The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1954, Síða 33

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
31
ICELANDIC ANNIVERSARY IN NORTH DAKOTA
By RICHARD BECK
The 75th anniversary of the found-
ing of the Icelandic settlement in Pem-
bina County in North Dakota was
commemorated with special services in
the various Icelandic churches of the
district on Sunday, June 14, and with
elaborate festivities at Mountain,
North Dakota, the following day,
Monday, June 16, with an estimated
attendance of 3,000 people from far
and near.
Highlighting the historic program
was the presence of a special represen-
tative of the Icelandic government, the
Honorable Petur Eggerz, Counselor of
the Icelandic Legation in Washington,
D. C., who brought warm and enthusi-
astically received greetings from the
old homeland of the settlers. Governor
Norman Brunsdale of North Dakota
was represented by Mr. F. M. Einar-
son of Mountain, a member of the
North Dakota State Legislature and
son of one of the Icelandic pioneers.
Other featured speakers were Mr.
Snorri Thorfinnson of Lisbon, North
Dakota, who is a native son of the
settlement and a noted agriculturalist,
and the writer.
Not only were the history of the pio-
neers and the later development of
the settlement traced in the addresses
of the day, but also memorably por-
trayed in an impressive parade and an
equally striking historical pageant.
During the last quarter of the nine-
teenth century several Icelandic settle-
ments were founded in various parts
of the United States, in Wisconsin,
Minnesota, North Dakota, and else-
where. Of these the colony in Pembina
County is the most important, the
largest as well as one of the oldest.
Led by the late Reverend Pall Thor-
laksson, who has justly been called
“the father” of the settlement, the first
Icelandic settlers came from a newly
established colony on the west shore
of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba to
North Dakota in the spring and early
summer of 1878.
Shortly after other settlers arrived,
especially from the Winnipeg Lake
colony, but also from the Icelandic
settlements in Wisconsin and Minne-
sota, and even directly from Iceland.
The main stream of the settlers from
these various directions came during
the years 1879-1882. So rapid was the
growth of the settlement that before
the end of the year 1879 four Icelandic
communities were in the process of
formation.
Home-founding in a new land has
ever been a strenuous undertaking.
The first years of the Icelandic settle-
ment in North Dakota were no excep-
tion; they were a period of hardships
and back-breaking toil. Thanks to
their energy and economy, and not
least to the untiring efforts of Rev-
erend Thorlaksson, the settlers, many
of whom had little or no means, soon
succeeded in bettering their cond-
itions. Their idealism and willingness
to sacrifice carried them forward.
These qualities are well illustrated
in the way which the pioneers financ-
ed the building of the church at
Mountain. Money had, of course, to
be borrowed for that purpose, and to
make that possible twelve of the farm-