This ship was registered in Christiania, flag code: A103

Passenger accommodation to Quebec. The Argo, Capt R. Olsen, which will sail for Quebec with emigrants has now arrived here, and will be ready to depart within 8 - 10 days. There is still some available space. Enrolling at broker Kloed. Christiania June 5, 1852.

In the middle of June the Argo departed with a load of emigrants from Christiania for Quebec. Estimated departure is June 16th. Many of the emigrants traveling on the Argo this year were among those killed in the disaster on Lake Erie, when the S/S Atlantic and S/S Ogdensburg collided. The Atlantic sank, and 67 Norwegian emigrants drowned.

Because the National Archives of Canada [NAC] did not start the archiving of passenger lists before 1865, and the Norwegian emigration records did not start before 1867, there are no surviving passenger list for the voyages the Argo made these years in any of those archives. Timeline to records.

Among the passengers in 1857 was Amund Mortensen Holthagen and Elling Johansen Syverud. In a letter they sent home they told some details about the voyage. A part of the letter is translated below.

"Karen, Christian and I became seasick in the beginning but the others were quite well all the time. Except for Amund who was all the time in bed, until his time was completed. He died on June 4th at 5 o'clock in the morning and was buried in the ocean at 10 in the morning with a graveside ceremony and we sang the psalm "Vor Tanke bort fra Jorden Iler". There were eight deaths aboard the Argo, all were small children except Amund. Gulbrand Ovren lost his son, and Johanes and Berte Bjørge lost their child, the rest were unacquainted people that lost their children. The reason for all the deaths was most probably "Krilla" [Measels] or "Krufsa" as they called it."

[Translated form a transcription printed in the book "Fra Amerika til Norge, Norske utvandrerbrev 1838 - 1857" (From America to Norway, Norwegian emigrant letters 1838 - 1857) by Orm Øverland and Steinar Kjæheim.]