The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1971, Qupperneq 22

2D
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
WINTER 1971
CONCLUSION
Tbe Icelanders On Vancouver Island
A HISTORICAL SKETCH
by Dr. Richard Beck
While the largest number of the
Icelanders on Vancouver Island, and
their descendants, have resided and
still reside in Victoria and its vicinity,
a number of their ethnic group have
also settled elsewhere on the Island,
chiefly at Campbell River, B.C., and
Port Alberni, B.C. These settlements
are, however, much more recent than
the early settlement in Victoria.
Mrs. Albert (Beatrcie V.) Arnason,
one of the earliest Icelandic settlers at
Campbell River, has graciously furn-
ished the writer with first-hand in-
formation about the settlement which
will here be largely reproduced.
“The beginning of an Icelandic
settlement took place in June 1938,
when Mr. and Mrs. Kristjan Eiriksson
and their two sons, Carl and Thorarin
sold their home at Comox, B.C., and
bought property in the Big Rook dis-
trict 2% miles south of the village of
Campbell River. Sveinbjorn Guff-
mu nd son of Edmonton, Alta., former-
ly of North Dakoota, arrived in Camp-
bell River in February 1939, full of
enthusiasm to form a “New Iceland”
at the “end of the road” on Northern
Vancouver Island.
Kristjan Eiriksson and Sveinbjorn
Guffmundson wrote glowing reports of
a Utopia on the East Coast of the Is-
land in both Heimskringla and Log-
berg in February 1938. These articles
naturally sparked a lot of interest
among those who were tired of adverse
weather conditions, unemployment,
and hardships endured during the
depression years on the Prairies.”
Besides Eiriksson and his family,
and Guffmundson, Mrs. Arnason lists
the following, who in addition to her
and her husband, formerly of Mozart,
Sask., arrived in 1939: Mr. and Mrs.
Sam Erickson Pebble Beach, Man.;
John Borgfjord, Miss Thora Sigurdson
(later Mrs. Currie), and her brother,
Arni Sigurdson, all of Lonely Lake,
Man., and Carl Sigurdson of The Nar-
rows, Manitoba. Later in the year they
were joined by Mrs. John Borgfjord
and the three children, Gislina, Ron-
ald and Alda, along with Bogi Sig-
urdson of The Narrows, Mr. and Mrs.
Eyjolfur Gunnarson of Bredenbury,
Sask., also arrived late in 1939.
The following settlers arrived in
1940: Mr. and Mrs. Asgeir Baldwin,
Edmonton, Alta. Mrs. Helga Johnson
(widow of O. T. Johnson, former Ed-
itor of Heimskringla), Edmonton, Mr.
and Mrs. Sveinbjorn Loptson, Breden-
bury, Sask., Mr. and Mrs. Arnold
Erickson and daughters Elaine and
Beverley. Other settlers who arrived
in 1940 included: Mr. and Mrs. Bjarni
Sigurdson, Miss Anna Sigurdson and
Stefan Sigurdson, Lonely Lake, Man.,
Mr. and Mrs. E. G. Gunnarson and
son John, Bredenbury, Mrs. Runa
Rafnkjelson, The Narrows, and Paul