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 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 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, and South Dakota.

Life was not easy for these settlers. Many arrived here with almost no money. They built sod houses (see photo above) on the prairie and lived off the land. Some worked as hired help 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 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 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 in the flames. As he had a family and cannot get anything off his land before next year, we decided to give him one of our stacks of hay--the fruit of many days of hard work. In return we got lots of potatoes and frequent invitations to his home.

Grand Forks, 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 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 [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 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 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.