In the second episode of 200 Norwegians, we follow Cleng Peerson’s footsteps into the Midwest—into the very heart of his vision.
By Fredrik Kalstveit
The father of Norwegian emigration, Cleng Peerson, harbored a lifelong dream: to unite all Norwegians in America in a communal society where everything was shared and everyone worked together for the common good.
But for better or worse, his fellow countrymen never embraced his lofty vision of a utopia. So Cleng began searching elsewhere. At the age of 65, he believed he had found it in Bishop Hill—a Swedish colony in Illinois, named after Biskopkulla in Sweden. The community was led by the charismatic lay preacher Eric Janson and his devoted followers.
There was just one problem: Eric Janson wasn’t just a spiritual leader—he was an authoritarian. A cult leader, in fact.
The third and final episode in the Cleng Peerson saga takes us back to a time when utopian ideals were still, in many ways, untested and innocent. We follow Cleng as he joins a cult, falls in love, gets his heart broken, and becomes disillusioned. And then, as he turns 70, he sets out on his final walk.
You’ll also discover why Clifton, in Bosque County, Texas, is known as the Norwegian Capital of Texas—and how a couple from Cleng Peerson’s home village have become the custodians of his legacy on the American frontier.
This episode features Kirk Mies, Marty Ray, Thomas Mannes, and Chris Ardis.
All photographs in this gallery are by Fredrik Kalstveit.
