The first group of Icelanders to settle in the United States left Iceland in 1871. It was composed of four men. Jon Einarsson, Jon Gislason, Gudmundur Gudmundsson and Arni Gudmundsson. These were all young men who, having little hopes of financial independence in the old country, determined to try their fortunes in the land across the ocean. They reached Wisconsin in the summer of 1871. It appears that William Wickman, who had worked for Gudmund Thorgrimsen. had gone to Wisconsin shortly before this time. He corresponded with his former employer Thorgrimsen. saying that he already had a farm of his own and was prospering. Thorgrimsen. owing to social position as well as personal merit, was a much respected and influential man. The men referred to above were, it appears, encouraged by him to leave Iceland for Wisconsin, with the result that they were the forerunners of the colony established on Washington island, Door county. Though many from this colony subsequently came to North Dakota, and though its population has long since ceased to grow by accretions from Iceland, yet the people still retain many of their racial and national characteristics, though doubtless much modified in the new environment.

Now that a few were gone across the water, letters were inter-changed. These pioneers wrote their friends in the old country describing their situation and giving their opinions as to the merits of this new land. In this way it came to be known that a large tract of land could he had in the United States and that money wages translated into Icelandic denominations were considerably higher than in Iceland. The next year, 1872, a few more left for Wisconsin, among whom were Rev. H. B. Thorgrimsen. now officiating minister at Akra, Pembina county, and Pall Thorlaksson, who figured prominently in the pioneer days of Pembina county.

While this colony was growing in Wisconsin, another settlement was being formed along the west shore of Lake Winnipeg.  In 1876 it received a large re-enforcement of immigrants from Iceland. The first party of Icelanders to land in Canada came in 1873, among whom was the Hon. B. L. Baldwinsson of Winnipeg. They landed at Quebec in July of that year, but remained two years in Toronto before beginning the settlement already referred to along the western shore of Lake Winnipeg.  With the increase in the size of the colony, caused by immigration from Iceland in 1875 and 1876, the people began to feel more keenly the need of religious organization, Hence in 1870 an invitation was sent to the newly ordained pastor of the Wisconsin group, Pall Thorlaksson, to come and serve this colony in a clerical capacity. Rev. Mr. Thorlaksson responded to the call and after this date kept in close touch with them until his death in 1882. Mr. Thorlaksson frequently visited the colony in Wisconsin, which fact did much to unify these two settlements.

From this colony along Lake Winnipeg came the first Icelandic settlers in Pembina county. The country along the lake was low and heavily timbered. The soil may have been fertile, but at this time other causes forbade progressive agriculture. The heavy timber must first be cleared away. But the colonists, with limited means and no experience, could not be expected to accomplish much in a year or two. and since there was little market for the timber the immigrants of course could not afford to clear the land nor could they hire the work done. In the absence of ditches and drains the swampy character of the land seemed to indicate that agriculture could not be established on a paying basis for several years to come. To aggravate an already serious condition of affairs the colony suffered from smallpox in the winter of 1876-7. The settlement was quarantined for 228 days and indescribable suffering and sorrow followed this dreadful disease. Many of the settlers who had faced poverty with a sturdy and hopeful spirit now sank into despair. Such was the condition of affairs that greeted Rev. Mr. Thorlaksson when in the fall of 1877 he returned to the colony after a visit to Wisconsin. It seems that he had, while on his visit, acquainted him-self with the circumstances of farmers in Minnesota and other states. Further, while going down the Red river to Winnipeg, the captain of the steamboat urged him to direct his countrymen to Dakota and the Red river valley as a place of unlimited possibilities for an industrious population. Though Rev. Mr. Thorlaksson was perhaps not disposed to encourage the settlers to leave this colony when he left Wisconsin, yet. when brought face to face with the conditions that actually existed there, he did not hesitate to urge them to leave. Moreover, the prosperity of farmers in Dakota and Minnesota fully convinced him that the representations of the captain were fair, he no doubt saw that since the people of the Lake Winnipeg colony would for some years to come have to depend upon the resources of the water for a living progress would be slow.

