The recorded interview with Harriet Villemin (Mrs. Alex) Cameron was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis in December 1953. Mrs. Cameron discusses homesteading near Northome, Minnesota. She also discusses her mother's midwife activities, raising children, shooting a moose, and the Battle of Sugar Point. The interview continues in BCHS 054b. An additional interview is recorded in BCHS 103a.
The following oral history was recorded by Dr. Charles Vandersluis. Harry Carlson discusses the steamboat Ida, which his father built; early Bemidji; stumps in Third Street; eating wild meat and salt pork before the railroad came in; Gustav Hinsch's idea to build a statue of Chief Bemidji; Hinsch's disappearance and possible death; Hinsch losing everything in a fire at Phillips, Wisconsin; and when the village and county were organized. Earl Geil is also present during the interview. The recording jumps twice to unidentified musical performances. The recording, possibly from 1952, is continued from bchs104b.
Harry Carlson discusses businesses in early Bemidji; the early Bemidji Pioneer newspaper; El Carson losing his grocery store; early doctors; helping Doc Henderson stitch up a man's wound; being in the Great Northern wreck of 1898; Tom Joy's homestead; Freeman Doud; the athletic field; early cemeteries; the early jail; and Charlie Miles. The interview is continued from BCHS 104a. The recording is dated June 1955.
Henry Kolden discusses a man named Olson who was not a good lumberjack; what log drivers wore on their feet; how logs were marked; the route between Red Lake Agency and Fosston; the distance covered a day on a log drive; preventing logjams; who owned the timber; how they sharpened their axes; his regret in bringing his gun on his first trip to the area; lumberjack sky pilot Frank Higgins; hobos at Grand Forks; rain in 1896 washing out a log drive; selling his homestead; moving into Blackduck to start a store; and hauling supplies for the Langor schoolhouse. The recording is continued from BCHS 020a/b and BCHS 130a/b, and continues in BCHS 131a/b.
Henry Kolden discusses who owned the sawmill at Crookston; working in a mill in Grand Forks; the cost of floating logs versus railroads; the Red Lake-Leech Lake trail; early residents of the Blackduck area; and whether James J. Hill bribed Farmer Hines. The recording is continued from BCHS 020a/b and BCHS 130a, and continues in BCHS 131a/b.
Henry Kolden discusses returning from a trip to St. Cloud to file his claim; how good M. D. Stoner was at walking; how early logging began on the Clearwater River; going on a log drive from Bagley Dam in 1896; how dams helped log drives; what the wanigan was like; and what type of men worked on the log drive. The recording is a continuation of BCHS 020a/b, and continues in bchs130b and BCHS 131a/b.
An unknown narrator discusses Klondike and the directions of different roads. Henry Holden discusses different stopping places; traveling with Langord to look for timber near Red Lake; Joe Juneau; squatting on his homestead land; W. R. Spears' store and hotel on the Red Lake reservation; boats on the Thief River; large timber around Nebish; the Jack Mealey camp; and the Arpin family. The recording is continued from BCHS 020a/b, BCHS 130a/b, and BCHS 131a.
The interview with Henry Kolden was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location, probably Blackduck, Minnesota. Kolden discusses arriving in Blackduck, in 1901 and building and operating a grocery and hardware store. He describes Marcus D. Stoner's efforts to establish Blackduck and the area's early hotels, saloons, churches, attorneys, doctors, and hospital. He describes the myth of Ojibwe Chief Blackduck. He explains that Summit Avenue is located close to the Great Divide. He also describes meeting attorney Henry Funkley for the first time and the activities of traveling salesman. The interview is continued in BCHS 020b, BCHS 130a/b, and BCHS 131a/b.
The interview with Henry Kolden was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Henry Kolden discusses toting goods and operating the Summit Mercantile Company in Blackduck, Minnesota in the early 1900s. He also describes early fraternal organizations, churches, schools, railroads, travelling salesmen, and musicians. He also describes photographer Louis Halverson, the Palace Hotel, and early newspapers including the Blackduck Times and the Blackduck American. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including interactions like hiring an Ojibwe driver, boarding on the Red Lake reservation, attending a dance, and disagreements over timber. The interview is continued from BCHS020a, and continues in BCHS 130a/b and BCHS 131a/b.
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.
A woman describes an item from her parents' homestead in North Dakota; John G. Morrison, Jr., describes how it might have been used by Native Americans to split wood. He then talks about superintendents of the Brainerd and Northern Minnesota railroad.
The interview with John Van House was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location, probably Kelliher, Minnesota. Van House discusses living in Fosston, Solway, and Turtle River, Minnesota starting in about 1892, 1903, and 1906, respectively. He also discusses old village of Turtle versus the later village of Turtle River. He discusses early saloons, hotels, churches, and schools in those areas. He also discusses working in a livery barn and as a saloonkeeper. The interview continues in BCHS 059b.
