Wilkin County, Minnesota

Norwegian Settlement

The large Norwegian settlement established in Otter Tail County during the 1870s extended across the county line into the vicinity of Rothsay in Wilkin County. Wilkin County therefore has no separate history concerning the establishment of its earliest Norwegian settlements. Later, however, Norwegian settlements were established farther into the county.

John Ericksen from Verdal was the first Norwegian settler in the vicinity of Doran. He settled there in 1887. John Aune from Selbu was the first Norwegian settler in the Everdell area. He settled there in 1890. The settlement in the northern part of the county was connected with the Norwegian settlement in Clay County.

Farming and Livelihood

The principal sources of income in Wilkin County were wheat farming, cattle raising, and mixed farming. 

Mathias Halvorsen’s Recollections

Mathias Halvorsen recalled an incident from the time when he lived farther south in Minnesota:

“One day I was sent to the nearest town with a load of wheat. The road was long, and the oxen eventually became tired and decided to lie down. All my vigorous efforts to make them get up again were completely useless. It happened that a carpenter lived nearby, and I complained to him about my problem. ‘Take it easy,’ he said. ‘We will certainly get them back on their feet.’ We then filled two sacks with wood shavings and piled them around the oxen. The carpenter struck a match, and in an instant the animals were surrounded by flames. They seemed to wonder what this meant, but soon decided that under the circumstances it was best to get up and move on.”

Halvorsen continued with another story from the first years on his homestead near Elizabeth:

“At first, the only livestock I owned was an ox. He had been with me since he was a calf. During the day, he wandered out onto the prairie to graze, but every evening he was always back beside the house. Later I bought a cow, but she wandered wherever she pleased, and I had difficulty finding a solution. The only thing I could think of was to tie the two animals together with a short rope and let them graze side by side on the prairie. The ox proved just as faithful under these new circumstances as before. In the evening I would see him coming home, dragging the completely unwilling cow behind him.”

A Night in a Snowstorm

A few years later, Halvorsen was caught in a snowstorm. He had a small woodlot west of his house where he occasionally cut several cords of firewood. One day, a man who lived a few miles away asked him to bring over a load, and Halvorsen agreed. After they had traveled some distance, they could see that a storm was approaching. The man accompanying him set off on foot, “by Shank’s Mare,” to reach home as quickly as possible. Halvorsen, however, had a heavy load and had to travel slowly. The snowstorm intensified, darkness approached, and Halvorsen was unfamiliar with the area.

He recalled:

“There was nothing else to do but spend the night where I was. I tied the oxen to the load and dug a hole in the snow, but I found it impossible to sleep. I feared that it might be my last night. I had to keep moving all night in the cold and drifting snow. When I finally reached people the following day, it turned out that one of my feet had been badly frostbitten. Later, all the toes had to be removed as a result.”

Churches and Congregations

The Hamar Congregation at Rothsay was established in 1874 by Pastor T. Rosholdt of the Norwegian Synod. It was the first Norwegian congregation in Wilkin County. Its church was built in 1876. By 1907, Wilkin County had ten Norwegian congregations and eight churches. Four congregations belonged to the Norwegian Synod, three to the United Church, one to the Lutheran Free Church, one to Hauge’s Synod, and one to the Baptist Church.

Public Office

John Nilsen was the first Norwegian to hold public office in the county. He was elected County Treasurer in 1875.

Norwegian Place Names

Wilkin County included a township named Tanberg and a post office named after Henrik Ibsen.

Sources:

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