These pages are adapted from presentations at the Holtan Tweeten Reunion July, 2026. Written by Phil Holtan
Welcome back.
We’ve been following a journey—one frontier after another, all the way across the sea….
And now… we head west. …………..
Each generation of Norwegian immigrants had its place:
- Wisconsin in the 1840s
- Minnesota in the 1850s
- Iowa in the 1860s
And by the 1870s and 1880s… it was Dakota…. Dakota Territory, not even a state yet.
That’s our story today. And like before—it’s all about the kids.
When Hans and Margit had established their older sons on farms in Iowa, he still had 8 more younger children, and many things had changed. Land was no longer cheap. It wasn’t $1.25 an acre anymore—it was $125.
And at the same time, a new excitement was spreading. Not just America fever like before, People called it “Dakota Fever.”
The idea was simple: Land was available—sometimes even free with the Homestead Act.
If you were willing to take the risk… you could build a future.
Here’s how Marie, Mrs. Ole Holtan, later told the story:
In 1884, Hans took the train and traveled west to see this new land for himself. Near Washburn, up the Missouri River from Bismarck in Dakota Territory, he found a homestead for sale with a small house and barn. It looked promising. So, he returned to Iowa, talked it over with his family… and decided to go.
In 1885, Hans went back and bought the claim. His oldest son Halvor joined him and filed his own tree claim.
The next year, 1886, the family began to follow. Margit and the four younger children, – Sarah, Martin, Gilbert, and Theodore- came to the prairies in 1886, leaving older son Thomas, and a year later, Halvor in charge of the place in Iowa. The other four children helped on the Iowa farm and then came later- Ole, in 1887, Elsie and Engebrit in 1888, and Henry in 1891.
And just like that—the next chapter had begun, the North Dakota Holtans, and others would follow.
These were exciting—but difficult—times.
The railroads made travel easier. You could go west for just a penny a mile. And the Homestead Act offered 160 acres of land to anyone willing to live on it for five years. It sounded simple. But it wasn’t. The prairie was harsh. Winters were brutal. The winter of 1886–87 was one of the worst in centuries. Cattle died by the thousands. Even Theodore Roosevelt, who had his ranch further west in North Dakota, gave up and left.
And yet… the Holtans stayed. They didn’t spread out randomly. They stayed close—family near family, neighbor near neighbor. Just like in Iowa. Just like in Norway. Because survival depended on it. Margit certainly anchored their hospitality. The Holtan home was a stopping point for many a family who came from other states to settle. Some stayed until their own “shacks” were built.
I want to show you a series of maps that show where the Holtans settled, how they settled close to each other, and also who joined them. See Hans and Margit, there in the middle. Kathy Holtan Wilner put this together, from old Plat books and Homestead patents. This is complex, with the key to the colors on the left, so you can see it later out on the North Dakota Table.
This is in McLean County, not far north of Bismarck, the capital, still Dakota Territory until statehood in 1889. At the bottom of the map is the loop of the Missouri River, with Washburn just below the center. Lewis and Clark spent their first winter of their journey of exploration just miles from here on the Missouri, at Fort Mandan.
This is the area where Hans first settled, his family in the green notes. Then family followed family. First Hans and Halvor, then Margit and the younger children moved west, then the older ones. This second map goes further north, where there was homestead land for the children, near Turtle Lake. One by one, as those children came of age, they staked their own homestead claims, every one of them. Their claim shacks weren’t fancy, here is Theodore’s, their youngest son, later a medical doctor.
And something remarkable happened here. Look at the pink notes. Not just men—but women—claimed land. Sisters Elsie and Sarah Holtan both homesteaded. This map is just north of the first map. The women’s claims are marked in pink. They owned land in their own names. At that time, in the history of the world—this was extraordinary. Nothing like that had ever happened, that women, many women, could earn the right to own land in their own names. And they came, and almost 40% of all homesteaders in North Dakota were women.
