Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad. 1907. Norman County Norman County was settled by Norwegians in 1871. Some settled at Marsh River in the vicinity of Halstad and Shelby in the western part and some at Twin Valley in the eastern part of the county. The first, who settled at Marsh River were Engel Løvsnes†, N. R. Hage and R. R. Hage, all from the Stavanger area, they came from Newburg, Fillmore County. Right after them came L. L. Hauske, L. B. Larsen, H. Henderson, Jacob Hesby†, Jonas T. Redland and A. Thompson, all from the Stavanger area, A. O. Paulson, Sivert Paulson, Ole Paulson, Ole Halstad, John Grothe†, P. A. Paulson and Paul Olson, all from the Trondhjem area, H. L Gordon from Nummedal, Andrew Hawkins from Valders and Anders Golberg from Hallingdal. Some of these (last mentioned) came from Fillmore County, Minn., the rest from Coon Prairie, Wis. Most of them were family men and had their families with them in wagons, drawn by oxen, and they also had some livestock. It was early in the summer when they reached their future homes. But in October, the men had to travel, they had to have flour and other things to live off during the winter and to get this they had to travel all the way to Alexandria, which took them three weeks. Their first harvest (in 1872) they got little benefit from, the grasshoppers harvested it. Yes, it was not enough that these 'black birds' ate the wheat and potatoes that the people were supposed to have, they even ate the grass so that there was not much left for the livestock. The grasshoppers visited the area later also but it was only in 1872 that they stripped the land bare. (N.B. Great amounts of wheat has been produced in the Red River Valley - the world's richest wheat belt - since that time). As mentioned, the eastern part of Norman County was settled at the same time as the western. Martin Johnson from Røken parish was the first who settled here - ner Twin Valley. He came from Vernon County, Wis. Next after him came Jonas Hommelvig from Strinden, Peder Hille† from Stjørdalen, Peder Waller from Solør, Søren Bergersen from Odalen, Jens G. Urdahl from Sogn, Ole Fordal from Trondhjem, Mrs Enger from Risør and her brothers Johannes, John and Jens, as well as Nils Nilsen, Nikolai Overgaard, Gulbrand Haakonson, Ole Hansen, Andreas Hansen, Martin Johansen, Hans Aamodt, Johannes Lien and Haakon Benson. The first in the vicinity of Perley, the northwest part of the county, were Ole J. Lee from Smaalenene as well as G. J. Krosby, Johan Jacobsen and Mrs. Krogstad, with their families. Old P. O. Herreid of Twin Valley tells, "I came to America by sailship in 1857. At sea, a remarkable event occurred. An emigrant from Bergen fell overboard one day in the middle of the Atlantic. The wind was strong and the ship was making a speed of 13 miles per hour. A panic - questions about father and brother - seized everyone. However, a life ring had been thrown out and since the man was a good swimmer, he got hold of it. The ship swung about, and even though the waves were as high as the tops of the masts, the emigrant was rescued." From a pamphlet that a number of enterprising settlers had published in the vicinity of Wild Rice, we have the following anecdote: - - - In the winter the timber was cut and in the spring, the neighbours came together to help Søren Olsen build the mill (at Wild Rice). A simple flour and saw mill was begun in 1876. That the mill was very simple, and the following exclamation by Johan Mattson, a clever man, will show. When he saw the waterwheel of the sawmill he said, 'If that wheel can drive a saw, then pigs might fly!' Since the mill had to be built on the north side of the river, those who lived on the southern side had to take their wheat and flour across the river in boats. Since not everyone was used to handling a boat, there were many comical events. Once, when John Narum was going to the mill, he lost his whole load in the river. Ole Holum was also going by boat but since he did not know much about rowing he drifted down river in the stream, shouting and complaining. So, they attempted to build a bridge. Olsen obtained the material and th neighbours came to get it erected. But the next spring when the ice loosened, it was swept away as if it was made of straw. After a few years, a young miller came here, Jørgen Heiberg, the son of merchant J. Heiberg of Bergen, Norway. Olsen sold the mill to him with everything belonging to it. Mr. Heiberg was unmarried but had a very merry serving girl to look after him. One Sunday evening she went across the river to fetch the mail etc for Mr. Heiberg. Since it became late and dark, she