Life on the Fraction: The Past Hundred
Years
by Melvin Olaf Torkelson (1899-1982)
A true story of the early settlers on this triangle
portion of land
bordering the Chippewa Indian Reservation on the west––now
part of Smiley Township, Pennington County, Minnesota.
Foreword
Few authors
suffer the harsh judgment of having their works put into print without the
benefit of editing, but that, with the publication of these stories, is to be
the fate of our father. However, we believe much of this book's charm would
have been lost if we had edited in the slightest, so what lies herein is
exactly as he wrote it, complete with some incorrect grammar, misspellings,
unfinished sentences, and even duplications.
For those of us who were
lucky enough to actually hear him tell these and other stories, he comes to
life again in these pages. As you read, you can see him sitting at the kitchen
table with family, or with friends and neighbors who came over to visit; you
can hear his voice, see the enjoyment in his face, and hear his laughter upon
delivering the punch line. You can also see something that wasn't always
readily visible, but always there: his sensitivity, caring and love for family,
friends and "oldtimers".
We all remember his love
for a good story and how he wasn't above adding an embellishment or two to
improve the tale. None of us knows for sure if what is written here is totally
factual, but I truly believe that in this case he tried his best to stick to
the facts as he knew or had been told them.
To the best of my
recollection, he wrote these stories over a period of about ten years, sitting
at the kitchen table on winter evenings and using whatever paper was handy. I
remember seeing him pause and think, look off into the distance, or work and
the n rework a period with his pencil. You can readily spot these pauses in the
original manuscript by the enlarged periods, some of them in the middle of
sentences.
He also drew two versions
of the town of Hazel; one, 18" x 24", which is complete with street names and
building details and is enchanting in its artistic simplicity. Unfortunately,
the risk of shipping damage for its duplication in this book was felt to be too
great. The second drawing is much smaller and more map-like, but is included.
So –– with
love from us, this one's for you, Daddy. Your book finally made it into print.
And thanks for the memories.
Faye Torkelson
Introduction
One hundred years may be
a long time, but I'll try to write a little history about it and you will find
you are all tied up in a few short years.
It marks such well-known things as the decolonization of Indians. But
there are many things in those 100 years of history that has been forgotten and
mislaid by the wayside. What I
would like to do is write of what I have been told by my parents and friends,
whom to my knowledge are now all dead and gone. So I am left alone to tell of the happenings that have
happened, that I have witnessed and read about. So please be patient as I am no composer. I think the title of the story should
be "Life on the Fraction - the Past Hundred Years".
This book is dedicated to the "oldtimers".
Back Row: Anfin Torkelson, Cornelius E. Oien,
John Johnson, Mrs. John Johnson,
Ole Torkelson, Mathea (Mrs. Ole)
Torkelson, Tobias Stene, Mrs. F.
T. Satre, John Stroberg,
Netta (Mrs. Anfin) Torkelson, John
Kvall, Mrs. John Kvall
Second Row: Mrs. Henry Rondorf, Mrs. Karl
Erickson, Anna (Mrs. Axel) Berg,
Caroline (Mrs. Andrew) Odegaard, Ed
Aubol, Mrs. Ed Aubol, Halvor
Halvorson
Front Row: Michael C. Burns, Martin Rockstad,
Peter Engelstad,
Mrs. Peter Engelstad, Andrew Husby,
Otto Gustafson
1. Determination
It all happened between
Norway and the Frontier. So I will
start with my own family, namely the Anfinson and Stene families, according to
records and the best of my knowledge.
Anfin Anfinson, my father's oldest brother, being my uncle. He was the first one of these families
to step on American soil, or thought he did. He was a single man, never did
marry.[1]
He worked with a boat-building firm in Norway, which started as ski builders
and sleighs and spinning wheels.
The first boat they made was a sailboat and strictly all wood and hard
wood at that. They worked three
years to complete this ship. Made
their own "Oakum" for sealing cracks and splices and also burned the tar pitch
glue. The size of the boat, I do
not know.
My father often spoke of
"meters". What is that? One foot or three feet? Or is it
"Len"? I know that it is three
feet in the Old Testament. So let us call it 40 len long or 120 feet. It had four big hand pumps for
emergencies, but I guess they were a necessity according to Uncle.
They sailed for 18 days
and nights. They then found land,
but as they were arranging sails to land, a terrific storm came up and they
went out to sea again. They
discovered later that the land they saw was a corner of England. Five days later they came to Sweden, so
they followed the coast to Norway.
The whole crew was accounted for, but the cook, a little redhead named Axel
Ston. He died at sea. He first got an itch and the skin
peeled with flesh to the bone.
When he died he could neither move his arms or legs. They figured he
couldn't take the salt water. They
boiled all of the water after that.
When they settled in
Norway, the party broke up. If
this is what America was like, they didn't want no part of it. But Old Anfin, he took what was le of
the boat or ship, and started to rebuild.
He was determined to make America yet. He located an old abandoned boat in Sweden that had a steam
engine in it that burned wood or anything that would burn.
He picked up a
crew––part Swede, part Norwegian––and spent about two
or three more years. They had both
sail and steam. He offered anyone
that wanted to go to America. They
could work their way (fare) on the boat. But no more partnership; the boat was
"his and his alone."
2. Family Reunited
A few years went on and
no history on old Anfin was to be found.
He was figured dead and gone like Leif Erickson. But one bright day came to the
Anfinson's from Anfin Anfinson, now at Hawley, Clay County, Minnesota, U.S.A.
America, stating if they could get enough cash to reach New York City, N.Y., to
go to the Scandinavian American Bank there and they show this letter, they
could be helped on their way to Hawley, Clay County, Minnesota, U.S.A.
But between Grandpa and
the three sons had enough to pay the fare to Hawley, Minnesota. They came on an English cattle
boat––a box-stall for the entire family. Grandma had provided with enough food for the whole family,
such as lefse, flat bread, cheese and many more goodies. But no gamelost was allowed aboard ship.
They came to Hawley
within a day or two and were glad to set foot on American soil. They found the Americans very friendly,
almost all Norwegians.
The train arrived at
Hawley the next day at daybreak.
And the Anfinsons occupied most of the space on the depot platform with
all their baggage. The men were busy piling up their stuff.
Grandma looked up and
said, "Here comes some more immigrants."
Three men came toward
them to shake hands. Two of the
men were old. One of them was short, about 5'5", but well-built and had broad
shoulders and a huge scar on his right cheek from above his eye to the bottom
of his jaw.
He spoke up saying, "I
suppose you doesn't remember me."