Mr. Thorlaksson remained with the colony during the winter of 1877-8. Great discontent developed among the settlers; some had suffered in health on account of the swampy nature of their surroundings. A considerable number finally decided to seek a more promising location for a colony.

On April 22, 1878, the steamboat Lady Ellen left Gimli for Winnipeg. With this boat went Rev. Mr. Thorlaksson and twenty young men who expected to work in Winnipeg. On the 30th Fridjon Fridriksson and Samson Bjarnason left the same place in a sailboat. With these were Johann P. Hallsson and Magnus Stefansson. Their intentions were to overtake Mr. Thorlaksson in Winnipeg and secure him as a leader in the search of more suitable land. It appears that in Winnipeg Stefansson met one Hunter, editor of the Standard, who spoke well of the qualities of land in the Red River valley. Much impressed by the editor's account, Stefansson and S. Josua Bjornsson went south from Winnipeg and finally reached Pembina, then a village of a few houses in the extreme northeast corner of the county. From here they went west and southwest to a place five miles from Cavalier. where they selected two quarter sections of land and then returned to Pembina to file on their claims at the same time that Rev. P. Thorlaksson, J. P. Hallsson and Arni Bjornsson arrived there from Winnipeg. Persuaded by the representations of these two pioneers, this latter group continued the journey until they reached a sand ridge from one-half to two miles wide, extending from north to south in western Akra township. It seems they followed the Tongue river up to this point where they were in sight of the Pembina mountains. Between this sand ridge on the east and these mountains on the west lies a depression or a small valley. In this low and wooded place began the first Icelandic settlement in North Dakota. The wood-land was sought in preference to the prairie farther east of the mountains because logs for houses could be had without the necessity of hauling them from a distance. Further, the settlers had been informed that it was sometimes difficult to get water on these prairies. Wells often had to be drilled, and even then good water might not be struck. The selection of this place has also been explained on the grounds of sentiment. Though the Pembina mountains are but a mockery of the majestic mountain ranges of Iceland, yet they reminded the prospective settlers of the old country, around the memory of which so many pleasant associations clustered.

The spot for the location of a colony having been selected. Thorlaksson went to Minnesota, Stefansson settled on his land about live miles west of Cavalier and about the same distance east of the land picked out by J. P. Hallsson. Hallsson returned to his home near Lake Winnipeg, which he reached May 10, 1878, On the 24th, he and two others started off with their stock on foot, while their families left the next day in the sailboat York, belonging to Samson Bjarnason now of Akra, Pembina county.  On the 25th and 20th Selkirk (about forty miles from Gimli) was reached. From Selkirk to Winnipeg they went with the steamboat ''Lady Ellen," and from Winnipeg to Pembina village in the "Manitoba." On the 6th of June the colony left Pembina, and at 10 p. m. the same day reached the home of Butler Olson, a Norwegian, five miles west from Cavalier. In this group were among others, Jon Horgdal, Gisli Eigilsson and Jonas Jonsson.  On the 23d of June the first log cabin erected by Icelanders in Pembina county was completed. It is still standing where the post office of Hallson is located. It was built 12x14 feet and five feet under the eaves. Nine persons found accommodations in this house. The logs were cut in the immediate neighborhood and then dragged by hand to the place of building.

As soon as the first settlers had erected shelters for their families, in 1878, they turned their attention to the soil. J. P.  Hallsson broke two acres this year and in the fall of 1879 the yield was eighty bushels. Harvesting was done by the cradle.  In the summer and fall of 1878 these few settlers co-operated in the matter of haying, building and other occupations, Hallsson bought an ox and a Red river cart, for both of which he paid $75. A little later Jon Horgdal became the owner of the first yoke of oxen owned by Icelanders in this state. These beasts of burden did service for the neighbors as well as for the owners.  For several years, indeed, it was not uncommon for two neighbors to buy one ox each and then to use the two together to work the few cultivated acres on their farms.

