Early Settlements in America

Trail County and Griggs County, North Dakota

1879, Land boom in North Dakota. Until 1920 Norwegians were the largest ethnic group in North Dakota. The Norwegians settled in Trail County and Griggs County. Towns like Fargo, Grand Forks, Hatton, Mayville, and Hillsboro took on a Norwegian flavor preserved to the present day. The author, Kristoffer Janson, went on a lecture tour of the Midwest and gave about 80 talks and lectures for Norwegian-Americans and other Scandinavians.

Ole Rolvaag wrote about the journey from Fillmore County to Dakota Country in his masterpiece "Giants in the Earth". This short piece about prairie schooners heading west is very descriptive and a must read.