Bemidji basketball team, December 1901. Players in the back are Arthur Brannon and Harry Geil. In the front are Erton Geil and William Boskell. John Raymond is in the middle. Note the picture of Chief Bemidji on their uniforms (description from,"The Bemidji Area Looking Back" Pediment Publishing, 2004). The basketball is inscribed, "B.A.C. 1902."
Chief Bemidji, whose real name was " Shay-Now-Ish -Kung," received his new name from Lake Bemidji which was called Bay-me-ji-ga, or "lake with cross waters." He was born near Inger, Minnesota, in 1833 or 1834 and lived in the Leech Lake and Cass Lake area. In 1860, he married a Leech Lake Pillager Indian woman and they had eight children, three boys of whom died at early ages. Four daughters and one son grew up and lived to older ages. In 1882, Chief Bemidji's wife died. Saddened by her death, he loaded all his possessions and children in his birch bark canoe and paddled up the Mississippi River to settle on the south shore of Lake Bemidji. He was the first permanent settler of Bemidji (from p. 107,"The Bemidji Area Looking Back" 2004).
W. B. Mclachlan was captain of the cruise boat, "City of Bemidji" around the turn of the last century (description from,"The Bemidji Area Looking Back" Pediment Publishing, 2004).
City Opera House was located at 401 Minnesota Avenue, Bemidji, circa 1905 (description from,"The Bemidji Area Looking Back" Pediment Publishing, 2004).
The recording is a tour by John G. Morrison, Jr., of items he donated to the BCHS, before a small group. Morrison discusses baby boards; snowshoes; an item that depicts the life of a Sioux hunter and warrior; war clubs; a tomahawk; a Paiute root that was chewed; a doll; moccasins; dancing regalia; several pipes; tobacco pouches; and grand medicine paraphernalia. In the middle of the recording, a man is singing Native American (probably Ojibwe) songs. Brown Oak Grove could be the man singing or drumming. Morrison discusses headdresses; the knuckle game; dancing regalia; a water drum; and other drums. Next, one man is singing Native American songs; either the same man or another person is drumming. One of the songs was written by Robert Gibbs about his son, who died in World War II. Finally, a man demonstrates a water drum and Morrison answers a few questions. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
The recording is John G. Morrison, Jr., providing a tour of a museum in Bemidji, featuring artifacts he donated, probably to members of the Beltrami County Historical Society. On the tour, he describes a violin that belonged to his father; his collection of pipes; Navajo rugs; his grandfather's snuffbox and wallet; an assortment of drums and their purposes; bowls; a shopping bag; a battle flag; baby boards; snowshoes; a model tipi; a gambling game; tools and utensils; buckskin bags to carry food; a flint-lock musket; lacrosse sticks; war clubs; powder horns; a quiver; the knuckle game; sashes; headdresses; a stick detailing the training of a warrior; necklaces; and tobacco pouches. The tour continues as he describes necklaces; ladies' gowns; a beaded sack; a skirt; a doll; a necklace made of human bones; ladies' shopping bags; more beaded sacks; leggings; gloves; a dancing costume; a display of sugar-making equipment; baskets; birchbark floral designs; moccasins; belts; moose hides; sweet grass blankets; grand medicine bags and paraphernalia; and drums of medicine men. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
In the recording, all speakers are in the background, at an unknown gathering of women. The discernable spoken phrases are provided. The women are reviewing old materials and talking about putting on a historical program. The recording is continued from bchs075a. The women are planning a historical program. A woman from the Jones family tells about her life; women sing to piano accompaniment; a woman named Alma tells how she caught a skunk as a child; they look at old papers; one tells about a missing child at Shepherd's Crossing; a man sings a the song 'Fare Thee Well' with piano accompaniment in English and Ojibwe, then another song; the group of women discuss missionaries; one tells a story of lumberjack underwear stopping up a fire engine; a man talks about farming with oxen; and a man shows a variety of maps.
Engine on the Minnesota and International railroad bridge over the Battle River. Claude Ritchie is the engineer, Art Setterholm is the fireman, John Vanhouse, is the brakeman and Roy Rice is the pilot. (description from,"The Bemidji Area Looking Back" Pediment Publishing, 2004).
The discussion with a group of unidentified narrators was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. The group of unidentified narrators discusses sawmills, saloons, railroads, logging, lumber companies, and mail delivery in near Bemidji, Minnesota in the early 1900s. They also discuss how to scale a tree and a location called Brush Shanty near Alvwood, Minnesota.