spent the night on the other side. Early Monday morning she was to go back and Olson was going to take her across.But unfortunately someone had been there and taken the boat to the other side and Olson. Olson planned to take a canoe he had and go across for the boat, but she did not wish to wait and before Olson knew it she was also in the canoe, and the consequence was that everything fell into the river, Olson, the girl, the mail, cream and eggs. The girl held onto the canoe but all that could be seen of her was her nose and the feathers in her hat, that stuck up above the water. Many such stories from those days could be told. But this will then be enough now to show what the conditions were at that time. John Narum tells about the arrival of the grasshoppers in 1876, "In 1875, the grasshoppers had not laid eggs and we began to believe we would be free of them. And in the spring of '76, we saw nothing of them until the beginning of July, and everything looked excellent, oats barley and wheat, and we all had high hopes. One Sunday morning, probably the 9th of July, I accompanied Kristian Olson and John Grønøen, who then lived at Fossum, west over Sections 6 and 8 in Home Lake, where Mr. Grønøen wished to look at some land. After having a look, we went north to Peter Skjægrud's to rest a bit and have a chat, since we did not have many neighbours to visit at that time, as can be understood. There was beautiful, delightful sunshine and everything looked charming and happy. We got to Skjægrud's just after noon. Mrs. Skjægrud immediately began to prepare a dinner for us. When the meal was finished, we left the table, but before we sat down, Mrs. Skjægrud, who was looking out the door, exclaimed, 'But look, it is snowing!' We went out to look, and true enough, it was snowing, white, wet and thick on the fields and trees, as though it was February. And it was so thick in the sky that we could hardly find the sun. What kind of snow it was soon became very clear, for it was nothing other than the grasshoppers. And they came so thick that within an hour the the fields and pastures were completely covered with them. When, somewhat later, we left Skjægrud's, he accompanied us to see what effect the grasshopper's arrival had had. They lay so thick on the fields that we could see our footprints with every step we took. I took off my jacket, bound the sleeves, then with me holding one side and Mr. Skjægrud on the other, we ran against the wind to see how many grasshoppers we could catch. And we had not run very far before the sleeves were so full they could not hold more. So you can understand there were enough of them. And so they lay until Thursday morning when there was a brisk west wind and they began to diminish, one after another, so that within a few hours there were no more of them except a few here and there. But they had also by then done their job. The barley was completely gone, there was nothing left but an inch of stem. Of the wheat they had not taken anything but some loose leaves, the ears remained, so we had a good harvest of wheat, at least. I had 4 acres and got 80 bushels. We have not seen any grasshoppers since, at least not on the ground, and it is our hope that we never see them anymore." Marsh River Congregation, that was established at Halstad in 1872 by Pastor B. Hagbø, then belonging to The Conference, was the first Norwegian congregation in the county. The first church was built here by that congregation in 1874. Wild Rice Congregation, that was established at Fossum in 1873 by Pastor K. Bjørgo, belonging to The Norwegian Synod, was the first in the eastern part of the county. Now there are no less than 41 Norwegian congregations and 38 churches, 23 belong to The United Church, 10 to The Norwegian Synod, 5 to Hauge's Synod, 2 to the Methodists and 1 to The Evangelical Free Church. Alexander Rønning was the first Norwegian county official here. He was elected Auditor in 1880. N. L. Nelson and Sverre J. Lee were the first Norwegians to represent Norman County in the State Legislature (1894). The newspapers 'Vidnesbyrd fra Broderkredsen', Twin Valley started in 1890 and 'Folkets Blad', Ada, 1890. The Wild Rice Children's Home, Fossum, was organized in 1899. Norman County got its name from Norwegians, which is not to be wondered at, there are so many of them. Townships with Norwegian names in Norman County, Anthony, Flom, Fossum, Halstad, Hegne, Hendrum, Lee, Strand, Sundahl. Post offices; Aaby, Anthony, Flom, Folkedahl, Fossum, Halstad, Heiberg, Hegne, Hendrum, Ranum, Strand, Ringdahl, Sundahl and Ullman. Several have been closed because of the free postal delivery (R.F.D.)