It was a life-changing journey for those of European descent who first settled southeast Minnesota in the 1850s, especially for those having recently immigrated across the Atlantic Ocean. But one of the most colorful journeys was that of eventual Spring Grove resident Anders Brynildsen Foss, who before crossing the Mississippi River in 1854 had not only crossed the Atlantic but also crossed the entire continent of North America and the Isthmus of Panama.
Born in 1826 in Norway, 22-year-old Foss had worked hard to afford passage on an emigrant ship that docked in New York on July 4, 1848. His destination was Janesville, Wis., where a cousin had settled after immigrating two years previous. Foss followed well-traveled water routes via the Erie Canal and then through the Great Lakes to Milwaukee.
Almost penniless, he continued on foot toward Janesville. A two-week haying job brought no money as his employer refused to pay him after 11 days when Anders’ hands had become so blistered from the scythe that he could not work the final three days. In Janesville, his cousin paid him $1 an hour as a bricklayer’s helper.
Photo courtesy of their great-granddaughter, Georgia Rosendahl
In 1849, the discovery of gold in California beckoned many, including Foss, his cousin and partners who with five covered wagons and five yokes of oxen headed west from Janesville in the spring of 1851. After crossing the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, Iowa, it was a monotonous trek across endless prairies where they encountered only a few Indians and other gold seekers. When they reached the desert, they traded their oxen for mules. Crossing the Rocky Mountains through Mormon’s Pass might mean encountering hostile Indians. For greater protection, small groups of gold seekers banded together in larger caravans. They survived one near disaster.
After four months and 10 days, the caravan reached Placerville, Calif., at that time called Hang Town, a lawless area rife with robberies, fights and killings. The only laws were those made by the miners themselves. Offenders were often hanged after makeshift trials.
The grandiose tales of fabulous wealth proved misleading, and Foss and his cousin hired out for meager wages at a small mine. In their spare time, they to panned for gold without success. They moved on to purchase a share in a mine where returns were again unsatisfactory. They soon sold out and invested in another mining partnership. They sold out again just prior to the operation being washed away in a flash flood.
Anders and his cousin finally gave up the quest for gold and decided to return to a more assured method of livelihood – farming the fields of Wisconsin. But not eager to again tempt the perils of their previous transcontinental travel, they went to San Francisco where other disillusioned miners were booking passage by ship down the coast. It would be a much different return journey, but not one without hazards.
After eight days, the boat arrived at Acapulco, Mexico, where they stopped for supplies for eight more days of travel to Nicaragua. The dangerous journey across the isthmus between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans involved the fever-filled jungles of Nicaragua – sometimes by boat, by mule or on foot. Some perished with malaria or yellow fever. Once the survivors reached the Atlantic shores, they boarded a steamer for a three-day voyage to New Orleans. Next it was by steamboat up the Mississippi River to Dubuque. Then came days of walking to Galena, Ill., and then to Janesville, the place they had left three years earlier.
By this time, settlers were streaming into Minnesota and Iowa. In 1854, Foss and his cousin walked back to cross the Mississippi River and continue on to Winneshiek County where government land was available. Purchasing 160 acres north of Decorah. Anders built a shack and a new life.
Foss soon married Anna Solberg from Spring Grove Township. Anders would later purchase the farm of his deceased father-in-law just north of the Minnesota border. Later still, he acquired a larger farm in Section 31 until retiring to a brick home on Main Street in Spring Grove. Anders and Anna raised 11 children. Despite the rigors of his travels, he lived in robust health to the age of 95.
Source: “Percival Narveson’s Historical Sketches,” by local historian Percival Narveson (1899-1972), published in 2002.
Mark Reps says
Great American tale. Nicely written