The Pembina settlement was in the northeast corner of North Dakota about five miles south of the U.S.-Canada border. The Red River divides two states, Minnesota and North Dakota, and on the west bank formed a small village in the early years of the immigration called Pembina. The name is from indigenous language and means red cranberry. The decade 1870-1879 marked a turning point in Canada’s history as thousands of immigrants flocked to the fertile plains of western Canada by heading north along the Red River. All freight to Winnipeg was also on the Red River, so the village was a hub for people and freight. A small river, Pembina, which originates in western Manitoba, flows through the middle of the town and joins into the Red River. Thick forest grew on the south bank of the river and provided good shelter from the icy north winds in the winter, but in the west there is a sheltered plain and the land was fertile. Icelanders therefore called this area Siberia. On the east bank of the Red River in Minnesota, a village called St. Vincent grew and it came to the fore in the history of Icelanders in this area early in the settlement years. The Red River played an important role in the decade in question because no railroads had been laid in western Canada or this far north in N. Dakota. The river flowed north and the current was strong and carried thousands of immigrants and countless tons of all kinds of goods that were important in the construction in Winnipeg. Steamships, large and small, transported people and goods; the Red River was the most important traffic route in the summer. Everyone in Manitoba who had business to the south, on the other hand, went up the Red River to Pembina or St. Vincent, but from there the trails led them south.
Icelandic settlement:
In early 1879, when it became clear that the future of New Iceland was in great doubt, residents began to look elsewhere, a few began preparing to move south across the border to North Dakota in the United States. Reverend Páll Þorláksson had organized an excursion in the summer of 1878 south and found a respectable area where the village of Mountain now stands. Reverend Páll was on the move again in December, on his way to Minnesota, and Kristján G. Kristjánsson went with him to Pembina. He looked around and liked the land around the village and decided to move there as soon as spring came. He had two other men with him, both of whom had wives and children. Kristján described the exodus from New Iceland as follows: “This small group set off from Íslendingafljót (Icelandic River) on March 16, 1879, on foot, with one ox for equipment transport. Understandably, this journey was slow and tiring. The weather at this time of year is inclement and cold; no roads, but many swamps and marshes. The children often had to be carried long distances one at one time and wade through the water for hours at a time. No food or accommodation available.” The group arrived in Pembina on March 30 and had been traveling for 14 days, which can now be reached in a few hours by rail. These settlers settled lands southwest of the village where it was called “Aldan”, but the area where it is divided into low hills and plains, the Icelanders called the Wave. The reason for the settlement there is that it was very wet and it was advisable to build a house on a hill, but all the surrounding fields were full of water and rotting grass. After the land was improved, roads laid and ditches dug, the land gradually dried up and it was found that the lower land was much more fertile. This later led to the migration from the “Wave” because the hills dried up too much and the land deteriorated significantly in quality. The flow of Icelanders south, away from New Iceland, was considerable in the following years, and although most went west to the new Icelandic settlements around Mountain, many remained in Pembina. Many people opted for the village and most of them settled on a ridge between the rivers and that district was sometimes called the Icelandic district. Some settled in the western part of the village. From the beginning, it was as if the Icelanders regarded the settlement in the Pembina area as a kind of settlement, whether they lived in the village or on their own land outside of it. After that, many left the area. There are no figures on the number of Icelanders in the Pembina area, but they would have been the most numerous in the last decade of the 19th century. It is then estimated that about sixty families lived in the village and twelve on their own land in “Aldan”.
Employment:
It was clear to everyone that there were few job opportunities in Pembina; almost none in the first years. Everyone who went there was poor, almost destitute, but with diligence, people built a house, a small orchard, and a few even had domestic animals on a small plot around the house. People acquired houses, became financially independent, and could have a bright outlook on the future. Those who had animals had easy access to land outside the village where haymaking could be done at low cost. There, people could also get firewood by buying access to a forest and chopping wood themselves. The work that was for hire was usually tied to large farms east of the Red River in Minnesota. The Icelandic workers sowed and harvested and got reasonable pay. Many also worked in fishing in the Red River and there, by the village, turned out to be a productive spot, especially for catfish. People set their nets and hauled in, and the catch often turned out to be large. The fish were put on wagons and people hauled them either around the village or to farmers in the nearby farms and sold them. However, the income was reasonably good from the fishing, often for about two months, and the fishermen usually had enough fish for household use all summer. The first years were very good fishing, it was common for dozens of fish to be landed in one cast, even if the nets were next to each other. The catfish in the river varied in size, from two pounds to fifteen. The price was good, so the river was for a long time an absolute treasure chest for those who set out to fish.
Religion:
During the first years of the settlement, the settlers worked day and night to establish themselves in a new settlement, so there was little time to devote to social affairs. Several Icelanders lived together in the southern part of the village and when it came to discussing ecclesiastical fellowship, the idea of forming a congregation was on the agenda. The main leaders in this were Sigurður Mýrdal, Ólafur Þorsteinsson and Jón Jónsson from Munkaþverá in Eyjafjörður. This was in 1883-1884 and several meetings were held in the village to discuss church matters. There is no record of the number of people who attended these meetings or how many people joined the congregation, but as in all of the new settlements in North America, settlers had to take religion into their own hands, there was no national church in the United States or Canada. It was clear to everyone in Pembina that there would be no pastor because only one Icelandic pastor was in the West at that time. Pembina Icelanders had to hold worship themselves for the first few years and for that they rented a small meeting house in the village. Eventually, however, everyone realized the need to build a church, without which there was little chance that a pastor would join the congregation. It was in 1885 that an Icelandic church was built in Pembina and it is considered the second oldest Icelandic church in the West; the oldest is Víkur Church in Mountain. Reverend Jón Bjarnason had returned to the West and preached in Pembina as did as Reverend Hans Thorgrimsen. Reverend Friðrik J. Bergmann was ordained a pastor to the congregation in Garður and other congregations in the various Icelandic settlements around the area and he also served the young congregation in Pembina until 1893. Reverend Jónas A. Sigurðsson was then ordained a pastor and served the congregation in Pembina until the year 1900, but then Reverend Steingrímur N. Þorláksson succeeded him.
Women’s and Reading societies:
Women often gathered together in the early years of settlement in new western Icelandic settlements. In Pembina, the foundations of an Icelandic women’s society in the area were soon discussed, and Arnheiður Þorsteinsdóttir, Eilíf Guðmundsson’s wife, played a large part in its establishment. With a joint effort of women and men, a large community building was built in the village where the women’s society held its meetings and other entertainment for Icelanders. The women’s association did many good things, e.g. it gave a new Icelandic church a number of adornments and works of art.
In 1889, a reading society was founded in the area, which immediately began collecting books and magazines. The main promoters of the establishment of the society were Jón Jónsson from Munkaþverá, Magnús Brynjólfsson, Brandur Johnson, and Daníel Laxdal. At the inaugural meeting, 20 households became members and Jón Jónsson was elected the chairman of the society, Brandur Johnson (Guðbrandur Gíslason from Dalasýsla) the librarian, and Björn Frímann Walters the treasurer. It did not take many years until a handsome library emerged. Other activities of the society played a large part in strong social work in the area, these were regular meetings. A general meeting was usually called once a month, sometimes twice. These were sometimes debate meetings where some two individuals discussed an issue concerning the mental health and well-being of Icelanders in a new environment. Speakers spoke in Icelandic, and these debates were part of the preservation of the Icelandic language in the West.
English version by Thor Group