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.

[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.

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 name of the school "was selected in commemoration of those gallant pioneers who envisioned this local site as a possible creation of the American dream".