August 19, 2024
We awoke in La Crosse (named by the French for the now popular sport) but 
left early for a three-state tour to Decorah Iowa; at least we touched on Minnesota and Wisconsin and Iowa. The tour introduced us to the large Norwegian immigration that settled in the Midwest; the first organized tour group came from what was then one of Europe’s poorest countries in 1825. When it tapered a century later almost 1 million Norwegians had immigrated into the US, a higher proportion of the population of any 
European country than Ireland. Decorah was one of the beneficiaries, starting a museum in the 1850s. Norway contributed artifacts in 1925 including a Viking sword. The museum features folk art. Decorah has Luther College too. The ride took us through the driftless area. The most interesting art to me were the marriage proposal boards. You left it at your sweetie’s house. If she took it in, you were engaged. If not, you had to carve another board and find another candidate!
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