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.
Claud Deluse Fish discusses homesteading at Island Lake, Minnesota in 1902. He also discusses logging and laying railroad. He discusses the store in Bena, Minnesota and explains a stone and timber claim. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including a smallpox episode, intermarriage, and white people gaining access to Ojibwe allotments on reservations. The interview begins in BCHS 070a and continues in BCHS 069a and BCHS 071a.
The interview with Claud Fish was conducted by an unidentified interviewer on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. Claud Fish discusses travelling through Bena, Deer River, Moose Lake, and Island Lake, Minnesota in 1901. He also discusses moving there in 1902 to homestead and building a house. He also discusses toting goods from Bena, Minnesota and working in the logging industry. The interview is the third in a series, beginning in BCHS 070a and continuing in BCHS 070b, and finishing in BCHS 071a.
