We who formed Giants of the Earth Heritage Center were inspired by the great author Ole Rølvaag. Rølvaag described the early pioneers as Giants because of their inner strength in the face of adversity. Some of the material for his Giants in the Earth trilogy, which actually involves many pioneer nationalities, came from experiences within our area, told to Ole Rølvaag by his Berdahl in-laws. The Berdahls had lived in Big Canoe (1856-1860), Spring Grove (1860-1866), and Amherst Township in Fillmore County (1866-1873), before moving to the Dakota Territory.

“We must turn to fiction, however, rather than to history, for an adequate treatment of the interrelations between them; and it is worth noting that the power of such a novel as Giants in the Earth lies not so much in its portrayal of the external scene as in its understanding of the psychological realities underlying the struggle of the immigrants to subdue the prairie that stretched away toward the western rim”.  Blegen, Norwegian Migration to America, preface.

Click here to see the Addenda to Giants in the Earth.