Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad. 1907. Rice County That part of Rice county that adjoins Goodhue County at Kenyon was settled at the same time as Goodhue (see there). The first Norwegian in Rice County (outside of the Goodhue settlements) was Ole Torgusen† from Sætersdalen. He settled in the vicinity of Walcott in 1855. One of the pioneers wrtes, "One day in August 1862, an urgent message passed from house to house, that we should see to leaving as fast as we could, for the Indians were on the warpath. Then, shortly after came the word that it was a mistake.However, the people felt very insecure. There was war in the South and here at home the Indians were an impending danger. It was not at all splendid in those days. But finally both the rebels and the red men had to bite the dust. On the 26th December, I was in Mankato and watched when 36 Indians were hanged. They were buried like animals on the plains by the Minnesota River. But the people as well as the times and the land have changed for the better." There are 13 Norwegian congregations and 11 churches in Rice county, 5 belong to The United Church, 3 to The Norwegian Synod, 3 to Hauge's Synod and 2 to The Lutheran Free Church. Osmund Osmundsen was the first Norwegian here to be elected to a higher position. He represented Rice county in the State Legislature from 1872-73. St. Olaf College was started in Northfield in 1874. It was also there that the Anti-Missouri Brotherhood, that marked the beginning of The United Church, was established in 1886. 'Kinamissionæren' was the name of a Norwegian mission newspaper that Hauge's Synod published in Faribault in the 90s. Norwegian place names in Rice County: Trondhjem, Moland, Urland and Nerstrand.