Said Grandma, "Det er
Gamle Anfin." ("Old Anfin")
So Anfin introduced the
other two, "Det here is Gamle Per." (Per Olson and his son, Ole Pederson)
More questions were
asked; where he has been all these years.
He answered, "On the
Atlantic."
More questions about
where his boat was.
He answered in Norwegian,
"The last I saw of ÔGuri', she stood on her nose in the Atlantic."
Asked about the scar,
he answered, "Ship wreck. That
is my passport, known all over the Atlantic."
3. "This is IT!"
From the ruggedmost part
of Norway, namely Gudbransdalen and Numedal in the year 1877-78 A.D.,[2]
immigrated two pioneering families.
Peder Olson Stene, his wife Beret, three sons and three daughters
–– Olaus, Bernt, Tobias, Caroline, Hannah, and Mathea. This family settled first at Stoughton,
Wisconsin. The other
family––Torkel Anfinson and wife Sigri, three sons and one
daughter, Anfin, Ole, Khirsten, and Kristie. This family settled at Hawley, Clay County, Minnesota. One daughter, Ellen Hendrickson , a
widow with one son and one daughter, arrived five years later. She was a cripple due to infantile
paralysis (polio).
Free land was the last
minute news among these and other settlers; free government land up north and
west. So in the spring of 1881,
Anfin Torkelson, the oldest of the Anfinson sons, at what time he took the name
Torkelson, his father's first name, Torkel and added "son".
He started on his New
Frontier with a few sandwiches and lefse walking, of course, which was the only
means of transportation those days, for Crookston, which was the county seat of
Polk County. He located all the
descriptions and information he could there.
He walked northeast where
he came upon a saw mill with a few tarpaper shanties, which later became St.
Hilaire, and all the inhabitants there were French and him a newcomer from
Norway. So he picked up no news or
information there.
He continued
east through big swamps and brush and small lakes, as all the sloughs that had
open water those days were called "lakes". (The writer can recall many of them.) As the day was almost
passed he came upon a small oak and aspen grove. Battling mosquitoes and water, he looked for section-marking
stakes which were still fresh as this area had recently been surveyed. What he discovered first was a
beautiful small river, and always wanting a river farm, he said to the
mosquitoes, "This is IT!" Checking with his little sheet of paper from
Crookston, this was now Section 5, Wyandotte Township. He selected 4 forty-acre plots like
this:
This section had the most
timber on it as they all classed that as the most valuable in those days.
Back to Crookston and
file was the next move and then later that fall, he built his first homestead
shanty which was hewed from logs.
He later discovered the river he cherished so much was just a coulee
where Highway 59 and State Aid Road Number 1 now cross.
Two years later when more
settlers moved in, he sold his improvements to Andrew Olson Rolstad. He then had his eye on a
quarter-section on the fraction now Smiley, which was all lots at that time,
but now is S.W. quarter-section 32 Smiley. He built a two-story homestead shanty, 14 x 16, which was
known for many years as the largest home in those parts for miles.
There is a
little story of this place. Albin
Arveson, a neighbor to the north, came to visit one day. And Anfin being all out of bread
started a batch to raise. At this
time they agreed to visit the Braatens who had settled a short way from there. They were welcome guests and had coffee
and the best of eats she had in the house and stayed to a late hour. On arrival to Anfin's shanty, I guess
the bread was more than ready for the oven. Albin told me this story himself
three years ago in 1953 in the Swedish language. He said, "We met the bread dough in the doorway." Albin Arveson being the only living
member of the early settlers on the fraction at this time.[3] He lives at Neptune, which is near the
Red Lake Reservation. He moved
there when they opened the old reservation. He always will tell you he had to follow the Indians.
4. Leaving Hawley
The year 1883, my
grandfather, Torkel Anfinson, sold his 80 acre homestead in Clay County,
Minnesota. He acquired enough
money to buy an old team of horses, a cow, an old wagon, nine chickens and one
rooster. And on the way north, they camped near a farm one night. And these people (Norwegian, of course)
had an old three-legged ewe with a small lamb.
This woman that lived
here complained that this darn sheep was eating her garden faster than she
could plant it. So Grandpa bought
the ewe and lamb for $1.00 and loaded the whole sheep family on the wagon,
which was pretty well loaded by this time. This was not a covered wagon, but wide open. All they had
was table cloths, or oilcloth to cover things.
But they had good luck on
their trip north. Only a half-day
with showers. At night the wolves started their blood-curdling howling. The ewe and lamb came to Grandma for
help. She bedded them down on the
wagon where she slept. And Grandpa
slept under the wagon with the old muzzle loading shotgun, which was loaded
with black powder, and lots of it, plus a small handful of No. 1 buckshot. He bought this gun at Hawley; the first
gun he ever owned.
The 80 acres they had at
Hawley was near Pelican Lake; 40 acres on a side hill and 40 acres mostly under
water. They headed north for St.
Hilaire. It took them nine days for the trip of 90 miles.
They had not gone far
when they discovered the wagon was falling apart. As it was a dry summer, the
steel tires on the wagon became loose and fell off. So Grandpa found some hardwood and made shims and drove them
between the tire and filley, and laid the wheels in beaver ditches that had
water in.
By doing
this, the wood expanded and the wheels got tight. This was an every night chore; two wheels a night. But he had no jack. So he made his first wagon jack. He located a nice spruce with about a
six inch butt. He had some tools: axe, saw, and bits of different sizes for
making pegging pins for logs when building log houses. The jack looked something like this:
The old couple settled
on the N.E. 1/4 Section 30 and built their log cabin 12 x 14. With the help of their three sons, they
cut, hewed and built the home in three days.
5. Homesteading
In the year 1883, Torkel
Anfinson, still at Hawley, Minnesota, heard from his son Anfin that he was now
moving to his second homestead.
The whole family moved north and Ole, just being of age at 21 years,
filed on his homestead: 2 1/2 S.W.
1/3 33, this being a nice quarter-section mostly small poplar and brush. He thought this could be easily opened
for farming. But there was no timber suitable for a log shanty and no way to
transport any, he decided on a sod shanty.
As he had walked across
the prairie in Dakota the summer before looking for a good homestead, he saw a
few sod shanties. And carefully
examining them to see how they were built, he started searching for sod. But
none to be found, so he cut peat in the driest part of the slough to about 12"
x 18" cubes. He built his shanty
and selecting a high knoll to build on, he then started to clear land around
the shanty.
The following spring he
tried to plant a few potatoes, which I guess was a problem according to what he
said. There were so many rocks,
big and small, that he got very little soil to cover the potatoes. So in the following year he got
disgusted and sold his improvements to Mr. and Mrs. John Magnuson. He received $5.00 cash and a personal
note on Ole Braaten, which he never could collect. I can still remember the time the folks burned it.
