Sherburne County Heritage Center Interpretive Plan Final Report 2005Sherburne bounty heritage Center
Interpretive Plan
Final Report
Submitted by
Finding inspiration in the past, creating meaning for the present and planning for the future.
Making Sense of Place, Inc.
Thomas A. Woods, President
1521 Grandview Ave.
Oconomowoc, WI 53066
(262) 569-1698
tom@makingsenseofplace.com
April 21, 2005
Sherburne County Heritage Center Interpretive Plan
Table of Contents
Background................................................................................................................ 2
Audience....................................................................................................................
2
Overall Interpretive Strategy......................................................................................
4
Research, Themes, and Station Experiences............................................................
4
StationOrganization..................................................................................................
5
InterpretiveProgram..................................................................................................
5
Interpretive Themes for SCHS Heritage Center.........................................................
9
Interpretive Stations and Topics Summary..............................................................
10
InterpretiveStation Matrix........................................................................................
11
ExhibitStation: 1................................................................................................................
11
Topic: Orientation to Site and Red River Ox Cart Trails ...............................................
11
ExhibitStation: 2...............................................................................................................
15
Topic: Transportation —Bailey Station...........................................................................
15
ExhibitStation: 3................................................................................................................
20
Topic: Clitty Lake Overlook --Impact of Marshes, Lakes, and Swamps ........................
20
ExhibitStation: 4................................................................................................................
24
Topic: Sherburne County is a Glacial Beach..................................................................
24
ExhibitStation: 5................................................................................................................
27
Topic: Cultural Buffer Zone Between Ojibwe and Dakota Indians ...............................
27
ExhibitStation: 6................................................................................................................
32
Topic: Outdoor Life in Sherburne County......................................................................
32
ExhibitStation: 7................................................................................................................
40
Topic: Communities and People.....................................................................................
40
ExhibitStation: 8................................................................................................................
49
Topic: Agriculture...........................................................................................................
49
ExhibitStation: 9................................................................................................................
65
Topic: Emergence of a Conservation Ethic....................................................................
65
ExhibitStation: 10..............................................................................................................
73
Topic: Resorts.................................................................................................................
73
ExhibitStation: 11..............................................................................................................
77
Topic: Power and Energy................................................................................................
77
ExhibitStation: 12..............................................................................................................
85
Topic: Transportation in Sherburne County...................................................................
85
ExhibitStation: 13..............................................................................................................
91
Topic: Trailhead Orientation and Bill and Margaret Cox ...............................................
91
ExhibitStation: 14..............................................................................................................
94
Topic: Agricultural Failure: Poor Land and the Agricultural Depression ......................
94
ExhibitStation: 15..............................................................................................................
97.
Topic: Folk Construction Techniques in Sherburne County ..........................................
97
Appendix 1: Community Planning Team Themes and Stories ............................... 104
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 1
Interpretive Plan for Sherburne County Heritage Center
Sherburne County Historical Society
Background
Tom Woods, Ph.D., Making Sense of Place, Inc., (MSP) was contracted by the Sherburne
County Historical Society to create an Interpretive Plan for the new Sherburne County
Heritage Center. To further the planning process, which began with reviewing previous
project -related documents, Dr. Woods facilitated a Community Advisory Interpretive
Planning Committee retreat at the Becker High School from October 7-9, 2004. The retreat
focused on creating a Community Advisory Committee, then building a common perception
of the process of interpretive planning and developing an initial consensus about the topics,
main theme, associated themes, stories, audiences, and interpretive strategies for three
components: Heritage Center Exhibit Gallery, Historic Farmstead Ruins, and Outdoor Trail.
To test and verify the initial ideas about subjects and experiences generated during the
planning process, MSP conducted an audience study to discover what stories and interpretive
methods would most likely interest the potential audience for the Heritage Center. SCHS
identified four major target audiences for the Heritage Center exhibit and programs: SCHS
members, county families with young children, school students, and seniors. To gather
information about these target audiences' preferences, G. Donald Adams of Sanibel, Florida,
an audience research associate of MSP, developed and worked with SCHS to conduct three
surveys: a mail -in member survey, a personal intercept survey, and a mail -in teachers'
survey. SCHS was very successful in implementing the survey instruments and a high
percentage of surveys were returned, lending great credibility and statistical'significance to
survey results.
To verify the results from these surveys and gather additional information, MSP and SCHS
collaborated in conducting stakeholder interviews and focused audience conversations. To
further support program decision -making, MSP gathered information from stakeholders on
the image of SCHS, how the Heritage Center's success will be judged, and how its
operations should be supported. Dr. Woods conducted twenty telephone, e-mail and face-to-
face interviews with people in the community defined as stakeholders who could help the
Heritage Center succeed. SCHS developed a volunteer Audience Discovery Team. The
Audience Discovery Team was divided into two person teams that conducted fifteen focused
conversations with Sherburne County residents who represented target audience segments.
Audience
Audience and stakeholder conversations and surveys provide a fairly consistent snapshot of
the kinds of stories the Heritage Center's audience wants to learn more about. The great
majority of those contacted in the audience study have a consistently high interest in pioneer
life and American Indian history of the area. Their interest in pioneer life extends to an
interest in early families and their contributions to the area's history. The audience is also
particularly interested in the Red River Oxcart Trail and the area's transportation history and
in programming about the natural history of the area in indoor exhibits and interpreted trails.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 2
There is an often -expressed interest to plant roots in the area by learning more about its
history, and by linking history to current issues and events. When the preliminary orgdnizing
concept of "the edge" was described to interviewees, many expressed surprise (because they
had not thought about it before) and interest in how it pulls many aspects of the county's
history and current issues together. There was some concern that the concept of the edge may
convey a negative image. The interest in the outdoors, related issues of natural history, and
generally favorable response to the edge concept suggest that an exhibit and program that
uses an environmental history approach, at least in part, will be very successful.
Our surveys and conversations also provided some very clear guidelines for the type of
program experience SCHS's audience prefers, and the way in which the stories should be
presented. As non -museum professionals, they have a surprisingly articulate and
sophisticated understanding about the need for a layered approach. Many interviewees said
they liked exhibits with lots of artifacts. Most potential audiences for the Heritage Center
emphasize the importance of a very active, colorful, and interactive exhibit and program
experience. They also said the exhibit and program should provide opportunities for adults
and seniors to read text and see photos and artifacts. The exhibit should be layered for a
quick glance and a more in-depth treatment of the subject. For children and even many
adults, the exhibit should provide lots of interactive opportunities. It should have things to do
and ways for adults and children or families, in general, to interact with the exhibit content
and design. Some interviewees expressed an interest in making the audience think by asking
them questions, rather than just giving them all the answers. This finding supports the
interactive nature recommended for the exhibit by many interviewees. It is also important for
some audience members that parts of the exhibit be changeable to keep people returning and
to suggest a dynamic aspect to the Heritage Center program. While color and motion and a
general dynamic feel is a critical component for the exhibit's success, there should also be
quiet, restful areas within the exhibit or Heritage Center grounds where visitors can sit and
"soak in" the experience and relate it to their own lives.
SCHS's audiences enjoy outdoor activities. It is important that the SCHS provide a mix of
significant outdoor programming and opportunities for social activity out-of-doors near the
Heritage Center. Many people we contacted expressed an interest in having a picnic area
where families could spend the entire day, with an activity area for children, perhaps
organized around historical activities, and an area for adults to sit and visit. Teachers
emphasized the importance of space for students to eat lunches during the fieldtrip. Other
stakeholders discussed the importance for raising revenue to support operating expenses.
Both these responses reinforce the need for a picnic pavilion facility that will provide a
gathering point for families, corporations, and schools as part of the Heritage Center visit
experience.
The importance many people attached to personal interaction suggests that an active
volunteer program will be important to the success of the Heritage Center. Many audience
members prefer to view demonstrations of historical crafts or activities and have an
opportunity to talk to the demonstrator.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 3
For the full audience report, see Making Sense of Place, Inc. and Associates, "Sherburne
County Historical Society Heritage Center Audience Study Final Report," January 25, 2005
Overall Interpretive Strategy
To offer visitors who have diverse learning preferences diverse learning opportunities, the
SCHS Heritage Center will use an interpretive methodology that employs a mix of
interpretive experiences: outdoor and indoor exhibits that combine passive text and photo
panels with interactive hands-on programming,. special events, Internet -based exhibits and
programs, and a variety of other media and interpretive strategies. Although the program is
designed to be primarily a self -guided experience, it will provide opportunities for
demonstrations, third -person and first -person living history, and interpretive theatre. To
facilitate programming and management, the Heritage Center will be divided into several
visitor and interpretive zones: Outdoor Ox Cart Exhibit and Orientation, Bailey Station,
Heritage Center Exhibit Gallery, Clitty Lake Overlook, Outdoor Trail, Historic Farmstead
Ruins, and the Fox House.
Exhibit panels in the Heritage Center and on trails should contain layered information that
accommodates the different ways visitors will want to use the exhibits. Whenever possible,
interactive experiences should be part of each exhibit station. Interaction can be physical, or
it can consist of a well -placed question that requires thought or provokes visitors. Layered
information and/or experiences should provide for the 3-30-3 (3 seconds, 30 seconds, 3
minutes) rule, and contain 1.) headlines that evoke a theme or message, 2.) summary
information, and 3.) more detailed information. In most cases, text should be limited to no
more than 300 words on main section panels and 150 words on sub -section panels. Text
should be casual and engaging and written for a general audience.
Research, Themes, and Station Experiences
The interpretive themes and messages at the Heritage Center have been created from the
information gathered during the Community Advisory Interpretive Planning Committee
retreat. SCHS staff member Bobbie Scott wrote an annotated bibliography of the major
topics and themes that emerged from the planning committee and previous SCHS planning,
covering major sources and SCHS archival holdings. SCHS Executive Director Kurt
Kragness and Collections Curator Luis Vasquez provided information on SCHS collections.
Although the contract specifically excluded detailed historical research and documentation,
Dr. Woods spent many additional hours completing directed research to understand the
storylines, add detail when it was absent, analyze the material, and provide citations
whenever possible. As a result of this additional work, story sections in the Interpretive Plan
are longer than might be expected and contain citations. These lengthy story elements in the
station sections are intended to assemble the major outlines of the story that can be used to
write panel text and form the experience. They are not intended as panel text, which is part of
the next phase. Much of the story information in each section can be communicated in
shorter summary form or as photo captions. The objects and photos noted in the station
sections are potential resources that can be used to tell the stories. Final decisions about
combining text, photos, and objects will be made in the next phase after a more thorough
review of photos and the results of directed collecting efforts.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 4
As the Interpretive Plan evolved, MSP took care to suggest interactive components in nearly
every section that would help tell the story. This is part of a strategy for layering sections and
meeting different audience needs. In the next step, the conceptual design will begin to assign
space to each concept, and the plan will need to be revised based on spatial limitations. With
a few exceptions, MSP tried to create an Interpretive Plan that is low -tech to keep initial cost
and maintenance as low as possible while still meeting audience expectations for an
interactive, experiential, and colorful exhibit.
Station Organization
The stations were systematically organized to be sure we were integrating all previous
planning and research. Each interpretive station contains the following major planning
elements:
Topic: Describes the general subject matter
Story: Summarizes the major research information on the subject
Themes and Subthemes: Lists the themes and subthemes that this story tries to explore in
some way.
Contemporary Visitor Relevance: Integrates.the audience research into the planning, so we
know how our audience might respond to the subjects and experiences in each section.
Desired Learner Outcomes: Describes what the visitor will be able to do or know as a
result of visiting that station. This can be used to evaluate the success of the station.
Visitor Experience: The story describes the content of a section. The visitor experience
element describes the visitor experience at that station.
Different Points of View: It is likely that visitors will disagree with some points of view,
and this element attempts to predict those disagreements or differing perspectives, so SCHS
can plan for it or incorporate it into the exhibit.
Iconic object/media/activities: This element identifies the major exhibit component that will
initially attract visitor attention and organize their experience in that section.
Additional media and activities: This element lists other potential artifacts, photos,
documents, or activities that will be integrated into that exhibit section.
Interpretive Program
Self -Guided Tours
The primary experience at SCHS will be self -guided tours. We recommend guided tours for
for scheduled bus tours and school groups. The entire tour should be organized with
overarching themes and more detailed subthemes at individual stops. At each stop on the
tour, an interpretive guide should focus on major themes and related subthemes, eventually
working through a range of themes and subthemes related to Sherburne County history.
Interpretive Staffing Required: The general experience is designed to be self -guided,
however, visitor research for the project clearly indicated that many audience segments
would enjoy personal interaction with interpreters. Guided tours will be particularly
important for school groups, and these will be most successful if they are split into subgroups
of 12 to 15 students and rotated throughout the Heritage Center experiences. Most scheduled
bus tours will also respond well to guided tours. We recommend that at least one volunteer
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 5
interpreter be stationed in the "Communities and People" section during expected high
visitation periods to provide opportunities for human interaction, something SCHS's future
audience placed a high value on.
Estimated Duration of Visitor Experience: The Heritage Center visitor experience is
diverse and multi -faceted. Visitors can choose to visit for various lengths of time or to repeat
their visit to see all facets. Depending on which visitor experiences they choose, visitors
could spend about an hour in the indoor exhibit and another hour or hour and a half walking
the trails and viewing outdoor exhibit components. The total experience is flexible to
accommodate a visit of an hour or a visit of two to three or even four hours. The trail adds a
seasonal element that will encourage repeat visits to see the changes in the lake and savanna
landscape. Special events will also encourage repeat visits.
Dramatic Performances or Living History
Occasional dramatic performances, demonstrations, or living history programs may be
presented at the Heritage Center and grounds. First -person characters will be particularly
entertaining for special events or school groups. The history summarized in the interpretive
plan suggests several options. Visitors could meet a Red River Ox Cart trail participant
(woman or man), who could help them understand the Red River people, the purpose for the
trail, and daily life on the trail. They could enjoy an hour with explorers Jonathan Carver or
Zebulon Pike, both of whom camped in the area and made observations during broader
surveys. These explorer characters could link Sherburne County into the context of larger
national survey storylines. It is likely that an overwhelming favorite would be a Vic Peterson
character, who could discuss early 20th century auto -tourism, particularly if it could be
combined with a visit with a black bear—A.K.A. Johnny Bear. There are several good
natural history characters that might be developed or drawn from existing characters that
might work in the amphitheatre area or the Clitty Lake Overlook. The Minnesota Naturalists
Association would be a good contact for finding these performer/educators. You could also
consider creating a Vernon Bailey naturalist character, using the significant amount of
information that is available on Bailey's early and later life. A Bailey character would enable
you to include local settlement history, yet also be tied to the growth of wildlife management
ideas and a conservation ethic. His descriptions of his early fishing and hunting experiences,
his detailed stories about the disappearance of the passenger pigeon in Sherburne County all
make for great background for a living history character. American Indian characters could
be spun off from the Ojibwe section. More research on individuals mentioned by William
Warren in History of the Ojibway People will be necessary to make the stories more
personal. The Living History Society of Minnesota may be a good resource for large groups
of people dressed in period clothing for special events. Finally, you might consider creating a
living history character based on someone like Leon Barnier, who has some great detailed
stories about ways that he helped educate people about electricity. He could be enlisted to
help create the character. If you prefer not to make the character a real person, Barnier and
others could be the background documentation for a composite humorous -educational
character you could call Willie Wirehand, after the famous early 20`h century electricity
advertising mascot. This could be similar to the very successful natural history
humorous/educational figures naturalist Denny Olson has created, such as Professor Avian
Guano. See his website at http://www.crittennansworld.com/.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 6
Special Events
Various special events may be presented. Special events are designed to achieve several
goals:
1. Focus on themes or interpretive methodologies not presented during the regular
program;
2. Provide opportunities to serve underserved audiences;
3. Provide opportunities to collaborate with organizations having similar goals;
4. Provide opportunities to gain publicity for SCHS work, because special events are
newsworthy, while everyday programs may not receive similar news coverage.
General Circulation Pattern for Visitors
Visitors will enter the area and park in the visitor center parking lot. They will pass the
Bailey Station on their right as they drive into the lot. As they park and leave their cars,
visitors will have several choices:
1. The outdoor Ox Cart and Orientation Exhibit may draw them to the left of the main
entry. This exhibit will provide an orientation to the main themes of the Heritage
Center and focus on the Red River Ox Cart Trails.
2. On a warm spring, summer, or fall day, they may be drawn to walk to the Clitty Lake
Overlook to sit and look over the lake and enjoy the day, and read the interpretive
panels on the deck.
3. Visitors may also visit the Bailey Station exhibit at the edge of the parking lot. There
they may view the exterior of the building and gas pump and view the panels. Many
special events will take place in the activity area behind the Bailey Station, and in this
case, the Bailey Station will likely be their first contact with Heritage Center
interpretive material.
4. If visitors intend to park and walk the trails, they may view the Ox Cart exhibit to the
left of the main entry, then bypass the Heritage Center and walk along the left side of
the building to the trailhead, which will contain a map of the trails and an
introductory panel on the natural history of Sherburne County.
5. The most common circulation pattern, though, may be to park the car and enter the
visitor center to view the main exhibit.
6. Visitors may also enter the visitor center, view the main exhibit, then exit the visitor
center lobby in the rear of the building and enter the outdoor trail system. At the end
of the lobby walkway, they will exit toward a forked trail. One fork leads to the
outdoor amphitheatre and the other to the trails.
7. As visitors walk the outdoor trail, they will encounter the Abandoned Farmstead
Outdoor Exhibit.
8. Further along in the outdoor trail, visitors will encounter the Fox House Exhibit.
Outdoor Exhibit Panels
I recommend digitally designed outdoor exhibits fabricated from phenolic -fused exterior
grade graphic panels mounted with vandal -proof screws on pedestals without framing for a
cleaner look and easier maintenance. These panels are currently slightly more expensive than
embedded fiberglass, but have much better durability and UV resistance. They are fully
warranted for 10 years, but will probably last much longer. They should be mounted about
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 7
30-33 inches from the bottom to the ground and at an approximately 45-degree angle.
Mounted in this way, the panels are easy to read, but do not dominate the landscape, are
difficult to see from the side, and do not block the object or natural feature being interpreted.
That's What They Said
Throughout the interpretive plan, you will find a recurring element called "That's What They
Said!" This is an exhibit strategy intended to respond to an expressed audience desire to
learn about the past in the words of people who have experienced it, and not from a museum
summary. These elements are often much longer than can be used in the exhibit, but they are
included to .provide choice in which ones to use. They may be used in layering text in the
final exhibit design. They could be placed as a second layer in smaller, less prominent type
from the summaries. Some of the longer quotations might be included in flipbooks located
within the appropriate exhibit section. As the exhibit design and final text and plan evolves
together, this strategy may take the form (in some instances) of sound files from oral histories
or recorded readings from journals or letters. In any case, this "in their own words" strategy
should be integrated into the exhibit with a consistent design approach, so this repeating
component can be readily found and understood by visitors.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 8
Interpretive Themes for SCHS Heritage Center
Maim Idea: Sherburne County's distinctive location on the edge of three major ecosystems
continues to shape the lives of its people, just as its people continue to shape the land.
Major themes and subthemes emerge from the main idea. Together with the main idea, these
theme statements will help guide interpretation at the Heritage Center.
Topics and Themes
Topic 1: People
Theme 1: People searching for opportunities have always recognized the unique resources of
Sherburne County.
Subtheme 1.1. People from all over the world chose to make Sherburne County their
home; their values shape our communities today. .
Topic 2: Place
Theme 2: Being on the edge where three ecological land types meet enabled easy
transportation and access to natural resources and economic resources.
Subtheme 2.1. Indian tribes recognized that the area that later became Sherburne
County was strategically located on the edge of woodlands, prairie, and the
Mississippi River, and the area became a contested borderland between the Ojibwe
and Dakota people.
Subtheme 2.2. Living on the edge of metro area, pineries, and western wheat fields
provided access for Sherburne County people to metro markets and jobs in other
areas.
Subtheme 2.3. Trails, roads, and rails developed in the corridor along the edge of the
Mississippi River, prairie, pine forest, and deciduous forest.
Subtheme 2.4. Sherburne County's edge landscape included plentiful lakes,
wetlands, and abundant wildlife that have been key to the areas' history and
development.
Subtheme 2.5. Located on the edge of the Anoka Sandplain, the soils of Sherburne
County were generally sandy and drought -prone, with poor fertility and agricultural
productivity.
Topic 3: Power
Theme 3: Sherburne County has been and continues to be a pioneering place in the
development and generation of electrical energy.
Subtheme 3.1. Sherburne County provides energy for a vast region using multiple
fuels.
Subtheme 3.2. Energy generating facilities create local employment and tax revenue,
but also cause social and environmental problems.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 9
Interpretive Stations and Topics Summary
Interpretive Zone Station #
Station Topic
Outdoor Ox Cart and
Orientation Ex#iihit
1
Panel 1
Orientation to SCHS and the Grounds
Panel 2
Red River Ox Cart Trail
Bailey Station
2
Panel 1
Bailey Station —Orlando Bailey -Era Story
Panel 2
Bailey Station —Vic Peterson -Era Story
Clitty Lake Overlook
3
Panel 1
Importance of Wetlands to Sherburne County
Panel 2
Marsh Habitat
Heritage Center
Exhibit Galles
4
Sherburne County is a Glacial Beach
_
5
Cultural Buffer Zone Between Ojibwe and
Dakota Indians
6
Outdoor Life in Sherburne County
7
Communities and People
8
Agriculture
9
Emergence of a Conservation Ethic
10
Resorts
11
Power and Ener
12
Transportation
Outdoor Trailhead
13
r
Panel 1
The Legacy of Bill and Margaret Cox
Panel 2
Oak Savanna Trail Orientation
Historic Farmstead
Ruins
14
Panel 1
Poor Land and the Agricultural Depression
Fox House
15
Folk Construction Techniques in Sherburne
County
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 10
Interpretive Station Matrix
Exhibit Station: 1
Topic: Orientation to Site and Red River Ox Cart Trails
Story:
A canopied outdoor kiosk located near the parking lot and the Heritage Center will have
three major goals: provide initial orientation to the SCHS and its purposes and the main
theme of the Heritage Center; provide initial orientation to visitor options; and introduce
people to the theme of transportation in Sherburne County, with the ox cart trail as a feature.
The kiosk will be a tourist magnet and the launching pad for further exploration within the
Heritage Center, the trails, Bailey Station, and other features on the trails.
SCHS Mission
The mission and purposes of SCHS should be identified here.
Main Theme
The main theme will be incorporated into an introduction: Sherburne County's distinctive
location on the edge of three major ecosystems shaped and continues to shape the lives of its
people, jut as its people continue to shape the land.
Red River Ox Cart Story
The outlines of the cart story are discussed in Gilman, The Red River Trails. As quoted in
Gilman, p. 14, an observer rode ahead so he could "look back at the line extending far over
the plain, the spare cattle following, and horses galloping about with very Cossack -looking
prickers after them, and the train winding its way, like a great snake, coming along very
slowly, and then, when it got near enough, to hear the carts which, at a distance, sounded not
unmusically, and then the lowing of the cattle, and the songs and voices of the men, until
they at last got too near, and then it was bedlam again."
