Pipestone County, Minnesota

Early Norwegian Settlement

The first Norwegian in Pipestone County was Thos. Thompson from Stavanger. He settled near Ruthton in the 1870s. Erik Larsen was the first Norwegian settler in the vicinity of Pipestone City. The southern part of the county was settled at about the same time as Rock County. See the section on Rock County.

Life on the Sioux Frontier

The Indians also had their settlements here, and contact between them and the white settlers was inevitable. Pipestone County lay in the Sioux Valley, where the Sioux Indians had their principal territory and from whom the valley took its name. What the new settlers had to endure, was anything but romantic. Life in the wilderness, cut off from civilization and accompanied by a constant struggle for survival, was not merely adventure or illusion. One may try to imagine what such a life was like, but only those who experienced it could truly know and understand how difficult and sorrowful it could be.

Churches and Congregations

By about 1907, Pipestone County had seven Norwegian congregations and three churches. Four congregations belonged to the United Church and three to the Norwegian Synod.

Norwegian Place Names

The only Norwegian place name in the county was Ibsen.

Sources:

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