Torkel's second choice
was 80 acres in Six 29-80 in Section 32, which was mostly all timber. This was my birthplace, which I will
tell you more about later. Torkel
Anfinson settled on N.S. 1/4 S 30, where the old couple lived to a ripe old age
of 84 and 86 years old.
6. Uncle Toby
Peder O. Stene and family
arrived the same year from Janesville, Wisconsin. They also settled on this fraction on Section 19, now
Smiley, next to the reservation border.
His son Olaus, being just married, took 160 acres adjoining his
folks. The three daughters,
Caroline, Hannah, and Mathea, worked out in Wisconsin. Tobias, the youngest of the family, was
home, where he took care of the elder parents until the time of their death. He
lived on this farm until his death in 1941.
Tobias, being
intelligent, went to school in Rocksbury Township when a school was built there
in 1893. He had just 40 days of
school, but always tried to learn all he could and picked up a lot on the
side. I recall his handwriting,
which was some of the best I have seen.
When Smiley became a township in 1905, Tobias was elected town
clerk. He was the first to record
the books in the English language.
He was later a school board member, Justice of the Peace, Assessor,
etc. And being quite handy, he
became the neighborhood butcher.
In the fall of the year,
I recall him going from place to place, doing his hog butchering and also as a
veterinarian. This was the one
thing the neighbors called him for and also trouble with cows giving birth.
I spent many of my boyhood
years hunting with him as he was one of the most intelligent sportsmen in
those days in these parts. He
hewed the logs and built the new home on their homestead at the age of 19. Part of this house still stands on the
farm now called the Stene Place.
7. Bert
In the year
1889, Ole T. Anfinson and Mathea Stene were united in marriage, my mother and
father. To them was born a family
of nine: Sophia, Betsy, Theda,
Pauline, Melvin (the writer), Ruth, Anton, Bert and Thelma. All were born on
the homestead with the exception of Thelma, who was born in Thief River Falls. A sorrow to me and the whole community
in 1926, was the death of my brother Bert. It came as the result of a fall from a tree. This was a
shock to all, as I know of none who had as many friends as he. A swell guy.
8. My Birthday
In the year
1889, Ole Torkelson and Mathea Stene were united in marriage, which is my
father and mother, and raised a family of nine children –– namely,
Sophia, Betsey, Tilda, Pauline, Melvin, Ruth, Anton, Bert and Thelma. All were born on the homestead except
Thelma, who was born in Thief River Falls.
Then the year 1899, which
was a hot, dry summer and pastures were poor. The few cows and young stock they
had would break out as all the fencing they had was poplar poles nailed to
posts and trees. And this
particular day, September 6, was "my Birthday". I will try to explain it as it was told to me.
Mother woke up that
morning at the break of day and went to look for the cattle, but everything was
quiet. No cow bells ringing (they
had bells on two or three of the oldest cows) and Dad was working in St. Hilaire
at the saw mill. She had the four
daughters at this time –– Sophia,
Betsey, Tilda, and
Pauline.
She gave them
orders not to go outside as she would soon be back. So she started tracking the
cows (they would always head for the reservation 3/4 of a mile away through
timber, swamps, and burnouts), but with no luck, she knew. She was now on the reservation. She became tired and sat on a windfall
to rest when she felt pains and recognized them as labor pains as this was her
fifth child to be born.
She thought of the four
little kids at home alone and one more to be born. She prayed for help, but
none came. She knew she had to
rely on herself and the good Lord.
She started back home again.
Pains were more often and more severe. But a strong woman she was. She made it home and found the girls and things okay.
She asked two of the
girls to run over to her sister Caroline Everson, who then was a widow who
lived a half-mile away, to come and help out. But she got there too late. I was already born.
Mother was in bad
shape. They didn't know if she
would make it or not. Then late that night, Dad came home from work and told of
the news that Mrs. Selma Thompson[4]
living in St. Hilaire had the yellow jaundice. She was our cousin, Selma Anfinson. She died a few days later from yellow
jaundice.
Then they decided that
was what Mother had too, as her finger nails and the whites of her eyes turned
yellow. They were sure I had it,
too, as I refused to nurse her breast and no nipples or bottles in those days.
They had the answer to this, too.
By soaking bread in milk with a little sugar added and put in a small
cheese cloth bag, they stuck that in my mouth. There was no doctor nearer than
Crookston and he wouldn't go out unless you had a good fast team. And the livery stable would go only
where there was roads and we had neither.
All the good neighbors
came to help the following days, but poor Mother was getting weaker, if
anything. They decided that
perhaps if she could get some of Dr. Peter's Kuriko, she might survive.[5]
So Dad hit the trail on a
dogtrot or jog. He thought if he
could make it to St. Hilaire by daybreak, he could make it home by the next
night, which he did. No Kuriko in
St. Hilaire, so he jogged for Crookston as they had some kind of a drugstore
there. [6]
During all this time,
Thorval Henrickson, our cousin, found Mother's cows about four miles in on the
reservation. Then Thorval and Dad
went to St. Hilaire and bought their first barb-wire. All the oxen could haul was four spools plus a 50 pound sack
of flour. They had to carry the
wire one spool at a time across the Gilbertson Swamp which was just west of
where Hazel was, or is.
All through it all, the
neighbors came here to visit with Mother.
They had little faith in seeing her alive again. But Mother was a strong woman and had
faith in God and also the Kuriko.
She commenced to gain strength and raised 4 more children, namely Anton,
Bert, Ruth and Thelma. She died on
the homestead forty years later at the age of 75 years. Father died eight years later at the age
of 84. God bless their memory.
As for me, I guess I must
have done all right, too. According
to what Mother said, "You ate anything they gave you." She said I went for solid food before
I was able to sit up.
9. Other Settlers in the Area
Now for the names of the
settlers on the fraction in the beginning. Going south, N.W.S.18 John Kvall,
Enoch Nelson. Also in 18, Tobias
Stene, Knut Jorstad, H. J. Hostvet, Olaus Stene. S.19 Also in S.19, John A. Dahl, Alick Freeman Peterson.
Old Freeman, as he was
called, had the misfortune of a fire destroying his shanty. But this didn't stop the old
Swede. He moved to a corner stall
in his barn, with the two horses and a few head of cattle and chickens. The
chickens roosting on a big log just over his quarters. And one morning as he
was making his breakfast, the old speckled rooster let out a big hunk of
dropping and it landed kerplop on his pancake. That sort of upset the old man,
and him telling it in the Swedish language: "Tupp Kraaken Sheet paa Pan
Kaken."
