Rush Medical College in Chicago was one of the oldest medical schools in the United States, founded in 1837. Photo: RMC Archives
Páll Björnsson began medical studies at Rush Medical College in Chicago shortly after he returned from a famous expedition to Alaska with his friends, Jón Ólafsson and Ólaf Ólafsson from Espihól. He graduated from there, moved to Houston, Minnesota and opened a medical practice there. The 1880 census lists him as a practicing physician in Houston, Houston County, Minnesota.
Páll was one of the first Icelanders to complete medical studies at an American medical school during the Western emigration period.
Houston, Minnesota at the turn of the century in 1900. Photo: HHS
English version by Thor group.