Do you remember Even and Marken Holtan, Hans’ brother with whom Hans stayed when he first arrived? We got our Holtan name from her, if you remember. They lived near Rochester, Minnesota. Well, look at the map now, at the notes in the orange color. As they came of age, 8 of Marken and Even Holtan’s children and grandchildren and spouses, 5 men and 3 women, came from Minnesota and took claims on the prairie there, near Hans’ family.
This wasn’t just migration. It was a pipeline—from Iowa and Minnesota to North Dakota.
And do you remember Bendick Tweeten, Margit’s nephew, and orphan son of her sister Sigrid? Hans and Margit brought him and his sister Aasne Kingland to Iowa. Well, some of Bendick’s children also came west. Imagine my surprise as I was looking at the 1910 census. Here are the Holtan’s, living close together, in pink, with their families, Hans and Margit, sister Sara and husband Thomas Grothe and Engebrit and his wife Cora. But here in blue, with the Grothe’s, “servants” it called them, hired men, are Bennie and Gilbert Tweeten, my grandpa. Here also are John and Edith Tweeten, with their own place.
Here’s our map again. As Bendick and Olava’s children came of age, as you saw on the photo, they also came west, four of them, John and Gilbert, Bennie and Theoline. Not all stayed. But John Tweeten and his wife Edith built a life here. Theoline came to visit her brother, met and married neighbor Henry Sheldon and she also stayed. These Tweeten families are now 5 generations in Dakota.
It was tough to split up the family. We read a story recently, that when John Tweeten left for North Dakota, Bendick sat at the meal table with their family, and was ready, as was his custom, to pray. But he said, “I’m too sad to pray. Oliver, will you pray for us?”
Let me show you a moment frozen in time. This is a photograph from around 1910. Hans had arrived here in 1886, 24 years earlier. Margit died in 1906, but just look at Sunday afternoon, after church, on the porch of Ole and Marie Holtan’s farm house.
Hans with his distinctive beard is there in the middle, his lap overflowing with grandchildren.
All ten of Hans’ children are here, circled in red. That means Thomas and Halvor had taken the train from Iowa to be here, and Halvor’s son Horace is here too, because he had just moved here from Iowa.
Oh, my goodness, Hans’ nephew Bendick and Olava Tweeten from Iowa are visiting, and at least 4 of their kids are here farming, and two of them stayed. We know Bennie is holding Bertha. I think on this photo we even have 2 other young Tweeten girls in white dresses in the front rows, probably Ruth and Esther. Think how complicated that journey was from Iowa in 1910.
And remember Hans’s brother Even from Minnesota. Here are 7 of Even and Marken Holtan’s family too.
Three extended families, and three generations—together for a party. ……. That’s what they built.
No, not everyone stayed. The train travelled both ways, and many continued west too. Halvor, the oldest son, came west at first with father Hans and even filed for a homestead claim—but then returned to Iowa to marry Julia. Gilbert Tweeten, my grandfather, went back to Iowa to marry Cora. Bennie Tweeten moved back too. Some of Even’s family too. That happened often.
People continued to move back and forth. For many years Iowa crews helped with the early harvest in Dakota, and North Dakota threshing crews helped with the later Iowa harvest. In 1932, we know Gilbert Tweeten and his family helped their cousins with the harvest in North Dakota.
Family ties pulled in both directions. Others stayed—and built their lives in Dakota. Halvor’s son Horace came out to help thresh, but fell in love with Kristine, who was working in Hans’ household. He stayed and they built their family on the prairie.
And over the years, many made the trip to North Dakota, or to Iowa to visit their extended family, often for funerals. Look at this 1927 photo. All the Holtans were in Iowa for a party. Of the 10 Holtan siblings, only Halvor was gone. You’ll want to spend some time looking at this one on the table in the Atrium.
As in Iowa, the Holtans started as farmers, and all the Tweetens and Sheldons in Washburn still farm. Big farms, way bigger than Iowa.
And they were innovative farmers. They were quick to add machinery. Horace and Gilbert both had threshing outfits, Horace even invented a grain cleaner and they had the first cars in the neighborhood.