The wheat harvested in 1879 was hauled by means of one ox five miles that it might be threshed. Then it was taken to the grist mill at Walhalla, about fifteen miles north of the settlement and ground into flour, a portion of the wheat being reserved for seed. This summer a few more acres were broken and wheat was sown in the spring of 1880.

During the winter of 1879 the daily fare in this colony was far from being sumptuous. The food was simple, consisting mostly of bread from flour, a little milk, and oil some important, and rare occasions, meat. It sometimes happened that the settlers got meat from the Indians in exchange for flour or some other goods, but generally it was a luxury they could not afford.  In the spring of 1879 several settlers arrived from the Lake Winnipeg colony. Rev. Pall Thorlaksson had visited the settlement in Pembina, county in September 1878, and found that the colonists were getting along well. Moreover, while on a visit in Minnesota, and other parts of Dakota, he had observed that the land seemed of no better quality, hence he decided to urge men to come to Pembina county. The result was that several settled near J. P. Hallsson and the settlers who had come in 1878, in what are now Beaulieu and Akra townships.  This summer the nucleus of another Icelandic community developed in what later came to be Thingwalla township. The first settler was Sveinn Sveinsson from Skagafirdi, Iceland. He built the first three cabins erected in the vicinity of Mountain post office.

In the spring of 1879 Rev. Mr. Thorlaksson visited the Icelandic congregation in Shawano county, Wisconsin. When he returned later in the summer, he was accompanied by two young men, Sigurjon Sveinsson and Benidict Johannesson. It seems that these two tarried in Minnesota, where they disposed of their horses in exchange for oxen and cattle, while Mr. Thorlaksson pressed on to the present site of Mountain. In company with Jon Bergman they had left the home of Butler Olson, five miles west of Cavalier in search of land. They went in the direction of Walhalla, north from Olson's home. But the qualities of the land were not sufficiently attractive so they went south, whither the pioneers had gone before them. The two men from Wisconsin reached Mountain in July 1st.  Jon Bergman was from the Lake Winnipeg colony, or New Iceland. From Mountain they pressed on as far south as the northernmost branch of the Park river. On the south side of this stream Sveinsson and Johannesson settled. Nearer the Icelandic colony on the north. Jon Bergman and others located. These men. then, were the pioneer settlers in Gardar township. The two men. Sigurjon Sveinsson and Benidict Johannesson. were well qualified to encounter the difficulties and hardships of pioneer life. Both were young, hardy and ambitious, caring little for the difficulties to overcome in subduing the wilderness. Their first dwellings were little more than excavations in the earth roofed over with brush and sod.  In one corner of Johannesson's house was a stove made of clay, and though it was not ornamental, yet it successfully kept out the cold during an entire winter. From these humble beginnings has grown the Gardar community, which probably has a greater number of fine private residences than any other township in the county.

The following is some breif statements of the early Iceland Settlers

HON. E. H. BERGMAN

Eirikur H. Bergman was born in Iceland in 1852, being the oldest of three children. He was 14 when his father died, after which time his mother kept the family together. In 1873 he went , to Lyon county. Minnesota, where he remained four years. While there he helped to organize the township of Vesturheim (Western World) and was one of the first supervisors. In 1878 he went to see the country around Big Stone lake, in the present state of South Dakota, and in 1879 came to Pembina county. In 1880 he located in what later became Gardar township, where he has successfully farmed since.