Sherburne County was on the Metropolitan Trail, where two trails from the north merged to
make the final leg of the j ourney into St. Paul. The trail route that ran through Sherburne
County was first used in 1844, after Norman Kittson established a trading post at Pembina.
Once in Sherburne County, one trail hugged the western shore of Elk River "over the fine
smooth prairie and through occasional strips of woodland." (as quoted in Gilman, 82) An
older trail hugged the Mississippi River along the route of present County Road 8. The trails
passed through modern Cable, Becker, Big Lake and Elk River.
Once the St. Paul and Pacific Railway (later Great Northern) reached St. Cloud in 1867, the
Red River carts began to stop at the closest railway terminal. After the Northern Pacific was
completed to Moorhead in 1871, the carts stopped their annual migration. (See Edward Van
Dyke Robinson, Early Economic Conditions and the Development History of Agriculture in
Minnesota, 1915, 33-34)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 11
Theme 2: Being on the edge where three ecological land types meet enabled easy
transportation and access to natural resources and economic resources.
Subtheme 2.2. Trails, roads, and rails developed in the corridor along the edge of the
Mississippi River, prairie, pine forest, and deciduous forest.
Contemporary Visitor Relevance
1. Red River ox cart trail and transportation history scored 4.2 or third highest among all
subject categories among members in the audience survey.
2. This exhibit component design will combine the desire in the young family segment of
the Intercept survey and in Stakeholder and Audience Segment Conversations to have
interactivity and a magnet experience with a subject of high interest for members and
Audience Segment Conversation participants.
3. Some visitors will be interested in linking their everyday activity of driving on Highway
10 with a historic transportation route.
Desired Learner Outcomes
1. Some visitors will apply the information in the orientation panel by spatially and
conceptually organizing their visit. (cognitive)
2. Some visitors will recall that a major Red River Ox Cart Trail route came through
Sherburne County very close to the Heritage Center. (cognitive)
3. Some visitors will demonstrate their ability to read a photo for the information it contains
and explain the major trade patterns of the Red River Ox Cart Trail. (cognitive)
4. Some visitors will enjoy themselves and recall their experience by standing in the cart
and having their photo taken. (affective)
5. Some visitors will recall that the Red River Ox Cart Trail set the stage for future
transportation developments along the corridor. (cognitive)
6. Some visitors will be able to recall that the ox carts were the first major form of long-
distance overland transportation in Minnesota. (cognitive)
Visitor Experience
The covered outdoor kiosk will be located between the parking lot, the Heritage Center, and
an outdoor approach to the trails. While the approach, outer apron for the kiosk, and walk in
front of interpretive panels should be concrete sidewalk, the floor within the kiosk should be
the typical fine sand of the area, and the pathway that connects to the trails in the rear of the
building should be crushed limestone, woodchips, or material similar to the pathways. The
canopy supports may be constructed from tamarack or similar timbers. The canopy and pad
would have to be long enough to contain a cart and tongue and faux animal, approximately
ten feet wide and fifteen feet long. Be sure the angle of the kiosk and exhibits within are
arranged so that a photo can be taken from the side, through the kiosk and into the
woods/savanna/etc. without a modern structure in the background.
Visitors will be drawn to the kiosk by a reproduction Red River Ox Cart attached to a very
accurately created fiberglass (or other material) ox. The ox should be no larger than a typical
Red River oxa steer about 700-500 pounds. While Red River oxen varied in coloration, I
recommend painting it like a " lineback"-- dark reddish brown or black with a white stripe
down its back and, tail, and under its belly (similar to Kelley Farm lineback cattle, only
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 12
smaller). The ox should be connected to the cart in an appropriate manner, inside the shafts,
with a collar, back pad, and rump holdback strap as illustrated in Gilman's Red River Trails.
Leather (or rope, but this would not be accurate) reins should go from the cart and tied to the
ears of the animal for control. The cart should be permanently affixed so it cannot move.
Sideboards should be at least half way up the stake sides for safety. This was not uncommon
to keep loads from falling out. In the rear of the cart, provide steps, so people can enter the
cart. It is critical that this be done accurately, or it will become a "kitschy" element.
Done properly, this exhibit will add a tasteful and popular iconic experience to the site, and
as a kind of outdoors statuary, will help define the place, distinguish it from other heritage
centers and "put it on the map." (See Karal Ann Marling's study of Minnesota outdoors
statuary, Collosus of the Roads: Myth and Symbol Along the American Highway) The exhibit
will also be a great location for school programs based on Red River cart history
Front of the Cart
Panel 1—Orientation to SCHS and Grounds (24 x 36)
At this first contact panel, visitors will learn about the purpose of the SCHS and the layout of
the grounds. The panel will contain a large format map of the grounds, indicating the location
of interpretive features, restrooms, etc. It should also have two or three sentences introducing
the main theme of the Heritage Center --Sherburne County on the Edge --and suggesting that
people look for evidence of this idea in all Heritage Center exhibits. The panel should
suggest that visitors view the exhibit inside first, which would provide some context for the
trails, then take the trail to see the other interpretive features. An all-weather Plexiglas
brochure holder attached to the panel post will provide a brochure map of the grounds with
Heritage Center open hours and a SCHS membership application.
Rear of the Cart
Panel 2-Red River Ox Cart Trail (36 x 48)
To the rear of the cart between the canopy supports, provide a 36 x 48 inch outdoor panel at
ca. 30 inches high and 45-degree angle. On the left side of the panel, visitors will read a brief
description of the Red River Trails. They will see a photo that shows a line of carts on the
trail (see photo in Gilman, p. 34), and a map that shows their route from Pembina or
Winnipeg to St. Paul, and a much more detailed, magnified inset map that shows the trail
route through Sherburne County and describes how far it passed from the place they are
standing. The right side of the panel should be interactive. A short description of life on the
trails will occupy the top half of the panel along with a close-up photo of cart and driver (see
photo in Gilman, p. 27). The bottom half of the panel should have two hinged lids built into
the panel. The top of the lid should contain a photograph and question that will invite visitors
to use photographs as sources of information. The correct answer will be provided under the
lid. One example using MHS photo from 1860, Location HE2.2 r 17; Neg. 396, which
depicts carts in St. Paul loaded with furs. Looking at this photo, what do you think the main
trade item was that the Red River Ox Cart drivers brought to St. Paul to exchange for
supplies? Answer: Furs
A second example uses a photo from MHS, which depicts carts and family members in camp
in 1858; Location HE 2.1 p 27; Negative 404. Whole families sometimes took the difficult
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 13
500-mile trek from Pembina to St. Paul. Look at this photograph of a Red River Ox Cart
family in camp returning to Pembina after trading in St. Paul. Can you find at least one item
they might have traded their furs for in St. Paul? Answer: Bed frame. What else did you find?
Differing Points of View
1. Some visitors (or colleagues) may think the inclusion of the faux ox is kitschy, rather than
educational. Can they be both? Is that okay? If we think about the audience first, where
does that lead us?
Iconic object/media/activities
1. Reproduction Red River Ox Cart and faux ox.
Additional media and activities to tell the story
1. Brochure that doubles as a map of Heritage Center area and membership application
2. Ox Cart Trail
a. Maps of townships showing route of trail through Haven, Palmer, Clear Lake,
Becker, Big Lake, Elk River, and from Benton County
b. MHS photo HE2.2 r 17; Neg. 396--photo of carts with furs
c. MHS photo HE 2.1 p 27; Negative 404--photo of family in camp
d. Photo from Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa, p. 27 of Gilman, The Red River
Trails Good close-up that would provide good hints for posing for photo at SCHS.
e. Photo from Manitoba Provincial Archives, Winnipeg, p. 34 of Gilman, The Red
River Trails. Good photo with some detail showing a part of a cart train.
f. See maps and transparencies in SCHS archives
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 14
Exhibit Station: 2
Topic: Transportation —Bailey Station
Story:
Orlando Bailey Sto
For 125 years, from 1852 until 1977, a place known as Bailey Station served travelers
passing through Sherburne County on one of Minnesota's most important transportation
routes, known today as Highway 10. The current Highway 10 was part of a section of the
Red River Ox Cart Trails that had been recently upgraded as a military road from Point
Douglass at the mouth of the St. Croix River to Ft. Gaines north of today's Little Falls when
Orlando Bailey arrived in 1852 and settled in Big Lake Township. His location was well
chosen, near the shore of the Mississippi River and near the edge of the prairie to the west
and pines to the north. Along the old trail where Bailey planted his roots, hundreds of traders
from Pembina traveled to St. Paul each year to trade furs for supplies and manufactured
goods. When Bailey arrived, Highway 10 was one of the most important military and
commercial routes in Minnesota Territory. Bailey arrived just four years after the area was
surveyed and opened for settlement.
Bailey started a farm and built a large home that they also used as a stage station and hotel to
capitalize on the traffic that followed the military road. Stages soon headed as far west as
Breckenridge, and Bailey's Station became an important wayside stop. Reaching Becker in
1867, the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad tracks soon followed the same corridor a half -mile
north of the road and the Bailey Station added a railroad siding. After the railway replaced
the stage traffic, and the Orlando Bailey's stage stop became a farm. It was described by his
nephew who stayed there in 1870 as a "big house, no longer used as a tavern, but roomy and
pleasant with broad piazzas along two sides, a large laundry and woodshed at the rear and
ample barns and stables for the stage horses and considerable stock of cattle and farm
horses." (Vernon Bailey, "The Hiram Bailey Family, Pioneers of America and Early Settlers
of the Middle West," typescript, SCHS, 15)
A small crossroads community grew near Bailey's Station at the intersection of County Road
14 and 15 with a school, cemetery, and two retail businesses. After the railroad arrived,
Bailey gave up his hotel and stage business. He farmed and served as Sherburne County
sheriff, county commissioner, justice of the peace, and postmaster before dying in 1897.
(Gemini Research, Phase I and II Investigation of Historic Structures Along T.H. 10 At
Bailey, Sherburne County, MN," MN DOT Report SP 7102-100, April 4, 2001, p. 5; Further
document of retail businesses is necessary.)
_Vic Peterson and Gas Station Story
Highway10, formerly an old ox cart trail and military road, was designated a tourist highway
in 1916. It became part of the Jefferson Highway, an international tourist route stretching
from New Orleans to Winnipeg. The route became one of Minnesota's first paved roads
when an eighteen -foot -wide concrete roadway was laid in1920. (MNDOT Report, April 4,
2001: 6)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 15
Bailey's Station had watered and fed stagecoach horses and passengers. In 1932 Vic Foote,
an Elk River man, built a new kind of "filling station" at Bailey's Station for the increasing
automobile traffic. Named Vic's Place, the new structure provided gasoline and snacks to
passing motorists.
In 1934 the station manager Vic Peterson bought the business and renamed it Bailey Station
and offered three grades of Texaco gas: regular, low test for Model T's and tractors, and
ethyl for high performance cars. The building was a typical mom-and-pop gas station of the
1920s. Designed to provide a home -like, inviting image to the traveling public, it is based on
the domestic English Cottage Revival style with steep -pitched roofs and clapboard siding.
In the I930s, it was common for roadside businesses in northern Minnesota to attract tourists
with a variety of strategies, from statues of Paul Bunyan to deer parks, American Indian
displays, and souvenir shops. Vic Peterson developed his own unique approach to this
problem of competition. He acquired a black bear cub, and then trained it to climb a pole and
drink grape soda. He posted a sign inviting customers to "Buy Johnny
Bear a Pop!" His strategy succeeded in getting the attention of travelers, pulling them off the
road, and selling them gas and soda. One man wanted to see how much the bear would drink
and bought him 22 bottles of grape soda before Johnny Bear had enough. Apparently
concerned that the bear posed a danger to customers when it became full grown, the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources shot Johnny Bear.
The continued growth of traffic on Hwy 10 is suggested by the need to expand Hwy 10 in
1942. Bailey Station was moved back from Hwy 10 and to the west side of County Road 14
to make room for the expansion. Peterson slept in a portion of the small station until he
married the teacher from Bailey's Station School. Then the couple moved a house next to the
station and attached the two buildings to provide additional living space. The Petersons also
started a dairy farm that helped supplement gasoline sales. Vic Peterson continued to operate
Bailey Station until he died in 1977, after which it was closed.
(Sources: Dominie Telschow, "The Bailey Gas Station: Playing Part in the Growth of an
Industry," Unpublished SCHS Report, December 2004; Gemini Research, MNDOT Report
S.P. 7102-100 (T.H. 10), April 4, 2001: 6; Kurt Kragness interviews with George
Stonehouse, 6/4/2002, 6/19/2002, 6/24/2002; Jeff Ethen, "History's Long Haul on Highway
10," Historically Speaking (Winter, 2003); Bobbie Scott, "Transportation" theme resource
paper, 2005; Edward Van Dyke Robinson, Early Economic Conditions and the Development
History of Agriculture in Minnesota, 1915, 33-34; Gilman, The Red River Trails.)
Theme statement
Theme 2: Being on the edge where three ecological land types meet enabled easy
transportation and access to natural resources and economic resources.
Subtheme 2.3. Trails, roads, and rails developed in the corridor along the edge of the
Mississippi River, prairie, pine forest, and deciduous forest.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 16
Contemporary visitor relevance
1. In the SCHS Member Survey, 4.2 percent of respondents wanted to learn about the
county's transportation history.
2. Write-in comments indicated that history of transportation should be a significant part of
SCHS, and specifically mentioned Hwy. 10 and truck and automobile traffic.
3. The history of transportation was mentioned as an important subject by 7 people in the
Intercept Study, a relatively high occurrence when compared to other responses in this
open format survey.
4. Visitors will be interested in placing Vic's Station within their own experience of
automobile travel. An exhibit on a gas station helps people understand that history can be
part of their own contemporary experience, not just something that happened 150 years
ago.
Desired Learner Outcomes: (feeling, knowledge, skills)
l . Some visitors will be able to describe the history of Bailey's Station as an example of the
history of Hwy 10, from ox carts to automobiles. (cognitive)
2. Some visitors will recall that Vic's was typical of the period in using a roadside attraction
to increase his business. (cognitive)
3. Some visitors will recall that the architecture of Vic's was a typical Cottage Revival
design of the 1920s, intended to make motorists feel comfortable and at home.
(cognitive)
Visitor Experience
The Bailey Station will be located along the parking lot near the currently titled
"demonstration area." It is a perfect thematic counterpoint to the Red River Ox Cart
diagonally across the parking lot from it. Both represent different ends of the transportation
spectrum that typifies Hwy 10 and Sherburne County as a transportation corridor. If an
appropriate historic gasoline pump can be located, it should be placed in front of the station.
This would enhance the exhibit by emphasizing its original purpose and pushing the building
beyond its architectural significance. Like the ox cart exhibit, the gas station should be free
of exhibit panels or other clutter in the front to allow for unencumbered photographs.
The building's primary purpose should be to serve as a refreshment "filling station" for
people using the special event/picnic and activity area. The interior should remain functional
for storage of game equipment and preparation, of food for special events or picnics, similar
to how a sports field refreshment stand is used. Care should be taken to avoid changes to the
exterior, so service flaps should not be cut into the building, but existing side or rear window
openings [not sure if there are rear openings] could be adapted for service. As visitors
approach the Bailey Station one panel will be off to the left and a second will be off to the
right of the building.
Consider reconstructing the Johnny Bear concrete blockhouse, sign, and perch, using recently
acquired photographic documentation. This could help make that historical element more
"concrete" for visitors. The interior of the structure could be used for additional storage
space.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 17
Panel ]—Bailey Station —Orlando Bailey -Era Story (24 x 36)
Visitors will read an edited version of the Orlando Bailey -Era story as described above.
Visitors should be able to review a map similar to the one created by Dominie Telschow,
Dec. 2, 2004, that indicates where the original site was, where it moved, and other
information. The stagecoach photo noted below could be used to help visitors visualize
stagecoach travel in the Bailey era. A caption would clearly indicate that this photo did not
depict the stagecoach in front of Bailey Station, but only one that would have been similar to
the Bailey Station stagecoach. The Bailey siding photo in the SCHS collection should also be
included.
Panel 2-Bailey Station —Vic Peterson -Era Story (24 x 36)
Possible Title: "Buy Johnny Bear a Pop"
Visitors will read an edited version of the Vic Peterson gas station era story as described
above. An SCHS photo of the gas station with the pumps should be part of the panel. The
diagram -showing where Vic's place would have been within the Hwy 10, 14-15 intersection
as indicated in Ethen's article would help visitors place its historic location on the modem
landscape. It would be ideal if a photo of Johnny Bear could be found to use here. If it cannot
be found, some photo showing a similar activity, such as the 1910 MHS image noted below
could be used. The photo of George Stonehouse working behind the counter of the gas
station could be used on the panel or inside the building.
A lot of fun and funny activities might spin off the Buy Johnny Bear a Pop stories.
Fundraisers could use the historic phrase as a slogan. It could be a great jumping-off point for
educational programs that explore the history of tourism along highway 10.
Differing Points of View
1. Some people may not think a 1930s gas station is historic or interesting.
Iconic object/media/activities
The iconic object here is the Bailey Gas Station.
Additional media and activities to tell the story (objects, film, images, sound, etc.)
1. Photo of George Stonehouse working behind counter of gas station (see KK's interview)
2. One or two of the recently acquired photos of Johnny Bear
3. Historic gasoline pump (or reproduction) to add to front of station.
4. Historic sign to add to front of station
5. MHS image of bear sideshow, 1910, SF 1.3r2; Neg 8544-A
6. Photo: Old Vic's Place building, ca. 1980s with gas pumps in front and Cold Pop sign in
Ethen, "History's Long Haul on Highway 10" article or other good SCHS photo of Vic's.
7. Diagram showing where Vic's place would have been located within the Hwy 10, 14-15
intersection, like in Ethen's article.
8. map similar to the one created by Dominic Telschow, Dec. 2, 2004, showing the history
of Bailey Station.
9. MHS image of stagecoach from Alexandria to Melrose, 1876; location HE2.5 r33;
negative 1266 (or similar one)
10. SCHS P1990.200.356 Bailey Gas Station?? Not sure of the image
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 18
11. SCHS P1990.200.447 Building Jefferson Highway through Clear Lake. 1920s. Not sure
of image.
12. P1990.200.401 Bailey's Station School, 1910? New $3000 School House at Bailey
Station
13. Bailey Station Siding photo, SCHS collection, not sure of the catalog number
14. Possible reconstructed Johnny Bear blockhouse, sign, and perch.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 19
Exhibit Station: 3
Topic: Clitty Lake Overlook --Impact of Marshes, Lakes, and Swamps
Story:
Clitty Lake is named for the Clitty family members that owned land around the lake. It is
similar to many of the shallow lakes, marshes, and bogs that dot Sherburne County and the
steams that drain the land.
As the last glacier retreated, chunks of rotting ice were quickly covered with sand and debris
that insulated the ice. It may have taken hundreds of years for the ice chunks to melt. When
these huge ice cubes finally melted, they left depressions on the surface of the land that filled
with water. Over time, they began filling in again with rotting vegetation and erosion. The
deeper depressions remain as lakes, while the shallower ones, now partially filled -in are
marshes, swamps, and bogs. All of these wetlands have been important resources for area
residents.
Whenever possible, early settlers chose land that included lakes and wetlands. Most of the
first homes and fences in the county were made from tamarack logs, cut from the plentiful
tamarack bogs in the county. Even downtown Elk River had a large tamarack bog near the
present Railroad Drive. Marshes, lakes, and bogs were partially responsible for the plentiful
game prized by both American Indians and early settlers who lived or hunted in the area.
Before electricity, local residents cut ice in the winter on the lakes and stored it for summer
use. The natural landscape later helped Sherburne County become a resort destination in the
early 20'h century.
Those same lakes, woods, and abundant wildlife are now helping to turn the area into one of
the fastest growing residential areas in the state, and the county's abundant water resources
have recently allowed area farmers to irrigate their land, and dramatically increase their crop
yields. Preserving the area's water quality, abundant wildlife, and natural beauty are today's
challenges.
Near Lake Fremont —That's What They Said!
"A few rods south [of our neighbor A. G. Loughee's house] lies a large hay marsh, long and
narrow covering many acres with excellent hay. West of the house lies a little lake of 40-50
acres surrounded by oak groves. I tell you it is very beautiful.... The spot we have selected
for our building is on a rise of land in an oak grove, while East and South lies a hay meadow
of/2 mile or more, with a lake in the middle. This marsh we cross on a beaver dam, hard and
solid as land can be made, with a clear stream cutting across in the middle. There are two
dams at our place, a few rods apart, which make a beautiful road...." (Maria H. Knapp,
Livonia, Sherburne County, Minnesota, to her sister-in-law Elisa Knapp in Dummerston,
Vermont, June 20, 1870)
"The fencing is of tamarack, beautiful and strong & easily made and the swamps are
scattered over the country. We have some on our claim." (Maria H. Knapp, Baldwin,
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 20
Sherburne County, Minnesota to her sister-in-law Elisa Knapp in Dummerston, Vermont,
October 1, 1870)
"Our little brook where we got our water all last winter and it did not freeze at all, is all
closed up and Frank keeps a hole cut in the pond for the cattle and draws a boiler full for
ourselves every day on a hand sled." (Maria H. Knapp, Livonia, Sherburne County,
Minnesota, to Georgie Knapp, nephew in Dummerston, Vermont, January 7, 1872)
Near Tibbets Brook —That's What They Said!
(1870s period)
"Cutting tamarack poles in the swamps for fencing, cutting and hewing timbers for next
year's building, cutting and hewing ties to be hauled to the railroad for sale were the
principle winter work besides chores and firewood." (Vernon Bailey, "The Making of a
Naturalist: Field Work of A Biologist," in "The Hiram Bailey Family: Pioneers of America and
Early Settlers of the Middle West," typescript, SCHS, 18.)
Near Clear Lake —That's What They Said!
"A few rods just south of this house is a beautiful clear lake, lying in a basin of perhaps'/2
acre, where our stock are watered, and 100s of other cattle, feeding on the prairies, come
down its clear smooth banks for drink." (Maria H. Knapp, Clear Lake, Sherburne County,
Minnesota, to her sister-in-law Elisa Knapp in Dummerston, Vermont, June 20, 1870)
Near Tibbets Brook —That's What They Said!
"There were many forbearing [sic] animals about us, mostly muskrats, mink,
raccoon, skunks, red foxes and a few otter. The extensive beaver dams which were
responsible for most of the great hay meadows were still important features of the country.
Generally considerable ponds remained back of the larger dams where water was held all
summer and these were always choice breeding grounds for water birds and muskrats. After
the hay was out the beavers' dams could be traced long distances across the meadows and on
one of these our winter path to the log school house [sic] extended for half a mile. But no
beavers that we knew of were within a hundred miles of home." (Vernon Bailey, "The
Making of a Naturalist: Field Work of A Biologist," in "The Hiram Bailey Family: Pioneers
of America and Early Settlers of the Middle West," typescript, SCHS, 36-7.)
