Christina's Saga

Christina's Saga: From Norway to Dakota Territory is the heartwarming story of a single woman's emigration to the Midwest prairie. This pioneer story is based on the life of Christina Gunnerson, expertly told by her grandson, Wayne Anderson. Following hardships mixed with adventure during her early years in Norway, she suddenly lost her older brother and father. In 1880, at age nineteen, she courageously journeyed by herself to America to carve out a better life in the prairies that are now South Dakota.
With steadfast determination, the lone woman faced the many challenges of homesteading on the unforgiving prairie, a difficult feat rarely attempted at that time by a single woman. She longed to find a true love, which was a formidable task for such an independent-minded woman, which she set out to do after some hesitation, but with her usual spirit, and with great success.

Author, Wayne Anderson listened attentively to many tales about his remarkable grandmother as he grew up, surrounded by great storytellers in his extended family and the descendants of her Scandinavian community that dominates what was once the Dakota Territory. In this novelized version of her life, he has woven the stories together, filling in the details using his imagination and research of living conditions on the prairies at that time in history.