"Hell on Wheels" - St. Vincent Style

The early spur track into St. Vincent went down to the river,
then followed it some ways north.  In this stereoview, you
can see Pembina in the background looking west, and the
Pembina River tributary  (Date Unknown)¹
[Click to Enlarge...]

Three things defined St. Vincent from its beginning:  The river that ran by it, the land that surrounded it, and later, the railroad that was built through (and by) it.

I wanted to share the story of how the railroad came to St. Vincent.  No one that lived during that time is left to share that story with us, so we must go to the records of history and pull the story out, to shed light on it, to let it tell us why it happened, how it affected us, and what the legacy of it once being here is.

Please, dear Reader, read on!  This is just the tip of a much larger iceberg, a tiny paragraph of a much larger story of how the iron horse not only changed St. Vincent, but our entire country!

...to be technically known as the St. Vincent Extension of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, from St. Cloud, 375 miles, to Pembina, near the northwestern corner of Minnesota, and on the border of the British Province of Manitoba. This is to be completed before the close of 1872. It will drain the richest portion of the Red River valley and open direct communication with the British settlements of Winnipeg and the productive valley of the Saskatchewan. It will also serve as the southeastern arm of the Northern Pacific road, reaching to St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Source: Scientific American, Volume XXVI, Number 13, New York, 23 March 1872

Just as construction crews completed the line to St. Vincent, and the Associates eliminated the NPR as a competitor for the CPR contract, the Canadian government slapped up a tariff wall that virtually halted business between St. Paul and Winnipeg.

Source: Boosters Hustlers and Speculators: Entreprenurial Culture and the Rise of Minneapolis and St Paul, 1849-1883, by Jocelyn Wills

In 1857, the Minnesota and Pacific Railway Company was formed with the goal of constructing a mainline from Stillwater to Breckenridge...and a branch line to St. Vincent near the mouth of the Pembina River

After the mainline was completed, the Northern Pacific began construction on the St. Paul and Pacific branch line to St. Vincent, but 1872 witnessed a sluggish market for securities.  This decline was compounded by the Panic of 1873, and the NP was forced to relinquish control of the St. Paul and Pacific.  It went into receivership in August 1873 to a Jesse P. Farley.²

NOTE:  During this time, there was much economic instability in the country, and deep concerns by investors, resulting in the Minnesota legislature enforcing conditions of repayment and investor lawsuits.  This resulted in the Associates stepping in...

The Associates² raised finances, rights to routes, and secured Dutch bonds, thus making it possible to lease the St. Vincent Extension from Farley [in September 1876], and the contract for completing the line to the Red River and Manitoba.  The St. Vincent Extension [into St. Vincent itself] wasn't constructed until 1878, and was required to be finished by the end of that year.  December 2, 1878 saw the final spike driven in the Extension, and four days later first train of the St. Paul & Pacific travel from St. Paul to Winnipeg via the St. Vincent Extension.

Source: Railroad Development in Minnesota, 1862-1956

The first Minnesota railways going east to west, south to north...
[Click to Enlarge]

To expedite construction, Hill had John S. Kennedy try to convince Farley to lease the St. Vincent Extension to the Red River & Manitoba Railway and to grant Hill and Kittson the contract for laying rails on the unfinished portions of that line.  "The lease would give the Associates control of all operations on the Extension, free them to run it in such way as to facilitate construction, and enable them to channel earnings into the corporation they managed."

But, Farley initially resisted.  The Associates worried because they perceived Farley as being slow in getting the work done.  "Alert to the possibility of losing the land grant, Hill traveled often to the end-of-the-track with Farley, whom he regarded as dilatory and inefficient.  Under stern pressure from the Associates, Farley finally agreed to let Hill and Kittson take over responsibility for construction of the St. Vincent Extension in September 1878."

Yet, rather than being controlled, the work seemed to do the controlling.  Suppliers lagged in delivering materials; October floods covered land and track; construction trains were delayed when locomotives were deprived of water because balky windmills failed; workmen drifted off the job; and snow, with extreme cold, came early.

Construction crews of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba
(predecessor of the Great Northern Railway), moving up to the
rail-head; accompanied by soldiers who are on the lookout for
hostile Indians. The 3-story cars were dormitories for men.
[Source:  NDSU Institute for Regional Studies]

Despite frustrating delays, the First Division met the legislative deadlines in 1878.  The nearly 105 miles added in one year was more new track than had been laid by the St. Paul & Pacific companies for some seasons...Soon track-laying was completed from Warren to St. Vincent...and on November 10, 1878, the first train from St. Vincent pulled in to St. Paul.

Source:  The Great Northern Railway: A History

The line from St. Vincent to the St. Vincent Junction was removed in 1952. Railway Service to St. Vincent was over...