Theme Statement
Theme 2: Being on the edge where three ecological land types meet enabled easy
transportation and access to natural resources and economic resources.
Subthemes
Subtheme 2.4. Sherburne County's edge landscape included plentiful lakes, wetlands, and
abundant wildlife that have been key to the areas' history and development.
Contemporary visitor relevance
1. An overwhelming number of members surveyed wanted to learn about history from
through the words of the people who actually lived the history. Members also enjoyed
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 21
unguided nature trails. Members were also most interested in stories of early settlers and
how the land helped shape people.
2. This will be a popular exhibit area because members and intercept survey respondents
overwhelmingly enjoyed outdoor activities, and many enjoyed hunting, fishing, and lake
activities.
Desired Learner Outcomes
1. Some visitors will describe some of the ways early settlers used lakes and wetlands in
Sherburne County. (cognitive)
2. Some visitors will recognize the significance of lakes and wetlands to the history and
future of Sherburne County. (cognitive)
3. Some visitors will be motivated by the importance of lakes and wetlands to steward the
water resources of the county. (affective, action)
4. Some visitors will describe the major plants and animals supported by a marsh habitat.
(cognitive)
Visitor Experience
Visitors will walk out onto a boardwalk and deck overlooking Clitty Lake. They may sit on
benches to rest and view the lake and landscape or investigate two interpretive panels.
Panel .1—Importance of Wetlands to Sherburne County—(24 x 36)
One exhibit panel will provide information about how people have used the lake in the past.
A hinged lid on the panel will have an aerial photo of Clitty Lake in a high water year.
Visitors will lift the lid to see an aerial photo of Clitty Lake during the 1930s when the lake
was dry. A line beneath this photo will indicate that Clitty Lake dried up during the drought
of the 30s. A thought -provoking question beneath the lid will ask viewers, "If Sherburne
County didn't have rivers, lakes, and marshes, how would its history have been different?"
Panel 2—Marsh Habitat—(24 x 36)
A second panel will focus more on the natural history of the lake. This panel would focus on
the plants that make up the plant community and the typical animal species that frequent this
habitat. The plants and animals pictured might be viewed from this vantage point at different
seasons. Text and image would emphasize the interrelationships between the wetland and the
types of animals that live there. Inquiry will be used to help make people think about
connections.
Differing Points of View
1. Some visitors may think wetlands are impediments to development and should be filled in
and replaced by housing developments.
Iconic object: Lake Clitty
Additional media and activities to tell the story
1. Aerial photo of Lake Clitty in times of high water
2. Aerial photo of Lake Clitty when it was dry and mown for hay
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 22
3. Original artwork for the marsh habitat, with images of muskrats, mink, and other wildlife
that typically make their home in Clitty Lake and similar area shallow lakes and the
dominant plants. (See proofs of panels for other projects submitted earlier as examples
for what this habitat panel might look like.)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 23
Exhibit Station: 4
Topic: Sherburne County is a Glacial Beach
Story
Glaciers covered Sherburne County off and on during the Pleistocene Epoch, which started 2
'/2 million years ago. The most recent glacial era was the Wisconsin glaciation, which lasted
from about 35,000 to 10,000 years ago. The Superior Lobe was the first ice sheet to cover
Sherburne County during this period, reaching out of the Lake Superior basin to just south
and west of Sherburne County before retreating about 13,500 years ago. As this glacier
advanced and retreated, it bulldozed and deposited mixed rock, gravel, and sand creating
rolling hills. Soil in the Santiago area formed in the reddish brown till deposited by the
Superior Lobe. The next and most recent glacier to cover Sherburne County was the
Grantsburg Sublobe of the huge Des Moines Lobe of the glacier that swept in from the
northwest, then turned and entered Sherburne County from the southwest. It buried most of
Sherburne County in a half -mile thick layer of ice.
The glaciers gouged and remade the land as the earth's climate periodically cooled and
warmed. Surface bedrock boulders were reduced to rock, gravel, sand, and silt by the
grinding action of the gigantic glacier. As the glaciers receded, the ice stagnated for a period
in northern and eastern parts of the county. A large crevasse formed in the ice and mixed
sand and gravel from both the Superior Lobe and the Grantsburg Sublobe washed into the
broad, long gash. As the glaciers continued to melt and recede, the deposits in the crevasse
remained in high relief, forming the glacial till hills north of Elk River. These hills, one of the
most abundant sources of gravel in the county, still rise above the level plains of most of
Sherburne County.
Sherburne County was on the edge of the Anoka Sandplain. As the glaciers slowly receded
between 12,500 and 10,000 years ago, glacial meltwater sorted and sifted debris. Sand -laden
streams formed from the meltwater and shifted across the surface of the county. These
streams deposited sand and gravel in broad, level plains. A tongue of Glacial Lake Anoka
licked down from the northeast of the county, leaving flat sands around Zimmerman.
As the ice continued to melt, large streams cut a wide channel from St. Cloud to
Minneapolis. The glacial meltwater gradually cut a deeper channel that later became the
Mississippi River. Former wide channels became floodplain benches that can be clearly seen
today by their flat surfaces that stretch from the river to higher crests that indicate previous
channel shorelines. As the glacier retreated, huge chunks of rotting ice were broken off and
buried beneath insulating debris. When the ice finally melted hundreds of years later, the
debris collapsed into a huge hole, creating kettle lakes.
As the weather continued to warm and become drier about 8,000 years ago, wind scooped
exposed sand and piled it into unusual dunes in central Sherburne County. Examples of the
dunes are visible on the Heritage Center trail.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 24
(Major sources: Daniel S. Wovcha, et. al., Minnesota's St. Croix River Valley and Anoka
Sandplain: A Guide to Native Habitats (1995): 4-13; and Thomas Jackson, Soil Survey of
Sherburne County, Minnesota, (USDA, NRCS) at
http://www.sherbumeswcd.org/sherb_MN.pdf , accessed February 19, 2005. When
disagreements in some glacial history details emerged, I used the Soil Survey, but this needs
to be explored further, especially the different explanations for Elk River moraine hills.)
Theme statement
Theme 2: Being on the edge where three ecological land types meet enabled easy
transportation and access to natural resources and economic resources.
Subthemes
2.1. The glacial history of Sherburne County created the soils and topography that, together
with climate and human manipulation, created our native plant communities and future land
use opportunities.
Contemporary visitor relevance: The audience study indicated high interest in natural
history, the story of how sand came to Sherburne County, and how the land shaped the lives
of people in the county. The study also strongly indicated an interest in interactivity,
immersion, and sensory experiences.
Desired Learner Outcomes
1. Some visitors will be able to describe at least three different glacial features that exist in
Sherburne County. (cognitive)
2. Some visitors will be able to explain how the sandy soils came to Sherburne County.
(cognitive)
3. Hearing the sounds, immersed in the fog and coolness of the zone and impressed by the
size and power of glaciers, some visitors will respond to the natural forces that created
the county landscape by telling other members of their group how these sensory
experiences affected understanding of glaciation. (affective)
Visitor Experience
Visitors walk through a tunnel of ice (ca. 10 feet), with booming and grinding sounds of
glacial retreat. (This grinding helped create sand.) It is also desirable to have a localized
"cool zone" and steam machine within the tunnel. Sound, steam, and cool gusts of wind can
all be initiated by motion or pressure activated sensors. As they emerge on the other side,
visitors walk on sand and are initially surrounded by the sound of rushing water. On one side
a diorama of an engorged Mississippi River rushes noisily past, slowly changing in
synchrony with the film on the other side of the pathway. On the other side, they see back
projection images that show the changing landscapes in Sherburne County after glaciation.
Using comparable landscapes that still exist in other places, perhaps Alaska, show
photos/film changing from a contemporary glacier; to a Black Spruce parkland; then a dense
pine woodland; a prairie and oak savannah landscape, a dry, sandy, windy landscape; and
finally a contemporary film of a level plain of sand with prairie, scattered burr oaks and in
the distance, an occasional shallow lake and tamarack bog. Brief narration will tell how the
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 25
landscape changed over time. Benches and/or railings alongside the pathway provide a place
to rest while watching this 5-10 minute experience.
When visitors exit the short ice tunnel, they will see a raised relief map of Sherburne County
that depicts the landscape the ice sheets left behind. Particular glacial features will be
identified by name on the relief map, such as the Anoka Sandplain, river terraces, kettle lakes
and tamarack bogs, and sand dunes. Waist -high interpretive panels will provide brief
information about each feature, using maps and illustrations extensively. Each small panel
will focus on a different feature, illustrating them with contemporary photographs, and then
pose a question about that feature, with a number of answers. Visitors will lift up a hinged lid
to find the correct answer. [Additional research should be conducted to tie local landscape
features to glacial history, such as Blue Hill, Santiago's 1,000 islands, Elk River's hills, East
St. Cloud's granite.]
Above a small chest of drawers, a map indicates the locations of different sand and gravel
pits in the county. Visitors will inspect a small chest of drawers containing photos of
different gravel and sand pits in the county corresponding to their locations on the map.
Samples of the contents of those pits will be in the drawers. Finger holes in Plexiglas covered
drawers will allow people to touch the contents but not remove any.
Differing Points of View
None anticipated.
Iconic object/media/activities
The iconic objects in this section are the glacial entrance tunnel and raised relief map.
Additional media and activities to tell the story (objects, film, images, sound, etc.)
1. Photos of glacial features
2. Maps of glacial activity in area, such as Wovcha, p. 5, etc.
3. What is sand, how is it formed, moved about? (View sand under a microscope. Have a
series of questions about sand that require people to interact with the exhibit. This could
again be a series of hinged flaps; questions on the flaps, and answers underneath it. Sand
particles that are angular suggest they have broken off from the parent rock relatively
recently and not been eroded much, while round grains of sand have been transported for
quite a distance in water and have had their rough edges ground down.)
4. Create a small chest with drawers that contain samples of sand and gravel from the
county's sand and gravel pits. A photo of each sand or gravel pit can be displayed next to the
sample. The point here is that the color, composition, and size and shape of sand and gravel
may vary from place to place. For example, river terrace sand particles are larger than sand
particles in a sand dune or from the Superior lobe till near Elk River. A video monitor that
shows gravel and sand excavation activities in area would be useful here, too.
5. We would need several graphics of glacial activity in this section to demonstrate how
different county features were created.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 26
Exhibit Station: 5
Topic: Cultural Buffer Zone Between Ojibwe and Dakota Indians
Story
Sherburne County was on the edge of Dakota and Ojibwe lands as European explorers began
to filter into the area. American Indian peoples enjoyed the bounty of the area that became
Sherburne County for centuries. Archaeologists have discovered remains of American Indian
villages that date back at least to 1300 A.D. The first European explorers in the area found
the Eastern Dakota living in the area. Father Louis Hennepin was captured by a group of
Dakotas and taken to spend the winter at their camp near Lake Mille Lacs in 1679. The
Ojibwe were pushed west into Minnesota woodlands from the eastern Great Lakes. Equipped
with guns obtained from eastern traders, they confronted the Dakota who were still using the
bow and arrow when the conflict began. During almost 200 years of intermittent warfare, the
Ojibwe gradually pushed the Eastern Dakota out of the woodland and onto the prairies south
and west of Sherburne County.
Since Sherburne County was on an ecological edge where the southern and western prairies
met the northern and eastern woodlands, it remained a contested area for several generations.
The United States acquired the area that contained the portion of Minnesota now west of the
Mississippi in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. When Zebulon Pike set out to explore
the new territory and journeyed up the Mississippi River, searching for its source, he found
the Ojibwe in control of nearly all of the Upper Mississippi. The Dakota still hunted in the
area and occupied a few villages along the eastern shore of the Mississippi River in
Sherburne County. Pike describes a Dakota village on the present site of the city of Elk
River in his journal. (Anderson, The History of Sherburne County, proof, p. 10—This should
be verified by checking Pike's journal.)
While seeking a Northwest passage to the Pacific, Jonathan Carver and his party reached the
mouth of the Elk River when paddling up the Mississippi River in 1766. They were struck by
the area's beauty and plentiful game. Carver hunted plentiful elk and partridge in the area.
"The country in some places is hilly, but without large mountains; and the land is tolerably
good. I observed here many deer and caribou, some elk, with an abundance of beavers, otters
and other furs. A little above this; to the northeast are a number of small lakes called the
Thousand Lakes; the parts about which, though but little frequented, are the best within many
miles for hunting, as the hunter never fails of returning loaded beyond his expectations."
(quoted.by Anderson, History of Sherburne County, p. 19; probably referring to Mille Lacs,
which means Thousand Lakes in French)
With plentiful bison, elk, and deer inhabiting the boundary between the prairie and the
woodland, the Ojibwe and Dakota frequently clashed over the right to hunt in Sherburne
County. According to Ojibwe tradition, Ojibwe and Dakota fought two important battles in
1772 and 1773 at the juncture of the Elk and Mississippi Rivers. Because of these two
important battles fought at the same place, the Ojibwe named the point of land between the
Elk River and Mississippi River "Me-gaud-e-win-ing," or "Battle Ground." (See William
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 27
Warren, History of the Ojibway People, (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1984) 236-
241; quote on 240)
Sherburne County remained contested area between the Dakota and Ojibwe even after an
1825 treaty creating a boundary between the tribes. The Ft. Snelling Military Reservation,
negotiated by Zebulon Pike in 1805, allowed the United States government to establish a fort
on land that would later become Minneapolis and St. Paul, but it did not allow settlement. In
the interests of reducing conflict between several tribes in the Upper Midwest, the United
States government negotiated a boundary treaty between tribes in 1825 at Fort Crawford in
Prairie du Chien. The partition created a boundary between the warring Dakota and Ojibwe
tribes that cut the land that would become Sherburne County almost in half. The northern
portion was reserved for the njibwe, and the southern for the Dakota. Treaties in 1837
concluded between the Dakota and Ojibwe were the first treaties to open Minnesota land to
settlement by Furopean immigrants. This treaty opened all of present Sherburne County to
settlement. But it did not stop serious battles and skirmishes between the tribes, which
continued in the border area even after the treaty. (See, for instance, 1839 massacre of 70
Ojibwe women and children by Dakota on the Rum River in retaliation for the killing of a
hunter near Lake Harriet)
(More research should be conducted by acquiring Anton Steven Treuer, "Ojibwe-Dakota
Relations: Diplomacy, War, and Social Union, 1679-1862," MA Thesis, University of
Minnesota, 1994.)
Theme Statement
Theme 1: People searching for opportunities have always recognized the unique resources of
Sherburne County.
Subtheme 1.2. Indian tribes recognized that the area that later became Sherburne County
was strategically located on the edge of woodlands, prairie, and the Mississippi River, and as
a result, the area was a contested borderland between the Ojibwe and Dakota people for
about 150 years.
Contemporary visitor relevance: All audience segments expressed high interest in the
American Indian history of Sherburne County. Sixty-nine percent of members who
responded preferred exhibits that re-created scenes from the past with immersion exhibits or
exhibit vignettes. This content and methodology was a consistent interest in other audience
segments. The audience survey also suggested potential visitors preferred to hear stories told
in the words of the participants, whenever possible. These stories will help residents of
Sherburne County understand some of the historical background for the existence of the
Ojibwe Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, not far from Sherburne County.
Desired Learner Outcomes: (feeling, knowledge, skills)
1. Some visitors will recall that Sherburne County is located on ahistorical boundary line
between Dakota and Ojibwe. (cognitive)
2. Some visitors will recall that history is collected and passed on in different ways in
different cultures. (cognitive)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 28
3. Some visitors will be able to summarize the stages of American Indian use of Sherburne
County. (cognitive)
4. Some visitors will recall that a decisive battle between the Dakota and Ojibwe over
control of the area that later became Sherburne County was fought at the juncture of the
Elk River with the Mississippi. (cognitive)
5. Some visitors will be moved by the spiritual nature of the storytelling experience to learn
more about Ojibwe and Dakota customs. (affective)
Visitor Experience
Based on the accompanying chart, a waist -high timeline surrounding an Ojibwe lodge could
trace changes in vegetation with changes in human occupation and use.
Since his sources were the Ojibwe oral tradition, visitors should hear William Warren's
detailed stories of the Battle of Elk River in 1772 and 1773 as if they are listening to an elder
tell the story of a long -ago battle. Visitors could enter a reproduced Ojibwe lodge and sit on
skin -covered benches or on the floor) surrounding a simulated campfire. The simulated smell
of sweet grass should emanate from the campfire. Once inside, a projected image of an
Ojibwe elder should tell the story in Warren's own words, (edited for length as needed)
beginning in Ojibwe to give people the flavor of the language, but then switching to English.
The narrator should discuss how Ojibwe tracked their history through the winter count and
the oral tradition, so visitors get a sense of the differences between an Ojibwe version of past
events and a traditional European version of the past. An Ojibwe war song (below) could be
sung and translated on a panel to show the importance of music to Ojibwe and the suggestion
of tragedy that it contains. This could help humanize the stories and create empathy.
Ojibwe traditionally only told stories in winter, so explanation will be necessary and an Ojibwe
advisor should be consulted. Because this presentation focuses on a battle, rather than social
history, visitors should be referred to SCHS special events or the Mille Lacs Indian Museum
in Milaca for more detailed information about the everyday life of the Ojibwe.
Differing Points of View
1. Some people may believe that Warren's oral history evidence and the Ojibwe oral
tradition is unreliable.
2. Some people may believe that Warren's story is too slanted toward the Ojibwe side of the
story.
3. Some people may object that focusing on battles reinforces a negative public view of
American Indians.
4. Some people may believe that the Dakota voluntarily left the Mille Lacs area to follow
the bison onto the prairies.
5. Some people may object that the presentation focuses too much on Ojibwe, so an
additional panel specifically on Dakota may be needed, perhaps by using some of the
Pond brothers' book on Lake Calhoun Dakota.
Iconic object/media/activities
1. Ojibwe lodge and interior reproductions
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 29
Additional media and activities to tell the story (objects, film, images, sound, etc.)
1. Reproductions of Ojibwe items should be placed in the lodge, setting could be mid-19`h
century.
2. Reproductions of Pike's journal pages, where he observes Sherburne County phenomena,
for example, a Dakota village along the bank of river near present day Elk River.
3. Photo P1990.200.395, photo of Battle Rapids (This needs to be verified with more
information.)
4. A back -lit panel on the timeline outside the lodge should provide the following
translation of an Ojibwe war song. A push button option should be available to activate a
tape of the song sung in Ojibwe. Translated and interpreted by Gerald Vizenor in
anishinabe nagamon (Minneapolis: Nodin Press, 1970) 83
moving forward and back
from the woodland to the prairie
dakota women
weeping
as they gather
their wounded men
the sound of their weeping
comes back to us
5. Maps that show where 1825 partition between Dakota and Ojibwe ran through Sherburne
County.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 30
Create a timeline exhibit incomoratina the information in the following table.
Tradition/Subject
Approximate
Event
Vegetation/loc
Lifestyle/Significance/Result
Period
ation
Paleo-Indian
9,000-11,000
Retreat of glacier,
Spruce
Migratory hunting of big
BP
cool and wet
parkland,
game that followed glacial
pine forest
retreat, bison and possibly
megamammals, like
mammoths; maybe fruits
and nuts
Archaic
8,000 BP
Warmer and drier
Dry prairie
More sedentary, hunting
climate
and foraging; hunted
resident bison of the
sand lain
Woodland
2,500 BP
Cooler
Mixed
Seasonal camps; heavily
prairie,
dependent on wild rice,
woodland,
some farming of squash,
forest
corn, beans; deer hunting
Dakota
1600s
First arrival of
Same as
Similar to Woodland,
European
Woodland
explorers
Ojibwe
1680s
Ojibwe move west
Sherburne County
from Lake superior
becomes a contested area
and push Dakota
between Dakota and
away from Lake
Ojibwe until 1850s
Mille Lacs
Buffer Zone
1680s-1850s
Becomes a buffer
Mixed
Sandplain has abundant
zone between
prairie,
deer, bison, elk due to
Dakota and
woodland,
location on prairie/forest
Ojibwe
forest
border
Partition
1825
Treaty negotiated
Indicate
Unsuccessful attempt to
Between
by Agent
dividing line
divide warring tribes.
Ojibwe and
Taliaferro.
on a map.
Dakota
1837 Treaty
1837
After being
Indicate
In 1850, there are 20
map
surveyed, the first
boundaries
farms in Benton County,
land in Minnesota
on a map.
which included Sherburne
is opened to
County. Next to
settlement in 1848.
Washington County's 48,
This area includes
this is the second highest
all of present
number of farms in
Sherburne County.
Minnesota TerritoEy.
Wovcha, 14-20; William Watts Folwell, A History of Minnesota, I, 146 (1825 boundary);
160-161, 1837 Treaty; William Warren, History of the Ojibway People, 155-162; Merrill E.
Jarchow, The Earth Brought Forth: A History of Minnesota Agriculture to 1885, (St. Paul:
MHS, 1949) 4.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 31
Exhibit Station: 6
Topic: Outdoor Life in Sherburne County
Story:
When Sherburne County was first surveyed by the federal government's General Land Office
in the late 1840s and early 1850s, surveyors found mostly prairie grassland in a broad band
stretching from the Mississippi River, scattered oak mixed with prairie grasses and flowers,
and oak brushland in the county's interior. Primarily covered with this mix of prairie and a
transitional plant community called Oak Savanna, the county is on the edge of three major
plant communities: the Big Woods, the prairie, and the pine forest.
Because of its location on the edge of these major plant communities, Sherburne County was
a haven for wildlife. Early explorers described a bountiful land filled with beaver, otter,
muskrats, ducks, and bison along the Mississippi River, and elk and black bear in the
uplands. The myriad wetlands of the St. Francis River were renowned as an area that
contained some of the most abundant wildlife in Minnesota. Tribal groups fought over the
privilege to hunt here, and early settlers supported their families on the bountiful game.
Sherburne County is a place where people still enjoy the outdoors: hiking, skiing, hunting,
fishing, viewing and photographing wildlife.
Hiram Bailey, a brother of Orlando Bailey, who founded Bailey's Station, and his wife and
five children came to Sherburne County in 1870. Vernon Bailey, a son of Hiram Bailey, was
six -years -old when his family came to Sherburne County. His family settled in Meadowvale,
in one of Sherburne County's rare maple -basswood forests. Forks of Tibbits.Brook and
surrounding swampland protected the forest from the frequent fires that burned through the
prairie and oak savanna. The soils remained moister and cooler than most parts of the county,
protecting the more delicate maple and basswood trees and the other understory plants they
supported. A small portion of that maple -basswood forest still survives. (Indicate where the
Hiram Bailey family lived on a county/township map and the remaining forest.) In 1928
Vernon Bailey wrote a memoir of his family's life in Sherburne County, and he talked about
what it was like to live here in the early days.
That's What They Said!
