Curtis, Penny Foran; Cameron, Harriet Villemin; Warfield, Charles
Date Created:
1950 - 1959
Description:
The first portion of the recording is an interview with an unidentified narrator conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis in December 1953 in an unrecorded location. The unidentified narrator discusses fishing at Chippewa Falls, Minnesota in the early 1900s and spearing fish. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including sharing food and cutting hay together. The second portion of the recording is an interview with Penny Foran Curtis, Harriet Villemin Cameron, Susie Curtis, and other members of the Curtis family, conducted by Dr. Charles Vandersluis in December 1953 in an unrecorded location. The unidentified narrators provide updates about their lives and send Christmas greetings to Aunt Alice [Cameron Bowers], Uncle Archie [Archibald Bowers], and their children. The final portion of the recording is an interview with Charles Warfield conducted by Helen Warfield Schell (Warfield's daughter) and Dr. Charles Vandersluis in December 1953 in an unrecorded location. Warfield discusses establishing and building the Beltrami Light and Power Company, which started delivering electricity in 1898. He also discusses Bemidji's water tanks. He also describes interactions between white settlers and Ojibwe people, including the marriage of Chief Bemidji's daughter to a white man.
Henry Kolden discusses a man named Olson who was not a good lumberjack; what log drivers wore on their feet; how logs were marked; the route between Red Lake Agency and Fosston; the distance covered a day on a log drive; preventing logjams; who owned the timber; how they sharpened their axes; his regret in bringing his gun on his first trip to the area; lumberjack sky pilot Frank Higgins; hobos at Grand Forks; rain in 1896 washing out a log drive; selling his homestead; moving into Blackduck to start a store; and hauling supplies for the Langor schoolhouse. The recording is continued from BCHS 020a/b and BCHS 130a/b, and continues in 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.
