| The Ship* | & | The Stone |
| The tiny Norwegian Sloop Restauration sailed to America in 1825 with the first organized group of Norwegian immigrants since Viking times. This small group was composed of dissidents seeking religious freedom much like their English Pilgrim predecessors. Therefore this sloop is often called the "Norwegian Mayflower." Passengers aboard the sloop Restoration and their descendants are called "Sloopers." The eventual success of the Sloopers in the US led to subsequent waves of Norwegians to this country. |  |
One aboard the sloop was Jakob Anderson who came from the Slogvik farm north of Stavanger, Norway. Unlike others on this historic vessel, he and his wife Serena, another "Slooper," continued to move westward, eventually settling just south of Napa, California. In 2003 a large Viking-like monument stone was sent from the Slogvik farm to California to act as an historical marker at the graves of these Slooper pioneers who settled so far west. The stone was sent by the local Tysvær government, the local historical society and Slogvik family. |
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This site is devoted to the story of these Sloopers & their monument stone (called bautastein or bauta in Norwegian). |
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visitors between 1/18/2002 & 12/21/2003