail. Prior to 1870 settlements in Manitoba were confined to river lots along the Red River and the Assiniboine River. Technological inventions and new agricultural practices in the decade from 1875 created

The early settling of Manitoba Les mer »

Railway Avenue, Olds, Alberta, ca 1910, showing horses with buggies hitched, across the street from stores.

Scandinavian settlements in Central Alberta

When professor Arthur S. Morton published his book History of Prairie Settlement in 1938, he titled his fifth chapter: “Settlement follows the Railways, 1891-1901.” The railway lines which were completed between 1891 and 1896 came to have a clear direction on the stream of settlers into new areas.[1] The Calgary-Edmonton line was one of these

Scandinavian settlements in Central Alberta Les mer »

Forward scouts in Central Alberta and Scandinavian settlements

The Scandinavian emigration to the United States and Canada has countless examples of chain migration, however, it was seldom a joint action with full transplantation of communities. The forward scout was a common feature in many cases. Scouts often investigated new possibilities in another location on behalf of a larger group. Family and neighbors followed

Forward scouts in Central Alberta and Scandinavian settlements Les mer »

Martin T. Grande's ranch on Combs Creek

Martin T. Grande: Sheep pioneer in Montana

On May 25, 1866, the bark “Nicanor” left the town of Trondheim in Trøndelag, Norway. “Nicanor”, with a gross tonnage of 438, was built in Skellefteå in Sweden in 1857. When the ship set its course for Quebec in Canada, it had 233 steerage emigrants on board and five cabin passengers. Among the passengers were

Martin T. Grande: Sheep pioneer in Montana Les mer »

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