And one cold January day
a couple of winters later, as Tobias Stene was on his way to visit our home
place, he found him (Old Freeman) on a hill south of the Stene place with both
hands and feet frozen. He was
given First Aid at Stene's and later taken to Crookston to a rooming house used
for a hospital. He died a short
time later. The only kin Old
Freeman had was a cousin called Whiskey Alick, who had a 40 acre homestead
adjoining Freeman to the east. He
was found lying on his bunk, dead, and his empty jug on the floor. He was found by Anfin Torkelson as he
was on his way from his homestead to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Torkel Anfinson.
Halvor J. Hostvet, Ludvig
Anderson, W. D. Rigerts, Torkel Anfinson, Anfin Torkelson all in Section 19.
Old Hestekind, Andrew Hestekind, Martin Lokken, Peder Olson, Orrin
Arveson, Halvor O. Wiken, Ole T. Anfinson
[7]
, O. G. Gustafson, and Kari Braaten now Section 29 and 30.
10. A Schoolhouse is Built
The south
border of the Fraction was soon settled.
Hans Fredrickson, Tollof Erickson Skredergaaden, Kari Braaten, Gilbert
Anfinson, Ellen T. Anfinson, Peter Thune, and Ole T. Anfinson. Then it was to
organize and build a school house.
They bought a one acre
plot in Section 31 from Kari Braaten, which centered the Fraction best. The south border of the Fraction was
mostly 80 acre and 40 acre lots, where settled Andrew Hestekind, Martin Lokken,
Martha Nelson, Gilbert Sherva, P. Thune, Ole and Jorgen Larson, Christ
Christenson.
At this time, settlers
were coming into this last frontier by the dozens. Such men as John A. Dahl,
his homestead being in Section 21 where Everett Jasmer now lives. John Dahl, having the largest family in
these parts (later totaling 14 children), started organizing a school district
with the help of the other settlers.
As it went over in a big way, he purchased a lot from Ole and Kari
Braaten on which to build the school.
The school consisted of
one room. Anfin and Ole Torkelson
got the job of doing the building (nowadays, we call it "constructing"). Logs, of course. The other members cut
and hauled the logs and these two great craftsmen from Norway hewed the logs,
built the house windows, floors, doors, and "what you know". It even had a board floor and a brick
chimney, which was very uncommon in those days.
Right adjoining John Dahl
was his brother, Ludwig Anderson (two brothers with a different name
again). Then a few winters later,
his yoke of oxen came home from St. Hilaire late in the night with him dragging
underneath the sleigh bunk by the rope lines; dead, of course.
No inquest was held. It could have been murder, but those days a dead
man –– Well, he was just a DEAD MAN.
11. Old Freeman and Whiskey Alick
St. Hilaire, now being a
booming village boasting two saloons and a larger saw mill, was where most of
these settlers worked during the summers to get a little money for winter
supplies such as flour, coffee, sugar and tobacco.
Also in Section 21 was
Alexander Freeman, a Swede. He was
also the first man to own a team of horses in these parts. They had their hard luck those days,
too, as his shanty burned. So he
moved to a stall in his log barn with his horses, cattle and a few chickens. The only thing the old fellow
complained about was his chickens roosting on a big log just over his
apartment. One morning as he was
making pancakes the old speckled rooster let his "droppings" fall on his
pancakes. His telling this in the
Swedish language sounded something like this: "Lupp Kraaken Sheet paa Pan
Kaken".
Old Freeman took ill one winter
in the 1908 or 10's and apparently was trying to make the Stene Place. He was found by Tobias Stene with both
hands and feet frozen. He died in
a rooming house in Crookston a few days later.
Also next to Freeman's
homestead was old Whiskey Alick, who was found dead in his bunk with the empty
jug on the floor.
Then when more old timers
such as Hans Frederickson, Tollof Erickson, John Olson, Simon Olson and Aaren
Arveson, who in 1900 sold to Halvor Wiken and moved to Neptune, finally
complete this last frontier.
Such fine people as Otto
and Ida Gustafson, who had a family and lived in Rocksbury Township. They had three children: Hilder and Gust born in Rocksbury and
Esther born on the homestead. All
of them being my schoolmates. Otto
was a brother of Charles Gustafson, now C. Gustafson & Son, Inc. Otto, also being a carpenter by trade,
helped the community a lot.
Peter and Gro Thune bought
the John Olson claim and Peter and Martha Nelson bought the Magnuson place
(my father's first homestead, the "rock pile" which I mentioned
earlier in the story). Peter
Nelson had one son, Edwin. Edwin
still resides on the same place.
12. Peace Treaty
Then to the southwest
(now River Falls Township) when the Magnuson's settled again, was Ole Peterson
and Jim Gilbertson. I have been
told of an incident of serious happening on this. Jim Gilbertson and Tollef Erickson were going out into the
reservation one day to get a load of logs. With good success, they found a nice patch and turned to
load, cut, and load. There was a slight rustle in the bush and out popped an
Indian. And approaching old Jim, wanted something in exchange for the wood.
Since neither understood
one another and Jim having no money, he thought of a new jack-knife he had just
bought. Using his quick action as
he always had, he pulled out the knife and presented it to the Indian. The Indian in a flash of time pulled
out a foot long dagger and pointed it to Jim's chest.
Finally after a little
hand talk, I guess they must have agreed as the Indian got the jack-knife
and the white man could get all the logs he needed. An odd, but true, Peace Treaty. But Tollof seeing this, laid down on his load and prodded his
oxen with a stick –– homeward bound! Jim always boasted how he
could deal with the Indians and we must all agree he did a fine job.
13. Winter of the Blue Snow
This may sound easy, but
these early settlers had their troubles, too. I have been told time and again
of the winter of 1890 called the "winter of the blue snow". It was so cold that the snow actually
looked blue and the snow was estimated to be 8 feet o n the level.
My father told of his
experience to get wood for the shanty.
He used skis to walk on and stood on them as he cut the trees flush with
the snow and carried them home on his back. The following spring when the snow melted, he measured the
length of the stumps and they were 9 to 10 feet tall!
The snow must have been
pretty high as the shanties and stables were all buried in the snow. They had to shovel steps to go up and
down and the stables were so warm and stuffy they had to leave the door open
even on the coldest days. The
water system was melting snow and carrying it on skis for cattle and house
use. Whenever they went to visit the settlers,
they could ski until they saw smoke coming out of the snow, and that was some
settler's shanty.
And in the summers they
had the mosquitoes to contend with.
They often got so bad that smudges would not control them. They had to keep their livestock in the
barn and cut grass for them with the scythe. And horse flies, or "moose flies" as they were often called,
but the Scandinavians mostly called them Din Hjevla-Kligen which interprets to the "Devil's Moose Fly".