"There was still abundance of government land to be homesteaded, good rich
prairie land easily converted into fields but the open prairies were cold and
windy in winter and wood and building material scarce and far away. Also
the hunting instincts and skill with woodsmen's tools appealed to Father and
Charles [Vernon's older brother] who really decided the choice of location,
six miles back from the main traveled road in beautiful virgin hardwood
timber. The 80 acres which Father at first homesteaded was about half-
timbered upland, and half meadow along what was then Tibbits Brook, a
considerable stream that drained several rice lakes and wound through miles
of old burned -out swamps and beaver meadows. It was a comfortable and
bounteous region, well -sheltered from the winter storms, with great
abundance of building timber, firewood, good hay that for many years
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 32
required only the cutting and feeding to our rapidly increasing stock of cattle,
horses and later sheep. It was in the best of the deer country of that part of the
state, there were few bears, and what seemed an inexhaustible supply of small
game. Fish were abundant in the streams and lakes, the beavers were all gone,
but there were other forbearers, muskrats, mink, otter, raccoon, and great
yellow foxes in their primitive abundance. Wild bees and honey were found
in the woods, and a great variety of berries and wild fruits. Was it any wonder
such a country should appeal to a hunter and pioneer with a large family to
raise and a home to carve out of the wilderness with only skillful hands for
capital...." (Vernon Bailey, "The Hiram Bailey Family: Pioneers of America
and Early Settlers of the Middle West," typescript, SCHS, 1928, 16)
As the snow melted halfway down and a few bare spots of earth came
through, the maple trees were tapped and maple syrup and sugar were made
in the big brass kettle on the stove, a rare treat to all of us youngsters. Soon
the ducks and geese arrived and added variety to our winter fare, and the
pickerel came up the creek or out on the flooded marshes in great numbers
and their delicious white meat was another feast. A little later the passenger
pigeons arrived in vast flocks, millions of them, so that a few loads of fine
shot into a flock brought down enough for huge pigeon pies which mother
knew how to make in greatest perfection. But soon the pigeons and game
birds were nesting and there was no more hunting or fresh meat until August
when the young prairie chickens were big enough to shoot. (Vernon Bailey,
"The Hiram Bailey Family: Pioneers of America and Early Settlers of the
Middle West," typescript, SCHS, 1928, 21)
Early Hunting in Sherburne Coup
That's What They Said! --My First Gun
"Shep our bob -tailed Collie, would scare all the prairie chickens we
needed along the road and scatter a flock so Father and Charles could easily
flush them again and shoot as many as needed, never more. There were no
game laws in those days, but like the Indians before us we never wasted game
nor killed more than actually needed and never hunted any kind of game in
the breeding season. When the young grouse were half-grown we began to
kill a few but did not kill many until later when nearly full-grown and in
prime condition. The great care was always not to kill the old grouse so long
as the flocks were together and she was needed by the inexperienced young.
... This was my tenth year and not until the following winter did I acquire my
first gun, an old-fashioned, long -barreled, sixteen gauge, muzzle -loading
shotgun. It was longer than I was so Father [sic] thought I could not shoot
myself with it, and decided greatly to my joy and pride, that it was time for
me to become a hunter too. My bow and arrows had been my hunting
weapons so far but I had killed nothing larger than a pickerel and a muskrat
with them. These were shot from the banks of the creek at rather close
quarters but I never developed archery to a practical use, mainly because the
shot gun [sic] took its place at so early an age. Still I always kept my bows
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 33
and arrows and never entirely lost the little skill acquired with them...."
(Vernon Bailey, "The Hiram Bailey Family: Pioneers of America and Early
Settlers of the Middle West," typescript, SCHS, 1928, 22)
That's What They Said!- -Hunting Ruffed Grouse and Prairie Chickens
"My earliest hunting was largely for partridges (ruffed grouse) and with my
muzzle -loading shotgun I could get a rest against the side of a tree and bring
one down from the branches. Then measure the powder from the old
powderhorn, ram down a wad of soft paper, measure out an ounce of shot and
put a cut cardboard was on top of it, clear the tube and place a percussion cap
and be ready for another shot. Sometimes the birds would wait for me to load
and sometimes not but if the dog barked at them or if I kept whistling they
would generally wait and sometimes I would get two or three from a flock.
Four made a good meal, and we generally considered that our bag limit for the
day. The general location of numerous flocks was known and there was no
trouble going out and getting a mess when needed, generally after supper or
before breakfast in the morning.
For prairie chickens we had to go farther, generally half a mile to a
mile onto the more open ground where the blueberries grew and not until I
was about 15 years old could I handle a gun rapidly enough to catch these
splendid birds on the wing as they rose with a booming roar out of the tall
grass or low bushes. My older brother with his double-barrelled shotgun was
an expert shot and I generally went along with my single -barrelled [sic] gun
and occasionally got a bird. A couple of these big meaty birds were a good
meal for the eight of us but enough for two meals were generally brought
back." (Vernon Bailey, "The Hiram Bailey Family: Pioneers of America and
Early Settlers of the Middle West," typescript, SCHS, 1928, 31)
That's What They Said! --Hunting Ducks
"For the early part of the season before the wild rice was ripe and the
migrating ducks came down from the north, wood ducks were the most
abundant and most delicious of our waterfowl.
A few mallards nested around the lake shores but not many were seen
until fall migration began, then mallards, blue -winged and green -winged teal,
gadwalls, hooded mergansers and later lesser and greater scaups came by
thousands to feast on wild rice in many of the nearby lakes, and in the creek
which ran through our meadows. The best hunting was along the creek when
small flocks flew up in front of us[,] but by walking a mile before daylight to
the nearest lake we could shoot a mess of ducks any morning on the pass as
they came in or went out of the lake close to our heads on top of the ridge.
The number of ducks seemed beyond all computation and the supply
inexhaustible but now they are mostly gone. Even the migration brings but a
few stragglers.
Canada geese came spring and fall in large flocks and a few pairs
remained every spring to breed. Nearly every large lake had a pair of these
great birds and out in the middle of some big marsh they would build a wide
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 34
flat nest on some old muskrat house or some dry spot safe from high water.
Occasionally I took a set of six eggs and hatched them under a hen and raised
the quaint greenish yellow goslings. They were generally the tamest, most
friendly and talkative birds of the barnyard, a great delight and interest."
(Vernon Bailey, "The Hiram Bailey Family: Pioneers of America and Early
Settlers of the Middle West," typescript, SCHS, 1928, 32)
That's What They Said!-- Craigs'Prairie Rabbits
Nona Mason remembered Blue Hill residents hunting and trapping in the 1920s.
"They hunted rabbits, squirrels, partridge, and prairie chickens. They trapped
cottontail and jack rabbits and sold them at the Knowlton store down in
Orrock for 10 cents for the cottontail and 20 cents for the jacks. We never
caught a jack rabbit in the trap because they were more down in Craig's
prairie. I can remember my brothers and my cousins going down there in the
old Model T and it didn't have a top on it. Craig's prairie used to be one big
prairie and now its full of pine trees. When it was just one big prairie they
would chase these jack rabbits with the old Model T. Then they could take
them down to Knowlton's store and get 25 cents apiece for them." (As quoted
in Anderson, 93)
Fishing in Sherburne Coun
Fish were plentiful in the lakes and streams of Sherburne County. Residents first used fish for
subsistence fare; later they harvested fish for sale and home use, and finally fishing became a
leisure -time activity.
That's What They Said!
"The streams and lakes were well -supplied with fish, pickerel, pike,
suckers, three kinds of bass, sunfish, perch and bullheads. These were
important items in our bill of fare, for during the early spring when the
pickerel ran up the creek and out over the flooded meadows we could always
get all we wanted at anytime, and a good mess of this delicious white-meated
fish was a great treat after the long winter. There were no trout and we did
very little fishing with hook and line, but any time during the summer when a
mess of fish was needed we would hitch up a team, take our little boat to the
closest deep lake with sandy shores and with a crude jack light and some pitch
wood cruise quietly along the edges of the lake, one man standing with a spear
in the front of the boat and picking out the choice fish with his spear. Usually
it was not difficult to get all the fish we would need for a couple of days, and
then we would put the boat in the wagon and drive back home and get part of
a night's sleep after all.... As the country filled with people and the fish
supply began to dwindle it was necessary to prohibit jacklighting and spearing
fish, as the few fish of the present day would not long stand such methods. If
the same resources of the country could have been more carefully guarded
they could have been greatly prolonged or made permanent. But at that time
no one dreamed of there ever being a scarcity of game or fish or wild fruits."
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 35
Vernon Bailey, "The Making of a Naturalist: Field Work of A Biologist," in
"The Hiram Bailey Family: Pioneers of America and Early Settlers of the
Middle West," typescript, SCHS, 36-7.
Between 1910 and 1913, a Norwegian named Gunder Skoog and his son lived in a Iarge fish
house near Eagle Lake. They caught and sold crappies to Archie Larson at his store in
Orrock. Larson purchased the crappies for five cents apiece, packed them in ice in apple
barrels, and then shipped them to Eisenmingers' Meat Company in St. Paul. (Dori Northrop,
"Orrock in Transition," Masters Thesis, St. Cloud State University, 1978, 22—This story
should be checked, as Gunnar Skoogs was a brick mason and had a family of twelve children
in Orrock Township, according to Ella Kringlund in "Greens Come True," p. 3. Are they the
same person?)
Trapping in Sherburne County
The lakes, streams, marshes, and bogs of Sherburne County teamed with forbearers.
Sherburne County had attracted major fur traders by the 1700s, and most of the beaver were
long -gone by the time white settlement began in the 1850s. Nevertheless, large numbers of
other forbearers offered a supplemental income to farmers eking a living out of the stingy
Sherburne County soils.
Most general storekeepers in Sherburne County purchased furs between World War I and II
as part of their business. Orrock Township contained what were perhaps some of the poorest
soils for agricultural production in Sherburne County, so farmers naturally looked for ways to
supplement their income. They were lucky that the township also contained many bodies of
water: Johnson slough, Big Mud Lake, Lake Josephine, Lake Ann, Eagle Lake, and the St.
Francis River, as well as many smaller marshes and wetlands, particularly in the northern
sections. Many farmers found that trapping was a good way to supplement their incomes.
As early as 1902, Orrock businessman Tom Larson bought furs from area trappers by driving
through the countryside with a team of horses and bobsled. The Larson Store and the
Knowlton Store in Orrock continued purchasing furs and selling to dealers through the early
20'' century, but the fur market was not well organized at this time, and the volume was
small and profits were irregular.
Demand for furs increased in the 1930s and fur companies began purchasing furs from fur
buyers instead of directly from individual trappers, as they had previously. To ensure that the
furs were handled properly, fur buyers bought unskinned, whole animals from trappers. The
buyers skinned, stretched, and dried the furs before selling them to the fur companies.
After about 1930, local fur buyers had a guaranteed market, and companies began advancing
money to buyers to purchase fur -bearing animals from trappers. In one instance, the Twin
City Furriers Manufacturing Company advanced Archie Larson $5,000 to buy muskrats. In
1941 Larson purchased more than 22,000 muskrats from local trappers.
Muskrats composed the bulk of the local fur market, followed by raccoon and mink. But
local trappers also captured wolves, beaver, fox, rabbits, weasel, skunk, and other furbearers.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 36
Archie Larson, a large local buyer, but one among many others, purchased about 122,782
muskrats between 1942 and 1968 from local trappers. Larson purchased muskrats from
trappers for about $2.00 each in the 1930s, then varied from fifty cents to $1.00 by the 1960s
as demand dropped. Mink brought up to $50 each in the 1930s and about $25 in the 1960s.
(Trapping information from Dori Northrop, "Orrock in Transition," Masters Thesis, St.
Cloud State University, 1978 27-31)
Trapping served as an important income stream for area farmers and youngsters. When the
county placed a bounty on pocket gophers that left dirt mounds on area fields that sometimes
damaged farm equipment and damaged trees in the Sand Dunes State Forest, local boys, like
Arnie Engstrom, set traps to catch the animals. Arnie remembers buying his first pair of
roller skates from money he earned by catching pocket gophers for the county bounty. (Arnie
Engstrom during discussion in group planning session.)
That's What They Said! —Trapping Near Meadowvale
"Muskrats were abundant in the creek that wound through our meadows and
in all the old beaver ponds that still held water through most of the summer.
At first I went with Charles to his traps and learned how to set and fasten them
on the banks of the creek close to deep water so the muskrat would soon
drown when caught, but we did not weight our traps and often the poor
muskrat suffered all night with a broken and mangled leg or twisted his foot
off and left it in the trap. This worried us, but we could not think of any way
to avoid it. Around the edges of the lakes we set traps under water at the bank
burrows and staked them down so the muskrats could not reach the surface
and were quickly drowned.
But mink and skunks and coons and foxes we could not take without
the cruel torture of mangled feet and we did very little trapping for such
animals. (Vernon Bailey, "The Hiram Bailey Family: Pioneers of America and
Early Settlers of the Middle West, 1928, p. 34)
Theme statement
Theme 2: Being on the edge where three ecological land types meet enabled easy
transportation and access to natural resources and economic resources.
Subtheme 2.1. Indian tribes recognized that the area that later became Sherburne
County was strategically located on the edge of woodlands, prairie, and the
Mississippi River, and the area became a contested borderland between the Ojibwe
and Dakota people.
Subtheme 2.4. Sherburne County's edge landscape included plentiful lakes,
wetlands, and abundant wildlife that have been key to the areas' history and
development.
Contemporary visitor relevance
1. A large part of the Heritage Center audience is oriented toward outdoor leisure activities.
The Intercept Survey, which picked -up the young family audience segment, indicated
interviewees spent 45% of their leisure time doing outdoor activities.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 37
Desired Learner Outcomes
1. Some visitors will describe the four different kinds of landscapes in Sherburne
County at the time of settlement. (cognitive)
2. Some visitors will explain how early landscapes contributed to the subsistence and
economic importance of hunting and trapping to county residents well into the 201h
century. (cognitive)
Visitor Experience
Visitors will walk along a pathway bordered by two dioramas. On one side, an upland
landscape (prairie and oak savanna) prior to settlement will be depicted in dioramas. Insert
bison skeleton into the foreground of the upland diorama. On the other side, depict the St.
Francis River wetland landscape dotted with beaver dams and muskrat houses. Running on
both sides of the pathway, photos, text, and flat or small objects related to settler and early
20th century interaction with that landscape will be displayed on a 45% angle panel.
Incorporate a muskrat fur coat if available on the wetland side of the diorama.
Maps should identify where different plant communities were located in the county at the
time of the General Land Office survey, and a map near Vernon Bailey's text should indicate
the location of the Maple -Basswood forest protected by Tibbits Brook and the Bailey
homestead.
Differing Points of View
1. Some people may believe this summary is too focused on hunting and trapping --but that
is the focus of much of the historical documentation on the experience of early settlers
with the natural landscape.
2. Some people object to trapping as cruel and inhumane and will not like its inclusion here.
Iconic object/media/activities: Dioramas and "Hudson Seal Coat" or other muskrat coat
from area and reconstructed bison skeleton from Becker Community Library
Additional media and activities to tell the story (objects, film, images, sound, etc.)
1. P1990.200.316 75 photos of gray and red fox shot in Becker or CL Townships April
1955
2. Map showing the Maple -Basswood forest protected by Tibbits Brook and the Bailey
homestead.
3. Acquire Archie Larson's Store fur purchasing records if available. Archie Larson may
have referred to them in 1978 when Dori Northrup interviewed him for her Masters
Thesis, pp 28-31.
4. Acquire a Broad Bill duck call patented by Nels C. Hansen, father of Mrs. George Pratt,
in 1914, sold throughout the US, Canada, and New Zealand, and used until the 1960s.
5. Acquire some old traps from the early 20th century trapping industry in Sherburne
County, especially muskrat, mink, or raccoon traps.
6. Acquire a muskrat coat from the 1940s—sable-dyed muskrat, or a muskrat coat called
"Hudson seal coat" which had the fur clipped off.
7. Acquire an old shotguns or rifle used in the Sherburne County area.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 38
8. Acquire more photos showing outdoor life in Sherburne County, including bird watching,
photography, and other non -consumptive outdoor activities, and more contemporary
stories about those activities.
9. Acquire Becker Community Library reconstructed bison skeleton recovered on
Sherburne County farm.
10. 0 1990.067.006 "Pinnated Grouse, or Prairie Chickens" 1870 stereograph card
11. Acquire stereoscope with which to view card
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 39
Exhibit Station: 7
Topic: Communities and People
Story:
Communities Section 1: Early Settlement Section
After Dakota and Ojibwe ceded the land that included Sherburne County in the Treaty of
1837, land was still not officially open for settlement. But a few settlers claimed land under
the 1841 Preemption Act. This law allowed settlers to choose their land and make
improvements before the land was surveyed and publicly auctioned by the government.
Settlers could claim by right of possession up to 160 acres of land and purchase it from the
government after 14 months of residence for $1.25 an acre after it was surveyed, but before it
was offered for public sale. The first land to be surveyed and offered for sale after the Treaty
of 1837 were the townsites of Stillwater, St. Paul, and St. Anthony in 1848. The land ceded
by treaty in 1837 that later became Sherburne County was surveyed over a few years in the
early 1850s. More white settlers began trickling in as the survey was completed.
(www.bartleby.com/65/pr/Preempti.html and
http://www.kstrom.net/isk/maps/mn/treaties.html; Merrill E. Jarchow, The Earth Brought
Forth: A History of Minnesota Agriculture to 1885, (St. Paul: MHS, 1949) 41-45)
Two of the earliest structures were built at different points in Sherburne County at about the
same time. David Faribault built a cabin as a trading post near the mouth of the Elk River in
1846 near what later became Orono, or Elk River's Upper Town. Henry M. Rice, co-owner
of the American Fur Company, with Henry H. Sibley, purchased Faribault's trading post in
1848. Rice hired Simeon P. Folsom to manage the trading post, and Folsom built another
building within what is now the City of Elk River just south of Main Street and Tipton. That
same year, Joseph Jerome built a tavern in northwest Haven Township. It served as an
important stopping point for the Red River Ox Cart Trail travelers. (show location from GLO
survey map for Haven Township)
E. Seymoure traveled from St. Anthony to Sauk Rapids in a wagon in 1849. His descriptions
provide us with a glimpse of Sherburne County just as Minnesota was becoming a Territory
of the United States. Leaving the juncture of the Mississippi and Rum River, Seymoure and
his companion entered the land that would soon become Sherburne County, traveling through
groves of scrubby oak and grassland. Just before arriving at Folsom's trading post, Seymoure
described the scene that would have been near today's downtown Elk River: "The road
approached the Mississippi at a bend of the river, where a view of it and the adjoining
scenery is picturesque and beautiful." (Anderson, 29-30) After staying at Folsom's overnight,
Seymoure described a breakfast of "a good dish of fresh pickerel." (quoted in Anderson, 29)
Ten miles past Elk River, Seymoure encountered a "beautiful lake of transparent water called
Big Lake." (quoted in Anderson 30) On the shore, he found the foundation logs for a double
cabin, which were not completed, but started with the intent to secure title under the
Preemption Act.
That's What They Said!
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 40
"We drove ten miles further that afternoon and put up at Sturgis', forty
miles beyond the camp on the Rum River. Mr. Sturgis/ house is constructed of
tamarack logs. It resembled, when seen from a distance on the prairie, a two-
story framed house an optical illusion common to the prairies of the West. The
buildings and fences of this section of the country are composed principally of
tamarack poles. The country through which we have traveled today had been,
principally, a level or gently undulating prairie, with some small groves of
oak, the Mississippi within a few miles on our left and the Elk River, nearly
parallel with it on our right. Within three miles of Sturgis' the road passes in
sight of several pretty lakes.... Mr. Sturgis was breaking the prairie near his
house. The black fresh -turned soil appeared as if it might yield the best of
crops.
This place is situated on the bank of the Elk River, which at this point,
is deep and has a strong current, and is about 30 feet wide [The Sturgis farm
was located about three and one half miles due west of the present Briggs
Lake.] There is a large party of Winnebagos camped on the Mississippi River
near Mr. Sturgis; a band or party of them, I believe, who are somewhat
discontented with the location of their own land above." [The Winnebagoes
were moved to an area called Long Prairie near Sauk Rapids in 1849] (quoted
in Anderson 28-29)
Another traveler described Clear Lake about ten years later.
That's What They Said!
"The route lay along the Father of Waters and through a rolling prairie,
covered with sweet-smelling flowers and strawberries. Nothing is more
magnificent than one of those prairies, especially at the rising and the setting
of the sun. Nothing can the eye see but the sky, grass and flowers, with here
and there a tiny lake or rivulet, or a wood which has the appearance of an
island in the midst of a mighty ocean." (Father William H. Oram, 1860,
quoted in Anderson 96)
Pierre Bottineau, a French and Chippewa trader and guide purchased the Folsom post in
Orono about 1850, then decided to build a larger complex on present day Main Street of
Elk River, calling it the Elk River House. Three years later, Bottineau's hotel was owned
by Marshall and Company, which offered the hotel for sale.
That's What They Said!
Elk River Tavern Stand
For Sale or Exchange
"This well known property, formerly owned by P. Botteneau [sic], is offered for
sale or would be exchanged for logs or real estate in the vicinity of St. Anthony or
St. Paul, on the most favorable terms. Our business engagements are such that we
cannot pay proper attention to, or take care of the above property; we are therefore
disposed to sell it for much less than it has cost us.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 41
The building, consisting of a large Tavern, Store building, separate dwelling, and
Barn and Stables, are the best in the upper country. Enquiry can be made of J.W.
North Esq., of St. Anthony, or the subscriber at St. Paul.
Marshall & Co.
March 18, 1853"
(St. Anthony Express, March 18, 1853)
John Quincy Adams Nickerson purchased the property from Bottineau and renamed it the
Riverside Hotel, enlarging the property several times over the next 25 years.
"... at Elk River the improvement is surprising. A mill at that point is in successful operation
and finds plenty to do to supply the home demand. Buildings are going up on all hands, and
as many as 20 families have selected property at this point with a view of settling in the
Spring. The mill is the property of our worthy townsman Ard Godfrey Esq." (St. Anthony
Express, January 14, 1853)
The more wooded northern sections of the county, away from the Mississippi River were
generally settled later than the prairie of the river terraces.
Meadowvale, located in the northwest corner of Elk River Township was not settled until the
1870s. This area was on moister, more fertile soil than most of Sherburne County, and it
supported a Maple -Basswood forest, typical of the Big Woods on the west shore of the
Mississippi in Wright County. Harriet Roberts was a niece of Orlando Bailey, who founded
Bailey Station near Big Lake. The Roberts family farmed near the Baileys, and she married
William Eaton in 1872. The Eaton family had arrived in Becker Township in 1867. Harriet
Eaton remembered her move to Meadowvale with her new husband to settle near Hiram
Bailey, another one of Harriet's uncles who had settled there shortly before.
That's What They Said!
We started from Becker on the sixth day of March, 1873, with a team
of oxen, taking two cows and all of our possessions.... [Uncle Hiram] took us
in and helped us to locate the land and build a comfortable log house into
which we moved in April, 1873."
