Oyen

Andrew, Melkor and Simon Oyen emigrated to the United States from Norway in the early nineteen hundreds. In 1908, Andrew travelled on foot from Spokane to what would become the Oyen district of Alberta, about 150 kilometers east of Drumheller. He built a tent for shelter but the winter was severe, and so he worked at a farm near the town of Delia.

In 1910, Andrew sold his homestead in exchange for a townsite. By 1912, there was a Mounted Police post, and the town had been surveyed. The railway arrived in 1913. In 1915, a church was built, and settlers from Ontario and the states of Washington, Iowa, Idaho, and Nebraska arrived with their families and their dreams for the future.

After Andrew's death, Simon and his family took over Andrew's farm in Oyen, Alberta.

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