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.
There are at least four men in the group being interviewed, including Harry Carson and Earl Geil, and a man named Warner, probably Carl Warner. Quote attributed to "unkown" may refer to more than one man. One of the unidentified men could be a brother of Geil's, possibly Harry Geil. The group discusses the names of Chief Bemidji's children; the relationship between the Carsons and Chief Bemidji; a man named Hinch sketching Chief Bemidji for a statue; coming to Bemidji before the mill started; whether early Bemidji was safe for women; when the Geil family came to Bemidji; the Geils freighting for the Carsons; the Geils building a house; Geil and McTaggart purchasing the Remore Hotel; about Guy Remore; running the Remore Hotel; fleas, lice and bedbugs; the Markham Hotel; settlers who were in Bemidji before the Geils; hauling in a boiler from Park Rapids; working at the Steidl mills; the Swedback mill; about Warner's travels from North Dakota by covered wagon; Earl Geil stopping Willis Brannon's runaway team; their memories of the local panic about the Leech Lake uprising; when a group of Ojibwe raided a liquor delivery; the mission between Lake Andrusia and Cass Lake; the city opera house; early doctors, hospitals, and smallpox; the origin of the Bemidji fire department; and the fire on Whiskey Row. This record contains parts of multiple interviews. Please refer to the transcripts for help understanding these.
Photographer Niels Hakkerup discusses how he first came to Bemidji; his acquaintance with Chief Bemidji; taking photographs in lumber camps; his first studio on Third Street; where he got his equipment and training; photographing the Catholic church on Third Street; doing corporate work; burning his hand with magnesium; photographing lumberjacks; and a popular photograph of old John Smith. Hakkerup then discusses a photograph of Little Cloud published in the Minneapolis Journal; Charles W. Vandersluis interjects with a story about Long John dying of diphtheria; an award-winning photo of Mrs. Danielson; other award-winning photographs; a photograph of a young Ojibwe man standing on the shore with his bow in the air; and the lumber waste of undersized trees. He also identies a number of phograph subjects. One background speaker might be Dr. Vandersluis's father, Charles W. Vandersluis. At one point. Dr. Vandersluis addresses his brother, Angus.
In the first section of the four-part recording, Roy Bailey discusses the owners of the Red Lake railroad having found iron there; his arrival at Redby and the condition of the railroad then; how that railroad used to dump logs into the lake; how they loaded logs onto the train; Molander's background; early challenges with the Crookston Lumber Company; where logs hauled to Bemidji were landed; the railroad's ownership of a steamboat, the Michael Kelly; summer excursions to Red Lake from Bemidji; what early Redby was like; the relationship between the railroad and the post office in Redby; friends from Wahpeton telling him that Red Lake was a hard country; selling partridges to out-of-towners at a profit; trouble with a man named Joe Jourdain; and annoyances with cattle running wild in Redby area. Next, Bailey discusses a dispute between Newman and Pat Cassin; a prank he pulled on Charlie Vandersluis and Bill Browning; the layout of the Redby depot; stops and fares along the railroad; government waste in shipping items to the school at Ponemah; when Captain Eberhard gave him a boat; memories of the boat the J. P. K.; a description of the steamboat the Mudhen; what happened to some of the steamboats; the background of the Thief River Falls Lumber Company; the first automobile in Redby; local saw mills; memories of A. C. Goddard; the robbery at Puposky; and killing bedbugs at the depot. There are two additional portions of the recording.
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.
This sound clip highlights the families of Augustus and Isabelle (Marchand) Huerd of Cedarbend Township and Albert H and Catherine (Dick) Jewell of Warroad. 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.