Amazing to the Iowa farming-Holtans, many Holtans in North Dakota became business owners. They started stores—serving growing communities. Hans started it with the Holtan and Sons Mercantile Store in Washburn in 1901, and with his boys Henry and especially Martin, and then Martin’s son Orville and 3 siblings, they ran the Holtan store until 1970. That’s nearly 70 years. ther siblings too. Gilbert Holtan ran a store in Turtle Lake and Henry in Ryder.
Life wasn’t all work. There were moments of joy.
Fourth of July celebrations were huge fun. Music, dancing, gatherings. Neighbors came together—sharing food, stories, and laughter. Even local Native American groups joined the celebrations, bringing their own traditions and performances.
The Holtan boys were known for their energy. They played baseball—seriously. At one point, five brothers played on the same team. They didn’t really dress like this to play baseball, but they were still legendary, years later.
And they loved music. Here’s a photo of the Washburn town band— with three Holtan brothers right in the center. After long weeks of work, those Saturday night band concerts mattered.
But life on the prairie could turn quickly. Let Kathy tell you one story.
During a terrible winter blizzard, two of the boys went out to the barn to feed the cows, a hundred yards away. To find their way back, they tied a length of twine between the house and the barn.
They reached the barn OK. They cared for the animals. But as they prepared to go back— the wind had snapped the twine. They were lost in the storm.
Back at the house, the family waited… and worried, especially when they saw the twine was broken. Then someone had an idea. They grabbed their band instruments—and began to play. Really loud. Holtans have always been good at “Loud.” And through the wind and snow— the sound carried. And the boys followed the music home. …….
Saved by the band. That tells you something about this family. They were resourceful and responsible.
But not all stories ended well. One of the daughters, Sarah, had homesteaded her own land. She married Thomas Grothe, they had 5 children and then, during childbirth of twins in 1918, and with deadly flu as well, she died. So did one of the twins. The risks were real. Especially for women.
But then family stepped in. Her sister Elsie helped raise the children until Thomas remarried. That’s what families did. They carried each other.
Faith was a huge anchor for them. They worshipped in their homes at first, and the schoolhouse, then they built Sverdrup Church, and Hans and Margit are buried there. Their faith funerals and gathering on Sunday marked their lives. Thanks be to God.
Education also mattered deeply. Even in these early years, schools were built quickly. One was even called the Holtan school. Hans and Margit’s children started in one-room schools—and four went on to high school academies and college in Iowa and Marquette in Wisconsin. As in Iowa, education, and even higher education, was encouraged in these families.
Here’s Kathy Holtan Wilner’s grandpa Martin as a school teacher.
Theodore became a beloved country medical doctor in Minnesota. Gilbert was County Auditor. Ole and Engebrit farmed, Engebrit, further west on the reservation. Henry ran a store and then raised sheep in Montana. All were leaders in their communities and churches. They prospered and blessed their families and neighbors.
The next generation had more choices than just the land that had so captured their ancestors. And that’s part of the bigger story.
At first, these immigrants from Upper Telemark were hungry for land. Land meant survival. Land meant independence. Land meant opportunity for all their children. But over time— something shifted.
The younger children in Hans and Margit’s family, and definitely the next generation, didn’t all become farmers. They also became merchants. Teachers. Professionals. The horizon widened.
And that brings us to the final idea. There’s a word for what happened next: diaspora. A scattering of people.
Remember the chart, from Norway…to Wisconsin… to Minnesota… to Iowa…to North Dakota…
Well, today our map would cover the whole country. Nearly every state, far from where it all began, on farms in Minnesota, then Iowa, and then North Dakota.
And here we are.… The result of all those journeys.
All those risks. All that hard work.
All those decisions, and risks, and sacrifices… made for the sake of the kids.
So, what do we do with that? ………….
We remember.
We stay connected.
We tell the story.
Because in the end— that’s what keeps a family alive.
Thank you for joining us to share our story.