Letters from America.In the 1800s, immigrants from Norway wrote letters home about their new life in the U.S. These "America letters" drew thousands of new immigrants to America. In 1825, a Norwegian named Cleng Peerson Cleng Peerson (17 May 1783 – 16 December 1865) led the first group of Norwegians to emigrate to the United States, traveling on the sloop Restauration. He was born in Tysvaer, Norway, and died in Bosque County, Texas. came to the U.S. on a ship called the Restauration. When he returned to Norway, he told glowing stories about the cheap land, personal freedom, and opportunities for success in America. Soon, a trickle of immigrants began leaving Norway to settle in the U.S. Some came because Norway's population had grown so fast that the cold, mountainous country could not provide decent farmland for everyone who wanted it. Others came seeking religious freedom. These early immigrants sent back Americabreve--America letters. The letters were, eagerly read in Norway's villages and towns, giving more young Norwegians the courage to leave. "America fever" reached an even greater height after Congress passed the Homestead Act Homestead Act, 1862, passed by the U.S. Congress. It provided for the transfer of 160 acres (65 hectares) of unoccupied public land to each homesteader on payment of a nominal fee after five years of residence; land could also be acquired after six months of in 1862. This law offered 160 acres of free land in the West to any person who lived on the land for five years and improved it. Railroad companies, eager for customers, put up ads encouraging people to come to America. Soon, the trickle of Norwegian immigrants became a flood. Large numbers of them settled in Minnesota, North Dakota North Dakota, state in the N central United States. It is bordered by Minnesota, across the Red River of the North (E), South Dakota (S), Montana (W), and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba (N). , and South Dakota South Dakota (dəkō`tə), state in the N central United States. It is bordered by North Dakota (N), Minnesota and Iowa (E), Nebraska (S), and Wyoming and Montana (W). . Life was not easy for these settlers. Many arrived here with almost no money. They built sod houses sod house, house with walls made of strips of sod laid horizontally in courses like bricks. Sod houses were common in the frontier days on the western plains of the United States, where wood and stone were scarce. (see photo above) on the prairie and lived off the land. Some worked as hired help Noun 1. hired help - employee hired for domestic or farm work (often used in the singular to refer to several employees collectively) employee - a worker who is hired to perform a job kitchen help - help hired to work in the kitchen to get a start. Many Norwegians struggled with isolation and loneliness, and some later returned home. But most who came here never left. Here are some America letters written by Gunnar Host, who left Norway in 1883. Host wrote them to his friends, Agnes and Malla, from 1883 to 1899. Stephens, Minnesota July 18, 1883 Dear Agnes, Many thanks for your wonderful letter....As you can see, we have taken land up here and have begun working for ourselves. We are trying to get our land under cultivation before spring so that we can plant wheat....We can't have much livestock because it is too cold in the winter....The prairie landscape is not in the least poetic, not a bush nor a rise in the ground...[but] one eventually gets used to it. I would never have believed that I would find beauty in a landscape without water, mountains, or forests nearby.... I am happy to be in America with a bit of my youth left. It is good to get out a little, and especially I believe it is good for young people to come to America. October 7, 1883 Dear Malla, As I wrote to Agnes, we went out working; we all three worked with a threshing threshing or thrashing, separation of grain from the stalk on which it grows and from the chaff or pod that covers it. The first known method was by striking the reaped ears of grain with a flail. machine [a machine that separates grain into seeds and straw]....It is pretty hard work with the machine. We had to get up at four in the morning and work until seven in the evening with one hour for dinner....I hope we will still have some good weather in October so that we can earn enough money to be able to go down to a larger town, where we could get work through the winter.... We got a real fright when we returned from our work. We had been told that the whole prairie on this side of the Red River had burned.... The thought that our cozy See COSE. little home should be burned up was most unpleasant. Great was our joy when we caught sight of our little house and our two stacks of hay.... But to our sorrow, we heard that our neighbor had lost two haystacks Haystacks can be:
Grand Forks Grand Forks, city (1990 pop. 49,425), seat of Grand Forks co., E N.Dak., at the confluence of the Red and the Red Lake rivers; inc. 1881. In a spring wheat, livestock, and farm area, the city has grain elevators, state-operated flour mills, and plants that process , Dakota November 13,1884 My Dear Agnes, We have gotten snow now and intense cold, so all work is stopped. I took a trip down to the Norwegian settlement near Mr. Jacobsen to see if I could get a job as a schoolteacher down there this winter, and was lucky enough to be hired.... It won't be any great wages, but one must be glad to have something.... Still, I am quite happy, and will just have to take pleasure in my books and the children this winter. Caledonia, Dakota April 25, 1885 Dear Agnes, ... I decided to rent a house out on the Dakota prairie and advertise a school....I started school on Monday and have 14 pupils, which is really good at this time of the year, as parents have use for the children at home during planting.... Grand Forks, North Dakota  “Grand Forks” redirects here. For other uses, see Grand Forks (disambiguation). Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the U.S. February 22, 1890 Dear Agnes, I had a letter from my mother the other day, in which she [writes] that I could join in [a business] with Jacob in Christiania Christiania: see Oslo, Norway. [Oslo, Norway].... But I am afraid I have been in America too long to be satisfied to work at home....I have worked up to a good position here and have a pleasant living situation. In 1892, Host married an American and started his own store. McIntosh, Minnesota McIntosh is a city in Polk County, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the 'Grand Forks-ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 638 at the 2000 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.6 km² (1. October 21, 1893 Dear Agnes and Malla, ...I have become a papa; on September 22 [my wife] Ida gave birth to a large boy.... Ida's sister was here for a time while Ida was sick, but now we are alone. It wouldn't be possible in Norway to take care of one's baby, do the wash and all the housework, but I couldn't convince my wife to have a [hired] girl to help for anything in the world. Here one is respected and admired for the work one does, be it physical or intellectual labor. Host had two more children and settled into American life. Grand Forks, North Dakota May 24, 1899 Everything is going well for me. I have a good income, that is to say, I have a salary of $25 per week.... Pastor H. thinks I am taking a great responsibility upon myself by sending my children to the American Sunday School Sunday school, institution for instruction in religion and morals, usually conducted in churches as part of the church organization but sometimes maintained by other religious or philanthropic bodies. In England during the 18th cent. instead of the Norwegian, but since my children don't understand a word of Norwegian ... I certainly don't understand why they should have their religious instruction in Norwegian. Of course, my children will learn Norwegian, but first and foremost they are Americans and shall be brought up as U.S. citizens. Gunnar Host became successful in the US., as did his children. He was not alone. Today, more people of Norwegian descent live in the US. than in Norway From In Their Own Words. Letters from Norwegian Immigrants, reprinted with permission of the University of Minnesota Press The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota. External link
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