Lars and Grethe Anderson selected 120 acres in Chippewa Falls township. (The township would split in 1860, leaving their land in the town of Wheaton.) Like many Norwegian settlers, they chose acreage with a handy water supply. Big Elk Creek cut across a corner of the farm. The rolling terrain was mostly prairie brush with a stand of pine and a dotting of hardwoods. Lars had made a preemtive claim on the land as soon as he arrived in the area. His brother Jens shortly claimed an adjacent tract.

The Preemption Act of 1841 allowed farmers to settle on unowned land. Those who agreed to farm the property, improve it by building, and declare an intention to become citizens, could buy up to 160 acres for $1.25 an acre, if they paid for it within a year of settling.

The Anderson’s weren’t able to pay, and the land went to a Chippewa County land speculator named Andrew Moore. Lars and Grethe never moved, however, and Moore sold the farm to them in 1861. This chain of events, which allowed farmers extra time to get money together and made profits for speculators, was not technically legal, but it was a common practice.

<<previous  next >>