The first part of the recording is a discussion with a group of unidentified speakers, conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. The group of speakers discusses the location of railroad lines, including spur 28. They also discuss logging in 1916, 1917, 1926, and 1927. One group member reads forestry reports from 1917 and 1919, as well as reports about a blowdown on the Red Lake Reservation in 1905. The group also discusses early Nebish, Minnesota and a robbery in Puposky, Minnesota. The second part of the recording is an interview with an unidentified narrator, probably Otto C. Perske, conducted by an unknown interviewer on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Perske discusses sawmills in northern Minnesota during the early 1900s and his work as a millwright. He describes early lumber sales and how to brace a saw without electricity. He also describes earning a bonus on a rush milling job for Hormel. He also describes participating in a strike and supporting a union in search of higher wages.
Wight, Charlie; Bourgeois, Euclid; Brooks, Walter L.
Date Created:
1956 - 1959
Description:
The following oral history was recorded by Dr. Charles Vandersluis. The interview(s) include Charlie Wight, Euclid (Ernie) Bourgeois, and other unknown people, including probably Howard Newcomb. Wight, Bourgeois and others talk about the singer Hank Underwood and his family and Hank Underwood's funeral. Other topics include Tom Nary; the Carver brothers; the Stewart family; a preacher in Laporte and Nary; the Hines family; 'Grampy' Porter Nye. Walter L. Brooks talks about payments on the Red Lake reservation; a man reads what he says is an interview with Maurice Godfrey on February 1, 1956, in which Godfrey talks about his father, a boat builder; various boats in the area; the locations of camps and lakes; various dams; Bob Neving; and Bagley's nephew, Buzzle.
Horse and buggy parked in front of Hakkerup's Photo Studio located at 113 3rd Street in Bemidji (description from,"The Bemidji Area Looking Back" Pediment Publishing, 2004).
View of an early 1900's hunting party hauling a moose out of the timber. Emil Falk in the first man on the left (description from,"The Bemidji Area Looking Back" Pediment Publishing, 2004). The moose is on a handmade sled.
The first interview, with Arthur E. Morgan, was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location, probably Yellow Springs, Ohio. Arthur E. Morgan discusses working as a surveyor in Beltrami County and Itasca County, Minnesota in 1902 to 1903. He describes encountering unique natural features in Minnesota like rapidly growing poplar trees and a magnetic declination. He provides a white perspective on Ojibwe, Dakota, and other Indigenous people. He also describes his work with developing rural communities and recommending a rural university program in India. The interview is continued from BCHS 031a. The second interview, with Helen Lidstrom (Mrs. Hadley L.) Bean, was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Helen Bean discusses her parents immigrating from Sweden in the late 1860s and her childhood near Hastings, Minnesota. She also describes her family giving up her grandfather's homestead when he was killed in a hunting accident. She describes some of her family members as working as a maid, a blacksmith, and a farmer.
Several different clips of interviews are present in the first quarter of the recording; the bulk of the recording is an interview with Charlie Wight. The first clip of significant length is an interview with a man, possibly Albert D. Johnson, who tells Vandersluis about the men who helped prepare legislation for the state game preserve. The recording then jumps to an interview between Vandersluis and timber cruiser Charlie Wight. Wight talks about S. C. Bagley's work on the Schoolcraft River, and what other companies Bagley worked for. Then the recording returns to Johnson, about how Lake of the Woods County was also invested in a state game preserve; whether beavers spoiled the ditches; and the boundaries of the game reserve. Finally, Wight discusses how the Wells brothers owned the Brainerd Lumber Company; how Clark and Dempsey sued the Brainerd Lumber Company for damage on a drive; a narrow-gauge railroad built by the Gull River Lumber Company; conversion to standard gauge; working for Irwin and O'Brien; early history of the Duluth and Winnipeg right-of-way; other trails and canoe routes; how the dam affected Lake Winnibigoshish; what other companies he worked for; working for the Crookston Lumber Company; about R. E. White and White and McDevitt; the Freestone boys; Old Man Dixon; how settlers used scrip; bits about early Kelliher; and other early loggers he knew.
