Frisians

Early Frisians were a Teutonic tribe that lived on the northern coast of the Netherlands. Fryslân was a sovereign nation until the early Middle Ages. It became a province of the Netherlands in 1814, when the Netherlands became a monarchy. Frisians are a distinct ethnic group often mistaken by Americans as being German, Dutch, or Danish.

Frisian migration to the United States divides into three distinct periods. During the 17th century, the most notable immigration was that of the Anabaptists, later known as the Mennonites, who were escaping religious persecution. The second and third migrations occurred during the 19th century and after World War II. These later migrations were due to economic factors. The largest migration of Frisians occurred during the 19th century.

The motivation for the out-migration from Fryslân during the 19th century was economic, although the religious pillorization of the Netherlands also motivated movement out of rural agricultural districts. The main problem facing Frisians was the mechanization of agriculture. Economics differed regionally, according to soil type, but throughout the province, mechanized farming displaced huge numbers of dairy farmers.

Frisian immigration to the United States peaked in the late 1800s. These immigrants were married, with children. They were a rural immigrant group who moved to ethnic enclaves in the Midwest. During the 1880s and 1890s, record numbers of Frisians arrived in the United States in hopes of renewing their agrarian [Page 256]way of life. Many joined family members already established in Frisian communities. The fact that Netherlanders, particularly from Fryslân, had arrived during the 17th and 18th centuries made the 19th-century immigration easier.

Frisians first settled in the midwestern states of Wisconsin and Michigan. Soon, they began to migrate west to Iowa, then to the Dakotas and Minnesota. Finally, the lure of the frontier called Frisians farther west. There were good reasons to make the journey westward. In the Midwest, farmers faced freezing winters and boiling, humid summers combined with crop failures and rising land prices. The western frontier promised cheap land, a more temperate climate, and healthy crops.

Frisians migrated to Montana, to Crow Indian Country during the 1880s and 1890s. These Frisian pioneers had little or no family to connect with in the West. For that reason, they settled into farms in Dutch communities such as Manhattan and Amsterdam. In Montana, Frisians attended the Christian Reformed Church and raised dairy cattle or worked on farms. These Frisians made more contacts outside of their ethnic circle because there were fewer Frisians to interact with in Montana than in the Midwest. Minority status in the West was not a new challenge for Frisians, who were used to being a minority in the Netherlands.

Another western migration destination for Frisians was Washington State. Their movement to Washington differed from their migration to Montana. Almost all of the Frisians who moved to Montana had moved from the Midwest; the migration to Washington State included many more people who came directly from the Netherlands. The largest migration of Frisians to Washington took place between 1894 and 1895. The railroads conducted a massive advertising campaign aimed at attracting immigrants to Washington via the newly completed rails. Mortgage companies also campaigned to attract Frisians and other Netherlanders. The Northwestern and Pacific Mortgage Company opened a large office in Olympia, Washington, and later opened a branch in the Netherlands. In Leeuwarden, Fryslân, Noord-Amerikaansch Hypotheek Bank, along with some real estate agents in Washington, advertised inexpensive, fertile land and low-interest mortgages. The greatest concentration of Frisians settled in Whatcom County, specifically in Lynden, Washington, a Dutch community established in the 1850s. Because a large number of Frisians emigrated directly from the Netherlands to Washington, they could afford to indulge in more clannish behavior. In Washington, the Frisians became hugely successful dairy farmers and producers of high-quality cheeses that remain in demand today.

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