In 1882 our subject began to conduct a retail store, and a little later entered the real estate business, at both of which he met with great success. His business honesty and executive ability won the confidence of patrons, and now he is one of the thriving real estate men of the county, he also has a controlling interest in the business at Rugby conducted by his son.  Mr. Bergman has always been prominent in local affairs. He has been more or less connected with township government since the organization of Gardar from Thingwalla in 1886. It was largely through his efforts that Gardar post office was created, and he has been postmaster almost all the time.  Our subject was married in 1878 to Miss Ingibjorg Thorlacius. They have had three children, all of whom are living.  Mr. Bergman enjoys the distinction of being the first Icelander in North America elected to a representative legislative body, having been elected to the territorial assembly in 1888. Previous to this he had served on the hoard of county commissioners, to which office he was elected in 1885. He has always been a republican, never failing to give hearty support to the platform of his party.

GUDMUNDUR EINARSSON
Was born in Nordurmulasysla, Iceland, in 1859. He came to Canada in 1878 and in 1882 settled with his father in Park town-ship, Pembina county. It appears that Mr. Einarsson and his father did more than any other two men in that community to perfect the organization of the church. Both worked zealously for the good cause. They will long be remembered as the pillars of the church in the days of her trials. Mr. Einarsson's fidelity has been recognized in that he has been sent to the conference of the synod once at least.

He has always been closely in touch with township affairs ever since its organization, and is now one of the directors of the township. He has also for some time been a member of the school board of his district. He has always been a democrat and frequently has been a delegate to the county conventions.  Mr. Einarsson reads much and is thoroughly familiar with the masterpieces of Icelandic literature.

He was married in 1881 to Miss Malmfridur Jonsson. Three of their children are living. The family home is in the south-eastern corner of the Icelandic settlement around and south of Akra post office.

THOMAS HALLDORSSON

Born in Dalasysla. Iceland, in 1803, Mr. Halldorsson emigrated to the United States in 1882. His parents having gone six years before him. He went to Thingwalla township, where his father then lived, his mother being dead.

In 1889 he married Mrs. Thorvor Eiriksson, widow, with whom he has had eight children, four daughters and four sons.  Mr. Halldorsson has been prominently connected with township and county affairs. He has been assessor, supervisor and is now chairman of the town board. In 1898 he was elected county commissioner and held that office until 1898. He has always been an active and conscientious worker within the church, having represented his congregation ten different times at the annual conference of the synod.

In politics Mr. Halldorsson has always been a republican. He has been a delegate to nearly all the republican county conventions since 1887.

Was born in Hunavatnssysla, Iceland, in 1851. Shortly after his birth his parents moved to Skagafjardarsysla, where he lived until he went to America at the age of 25. After the age of 11, he spent most of his life on the sea fishing, which fact no doubt did much to develop that hardy spirit which is one of his prominent characteristics. In 1870 he arrived in Winnipeg, and in 1880 settled in what became Thingwalla township, Pembina county, where he has lived since.

Mr. Jonasson has been married twice, first in 1880 to Miss S. P. Thorlaksson, who died three years afterwards. In 1886 he married his present wife. He has five children living.  In 1886, when Gardar township was organized, he was elected one of the supervisors, which office he held for six terms, when he refused re-election. He has been assessor of Thingwalla since 1894 and clerk of school district No. 69 since 1885. In politics Mr. Jonasson was a democrat until 1890, when the free silver plank of the party led him to join the republicans, with whom he has remained ever since. He has taken an active interest in all public affairs and takes great pains to keep abreast of the times.

He has always been a faithful worker within the church, having been one of the most active members in organizing a congregation in 1880. He has four times represented his congregation at the conference of the synod.

REV. PALL THORLAKSSON

Pall Thorlaksson was born in 1849, in Iceland. His father is the venerable Thorlakur Jonsson. Early showing an eagerness and aptitude for learning, Pall was carefully prepared for the Latin college at Reykjavik, from which he graduated in 1871 after completing the classical course. In 1872 he went to Wisconsin.  After studying for three years in the Concordia Theological seminary at St. Louis, Missouri, he was ordained. His first charge was in Green Valley, Wisconsin.  Between 1875 and 1878 he did missionary work in New Iceland. In 1879 he went to Mountain, Pembina county, where he died April 2, 1882. He had for years been suffering from consumption, which at last brought him to his grave.