There were Elm and Maple trees and we tapped some Maple trees near
the house that yielded enough sap to make all the maple sugar we needed for a
year. There was a brook that drained the meadow on one side of a gentle
elevation that the house stood on, and virgin soil awaited the plow. This land
was not very hard to clear. The cabin that was to be our home looked very
homey. I had no neighbors nearer than Uncles but other claim seekers soon
came.
Mr. Keasling took a soldier's claim near us and built a house similar to
ours, and moved in with his family. They had lately come from Iowa and were
looking for land to homestead. Mr. Keasling and his family were fine
neighbors and citizens and he and his wife lived on the claim until they died,
which was many years later. The next new settler to come was John Frisbe
and family. They were looking for a claim and had come from Illinois.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 42
Orville Bailey and family settled on a claim adjoining ours in the fall
of 1873. We were great friends and had good times together.
In the spring of 1874 grandfather George Eaton came from Becker and
built a house on some of our land. Charlie Hill came and bought some railroad
land and built a cabin at about this time.
Not long after this, Horatio Blaisdell came and by this time the new
community of Meadowvale was founded. It was a very congenial
neighborhood and before there was a house where meetings could be held, it
was the practice to hold meetings at the homes, and we often gathered in
dinner parties and on holidsays.
Mr. Hill, who had sold his farm near Elk River and purchased land
near us, and Mr. Terry, Mr. Frisbe's brother-in-law, came from Illinois and
settled on an adjacent tract. A road had been laid out from Mr. Keasling's
farm to Elk River, and the need of a schoolhouse was felt, as there were about
twelve children of school age. A meeting was called to consider the matter.
Grandfather George Eaton, who had built a cabin on the southwest
corner of our land, donated an acre for the site of the schoolhouse, and the
building was soon built by volunteer labor. A most efficient teacher was
found —Miss Amanda Snow of Big Lake....
The meeting for organizing the school district voted to call the
settlement Meadowvale. A Sunday School was organized and as soon as the
little log school was ready for use, all gatherings were held there. (Hattie
Eaton, as quoted in Anderson, 114-115)
In his own memoir, Fred Keasling, born in 1875 in Meadowvale, added to this picture
of early life in Meadowvale.
That's What They Said!
I was born in 1875. Some of my earliest memories are of the
difficulties of clearing the land. The huge trees were chopped down, the logs
rolled into big piles and burned. We farmed around the stumps until they
rotted. Later there was a market for maple cord wood which sold for $2 to $3
a cord. After we got cows my mother made butter in prints and delivered it to
town to regular customers for 20 cents a pound. That was the only cash
income we had as butter and eggs taken to the general store had to be "traded
out." I distinctly remember my mother asking the storekeeper for ten cents in
cash to buy postage stamps but he refused. Flour could be had for cash only.
When somebody made a weekly trip to town (Elk River) they brought the
mail for the entire neighborhood. Later years my father sold three cows for
$27 to get some needed cash.
One thing that contributed largely to the family's living was a sorghum
mill that my father bought. It was a one horse mill and produced sweetening
and material for candy pulls. He charged 15 cents a gallon for making the
sorghum.
North of our farm was a swamp. In winter when everything was
frozen, tamarack trees were cut down and laid in the roadway. Dirt was then
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 43
hauled onto it. This type.of road is called a corduroy road. It was just a narrow
one-way road and one had to wait at the end if anyone was on the road
because we couldn't pass.
My schooling was obtained in a log schoolhouse. The first term I went
to school was of three months duration. Our teacher received $15 a month. He
lived at home and carried his lunch of oatmeal gruel in a quart pail. Most of
the pupils had Johnny -cake and sorghum in their dinner pails. Parents had to
buy books for their children, so books were scarce.
Wild game was abundant. I can recall passenger pigeon flocks flying
by all day, day after day. Some nested in our groves. The depressions where
the nets were set to catch the pigeons are still to be seen. Live pigeons were
sold to gun clubs for $1.25 a dozen. Wild ducks and geese were plentiful and
there were some deer.
Neighborhood gatherings were bright spots for children as well as for
grown-ups.
All of the work was necessarily done by hand. Grain was cut with a
cradle. Hay was cut with a scythe, put up in piles when dry and carried on
poles to be stacked." (Fred Keasling, quoted in Anderson, 117)
Communities Section 1
Additional media and activities to tell the story (objects, film, images, sound, etc.)
l . P 1990.200.4423 Main Street in Clear Lake, looking NE across RR tracks —Livery Stable,
C.M. Schuldts house, Anderson Hotel, etc.
2. P1990.200.425 A Souvenir of Happy School Days/Dist. NO 27 Blue Hill, May 23, 1902
3. P1990.200.314 Becker Consolidated School, sign on side of buggy —[maybe first school
bus in Becker after country schools consolidated, estimated teens or 1920s]
4. P1990.200.310 Becker Schoo/1918—school children in front of Becker school (or choose
from many others)
5. P1990.200.165 Celebrating the 4th of July at Jens Jorgensens Dane Township, Becker
1902
6. P 1990.200.122 and 121 Knutson General Store, 1883, Becker
7. P1990.200.115 Eskimobile 1931 Model A Ford delivering mail in Becker Twnshp 1935
8. P1990.200.099a-b TownHall/Becker Built 1891/Burned 1911
9. P1990.200.284 horsedrawn school bus used in 1935 and 1936 Becker
10. Robert Orrock and family seated in front of log cabin, 1857, Location E200 p37;
Negative no. 910
11.01990.092.001 Remains of a Government Land Office Survey section stake, ca. 1850
12. 01990.094.001 1857 map on linen of Orono and proposed Godfrey's Addition, 1857,
with Elk River and Mississippi confluence and mill pond on Elk River
13. 01990.102.001 View of Elk River, Sherburne Co. 1879; Uppertown and Lowertown map
14. The early settlements should be located on a map.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 44
Communities Section 2: A Place We Call Home: A Communi1y Scrapbook
I recommend a revolving exhibit section of about six months to one-year duration on some
place in the county. It could be a specific community, lake, township, or other feature that
has significance to people in the county.
This revolving section is intended to provide more depth on a specific place and the
important people in its past than would be possible in the space available in the long-term
exhibit. Although there may be some repetition of materials in the place and people feature, I
don't think you should be concerned to eliminate all repetition. After they have seen the
larger exhibit, some of your visitors will be repeat visitors just to see the changing place
feature. The section can also feature statements from contemporary residents regarding what
it is that makes a place special to them. It is likely that a somewhat different sense of place
will emerge from different age groups and from those who commute or reside in the
community, but it is also likely that an overall cohesive sense of place will also emerge.
The first place and people featured could be Big Lake and its immediate surroundings. As
one of the earliest and most central locations in the days before Sherburne became a county,
Big Lake has always had an important role in the county's history. There are also many good
historical descriptions and photos available of the lake.
Story:
Communities Section 2
With the addition of non -duplicated information and photos below, I recommend using
Bobbie Scott's Big Lake PowerPoint program, underlying research, and storyline as the
initial basis for this revolving section. (As SCHS selects individual places to be featured in
the revolving section, the executive director should include the. development*of a place
histories and appropriate collections as part of the organization's annual workplan.)
When E. Seymoure passed by Big Lake on the Red River Ox Cart Trail in 1849, he described
Big Lake as "a beautiful lake of transparent water called Big Lake." Seymoure observed the
foundation logs for a double cabin near the lake. This foundation was probably the proving
claim for Joseph Brown's new house. Brown purchased 160 acres along the southwest side
of Big Lake in 1850 for $1.25 per acre. Brown's home became a major tavern and hotel
along the Red River Ox cart Trail. He added a general store to provide provisions for those
passing through. Brown's Hotel burned in 1857, but it was rebuilt closer to the stage road.
Brown was killed while trying to steady a bolting team of horses on a stagecoach in 1864.
(Research Sauk Rapids Frontierman for adds for Brown's, reported by Anderson to be
common from 1855 on; See St. Cloud Visitor, December 1857, for documentation of fire;
Get additional information on Brown's death from newspapers, if possible.)
That's What They Said!
"We dined at Big Lake with good appetites, and had, of course, a good
dinner —Abner is the present landlord, and quite popular. The St. Paul and
Pacific railroad will soon have the rails laid to this point, when for picnics and
pleasure excursions, this beautiful lake with its fine shores and pleasant
groves, will offer the greatest attractions to be found on the route. Fish, flesh
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 45
and fowl abound here, and it must become a popular resort; as the road
passes on the shore of the lake, parties will be landed in their pleasure
grounds." (Emphasis added; The St. Paul Daily Press V:163 (July 19, 1865):
2, O. H. Kelley)
Theme Statement
Theme 1: People searching for opportunities have always recognized the unique resources of
Sherburne County.
Theme 2: Being on the edge where three ecological land types meet enabled easy
transportation and access to natural resources and economic resources.
Subthemes
Subtheme 1. People from all over the world chose to make Sherburne County their home;
their values shape our communities today.
Subtheme 2.1. Indian tribes recognized that the area that later became Sherburne County
was strategically located on the edge of woodlands, prairie, and the Mississippi River, and
the area became a contested borderland between the Ojibwe and Dakota people.
Subtheme 2.2. Living on the edge of metro area, pineries, and western wheat fields provided
access for Sherburne County people to metro markets and jobs in other areas.
Subtheme 2.3. Trails, roads, and rails developed in the corridor along the edge of the
Mississippi River, prairie, pine forest, and deciduous forest.
Subtheme 2.4. Sherburne County's edge landscape included plentiful lakes, wetlands, and
abundant wildlife that have been key to the areas' history and development.
Contemporary visitor relevance
1. The audience survey indicated that members wanted to see exhibits that tell stories of
first families and how their communities developed.
2. All audience segments indicated very high interest in stories about pioneers and how
early settlers lived.
3. All audience segments except members indicated high interest in interactive exhibits,
however, it is expected that members will find the interactive opportunities in this section
very attractive, because as long-time county residents, they will have a chance to tell the
history themselves.
4. The audience survey indicated that SCHS's audience segments, particularly members and
teachers, preferred opportunities for interaction with interpreters, perhaps people who
have experienced the history themselves. This response supports the use of volunteer
docents in the community section, particularly during expected high visitation periods.
Desired Learner Outcomes
1. Some visitors will recall the early descriptions of Sherburne County and that first
settlement occurred along the rivers, streams, and the Red River Ox Cart Trail.
(cognitive)
2. Some visitors will describe the early history of Big Lake, including Brown's Hotel, and
the important role of the lake and Red River Trail. (cognitive)
3. Some visitors will discuss the history of Big Lake and contribute photos, stories, or
objects. (cognitive, affective, action)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 46
Visitor Experience
The design of this section should be similar to a scrapbook. Capitalizing on contemporary
interest in scrapbooking, this section could encourage donations of photos, objects, and
stories to the SCHS and encourage people to save their own history. It could also become a
focus for scrapbooking workshops that target individual communities.
A changing exhibit focused on local sense of place will allow the SCHS to have a vital,
changing exhibit section. It will also allow each community to participate in developing the
exhibit section each time it is revolved. Over the long-term, this exhibit strategy will help the
SCHS build a larger collection of photos, stories, and objects focused on the important
places, and people who helped create them, in the county.
Visitors will view the text and photo exhibit on the early settlement history, and they will be
able to follow Seymoure's trip with a map that shows his progress. All locations that are
described with text should also be located on a map to help orient visitors in space.
After visitors view the text, photos, and maps in the second section, they will have an
opportunity to add their own memories of the featured place by writing them down in a
Community Memories Flipbook. Be sure to get their names and addresses for attribution and
possible follow-up. The ability to help write the history of their own county by providing
memories (and possibly artifacts) of their communities will be very satisfying to some
visitors.
This would be an excellent area to station a volunteer to help elicit memories about the
county, in general, and the featured place and its people. This would also be a good place for
a "talk story bench," where people can sit, rest, and exchange memories of the featured place.
Just providing interaction would be an important function, but the volunteer could also help
people fill out the Community Memories Flipbook and follow-up on donation queries. The
volunteer should be well trained, though, and it should be clear that no donations could be
accepted without formal SCHS action.
This section will provide a reason to develop histories of each place in the county. The text
and photos should be digitized, with the idea that those histories can later be used in a
publication. Your visitors will help you create additions to the story in the Community
Memories Flipbook as they add their own memories of the place to the exhibit.
Differing Points of View
1. There will be disagreement about which place should be featured each rotation.
2. There will be many different points -of -view about what a place means to people, but this
will enrich the exhibit.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 47
Iconic object/media/activities: More information about available objects and images are
needed to decide which will best work as the iconic object. If no other symbolic or dominant
images or objects emerge, a very large 1930s or 1950s aerial view of Big Lake, with
surrounding businesses, and perhaps subdivisions, identified would be compelling.
Additional media and activities to tell the story (objects, film, images, sound, etc.)
1. P1990.200.391, Cottages at Big Lake, 1914
2. P1990.200.393, 394, 392, 1984? Big Lake Pavilion —use best
3. P1990.201.583 Big Lake and docks, Big Lake, Minn
4. P1990.201.584 Boats on shore, bath house, people in water Big Lake
5. P1990.201.588 Brown's Hotel, Big Lake with outbuildings —date?
6. P1990.200.391 Cottages at Big Lake, MN 1914
7. P1990.200.392 Big Lake Pavilion
8. P1990.200.393 Big Lake Pavilion
9. P1990.200.394 Big Lake Pavilion
10. P 1990.200.371 Big Lake Spud Fest "Wizzard Oil Troop" no date
11. P 1990.200.344 Big Lake Business District, no date
12. 1930s Soil Conservation Service aerial photos of Big Lake (acquire)
13. 1950s Soil Conservation Service aerial photos of Big Lake (acquire)
14. Arnold and Helen Engstrom on first date, July 4, 1928 at Big Lake Pavilion (acquire copy
from Arnie Engstrom)
15. Original plat map of Big Lake (Humboldt) on linen dated 1855 owned by descendants in
Big Lake (Acquire or copy --See Anderson, 37)
16. MHS photos (MHS has 32 images of Big Lake from 1862-1984)
a. Big Lake shoreline, site of John G. Nicolay's encampment with the e US Indian
Commission MS4.1 pI, neg 95631
b. Big Lake shoreline behind encampment, site of John G. Nicolay's encampment
with the US Indian Commission, E97.51 p13, neg 95641
c. Big Lake encampment, site of John G. Nicolay's encampment with the US Indian
Commission, E97.51 p15; neg 95640
d. John G. Nicolay with U.S. Indian Commissioner William P. Dole at Big Lake
encampment, E97.51 p16; neg 95639
e. Big Lake Boat Landing, ca. 1910; MS4.9 BL 412
f. Lakeside Motel, Big Lake, 1955, MS4.9 BL rl 1
g. Aerial view of Big Lake, photographer Vincent H. Mart, 1971, I.303.1917;
MIBC69-36
15. P1990.200.370 First telephone repair truck in Big Lake date?
16. Talk story bench (according to oral history, there used to be a bench prominently located
in Big Lake, where old-timers used to sit and survey the community and exchange
stories)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 48
Exhibit Station: 8
Topic: Agriculture
Story:
Due to light, sandy soil and lots of wetlands, Sherburne County historically has been on the
edge of agricultural productivity, from both a geographic and economic perspective. Some
farms were so sandy, farmers would get their tractors stuck during dry weather in the deep,
loose sand. The most productive land in Minnesota was south and west of the Mississippi
River --and south and west of Sherburne County on thick glacial till. This land was richer and
more productive than the Anoka Outwash Plain and the thin soils north of it. The flat, rich
soils of the Red River Valley west and north of the county were also productive, but over
much of that land, the short growing season limited major agricultural products to crops that
could ripen in 100 days or less, such as small grains, potatoes, and sugar beets. There was so
much marginal land in the county that as late as 1910, only 39 percent of land in the county
had been improved with fencing or cultivation. (Calculated from agricultural census data.)
Farms were so sparse and spread out that when the Rural Electrification Administration
offered the opportunity to electrify rural areas, many areas in Sherburne County could not
meet the average of 2 '/z patrons per square mile requirement. Most Sherburne County
farmland remained marginally productive land throughout the twentieth century. It is only
recently that irrigation has helped to significantly improve crop yields.
Promotin,g A iculture
Sherburne County was carved out of old Benton County in 1856. Before Sherburne County
was separated from Benton, the area was described as the future agricultural center of
Minnesota.
That's What They Said!
Lying on the east side of the Mississippi and nearly half encircled by it, its natural
position is better than that of any other County. Washed on its whole western border
by a river navigable for steamboats, its farmers have a market at their very doors....
The soil is for the most part unsurpassed in the Territory in point of fertility and
easy cultivation. (St. Anthony Express February 7, 1852)
In 1850, Sherburne really was part of the most productive agricultural county in Minnesota
Territory's infant agricultural industry. Benton County was one of nine counties. There were
only 405 improved acres in Benton County at the time, but its farms were valued at $34,250,
and that was the highest cash value of farms in any county in the young Territory! It had the
second highest value of agricultural implements, the third highest value of livestock, and it
was third in the production of potatoes with 3,650 bushels. The county had 132 working
oxen, its most numerous kind of livestock. But Minnesota and Sherburne County agriculture
was just beginning to develop, and farmers drawn to the area by glowing reports were often
bitterly disappointed.
In 1868, John Putnam, a farmer and school superintendent in Big Lake, enthusiastically
described county agriculture to a teacher he was recruiting.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 49
That's What They Said!
As a general thing, farmers sow their wheat and oats in April and plant corn in
May. Although our.springs vary more in opening than in Eastern States, we
have sown wheat in February and planted corn in April, but as a rule, I mean
to get dent corn planted by the 20th of May. We raise all kinds of grain as
wheat, barley, corn, oats, rye, buckwheat, broom corn [sic], sorghum etc.
Vegetables ... we have sweet and Irish potatoes, beets, parsnips, carrots,
cabbage, turnips, tomatoes, melons of all kinds; in fact, almost anything you
can mention in that line. I have had peas the 19th of June, full grown. Our best
wheat crop has yielded from 30 to 35 bushels per acre. Last year, 15 bushels
was an average in this county. I can hardly dare tell you in relation to fruit.
Last year, strawberries grew wild by the carload; in fact, there was no end to
them. They grow on old breakings and in marshes. Wild raspberries,
blackberries, currants, gooseberries and blueberries are abundant.... From
various causes, we have not succeeded in raising apples and pears, although
enough are growing to lead us to believe that in the end we shall be successful
in this crop. We have cranberries in great abundance, which take the place of
apples. We also have wild grapes and hogs [sic --check original source]
growing on the lowlands. For nuts we gather the hazel nut and butternut.
(John Putnam to Miss Carie De Reese, March, 1868, as quoted in Anderson p.
85)
By 1879, Sherburne County was an established agricultural county with about 600 farms that
averaged 151 acres. Wheat was the dominant crop and grew in most of the county's fields
(8,527 acres more than 1/3 of all acreage). Hay fields and wet meadows surrounded sloughs
and lakes where farmers could not till the land and drought -prone oak savannas were used for
permanent pasture land. (7,102 acres of hay mown) After wheat, their main cash crop,
farmers planted some of their best land to corn (5,365 acres) to feed their hogs. Oats and rye
fields occupied most of the remaining tilled land (1,618 acres oats, 1,283 rye). Most farmers
had a few cattle, horses, pigs and chickens on their farm. Farmers made their own butter, and
most traded a small amount of butter for store goods.
Some Sherburne County farmers planted specialty crops. Although there were only five acres
planted to tobacco, it was such an unusual crop in Minnesota that Sherburne ranked fourth in
the state in tobacco production in the 1880 census, but tobacco was not grown again in the
county in the 19th or early 20th centuries. At this time, the county also produced the third
most dry beans in the state.
There was a poor wheat crop in 1887 due to drought conditions, and Sherburne County
farmers briefly increased their acreage of wheat as prices rose the next few years. But by
1910, wheat was a very minor crop here, and it remained that way.
By 1910, the largest crop in the county was hay, which was harvested from nearly a quarter
of all improved land. But most of the hay harvested as late as 1889 in Sherburne County was
wild hay. Only about 11% of the hay was. cultivated agricultural legumes and grasses. (Figure
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 50
125, Edward Van Dyke Robinson, p. 130) The second most common crop was corn at 19%,
and the third was oats, then barley, rye, and potatoes. About a third of the farmland in the
county was fenced pasture and woods. (1910 Agricultural Census; see Appendices in Edward
Van Dyke Robinson)
Livestock
Typical of their diversified approach to agriculture, Sherburne County farmers raised a few
sheep, swine, and poultry throughout the 19`h century. Most farmers raised a few dairy cattle
for their own subsistence and butter production in the 19`h century. But farmers began
focusing more on dairying in the 1880s as creameries and cheese factories were established
in the county. (Robinson, 131, Figure 127) County farmers milked nearly 6,000 cows by
1889 and over 7,250 by 1899. (Agricultural census records, Robinson, 276-277) Sherburne
County farmers increased their milk herds as dairy mechanization improved in the 1890s and
into the 201h century. Although the total number of cattle increased from 14,246 in 1910 to
20,700 in 1963, county farmers were milking 500 fewer cows. This decline was the result of
fewer dairymen, though, not smaller herds. With better feed, breeds, and management, the
county's dairy herd significantly increased production. Dairy cows in the county produced
over 56 million pounds of milk in 1963 compared to only 15 and one-half million in 1910.
(Soil Survey of Sherburne County, 1996, p. 11; using Agricultural Census Statistics and the
conversion statistic of 8.62 lbs milk per gallon) County farmers were drawn to dairy because
it was difficult to harvest profitable crops on the sandy soil. Farmers could pasture dairy
cows in the abundant lowland meadows or higher savannas and make a much better profit
than they had been receiving from wheat farming.
Many Sherburne County farm families made cheese at home from the 1860s to the 1880s, but
they switched to cheese factories and cooperative creameries in the 1880s. In fact, county
farmers distinguished themselves by making the fourth most cheese at home of all the
counties in the state in 1879. Even though cheese prices in Minnesota dropped by 50% in
1878, factory cheese production increased here. By 1889, Sherburne County had three cheese
factories and two creameries, and although farmers continued to make some butter at home,
they shifted their cheese production to the new factories. (Agricultural .Census records,
Robinson, 290-291, 131; for statewide cheese and creamery prices, see Steven J. Keillor,
Cooperative Commonwealth: Co-ops in Rural Minnesota, 1859-1939, MHS, 2000)
That's What They Said!
Spring
"Fires are running over the country some now but we have our house and
stables so secured by setting back fires and plowing, that we do not feel
anxious.... There is a woman in our place who makes these willow baskets
like that old one I left at your house. We sew for her and she weaves baskets
for us. I am now braiding a straw hat for Frank and shall make one for Abba
and myself for gardening. ...Yesterday we received your letter and the box of
slips, thank you for taking so much pains and trouble for us. The contents of
the box we put into a pan of water and this morning all were fresh and bright.
