Ashley C. Riggs kept a ledger book journal from 1852-1873. The earliest entries are from Cold Spring (Stearns County), Minnesota and Watab (Benton County), Minnesota. The ledger's earliest entries record his activiites as an Indian Agent for the Winnnebago Indians for the years 1852-1853. The second portion of the ledger is Riggs' diary which documents his activities in and around Monticello, Minnesota for the years 1864-1873. Riggs was a key figure in the development of the Minnesota Territory and early Monticello, Minnesota community when he laid claim in 1854 to a piece of land on the Mississippi River. He built othe first ferry to shuttle people across the River. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
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.
Benjamin F. Mackall's personal diary. This diary discusses his first winter in Moorhead, Minnesota as well as town life and daily events. The diary also includes sun and moon tables for 1873, rates of postage, and U.S. stamp duties.
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.
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.
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 interview is with Josie Hanson Saltnes, and 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 boarding with neighbors and getting mail delivered by stage from Blackduck, Minnesota. She also describes several photographs including a picnic and a school photo. She also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including how Ojibwe people camped near the store in Foy and interacted with white people on the reservation. The interview is continued from BCHS 072a. Late in the interview, an unidentified man describes traveling to a homestead without enough provisions, with a companion who gets drunk and freezes to the bottom of a boat. He also discusses Bridgie, Minnesota. The second interview is with an unidentified man, called Bill late in the recording. The unidentified narrator discusses traveling to Bagley, Minnesota in 1897 or 1898. He also discusses logging for Jim Sherry and caring for his team. He also describes running a general store and interacting with loggers.
Knute Rauk discusses where he was born; when he and his family came to Shevlin; his father's hardware business; the Beltrami County Advocate; operating the printing press at Shevlin; banks in Shevlin; the Mallard Call newspaper and early Mallard. George Kerr talks about his paper route in Brainerd; his dream of being a railroad engineer; logging on the Gull River; the Stony Brook and Northern; a railroad machine shop, possibly at East Brainerd; the lower and upper landings; the dangers of unloading logs; the use of stakes to secure logs on train cars; the Brainerd and Northern Minnesota railroad; and railroad operations at Lothrop. Charlie Wight is also present. The Kerr interview continues in BCHS 120b.
In the first part of the recording, Thomas Miller discusses constructing a county road between Bemidji and Fosston; the establishment of Pinewood; early Pinewood businesses; helping build the railroad between Bagley and Shevlin; and operating a sawmill with his dad. In the second part of the recording, Walter L. Brooks discusses what originally brought him to Bemidji; his childhood; playing football for the University of Wisconsin at Madison; how he got his first job in a bank; how he got a promotion at the bank; taking a new job at Northwestern National Bank in Minneapolis; a co-worker embezzling funds and implicating him; moving to the First National Bank; hearing about the job at Bemidji; how rough early Bemidji was; the early bank building; his home in early Bemidji; early bank operations; cashing time checks for lumberjacks; trying to encourage lumberjacks to save money; extending credit to saloonkeepers; how well lumberjacks treated his wife; Charlie Miles' automobile getting stuck in the sand; when gambling closed in Bemidji; when the saloons closed in Bemidji; an agreement with the Crookston Lumber Company to cover their excess taxes; boats on Lake Bemidji; and keeping horses. The interview was recorded on December 10, 1952.
The first interview with an unidentified speaker was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. The unidentified narrator discusses extensive ditching leading to near bankruptcy for Beltrami County, Minnesota. He also describes logging and railroads near Lake Irving in the late 1890s and early 1900s. He also describes the Birchmont Hotel, Central School, and building the Elks building and Elko Theater in Bemidji, Minnesota. The second interview was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in at the hardware store of J. M. Reid in Glendora, California. J. M. Reid discusses moving to Blackduck, Minnesota in 1901. He also describes the early newspapers and businesses of Blackduck, Minnesota. The interview with Reid is continued in BCHS 019b.