I recall them settling on
a cow's teats so thick you couldn't see skin at all. My mother used to put old rancid lard on to keep them off,
which also helped to keep the cow from kicking the _____? of a full moon, as
the milking was customarily done in a cow pen next to the stable in the summer.
And wherever these pioneers were to go, it meant to take your feet and walk.
And water in all the sloughs
and no roads built. They had
their own simple, but shrewd, means.
They wore old shoes with holes in them so the water could run out when
they got on higher ground. The
women, well, they carried their skirts above water hip high, shoulder high
and often even higher. I know
this to be true as I saw it with my own eyes.
15. Hjor-Mor
The women did their share
of the work those days, too. They carded and spun the wool as almost everyone
had a few sheep. They knit all the
socks, mitts, caps and shawls for the whole family, and still took a few pair
to town and sold them.
They were also fortunate
in having such women as Kari Braaten who was the country's midwife. Called Hjor-Mor. She also was quite a quack doctor and nurse. She received all the kids that were born
in the whole neighborhood until 1908 when they moved to North Dakota when
the Burthold Indian Reservation west of Minot opened for homestead. They returned here again in 1911, broke
but not discouraged. She continued
her doctor-practicing again. Death
came to her in 1927 at an age of 87.
By the year 1900,
practically all the land in this community was pretty well picked over. Some were some lots of 40 acres and one
full 160 acres. The settlers carried on the best they could, always ready to
help one another in time of need.
The only railroad service
they had was a branch line from Crookston to St. Hilaire with trains running
two days a week. St. Hilaire being
quite a place by now, as almost all the settlers were working there through the
summer months at the saw mill.
I recall my father coming
home every Saturday and walking back again early Monday morning. He built a pasture fence every Sunday,
I think; it was only poplar rails to use.
I recall the cows breaking out real often and they always would head for
the Indian reservation, less than a mile away. Often there were two or three
days before Mother could find them.
Then there came news
throughout the neighborhood that the Great Northern, or "Jim Hill's line" as it
was mostly called, was going to build a railroad from St. Hilaire to Thief
River Falls. And –– the
Soo Line might come through here somewhere. Then in the years 1904-5, the Great Northern built to Thief
River Falls and the Soo Line from St. Paul to Thief River Falls and later to
Winnipeg, Canada.
Then, the opening of a
part of the Red Lake Indian Reservation.
Things really started to boom.
Plenty of work for everyone with new settlers coming from all over the
southern part of the state. In
order to open this last frontier, this portion of the reservation was called
"homestead". But far from it! All good portions of land were bid on
through land agents acting for the government. The lowest was $4.00 per acre and up to $27.00. They then
would purchase the title from the state. The banks at t he time would loan
money to pay for this land, and those that did make such a loan, very few of
them could even pay it back, so most of them lost the land and all their hard
work and hardships.
This being a great boost
for Thief River Falls created business to expand. More banks, a creamery store
such as Oen's big brick corner building, churches, schools, and a saw mill
which caused St. Hilaire to discontinue theirs. And –– we must not forget the dozen or more
saloons there. Seventeen, to be correct.
And the Indians now being
all moved to their part of the reservation demanded their dead be moved from their
burying ground at Squaw Point to Red Lake Agency. The contract to move them was let at St. Paul. And Babtist LaBree, a big wheel in
T.R.F. at that time, got an order to sublet this job. So old Johanas DuChamp
took the job at $15.00 a head. He was a rugged man, well built for the job, but
he had to have an interpreter and asked Babtist to go with him. But Babtist told him to take Jessie,
the kid, as he could talk better Indian language than he. Jessie, being a
quarter-breed Indian, was well suited for this job.
The Soo Line now built a
main line, Glenwood to Thief River Falls, and new towns sprung up along the
line such as Hazel and Plummer, both to the south; Steiner, Holt, Middle River
to the north. But that was just a
small part of them. All throughout
the old reservation now were post offices and stores and trading posts. Kratka and Highlanding (which got that
name in the early steamboat days on the Red Lake River, as that was the first
high and dry banks where the boats could load and unload passengers and mail);
then there was Sunbeam, with a post office and store, also a newspaper press
called the Eleven Towns.
Rhoda and Neptune border
the new reservation boundary, opened and operated by John Mostrum. Neptune was a hot spot those days and
others like the Anton Post Office, which was just across the river from the
Smiley Bridge. Germantown, Mavie, Goodridge, Espele, Grygla, Cornell, Malcolm,
and Strip. I recall the first mail
route out of Hazel to Rhoda. The
next route took on from there to the eastern part and to Neptune. So, you can see the mail was
transferred a lot more those days.
Hazel then began to
expand. It had just the one store
and post office, built and run by Mr. and Mrs. Edstrum. They sold later to Ole Peterson who
sold the land to the railroad company for the town site. His co-partner was son-in-law Ole
Odegaard and Paul Borgie. This
building is the Hazel Mercantile, which still stands today.
Then Mr. and
Mrs. John F. Magnuson, who owned a quarter-section to the west of Hazel, built
the next store –– a two-story structure with a general merchandise
store on the first floor and a dance hall upstairs, with a lean-to on the back
for living quarters. The entrance
to the roof of the lean-to was planks held on by cleats on the roof to the
dance hall. All the drunks and
fights there were on this roof and no casualties!!
There never was a dance
or social held there without a fight or two, sometimes more.
Just a fad, I guess. But
Mrs. Olina Magnuson (Olina, she
was mostly called) kept order in the dance hall. SHE was the bouncer! When she wasn't down in the kitchen
drinking hot alcohol punch with her friends, mostly men, she smoked a pipe, and
–– I mean smoked!
I recall one night when I
was there (I was just a punk kid, but you know how that goes), I went to one of
the neighbors early in the evening, and as they all went, I could go, too. Well, this time there was quite a
ruckus upstairs. Fights and women
screaming. And Olina, being in the
kitchen with her gang, comes up the ramp two steps at the time with quite a few
hot alkies under her belt.
On the middle of the
floor was a big bully from Thief River.
Of course, he paid no heed to a woman, and cursed and sassed her. She marched up and landed a right
uppercut to the jaw, grabbed the big hunk by the collar of his coat, and
dragged him through the hall and over the roughramp on the roof to the stairs,
gave him a flip, and down the stairs over and over he went. She then brushed her hands together,
and came back in the hall yelling, "Everybody POLKA!!"
But as for John, it was
worse. When they came to dancing
polkas, which was the most popular dance those days, the building vibrated so
much that the shoe boxes fell out of their shelves and the prune boxes
tipped. He would stand on the
middle of the floor with his red whiskers sticking straight out, and yell and
swear at Olina and everyone else. So, he remedied it some by putting two rows
of posts down the middle of the building.
