Question

Why did the Scandinavian Immigrants move to the midwest?  

Answer 1

The environment and atmosphere of the Upper Midwest is remarkably similar to that of Scandinavia, and even the animals are similar, and immigrants and political refugees from those countries immediately feel at home here.

There are also a few less clear explanations. For example, in the 1800's, when immigration from Europe was high, timber logging was one of the key industries in those states (and, on the other hand, it was not found in the Plains states to the south that were also settled at that time). People who emigrated from Scandinavia tended to be what we would now call blue-collar workers, and logging would have been a very common occupation

There is also the simple truth that, once an immigrant community starts to live in an area, it tends to expand. People send letters back home thinking about the good points of their home in the new world, and when new immigrants arrive, they go to the place they've learned about in the US. People prefer to live in groups where they meet others, their language is spoken, and the food they meet is consumed.

The Kensington Runestone is a rare example of the Scandinavian culture and its influence on the upper Midwest. Built by a Swedish immigrant farmer living in western central Minnesota at the turn of the 20th century, this 200-pound sandstone block, engraved with runes, tells the story of a Viking expedition that entered the area by way of the Hudson Bay in 1362. Nevertheless, considered by most scholars to be a hoax, the origin of the stone has remained a topic of debate in the area.