Two men, Harold Adams and Allen Hutchins, walking down a path in the woods of Star Island. The island is located on Cass Lake in Minnesota. This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
The interview with Alvah G. Swindlehurst was conducted by an unknown interviewer on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Swindlehurst discusses growing up near Hubbard Prairie and Wadena, Minnesota in the late 1800s. He describes working in the newspaper business for 20 years in Wadena, then moving to Cass Lake, Minnesota in 1914 to be the registrar of the U.S. Land Office, then becoming postmaster in Cass Lake in 1934. He provides a history of the Scanlon Gipson Mill near Cass Lake, the Morris Act for forest conservation, and fur trading. He also describes interactions between white people and Ojibwe people, including trading posts, treaties, Bishop Whipple's missionary activities, and settler interactions. The interviewer mentions that he's seeking testimony to support Native American attorneys in court.
Archie Logan discusses mosquitoes; when he first came to the area; the source of the Mississippi; driving logs at Deer River; saloonkeepers taking advantage of lumberjacks; staying with the Native American man John Smith; coming to Bemidji in 1896; and taking a homestead. The recording is dated March 3, 1952. It is part of a series, continued in BCHS 115b, BCHS 079a, BCHS 079b, BCHS 116a, and BCHS 116b.
Charles L. Slough and Christian Hoines discuss S. D. [Senator Samuel Dallas] Works and a sheep operation; when and where Slough was born; how Slough's parents came to St. Cloud from Ohio; his parents homesteading near St. Cloud; his parents' sales of venison; his father losing money working on a log drive; his parents' shanty; wildlife; his father fostering nephews and nieces; Cass Lake in 1901; and taking his homestead. The recording is continued in bchs106b.
The first part of the recording is an interview with Charles William Vandersluis (CWV) conducted by his son, Dr. Charles Wilson Vandersluis, on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. The elder Vandersluis discusses being a traveling salesman in the area around Bemidji, Minnesota starting in 1901. He also discusses development of Bena, Minnesota and the original stopping place and store there. He describes railroads, hotels, lumber companies, and sawmills. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including selling goods, intermarriage, and white people gaining access to Ojibwe allotments on reservations for logging. This part of the interview was probably continued from BCHS 071a. The second part of the recording is a discussion with a group of unidentified narrators, conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. The group of unidentified narrators discuss railroads, log drives, and sawmills in the area of Bemidji, Minnesota around 1900. They also discuss steamboats and describe a logging tool called a cant hook. This section of the recording is continued from BCHS 071a.
The interview with Charles William Vandersluis (CWV) was conducted by his son, Dr. Charles Wilson Vandersluis, on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Vandersluis describes traveling through northern Minnesota as a hardware salesman for Janney, Semple, & Hill Company starting in 1901. He discusses traveling by foot and train, including a description of a stopping place outside Little Fork, Minnesota. He describes selling to logging companies and mercantile stores. He also describes the early buildings and businesses of towns like Farley, Turtle River, Red Lake, Solway, and Redby, Minnesota. He describes the early days of Brainerd, including building the Central School and Episcopal Church. The interview continues in BCHS 029b.
The recording is an interview with Father Thomas Borgerding. He discusses whether the Indian agencies are effective; whether he thinks the Ojibwe are more impoverished than the average white family; and whether an increasing number of babies are born out of wedlock and Catholic views related. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
The interview with Frank Louis Gorenflo (1873-1961) was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location, probably Cass Lake, Minnesota. Frank Gorenflo coming to Cass Lake in 1898 and the town's early development and doctors, schools, churches, and entertainment. He also discusses the building of the Brainerd & Northern Railway and describes the towns of Farris, Rosby, and Nary Minnesota in their early days. He also describes operating the Cass Lake Hotel and a short period of gold mining in northern Minnesota. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including how Ojibwe lands were acquired for the railroad and townsite of Cass Lake.
The interview with Frank Louis Gorenflo (1873-1961) was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location, probably Cass Lake, Minnesota. Gorenflo discusses moving to Brainerd, Minnesota in 1879 and Cass Lake in 1898. He also discusses his schoolboy days, the Gull River Railroad, the Great Northern Railroad, the Battle of Sugar Point, and owning a grocery store and hotel in Cass Lake during its early days. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including how Ojibwe lands were acquired for the townsite of Cass Lake. The interview is continued in BCHS 011b.