... The Arbutus & Fox Berry are set in leaf mould in a plate and look very
pretty and will thrive. The fusia [sic] occupies a small earthen pot. I wish I
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 51
could send you some of our earliest flowers—Goslins, they are called. The
petals are lilac color and the center yellow & covered with a soft down. It
shoots up alone —no leaf till after several days.... We met with a loss in our
personal property last week. The cattle went out to feed upon the buds, and at
night all came home but the old cow. We thought she had hidden herself and
would bring home a calf in the morning. Frank was away, sowing his grain
but came home in the morning and after a long search found her dead in the
swamp.... Several have lost cattle and horses this winter, and I suppose it is
so in every place.... Frank is putting up the fence around his 40 acre piece
now. His wheat is in and oats will be on Monday if it is fair weatherlong
enough." (Maria H. Knapp Baldwin, Sherburne County, Minnesota, to her
sister Elisa Knapp in Dummerston, Vermont, April 16, 1871)
"... sending wildflower seeds --also patterns for a bed quilt I am piecing now.
It takes 6 of each of the long ones and one hexagon [sic] for the center. I need
the quilt or I would not make it now. So I am going to make it a memorial
quilt and have blocks from as many friends as will be so good as to send them
to me. Gingham, calico or Delaine all count in. Men in the neighborhood have
all returned from their work in the woods and they will show their rejoicing
this week by having an oyster supper and some simple amusements afterward.
We have had much more snow this month than in all the rest of the winter. ---
Bluebirds are here but we have snowdrifts near our house which will supply
us with washing water for a week or two yet." (Maria H. Knapp Baldwin,
Sherburne County, Minnesota, to her sister Elisa Knapp in Dummerston,
Vermont, March 31, 1872)
Summer
"Hay is late on account of water in the meadow but promises to be good.. _.
Corn has come forward very rapidly and looks very good for any year, tho'
many people tho't it would be a failure. Small grains were never better in any
country.... We have 55 weaned chickens now and two more hens sittin (came
off with 15). Common, Spanish, and Brahma. Frank wants to raise turkeys
next year.... Butter we can't sell until fall when snow takes the lumbermen
into the wood. Do you have any mosquitoes? They are so thick I can scarcely
write...." (Maria H. Knapp, Baldwin, Sherburne County, Minnesota, to her
sister-in-law Elisa Knapp in Dummerston, Vermont, August 1, 1872)
Fall
"... crops are all first class in this region ... only wheat ...the dry weather
reduced to % the usual amount. We have some over 30 bushels in our granary.
Enough and more for the years supply. Corn and potatoes. —Beans are a good
quality but not as abundant as they might be. You should see our pop corn and
melons. They would make your eyes open wide. The Beans —the market is
overrun and the price $1.50 a bushel we have 2 acres of turnips for the cattle.
Tomatoes are good. Did you ever use any of those little ones with the husk on
them? They make splendid pies and preserves and we eat them freely.... Hay
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 52
is plenty here in some localities.... Our stock is a yoke of good oxen, 2 cows,
3 heifers & heifer calf, sow and 4 pigs, 4 months old —all of which ought to
get fat by the corn they eat, dog —Fanny and grey kitten, an excellent mouser.
... Frank[`]s oxen strayed last week and he found them 12 miles north, near
where they were raised. He was gone 3 days. There is nothing to prevent cattle
straying 100 miles and if they loose their bell it is very difficult finding them.
... Bears were seen occasionally or people tho't it was a bear and were
ridiculed for the tho't., til at last they came in such numbers there was no
doubt. Since then more than 20 have been shot within a few miles. Last Tues.
pm I went to the P.O. [Lake Fremont] and returned just before sunset and do
you believe that our neighbor Felch shot one about sunset only a little distance
from my path. But they are very timid and run away if a person approaches
them. No one fears them, only most men carry a good shot with them... .
Farmers are putting in a great amount of winter wheat.... Indians are living
sumptuously (on bear meat) and they say when bears are around look out for a
hard winter. They come from the heavy timber on the Mississippi N.W. of us
once in 7 years. They will all be killed off soon. Some of them weigh 500.
Now don't worry about bears. We don't mind them. F's husking corn —has
nearly 200 baskets.... It has been so very smoky for 2 weeks past that the sun
could scarcely shine and fires have run as they pleased, but this morning it
rained and the smoke is gone and fires all out. Many people have lost all their
hay and others from 1-40 tons. Frank fought fire amongst hay stacks 4 nights
and feels pretty well used up, but he lost none. 10 men plowed one night
several hours, with 10 yoke of oxen to keep off fires from hay stacks." (Maria
H. Knapp, Baldwin, Sherburne County, Minnesota, to her sister-in-law Elisa
Knapp in Dummerston, Vermont, September 3, 1871)
Winter
"There have been no bears seen for a long time. [In apparent response to a
question about Indians mentioned in last letter.] They were of the friendly
Chipawas, [sic] the tribe which live in this part of the state. They are very
docile and no one fears them at all. None have ever called on us tho' they
have hunted on the ponds and hills near us..... [Frank] is now drawing his
hay from the St. Francis meadows more than 4 miles distant. It takes him
about all day to get a load. He has about 14 ton to haul. There are a good
many teams hauling from the same meadows, some of the farmers have 100
tons to haul. The snow is just deep enough for nice sleding[sic] and sleighing
but there is not much pleasure in riding with an ox team. We have had
extreme cold weather. The last half of Nov. was the coldest I have seen in
Minn. One morn the thermometer was 28 degrees below zero, but Frank said
it was not very cold. The air is so dry we don't feel it, tho' it freezes very
hard. ----Our stock all looks finely so far, and the prospect is good for several
cows next year. We `porked' one old hog and two nice pigs this fall and have
several quarters of deer meat beside some bear, enough for us. I have been
knitting at halves, and have nearly clothed our feet so. If I had a wheel I would
get some rolls and spin myself.... Tomorrow is Christmas but I don't expect
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 53
Santa Claus will call on us." (Maria H. Knapp, Baldwin, Sherburne County,
Minnesota, to her sister-in-law Elisa Knapp in Dummerston, Vermont,
December 24, 1871)
"Frank feeds a bushel of turnips every day. ---Our little brook where we got
our water all last winter and it did not freeze at all, is all closed up and Frank
keeps a hole cut in the pond for the cattle and draws a boiler full for ourselves
every day on a hand sled.... Frank killed a large red fox last week and his
skin hangs up in the chamber. They are worth $1.75. The black fox which we
have seen several times near our house does not show us his hole yet. That
would bring $50 or more." (Maria H. Knapp, Baldwin, Sherburne County,
Minnesota, to her nephew Georgie, January 7, 1872)
(Provide the 1880 Agricultural Census for the Knapps to give a full view of a specific farm in
the county.)
That's What They Said!
Kenneth Fiereck, oral interview 1996. Use this interview to contrast with 19th century
agriculture. He talks about his role as owner/manager of Fiereck Farms and Crest Lake Dairy
and the farm's expansion to a 500-cow operation, use of computerization, irrigation, and
scientific management strategies.
Sherburne County Potatoes
Farmers produce more potatoes worldwide than any other crop. In the United States potato
production is second only to wheat. The average American eats about 120 pounds of potatoes
each year. A low -calorie, nutritious part of our diet, potatoes are high in Vitamin C,
potassium, phosphorus, and iron. (Charles Marr, "Irish Potatoes," Kansas State University
Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, January 1992)
While potatoes can grow in many different types of soil, a deep, well -drained sandy loam,
like much of Sherburne County's sandy river terraces and glacial outwash soil, is ideal for
growing potatoes. If the soil is too heavy and retains water, tubers are often misshapen or
prone to rot. (Edwin S. Plissey, "Growing Potatoes," University of New Hampshire
Cooperative Extension, www.ceinfo.unh.edu)
Potatoes were an important commercial crop for Minnesota farmers in the 1850s and 1860s.
Potato prices in Minnesota ranged from $2.50 per bushel in McLeod County in 1857 to as
low as twenty cents a bushel in St. Paul in 1860. Potatoes were grown in all Minnesota
counties by pioneer farmers, with greater production concentrated near markets and shipping
points near St. Paul and St. Anthony. (Merrill E. Jarchow, The Earth Brought Forth: A
History of Minnesota Agriculture to 1885, (St. Paul: MHS, 1949) 224-225)
Sherburne County farmers were even more enthusiastic potato growers than most Minnesota
farmers. Most county farmers planted potatoes as soon as they settled the land, often as a first
crop. But there were problems for potato growers in the county. The sandy soils were
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 54
sometimes too dry to produce a good potato crop, and even pioneering Sherburne County
settlers were bedeviled by the Colorado potato beetle.
That's What They Said!
"We don't count much on potatoes, the bugs were so bad last year, but our
land is entirely new and we shall try." (Maria H. Knapp, Baldwin, Sherburne
County, Minnesota to her sister-in-law Elisa Knapp in Dummerston, Vermont,
April 16, 1871)
"The Colorado potatoe [sic] bug has not reached you yet and I hope it never
will. Many people lost most of their crops by them, tho' ours were not injured.
We have 60 bushels." (Maria H. Knapp, Lake Fremont, Sherburne County,
Minnesota, to her sister-in-law Elisa Knapp in Dummerston, Vermont,
November 10, 1872 (It reached the Atlantic two years later, in 1874.
http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/veg/leaf/potato—bectles.htm)
"Does anyone good to go thro/ the field-10 acres of potatoes, not very good
so far —beans, peas & garden good." (Maria H. Knapp, Lake Fremont,
Sherburne County, Minnesota, to her sister-in-law Elisa Knapp in
Dummerston, Vermont, August 11, 1881)
The Colorado potato beetle was still a serious pest in the 1920s, and local farmers fought the
beetle with Paris Green and Arsenate of Calcium, sold by local dealers, like Harold R. Caley
of Elk River. (Sherburne County Star News, June 23, 1927) Both products contained arsenic,
and today are known to be toxic carcinogens. (http://pmep.cce.comell.edu/profiles/insect-
mite/cadusafos-cyromazine/calcium-arsenate/insect-prof-calc-ars.html)
Potato growing continued to be a major activity for county farmers throughout the early 20t"
century. Farmers brought their wagons loaded with potatoes into town to a "potato market."
Buyers lined up on the street to 'inspect each load and enter a bid. The highest bidder bought
the load, which was unloaded into a railroad car for shipment, usually to the Twin Cities.
Because farmers devoted so much land to growing potatoes, Sherburne County became a
leading potato producer. In 1909, for instance, county farmers devoted nearly ten percent of
their acreage to potato farming. Almost ten thousand acres were planted to potatoes. That
year, the county's harvest was the sixth largest of any county in the state. Although potatoes
were a major crop and came to symbolize area agriculture, the county's sandy marginal
agricultural land generally did not produce many potatoes per acre. County farms produced
an average of only 97.2 bushels per acre in 1909, which was a lowly 73`d in productivity
among Minnesota's 84 counties that commercially produced potatoes. (1910 Agricultural
Census, see Appendices in Edward Van Dyke Robinson)
Like all farm produce, the potato market was unpredictable. Six potato buyers lined Elk
River streets to bid on the potatoes as farmers hauled in their early potatoes in 1909. With
typical prices around fifty cents a bushel, harvest prices were considered relatively low at
thirty-six cents a bushel. But by the next week, according to the Sherburne County Star News
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 55
"the bottom fell out of the potato business" as prices dropped to twenty-five cents per bushel,
half the usual price. (Sherburne County Star News, August 12, 1909, August 19, 1909)
In spite of the low price, merchants of Elk River expected a big crop, so two additional
wagon scales were installed in town. One was placed in front of the W. L. Babcock store and
a second was located at the W. H. Houlton farm. The 1909 harvest was a big one. During the
fall season, 50 to 100 loads of potatoes were brought to the Elk River market daily, and over
700 railroad carloads of potatoes were shipped out. Some farmers held their crop over winter
in their cellars, hoping for higher prices, but by March of 1910, the price had dropped to
twenty cents a bushel. (Sherburne County Star News, March 3, 1910; Sherburne County Star
News, August 11, 1910)
The potato harvest became the focus of the community. Some schools in Blue Hill Township
had a two -week "potato vacation" to help harvest potatoes. (Anderson, 92; more information
on the potato vacation would be interesting —what were the years?) Local boys earned two
cents a basket for picking up potatoes after they were dug out of the ground. They had
contests with one another to see who could pick the most potatoes in the shortest time.
Young Fritz Gruepner held the record in Elk River for picking -up seventy-five bushels in one
day, earning seventy-five cents for his work. (Sherburne County Star News, August 26,
1909)
The Red River Valley was Minnesota's leading potato producing area in the 20th century.
The flat, fertile plain of Glacial Lake Aggasiz provided excellent soil, but the short growing
seasons of the area encouraged farmers to plant crops like sugar beets and potatoes. With the
aide of irrigation in the late 20th and early 2 1 " centuries, though, Sherburne County increased
its production and by 2002, the county ranked second in the state in potato harvest. Eighteen
commercial potato farms produced an amazing 246,915,200 pounds of potatoes. All of the
county's commercial potato farms were irrigated, placing Sherburne County farms first in the
number of irrigated potato farms in the state, more than double the number in any other
county. (2002 Census of Agriculture)
More Information Needed
1913--need information on Edwards and Huston potato separator manufactured by Big Lake
Manufacturing Company (See Bobbie Scott's Agriculture Bibliography)
1921--need information on Elk River potato warehouse and Elk River Potato Exchange. (See
Bobbie Scott's Agriculture Bibliography)
--Need information on Elk River starch factory
--Add information from SCHS oral histories on potato farming. Use recordings, if possible.
Pick -Your -Own Sherburne County Strawberries From 1868 to 1968
Early settlers often commented on the wild strawberries that grew naturally and profusely in
Sherburne County's sandy soil.
That's What They Said!
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 56
"Last year, strawberries grew wild by the carload; in fact, there was no end to
them. They grow on old breakings and in marshes." (John Putnam to Miss
Carle De Reese, March, 1868, as quoted in Anderson p. 85)
"This morning I went out and picked a quart of low blueberries....
Strawberries are very plenty and large." (Maria H. Knapp, Livonia, Sherburne
County, Minnesota, to her sister-in-law Elisa Knapp in Dummerston,
Vermont, June 20, 1870)
"Picking strawberries is all the rage now -a -days with our women and children,
and those of our male adults who have nothing else to do." (Sauk Rapids
Sentinel, June 26, 1868)
"Strawberries never were more plenty than they are this year. Bushels of the
most delicious kind are brought into town daily. Now is the time to preserve
this berry —they are better for that purpose now, than when they get to be
more soft." (Sauk Rapids Sentinel, June 19, 1868)
Some Sherburne County farmers saw early advantages in cultivating truck crops for the
market. Strawberries were one of those specialty crops. As early as the mid-1860s, Oliver
Kelley grew strawberries on an irrigated plot of several acres on his farm east of Elk River,
probably the first strawberries ever grown in Sherburne County on irrigated land. His
strawberry fields also may have hosted the first Sherburne County pick -your -own strawberry
festival.
That's What They Said!
"Strawberry Plants—Triomph de Grand, Bartlett, and other popular kinds by
the million, and at the lowest prices. (O. H. Kelley, Near Itasca, Anoka Star,
April 9, 1864)
"O.H. Kelley, Esq., of Itasca, near the station, where the up and down trains of
the St. Paul and Pacific R. R. meet, with his usual good feeling and liberality,
has extended an invitation to the citizens of Sauk Rapids, together with those
of St. Paul and intermediate points, to attend a strawberry festival on the 25th
inst. [of this month] It is to be hoped that there will be a general turn out.
Now, we advise all to have baskets filled with good things provided
for the occasion, and let cream be an important item in the account. It is said
to be very good with the delicious berries of which Mr. K. has such an
abundance. We learn that the Railroad Company will charge but half fare on
the occasion." (Sauk Rapids Sentinel, June 19, 1868)
Other farmers soon saw the value in cultivating strawberries as a commercial crop. They
were so popular in the Big Lake area that they became a specialty of celebrations by 1882.
"They are expecting to celebrate the 4th in many of the towns about the country and all our
family will go to Big Lake but I shall remain at home & take care of things, while some man
will do the chores night & morning. I don't care to go, only I would like to feast on the nice
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 57
strawberries there." (Maria H. Knapp, Clear Lake, Sherburne County, Minnesota, to her
sister-in-law Elisa Knapp in Dummerston, Vermont, July 2, 1882)
William Burt advertised his strawberries in the Sherburne County Star News in 1921. He sold
his strawberries by the crate, pint (20 cents), quart (35 cents), or you could buy a whole row
that you harvested yourself throughout berry season. Burt also sold plants raised in irrigated
fields. (We should pinpoint where Burt lived and learn more about this operaton.)
Area businesses capitalized on the strawberry industry in other ways, too. A box factory
owned by Eric and Reynard Ebner in Elk River made boxes for packing strawberries. By
1935, there were enough strawberry growers in the area that their factory was working night
and day to fulfill the orders for a bumper berry crop that year. (See SCHS clipping "Box
Factory Here Working Night and Day on Berry Boxes," July 4, 1935 in Bobbie's
bibliography)
Johnson Strawberry Farm
Carroll and Grace Johnson started Johnson's Nursery in 1948, selling certified strawberry
plants and berries. Carroll Johnson worked closely with Marion Hagerstrom, a horticulturist
from Enfield, Minnesota. Together, they developed new varieties, and Johnson introduced
the varieties by multiplying them in his fields. The most important new variety introduced
from the Johnson farm was the "Crimson King" strawberry, an early June -bearing variety.
The Johnsons helped Hagerstrom propagate and market Hagerstrom's patented "Red Rich"
strawberry in 1950. When the Johnsons purchased a new farm one and one-half mile off
Highway 10 between Becker and Clear Lake in 1962, they were able to enlarge their
production. Their strawberry acreage grew gradually from 15 to 150 acres, the largest
strawberry farm in the central United States.
The Johnson Strawberry Farm introduced a "Pick -Your -Own" service in 1958, developing a
model program for other strawberry growers, using field walkie-talkies to coordinate picking
locations, transportation, parking and other crowd -control management issues. They
aggressively advertised their business, and in the 1970s, the pick -your -own strawberry
business became a rage, and the Johnsons often had up to 1,000 people per day picking
berries. By 1980, strawberry pickers were coming to Becker from 20 different states. The
Johnsons hired 80 high school students to operate the popular pick -your -own business during
the peak season. The Johnsons sold their strawberry farm in 1988 to Al Lindstrom.
Lindstrom later sold the farm to a neighbor_who replaced the strawberries with corn and
soybeans. (Grace and Carroll Johnson, "The Strawberry Era," Historically Speaking, Winter
2002; St. Cloud Daily Times, June 18, 1980)
Becker Strawberry Festival
Becker Enterprises, Inc., an organization formed to enhance the image of Becker and draw
business, thought a community celebration would help build local pride. Strawberries had
become so connected with Becker's identity in the 1960s that they invited Carroll Johnson to
help them develop a strawberry themed festival. The First Annual Strawberry Festival was
held in 1966, and Carroll Johnson was named festival chairman. Visitors toured strawberry
fields or enjoyed themselves on carnival rides and concession stands. They laughed at the
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 58
antics of local businessmen and residents in a Donkey Ball Game, then enjoyed a teen dance
and a square dance. After the game, Bob DeHaven from WCCO radio emceed the Becker
Strawberry Queen contest. Governor Karl Rolvaag arrived too late to crown the queen as
scheduled, so Dehaven crowned Sheree Schwarzkopf of Becker as "Miss Luscious Red," the
Strawberry Queen. (typescript flyer or press release from SCHS dated August 20, 1966;
"Citizen Spring Guide" April 1999, p. 3)
By 1968, the celebration had expanded to include a strawberry -picking contest. That year,
Mrs. Dorothy Amundson was named the State Strawberry Picking Champion by picking 78
ounces of strawberries in 10 minutes. Ruth Ann Cox, daughter of Bill and Margaret Cox was
crowned the new Strawberry Queen. Later Strawberry Festivals incorporated horse shows,
chicken catching contests, and parades. The last Strawberry Festival was held in 1971. (St.
Cloud Daily Times, July 1, 1968)
Sherburne County continued to lead all other Minnesota counties in strawberry production in
1997, but the acreage devoted to strawberries declined in the next five years, and the county
ranked fourth statewide in 2002. (Minnesota Agricultural Census for 2002)
That's What They Said!
Use an oral history interview with the Johnsons for this section. Do the Johnsons have a tape
of the Bob DeHaven radio broadcast?
Sherburne Coun Irrigation
Irrigation in Sherburne County developed as part of the strawberry and potato industry, and
without it, neither would have been nearly as profitable.
That's What They Said!
"If I can be advised of the most economical method of raising sufficient water
from the Mississippi to a height of twenty feet from low water mark, I shall be
enabled to irrigate about 50 acres of land, as well as furnish house and barn
with water. Our dry weather nearly every spring is a great inducement for us
to give some attention to watering crops.... If any of your readers can assist
me to put this or even 20 acres of land under `water cure treatment,' I can
raise large crops." (The Country Gentleman 20:3 (July 17, 1862) 45, O. H.
Kelley, Itasca)
On O.H. Kelley's farm, near Itasca,
"The water from the Mississippi is run into a reservoir under the bank, from
which it is raised by wind -power applied to one of J. D. West's patent force
pumps, which has capacity to force it through hose one thousand feet in
height. He has occasion, however, to raise it but about twenty feet above the
bank, from whence it is conducted by means of spouts and gutters to any part
of his garden, of several acres in extent —enabling him hereafter to avoid the
serious difficulty in his business of dry weather. He informs us that ... he is to
give his whole attention to raising fruits and vegetables by the acre...."
(Anoka Star 25 June 1864)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 59
Oliver Kelley even tried to encourage the state legislature to fund irrigation projects
in Sherburne County in the 1860s.
That's What They Said!
"Suppose the Legislature appoint a commission before it adjourns, to put the
water in the river above the falls of St. Anthony to some good use, by way of
irrigating a few thousand acres of land that without it, will never pay for
breaking the sod, but with the irrigation will furnish millions of bushels of
grain annually. Let the members of the commission be furnished with a copy
of the Agricultural Report of the Patent Office for 1860, where they will find
under the item of "Irrigation," a hundred pages, showing how that mode of
enriching the soil in Europe brings an immense revenue to the governments,
and they will readily see what a mine of wealth we possess now lying
useless." (St. Paul Daily Press, February 17, 1864, p. 2, Oliver Kelley, Itasca)
Strawberries were a relatively high -profit per -acre crop, and it continued to be the crop that
motivated county farmers to innovate and find new ways of irrigating their land. William
Burt of Elk River was growing strawberries on irrigated land in 1921. (See Strawberry file
advertisement for strawberry plants; no documentation mentioned on photocopy. Use
advertisement on panel. More information on Burt?) Carroll and Grace Johnson of Becker
were among the first farmers in Sherburne County to use center pivot irrigation. The
Johnson's installed a center pivot irrigation system in 1962 for their strawberry fields. (Grace
and Carroll Johnson, "The Strawberry Era," Historically Speaking, Winter 2002)
After the Johnsons demonstrated the benefits of center -pivot irrigation in the county, other
farmers adopted the technique, some for potato farming. Irrigation of its sandy soils soon
made Sherburne County one of the most productive potato and strawberry -producing
counties in the state. In 2002 Sherburne County ranked second in the state for the most
potatoes produced in Minnesota. County farmers harvested 2,469,152 hundred pounds of
potatoes on about 7,800 acres. (2002 Agricultural Census)
That's What They Said!
