The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1954, Side 35

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
33
velopment of the state. Its sons and
daughters have filled and are found in
positions of prominence within the
state and outside its borders.
Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the in-
ternationally famous explorer and
author, while born in Manitoba, came
to the Mountain district with his par-
ents at the age of two and grew up
there. Emile Walters, who has won
wide fame as a painter, grew up in the
Gardar community of the Icelandic
settlement, and the late Dr. C. H.
Thordarson of Chicago, a noted in-
ventor, manufacturer, and bibliophile,
also spent a part of his youth in the
Gardar district.
Stephan G. Stephansson, considered
one of the greatest of Icelandic poets
of all time, whose centenary occurs
this year, was a pioneer and for nearly
a decade a resident of the Gardar com-
munity, and has paid tribute to the
settlement in some notable poems. K.
N. Julius, leading Icelandic humorous
poet, made his home for half a century
in the Eyford community near Moun-
tain.
Mrs. Thorstina Jackson Walters,
the wife of the painter and a daughter
of one of the pioneers of the district,
has written in Icelandic a history of
the Icelandic settlement in North Da-
kota, and now has in press a book in
English on the same subject; she is
also the author of many newspaper
and magazine articles.
Among prominent lawyers from the
settlement are the late Professor Svein-
bjorn Johnson of the University of Il-
linois, previously Attorney General
and Justice of the Supreme Court of
North Dakota, author of the book
Pioneers of Freedom and translator of
the famed Icelandic lawbook Gragas;
the late Hjalmar A. Bergman, Chair-
man of the Board of Regents of the
University of Manitoba and Justice of
the Court of Appeal of the Province
of Manitoba; Judge Gudmundur
Grimson, Justice of the Supreme Court
of North Dakota since 1950; and
Bardi G. Skulason, attorney and Ice-
landic Consul at Portland, Oregon.
The present Attorney General of
North Dakota, Elmo T. Christianson,
also comes from the Icelandic settle-
ment.
Well-known medical men from the
district include: Dr. B. J. Brandson,
Dr. O. Bjornson, and Dr. M. B. Hall-
dorsson, all of Winnipeg, and all now
deceased, as well as the late Dr. G. J.
Gislason of Grand Forks, North Da-
kota. The settlement also can claim
the late Dr. Harriet G. McGraw, for
years a widely known practitioner at
Tyron, Nebraska. Dr. Gudmundur G.
Thorgrimsen, son of Rev. Thorgrim-
sen, the pioneer pastor, has for years
been a practising physician in Grand
Forks.
Noted clergymen who are the prod-
uct of the district include the late Dr.
Rognvaldur Petursson of Winnipeg,
for years president of the Icelandic
Federated Churches of America and
of the Icelandic National League; and
Reverend K. K. Olafson, for twenty
years president of the Icelandic Luth-
eran Synod of America, now of
Sharon, Wisconsin. He preached at
services in two of the leading churches
of his old home district in connection
with the 75th anniversary commemo-
ration of the settlement.
Professor S. K. Hall, a pioneer son
of the Gardar community, formerly of
Winnipeg, but now of Wynyard, Sas-
Katchewan, is a noted musician and
composer.
Among well-known educators from
the settlement are: Dr. Albert F. Ar-
nason, State Commissioner for Higher