Fred Cyr discusses biographical information; memories of logging drives on the Clearwater River when he was a child; how logging drives worked; his experience toting supplies for J.C. Parker; what wanigans were like; how logs were sorted; and the role of the swamper. The recording continues with Cyr's experience in logging industry; when Cyr's father came to Red Lake Falls; locations of high and low water on the Clearwater River; his experience in a logging camp in winter; how lumberjacks dealt with lice; delays at a sorting gap; his experience with Native American loggers; logging near Cass Lake; and whether logs were transported on the Mississippi River. In the final portion of the recording, Cyr discusses logging at Portage Lake near Bena; how logs were hoisted onto trains near Cass Lake; getting injured as a lumberjack; driving on the river, possibly Clearwater; knowledge of J. C. Parker; how lumberjacks ate; the contents of some unidentified photographs; and fishing on the Battle River. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
Henry Carter and his daughter-in-law, Josephine Knutson (Mrs. Cass) Carter, discuss Henry Carter's history before coming to the area; his start as a timber cruiser; what he ate and how he lived on a cruising trip; cruisers he remembered; Carter's and Vandersluis's opinions about how Native Americans were treated in timber deals; whether there was a need for Indian Agencies; moving logs by water versus by rail; and working for J.Neils. The recording is dated June 8, 1952. It is continued in BCHS 077b.
Henry Lucius Carter and his daughter-in-law, Josephine Knutson (Mrs. Cass) Carter, discuss some of his cruising instruments; when he quit timber cruising; surveying; making errors when surveying; using compasses near iron ore deposits; who he worked for; evaluating different areas; and whether he ever homesteaded. The recording is dated June 8, 1952. It is continued from bchs077a.
The interview was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in at the hardware store of James Madison Reid in Glendora, California. Reid discusses selling merchandise in Blackduck, Minnesota from 1901 to 1920. He describes methods of transportation and hauling good in the early days. He also discusses selling to loggers and describes local surveyor Marcus D. Stoner. He describes early businesses including the cedar industry. He also describes developing the Blackduck Cooperative Creamery as logging activities waned. He also describes the near bankruptcy of Beltrami County and how counties were divided.
The interview with Mrs. Boyd and unidentified narrators was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Mrs. Boyd and the unidentified narrators discuss a Presbyterian mission from Oberlin College in Cass Lake, Minnesota. They also discuss a trader who was killed, a trading post at Lake Andrusia, Minnesota, and a missionary who froze to death. The unidentified elder says that he attended the mission school founded by Bishop Whipple. They also discuss a mission or village on Ravens Point in Lake Winnibigoshish. Timestamps are included when the translator and the Ojibwe speaker have overlapping speech or numerous exchanges.
Reverend Samuel Blair discusses when and how he first came to Bemidji; what Bemidji looked like when he arrived; the service he held the first night he arrived; the timeline of his work; the first Presbyterian church in Bemidji; patroness Mrs. Cyrus H. McCormick; the first ministers; services in tents; his memories of Chief Bemidji; memories of Reverend Frank Higgins; his service in Buena Vista; his service in Nebish; the Presbyterian church in Kelliher; Higgins' sled dogs; and the Bemidji overreaction to the uprising at Leech Lake. In the next part of the recording, Blair discusses his recollection of Moose; when Malzahn building was finished; when the Northern Hotel was finished; the territories that he and Dr. Adams covered; whether any Sunday Schools have persisted without parent churches; how modern roads are changing church-going habits; why he quit the American Sunday School Union; his personal background; his blacksmith work in lumber camps; and working his way through Moody Institute. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
Truman E. Rickard viewing the ruins of a log cabin Star Island, Cass Lake, Minnesota. Rickard wrote the words and music to the Minnesota state song, "Hail! Minnesota." This image is by Arthur Adams, Minneapolis high school teacher, local historian, and photographer. Adams traveled throughout Minnesota, taking photographs to augment his lectures. His studio was located at 3648 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis.
