Helga Estby (May 30, 1860 – April 20, 1942) was an American suffragist most noted for her walk across the United States during 1896.

Biography

Helga Avilda Ida Marie Johanssen was born in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

(then called Christiania),

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Helga traveled from Norway with her mother, arriving in Manistee, Michigan, during 1871. In 1876, she married Ole Estby, an immigrant from Grue,

Hedmark Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged i ...

. They started their new life together initially homesteading a land patent in

Yellow Medicine County Yellow Medicine County is a county in the State of Minnesota. Its eastern border is formed by the Minnesota River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,528. Its county seat is Granite Falls. The Upper Sioux Indian Reservation, related ...

near

Canby, Minnesota Canby is a city in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,795 at the 2010 census. History John Swenson, who secured a homestead on section 4 of Norman Township where now stands the City of Canby, was one of the ea ...

. The family subsequently relocated and settled on a farm in Mica Creek, Spokane County, Washington. Due to the financial

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

and her husband's accidents, the family could not pay the mortgage or taxes on their home and farmland. Together with Clara, her 17-year-old daughter, Helga tried to save her family farm by walking 3,500 miles across country to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Helga had made a bet with an unknown sponsor that would give them $10,000 if they did the walk in seven months. Clara and Helga started the walk from Spokane on May 5. The women walked 25-35 miles a day and were offered shelter along the way, spending only 9 nights without a roof over their head. On Christmas Eve, 1896, the ''

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publi ...

'' reported their arrival in

. On arrival in New York, the sponsor of the contest refused to pay or help them back home, saying the women had missed their deadline. Helga managed to return to her farm only to find that two of her children had died of

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...

in her absence. After the Estby family lost their home in Mica Creek, Ole Estby began a construction business in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

. Helga was considered a deserter of her family and was shunned by much of the local Norwegian-American community. Helga went on to become a suffragist and wrote down her story later in her life. Her notes were destroyed, but her story was carried on through oral tradition, by her family and through newspaper clippings saved by her daughter-in-law. Estby died on April 20, 1942, and was laid to rest in the Mica Creek cemetery near Spokane.

Legacy

*Helga Estby Lodge #47 of the Daughters of Norway in

Mountain Home, Idaho Mountain Home is the largest city and county seat of Elmore County, Idaho, United States. The population was 15,979 in the 2020 census. Mountain Home is the principal city of the Mountain Home, Idaho Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes ...

, was named in her honor. *Helga Estby Bold Spirited Scholarship Award was established in her memory by the Women Helping Women Fund in

References

Other sources

*Hunt, Linda Lawrence (2005) ''Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America'' (Random House) *Dagg, Carole Estby (2011) ''The Year We Were Famous'' (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company) *Kirkpatrick, Jane (2011) ''The Daughter's Walk'' (WaterBrook Press)

External links

Biography
at HistoryLink
“Canby, MN Museum Website”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Estby, Helga American Lutherans Suffragists from Washington (state) History of Spokane, Washington Norwegian emigrants to the United States 1860 births 1942 deaths People from Spokane County, Washington People from Manistee, Michigan