"In Honour of the Mandans"

July 27, 2009

Fort Mandan, named by Lewis & Clark “in honour of the Mandans,” took 51days to build -- from November 3, 1804 to December 24, 1804. What you see here is an exact replica. The Corps of Discovery lived in it for three months and two weeks until April 7, 1805. Triangular in shape, two rooms at the point of the triangle served as storage for supplies. The rest of the rooms, consisting of four on each side (total of eight) without windows were cramped sleeping quarters. Over 45 people lived here that cold winter in those eight rooms. When the party passed this way on the return trip, the fort was partly destroyed by fire and partly by river flooding.

Clark wrote that some mornings were so cold that it would not be prudent to go hunting. His journal recorded temps of minus 40 degrees F. The Mandans would visit from across the Missouri River and bring them food. Each of the rooms had a fireplace. To keep themselves busy, the men built two pirogues out of huge cottonwood logs for the trip further upstream through Montana.

It was here that Lewis & Clark hired Touissant Charboneau, a 44-year-old French Canadian trapper, and his 16-year-old Shoshone wife, Sakakawea, as interpreters. Sakakawea was pregnant at the time but gave birth to Jean Baptiste Charboneau in February 1805 -- two months before departure from Ft. Mandan. It was a good thing for the expedition, because the presence of a woman and her baby signalled to all tribes the expedition’s friendly intentions.

Sakakawea

July 28, 2009

This statue of Sakakawea was dedicated in 1906 and is located across the street from the Capitol building in Bismark ND. Created by sculptor Leonard Crunell of Chicago for the 100th anniversary of the Lewis & Clark expedition, the statue was unveiled on this site on October 13, 1910.

Professor Robinson in History of North Dakota wrote the following paragraphs about this lady at pages 43 & 44 which are quoted in full:

At Fort Mandan “Lewis and Clark soon learned about Sakakawea, a young Shoshoni woman of seventeen who had been captured in the Rockies by a war party of Hidatsas. Toussaint Charbonneau, a Frenchman living in the Knife River Villages, had bought her. Now Lewis & Clark hired him as an interpreter in order to secures the services of his wife as a guide. The couple moved to Fort Mandan, where, on February 11, 1805, Sakakawea gave birth to ‘a fine boy.’ The baby, Baptiste, was taken along on the journey to the Pacific.

“Finding Sakakawea was a master stroke (for Lewis & Clark). Perhaps no single act contributed so much to the success of the expedition, for she was, according to Lewis, their ‘only dependence for a friendly negociation with the Snake (Shoshoni) Indians on whom we depend for horses to assist us in our portage from the Missouri to the columbia river.’ Clark, especially, came to have a high regard for her, calling her ‘Janey,’ and she -- a gentle, brave, attractive girl -- returned his affection. He later educated Baptiste in St. Louis, and after her death in 1812, he adopted her daughter.

“For her part in the great enterprise, Sakakawea won undying fame with the American public. She has had more memorials dedicated to her than any other American woman: a river, a mountain pass, statues in bronze at St. Louis, Portland and Bismark; a bronze tablet at Three Forks, Montana; a monument at Armstead, Montana; a public fountain at Lewiston ID; and a cement shaft on the Shoshoni Reservation in Wyoming. “

Sakakawea has been the subject of much historical debate. In Hidatsa her name means “Bird Woman,” but in Shoshoni something else. North Dakota has settled the spelling dispute by adopting “Sakakawea.” Did she have an affair with Capt. Clark? That’s been settled with a “NO.” And the time & place of her death has been settled: She died in December 1812 at Fort Manuel on the Missouri River, just south of the North Dakota border.

On The Hoist

July 28, 2009

Today was our day off so we went down to Bismark to see our motor home. Lo and behold, it was resting comfortably on the hoist at the Silbernagel Auto Shop. The two sets of legs you see under the coach belong to the mechanics who were removing the transmission, which has to come out before the engine comes out. We also saw our new engine which arrived last Friday.

We were told that it is very likely that we can get our motor home by the end of the week. That was very good news.

We left a set of instructions in writing and asked that they be taped to the ticket. They were as follows:
1. Make sure the serpentine belt on the new engine is the correct one.
2. Use regular oil [not synthetic] because several oil changes will be required during the break-in period.
3. Check axle fluid and top them off.
4. Use new transmission fluid.
5. Lubricate the chassis.
The manual calls for these items and, as long as the RV was on the hoist, it was a good time to get this all done. The only thing they couldn’t do, was rotate the tires, so we’ll take care of that when we get back to Florida. From our visual inspection, it appears the tires are wearing evenly and we are about halfway through the useful life of the tires.

North Dakota Heritage Center

July 28, 2009

The State Historical Society of North Dakota preserves and interprets treasures from the past -- treasures meant to be shared and experienced. This Heritage Center is undergoing a renovation and the architect’s rendering above shows how it will look upon completion. In the meantime, it is open to the public and admission is free.

“The State wishes to give back to the people and all who visit here,” said the charming lady at the front desk. “That is why we will never charge admission.”

That made us feel very good and very welcome. It took several hours and some of the highlights we saw were a mastadon skeleton, tipis, bison up close, a very old John Deere tractor, a Model T Ford and many other old time artifacts.

There was a separate exhibit on the “cold war” period when North Dakota was dotted with missile silos in the ground, armed with nuclear warheads. However, we declined to take it in. We are generally aware that North Dakota still plays a major role in our nation’s defense, but the missiles in the underground launching pads are not armed with nuclear warheads.

