Elsie Mae Willsey discusses her father's life before coming to the area; her father's choice of homestead ending up far from the railroad; her first trip to Big Turtle Lake from Chicago in 1901; what they did for fun; mosquitoes and bedbugs; her friendship with Martha Miersch; their sock and stocking bazaar; early residents of Turtle River; the town water pump; the railroad coming to Turtle River; her father building boats; a description of her father; who cared for her father in his final years; her father catching 11 fish for dinner; their roothouse; salting fish; and how Movil Lake got its name. The recording, clearly dated September 19, 1952, is continued in bchs119b.
The presentation by Erwin Mittleholtz was recorded by an unknown recorder on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location, probably at a meeting of the Beltrami County Historical Society. Mittleholtz presents highlights from a thesis about Grand Portage, Minnesota. He discusses Ojibwe people, missionaries, schoolteachers, and the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Fort William in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada. The presentation is continued from BCHS 044a. The second part of the recording is a group discussion and was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. The unidentified narrators discuss logging, lumber camps, and log drives in northern Minnesota in the early 1900s. They also discuss spearing fish, making tea from native plants, and experiencing discrimination against the French.