Yeah, this couple really got Hazel off to a booming little town.
One year, shortly before
Christmas, Olina went to visit her half-brother Pete Lund, later known as H. P.
Lund at Neptune. She asked Ole
Lian to be her chauffeur, as her being a business women from Hazel had to
travel in style. They had a good
driving team, a light bob-sleigh, and were well supplied –– two
charcoal foot warmers, covered themselves with dogskin coats and a horsehide
robe.
She also showed the
Neptune people a "Merry Christmas" –– two gallons of alcohol and
one of whiskey, three new pipes, ten pounds of smoking tobacco, four new decks
of cards, 300 pennies for penny ante, and a twenty-five pound pail of Christmas
candy for the kids.
A few years later Hazel
became too tame for the old couple, so they sold out and moved to Saskatchewan,
Canada, and started a new store in the Canadian wilderness. In 1917, they returned again to the U.
S. A.
18. Hazel
Hazel then began to
expand. Ole Matson built a store
there. A few years later he was
stricken with some unknown sickness and paralyzed from the hips down. He never walked again, but, willing to
support himself, he bought the old Ole Vigen homestead which was now too close
to the Soo Line Railroad for comfort, and moved it to his dad's farm and started
a grocery store. He later started
one more store in St. Hilaire.
There are still a few
people living here that can remember him with his old horse and Democrat wagon,
making his several routes through the neighborhood, peddling groceries and
taking eggs, hides, furs, etc. in trade.
He received very little in cash sales, but some credit.
Then the Hazel community,
due to the thickly settled community and the opening of the reservation which
was not being settled, all had a few cows (the only source of living) and
organized the Farmer's Co-op Cheese Factory.
But they never did make
any cheese. They churned butter in
place and that put the old cream weighing station out of business, which was a
blessing to the farmers, as the cream was weighed here and hauled to the
creamery at St. Hilaire. Tuesdays
and Fridays of each week, the patrons took turns at hauling to St. Hilaire in
huge twenty-five gallon wood drums with a metal drum inside with a handle on the
middle of each side for handling, and a two inch leather strap over the cover
to hold it down. In the hot summer
when the cream got too sour and warm, it would boil over and through the cover.
Then the Soo Hotel was
built by two sisters, Gena and Tillie Hestekind. Gena, now Mrs. Pete Nelson, is still living in the same
place. Also Sumpter's Livery Barn,
a Citizen's State Bank, Hanson and Barzen Grain Elevator, blacksmith shop,
lumber yard, a school house, and the Hazel Farmer's Club built a new dance
hall.
19. The Magnusons
1. John
F. and Olina Magnuson's First store and dance hall (Woo-Pee). Built in
1904. Erased 1939. John F. Magnuson and his wife, Olina,
planned and built this building in 1905.
Grocery store on first floor and dance hall on second floor called the
Woo -Pee or Long Branch. The
living quarters were in back.
They
also had the U.S. Post Office in Hazel and the St. Hilaire mail route came
through Hazel until Route 3, Thief River Falls was organized in 1915 with a run
east from Hazel 5 miles and north to the river and northwest to Thief River
Falls.
These
were the days of the beginnings of the greatest post card fad in America
(postage $.01) and Olina the Postmaster would censor them all to keep up with
the gossip. So, if you wanted to
know the latest, you could get it from Olina. All mail order catalogs were ads for Post Cards. Some cost
$.05 each, while others as low as 100 for $.025.
This
looked like a waste of money. Most
of the correspondence was the same, like:
"Thank
you for the nice post card. I owe
you this one. Goodbye.
A––––––-";
"Hello
C––––––-. I am fine, how are you? I am sending you this card because I like you. From a friend.";
"Dear
friend, Papa drove the oxen to Teef River Falls today. No, I must go now and trow muck out of
the stable. Your friend."
Now
back to Magnusons again. There
were very few Saturday evenings there wasn't a dance or basket social upstairs
at Magnusa, as it was commonly
called, as there was a large population of young folks and teens at this
time. So if there was anyone that
needed help, Olina would spread the word of a basket social and dance.
I
recall a few instances where someone would have to have an appendix operation
and Magnusa would collect about
$100.00 or more for the operation which was at the Bratrud Hospital at Warren,
Minnesota. I guess that was the
set sum, and of course, the $2. 00 to the fiddler and someone to pound the
organ.
And
that was just the beginning of activities. The St. Pauli congregation had just organized and built the
St. Pauli church one mile north of Hazel. And the Ladies Aid also going
strong. These women were
hustlers. They knit sweaters,
scarves, mitts, socks, etc. from wool they carded and spun in their home. Also aprons and children's dresses.
And
they held auction sales in the late fall.
But where could they find a place suitable for to handle a gathering
like this? So Magnusa came to the rescue again. She donated the hall free to the Ladies Aid. And their auction always was a great
success.
And
after the auction was over, a big free supper was given by the Aid. And after
all this stuff was cleared out of the way, the pastor and most of the older
people and small children had gone home.
Someone got the brooms and gave the floor the once-over . They had a free dance until morning.
Most everyone tried to make it home before daylight. So no one could see what hour they came home.
In
1912 the Magnusons sold their inventory and the building to Ole Peterson and
moved to Shanovan, Saskatchewan, Canada, and started a store there. But in 1918 the couple moved back to
Hazel and bought 40 acres from Martin Lokken, one mile north of Hazel , and
lived there until their health failed.
They passed on in the 1920's.
2. Hazel
Mercantile was built in 1904 by Mr. and Mrs. John Edstrom. Sold 1908 to Ole
Pederson who later took his son-in-law Ole Odegaard and Paul Borgie as
partners. Ole Odegaard soon became
sole owner and operator. No comments.
3. Soo
Line Depot was also built in 1904.
And in 1936 was moved to Strandquist. You may find it there.
4. Section
house was also built in 1904 or 5 for the section foreman to live in.
5. This
was built in 1910 as the Farmers Co-op Creamery Company. Discontinued operation
in the 1930's.
6. Hanson
Barzen Elevator was also built in 1910 and moved in 1943 to St. Hilaire by
way of Thief River Falls due to overhead bridges on the Red Lake River to
St. Hilaire. Still in use there.
7. Ole
Matson's Store built 1908 and destroyed by fire in 1920's. Rebuilt again the
same year. Ole Matson, an uncle of
Clayton Matson, he became paralyzed from the hips down and spent the last 26
years of his life in a wheel chair.
But
that did not stop him. He was the
founder of the first chain stores on record (he even beat J. C. Penney). Store No. 1 was on his farm, one mile
north of Hazel. No. 2 store was in
St. Hilaire and Store No. 3 at Hazel.
