Ah so you have read some of my other articles on Scandinavian countries? I have not been sure how much interest there really is for this stuff, but I feel compelled to give foreigners a better understanding of our history and culture. I see so many weird and wrong speculations online from various foreigners on why Norway and other Nordic countries are the way they are.

When writing this I hadn't actually thought about people like you André, with Norwegian roots who want to know a bit more about the country your forefathers came from and why they came.

It is my impression that a lot of Norwegian with maritime connections went over to Seattle, Portland etc. I guess the Norwegians from the inland went more to the prarie states, like North Dakota.

It must have been attractive to work on American ships back then as the pay was considerably better than on Norwegian ships. Do you know when they came over?

Was it after 1875, when things started going downhill in Norway?