Translated from 'Nordmændene i Amerika' by Martin Ulvestad, 1907. Boone County The first settler in Boone County was Anders Andersen Strand from Nummedal. He came from Wisconsin and settled at Albion in 1870. Next after him came Ole Knudsen Strand from Nummedal, Mikkel Thompson Fauske from Etnedalen, Valders and Lars Tostensen Rekve† from Voss. They settled on the prairie, dug dugouts and then made preparations for growing wheat, maize and livestock that became the settlement's leading source of income. It was 50 miles to Columbus, their nearest marketplace. They only had oxen to plough and drive with. Here in Albion we have also discovered a pair of descendants of those who came to America on the Sloop in 1825, namely Jacob Tostensen and A. Nelson. The former is a saddler, the other a carpenter, the report does not mention whether they are dead or alive. Mikkel Thompson, one of the aforementioned pioneers tells the following, "When I came to Boone County there were not many white people. In 1872 the first election was held and then there were only elected a Justice of the Peace and a Constable and they had much to do for the lawlessness was great. Just before Christmas I was summoned as a witness in a case. I had to walk 15 miles to the courthouse that was just a sod hut and on the way there there was not a single settler, the whole was like an empty desert. When the case was heard and judged it was evening. I then went homeward but on the way I was caught in a terrible snowstorm. It was now a matter of life and death. I was lightly clad and it was 20 to 30 miles to people if I strayed. Therefore I stopped and thought about it and came to the conclusion that I had to take the first valley I came to and if possible find a creek and follow it down to where it entered a river. In this manner I hoped to reach one or another settler since it was in valleys and at rivers they were to be found, as a rule. It was dark and steep so at times I had to creep on all fours, but I followed the creek through all its twists. Finally I came to a sod wall and I drew a sigh of relief. I felt along the roof with my hands until I came to the door, that I knocked on without an answer. After I had shouted, knocked and waited for a while, I broke the door down and lit a match. To my great happiness and surprise I then discovered that it was my own sod house I had arrived at. In 1875, Halvor Funru from Nummedal was out stacking hay. During the morning it became foggy and wet so he set aside his hayfork and headed home. He walked and walked but did not reach home. Late in the evening he met a Swede but he was far down in another county (Platte). The next day he came home by horse. In 1876 or perhaps it was 1877 that the wife of Iver Løsnæs, a Gudbrandsdøl, went to a pond in the nearest valley to fetch water. Also then, it was foggy. She found the pond however and she filled her pails and went towards home. She had not gone very far before she realized that she had taken the wrong direction. In her confusion she set down the pails and wandered indefinitely. Late in the evening she discovered a sod hut and went to it but the people did not understand her nor she them since they spoke English and she was a newcomer from Norway. But she did understand that she had come a good way into Madison County. And when they heard her mention Newman Grove they knew she was from that area. The next day they took her there, which was 20 miles away. From there she was taken in great haste to her home in Closter, 16 miles further, for they knew that her family naturally would be anxious about her. There were many more occurrences of a similar sort which is not to be wondered at for the prairie is the same everywhere and there are neither roads nor wagon tracks. It was all like an open sea. Now one cannot get lost even if one wished to. The land is cultivated everywhere. The houses are close together and along the roads there is wire fencing that a wanderer would soon collide with if he was a bit confused. In the first years I helped people find land. Even though there was a surplus of it at that time, they wished to see as much as possible before one could make a sale. I remember once, for example, I was with Iver Christensen Løsnes and another Gudbrandsdøl. It was in 1876. After roaming over the endless prairie we spotted a solitary sod house far away on the horizon. Then Iver Løsnes said, 'The man over there must be an escaped slave or he has done something wrong. Without doubt he has settled here so no one can find him.' We agreed then that we would pay a visit to the sod house. When we got there the man, his wife and 4 children were about to sit to dinner and there was no question other than that we should come and eat with them. They were very kind and hospitable people. Iver said later that he had made a shameful mistake when he believed they were escapees. Iver was, as well, good at telling hunting stories from Gudbrandsdalen so the time went quickly for us as we roamed the wild prairie. And he only wished that we could spot an antelope or some other wild animal so he could show that he had been a sharpshooter in the Old Country. But when we finally got near a flock of antelope, they were too light on their feet and Iver too heavy. However he did take land in the area and even became the Postmaster. In the years 1874-75 and '76 we were visited by grasshoppers that ate up our maize crop. Yes, they even went after the tobacco. But father had an answer, he sprayed water on the tobacco plants and then he set fire to the dry grass around them. The grasshoppers could not tolerate the smoke but they became angry. Father maintained that while he was protecting his tobacco plants with a hay fork the grasshoppers spat tobacco juice in his face and eyes so it was necessary to leave. Once I met a man with an old horse and a small sled, upon which there was a box that was covered. The man walked beside the sled since there was poor sledding. When I asked him what he was transporting, he answered that it was his eldest son who had died and needed to be buried. He was alone. It was a sad funeral procession. Nor was there any cemetery here. When someone died they were buried on the homestead and likely when others came with bodies they were buried alongside. I know two places that are now in the middle of a field. The people who live there probably do not know that in its time this was a 'cemetery'. It is different now when someone dies. Now the bells toll at the church, a priest is present and there are large processions and lovely fenced cemeteries. We have returned to civilisation and Christian customs." Pastor Ole Torgersen of Hauge's Synod was the first priest to visit Boone County. But Trefoldigheds (Trinity) Congregation (at Petersburg) and Shell Creek Congregation, that were established by Pastor G. Erdahl of The Norwegian Synod, were the first congregations in the county. The first Norwegian church in the settlement was built by Trefoldigheds congregation in 1878. (This shows also that it was the first Norwegian church in the State) For further information on the number of churches and congregations in this settlement - see Madison County. The first Norwegian to hold a county office was Ole Frøistad, he was elected Conmmissioner in 1893. Olsne Post Office has received its name from the Norwegians.