In the summer, he also ran grocery routes throughout the country, mostly
around Hazel. He used a Democrat
buggy and one old horse named Bones.
Martin
Mathson, Ole's brother, was located in Washington State, and he came home when
he heard of Ole's condition, to take over the farm and care for the aged
father, Krist. Ole managed the
store on the farm with the use of a wheel chair. But he was kind at heart, and credit almost broke him.
I
can recall one instance. One of
his good customers had a hen setting on a mess of eggs. And she somehow got killed and the eggs
soon to be hatched.
So
the thankful lady said, "Oh, well, Ole Matson will soon be coming around and we
can trade them to him on groceries."
But
Ole was a good businessman. After
candling the eggs, he marked them, and the next time he took them to the
lady. But he lost both the
groceries and the customer.
But
handicapped as he was, he sure showed the people what can be done if you
try. Not only to care for himself,
he hired and kept 2-3 families besides.
He had a family running the store and business at Hazel: the Ed Knutson
family and his sis, Tillie, and Charles Oldige. And the St. Hilaire store was run by Ed Peterson and
family. So, you see Ole had his
problems, too.
He
had one close call. While on the
grocery route, he was coming west for home. He passed the St. Pauli church when he saw a bad storm
coming from the west. He coaxed
Bones all he could, but when he got to the Soo Line track, the storm hit. Hail storm , it was. Hail as large as baseballs and Bones no
longer needed coaching. They hit
the ditch.
That
broke the spaves or filleys and part of the harness. When Martin came to his rescue, Ole was lying on top of the
sugar bags, with water-proof table cloth (called oilcloth, as that was what
they used for tarps in those days) over most of the load and himself. Martin said he never thought Old Bones
could run that fast.
21. St. Pauli
The St. Pauli
Congregation, who organized and built the present St. Pauli Church some time in
the early 1900's, was well represented. People walked and some drove teams for
miles around to attend worship services. Ladies' Aid, Sunday School and Young
People's Society, which was often held in the home on Sunday afternoon, which I
can recall the young girls of this day suffered the worst.
A lot of them had to walk
to get there. Some were fortunate
enough to ride on a wagon or buggy, and they all had to dress their best in
white skirts or light colored dresses, which didn't look too good when they got
there, as there was only short stretches of road. The rest of the way was to circle around slough holes in tall
grass and willow brush and follow the wagon tracks. By doing so, there was axle grease from the wagons and
buggies. There! So you can see what their dresses
looked like, unless they carried them awful high, and then their stockings
would get it!
And the wagons and
buggies were well kept with grease and cared for by putting them in the shed
and shade. Far more than the
automobile of today. When you purchased a buggy, you got a new whip, a buggy
wrench, and a two pound can of axle grease.
The buggy brought one
more subject which I well recall.
The general stores those days had the whip rack hanging from the
ceiling, a round hoop hanging by three chains with a swivel in the top, a notch
to hold the sash in place, and priced from $.25 to $2 .00 for the braided
rawhide ones. Also the old pot-bellied stove and the hand-turned coffee
grinder. The big balance scale
with weights from 1 pound to 100 pounds.
In the summer these
stores were well cluttered with articles such as straw hats for men, bonnets
for women, and fly nets for the horses.
In the fall and winter, the display was cloth or shoes. Rubbers with or without leather tops. Leggings for men, women and children,
felt boots, moccasins, mitts, caps, such as the all-wool quilted crotch cap.
22. Polk County Divided
In the year 1896, Polk
County was divided and this then became Red Lake County with the county seat
being at Red Lake Falls and whose present courthouse was built. The Pennington County tax payers just
paid their last bond on this in 1955, a year before we started building our
second one here in Pennington County.
Odd, is it not?
In the year 1896, just 80
short years gone by the year, Polk and Red Lake Counties were divided. And Red Lake Falls became the county
seat of Red Lake County and Crookston remained the county seat of Polk
County. A portion of land, a
triangle along the Red Lake Indian Reservation containing approximately 4,500
acres which had been surveyed 12 years earlier and mostly sold, which is now a
part of Smiley Township. This
portion of land was then known as the fraction. Like this:
All records and taxes
went through Rocksbury Township.
And that is the reason why records of the Fraction are so hard to
locate, such as birth records, death records, and tax monies. And roads there were none except Indian
trails and a few wagon trails along the boundaries. And the government survey mounds and stakes were still in
their place.
It is like the old saying
of Chief Joseph: "White man make roost for eagle, but Eagle fly high." I have seen some of the mounds and
stakes myself when I was young, with a faded lath nailed to them stating the
section and range and township.
Something like this:
23. Post Offices
By the end of 1905, most
of the Reservation was settled with the exception of a few plots which were
mostly swamp. That made Thief
River Falls the most favorable spot for a trade center, as there were two
railroad lines crossing there and a good chance for branch lines, which by the
year 1909 the Soo Line built the so-called "Wheat Line" from Thief River to
Kenmore, North Dakota. And the
Great Northern extended their line to International Falls.
Then there was a need for
post offices throughout the area.
Most of them included a store and blacksmith shop, some had livery and
feed barn. In a short time there were quite a few such as Anton Post Office in
Smiley, just across the river from the now Smiley Hall; Kratka Post Office,
store, blacksmith shop and creamery; Bronksberg Post Office, both in Kratka Township.
In Highlanding Township
was Highlanding with a post office, two stores, a dance hall, livery barn and
blacksmith shop. Highlanding got
that name in the early boat days on the river as that was the only "high landing"
for the boats to put out their planks in a very wet season.
Erie Post Office store,
blacksmith, Kunnell Post Office, and Sunbeam Post Office store and a printing
press published a newspaper called The Eleven Towns. Torgerson Post Office in Reiner Township and Malone Post
Office in Mayfield Township. Deer
Park Township with three––Radney Post Office, Roland Post Office
store and blacksmith machine shop, O. K. Rolandson, Propr., and Rhoda Post
Office, being the first place to have barn dances in the county.
Hickory Township to the
far southeast corner with Hilda Post Office and Neptune Post Office store,
blacksmith and dance hall, owned and run by the late John Mostrum. To the north in Marshall Township,
several post offices were established by now such as Rosewood, Mavie,
Germantown, Espele, Thorholt, Grygla, Cornell, Malcolm and Strip. There was a post office on the Rapid
River without a name.
And to the south now in
Red Lake County was Lillo Post Office, Lambert Post Office, and Wamke Post
Office store, built and operated by Edwin Wamke who just passed away December
12, 1961 at the age of 94. He
probably was the last one of the old pioneers.
