Sigtryggur Jónasson
Riverton is a rather small town on the estuary of the Icelandic River (Íslendingafljót), 130 km (81 miles) north of Winnipeg. In the summer of 1876, three Icelanders settled by the river, Ólafur Ólafsson from Espihóll, Jóhannes Sigurðsson, and Flóvent Jónsson. Íslendingafljót was originally called Whitemud River but soon after the arrival of Icelanders the name was changed to Icelandic River and of course only Íslendingafljót was used in such an ultra-Icelandic settlement as New Iceland was. The map shows where the river comes from the west, goes through Geysir and continues through Fljóts to Lake Winnipeg via Lundur. The map shows the point Sandy Bar that Guttormur J. Guttormsson wrote about in a masterpiece of the same name. Sigtryggur Jónasson, “father of New Iceland”, settled in a new house by Icelandic River which he called Möðruvellir. He made his home a kind of capital of New Iceland, the teaching of children and youth took place there, masses were sung, a post office opened, and it was the seat of the administration for the settlement. Furthermore, it was the headquarters of the Jónasson-Friðriksson Company, his company with Friðjón Friðriksson, owned and operated the sawmill by the river and took care of transport to and from the village by the lake. The first Icelandic newspaper in North America, Framfari, began publication on September 10, 1887 and was printed in Lundi by the Icelandic River; the name Lundi is attached to the place and is considered the first name of the village, later Íslendingafljót (Icelandic River) was used, but Riverton was created in 1914.
By Icelandic River a small village was formed which later became Riverton.