Scandia, Solano County, California

In 1852, three Norwegian seafarers – Carl H. Thompson and his brother Dan, and Steve Larsen – purchased a small sailboat in San Francisco and headed up the Sacramento River. Apparently their destination was the gold fields of the Mother Lode region; however, they missed the main channel of the river and found themselves in Montezuma Slough (see Suisun Marsh) which is located a few miles south of present-day Travis Air Force Base. They abandoned their boat there and walked inland to Calaveras County.^[1]

After two years of work, and finding little gold, the three Norwegians returned to Montezuma Slough, built a small house, and raised sheep and cattle.^[2] “Gradually other Scandinavians took up farming in the area, and ‘Little Norway’ [Scandia] became the accepted name of the area east and south of Denverton”.^[1] Today, the Western Railway Museum is located near Denverton, California (Highway 12 southeast of Travis AFB).

When construction began on the Army airfield that would become Travis AFB, and area was still referred to as Scandia as can be seen in an article in the Solano Republican. The first article on construction was on July 2, 1942, four days before bulldozers broke ground for the new airstrip. The following week, the Republican reported that “the great 1,600 acre area six miles east of Fairfield in the Scandia Section is today teaming with activity as men and machines move in to prepare the foundations for a great flying field”.^[3]