E. J. Stiefel worked for Great Northern as a surveyor and crew chief from 1900 to 1910. An avid camera buff, he apparently developed photographs in the dormitory work car, using glass plate negatives. The Great Northern Railway cut a new grade through Hancock in 1906 to reduce a hill which was stalling freight trains. The new cut was known locally as the Subway. This image includes a proof print and a postcard.
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.
This sound clip highlights the life of Erick and Kristina (Lindblad) Mattson in Roseau County MN.The Roseau County Historical Society prepared this radio script to share county history through broadcasts on KJ102 FM in Roseau. The topics highlight the history of Roseau County and the people that lived there.
Vandersluis speaks with Charlie Wight, timber cruiser, on March 14, 1953, in the doctor's office. Wight talks about where he was born; his family's move to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; lumbering activity in Western Wisconsin; whether there were any Native Americans living at Chippewa Falls; birch bark canoes on the Chippewa River; his grandfather helping install the first turbine wheel at the Chippewa River; his grandfather helping install the first turbine wheel at the Chippewa Falls mill; the reaches of the Weyerhaeuser company; how they moved lumber down river by rafts; brailing logs; and pool companies that took over on the Mississippi. Wight then discusses working as a cookee at a camp in Wisconsin; driving a one-horse tram car at the mill; where men from the mills went in the winter; toting supplies; learning the timber estimating business as a compass man with Billy Woods; how they travelled to the land they were cruising; supplies they packed; what areas they cruised; finding section corners scribed into trees; seeing the Red Lake-Leech Lake trail and other trails; what they saw on the north shore of Lake Bemidji; a bridge near Lake Andrusia and any other bridges; about the Farmer-Hines railroad; where he went after that first trip; mills and bridges at Brainerd; the Gull River Lumber Company's narrow gauge railroad; other cruising jobs; and early fires. Next, Wight discusses his acquaintances with Marcus D. Stoner and Sam Dolgaard; some logging operations around Turtle River; Dan Freeman logging at Long Lake; Freeman and Gray splitting up; where Bagley started working for Walker; about S. C. Bagley; Bagley's nephew, Buzzle; where logs went from Mallard Lake; and which loggers collaborated. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
Four part interview with surveyor Euclid "Ernie" Bourgeois discusses the logging industry, S.C. Bagley, spur 75, Red Lake steamers, platting and civil engineering, recollections of Farley and Turtle River, histories of local railroads, Markham Hotel, and early Bemidji saloons' involvement with railroads. In part 2, Bourgeois discusses his early memories of Bemidji and Buena Vista, early Bemidji infrastructure, platting and civil engineering, Marcus D. Stoner, the town site of Turtle, and his work on spur 75. In later portions, Bourgeois discusses the evaluation of local land for dairy production and/or clover or seed; logging on Clearwater River; his experience with the Brainerd Lumber Company near LaSalle Lake and log unloading during winter; whether logs were driven on the Mississippi; spreading clover seed on drive to Baudette; name of cruisers for whom creeks might be named; knowledge of surveyor Thomas H. Croswell, plats of small settlements in the area; naming of Buena Vista and plats of Tenstrike, Hidewood, Kelliher, Funkley, and Dexter; the Red Lake Transportation Company; how Bemidji business owners chipped in to induce a railroad to come to town; surveying for a railroad near the Blakeslee farm; breaking out to survey on his own; recollection of the Delphine post office; the Red Lake-Leech Lake trail; early history of Lavinia; platted communities of Jens Opsahl; early history of Grand Forks Bay; and comparing old Nebish to modern Nebish.
