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.
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.
Edna Dunham (Mrs. Jack) Essler discusses Rev. Frank Higgins; Rev. McCloud; whether she remembered early Bemidji businesses; consolidation of Nymore; early Bemidji residents she remembered; Rev. Zoll; Rev. Blair; early Bemidji infrastructure; the first cars in Bemidji; early women's organizations; the exceptional people of Hines; boats on Lake Bemidji; her first cabin in Bemidji; and traveling up to her homestead. The recording is continued from bchs087a.
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.
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.
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.
E.C. Johnson's launch is anchored off shore. A dock made of fence posts and planks is ready for use with a rowboat on shore ready to take people to the launch.
This sound clip highlights the story of Lucy (Rumer) Colson, Laura Colson and mother traveling from Kansas to the Northwest Angle and life with Jake Colson. 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.
