Norway to Coon Prairie

Coon Prairie Lutheran Church and parsonage in the late 1800s

On the same ship which brought Ole T. Gullord and his neighbors, there were several from Gudbrandsdal, namely Tjøstul Amundsen Øium and Ole Dalen, the first two to emigrate from South and North Fron: Clemet Clemetsen Berg and his brother Jon Hovde, together with Ingebret C. Berg, all from Musdalen in Øier, together with Martin Paul Haugen and his son Amund from Gausdal. Ole Gullord showed them Even’s orderly letter on ship. They decided therefore to follow those from Biri to Coon Prairie. It followed that Coon Prairie and Coon Valley became the first and largest settlements of people from Gudbrandsdal in America. Ole Syverson Kankerud from Gausdal also came in 1849 but on another ship.

Lars Christophersen was from Feiring in Hurdal. He came over in 1848 on the same ship as Even Gullord. Just after his arrival he enlisted in the army and served in the American war. In 1849 after he was discharged, he came to Coon Prairie to locate Even Gullord. As a veteran he received 160 acres of land and bought another 160 acres in addition. He was the first Norseman in Vernon County to secure a patent on his land, since his deed bears the date of 12 June 1849. He later had many farms, but was such an erratic person that it was said that he never harvested where he sowed. It is probable that he was the reason for the large immigration of people from Hurdal who during the 1850s found the way to North Coon Prairie. It is possible that he was from the Haug farm in Feiring, because he had a son who later became a pastor named Louis C. Hill. Another son, Christian Hill, was an exceptional mechanic, and it is said that he invented “ball bearings.”

On the same ship with Ole T. Gullord also was Helge Gulbrandsen Skare from Sigdal. He was the first man who was not at peace with Coon Prairie. He thought the weather was too severe. After having looked around, he went in the fall of 1849 down in Coon Creek Valley where he took up land at the junction of Timber Coulee and Spring Coulee. Since he was the first man to settle in Coon Creek Valley, the valley for a long time was called Helge Valley after him.

Coon Prairie was not only the first center for people from Biri, Gudbrandsdal and Hurdal — it was also the first settlement of people from Flekkefjord. The first to emigrate from Flekkefjord was Trond Konstalie, who came from there to Muskego early in the 1840s. His brother, Bernt Tobias also came in 1845. They found the climate in Muskego unhealthy, and when they heard in 1850 about Coon Prairie, traveled there immediately. Not long after many came from Flekkefjord and Egersund areas to Coon Prairie.

There were also several from Telemark at Coon Prairie. The first was Høie Ouversen Kjørkjebø who came to Coon Prairie in 1849. He was a member of the first group of emigrants who came from Hvideseid in 1843. Many from the same parish came later to Coon Prairie.

The next from Telemark was Ole Aslaksen Rønning, a seminarian from the Mo pastoral district. He had also emigrated from Telemark in 1843, lived for a while at Koshkonong and came to Coon Prairie in 1850. Here he became one of the most respected men. But, in 1862 together with several others he went to Dunn County in Northern Wisconsin where he founded a large Norwegian settlement. He settled in a valley east of Colfax, which was called Running Valley after him. Two Norwegian churches in this valley bear his name. He is remembered by everyone up there with much gratitude, since he was like a father or brother to all of the later immigrants.