_______________

¹ - The photograph that was used to create this stereoview was taken by Jacob Skrivseth. In the fall of 1879, Skrivseth became a partner of O. E. Flaten in Moorhead, Minnesota. The two men built a traveling wagon with a built-in darkroom. Flaten stayed in Moorhead, and Skrivseth traveled throughout the Red River Valley shooting town and farm scenes. Flaten & Skrivseth also were the official photographers for the St. Paul, Minneapolis, & Manitoba Railroad (which later became the Great Northern Railway...)

² - Jesse Farley had two decades of experience in railroading, but he also had liabilities...He had next to no political influence in Minnesota,...he was nervous, jealous, and often tactless.  Farley nevertheless worked hard to carry out an almost impossible task.  The northern 104 miles of the St. Vincent Extension were a great worry.  Earlier, the First Division had laid track from south of Glyndon, where it crossed the NP, to north of Crookston, ending there in "...an uninhabited prairie with no human habitation in sight." [Source:  The Great Northern Railway, by Muriel E. Hidy]

³ - The Associates were Donald Smith (Hudson Bay Company), James J. Hill, John S. Kennedy, Norman Kittson, and George Stephen (Bank of Montreal), formed in 1877. They made sure the Dutch investors got paid, the St. Paul & Pacific got good management, and remained solvent.  Later, the CPR Syndicate was formed in 1881 by Hill with Stephen, Smith, and Richard Angus; their original investment of $100,000 yielded an eventual 17 million dollars after 4 years.

THE DEVERONS: "Burton Cummings played in Hallock..."

Burton Cummings played in Hallock shortly after high school at a dance organized by Donnie Hunt. They had a number of bands from Winnipeg and the City Hall was packed... Hallock really rocked in those days. - Mike Rustad

Burton Cummings, Edd Smith, Ronn Savoie,
 Derek Bylyk (Blake), and  Bruce Decker.

Release day, November 1965.
of "Blue Is The Night" (Deverons) 
[Burton Cummings in his living 
room, Photo taken by his mother...]

By this time [1963] the band had become one of the hottest commodities in Winnipeg, and had toured sporadically throughout Manitoba,  Saskatchewan, and into Minnesota, even though they were all still 17.  - Canadian Bands

Circa 1966-67, shortly after Cummings
joined The Guess Who...

In early 1966, The Guess Who approached Burton to join their band, despite their already having a lead singer.  At first he shared lead singing, but soon became the sole lead singer.  He had a rich, powerful voice, and became a strong half, together with Randy Bachman, of a songwriting duo.  In the late 60s, The Guess Who came to Hallock to play, right before they took off to international fame!

Additional Sources:

• The Guess Who:  Roots
• Remembrances of a Deveron
• The Canadian Encyclopedia:  Burton Cummings Biography
• Manitoba Music Museum: The Guess Who

Guest Post: Gopher v. Man

I'm pretty sure you can trace the historic failings of the University of Minnesota sports teams to their choice of name:  Gophers.  In Minnesota lingo, at some point the teams started being called the "Goofers".  I think the football team last won the Big 10 championship and got to go to the Rose Bowl in about 1963, and I'm pretty sure they lost.  Basketball, baseball, wrestling, swimming, soccer -- quick, name me one national title the U of M teams have won in the last fifty or sixty years, even when they had Dave Winfield on both the basketball team and the football team ... .  

I thought so.

I'm pretty sure the Goofers could win a Foosball championship if the NCAA sanctioned it.  Those long winter nights, indoor activities fueled by camaraderie and beer, have definitely produced some bad-ass Foosball players.  Hit me with your best shot.

Gophers are not really vermin, but they are pests. They don't spread disease to humans, but they still wreak havoc.  They build these complex subterranean family homes, and spread the dirt in piles all over fields, gardens, and lawns.  They're kinda small, have nubby little tails, front feet with nails on the paws for scratching and digging, and goofy little curved yellow teeth that curl out of their lips -- also, I guess, for digging holes and tunnels and tearing up roots and destroying gardens.  One of their admirable qualities is industriousness, which is why they are also a bane.

Cute?  Do not be fooled!

Here is a picture of a gopher, in case you've never seen one up close. Notice the whiskers, the little beady eyes, the small pinned-back ears, and the yellow teeth.  Ugh.  Somebody ought to teach this guy some dental hygiene.  I've seen meth addicts with better teeth than that.

My dad hated Gophers.  Not as much as he hated Dick Cheney, but still, when he was creating his picture of the perfect hell for Dick Cheney I'm pretty sure there were gophers in there to torment the guy.

Last Hurrah for a Rural School

Controlled Burn:  Older section of school

There were no girls in the senior class of 1987, forcing Humboldt-St. Vincent to do without a homecoming queen. Things improved this year, when all three girls in the class vied for the honor.