Bean, Hadley Lewis; Bean, Helen Lidstrom; Lady Alice
Date Created:
1950 - 1959
Description:
The first interview with Mr. Hadley Lewis Bean and Mrs. Helen Lidstrom Bean was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Mr. and Mrs. Bean discuss arriving in Glen Ullin, North Dakota in 1885 and 1887, respectively. Mrs. Bean also discusses her upbringing in Hastings, Minnesota and establishing a homestead in North Dakota. Both describe events surrounding the death of Sitting Bull. Mr. Bean describes farming, picking buffalo bones, and seeking other ways of earning money in North Dakota. They also describe prairie fires, the Heart Dam, and the Garrison Dam in North Dakota. The second interview, with Lady Alice was, conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Lady Alice discusses working in a hospital in Birmingham, England during World War I. She also discusses immigrating to the United States after the war to work in public health in Cleveland, Ohio. She also describes her work with infant welfare in Chicago, Illinois and at the Eudowood Sanitorium near Baltimore, Maryland. The interview is continued in BCHS 028b.
The recording begins with Dr. Harold T. Hagg addressing a group about his interest in Beltrami County history; his writing on the topic for a state historical society's magazine; and his interest in the lumberjack sky pilot Frank Higgins. The recording then cuts to a children's piano recital. The conversation with Harry Carlson begins at about 21:15, preceded by Dr. Vandersluis' thoughts on the importance of collecting personal histories. Harry Carlson discusses his arrival in Bemidji; his memories of early Bemidji; helping Ed Kaiser run off copies of the Bemidji Pioneer; the Mississippi Boom Company; and his dad's idea to construct the steamboat Ida. Earl Geil is also present during the interview. The interview, possibly from 1952, is continued from BCHS104b.
Harriet Villemin Cameron discusses a lumberjack named Big Mike; feeding logging crews; the wild town of Tenstrike and a murder there; her memories of Henry Funkley; the couple she got her furniture from; and Grandma Carson. Dr. Vandersluis reads the text of deeds to her land. Previous interviews are found in BCHS 054a and BCHS 054b. In the second part of the recording, Cameron's brother, Louis Villemin, discusses his arrival in Bemidji; his arrival in Porterville, California; his homestead in northern Minnesota; his horses, Billy and Prince; and the Dewey battle on Lake Bemidji. The recording, dated December 1953, is continued in bchs103b. Villemin was speaking from Porterville, California, probably via telephone.
Van House, John; Miller, Anna E.; Saltnes, Josie Hanson
Date Created:
1950 - 1959
Description:
The first interview, with John Van House, was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Van House discusses a boat that was lent to Ojibwe people near Waskish around 1916 and was used for hauling liquor. He also describes a sawmill. The interview is continued from BCHS 059a and BCHS 059b. The second interview, with Anna E. Miller, was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in 1953 in an unrecorded location. Miller discusses the fire in Kelliher, Minnesota around 1913. She also discusses the Kelliher Mercantile Company, the area's old settler's organization, and deadheading logs on Bullhead Lake. She also mentions working for the post office starting in 1918 and serving as postmaster from 1920 to 1934. The final interview, with Josie Hanson Saltnes, was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Josie Hanson Saltnes discusses teaching at the Park School in Solway, Minnesota in 1907 and 1908, then Foy, Minnesota in about 1909 to 1912, and again at Foy in 1915 or 1916. She describes attending summer school, boarding with neighbors, surviving a forest fire in 1908, and eating at a logging camp. She also describes the store at Foy and a location called Jerome. She also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including Ojibwe people camping near the store at Foy and selling corn there. The interview continues in BCHS 072b.
The first part of the recording was made August 1, 1951, in St. Paul. Ralph Carson interviews his father, Joseph Evan Carson, about when his mother died; and where his parents came from. Ralph then reads the flyleaf of the Pondsfordian, by Reverend Benno Watrin, regarding some Carson family history. Evan then talks about the names of his family; their leaving Carsonville; when and where his brothers started their stores where they got their stock; when and where his father built a stopping place; the Beltrami Eagle; his mother's hotel; early Bemidji buildings; earliest Bemidji residents; the Alex Cameron family as the first family at their hotel; memories of Chief Bemidji; where the first school was and early teachers; receiving Chief Bemidji's gun from Mary Carson; and the swimming hole. Evan's wife, Jennie Newell Carson, makes a few suggestions. The recording then transitions to an interview of Evan Carson by Dr. Charles Vandersluis in Bemidji. Carson describes some photographs; street grading; unmarked burials; lumberjacks trying to protect their money; his father serving as probate judge. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