Carson, Joseph Evan; Falls, Jack; Falls, Vera; Carson, Mary; Carson, Eva
Date Created:
1953-03
Description:
The first part of the recording is a group interview with Joseph Evan Carson and family. Those speaking include Evan Carson; his wife Jennie (Newell) Carson; their daughter Leonore (Carson) Gardner; and Leonore's husband, Gordon Gardener. They discuss Chief Bemidji's real name; where Chief Bemidji's family went to after Bemidji started to grow; Chief Bemidji's children; Chief Bemidji's death; the Carson Brothers' trading posts and how they started; Jessie Carson hauling mail and El Carson as first postmaster; the Carsons' homesteads; Bemidji's first school; the first brickyard; a Bemidji swimming hole; Harry Geil's dairy; who owned Bemidji townsite; Evan Carson learning printing business; origins of Beltrami Eagle; Mrs. Carson building a hotel; where Willis Brannon had his first hardware store; early schools and teachers; Mrs. Carson selling out to Charlie [Miles?]; and Evan Carson's pet bear cubs. Then members of Evan Carson family record greetings to family of Mary Carson. The next part of the recording is an interview with Jack and Vera Falls of Mission, Texas. They discuss a group of photos; Bank of Bemidji; Charlie Schroeder and his building; when Vera began teaching and her schoolhouse. They discuss a group of photos; what Charlie Schroeder's business sold; early Bemidji fire department and loss of Rex Hotel; Vera's family arrival in Bemidji; memories of John Smith; beginning of Falls and Cameron Store; where Vera taught school; the town pump in Bemidji; and the background of Judge Spooner. The final portion of the recording is an interview with Mary Carson, widow of El and daughter of Chief Bemidji, with her daughter, Eva Carson Woodson. Carson discusses where Chief Bemidji was born; who her brothers and sisters were; whether there was a Native American village on the south shore of Lake Bemidji; where they lived in summer and winter; what foods her family ate; making maple sugar; her father making canoes; how they harvested rice; why Chief Bemidji went to the eventual Bemidji area; the first white settlers; what they bought from the Carson brothers; when she was born and where she was registered; how much they got for rice, sugar, and hides; whether her brother Canoe took over after her father's death; a group of photographs; and about Eva's schoolhouse. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
The interview with Frank Louis Gorenflo (1873-1961) was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location, probably Cass Lake, Minnesota. Gorenflo discusses moving to Brainerd, Minnesota in 1879 and Cass Lake in 1898. He also discusses his schoolboy days, the Gull River Railroad, the Great Northern Railroad, the Battle of Sugar Point, and owning a grocery store and hotel in Cass Lake during its early days. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including how Ojibwe lands were acquired for the townsite of Cass Lake. The interview is continued in BCHS 011b.
Fred Cyr discusses biographical information; memories of logging drives on the Clearwater River when he was a child; how logging drives worked; his experience toting supplies for J.C. Parker; what wanigans were like; how logs were sorted; and the role of the swamper. The recording continues with Cyr's experience in logging industry; when Cyr's father came to Red Lake Falls; locations of high and low water on the Clearwater River; his experience in a logging camp in winter; how lumberjacks dealt with lice; delays at a sorting gap; his experience with Native American loggers; logging near Cass Lake; and whether logs were transported on the Mississippi River. In the final portion of the recording, Cyr discusses logging at Portage Lake near Bena; how logs were hoisted onto trains near Cass Lake; getting injured as a lumberjack; driving on the river, possibly Clearwater; knowledge of J. C. Parker; how lumberjacks ate; the contents of some unidentified photographs; and fishing on the Battle River. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
Dr. Vandersluis reads about the origin of Cutfoot Sioux and a conflict between the Sioux and Ojibwe. George Kerr and Charlie Wight talk about the narrow-gauge railroad between Gilpatrick Lake and Spider Lake; a woman talks about coming to Hackensack from Brainerd in 1894; Kerr describes Lothrop. The group discusses the location of Steamboat Landing; spurs and landings between Walker and Bemidji; and sinkholes in the area. Edna Essler describes coming up to her claim. A man describes an adventure as a child visiting his grandparents' homestead and returning home again. Other participants in the conversation include a man named Howard, probably Howard Newcomb.
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.
This is a plat map of Thomson Township in 1903, showing locations of Esko's Corner (Esko), Thomson Township Schools, Thomson Reservoir; pilings for the Minnesota & North Wisconsin Railroad bridge (popularly known as the Brooks-Scanlon line) still visible in the St. Louis River near the Highway 61 bridge in Scanlon, drawn in 1980 by J. Raymond Mattinen, (April 13, 1914 to September 18, 1987), a local historian and author of the first book of the history of Esko and Thomson Township. It was drafted from the official Carlton County tax rolls of 1903 and platted from the county soil map of 1905. Also shown are Elm Creek, Midway River, St. Louis River, Hay Creek, Crystal Creek, Village of Thomson, Northern Pacific Railroad, Minnesota and North Wisconsin Railroad, and the Great Northern Railroad.
This sound clip highlights Gust Nyquist, an amazing entrepreneur with only 3 years of formal education. The Roseau County Historical Society prepared this radio script to share county history through broadcasts on KJ102 FM in Roseau. The topics highlight the history of Roseau County and the people that lived there.
This sound clip highlights the Gundar and Carrie (Williamson) Heltne family; the Sivert and Anna (Dufwa) Hetland family of Dewey Township the Knute and Mary (Beito )Jevne family; the Martin A and Caroline (Thompson) Johnson family of Polonia Township Matthias and Martha (Stalsvik) Johnson family of Mickinock Township and the Nels A and Carolina (Roseen) Johnson family of Malung Twp. The Roseau County Historical Society prepared this radio script to share county history through broadcasts on KJ102 FM in Roseau. The topics highlight the history of Roseau County and the people that lived there.
This sound clip highlights the Walther and Alma Anderson family of Badger MN. The Roseau County Historical Society prepared this radio script to share county history through broadcasts on KJ102 FM in Roseau. The topics highlight the history of Roseau County and the people that lived there.