Driving around North Dakota, we saw several missile sites. You can’t miss them, a small brown ranch house with white trim, surrounded by a high cyclone fence with circular razor wire at the top. Security is very tight and we would never go near one of these sites.

Oil is now a big thing for North Dakota, giving the state a real economic shot in the arm. There was an interesting model of an oil rig at the center. Newly discovered oil deposits, as vast as those in Alaska, have kept North Dakota’s unemployment rate down -- one of the best in the nation. Jobs are plentiful in North Dakota. However, we are retired and don’t feel like working any more.

The Heritage Center is on the State Capitol Campus -- across the street from the Capitol itself.

North Dakota Bounty

July 26, 2009

WE found a hydroponic food source six miles from the park -- over in Hensler ND. The farmer told us we are welcome anytime. Today he sold us two green and two red peppers, a bunch of red onions & white onions, two tomatoes and a bag of golden new potatos. All of this cost $10 and the tastiness was worth ten times that much.

Lewis & Clark Interpretative Center

July 27, 2009

Our work assignment today was to visit the Lewis & Clark Interpretative Center at Washburn ND. We would have visited here anyway, but we try to be flexible and indicated what a great idea it was to send us there. The sculture outside the center is a bigger-than-life size depiction of Lewis and Clark meeting with a Mandan chief.

The Corps of Discovery, consisting of 44 men, started on this epic journey up the Missouri River in a keel boat on May 14, 1804. The expedition arrived here on October 24, 1804, and decided to winter here with the Mandans across the river, who provided food throughout the winter.


The North Dakota Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center provides an overview of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, with special emphasis on the time spent at Fort Mandan during the winter of 1804- 1805. The displays include Native American artifacts, a buffalo robe we could touch and wear, as well as a "cradle-board" much like the one Sakakawea may have used to carry her baby. An authentic 3’x3’ wood canoe[pirogue] carved from the trunk of a large cottonwood tree, weighing 11 tons, demonstrates the winter preparations the Expedition made while at Fort Mandan.

The Interpretive Center's Bergquist Gallery, one of only four galleries in the world to house a complete collection, rotates the prints of Karl Bodmer, a Swiss artist travelling with Maximilian, on a seasonal basis. Bodmer's watercolors and Maximilian's written descriptions are considered the most complete and reliable eyewitness account of the Upper Midwest Indian cultures.

Father & Daughter

July 27, 2009

The father is Jim LeDoux and the daughter is Katy Kassian. Jim is visiting here and Katy lives here in Washburn ND and works at the Lewis & Clark Cafe. We met Katy last week and liked her positive, friendly spirit. Last Friday, when she learned that was have been to Sacramento where she is from, she introduced us to her father who happened to be there for lunch.

We invited Jim to visit Cross Ranch SP and, sure enough, he came out this morning and I gave him the VIP tour in our electric car. Jim, age 71, is a very congenial and pleasant sort of fellow. We both have been in Scouting for 30+ years. For 38 years, Jim owned and operated an automobile store near Davis CA. He was born in Proctor, near Duluth MN. He spent time in Alaska and both father and daughter are cancer survivors. I thought that was mighty impressive.

We swapped stories for a couple of hours as we toured the park. We hit it off and we hope our trails cross again.

Knife River Indian Villages

July 25, 2009

Our work assignment today was to attend the Northern Great Plains Culture Fest at this national historic site - just a half mile north of Stanton, county seat of Mercer County. This is the village that Sakakawea came from when her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, was hired by Lewis & Clark as an interpreter in 1804. Sakakawea wasn’t going to be left behind on that trip.

We enjoyed our work assignment thoroughly. Lois visited with Buffalo Bill Cody who told us of his exploits. He claims to have killed 4,300 buffalo in 18 months, hence his nickname of Buffalo Bill. Instead of musket balls, he used real bullets and could be more productive that way. Later in life he regretted his buffalo kills and tried to get those eastern dudes to ease up, which, of course, did not happen.

We visited with other reenactors and Lois bought a beautiful bracelet from a Hidatsa [different from Mandan] woman who does beautiful beadwork. Our visit with her was both enjoyable and instructive. Also there were programs going on all day, including Indian dancers which were fun to watch. Other presentations included flute music, fiddle music, storytelling and early fur traders.

There is a visitor center with a fine introductory movie which we saw. The permanent exhibit is a round earth lodge which is quite impressive. The door is a hanging buffalo skin. The walls are reinforced inside with verticle logs and other timbers reinforce the roof. The whole structure is covered over with prairie sod which acts as an insulator. The inside diameter of this structure is at least 40 feet.

We had lunch of buffalo meet and fry bread; Lois wanted a hot dog, just in case. The meat tasted just like beef. Very tasty.

Ft. Clark Trading Post

July 25, 2009

North Dakota historical experts believe this is one of the most important historical sites in the state. All that is left is a series of round depressions in the ground, about 40' in diameter, where the Mandan lodges were located.

Mandan Indians built earthlodge villages here in 1822 and, eight years later, James Kipp built Ft. Clark Trading Post just south of the Mandan village. It was a fort with vertical log barricades. It measured 134 feet x 154 feet.

