Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad. 1907. Oklahoma At Griams,* Roger Mills County there is a small group of Norwegians of which clearly, Nils Mathiasen was the first but the year he came to Oklahoma is not known. The leading sources of income are cotton, maize, wheat and sweet potatoes. Of Norwegians who have held public office there are none, with the exception that there is supposed to be a Sheriff Jesper Nilsen in Greer County. However, I have not had a reply from him so I do not know if he is of Norwegian ancestry or not. A Trønder by the name Gustav Andersen writes the following from Sayre, Okla., "My wife and I emigrated by sailship in 1869. We lived in Wisconsin for 11 years. Then we moved to Kingsbury Co., S.D. where we took a homestead. There we experienced much of the newcomer's unpleasantness. The first winter so much snow fell that the railway was blocked from the middle of January until the 8th of May. Provisions ran out for most of us and we had to grind our wheat in a coffee mill. For fuel I had nothing else but hay that I had to carry or drag with a rope over the hard snow. I did not own a horse or an ox, just a cow. For it and fuel I had to go long distances to get hay. Two years later (1882) we had a bad drought that lasted three years. We suffered great need at times. The conditions soon became better and we lived there for 11 years altogether. But because of the harsh climate we and some others moved to the promised land of Tennessee. We took everything we owned with us - and we lost it. We had fallen in to the hands of fraudulent land agents. They had gotten some priests and newspapers to recommend land that was worth nothing and we poor farmers had swallowed the bait. Finally we found ourselves in a position to come to Oklahoma where we have now lived for six years. This is written mainly as a warning. Do not listen to the land agents' promises. If you wish to move, go and look at the land yourself. And do not sell your old home before you know that you have gotten a new one that you will be content with". *Probably an error for Grimes. OK