This sound clip highlights Anva and Louisea Comstock family history in Roseau County. 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.
Several different clips of interviews are present in the first quarter of the recording; the bulk of the recording is an interview with Charlie Wight. The first clip of significant length is an interview with a man, possibly Albert D. Johnson, who tells Vandersluis about the men who helped prepare legislation for the state game preserve. The recording then jumps to an interview between Vandersluis and timber cruiser Charlie Wight. Wight talks about S. C. Bagley's work on the Schoolcraft River, and what other companies Bagley worked for. Then the recording returns to Johnson, about how Lake of the Woods County was also invested in a state game preserve; whether beavers spoiled the ditches; and the boundaries of the game reserve. Finally, Wight discusses how the Wells brothers owned the Brainerd Lumber Company; how Clark and Dempsey sued the Brainerd Lumber Company for damage on a drive; a narrow-gauge railroad built by the Gull River Lumber Company; conversion to standard gauge; working for Irwin and O'Brien; early history of the Duluth and Winnipeg right-of-way; other trails and canoe routes; how the dam affected Lake Winnibigoshish; what other companies he worked for; working for the Crookston Lumber Company; about R. E. White and White and McDevitt; the Freestone boys; Old Man Dixon; how settlers used scrip; bits about early Kelliher; and other early loggers he knew.
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 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.
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.
Charlie Wight discusses the Duluth and Winnipeg railroad; various logging projects; the locations of lumber camps; Blakely and Farley; the locations of logging spurs; the Carver brothers; and the engine hill at Weaver Camp.
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. Frank Gorenflo coming to Cass Lake in 1898 and the town's early development and doctors, schools, churches, and entertainment. He also discusses the building of the Brainerd & Northern Railway and describes the towns of Farris, Rosby, and Nary Minnesota in their early days. He also describes operating the Cass Lake Hotel and a short period of gold mining in northern Minnesota. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including how Ojibwe lands were acquired for the railroad and townsite of Cass Lake.
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 presentation by Erwin Mittleholtz was recorded by an unknown recorder on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location, probably at a meeting of the Beltrami County Historical Society. Mittleholtz presents highlights from a thesis about Grand Portage, Minnesota. He discusses Ojibwe people, missionaries, schoolteachers, and the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Fort William in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada. The presentation is continued from BCHS 044a. The second part of the recording is a group discussion and was conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis on an unrecorded date in an unrecorded location. The unidentified narrators discuss logging, lumber camps, and log drives in northern Minnesota in the early 1900s. They also discuss spearing fish, making tea from native plants, and experiencing discrimination against the French.
This sound clip highlights stories about the Sandridge Settlers. 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 Frans and Alfhilda Elisa (Mellstrom) Grahn of Spruce 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 Hans Martin Hanson and his son Karl E Hanson of Elkwood 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 John Sr and Amanda (Larson) Rosen and John Jr and Mary (Sourdiff) Rosen families of Jadis 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.
