until the
commissioners in the service of the board could get work for those who
wanted to work out, and direct the rest to the interior of the state,
where they could settle on government land or buy cheap land from
private parties.

Arrangements were made with newspapers in different languages for
publishing articles written by myself and others, which contained
descriptions of Minnesota and its resources. Pamphlets and maps with
more detailed accounts, were printed in Swedish, Norwegian and German,
and distributed in the respective countries, on board the ocean
steamers, at the railroad stations and at other convenient places. I was
the author of nearly all of this literature, in which great pains were
taken to describe everything in detail; how the chests or boxes ought to
be made and marked before leaving the old country; what articles ought
to be taken along; what kind of provisions were most suitable; what
measures ought to be taken with reference to cleanliness and behavior
during the long and tedious journey, etc. On my visits among our western
farmers years afterwards I have often seen pamphlets in Swedish and
Norwegian with my name as author standing in the little bookshelf side
by side with the Bible, the prayer-book, the catechism, and a few other
reminiscences from the old country. I also spent some time attending to
the needs of the emigrants in the sea-ports and in Chicago, made
arrangements with railroad companies for securing better accommodations
and even free tickets for hundreds of emigrants, who would otherwise
have been compelled to part with their companions before reaching their
place of destination.

While performing my duty as secretary of the board of emigration I also
acted as land agent for one of our greatest railroad companies, whose
line went through Wright, Meeker, Kandiyohi, Swift and Stevens counties,
and near Lake Ripley, in Meeker county. I purchased some eight hundred
acres of land for myself, on which I made extensive improvements and
spent some time as a farmer.

[Illustration: LAKE RIPLEY.]

In the above-named localities there were only a few widely scattered
families when I went there in 1867, while it is now one continuous
Scandinavian settlement, extending over a territory more than a hundred
miles long and dotted over with cities and towns, largely the result of
the work of the board of emigration during the years 1867, 1868 and
1869. The board of emigration did not sho