In 1852 he returned to America, and this time he was destined to meet with tribulation.  It was his desire to aid the poor of his country by founding a colony.  He therefore bought a tract of land of 125,000 acres in Potter County, Pennsylvania, on the inauguration of which he stated his purpose:  “We are to found a New Norway, consecrated to liberty, baptised with independence, and protected by the Union’s mighty flag.”  Some three hundred houses were built, with a store and a church, and a castle on a mountain, which was designed for his permanent home.  Hundreds flocked to the new colony, and the scheme took nearly the whole of his fortune.

Ole Bull now started on a concert tour together with little Adelina Patti, her sister Amalia Patti Strakosch, and Mr. Maurice Strakosch.  Patti was then only eight years old, and was already exciting the wonder of all who heard her.

When crossing the Isthmus of Panama his violin was stolen by a native porter, and Ole Bull was obliged to remain behind to find his instrument, while the company went on to California.  He was now taken down with yellow fever, and owing to a riot in the town he was entirely neglected, and was obliged to creep off his bed on to the floor in order to escape the bullets which were flying about.  On his recovery he set out for San Francisco, but the season was too late for successful concerts.  He was miserably weak, and when he played his skin would break and bleed as he pressed the strings.

He now heard that there was some trouble in regard to his title to the land in Pennsylvania, and, hastening to Philadelphia, he was legally notified that he was trespassing.

It transpired that the man who had sold the land to Ole Bull had no claim to it whatever, and had perpetrated a barefaced swindle, and now, having the money, he dared his victim to do his worst.  The actual owner of the land, who had come forward to assert his rights, became interested in the scheme, and was willing to sell the land at a low price, but Ole now had no money.  He instituted legal proceedings against the swindler, who, in return, harassed the violinist as much as possible, trying to prevent his concerts by arrests, and bringing suits against him for services supposed to have been rendered.  It is even stated that an attempt was made to poison him, which only failed because the state of excitement in which he was at the time prevented his desire for food.

Ole Bull now set to work to retrieve his fortunes, but ill luck still followed him, and he fell a victim to chills and fever, was abandoned by his manager, and taken to a farm-house on a prairie in Illinois, where he endured a long illness.  For five years he continued his struggle against misfortune, and during that period he made hosts of friends who did much to help him in one way and another.  Nevertheless, when he gave his last concerts in New York, in 1857, he was still so ill that he had to be helped on and off the stage.