In 1837, 90 percent of the population here was wiped out by an epidemic of smallpox when infected passengers from the steamboat St. Peters socialized briefly with the Mandans who had no immunity defense to the disease. Historians are convinced that the crew of the steamboat knew about the requirement to quarantine where smallpox was present, but decided to pull up to shore at Ft. Clark anyway, because they had orders from The American Fur Company to pick up bales of Buffalo hides. Money spoke louder than humanitarian concerns, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Native Americans.

There is a journal with exquisite details of what life was like in those days, written by Francis A. Chardon -- should be available on Amazon. [Source: Passport to North Dakota History, p.35]

Cross Ranch Nature Preserve

July 26, 2009

Laura Kohn gave a talk on the Cross Ranch Nature Preserve last night -- a tract of land that includes 6,000 acres of rolling prairie land. Lois and I had popcorn duty so we had to be there. About 10 campers were there voluntarily.

Cross Ranch was the name of a North Dakota ranch of about 11,000 acres, established in 1879 by A. D. Gaines, a professor of classical literature. Mr. Gaines came to central North Dakota as a land agent for the Northern Pacific Railway.

When Teddy Rooselvelt gave up his ranch near Medora ND in the 1890’s, he let his branding rights lapse. His brand was the Maltese Cross, shown above, and in North Dakota one has to pay an annual fee to the state to maintain rights to the brand. So the enterprising Mr. Gaines bought the rights to this brand when he had learned that Teddy Roosevelt had let his lapse.

The ownership of the Gaines Ranch passed in 1956 to Bob and Gladys Lewis who renamed the property Cross Ranch. The Lewis’ later sold their ranch to The Nature Conservancy which has holdings in all 50 states and 30 other countries around the world. [Worth a google on the Internet] The Nature Conservancy kept 6,000 acres, donated some land for a state park [Cross Ranch State Park] and sold off the rest. They operate out of the original farmstead, managing a bison herd of 180 head, the prairie burns in the spring and monitoring the white plover population in central North Dakota. The organization owns two other ranches in central North Dakota.

Situated here along a scenic stretch of the Missouri River, the preserve protects the largest tract of forest in North Dakota. The forest features a canopy of cottonwoods, green ash, boxelder, elm and bur oak shading a lush carpet of grasses, sedges and wildflowers.

The native prairies of North Dakota once ecompassed more than 90 percent of the land area. Today, less than 15 percent remains. Iowa and Minnesota lost much more prairie with human occupancy. Throughout the summer, the prairie is ablaze with bright colors from more than 100 species of wildflowers. I personally have seen many tiger lilies, wild roses and other flowers.

Wildlife abounds here. White-tailed and mule deer, badger, racoon and coyotes roam the area. The bison herd was reintroduced in 1986 -- 23 years ago. Over 100 species of birds have been recorded nesting and migrating through the preserve.

The preserve embraces more than 100 archeological sites, including Mandan-Hidatsa settlements and Archaic artifacts [6,000 B.C. to 1 A.D.]. There are three bound volumes of these sites in the Visitor Center library at the State Park.

More About Cross Ranch

July 23, 2009

This photo shows we are properly situated in the Campground Host site. The electric truck is our work vehicle and the car is a new Hyundai with only 4,000 miles on it. We rented it at Enterprise in Bismark for $600 for the month. The fifth wheel belongs to Lyle and Liz Hendrickson who generously let us use it while our motor home is being worked on. It is a 1997 Terry, but everything in it works just great. They came with us last Monday to help park and set it up for us. They plan to come down to the park again and spend a few days when we get our motor home, hopefully next week.

This entire park consists of a first growth of cottonwood trees and the trunks appear to be 12 to 18 inches in diameter. Chip told us that cottonwood trees will only grow where there is no flooding. Since the Garrison Dam was completed in 1956, this stand of cottonwoods must be over 50 years old. Coming along behind the cottonwoods are ash and elm trees.

The cottonwood is a large shallow-rooted tree with waxy, heart-shaped leaves that make a unique rustling sound in the wind, similar to the related quaking aspen. For thousands of years the cottony seeds germated in the thin layers of mud left behind when the Missouri River overflowed its banks in the spring. The Oahe and Garrison Dams not only drowned vast stands of cottonwoods, but also made it difficult for the seed to germinate in fresh mud.

Smith Grove a few miles south of here is one of the few remaining old-growth cottonwoods in North Dakota. Some of the trees here have diameters up to seven feet and are estimated to be 275 years old. When Lewis and Clark arrived here 205 years ago, these trees must have looked like the ones we are looking at in Cross Ranch. [Geology of the Lewis and Clark Trail, by Hoganson and Murphy, pp. 90 & 93]

Hoganson and Murphy go on to say that Cross Ranch SP is one of the best places to experience the pristine nature of the Missouri River. When one drives out of the park, he quickly gets into the glaciated, rolling topography of the region.

Today there was a visitor from state headquarters who is a tree expert. Risk management people requested her to visit all the state parks and assess each tree. I asked her how she does that and she said there are ten factors to consider as she examines each tree. Then she rates the tree in general from one to ten and submits a report. The tens get marked for coming down and, depending on the size, maintenance staff does it or they hire it out to contractors who can bring in a cherry picker to take a tree out from the top down. Looking out the window of our RV, we can see a dead cottonwood with a trunk of about 15 inches which we hope our tree lady rated a 10.

As the tree lady goes from park to park, she brings her daughters with and they camp and ride their bikes. What a great way to spend the summer!

We earned our keep today and got our three hours logged. Lois likes to drive that electric vehicle.