His connection with emigration from New Iceland has already been partly given in the sketch and not much can be added here.  After the first group left in 1878 he did not hesitate to encourage the people to leave. His solicitude for the welfare of his country-men never waned. He saw that New Iceland did not offer such opportunities as other parts of America he had seen. He therefore did not hesitate to encourage the people to emigrate. But if by doing what he saw to be his duty he won the lasting gratitude of many, it likewise won him the enmity of a few. When in 1880 he came to Minnesota to secure supplies to relieve the settlers, he found that letters had been written to men in that part of the country calculated to inspire prejudice against him.  The author or authors of these letters lived on the other side of the international boundary line. Men in Canada, whose ideas of patriotism overshadowed their spirit of magnanimity, maligned him for his self-sacrifice and devotion to duty. He was held responsible for the exodus from New Iceland, and he was willing to accept the responsibility because he firmly believed it was for the welfare of his people. Time has vindicated him and silenced his detractors.

After coming to Mountain in 1875, he directed all his energies to promote the welfare of the colony. He called meetings in the different settlements in 1880 and organized congregations. These he served until his death. He gave his own note for goods he got and then distributed among the needy settlers. During the winter of 1870-80, when the hardship was so great that many even expressed the wish that they could return to the miseries of New Iceland, it was he who went from house to house encouraging the people. In spite of his disease and in clemencies of the weather, he never relaxed his efforts to ameliorate their condition. He was personally known to every settler that came before 1882, yet not one of these but spoke of him with feelings of gratitude and affection. His strong convictions won him respect; his religious fervor was convincing. Though he had perhaps little patience with men whose ideas of religion differed from his own. yet his magnanimity more than compensated for any lack of toleration.

He lies buried in the cemetery at Mountain. Pembina county.  A monument erected by his countrymen marks his grave, but more enduring than the marble column is the memory of his noble work. In the early days of hardship and toil, in the gloom of poverty and sorrow, this generous and unselfish man inspired hope and faith in all who came in contact with him. No eulogy that could be written here could do him justice. He died un-known to any save his countrymen, he worked neither for fame nor glory, but for his people and his God. The fruits of his labor have been reaped by those for whose welfare he was so anxious.  Prosperity now prevails where, in his day, were misery and poverty. His memory is safely enshrined in the grateful and affectionate remembrance of those to whose comforts lie ministered in the trials of early days.

STIGUR THORWALDSSON

America has been called the land of opportunities, and surely she amply rewards industry and judgment. To this the subject of this sketch has been no exception. Born in Sudurmulasysla, Iceland, in 1853. Mr. Thorwaldsson came to this country in 1881.  This same year he was married to Miss Thorunn Bjornsson.  With a yoke of oxen and a wagon as capital, the young couple settled where Akra post office now is. Ten children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Thorwaldsson, eight of whom-four boys and four girls-are living.

Mr. Thorwaldsson, owing to the rapidity with which he gained command of the language and insight into public affairs, early began to participate in local matters. In 1882, when Akra town-ship was organized, he was elected treasurer thereof, which office he has held ever since. Similarly has he in some official capacity been connected with the management of the affairs of his school district (No. 31) since its organization in 1881, at present being its treasurer. He has almost always been a delegate to the republican county convention and often, including this year, to the state convention. He has always been a staunch republican.  In church affairs he has been more or less active, having several times represented his congregation at the annual conference of the Icelandic Synod which meets during the last week in June.  Shortly after his coming to Akra township he began to deal in merchandise, of course on a very small scale. But the business he has managed since that time has steadily grown, until now his headquarters are among the largest in the Icelandic settlement, and compare favorably with any in the county similarly located.

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