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Lars and Grethe Anderson
traveled to Milwaukee
by lake steamer and walked to Waupun, 50 miles to the northeast.
Waupun was a common destination for Norwegian immigrants. They stayed
three years, working, saving money, and getting used to new customs
and a new language. In the fall of 1856, carrying all their belongings
and Lars and Grethe’s one-year-old son Carl, they traveled
by foot and covered wagon from Waupun to Eau Claire, a journey of
more than 150 miles. They wintered on the banks of the Chippewa River and lived the next year in what is now the town of Pleasant Valley. The following spring, Lars and Grethe moved with Jens, and a number of friends from the old country, to Chippewa Falls township, where they would all live out their lives. “[Waupun was]
a stopping for all [Norwegian] immigrants bound for the West, as
a great number of old settlers were residents of that city at one
time.” |