Curtis, Penny Foran; Cameron, Harriet Villemin; Warfield, Charles
Date Created:
1950 - 1959
Description:
The first portion of the recording is an interview with an unidentified narrator conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis in December 1953 in an unrecorded location. The unidentified narrator discusses fishing at Chippewa Falls, Minnesota in the early 1900s and spearing fish. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including sharing food and cutting hay together. The second portion of the recording is an interview with Penny Foran Curtis, Harriet Villemin Cameron, Susie Curtis, and other members of the Curtis family, conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis in December 1953 in an unrecorded location. The unidentified narrators provide updates about their lives and send Christmas greetings to Aunt Alice [Cameron Bowers], Uncle Archie [Archibald Bowers], and their children. The final portion of the recording is an interview with Charles Warfield conducted by Helen Warfield Schell (Warfield's daughter) and Dr. Charles Vandersluis in December 1953 in an unrecorded location. Warfield discusses establishing and building the Beltrami Light and Power Company, which started delivering electricity in 1898. He also discusses Bemidji's water tanks. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including the marriage of Chief Bemidji's daughter to a white man.
Wellington Schroeder discusses establishing a dam at Bemidji with the Warfield brothers; the building he built with Julius Miller; building another building and how much contractors were paid; being in a financial wreck; his first homestead; Clarence Speelman; taking a Beltrami County exhibit to the state fair; organizing the county fairgrounds; a saloon-keeper at Tenstrike who wanted to take road contracts; and getting stuck in a storm with a team of horses. The interview is continued from BCHS 105b. In the second part of the recording, Peter Rudolph Peterson tells of the life of lumberjack sky pilot Frank Higgins; how they met; Higgins' death; and Higgins' conversion of John Sornberger. The interview continues in BCHS 084b.
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 and Leonard Dickinson discuss how lumberjacks were recruited; what lumberjacks did in their free time; Sundays in the lumber camp; salesmen in the camps; Catholic sisters in the camps; lumberjack sky pilot Frank Higgins; where settlers came from; Indian agents; Redby; John G. Morrison, Jr., and his collection; Indian Paul; early Buena Vista; Dickinson's father's box company; getting cheated of payment; and eminent domain. The recording is part of a series, continued from BCHS 115a, BCHS 115b, BCHS 079a, and BHCS 079b, and continued in BCHS 116b.
Archie Logan and Leonard Dickinson discuss Durand Township; logging around Crookston; Weyerhaeuser logging; mills in Bemidji; the murders of Nicolai and Aagot Dahl; George Cyr shooting Paul Fournier; and an old Hudson Bay Company building. The recording is the final part of a series, continued from BCHS 115a, BCHS 115b, BCHS 079a, BCHS 079b, and BCHS 116a.
Archie Logan discusses deadhead logs; where log marks were recorded; the lengths of logs; how logs were loaded on railroad cars; most prevalent species of timber; cedar yards around Kelliher; the logging railroad from Nebish to Red Lake; where logging took place in the mid-1880s; the logging railroad out of Crosslake; the narrow-gauge line at Gull Lake; smallpox in the lumber camps; quarantine in a lumber camp; and the source of the Mississippi. Leonard Dickinson is also part of the conversation. The recording is part of a series, continued from BCHS 115a, BCHS 115b, and BCHS 079a, and continued in BCHS116a and BCHS 116b.
Archie Logan discusses wages, room, and board as a logger; what loggers ate in lumber camps; logging accidents and health care available to injured loggers; lumberjack sky pilot Frank Higgins; what the Native Americans in the area ate; whether Native Americans got a fair deal for their lumber; how the lumber industry cruised forests for the best timber early on; traveling to Buena Vista by steamboat; stagecoaches; Freeman Doud; Tom Joy; early logging around Red Lake; steamboats used to haul timber on lakes; the volume of logs put in the river from Red Lake depending on conditions; how a sorting works operated; and deadhead logs. Leonard Dickinson is also part of the conversation. The recording is part of a series, continued from BCHS 115a and BCHS 116b, continuing in BCHS 079b, BCHS 116a, and BCHS 116b.
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.
Archie Logan discusses what government scrip was; proving up on his homestead; living in Buena Vista; the saloon business at Buena Vista; hotels in Buena Vista; liveries; the first logging railroads in the area; quitting work for Richards; horse teams pulling locomotives up to the area; and a gunfight at a saloon. Leonard Dickinson is also part of the conversation and becomes the interviewer at the end. The recording is dated March 3, 1952. It is part of a series, continued from BCHS 115a and continued in BCHS 079a, BCHS 079b, BCHS 116a, and BCHS 116b.
