Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad 1907 Crow Wing County The first Norwegian settler in this county was Nils Tørris from the Bergen area. He settled 9 miles east of Brainerd. The year is not known. The first in the vicinity of Garrison, where there is also a small Norwegian settlement now, was the Stavanger man by the name of E. Eliasen, who became Postmaster and began a store among the Indians and the Irishmen (in 1897). The Lutheran congregation, the was established at Brainerd in 1886 by Pastor K. Bjørgo, belonging to The Norwegian Synod, is the county's oldest Norwegian congregation. Its church was built in 1888. Now there are 9 congregations and 7 churches, 4 of them belonging to The Norwegian Synod, 3 to The Lutheran Free Church, 1 to The United Church and 1 to Hauge's Synod. The first Norwegian official in Crow Wing Co. was Anton Mahlum from Næs, Hedemarken.