Mowing Time

July 15, 2009

George mowed the lawn today on Liz and Lyle’s Cub Cadet, but in fairness Liz did the edging with a push mower first. The Hendrickson’s have a beautiful yard with about four acres of lawn.

The temps today were in the 50’s (F) and the winds were about 30 mph. The Hendrickson’s have a tree line around three sides of their property which does a great job of shielding their house and garden from the winds which blow hard across the prairies.

Lebanon Hills

Pat Rosvold asked us what we liked about this RV park. We said we liked the spaces between units, the well-manicured sites and the safe way in which this park is operated. Operated by the Parks Department of Dakota county, the Sheriff’s Department does the enforcement and regularly patrols the park. It is quiet and peaceful as well as beautiful to look at. The park is location on Johnny Cake Ridge Road in Eagan MN.

We have stayed here in previous years. It’s easy to get on I-35 and get around the Twin Cities. We’ve been here three nights this trip. Tomorrow we will head for North Dakota and some new adventures.

Onkel George Houses

This is an early 1950’s style home which my Dad built in 1954 on Baker St. in St. Paul -- two blocks from the house my grandfather built on Stevens St. A beautiful sun room is over the garage. My sisters, Margaret and Jean, lived here until they were married. My brother, Tom, also lived here. I never lived in this house

Jerry Terhaar

On July 9th, Lois and I spent three hours with Jerry Terhaar (right), his daughter, Pat Rosvold, age 49, and grandchildren, Cathryn, age 12, and Patrick, age 15. This was especially meaningful, because my cousin, Lois LaFavor Terhaar, passed just a few weeks earlier at age 88 and we were not able to get to the funeral from Florida. Jerry and Lois were married 60 years. We talked about times past, our wonderful Austrian relatives and family history.

I remember Jerry from before 60 years ago. He was a boarder at the LaFavor house on Stevens Street. He was a graduate of St. John’s University in Collegeville MN and served in the U.S. Navy on a destroyer-escort ship during WWII. When Jerry lived at LaFavor’s, his university and navy experiences were behind him and he was embarking on a business career at the E.M. Lohman Co. in St. Paul where he worked 20 years in sales. Then he worked another 20 years for another company before he entered his own business of making patches and cloisine pins which developed into into impressive revenues.

Onkel George built a home for Lois and Jerry on Hall Ave. in St. Paul. They had a great relationship. Later, Onkel George renovated a home for Lois and Jerry when they outgrew the Hall Ave. home. But, let’s go back 60 years when Jerry lived with the LaFavor’s.

At that time, Lois LaFavor was working in San Francisco for the Government. Jerry was living in Lois’ room which she left behind in the LaFavor house. Some time later, Lois decided she wanted to return home.

“What did you do then?” I asked Jerry.

“I did the only thing I could do, I married her,” responded Jerry with a big smile. “It took a little time, and I was really sure she was the one.” Jerry had written me a note earlier this year and in it told me that Lois is still his sweetheart. Nobody every doubted that.

Jerry knew my Aunt Catherine very well and recalled what a great seamstress she was. She made gowns for St. Paul society ladies and wedding gowns for every other lady. Louis LaFavor worked most of his life at the Hardenburgh company in St. Paul, maker of horse harnesses. With an eighth grade education, he learned accounting and worked his way up as part owner of the company. When cousin Chuck Wazlawik opened a grocery store on Stryker Ave., Uncle Louis did the accounting for the operation. I’ll always remember he wore a neatly ironed white shirt and tie. I never saw him in liesure or work clothes.

Uncle Louis and Catherine LaFavor were victims of the 1929 Wall Street crash and suffered through the Great Depression. They never stood in a bread line or sold apples on the street corner, but they learned how to mistrust banks, because hundreds and hundreds of banks failed and were never bailed out by the government. Stories about securing one’s money in shoe boxes or in a mattress are legend from that period.

Jerry tells about this one bureau drawer in the dining room of the house. Every time Louis came home he would go to that drawer, open it, feel the contents under a cloth and close it. The word in the household was this drawer was absolutely off limits to everyone. Jerry never learned what was in that drawer. That was Uncle Louis’ drawer.

Jerry will be 90 years old next birthday. Three years ago he was an avid golfer. As Jerry explains, spinal stenosis set in and paralyzed his legs. Today he gets around in a motorized chair which allows him to attend functions and play cards with his neighbors in this wonderful facility where he lives. He has daily in-home care and a great robust attitude as he always has exhibited.

Daughter Pat helped set up this visit and she brought along her two wonderful children. Patrick is an Eagle Scout and a catcher on a winning baseball team. It was a real pleasure to meet them. This was also the first time we met Pat Rosvold, as we have lived away from St. Paul for the past 55 years. We very much appreciated this opportunity to visit.

Rhea LaFavor Burns

On July 9, 2009, Lois and I visited cousin Rhea LaFavor Burns at her beautiful place in the Oakdale section of St. Paul. Together we figured out the last time we saw each other was in March of 1987 -- 22 years ago -- on the occasion of my mother’s funeral. That’s Rhea, sitting on the couch next to Lois. On the right is her husband of over 50 years -- Jack Burns, who, we are told, suffers from aphasia [a language disorder located in the brain] and he needs to use a walker. Both Rhea and Jack are 82 years of age. My sister Margaret and her husband Jerry used to celebrate birthdays together with Rhea and Jack for many years.

