Episode 12: Guri Endreson Rosseland
In the 12th episode of 200 Norwegians, we tell the story of Guri Endreson Rosseland, a Norwegian settler woman caught in the Dakota War of 1862. On August 21st of that year, Dakota visitors arrived at the Rosseland farm in western Minnesota. At first, nothing seemed unusual. The families had traded and helped each other before. But this time was different. The men shot Guri’s husband Lars and their son Ole, and carried away two of her daughters.
Hiding in a root cellar with her youngest child, Guri emerged to find her son Ole still alive but gravely wounded. With no formal training, she managed to nurse him back to life. She then led her children on a dangerous journey through burning farms and abandoned settlements, searching for safety.
The Dakota War—or Sioux Uprising—was sparked by years of broken promises, withheld food, and land loss. While Norwegians were not the ones who negotiated the treaties, their settlements contributed to the displacement of the Dakota people. Historian Karl Jakob Skarstein has written extensively on this conflict, and in this episode we explore both the Rosseland family’s ordeal and the larger historical context.
The story of Guri Rosseland is not simple. It raises questions about survival, resilience, and complicity in a violent frontier struggle. This episode examines how one woman endured the most traumatic days of her life, and how her story connects to a broader chapter of American and Norwegian immigrant history.
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