Salt Lake County, Utah

Early Norwegian Settlement

The first person of Norwegian origin known to have settled in Utah was Augusta Sondrason Bakke from Tinn, Telemark. She came from Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, and arrived in Salt Lake on July 24, 1847. She married a Mormon named Kimball and died on November 22, 1871. She was followed in 1849 by Knud Pedersen, Sarah Hersdal, and Sjur Olson. Not long afterward came Christian Olsen from Kristiania (Oslo) and another Norwegian, Henrik Eriksen Sebbe.

Sarah Hersdal and Knud Pedersen were married according to Mormon practice. Their son, Peder Cornelius Pedersen, born on June 22, 1850, was the first Norwegian child born in Utah. Sarah Hersdal belonged to one of the families that had emigrated from Stavanger aboard the sloop Restaurationen in 1825, while Knud Pedersen came from a Hardanger family. Pedersen later became a bishop in the Mormon Church in Utah.

Pioneer Life in Salt Lake

When these early settlers arrived, the area where Salt Lake City later developed was still largely a salt desert. Irrigation gradually transformed the soil and made cultivation possible. The settlers mainly raised potatoes, corn, and alfalfa. These products were consumed within the Mormon colony itself, so there was little need to transport them to an outside market. At that time, no established marketplace existed nearby, and the settlers lived in considerable isolation from other communities.

Churches and Congregations

A Norwegian Methodist congregation was established in Salt Lake City in 1883 by P. A. Franklin from Toten, who had converted from Mormonism. The congregation built its church in 1887. The first Norwegian Lutheran congregation in Utah was established in Salt Lake City in 1892 by Pastor Eivind Skabo of the Norwegian Synod. Its church was built in 1897. By 1905, there were no other Norwegian congregations or churches in Salt Lake City outside the Mormon community. The Mormons remained the majority population.

Public Office

U.S. Senator Reed Smoot was of partly Norwegian ancestry. His mother came from Brekke near Fredrikstad. In one of his speeches, he expressed regret that he could not speak his mother’s language.

Norwegian-American Press

The Norwegian-Danish newspaper Bikuben was established in Salt Lake City in 1875.

Sources:

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