Standing behind the couch on both sides of me are two distant cousins whom I met for the first time today. To my right in the black blouse is Gerry Blair, a descendant of Jakob Fischer who lives in St. Paul. Gerry has been corresponding with me for over a year to add some 60 names to the family tree from the children of Jakob Fischer who came to America. These names will be added to the next edition of the Fischer Family Tree. Gerry works for UPS and is in her late 60’s.

To my left with the blonde hair is Elfriede Benson (geb. Schmidt) who is retired from Northwest Airlines. She lives in Bloomington MN, but was born in 1940 at Bruck, near Halbturn, Austria. She has offered to give us even more names to add to the family tree. She came to St. Paul in 1958, but has revisited Burgenland many times. At the end of the visit, Elfriede favored us all by singing “Beautiful Burgenland” -- the provincial song.

While we were there, Rhea and Jack’s oldest daughter, Paula, 55, showed up from Salt Lake UT and joined the group. She was here on vacation. She took the photo above. Paula was another first-time meeting and we found her to be very delightful and fun to talk to.

Velva Windfarm

July 12, 2009

This is the scene from the dining room and living room of Lyle and Liz Hendrickson ‘s house on North Highway 41, just a few miles north of Velva. The yellow field is cannola which is grown a lot in these parts. There is a cannola factory in Velva which converts the plant into cannola oil.

The 18 windmills on the horizon (not all of them in view) generate electricity. There are three blades 90’ long on each windmill, which is about 240 feet high. The shaft of the windmill is hollow and flexible and bends with the wind which can be very strong on the prairies. The windmills are computer controlled and can be turned to face the wind. The computers can also regulate the speed of ther windmills.

We were told that the farmer who leases his land for a windmill gets $6,000 per year land rent, plus a royalty off the sale of electricity. So the farmer here is getting $108,000 plus royalties. Renting the land for windmills does not take the land our of crop production; the farmer can plant and harvest crops if he so desires.

Towing Time 2

Monday July 12, 2009

Lyle and Liz Hendrickson drove 100 miles from Velva ND to Jamestown ND to rescue us and bring us home while our motor home was being worked on. Here, Lyle is watching as Larry the towing guy hooks up our rig for the second time for a ride to a GM facility in Bismark ND -- 100 miles further west on I-94. It will take at least a week to overhaul the 8.1 litre engine.

We spent the night here near the I-94 exit in Jamestown. The location was a gas station with lots of room. Lyle and Liz helped us tranfer our stuff from the motor home into their cargo trailer and we headed toward Velva -- 20 miles east of Minot ND.

Another Fischer House

This house was built by Grandpa Charles Fischer some time in the 1920’s. It is one block west from the LaFavor house on the same street (252 W. Stevens St.). My dad, “Onkel” George Fischer, bought this house in 1944 when I was 12 years old. I remember celebrating the end of WWII in 1945; VE Day was in March and VJ Day was in August. In 1946 I finished the eighth grade at St. Matthew School.

For the next five years I lived away from home at school, but lived here during vacation time. Then, for two more years, I lived here full time -- until marriage in December, 1953. I was graduated from the University of Minnesota in June, 1954, and started my two-year military obligation the following September.

LaFavor House

On July 9, 2009, we took this photo of the LaFavor house on Stevens Street on the West Side of St. Paul. We were on our way to visit cousin Rhea Burns (geb. LaFavor), age 82, youngest of the three LaFavor girls, who was born in this house and lived here until she married Jack Burns.

More significant is the fact that Grandpa Charles Fischer built this house in 1922 without power tools for his daughter, Catherine and son-in-law, Louis LaFavor, who were married at St. Matthew Church in 1921. Until the house was completed, Catherine and Louis lived in an apartment a few blocks away. Once they moved in, Catherine and Louis lived here for the rest of their life. For most of these years, the house was painted white.

For me, this house was a favorite stopping off place where I always got a smile and a warm welcome -- sometimes a cookie and a glass of milk. This house was on the route to and from school; I lived in another Fischer house one block away. Back in the 1930’s and 1940’s we all walked the mile or so to school (1.5 km) -- we never rode a school bus. I loved to stop here because Aunt Catherine and Uncle Louis were so friendly and they always had time to visit with me.

One time, when I was in third or fourh grade, I stopped after school to show Aunt Catherine my report card and she said, “You should show that to your mother.”

I said, “OK, let’s call her.”

We called and I tried to show my mother the report card over the telephone. I remember Aunt Catherine laughed and laughed about that. It’s funny how a little happy incident like this is remembered for the rest of one’s life.

Tow Time 1

July 11, 2009

We were on I-94 west of Fargo and 55 miles east of Jamestown ND when suddenly we hear snapping and clicking sounds under the engine cover, called the “dog house.” A few miles more, the battery charging light goes on and the alert buzzer started going. I lost power steering and soon the engine coolant was boiling over. We pulled over on the side at milepost 310.

This experience is unnerving, especially to a non-mechanic, and we had to gather our wits about us. The first thing we did was call the Workhorse road service. Immediately the man answering the call said. “It sounds like the serpentine belt to me; can’t be anything else.”

“Don’t drive your motor home, because you can seriously damage the engine,” he added.

He gave the names of two towing services and recommended we go to the Chevvy dealer in Jamestown ND. I called Interstate Towing in Jamestown and he was there in two hours with a new belt. Unfortunately it was not the right size so he hooked us up to the wrecker which is a massive PeterBilt shown in the photo. We were towed to the truck stop in Jamestown, arriving just before midnight.

