Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad. 1907. Lyon County Johan Mo, Trønder and bachelor, was the first Norwegian here. He settled in the vicinity of Cottonwood in 1870. In 1871 came another Trønder, Nils Nilsen Rosvold (from Leksviken). He and his wife walked from Brownsville to Spring Grove, Houston County, and from there by oxcart to their present home. The first thing they did was dig a hole in the hillside, they lived there for 8 years. Their dugout was often covered with snow so they had to dig a hole to get in an out, much like the prairie gophers. It was such houses the new settlers had to be satisfied with. Also in 1871, came three Valdriser, Johannes Andersen (from Etnedalen) and O. Brenna and Ole Brotten. Next after them came Knut Brotten and Mikkel Snortum, similarly from Valdres. The first in the vicinity of Minneota were the brothers Svennung and Ole Pedersen from Solør, Johannes Ilstad from Stavanger, Torjus Flom from Sogn, Nils Torgersen, Halvor Nyland, Betle Hovden, Torjus Loftsgaarden and Ole Nordbo, all from Telemarken, Fred Holritz from Kristiania, Nils Gregersen, Tobias Trana, Niels Anderson and Ole Myrvik, the last 4 from Nordland, and A. O. Strand, Jacob Hansen, Torbjørn Hansen and Ole Espe. It was mainly wheat and cattle raising they took on, but because of grasshoppers there was very little wheat they could harvest in the first years. St. Peter, 75 miles away, was the nearest marketplace. One of the most severely tested pioneers in Minneota was N. B. Nelson Kvamme. He left Norway together with his parents in 1851, they came from Lærdal parish. Shortly before their departure, his mother had a baby and being weak, she became seriously ill after they came onto the sea. His father felt such a regret during these circumstances, however, that he against his wishes, had brought his family on such a long and unpleasant journey (by sailship) that he eventually lost his reason. And here in a foreign land - far from family and friends - sat a poor mother with five small children. Ole Nordbo suffered frostbite of his feet in a snow storm that raged in 1872. He had spent most of the time in a boxcar. Hans Samuelsen was out in the storm for three days before he found his way home to his family. And Nils Torgersen lost his oxen in the same storm. E. K. Rønning, C. P. Myran, John Myran, H. P. Sanden, Andrew Sanden and C. P. Sanden, all from Opdal, C. J. Halset from Fron and Peder Anderson† from Rennebo were the first in the vicinity of Florence. Ole Helgesen, Ole Andersen, Kittel Christoffersen and Asle O. Bjerkerud (most, if not all, from Sigdal) and Nils S. Taarud were the first in the area of Tracy. Taarud got the town, where he lives, called Dovray (Dovre). Iver S. Roti from Nordfjord, now in Cottonwood, writes, "In 1871, my wife and I came from Norway to Trempeleau, Wis., from there we went by steamship up the Mississippi to Winona, from there we continued our journey westward on foot. A haystack, not far from an Indian tent was our lodging the first night. The next day just as we came to a height from we had a good view of the west's plains, a storm broke loose with rain, thunder and lightning and we were very frightened. After much travail, we finally reached Beaver Creek." Ole A.Lien, also one of Lyon County's pioneers gives a detailed description of a new settler's life. He writes, "Nearly all who came here were poor people. And there was nothing here to be earned. If we wished to earn a little money we had to travel east to Rice and Goodhue Counties and often further. But what made our position even more oppressive was the grasshoppers that ravaged this area for the first 7 years. And another thing that cannot be forgotten by those who went through it, was the snowy winter of 1880-81. It came so early that almost no one was ready for it. Winter made its entry with an violent blizzard as early as the middle of October and much of the livestock lost their lives on the prairie. Either they froze to death or they were smothered by the snow. One storm was replaced by another in short intervals throughout the whole winter and as a consequence, all contact with the outside world was closed. The railroad was blocked almost all the time and it was about as impossible to get to town with a team. Needless to say, we had to be satisfied with the most necessary items and those we had to carry - or bring them homemade sleds that we pulled behind us as we went on skis. The biggest problem was to get flour and firewood. There were many families who had to get themselves through winter with what they could grind in a coffee mill. And if the family was large, someone had to sit and grind continuously from morning till night, all winter. For our fires we had to use hay, straw and anything else - yes, even furniture, when the pinch came. St. Lucas Congregation, that was established at Brenner in 1875 by Pastor K. Torstenson and that was in The Norwegian Synod, was the first congregation in the county. Now there are 15 Norwegian congregations and 10 churches, 8 belong to The United Church, 5 to The Norwegian Synod and 2 to The Lutheran Free Church. Hans Oakland† and O. H. Dahl were the first Norwegians to hold public office in the county. Oakland was elected County Commissioner and dahl as court Clerk in 1875. Places with Norwegian names in Lyon County; Nordland, Eidsvold, Sverdrup, Vallers and Westerheim.