Dawson County, Montana

Early Norwegian Settlement

Andrew Olsen from the Bergen area was the first Norwegian to settle in Dawson County. He came from Wisconsin to the vicinity of Miles City in 1881 and began raising cattle. By 1905, he was deceased. He was followed by Jonas Halvorsen from Sole, Jæren; Mikal Kolberg from Time, Jæren; Carl Halling from Romsdal; John Hillman from Stavanger; and John Sørensen from Ålesund. The first Norwegian settler in the vicinity of Buford was Andrew Foss from Voss. In the Circle area, the earliest Norwegian settlers included Peter C. Dreyer from Øksnes, Vesterålen; Peter Rørvik from Vigra, Sunnmøre; and Hans Grue from Nes, Romerike.

Life on the Montana Plains

One of the settlers described the extreme isolation of life on the plains. He lived ninety miles from the nearest post office and forty miles from surveyed land, with only a few neighbors scattered at great distances. He explained that cattlemen were in a constant struggle to preserve enough open range for their livestock and therefore did not necessarily welcome additional settlers, even though closer neighbors would have made life more pleasant. Another settler described spending an entire winter walking and wading through snow and icy water while seeing other people only a few times, usually when the mail carrier passed. He wrote that the long isolation, with only his dogs and livestock for company, had damaged his health and brought him close to losing his sanity. The pursuit of a modest fortune under the harsh and isolated conditions of the Montana frontier costed many settlers both their health and their mental well-being.

Churches and Congregations

By 1905, Dawson County had two Norwegian congregations and one church. One congregation belonged to the United Church and the other to the Norwegian Synod.

Public Office

Jens Riveness, elected Court Clerk in 1900, was the first Norwegian to hold public office in Dawson County.

Sources:

[Ulvestad, Martin. Nordmændene i Amerika. Utg. History Book Company's Forlag. Minneapolis, Minn. 1907.]