Story County and the State of Iowa were in their youth when settlers were first attracted to Howard Township in search for the place where they would sink their foundations. The land they found here was rich and fertile and virtually untouched. It was not as we know it today, however; it would require untold hours of back-breaking labor to clear the land of boulders left by glaciers centuries ago.
Life was hard on the prairie of one hundred years ago, but the pioneers who settled this area were accustomed to hardship. They had known difficult times in their native Norway, and it was because of those hardships that they sought the "land of promise" in the United States. It was told this way by Sam and Katherine Nelson in the history of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Association of Central Iowa, which was published on the occasion of the company's 75th year in business:
"Torkel Henryson, a young school teacher, conceived the idea of gathering together a group of people in the year 1846 for the purpose of emigrating to America. His efforts were well rewarded, and the following spring a group comprising one hundred sixty-five passengers--twenty-nine families and fifteen single persons--chartered a sail ship, the 'Kong Sverre', and on May 11, 1847, left Bergen, Norway. Following a voyage of six weeks on the Atlantic, they landed at the port of New York. From there they traveled by boat to Chicago, stopping at Buffalo where they celebrated their first 'Fourth of July'. From Chicago these immigrants trekked by ox drawn covered wagons to Lisbon, Kendall County, Illinois, their destination. Immigrants continued to come from Norway from time to time. They suffered many hardships; many died from cholera. However, they did not falter or lose heart.
"It was a great disappointment to find that there was no government land in Kendall County, Illinois. The land that was for sale was beyond the means of the average immigrant. Rumors were current that .good land could be bought from the government west of the Mississippi River in Central Iowa. Accordingly it was decided to send a group of men to investigate the truth of the rumors. The men chosen for this purpose were Lars Sheldahl, Jonas Duea, Ole Thompson, John Mehus, Jacob Ask and John Tarvestad.* They left early in the spring of 1855, traveling overland in two horse drawn covered wagons. Their route took them along the northern part of Story County. They finally stopped at a place on Long Dick Creek and made their headquarters at the home of James Smith who had a dwelling near the timber, one mile east and one mile south from the present location of Story City.
"From there they traveled out over the prairie, mostly eastward. This was for the purpose of examining the land to determine if it was suitable for settlement. The sod looked rich and fertile in contrast to the impoverished
*(Henry Birkeland's research indicates this first group consisted of Mons C. Grove, Paul Thompson, Jacob Erickson (Ask), John Mehus, Ole Thompson (Oinna), Erick R. Sheldahl, Jonas Duea, Lars Grindem, and John Tarvestad. )