We were allowed to hook up water and electricity (30 amps) and we both had a good night’s sleep. That helps because a good sleep takes up time. Breaking down requires a lot of time and patience. As I write this, the breakdown occured about 24 hours ago and no one has knocked on our door. It is Sunday afternoon and the services are just not available. We’ve read the Jamestown newspaper from cover to cover and now we are getting into deeper material. All this helps to develop the virtue of patience.

Gol Stave Church

July 16, 2009

Lyle and Liz Hendrickson took us to Minot ND today and took us to the Scandanavian Heritage Park where we saw this beautiful structure. It is a full-scale replica of a church built in the year 1250 in Hallingdal, Norway, overlooking the community of Gol.

The origins of this church go back to King Olaf of Norway who became a Christian while traveling around as a Viking. The magnificent structure is full of symbolism, starting with the four corner staves representing Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. There are fourteen “X” shaped crosses inside, known as St. Andrew crosses. The 12 log pillars or staves represent the 12 apostles.

By the year 1300 there were over 1,000 stave churchs and they were all alike. Today there are less than 29 in all of Norway. They all have wooden joinery, with tongue-and-groove floor and walls, and no glues or fasteners. The structure is completely flexible and each joint can expand or contract depending on the humidity and temperature.

The stave churches through time were considered wooden treasures because of their artistic and technical construction. They were Christian messages carved in wood. The ceiling looks like the inside of an overturned ship and was strong enough to hold up under a storm and the weight of snow. The carvings of the dragon heads are like those on the ships they built and the pole at the very top of the church is known as a mast.

The original Gol church remained where it was built for over 700 years, but in the year 1882, King Oscar II had it dismantled and moved to Oslo where it now is located at the Oslo Museum. We are fortunate in that we have an exact replica to enjoy right here.

Cross Ranch SP

July 22, 2009

Today was our first day of work at Cross Ranch and we spent the entire time with orientation. By entire time we are talking three to three and a half hours a day for five days a week. We get Tuesdays and Wednesdays off.

“Chip” Cartwright is our immediate supervisor and he has been here five years as a seasonal “paid” worker and he has been in every position during that time, even acting director of the park between real directors. Chip is in his 60’s and is a retired 30-year employee of the U.S. Forest Service. A graduate of Virginia Tech in 1960, Chip’s vocabulary, knowledge and interpersonal skills are very impressive. Both Lois and I know we will enjoy working with him. He lives in a fifth wheel and winters on South Padre Island, TX.

Our duties are to patrol around and be the eyes and ears. On Friday and Saturday nights we make popcorn and show a slide program. We police the camp areas for litter and make sure the place is neat for campers. This morning we helped dismantle two teepees which belong to the National Park Service.

Lois said after our first work day, “I think this is going to be a very nice gig.”

Cross Ranch is a 589 acre grove of towering cottonwood trees along a seven-mile stretch of the Missouri River. It was a gift to the people of North Dakota in 1989 -- the centennial year. The rest of the land gifted to the state is now a nature conservancy of some 6,000 acres to restore the high prairieland, described by Meriwether Lewis in 1804, to its original state. Today we observed a herd of about 50 buffalo grazing there.

Lewis and Clark actually camped across the river from here. The river current here is about seven to 10 knots -- a far cry from the free flowing river of 200 years ago before the Army Corps of Engineers created the dams that form Lake Sakakawea and Lake Oahe. Garrison Dam, for example, was finished in 1954 and the lake took several years to fill up. The location is 20 or so miles upstream from here.

Hensler ND is six miles up the gravel road next to Hwy 200. This town has seen better days -- not one commercial establishment.

Washburn ND is where we will do laundry, shop and get on the internet -- three hot spots are available for wifi. We have had lunch at the Lewis & Clark Cafe. There’s a drug store, hardware and a Super Valu for groceries. That’s Washburn, named after a wealthy Minneapolis miller who promoted a railroad through here in 1899. His primary goal was to link up with a lignite bed he owned near Wilton ND to the south along Hwy. 83. In 1900, that lignite bed was producing 100 tons of coal per day. [Source: History of North Dakota by Elwyn B. Robinson] The homes in Washburn are pristine; we haven’t seen one that needs a paint job. Almost from any point in Washburn, you can see the mighty Missouri River. And the people are so friendly here.

Totten Trail

July 17, 2009

Lyle said this is a must visit for “supreme pizza” and he was correct. Totten Trail is located at Lake Audubon ND on Hwy 83 about 40 miles north of Bismark. We ordered one pizza and easily took care of four people. Cost: $24.00.

This is the only place to east for 15 miles around. There were a lot of people here, mostly family vacationers and fishermen who like to fish in Lake Audubon or Lake Sakakawea. We enjoyed this little spot.

Totten Trail and Fort Totten are historically significant here. Fort Totten, near Devil’s Lake, was constructed in 1867 and used as a military fort until 1890, when it was converted to a boarding school for Dakota Indian Children. Part of our brilliant Indian policy required the “Americianization” of children by schooling them them in the “white man’s culture.” The school closed in 1959.

Simcoe Sons of Norway

July 18, 2009

Simcoe ND (population one, sometimes two or three) is located on a gravel road next to the Great Northern tracks -- three miles east of Highway 41. The sole resident, Mr. Dan Gilbertson, shirtless with a can of beer, came out to see what we were doing there. He told us the Sons of Norway building, a frame store-front structure with this beautiful, sun-baked mural of a Norwegian Fjord, was supposed to be moved to the Scandanavian Heritage Park in Minot, but the engineers concluded it would fall apart before it got too far down the road.

