Karen sailed to the United States on the ship John J. Boyd from Dec. 1855 - Feb. 1856. She traveled with her mother, Anne, and some other family members.

Later, in 1856, she married the recently widowed Jens Gottfredson and helped to take care of his children.

In 1857, the Gottfredson family only traveled about a hundred miles with the Christiansen company before halting near Genoa while the rest of the company proceeded. The reason for the break was that Karen had given birth prematurely to a baby named Platine. However, the baby died shortly thereafter. The family returned to Florence and traveled to Utah in 1858 in the Iversen company.