Gunnar Nerheim

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 »

When the Last Best West moved north to the prairies in Canada

The Laurier government was elected in Canada in 1896. It soon put into action an aggressive immigration policy campaign. “Free homesteads were offered promiscuously throughout the world, with the object of inducing settlement on the plains in Western Canada.”[1] The Canadian government placed advertisements promoting the Canadian prairies in more than 7,000 newspapers and farmers’ …

When the Last Best West moved north to the prairies in Canada Les mer »

Political map of the Prarie Provinces Alberta, Saskatchcewan and Manitoba. (c) 2000 Natural Resources Canada

Some patterns of Norwegian immigration to America and Canada

From the end of the American Civil War and until the economic bust in 1893, European immigrants chose to settle in the Midwest and the Northwestern parts of the United States. Even emigrants in Canada preferred the United States during those decades. At least 1.8 million Canadians moved south across the border into the United …

Some patterns of Norwegian immigration to America and Canada Les mer »

The harbor in New Orleans in 1850 far exceeded the size of any Norwegian harbor.

Reisen fra New Orleans til Four Mile Prairie

Brunstad-familien fra Romedal i Hedmark reiste sammen en større gruppe sambygdinger med dampskip fra New Orleans 3. juledag 1851. Da de kom fram til Alexandria, Louisiana, måtte de flytte over på et mindre dampskip på grunn av den lave vannstanden. Dette skipet brakte dem helt fram til Shreveport, hvor de var framme om formiddagen den …

Reisen fra New Orleans til Four Mile Prairie Les mer »

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