Cecil Peterson, oral interview 1995. Talks at length about all aspects of irrigation on farms
today —farm with 300 head livestock, 5500 chickens, and 900 acres of cropland. Use his oral
history recordings if they are a good quality.
Clear Lake Canniniz Factory and Pickling_ Station
In 1903 Clear Lake Township farmers began discussing the possibility of starting a canning
factory. After a meeting in 1904 at the town hall, E. Heibel, C.D. Schwab and Henry
Goenner were appointed to look into opening a canning factory there, and Frank Goenner, L.
B. Davis and E. Heibel were also appointed to look into the possibility of locating a pickling
station in Clear Lake. By February, the Clear Lake Times reported crop pledges for a canning
factory. "Corn, 478 acres; string beans, 73 acres; pumpkins, 40 acres; tomatoes, 55 acres;
white beans, 152 acres; and squash 61 acres." The factory was finally built in 1907 east of
the railroad tracks. The Goenners continued their involvement. Val Goenner was elected
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 60
president, and Henry Goenner was elected to serve as business manager. A week after
opening, the canning factory produced 125,000 cans of string beans in one week, a new state
record. (From Anderson, 98-99)
B. F. Martin started a pickling business two miles west of Clear Lake about the same time as
the canning factory began. After going through a series of owners, the plant became the
Gedney Pickle Station and was operated for many years in Clear Lake.
Theme statement
Theme 2: Being on the edge where three ecological land types meet enabled easy
transportation and access to natural resources and economic resources.
Subtheme 2.2. Living on the edge of metro area, pineries, and western wheat fields provided
access for Sherburne County people to metro markets and jobs in other areas.
Subtheme 2.3. Trails, roads, and rails developed in the corridor along the edge of the
Mississippi River, prairie, pine forest, and deciduous forest.
Subtheme 2.4. Sherburne County's edge landscape included plentiful lakes, wetlands, and
abundant wildlife that have been key to the areas' history and development.
Subtheme 2.5. Located on the edge of the Anoka Sandplain, the soils of Sherburne County
were generally sandy and drought -prone, with poor fertility and agricultural productivity.
Contemporary visitor relevance
1. Agriculture and farm life was the highest ranked subject in the Intercept Survey.
2. Agriculture was a subject often mentioned in audience conversations and stakeholder
interviews.
3. This section can help tie the agricultural present with the agricultural past, especially
through the county's strawberry and potato industry.
Desired Learner Outcomes
l . Some visitors will recognize that the county has generally had low crop productivity
without the use of irrigation. (cognitive)
2. Some visitors will recall that potatoes and strawberries have been major crops in the
county because they do well on sandy soil. (cognitive)
3. Some visitors will infer that dairying was an important agricultural pursuit in the county
partly because wheat and major row crops did not grow well here and because there was
lots of pasture and hay in the county. (cognitive)
Visitor Experience
Visitors will read text and label copy and see agricultural photos and artifacts, particularly as
they relate to potato culture.
Sherburne County Agricultural Trivial Pursuit
Visitors will play an agricultural trivial pursuit game. The game can be either computer -
based or developed in a low -tech format (designer input needed). In either case, there should
be an opportunity for two people to play and a bell should ring for the right answer, a harsh
sound for the wrong answer. Design game so players have to take turns. This will avoid the
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 61
random slamming on buttons that children do with games in many exhibits. Keep score and
identify winner at the end.
1. A crop that grows best in the county's sandy soil --Potato
2. Blue Hill Township boys had a two -week school vacation to harvest this crop --potatoes
3. Something county farmers became known for making at home in the 1870s-- The county
was 4th in the amount of cheese made at home.
4. The crop grown on the most acres in the county in the 19th and early 20th centuries. --
Wild hay
5. A valuable fruit that grew wild all over the county when it was first settled. —
Strawberries
6. Something farmers do to water their crops during a drought —Irrigate
7. Miss Luscious Red was the queen of what festival --Becker Strawberry Festival
8. The first crop irrigated in the county.-- Strawberries in 1864
9. What bug has been a pest to the county's most valuable crop since settlement?-- Colorado
potato beetle
10. The first type of irrigation in the county-- Furrow irrigation in 1864
11. A kind of factory was started in Elk River in ... to process potatoes? --Starch factory
12. The most common type of irrigation in the county today.-- Center pivot overhead
irrigation
13. The most environmentally friendly type of irrigation.-- Drip irrigation because it uses less
water and delivers it right to the plant's roots
14. Sherburne County produced the second most of this crop in the state in 2002 potatoes
15. The most commonly irrigated crops in the county today —potatoes and strawberries
Visitors will see a representation of a 100-acre field. It will be cut into different sections,
with each section representing the distribution of the county's rural land use in 1910, much
the way a pie and slices would work. Do the same with 1990 for comparison.
Mr. Potato Head Activity-- Near the text that describes school holidays for potato harvest and
the tradition of local boys having contests to see who could pick the most potatoes in the
fastest time, create a timed event to see how fast kids can put Mr. Potato Head together.
Create three levels: expert, apprentice, and beginner. Visitors push a button, a timer starts and
a message that tells them to go; then push it again when they finish, and the level of
proficiency will flash.
Differing Points of View
1. Some people may be defensive about the message that most of the county's land was poor
farmland with low productivity
Iconic object or activity
1. Edwards and Huston potato separator
2. Potato harvester
3. Trivial Pursuit game
Additional media and activities to tell the story (objects, film, images, sound, etc.)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 62
1. 0 1990.078.030 Converted metal nail to use as potato sack sewing needle
2. P1990.200436 Tobacco in Clear Lake, MN
3. P1990.200.437 Red River Special Threshing Machine circa 1920, Clear Lake
4. P1990.200.440 "Fred Eilers Threshing Ring, 1935 Eating afternoon lunch on the prairie
Clear Lake Township
5. P1990.200.434 Urban Berger driving team of horses on corn planter 1941
6. P1990.201.570 potato digger and truck
7. P1990.201.578 interior of potato warehouse, potatoes on conveyer belt
8. P 1990.200.371 Big Lake Spud Fest
9. P1990.200.364 Grain elevator, Big Lake, 1984
10. P1990.200.098 Amundson's blacksmith shop, 1911, Becker
11. Get good scans of ads, Sherburne County Star News, June 9, 1921 and similar years of
William Burt, Elk River, who advertised strawberries.
12. Acquire photos of the Johnson Strawberry Farm operation
13. Clipping from St. Cloud Daily Times, July 1, 1967, "Berry Crop Wiped Out At Becker"
14. SCHS Collection, "Miss Luscious Red" sash
15. SCHS photos of Strawberry Festival
16. SCHS oral histories on pickle factory in Clear Lake
17. SCHS oral histories on potatoes in county
18. SCHS oral histories of starch factory in Elk River
19. Edwards and Huston potato separator patent application, photos
20. Engstrom potato saxophone; this saxophone could be collected or received on loan from
Arne Engstrom. The saxophone was purchased with money saved from potato work one
of first saxophones in area and many used it.
21. SCHS 0 1990.078.030 Converted metal nail to use as potato sack sewing needle
22. P1990.200.014 Putting Gasoline Engine on Binder July 1911, J. Hamacher, E. Cox, etc.
in photo; caption should indicate that 38% of land was used for small grains in 1909.
23. P1990.200.015 "Stumvoll and Leverton Thrashing Rig Sept. 1911
24. P1990.200.017 Rumley Oil Pull tractor pulling two grain binders on Fred Eilers farm,
Becker
25. P1990.200.026 1915 photograph of Planting Tobacco in Becker Township, Eilers farm?
26. P1990.200.041 Becker Township Irrigation System on Cty Rd 11, 1970s
27. P1990.037.013 Elk River potato market photo, 1909, Jackson St.
28. 0 1990.021.004a-i Sun Bonnet, 1890-1920-The description of this suggests it is a very
early bonnet, perhaps earlier than dates indicated. Type of bonnet that was worn outside
when women worked in the sun. Could be used with caption of women's work on farm to
accompany Knapp's letters.
29. Elsie and Eunice Keasling, oral interview 1996. Use this interview to establish the kinds
of farm work boys and girls did on the farm and for the potato vacation in Meadowvale,
which they discuss.
30. Acquire cans or labels from Clear Lake canning factory and the Clear Lake Gedney
pickling factory.
31. Create a 100-acre field, divided up into sections representing the distribution of rural land
use in 1910 and another in 1990.
32. Develop a Mr. Potato Head Contest area
33. Create a Sherburne County Agricultural Trivial Pursuit game.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 63
34. Acquire dairy paraphernalia —milk machine, cream separator, etc.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 64
Exhibit Station: 9
Topic: Emergence of a Conservation Ethic
Story:
Due to Sherburne County's abundant wildlife habitat and the poor quality of much of the
land for farmland, the county today contains two large tracts of land set aside as public land.
The Sherburne County Wildlife Refuge consists of 30,700-acre, and on its southern border,
the Sand Dunes State Forest contains 5,700-acre.
Sherburne County's Dust Bowl and the Growth of a Conservation Ethic in Sherburne Coun
Drought, severe wind erosion, and economic depression plagued the Greac Plains in the
1930s, creating a condition and event known as the "Dust Bowl." Although centered in parts
of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, the "Dust Bowl" reached into the Dakotas and western
Minnesota in the 1930s. Rain ceased to fall and windy conditions arrived at the same time
that agricultural overproduction helped cause a severe depression that drove down the prices
for agricultural commodities. Since much of the land that had been plowed up and planted to
crops in the pioneering period was poor land best suited for grassland, widespread crop
failure forced farm families to default on their farm loans and leave their lands. Without
crops or their original blanket of grassland, the soil on open fields whipped into the air,
causing dust storms that blocked out the sun and buried whole farmyards.
The Orrock area was Sherburne County's own Dust Bowl. Orrock was first settled in the
1850s. Farmers plowed up the marginal sand prairies and cleared and plowed oak savanna
for additional cropland, pasturing their livestock in the remaining oak savanna scrublands.
Early settlers were able to eek out a living by growing corn, grain, and cutting wild hay for
their dairy cattle on the marginal soils. But according to Robert Knowlton who owned a store
in Orrock, the land was never very productive. It was simply sand, and he could not recall
"one good crop off the prairie." Unfamiliar with soil science, local farmers continued to farm
the land, hoping they could get a crop. But according to a local farmer, Cliff Sakry, `By the
early 1900s, it was increasingly clear that the soil lacked the kind of fertility for prosperous
farming. Nobody in that area probably knew what a prosperous farm was."(Dori Northrup,
"Orrock in Transition," Masters Thesis for St. Cloud State University, August 1978,
Knowleton and Sakry quoted on 33.)
When drought years of the 1930s arrived, wind whipped sand into the air and piled up sand
like snowdrifts. Orrock Township became "Minnesota's Dust Bowl." It was so dry in 1933
that Mud Lake in Orrock Township dried up and farmers cut hay on the lake bottom. (John
Kirkvold, A History of The Cambridge Area DNR Forestry Headquarters, no date,
typescript, SCHS Collection; Stephanie Klinzing, "Drought of 1988 Repeats Dust Bowl
Years," Elk River Star News, August 16, 1988.) The area in Orrock Township known as
Craig's Prairie, an area of light sand originally covered with prairie grassland before being
plowed and planted to crops, was particularly prone to blowing sand. The land soon became
so unstable that no plants would grow on the sand except poison ivy, earning the township
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 65
the title "Poison Ivy Capitol of the World." One local legend held that jackrabbits carried
lunch buckets when they passed through the dunes, because they wouldn't eat poison ivy.
(Dori Northrup, "Orrock in Transition," Masters Thesis for St. Cloud State University,
August 1978, 37.)
The problem was dramatized when a large sand dune formed north of Big Lake, just west of
Birch Lake. This three foot deep, 250-foot long dune blocked the county highway. The
Sherburne County News published this account of the dune on May 28, 1942. Mr. Aron
Peterson of Big Lake, owned the property on both sides of the road.
That's What They Said!
"The area where the drifting occurs is devoid of vegetation except for
scattered clumps of scrub oak, sand cherry and willows. Open pasture and
farmland extends for about one mile west from the road. Woodland adjoins
the road on the east side. Most of the drift area has been farmed, according to
Mr. Peterson, but during the past 6 or 8 years, has been used as cattle pasture.
Cutting the trees, removal of brush ground cover, and tramping caused by
cattle has brought about the soil blowing, according to Mr. Peterson. He
further states that severe soil blowing has occurred only during the past two
years. Dune formation in the road occurred for the first time this spring." (No
author, "Sand dune Drift Blocks Highway," Sherburne County Star News,
May 28, 1942: 1)
Sand Dunes State Forest
Ray Clement, Minnesota's State Forester in Charge of Tree Planting, is often credited with
the initial push to stabilize the Orrock sand dunes by planting a forest there. In 1939 Clement
visited the sand dunes area several times. Once when there with his family, he scattered a
pocketful of Norway and Jack pine seeds on the sand in half a dozen areas just to see if trees
would grow. The seeds he planted survived and grew. With this encouragement, a core group
of enthusiastic conservation leaders emerged to help plant Sand Dunes Forest. They included
George W. Friedrich, biology instructor at St. Cloud State College, Archie Larson, Orrock
storekeeper, and Marvin Enger, Sherburne County Conservation Club. By 1943, E. E. Bjuge
arrived as the Sherburne County Agricultural Agent, and in 1945, Ella Kringland arrived in
the county and became the 4-H Club agent, and both were stalwart proponents and organizers
for the forest. (Ella Kringlund, "History of the `Sand Dunes State Forest"' The Wright -Way
Sher -Way Shopper, Vol. 2 Issue 18, October 20, 1981, 2; Gregg Tschida, "A Forest is
Enger's Legacy, Minneapolis Tribune, March 18, 1978)
The restoration of Sand Dunes State Forest became a community effort that involved adults
and youth groups in an almost ritualistic act of community affirmation. According to Orrock
native Archie Larson, planting trees at Sand Dunes State Forest became a normal part of life
for Orrock area residents. Every Sunday after church, whole families, particularly members
of the Sherburne County Conservation Club, would go to the area and plant trees all
afternoon. (Stephanie Klinzing, "Drought of 1988 Repeats Dust Bowl Years," Elk River Star
News, August 16, 1988.) Students were dismissed from area schools to plant trees, and the
County Extension Service provided a certificate to the teacher and class for their
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 66
participation. The Minnehaha Women's Chapter of the Isaac Walton League started planting
trees in Sand Dunes State Forest shortly after 1943, and for the next twenty years, the club
sponsored a Boy and Girl Scout project that planted between 10,000 and 20,000 trees a year.
(John Kirkvold, "A History of the Cambridge Area DNR Forestry Headquarters," no date,
typescript, SCHS Collection, 31.) According to Ella Kringlund, 4-H groups began planting
trees in the Orrock area dunes in 1941, and continued for the next 24 years! After a hard day
planting, the 4-Hers gathered together, prayed for the success of the plantings, and then sang
a musical score of "Trees," a poem by Joyce Kilmer. (Dori J. Northrop, "Orrock in
Transition," Masters Thesis for St. Cloud State University, August 1978, 40)
"I think I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree."
The 2,400 trees that Clement and his associates working with the Zimmerman Grange
planted in Section 16 of Orrock Township in 1940 were the first seeds planted in the future
Sand Dunes State Forest, and the start of Minnesota's later tree planting programs. (John
Kirkvold, "A History of the Cambridge Area DNR Forestry Headquarters," no date,
typescript, SCHS Collection, 29; see also Dori J. Northrop, "Orrock in Transition," Masters
Thesis for St. Cloud State University, August 1978, 39) The state officially established the
Sand Dunes State Forest in 1943 on about 2 square miles in Sections 16 and 36. The state
expanded the forest in 1945 to 12 square miles, then in 1951 to 17 square miles. Most of the
original land included was state school lands or tax forfeit land. By 1981, between five and
seven million trees had been planted, making the Sand Dunes State Forest the largest man-
made forest in Minnesota." (Ella Kringlund, "History of the `Sand Dunes State Forest"' The
Wright -Way Sher -Way Shopper, Vol. 2 Issue 18, October 20, 1981, 6)
Ogposition to Sand Dunes State Forest
No land was condemned to create the Sand Dunes State Forest, and nearly all farmers who
were still farming on land designated as state forest, chose to sell their land to the state to
complete the forest. Although opposition to Sand Dunes State Forest was not widespread,
some local farmers were not happy that the state was taking more land. Opponents said, "Too
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 67
bad we have people who have nothing more to do than to figure out new ways to spend tax
money, to say nothing of increasing the taxes.... What city slicker knew more about that
land and knew better what it would grow, than the farmer who had lived there...." (From
Ella Kringlund, "History of the Sand Dunes Sate Forest," manuscript, p. 2; quoted in Dori J.
Northrop, "Orrock in Transition," Masters Thesis for St. Cloud State University, August
1978, 41)
Tree Farming
The success of the tree planting in Sand Dunes State Forest gave local landowners ideas
about managing their own land. They began planting shelterbelts to hold soil on their farms.
Some just liked the beauty of the land planted to pines and people, like Archie Larson,
bought poor farmland at $5 an acre and planted it to red pines. When Larson saw a photo of
Governor C. Elmer Anderson with a Norway pine Christmas tree, he started selling them to
neighbors. Before he knew it, he had a Christmas tree operation. Other farmers also started
Christmas tree farms. Cliff and Donna and Al and Kathleen Sakry bought 80 acres near St.
Francis River and planted Norway pines. Six years later, they paid off the land with money
earned through Christmas tree sales. Three Zimmerman men, Art Nelson, Jess Ady, and
Lawrence Nordwall created a partnership in 1951 with 120 acres of land as a tree farm. Later
incorporated as NAN, they sold Christmas trees throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Other
people also owned tree farms, and it has been estimated that about 150,000 trees a year were
sold in Orrock Township in the 1960s and 1970s. (Dori J. Northrop, "Orrock in Transition,"
Masters Thesis for St. Cloud State University, August 1978, 48-51)
Sherburne Wildlife Refuge
(SCHS needs to gather more information about the development and plans for the Sherburne
County Wildlife Refuge. This information may allow this section to compare more recent
ecological restoration techniques (restoring the land to historic plant communities) in the
refuge with an earlier soil conservation approach consisting of tree plantings to form a pine
plantation and related tree farming at Sand Dunes State Forest. At present, however, I have
not been able to assemble enough information to develop this storyline.
Vernon Larson lost his farm to the refuge. Part of his oral interview in 1995 might be useful.
The story of the opposition group Protect Our Pines (POP) may also be important in
understanding why people were initially opposed to the refuge and its proposed approach.
With more information, the Larson interview may be used as a specific example of POP.)
Contemporary Conservation Challenges
Water quality has become an issue in Sherburne County. The outwash sand plains are low in
fertility and do not hold water well. The county sand plains have a high water table with
upper aquifers only about 6 to 15 feet below the surface. The high water table makes it easy
to access water to fertilize crops and for human use.
To produce high yields and a high quality crop, potatoes need consistently moist soil and a
good supply of nutrients. Without a good supply of nitrogen, for instance, potatoes will
yellow and vines will die back. Weakened plants are more susceptible to diseases, and
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 68
production is seriously reduced. Irrigation and nitrogen fertilizers have helped to boost yields
and make the Sherburne County the second biggest potato producer in the state.
But with that success have come some concerns. Sandy soils allow the fertilizer to quickly
leach into lower soil profiles and into the ground water, causing high levels of nitrates and
pesticides. Researchers are currently experimenting to see if this problem can be resolved
with either of two approaches. One is to replace the sprinkler systems currently in use with
drip irrigation, a more expensive irrigation technique. The second approach is to apply
fertilizer directly beneath and alongside the seedbed, rather than broadcast over the entire
field, or to use slow -release fertilizers.
(http://www.extension.unm.edu/distribution/cropsystems/DC3875.html accessed February 23,
2005; http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/DC3875.html, accessed February
23, 2005; J.T. Waddell, Satish C. Gupta, John F. Moncrief, Carl J. Rosen, and D.D. Steele,
"Irrigation and Nitrogen Management Effects on Potato Yield, Tuber Quality, and Nitrogen
Uptake," Agronomy Journal 91 (1999): 991-997)
Theme statement
Theme 2: Being on the edge where three ecological land types meet enabled easy
transportation and access to natural resources and economic resources.
Subtheme 2.1. Indian tribes recognized that the area that later became Sherburne
County was strategically located on the edge of woodlands, prairie, and the
Mississippi River, and the area became a contested borderland between the Ojibwe
and Dakota people.
Subtheme 2.4. Sherburne County's edge landscape included plentiful lakes,
wetlands, and abundant wildlife that have been key to the areas' history and
development.
Subtheme 2.5. Located on the edge of the Anoka Sandplain, the soils of Sherburne
County were generally sandy and drought -prone, with poor fertility and agricultural
productivity.
Contemporary visitor relevance
1. A large part of the Heritage Center audience is oriented toward outdoor leisure activities.
The Intercept Survey, which picked -up the young family audience segment, indicated
interviewees spent 45% of their leisure time doing outdoor activities.
2. A large percentage of members indicated that they wanted the exhibit to include
information about how the land shaped people and how people shaped the land. This
subject also ranked high among teachers.
3. Conservation and its expression at Sand Dunes State Forest and the Sherburne Wildlife
Refuge was ranked as one of the top county stories by several stakeholder interviewees
and audience representatives.
4. Recent changes in the county are a subject that many audience segments thought was an
important subject area.
Desired Learner Outcomes
1. Some visitors will describe why certain areas of Sherburne County land were particularly
susceptible to dust storms in the 1930s. (cognitive)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 69
2. Some visitors will describe at least two ways county residents could have responded to
the 1930s dust storm situation. (cognitive)
3. Some visitors will recall that the Sand Dunes State Forest experience led to major
plantings of pine in the county and to a tree farming industry. (cognitive)
4. Some visitors will appraise the different approaches to stabilizing marginal lands.
(cognitive)
5. Some visitors will understand that people have approached the use of marginal lands in
the county in different ways and that these approaches often represent differing basic
values. (affective)
Visitor Experience
Element I
Visitors will be able to read text composed from the information above. They will see
photographs from the Orrock dust bowl days, and they will view original art images of
different types of sand dunes and how dunes are formed and shaped. (crescent and linear
sand dunes) If good oral histories exist, visitors can use ear phones to hear descriptions of the
dust bowl days. To provide a specific example of the changes in a single landscape, visitors
should also view images that suggest what Craigs' Prairie may have looked like when settlers
arrived, when it was plowed and used for cropping, during the Dust Bowl period, and what it
looked like after trees were planted.
Element 2
Visitors will manipulate a wind tunnel that simulates conditions in Orrock in the 1930s. Place
sand inside the wind tunnel. Integrate a hair dryer, fan, or other source of focused wind
source. Visitors will activate the wind tunnel with a button. The wind will blow the sand into
a sand dune that collects around an irregular surface area. The lesson from this exhibit
component is that when the soil is formed of dry, loose sand with nothing holding it down,
wind can reshape the landscape.