24. Ditch Dredging and Log Drives
By 1908 A. J. Arpon,
which was called the North Drainage Company, came here from the East and
started building dredges, which were the beginning of the drag-line of
today. The first dredging machine
consisted of a powered steam engine, which used wood to fire the boiler. Later
they used a one-cylinder gas engine with a piston bore of 16" with a 50-70 foot
boom. Its length was economical
and a width of 60-100 feet.
They had living quarters,
sleeping quarters, and a blacksmith and supply shop. There were no gears to shi or to be worn out. The mechanism was simple, but sturdy. It consisted of huge logs hewed smooth
with a hardwood boxing in each end. "Thimbles" they were called.
With heavy chains made
from 1" steel. Each link about 6"
long. These chains were pinned and
wrapped around these "thimbles", and when turned by the engine, would draw the
shovel up and down. And one would
swing the boom and the other one to move the walkers. It had four feet called "walkers"; two in front and two in
the rear. They were built from big
timbers and planks approximately 6 wide and 16 long. This made it far enough apart to straddle the ditches. When it walked, the front feet were
drawn forward to its full length and the rear was then to follow the same
course. When the water got too
deep, they rebuilt them to a floating dredge. I have watched them both in operation.
By 1914 there were
several county ditches, mostly east and west, draining the water into the Red
Lake River. The dirt dumps were
leveled somewhat to make the roads.
And the log drive on the
river, I should have told you before.
This was started in the early 1880's, when St. Hilaire and Crookston
built their first saw mills, with timber cut across the east side of Red Lake,
the landing on the Tamarac River, which now is Washkish. As soon as the ice left the lake and
river, the logs were boomed together.
By doing this, they chained some of the largest logs together and
circled the boom, which kept it in one package, and towed it across the lake
with a steamboat to t he outlets, and started the logs down the river.
It took from six to ten
weeks for the first logs to come to Thief River Falls, and when Thief River
established their saw mill, the logs were all stamped in the ends. "T.R.L.Co."
for Thief River, "S.T.L.Co." for St. Hilaire, and "C.L.Co."
for Crookston. I used to enjoy standing at the dam in
Thief River Falls and watch them sort the logs and see the St. Hilaire and
Crookston logs go over the dam. They
would dive to the bottom and come up several hundred feet down the river.
They seemed like they were alive and just set free again.
By 1910 Thief River Falls
had to expand to accommodate this tremendous trade area, and that year is when
Red Lake County was divided and Thief River became the county seat for
Pennington County. They rebuilt the
City Fire Hall for a courthouse, with offices on the first floor and courtroom
upstairs, which answered this person until 1956.
The city also built the
first auditorium in 1910, which was erased by fire in 1936, and rebuilt the
present one in 1937. Thief River
now had three bridges across the Red Lake and Thief Rivers. A steel arch bridge on First Street
(where the present First Street bridge is now located) and the Squaw Point
Bridge on Highway 1, which was replaced with the present one in 1956. Also Long's Bridge, which remains the
same. The Great Northern had a
bridge just above the dam to contact the saw mill, which was across the river
on First Street from the now Northwestern Hospital.
Population was increasing
rapidly, and so three schoolhouses were built. The Central on Horace Avenue and
Third Street North, Knox on its same location and part of it still is the old
building, and the first Washington (Lincoln) High School.
The sawmill was still
doing good business and it employed from 125-140 people, bringing new residents
at a fast pace. Several new
churches, but no hospital until 1917 when Doctors Swedenberg and Bower built
the small one yet standing on Knight Avenue and Third Street.
Oh, yes, they had the
saloons, too. Such places as the
Eagle's Nest, You and I, Morgan's Place, Pat's Place, First Chance, and also
Last Chance, which was on Bridge Street.
It had a big sign as you entered town reading "First Chance" on one side
and on the other side it read "Last Chance."
Then there were
hotels. Such as the Soo Cafe on
Third Street, the Park Hotel one block west from the Soo Depot, now presently
occupied by the Farmer's Union Oil Company. Andrew Prestebak and Bros. were owners and operators. There was also the Ogema, a large hotel
for those days (where the Post Office presently stands), and the Evelyn Hotel
(where the present Times Office is).
Also livery and feed barns, sales barns –– there were five
of them in all.
In 1917 I drove for one
of these myself and we must not forget the Haymarket, which it was called, as
it was a half block away (where the Hartz Supermarket now stands). It was not unusual to see up to twenty
loads of cordwood and pole wood, plus some hay loads on the market in one
single day, drawn by horses and several yokes of oxen. This was one source of income for the
farmers in the winter, as most of the people in town burned wood and there were
several delivery teams in town as a lot of the residents had a driving team.
They even kept a cow or
two for milk. Since Pete
Englestad's Guernsey Dairy was the only person to deliver milk to Thief River,
it was soon the free delivery of milk by the stores and meat markets, such
stores as, Oen's Mercantile, Farmer's Co-op Store, Sandom and Nelson Meat
Markets, which I delivered for myself in 1916 and a proud boy I was with such a
reliable job.
They had a one horse cart
with a grocery box in the center, with a cover and a running board in the
back. It had a round stool if you
preferred to sit. I thought the
day would never come when they could improve or equal this great invention.
Postlogue
Portions of a story written by Melvin for the
Pennington County
historical book published by the
Pennington County Historical Society.
Melvin stayed at home
until he was confirmed at the age of fifteen and then he went to North Dakota
to work in the harvest fields. He
also spent a few winters in lumber camps in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In 1931, he married the girl next door,
Helen Wiken, whose parents had homesteaded only a half-mile from his parents.
Getting married during
the depression was often a touch-and-go situation, but he cut wood with a
sleigh-mounted saw operated by a Model T engineer to sell in Thief River Falls
at $3.00 a cord. He also sawed
wood for neighbors. If it hadn't
been for the saw and the people in Thief River Falls, they would have had a
very hard time. At the low part of
the Depression, he recalls butterfat was $.09 a pound, eggs were $.08 a dozen
in trade for groceries. Gasoline
on special was five gallons for a dollar.
Melvin and
Helen moved around the locality until they bought their present farm in 1943.
They bought the Whiteway Inn which was located in what is now the Piggly Wiggly
parking lot in Thief River Falls and moved it to the country to become their
home. All of the children recall
the rings in the linoleum in the living room, which were made by the grooves in
the floor left by the barstools.
The farm they had bought
didn't have a well when they bought the Whiteway Inn, so they moved the house
onto a piece of land owned by Melvin's parents. In 1948 they had it moved to their farm with their oldest
daughter, Geraldine, enjoying the entire trip from the comfort of the
house. The house then stood on
blocks until Melvin could build a foundation.