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Columbus Larson

We do not know a whole lot about the lifetime of Columbus Larson, but we know he left a town-naming legacy in N.D.

Columbus Larson was born in Wisconsin in 1855 to Norwegian immigrants who apparently had a sly sense of humor, giving him a first name honoring the famous Italian explorer Christopher Columbus to go with his entirely Norwegian last name.

After Wisconsin, Columbus Larson spent some time in Minnesota, and then in 1902, migrated to northwestern North Dakota.  He established a land claim just five miles from the Canadian border.  Other settlers came, traveling north from Minot through Kenmare.

Columbus Larson became the local postmaster in 1903, and when an actual town formed, it was called “Columbus.”  Then, the next town to the west became “Larson.” The village of Columbus was on the Soo Railway, and the town of Larson was along the Great Northern Railway.  Columbus and Larson were separated by only 4 miles.

The town of Columbus grew bigger and faster than Larson.  In 1920, Columbus had a population of 332, while Larson had 114.  Both towns benefited from the Whittier-Crockett coal mine, 4 miles south of Columbus. 

The village of Larson was profiled in an article in the Bismarck Tribune, published on this date back in 1914, with the headline: “Larson: The Town That Has a Brilliant Future, Also Has Numerous Industries, an Aggressive and Boosting Bunch of Good Business Men.”

The article chronicled the legend of Columbus Larson in this way: “When Columbus Larson came west from Minnesota and took up a claim in northwestern Burke County, he little dreamed that the Guardian Angel had sent him to name a new town.”

Both towns, Columbus and Larson, thrived for a while, but declined drastically during the 1930s Depression. They faded further, and in the 1990s the Columbus High School shut down. While Columbus is still a city, Larson has lost that status and is now called a census-designated place.

As for Columbus Larson, he and his wife, Mary, moved away to California.  It was there, in Los Angeles that the distinctively-named Norwegian-American Columbus Larson died on June 4th, 1920, his legacy still preserved by tiny Larson and Columbus in North Dakota.

Dakota Datebook written by Dr. Steve Hoffbeck, MSU Moorhead History Department.

Sources:

“Larson: The Town That Has a Brilliant Future,” Bismarck Tribune, May 21, 1914, p. 5.

“Columbus M. Larson,” Appointments of U.S. Postmasters, 1832-1971, at Ancestry.com, accessed on March 22, 2016.

Mary Ann Barnes Williams, Origins of N.D. Place Names (Washburn, ND: Bismarck Tribune, 1959-1961), p. 43, 44.

James MacPherson, “Columbus Larson Might Be Rolling in His Grave at Changes,” Williston Herald, June 11, 2003, willistonherald.com, accessed on April 15, 2018.

Jeff Glasser, “A Broken Heartland,” U.S. News & World Report, May 7, 2001, p. 16-17, 19-20, 22, in Germans from Russia Heritage Collection, NDSU Libraries, accessed on March 22, 1026.

“Columbus M. Larson,” California Death Index, US Census 1900, US Census 1880, US Census 1870, and life-story profile, Ancestry.com, accessed on March 22, 2016.

“May Enlarge Columbus School This Summer,” Grand Forks Herald, May 7, 1922, p. 8.

“Three State Banks Closed [Security State Bank of Columbus],” Grand Forks Herald, November 23, 1920, p. 8.

“Whittier-Crockett Company to Install $83,000 Shovel for Mine,” Ward County Independent, June 29, 1922, p. 3.

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