Although the building is over 100 years old, the mural celebrates the North Dakota Centennial of 1989. We didn’t measure but we could see it took up one and a half sheets of 4’x8’ plywood.

“We sure used to have some real parties there,” Gilbertson said. “We’d all get drunk and then get into it with the Germans who used to party there too.”

Simcoe is essentially a North Dakota ghost town. The bank vault is all that is left of the bank. There are a few buildings with No-Trespassing signs on them. Gilbertson’s house has about ten junkers parked around it. Then there’s the huge pre-WWII grain elevator where they used to load grain onto the trains. Lyle Henrickson remembers hauling truckloads to this elevator when he was a teenager.

According to “No Place,” by Douglas A. Wick (1988), Sincoe was establish in Hendrickson Township in 1910 by the Great Northern Railway. It was named by the RR officials for Sincoe, Ont., Canada, which in turn was named for John Graves Simcoe (1752 - 1806), British Revolutionary War veteran and Governor of Upper Canada, who is credited with opening up large areas of Canada for Settlement. The post office was closed in 1954 and the populaton of Simcoe was never more than 20.

North Prairie School #4

July 18, 2009

North Prairie School #4 is where Lyle Hendrickson, age 71, went to school from the first to part of the third grade. That was 65 years ago.

Lyle said he walked to school one and a half miles from Aunt Edna’s farm where he lived at the time. We met Edna Solheim at the Trinity Home in Minot -- a delightful, bright and cheerful lady of 99 years of age. We saw Edna’s name on the Stave Church in Minot. She was a donor there. We also saw Edna’s name on the patio which she and her husband sponsored at the welcome center in the Scandanavian Heritage Park in Minot.

We got Lyle to reminisce about his school days here. We were interested because my mother, Dorothy Malay Fischer, taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Houston County MN from 1928 to 1930, after she received her teaching certificate from Moorhead Teacher’s College.

When Lyle went to school here, there were seven children in the whole school -- four in his grade and the remaining three in other grades. He remembers the McGuffy Reader and his teacher, Haddie Deibler, “who was just a big mother hen.” Haddie lived at the closest farm and also walked to school about a half mile each way.

“Haddie would have us writing letters to Santa Claus,” Lyle recalled, “ and one Spring we found those letters in the ditch after a Spring snowmelt.”

“Haddie explained that those letters must have fallen out of Santa’s sleigh after visiting us on Christmas.”

The schoolhouse was heated by a coal furnace. Every morning Haddie would make some cream tomatoe soup which we had for lunch. Those of us who wanted brought a potato wrapped in foil and we stuck those in the coals so they were ready for lunch, Lyle said.

There were no discipline problems. No bullies. No ADD or ADHD. Therefore no ritilin. No special ed. Everyone was treated with respect and treated equally. According to Lyle, North Prairie School #4 was a very happy place. No those were the days.

Juicy Juneberries

July 14, 2009

Lyle and I went berry picking today and it was a berry that I have never heard of -- JUNEBERRIES. A friend stopped by last night at the house and talked about how he had picked two gallons of juneberries. Lyle said, “That’s something George and I have to do.”

The preparation was almost as intricate as the berry-picking trip itself. We loaded up the Honda ATV into the cargo trailer. We gathered buckets and lengths of line to tie the buckets to our belts. Lyle, age 70, gave me a berry picking lesson on how to get the berries from the tree to the bucket.

Juneberries are delicious, reminding me of blue berries. Lyle ate almost as many as he placed in the bucket. We found a place to park the truck and trailer about half way between Velva and Minot ND. We were on high ground and could see for miles overlooking the Mouse River Valley. We jumped on the ATV and went from thicket to thicket on the right of way. Some of the thickets were already picked; the locals and the birds love to go after their juneberries. We ended up with a half gallon in two hours of picking.

The Juneberry (Amelanchier spp. Nutt) is a member of the rose family along with the apple, pear and raspberry. Other common names given the fruit include serviceberry, sarvisberry, mountain Juneberry, western shadbush and Rocky Mountain blueberry.

The bush grows as high as 18 feet and bears masses of white snowy flowers in spring. The fruit is borne in clusters of six to 12 and ripens to purple, red or black. Some cultivars have cream-colored fruit. Size of wild berries ranges from 1/4 to 3/8 inches in diameter. Some cultivated bushes have fruit up to 5/8 inches in diameter.

The berries can be eaten fresh or used for wine, home canning, pies, jams and fruit rolls. The plants make attractive ornamental bushes and are also used for wildlife plantings and windbreaks. As for me, I had fresh juneberries on my cereal every day for a week.

Garrison Dam

July 17, 2009

Lyle and Liz toured us around the area of the Cross Ranch SP and one of the highlights was driving over the Garrison Dam on the east end of Lake Sakakawea, which is a man-made lake on the Missouri River formed by the dam. It took years to build the dam and then many more years to fill up the lake.

There are so many recreational areas around here. We are looking forward to exploring this area more as we have time off at Cross Ranch. We did visit Cross Ranch and met “Chip” Cartwright, Marie Mettler and Laura Kohn, park interpreter.

We did not meet the park manager -- Eric Lang. They were waiting for us and said we could come in any time. They answered our questions and we indicated we would arrive Monday, July 20th.

