Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/406

 338 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY yon, by Rev. K. 0. Lundeberg, and moved to Wahpeton, X. D., in 1903. It is now printed weekly at Minneapolis, Minn. Thirty years ago a previous history published an estimate of the Norwegians as pioneers. At the time this article was written less than two decades and a half had elapsed since the settlement in the county, and but few of the children born in the township had attained their majority. The article, as written at that time, follows: "A large number of inhabitants of the county — at least one-fourth — are Norwegian. In the south- west part, where the county offers the greatest advantages for agricultural purposes, several townships are settled almost exclu- sively by them. In this fertile and suitable region they have a better chance of having their energy and industry rewarded than they had in Norway, where greater exertions were needed merely to gain a subsistence, whether as agriculturists on the small, stony and steep pieces of cultivated land or as sailors and fish- ermen on the surrounding sea. The Norwegians are eminently fit to be pioneers of civilization. In their lonely valleys they have become more accustomed to live by themselves and to be content in their own company than settlers from more densely populated countries ; and they do not to the same degree feel the want of social advantages, from which the pioneers, to a greater or less degree, arc excluded. Self help was, in the old country, cultivated to a high degree in regard to the mechanical work needed by the farmers. It was often a considerable dis- tance to the next neighbor, and the farmers did much of the work themselves, where in other places a tradesman was called into requisition. Almost everyone could, for instance, do his own horseshoeing and other blacksmith work ; thus they were well accustomed to the hard work called for in a pioneer country, because in their own country they had to work hard to make a living, and this rigorous training has made them hardy, strong and enduring. As soon as they arrive in this county they com- mence working with a good will, and almost universally their exertions have been crowned with success. The kind of property the Norwegians value the most is landed estate. The first set- tlers tried to stretch themselves over as much land as they could, occupying land for their relations and friends yet to come, be- sides what they claimed for themselves. New land seekers were frequently turned off with the' information that all the surround- ing land was taken. The boundaries were sometimes so extrava- gant that controversies ensued with later arrivals, which on one occasion, at least, resolved into blows. This collsion caused the 'Club Law' — established by some of the oldest settlers for the retention of their claims — to be abolished. A battle with clubs, axe handles and other weapons was fought at one time on section