The World Dictionary describes a pioneer as a person who settled in a part of the country that has not been occupied before except by primitive tribes, and as a person who goes first or does something first, and so prepares the way for others.

In the late 1800s, before Dakota Territory became a state, the eastern end of Foster County began to settle. The "pioneers" were coming to stake their claims, plant tree claims and "prove up" their land in the area that is now Glenfield Township and the city of Glenfield. They came from Norway, Sweden, Iowa, Minnesota and Pennsylvania, and settled on the treeless, windswept barren prairie. With the "pioneers" came the first post office.

List of old settlers and time of arrival:

William Bradford, April 1, 1885

John Bradford, April 1, 1885

Herman Johnson, 1886

Anton Johnson, July 15, 1886

Gustof Johnson, July 15, 1886

Carl Erickson, June 1, 1886

John Anderson, July 5, 1886

Thomas Hoggarth, 1887

Edward G. Johnson, E. Torgerson, March 28, 1889

Hiram Bond, T. Bradford, April 1, 1885

Martin McWethy, April 6, 1878

Charles Thompson, June 9, 1888

Charles Hendrickson

John Johnson

T. E. Thompson

B. Ryum.

Source:  Glenfield History 1886 €“ 1987 Page 2