Featuring Rasmus Sunde Ph.D.  from Balestrand, Norway

Livsreise is pleased to welcome back Rasmus Sunde. He is a Norwegian historian and author. Rasmus holds a doctorate in migration history, and is an associate professor at the University of Sogn og Fjordane.

Dr. Sunde has written several books about migration history. (Unfortunately, as of now they are only available in Norwegian.)

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In 1843, about fifty Norwegian immigrants settled near Capron, Illinois.

In the vicinity of the present village of Capron, Illinois, a few Norwegians settled in 1843, forming the nucleus of what later came to be known as Long Prairie. One family in that group was Kaasa family who relocated from Chicago. Others came directly from Sogn, Norway, the recruiting region being Vik Parish exclusively. In that year three ships left Bergen again with immigrants principally from Sogn, especially Aurland and Vik. Those who came from Aurland went to Koshkonong, as also many of those who came from Vik.

From New York they took the usual inland route to Chicago, their destination being Wiota. But at Belvidere, Illinois, in Boone County, they met Thor Olson Kaasa, who advised them strongly against going to Wiota, Wisconsin which, he said, was two hundred miles from a market. La Fayette County was moreover nothing but hills, and he gave such an unfavorable description of that locality, that the immigrants decided to accept his suggestion and go to Long Prairie, Illinois, where they were told there was plenty of level and fertile land only seventy miles from Chicago. A few were instructed to wait at Belvidere for those who were coming on the ship Kong Sverre, and inform them of the change in plans, The rest accompanied Kaasa to Boone County,where soon after the second party came. Thus by the autumn of 1844 the settlement numbered about one hundred individuals One of these ships that brought immigrants was the Albion, with Captain Brock in charge, Most of its passengers went to Long Prairie. The Long Prairie Settlement continued to grow for a decade.