At Cross Ranch, we are 14 miles from Washburn and Washburn is 35 miles north of Bismark on Hwy 83. We think we have selected a great place to spend four weeks as volunteers.

Food Storage Technology

At the Scandanavian Heritage Park in Minot, we inspected this food storage building built out of logs, some of which were carved. This one sod-topped building is for one family. It’s called a “stabburs.” Found on many farms in Norway, the “stabburs” store grain and other dried foodstuffs on the first floor. Meat, cheese and other foods are stored on the upper floor.

We saw buildings similar to the “stabburs” built by the Athabascans in Alaska. In Alaska they are called “caches.” It could be that food storage in cold climates is more common sense than technology.

David Thompson Monument

July 19, 2009

Lyle Henrickson is waving from a ND historic site which is about 15 miles from his house. Earlier I had sent an e-mail to Lyle and Liz and they told us they didn’t know about this monument so near their home. Without Lyle and Liz, I doubt if we would ever have found this on our own. We thought maybe this place gets a visitor every couple of years.

The land and monument for this site were donated by the Great Northern Railroad (which is now Burlington Northern Santa Fe) to honor David Thompson, (1770- 1857) “greatest land geographer who ever lived.” He mapped over 3.9 million km of North America, including North Dakota. Lewis and Clark used his maps on their 1804-1806 expedition up the Missouri River.

David Thompson came through here in 1797 while on a scientific and trading expedition for the Northwest Company, a Hudson’s Bay Company competitor. He made the first reliable map of this area.

David Thompson was also a fur trader, surveyor and astronomer. The native people here called him “Koo-Koo-Sint” which means “stargazer.”

Dalarna Dala

July 16, 2009

Lyle, Lois and Liz -- the three L’s -- stand beside the huge Dala (pronounced “daw’-la”) in the Scandanavian Heritage Park in Minot ND. Lyle is 6’-2” so you can see the horse is at least six times the height of Lyle.

The horse is a Swedish national symbol and since Lois’ grandfather came from Smaland in southern Sweden, this had a special meaning for her. The Dala horse has been made in the provice of Dalarna for over 500 years. Dalarna is a furniture area, and the horse is carved out of scraps. Skills for carving this horse were passed on from generation to generation. The carving craft flourished in the 19th century as the tiny horses became important trade items.

Today the horses are carved and painted in the style of the antique horses found in museums or private collections. It is one of Sweden’s few living folk traditions.

Illinois Capitol

Georgia took this photo of me in front of this huge painting of George Rogers Clark having a pow wow with Indians on the banks of the Mississippi River. The painting dates from 1895.




The Illinois Senate Chamber where President Obama served.

The Illinois Capitol Building in Springfield IL (1865).

Lincoln Tomb

This is another popular place for tourists -- Lincoln's Tomb in Sprngfield IL where the president, his wife (Mary Todd Lincoln) and three of their four sons are resting. Willie, the son who died inn the White House, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Only two of the four sons outlived the parents. President Lincoln experienced a great deal of sadness within his family because of the passing of two sons.

Lincoln Museum

The Fischer's and the Lincoln's mingle at the Museum.
Can you see Lois and Georgia in this group?


The old train station in Springfield IL is where we bought our tickets for a wonderful experience.

When we walked in the Lincoln Museum today, we first headed for the introductory presentation with holographs. The special effects were amazing, making our seats shake when cannons went off.

Lois said, "The is one of the best presentations I have ever seen, anywhere."

Everything presented here is world class. The two sides of the museum feature the pre-presidential years and the White House years. Lincoln's entire presidency was taken up with the American Civil War. His life and presidency ended only weeks after the war had ended.

The impact that Lincoln has on us today is simply awesome. The crowds that came to the museum today prove that his influence is still with us 144 years after his death.

New Salem IL

24 log structures like this were reconstructed in the 1930's.


Lois and her younger brother, Walt Wissing, are enjoying a visit at New Salem IL -- 20 miles NW from Springfield IL. Walt and Barbara traveled from Sierra Vista AZ to be here and we came from Palmetto FL. We had a good visit over the 4th of July weekend.

New Salem is a reconstructed village of 24 log buildings that were here in 1831 when Abe Lincoln arrived as a young adult of 21 years of age. This was a construction project of the CCC in the 1930's and we are able to enjoy it in 2009. New Salem existed for only about 10 years and Lincoln lived here for six out of those ten years.

When Lincoln left New Salem in 1837, he traveled 20 miles to Springfield in order to practice law.

The film and the brochure about New Salem says, "From the gangling young man who came to the village in 1831 with no definite objectives, he became a man of purpose as he embarked upon a career of law and statesmanship."

So Lincoln's time in New Salem were very formative. He arrived on a flatboat with no prospects. Then he got some jobs and eventually he was appointed as a postmaster for the village. He read all the newspapers that came in by mail. He read as much as he could and walked eight miles one time to borrow a book on grammar. Lincoln only had one year of formal education; all the rest he did on his own -- very remarkable for a person would became the 16th President of the United States.

In was in New Salem that Lincoln sat under the shade trees and read law books. For work, he split rails, took a flat boat to New Orleans and operated a store, which failed.

The reason New Salem didn't last long as a town was 1) the Sangamon River turned out not to be very navigable and 2) the town lost its bid to become the Menard County seat. From 1840 until 1930 New Salem was pastureland.