The interview with John Van House was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location, probably Kelliher, Minnesota. Van House discusses living in Kelliher starting in 1906. He discusses logging, sawmills, and early mail delivery. He also describes development of the water and sewer system and an electric light plant. He describes fighting a fire at a local church. The interview is continued from BCHS 059a.
The interview with Lady Alice was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location, and is a continuation from BCHS 028a. Lady Alice discusses returning to England in June 1926, then moving to the United States for a second time in October 1926. She describes working as a nurse at Antioch College starting in September 1927. She discusses how the college doctor secured an x-ray machine and how she hosted tea parties for students.
Lillian French Baney discusses where her parents came from; her early life in Lincoln, Nebraska, and the St. Cloud area; her family's arrival at Bagley; their early situation at Four-Legged Lake; her father's efforts to organize the township and a school; the bachelors who tried to run a store on their property; her father's acquisition of the store and commission of a post office; the mail route from Bagley; Henry How's stopping place; a group of Frenchmen who stayed at her family's stopping place during a rumored Native American uprising; the Noonan lumber camp; Dr. McKinnon and Dr. Gilmore; a Native American campground on their claim; the brothel at Klondike; penalties for providing liquor to a Native American; Mrs. Henry How's reputation; wanigans near Bob Neving's place; and Clearwater Dam. The recording, dated October 3, 1955, is continued in bchs088b.
Lillian French Baney discusses Bob Neving's stopping place; Bob Neving's second wife; the interior of her family's home; her family's neighbors; the separation of Clearwater and Beltrami counties; her first visit to Bemidji; surveyed routes for the Soo Line in her neighborhood; how the town of Leonard got its name; the polio and typhoid epidemics of 1911; the work her mother did in keeping the house and a stopping place; Thayer's stopping place; Omar Gravelle and his wife; her father's trade with Native Americans; and shipping out blueberries and snakeroot. The recording, dated October 3, 1955, is continued from bchs088a.
Louis Villemin discusses the mock Dewey battle on Lake Bemidji; trying to cut hay in swampy land; Freeman Doud; surveys for the Great Northern that went through his property; James J. Hill's particularity on the grade of surveys; raising a bridge to let a wanigan pass under; Ed Murphy; selling his homestead; leaving his homestead; laying a pipeline in Canada; laying out part of the Jefferson Highway; helping set up a school; and planting early vegetables. The recording, dated December 1953, is continued from bchs103a.
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.
Peter R. Peterson discusses lumberjack sky pilot Frank Higgins' conversion of John Sornberger; how Higgins helped a lumberjack escape from the grips of the saloon; how he got interested in music; his first time playing in a band; playing for a municipal band in Bemidji; a man named Business Bill; the Star Theater; starting his own band in Bemidji; and helping Mr. Arnold get back on his feet. The recording is continued from bchs084a.
The first interview, with Ralph White, was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. White discusses moving to Aitkin County, Minnesota in about 1904. He also discusses logging, farming, and living in Wadena County, Minnesota. The interview continues from a brief mention at the end of BCHS 058a. The majority 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 discusses railroads including the Minnesota Duluth & Western Railway, the Cut Foot Sioux Branch, the Minneapolis & International Railway, the Virginia Rainy Lake Railway, and others. They also discuss logging camps at spurs 29 and 53. They also discuss logging near Blackduck, Minnesota and Turtle River, Minnesota. The final portion of the recording is a fragment of an interview with an unidentified narrator, conducted by an unidentified interviewer on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. The interview does not provide substantial information.
Sarah McTaggart, her daughter, Ethel, and her son, Wesley, discuss her family's history; her husband's visit to Bemidji from Forest River, North Dakota; her husband's partnership with her brother-in-law, Earl Geil, to take over the Remore Hotel; what her husband built on; her husband's other carpenter work in town; their relationship with the Carson family; the Beltrami Eagle building; the interior of their hotel; how she traveled to Bemidji; her first impressions of the town; where Chief Bemidji lived; Mary Carson's milk delivery; encountering a Native American dance; Grandpa Nye's school; John Steidl's mill; John Smith; dances at the Malzahn building; Betsy and Freeman Doud; Theodore Snyder; their employees; how polite lumberjacks were; bedbugs; and early doctors and druggists. An unknown person assists Dr. Vandersluis with the interview. The recording, dated October 2, 1953, is continued in bchs121b.
Silas Carter discusses the post office at Isle; carrying the mail from Mora to Isle; having a charter boat on Mille Lacs with his dad, and some of their passengers and freight; remembering a rumored Native American uprising; the tugboat Gracie Dee; working as a cook in West Superior as the docks and Minnesota-Wisconsin bridge were being built, and setting up a kitchen; getting a tip on a homestead near Tenstrike and going out to it; Farmer Hines; being hospitalized with rheumatic fever and not getting into the Spanish-American War; and Frank Dudley and his wife's slot machines. The recording is continued from bchs078a.