Element 3
In an adjoining exhibit element, visitors will be asked what strategies residents could have
adopted to stabilize the sandy soil. They will be able to lift several lids to see the results of
several potential options. One lid top will contain photographs of people planting Norway
pine seedlings in the Sand Dunes Refuge. Under the lid, visitors will see a photograph of a
mature Norway pine plantation and brief descriptions of the benefits of a tree farm. A second
lid top will contain a photograph of people planting a prairie, perhaps in the Sherburne
County Wildlife Refuge. Beneath the lid, visitors will see a photograph of a mature prairie
and a brief description of the diversity found in a prairie. A third lid top will contain a
photograph of a farmer plowing a sandy field and a second photo of cattle pastured cattle on
sandy soil. Beneath the lid, visitors will see a photo of sand dunes, and a brief description of
what would happen if people continued to use the land in the way it had been used that led to
the dunes. Finally, visitors will be asked what other possible ways residents could have
responded to the dunes. A flipbook will be located here for them to record their ideas.
Beneath each lid, visitors should be asked a simple question about values: "Why did you or
others choose this particular option?"
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 70
Element 4—Controversy and Community Cooperation
When a community of people cooperates to heal scars on the land, it sometimes becomes
almost a spiritual affair that creates strong bonds between people and the project. Using
information in the story section, describe how restoration of the natural landscape or
conservation work can become an almost religious ritual. This helps explain local opposition
to attempts to remove plantation pines. After reading about the way Sherburne County 4-
Hers planted trees, prayed and sang, visitors will push a button and listen to Joyce Kilmer's
poem "Trees" sung by a youth group, to simulate the singing of the song by 4-H groups each
time they planted seedlings in Sand Dunes State Forest.
But even though the Sand Dunes State Forest became a community -based effort at land
conservation. Not everyone agreed with it. Provide a counterpoint by allowing the opposition
voice in this section through a panel of opposition.
Element 5
Sherburne County residents learned new ways to farm the land from their experience
planting trees for Sand Dunes State Forest. As a result, many area farmers began Christmas
tree farming. Provide a decorated artificial Christmas tree in this area. Using a monitor,
provide excerpts from videotaped oral history of Lawrence Nordall and Art Nelson talking
about their experiences to create NAN Corporation to as a Christmas tree operation near
Zimmerman.
Element 6
Visitors can read some of the information included above about contemporary conservation
problems in Sherburne County. Since Sherburne County has become one of the fastest
growing counties in Minnesota, houses and subdivisions are replacing forests and open areas
formerly used for agriculture. Provide photos of irrigation and new subdivisions, combined
with a question: What are some of the possible environmental issues that could emerge from
this fast growth and from the more intensive agricultural uses of the land? Provide a flipbook
for visitors to record their ideas.
Differing Points of View
1. Different points of view will be accommodated within the exhibit itself.
Iconic object/media/activities: Large photo of a sand dune; Clements' Tree planter,
decorated Christmas tree
Additional media and activities to tell the story (objects, film, images, sound, etc.)
1. Acquire manuscript map of farm abandonment in Orrock Township, 1924-1946 kept
by Archie Larson in his Orrock store, according to Dori Northrup, Orrock in
Transition, Masters Thesis, St. Cloud State University, 1978, p. 35-36.
2. Acquire first tree planter, used in 1945, called Hollyhock planter, see Dori Northrup,
Orrock in Transition, Masters Thesis, St. Cloud State University, 1978, p. 39.
3. Ray Clements built first tree planting machine based on a cabbage planter. Now at
Carlos Avery Park. (notes from 1999 SCHS Quarterly Meeting, with John Kirkvold)
Is this machine available for collection? Was it used at Sand Dunes? How does this
compare with Hollyhock planter?
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 71
4. Is the Hollyhock planter the same as the tree planter at Cambridge soil conservation
office used in Sand Dunes Forest? Investigate this.
5. Acquire "planting bar" used by 4-H groups in 1940s to plant trees by hand, or seek
detailed description. See Dori Northrup, Orrock in Transition, Masters Thesis, St.
Cloud State University, 1978, p. 39.
6. Acquire County Extension Office certificate awarded to teacher and class for
participation in tree planting, 1940s. See Dori Northrup, Orrock in Transition,
Masters Thesis, St. Cloud State University, 1978, p. 40.
7. Session Laws of the State of Minnesota, 1943, Chapter 171, S.F. No. 21, Subdivision
23, p. 242—creation of Sand Dunes State Forest
8. Recording of Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees" being sung
9. Attempt to acquire a certificate from Extension Office that was awarded to teacher
and class for participation in tree planting.
10. Photos of Ann Lake 4-H buildings, moved there in 1950.
11. Create image of dune formation that shows the shape of dunes (similar to glacial
drumlins)
12. Acquire photos of sand dune formation or dust storms in Orrock area in 1930s;
enlarge one to iconic size
13. See wind tunnel description in experience.
14. Oral histories of blowing sand
15. Cox story and the farm's Conservation Plan
16. P1990.200.413 Conservation men seine Lake Mitchell for rough fish 1956
17. P1990.200.420 photograph of Canada goose observation area at Wildlife Refuge
18. P 1990.200.200.012 Elk Lake seining for carp in winter
19. Succession of photos for the pine plantation, prairie restoration, and 1930s farming on
sandy land.
20. Decorated artificial Christmas tree
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 72
Exhibit Station: 10
Topic: Resorts
Story:
Resorts in Sherburne County
The bounteous natural resources in Sherburne County and its position on the edge of the
major metropolitan areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul made it a natural location for resorts.
Tourists came by train until roads were improved to allow Twin Cities residents to take the
short trip north to Sherburne County for weekends or longer vacations. County entrepreneurs
began to build resort businesses around the area's lakes, adding bathing, dancing, skating and
other entertainments to the usual attractions of outdoor recreational pursuits of fishing and
hunting.
That's What They Said!
"As to health, I suppose there is no state in the Union which will compare
with this. I have been here eleven years and have not required a doctor yet.
The invalid comes here and finds in our pure and invigorating atmosphere, a
remedy for all his ills. The pleasure seeker comes to enjoy our beautiful lakes
and rivers and our charming cascades with their rippling music." (John
Putnam to Miss Carle De Reese, March, 1868, as quoted in Anderson p. 85)
Big Lake built on its early status as a popular stop -over on the trail north. The Big Lake
Amusement Park was built in 1909. Consisting of a picnic grounds, baseball park, and multi-
purpose pavilion, the park was hailed by the Monticello Times as an enterprise that promises
to be "a great impetus for the growth and advancement of Big Lake and will be the means of
attracting thousands of people to this place and the shores of the beautiful lake." (Monticello
Times, June 17, 1909.) By 1913, the lake was bordered by summer cottages that attracted
Twin City tourists who came in groups on the railroad. (SCHS Clippings File, see Bobbie
Scott's "Stories Related to Place" summary, p. 5) By 1929, the Star News reported that Big
Lake was "one of the state's ideal resorts," a place with a playground, a bathing beach, a new
dancing pavilion, a skating rink, a marry -go -round [sic], pony track, etc." (SCHS Clippings
File, see Bobbie Scott's "Stories Related to Place" summary, p. 4-5)
Owned by St. Mark's Episcopal Church of Minneapolis, Camp Wells was developed on
Mitchell Lake in 1923 as a family camp for North -side Minneapolis children. It operated
until 1972. (See Bobbie Scott's "Stories Related to Place" summary, p. 5)
Several resorts served people who sought out the clustered lakes in Palmer Township for
summer recreation. Lakes Briggs, Julia, Rush, and Elk all contained resort cottages, and
many had dance pavilions to provide nighttime fun. The Cottonwood Beach Dance Pavilion
was located on Lake Julia. Briggs Lake had a summer resort known as Garlick Place in 1896,
probably later renamed the Alcor Resort. (Historically Speaking, Fall 2003, Bobbie Scott's
summary, p. 5-6) Howard B. Pratt, began operating a resort in 1905 on Elk Lake, and it
remained under family management until 1947. The Pratts operated Elk Lake Pavilion, and
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 73
had festive 4ch of July activities. The Pratts operated an old launch with a one -cylinder boat
motor that they used to give sight-seeing excursions. (Anderson, 66-67)
Camp Cozy was an early Sherburne County water park. It was located on a bend of the Elk
River. It included cabins, a pavilion and a flume, designed so canoeists could cut across the
horseshoe bend in the river. (I need more information on Camp Cozy.)
During prohibition, some resorts had trouble with customers bringing moonshine onto the
premises. Lawrence Welk occasionally performed with his big band at the Big Lake Pavilion
and possibly at other area dance halls. (See Bobbie Scott's "Stories Related to Place"
summary, p. 5-8)
Theme statement
Theme 2: Being on the edge where three ecological land types meet enabled easy
transportation and access to natural resources and economic resources.
Subtheme 2.2. Living on the edge of metro area, pineries, and western wheat fields
provided access for Sherburne County people to metro markets and jobs in other
areas.
Subtheme 2.3. Trails, roads, and rails developed in the corridor along the edge of the
Mississippi River, prairie, pine forest, and deciduous forest.
Subtheme 2.4. Sherburne County's edge landscape included plentiful lakes,
wetlands, and abundant wildlife that have been key to the areas' history and
development.
Contemporary visitor relevance
1. Although resorts and dance halls did not score well in the audience survey, it is an
important part of county history, and audience reluctance may have been due to
unfamiliarity with the rich resort history of the county, which ties directly to its many
lakes and its proximity to the Twin Cities.
2. This approach tries to make it fun and put visitors into the exhibit, a technique that was
popular among all audience segments, except members, who preferred text, photo, and
object exhibits.
Desired Learner Outcomes:
1. Some visitors will explain some of the main reasons for the success of resorts in the
county: good transportation arteries, proximity to the Twin Cities, and the presence of
lakes and wildlife. (cognitive)
2. Some visitors will waltz at the Welk section and associate the resort history of the county
with that effort. (affective and psychomotor)
Visitor Experience
Daytime Vacation in Sherburne County 1932
If possible, enlarge a photo of a Sherburne County beach scene from the 1930s. Cut out a
male swimmer's face and a female swimmer's face, with clearly distinguishable 1930s
swimsuits. Allow visitors to stand behind the photo, so visitors can become a part of the
1930s scene.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 74
Nighttime Vacation in Sherburne County 1932
Create a life-size portrait cut-out of Lawrence Welk with a Big Band mural behind him.
Provide some Welk band music in this area. Initiate it with motion or push button. Have a
small dance floor ca. (5 x 5) and numbered footprints on the floor that correspond to waltz
steps. Visitors can follow the music, step into the prints, and learn to waltz while Lawrence
Welk directs some "wunnerful, wunnerful" music.
Text and photo panels will surround these two major exhibit elements. Visitors should be
able to view a map that identifies the locations of all the resorts in Sherburne County.
Differing Points of View:
1. Some people may object to the inclusion of a resort section since audience interest
appeared low for this subject.
Iconic object/media/activities: Photo of Lawrence Welk and beach cut-out photos
Additional media and activities to tell the story (objects, film, images, sound, etc.)
1. P1990.200.391, Cottages at Big Lake, 1914
2. P1990.200.393, 394, 392, 1984? Big Lake Pavilion —use best
3. P1990.200.424 Elk Lake Pavilion
4. P1990.201.583 Big Lake and docks, Big Lake, Minn
5. P1990.201.584 Boats on shore, bath house, people in water Big Lake
6. P1990.200.422 Camp in the Woods Park, Blue Hill Township
7. P1990.200.423 View from Elk Lake Park Minn .
8. P 1990.200.424 Elk Lake from Elk Lake Park Minn
9. P1990.200.391 Cottages at Big Lake, MN 1914
10. P1990.200.392 Big Lake Pavilion
11. 0 1990.067.001 Stereoscope (or buy reproduction for use)
12. Stereographic depictions of area as advertisements for area (active collecting)
13. Camp Cozy photos
14. Acquire additional postcards (or replicate them) of area attractions.
15. 0 1990.024.004 Women's swimsuit, (From catalog description, I estimate these to be
from 1920s, need to date this)
16. 0 1990.024.005 Men's swimsuit, (From catalog description, I estimate these to be
from 1920s, need to date this)
17. 0 1990.024.003 Swimming dress, (From catalog description, I would date this earlier
than the 1915-1930 dates in the catalog; review the dates for this; could be as early as
turn -of -the -century--??.)
18. If possible, acquire a photo from each resort in Sherburne County.
19. If possible, acquire a photo of Lawrence Welk performing in the county.
(You might check this lead: Jules Herman '35 (hist./music) was inducted into the
Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in November, 2002, is happily retired and living in
Mendota Heights, MN, with his wife of 64 years, Lois Best, who was Lawrence Welk's
first Champagne Lady!)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 75
20. Create a map that identifies locations of Sherburne County resorts.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 76
Exhibit Station: I I
Topic: Power and Energy
Story:
Electricity came to Sherburne County towns during World War I. By 1916, Clear Lake, Big
Lake, Becker, Elk River, and Zimmerman had electrical service. But most county farmers
had to wait another thirty years before enjoying the benefits of electricity.
Like other places in the country, electricity was slow in coming to rural Sherburne County.
As late as 1930, only 10% of America's farms had electrical service. Surprisingly, American
farmers trailed their European cousins. By contrast, 93% of French farms and 100% of
Holland's farms had electricity by 1930. (Kurt Kragness, "Thematic Overview: Rural
Electrification Exhibit," SCHS typescript, 1994)
City power plants and private power plants like Northern States Power did not think it was
economically feasible to extend service to rural areas. In many areas the population was too
thin, and power executives did not think farmers would be large power users, so there would
be high cost but little profit in extending service.
In response to the urgent need for electricity in rural areas and the reluctance of power
companies to provide it, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an executive order creating the
Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in 1935. The next year, Congress authorized the
REA and $410 million dollars as part of a low -interest aid program to bring electricity to
farmers. Federal loans were made and administered by the REA to state and local
governments, farmers' cooperatives and non-profit organizations. Farmers could receive low -
interest loans under 3% from any of these organizations to pay for distribution lines, wiring
buildings for electricity, and purchasing appliances. (The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia,
6th ed. (Columbia University Press, 2005, Columbia University Press at
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/AO842689.html)
R. A. Trovatten, Minnesota Commissioner of Agriculture, spoke to over 100 county farmers
in Elk River in 1935 to explain the program. A temporary board of directors composed of
representatives from all townships was set up to survey farmers for their interest in the
program. At first, Sherburne County farmers did not know what to make of the new program.
They were unsure how the program worked and feared risking their farms to government
foreclosure if they participated. The board reported that farmers seemed indifferent, but
recommended that a series of meetings be organized to explain the program to farmers.
After meetings in Zimerman, Clear Lake, Elk River, and Santiago, farmers became
enthusiastic. A general county meeting was held at Big Lake on January 3, 1936, and 160
farmers attended in spite of a howling blizzard. The Sherburne County Rural Electrification
Association was formed and a board elected. ("Sherburne County Extension Office Annual
Report," 1936, 18; "Sherburne County Extension Office Annual Report," 1937, 57)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 77
But county farmers met another roadblock. To qualify for a REA loan, the project had to
average 2 '/2 patrons per mile. The county's marginal agricultural land did not encourage
dense rural settlement. Farms were not spread regularly across the county's landscape. Farms
dotted the prairie along the Mississippi and concentrated in other favorable locations, but
otherwise farms were thinly scattered. County Extension Agent J. D. Currell provided advice
and guidance to farmers as they tried to figure out what to do. Instead of developing their
own project, the county Rural Electrification Association decided to group farmers together
and join with neighboring electrification cooperatives. ("Sherburne County Extension Office
Annual Report," 1937, 57) Area power co-operatives agreed, and eastern county farmers
were accepted for service by Anoka Electrical Co-operative, Santiago farmers from the
Benton County Association, and St. Augusta farmers by the Stearns County REA.
("Sherburne County Extension Office Annual Report," 1938, 76) Anoka Electric Co-
operative began extending its lines from Zimmerman west through Livonia, Elk River, Big
Lake, Becker and Palmer townships in the summer of 1940. ("Sherburne County Extension
Office Annual Report," 1940, 43)
The cost for electrical service was surprisingly inexpensive, but some farmers had trouble
paying even this small amount during the Depression years of the 1930s. After the organizing
group signed up enough members in their area and were accepted by a co-operative, farmers
could become members of the co-operatives by paying a joining fee of $2.00. Once the lines
and service were installed, electricity cost $3.50 per month to retire the cost of extending the
lines, and organizational costs, and for a basic service of 40-kilowatt hours. They paid five
cents for additional 40-kilowatt hours, but got the next 120 for just two cents more. Some
farmers reported that they paid for electricity by milking another cow. ("Eastern Sherburne
County Farmers Assured of Electric Line," Sherburne County Star News, January 20, 1938,
9)
Anoka Electric Co-operative and other regional co-ops had difficulty buying power from a
generator at a reasonable cost. NSP furnished power to many of the first co-operatives for a
penny a kilowatt-hour for the first year, but announced its plan to raise the price to 1.63 cents
in succeeding years. The federal REA thought that price was exorbitant, and the REA agreed
to loan a combination of rural cooperatives $500,000 to build their own generating plant.
Officials from six co-operatives met in June 1937 to organize a new cooperative to build and
operate their own generation and transmission facilities. The new co-operative was called the
Rural Cooperative Power Association and consisted of the Anoka County Cooperative Power
and Light Association, Rum River Cooperative Light and Power Association, PICK
Cooperative Electric Association (Pine, Isanti, Chisago and Kanabec Counties); Wright -
Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association; Carver County Cooperative Electric
Association; and Farmers Cooperative Electric Association from Isanti. (Anonymous,
"United Power Association: Story of a Rural Electric Cooperative," pamphlet, no date, 8)
The new cooperative's first generating plant was completed in 1940. A diesel plant built in
Maple Lake, this first plant was capable of generating 3,750 kilowatts. (Anonymous, "United
Power Association: Story of a Rural Electric Cooperative," pamphlet, no date, 11) As power
needs grew, the co-op soon built additional plants at Cambridge in 1945, Hawick and Pine
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 78
City in 1948, and Milaca in 1950. Its first steam generating plant, capable of generating
11,500 kilowatts of power from coal or natural gas was completed in Elk River in 1951. That
same year RCPA moved its headquarters from Maple Lake to Elk River. (Anonymous,
"United Power Association: Story of a Rural Electric Cooperative," pamphlet, no date, 13)
RCPA continued to search for innovative ways to generate power at lower expense and
proposed that the Atomic Energy Commission build a demonstration nuclear reactor in Elk
River. At first reluctant, the AEC finally agreed after intense lobbying from Minnesota's
senators that it would build the reactor. RCPA would furnish a 22,000 kilowatt turbine and
purchase steam generated by the reactor. On August 24, 1963, the plant generated power for
the first time. This was the first use of nuclear fuel in Minnesota and the first anywhere by a
rural cooperative. The reactor continued in operation until 1968 when it was shut down and
dismantled. The AEC had succeeded in demonstrating the feasibility of the technology, but
the reactor was too small to be economically competitive. (Anonymous, "United Power
Association: Story of a Rural Electric Cooperative," pamphlet, no date, 15)
At the same time the atomic power plant was being constructed, eight northern Minnesota
cooperatives seeking to produce power less expensively joined together to form a new
association called United Power Association in 1963 to build and operate a new facility. The
group began building a new plant in Stanton, North Dakota. (Anonymous, "United Power
Association: Story of a Rural Electric Cooperative," pamphlet, no date, 15-16)
About a decade later, UPA built a new coal -powered generating plant near Underwood,
North Dakota, capable of generating 1,100 megawatts with lignite coal. Power highline
towers distributed power to North Dakota and Minnesota substations. (Anonymous, "United
Power Association: Story of a Rural Electric Cooperative," pamphlet, no date, 19) UPA
continued to seek new sources of power and a new use for its Elk River generating plant. In
1987, the plant began retrofitting for its Refuse Derived Fuel project. (Anonymous, "United
Power Association: Story of a Rural Electric Cooperative," pamphlet, no date, 15-20) By the
1980s, UPA operated 1,700 miles of transmission lines, and it was one of the largest
electrical cooperatives in the United States.
UPA encountered controversy in the 1970s regarding its transmission lines and in the 1980s
regarding the RDF plant. (Need more research to provide brief first -person pro and con
perspectives on these controversies from editorials or letters -to -the -editor.)
NSP I need more information on NSP. We need to include some histoKy of NSP in this
section.
That's What They Said!
"In these days of advancement and progress, electricity is the key to success and is
constantly coming into more general use, not only in the larger cities and towns, but in nearly
all the smaller communities as well. Without electricity a city or town cannot expect to keep
up with its rivals, but is sure to remain stagnant, while its more enterprising neighbors
continue to grow.
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 79
As yet Elk River has not entered the ranks of progress, but continues to drub along
without electricity in any form....
Nature has been especially good to Elk River in providing water power close at hand,
ready to be developed to provide all the electricity for lighting and power that will be needed
for some time. At present this power is going to waste, while many local people look with
pessimistic eyes upon any plan or attempt to secure the development of the power.
It is time for this condition to end. The people must get together and decide upon
some plan to secure electricity. If not Elk River will soon find itself in the unique position of
being the only town of any size in the northwest without electric lights and power."
("Electricity: Elk River Cannot Hope to Go Forward Without Electric Lights and Power,"
Sherburne County Star News, July 2, 1914, p. 1)
Theme statement
Theme 1: People searching for opportunities have always recognized the unique resources of
Sherburne County.
Subtheme 1.1. People from all over the world chose to make Sherburne County their home;
their values shape our communities today.
Theme 3: Sherburne County has been and continues to be a pioneering place in the
development and generation of electrical energy.
Subtheme 3.1. Sherburne County provides energy for a vast region using multiple fuels.
Subtheme 3.2. Energy generating facilities create local employment and tax revenue, but
also cause social and environmental problems.
Contemporary visitor relevance
1. Teachers expressed low interest in rural electrification.
2. Members also expressed low interest in the rural electrification topic, which is surprising
since some members are of an age group that may have experienced the advent of
electrification in the thirties and forties.
3. The Intercept Survey that reached new families did not specifically identify
electrification as an interest area, but some subjects identified development of the area,
industrial history, and women's history, which may refer to this subject, and the most
frequently identified subject area was agriculture or farm life, which could relate to rural
electrification.
4. The mix of interactivity, panel text, objects, and oral histories in this section should
satisfy the interests of most major audience segments.
Desired Learner Outcomes:
1. Some visitors will recall how electricity is created. (cognitive)
2. Some visitors will describe how electrical co-operatives operated. (cognitive)
3. Some visitors will that different appliances require different amounts of electricity.
(cognitive and affective)
4. Some visitors will gain a greater appreciation for how women's work changed in rural
areas with the introduction of electricity. (affective)
Sherburne County Historical Society Heritage Center Interpretive Plan, April 21, 2005, page 80