Classes don't come any smaller than in Humboldt-St. Vincent. It's a school with 65 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, including one fourth-grader. The average grade has five students.

That's too small for state officials, who see nothing romantic about the arrangements and are happy that the school district is finally ready to close shop. For Education Commissioner Gene Mammenga, the tiny school in Kittson County is a prime example of public education gone awry.

Humboldt-St. Vincent, 410 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, ranks as the state's smallest K-12 school district and spends $11,381 each year to educate a single student. That's the highest of any K-12 district in Minnesota and more than twice the state average. A state study called the spending astronomical.

Moreover, the district holds classes in an 85-year-old school that violates state codes and is faced with a financial crisis after piling up debt for four years. A lack of money and students makes it difficult to offer many electives.

"It's a waste of money, but more important than that, it's a waste of human potential, with young people who had a limited academic experience," Mammenga said.

Those are fighting words for those who farm the flat, rich land of the Red River Valley.

"Typical bureaucrat sitting in the white ivory towers, totally removed from the realities of rural America," said Humboldt Mayor Curtis Miller, who grows wheat, barley and sugar beets on 2,100 acres. "The way of life in rural America is very sacred to us."

That's why these are sad days in Humboldt, where farmers need rain and school ends for good on May 30. It's the end of a long era that began in 1882, when the district was created.

Circus!

Friday, June 30th [1893]. Pembina, N. D., N. P. R. R., 90 miles. Hotel, Winchester. Pop. 1,000. Rained nearly all day. Business good. Large excursion from the Queen’s Domain, many pleasure-seekers coming from Winnipeg to view the wonders of the Big Show. At night a heavy wind-storm frightened the audience, and they left the canvas before the conclusion of show.

Source: Official Route Book of Ringling Bros. World’s Greatest Railroad Shows, Season of 1893, Buffalo, NY: Courier Co., 1893. Circus Historical Society

Bud E. Anderson's Jungle Oddities
visited Pembina in 1939
[Click to Enlarge]

There were other circuses that came by in other years, of course:

• Great Wallace Show (Pembina on Sunday, July 15 1896)
• Forepaugh Circus (Pembina on Sunday, June 27, 1900)
• Bud E. Anderson's Jungle Oddities & 3-Ring Circus (Pembina on August 6, 1939, and Hallock on August 4, 1939)
• Carson & Barnes Circus (Pembina on June 5, 1960)

...One of the active workers is a "reformed circus man," McFarland of Pembina county, who was a performer with Van Amberg, and later a saloonkeeper. He is now radical in temperance and religion... [Source: St. Paul Daily Globe, January 31, 1887]

Evidently, going by the above quote, it wasn't considered proper work to be a circus performer, at least by some.  I always thought it was amusing that people can look down on certain other people, yet be perfectly willing to have those people entertain them.  Then again, it was a different time, and even then, not everyone agreed about these issues.

If anyone reading this have old family photos or oral history about the circus visits to our area, I'd love to hear them. You can always contact me privately through my profile on the sidebar, or leave a comment!

Trick Cycling would have been very popular with audiences
during the Bicycle craze of the 'Gay 90s' [Click to Enlarge]

What Could Have Been

From the 1893 Plat Atlas - Click to Enlarge
[Map Credit:  Library of Congress]

In the section of Pembina shown above - part of the 1893 Plat Map of Pembina County - you can see how the railroad was set up to come in north/south, but had a spur going southeast towards St. Vincent. In a stereoview of St. Vincent, it shows a spur coming up from the main track into town from the east, that then turn north and goes along the river to the exact point across the Red from the Pembina spur. At that time, the only thing needed was a railway bridge over the river, but that never happened, and that was one reason of many that discouraged more growth in St. Vincent. There was some serious missed opportunities, poorly thought-out politicking, etc. that went into it all. The nail in the coffin came around the infamous 1897 flood, after which J.J. Hill wanted to move the town out to the wye, aka the Junction and higher ground.  But Mayor Deacon said no to the offer, without discussing it with any other city council member, let alone the townspeople.  We can only speculate as to his reasons.

St. Vincent Spur that once went round north to opposite bank
from Pembina's spur, meant to cross river via bridge never
built, every likely thanks to William Deacon's fateful decision

Historical Home: Up in Flames

June 6/7, 2013 Fire:  All that is left of a once stately home...
[Photo Credit:  Jamie Rustad Meagher]

All that is left now is a pile of bricks, supplied to the home's original builder by the Pembina Brick Company.  Made from Red River Valley clay, the bricks were a distinctive yellow, part of what made this once stately home so striking and special.

Charles & Isabella Cavileer sold the land the house was built on to James & Barbara Webb in May 1880.  The Webbs built the house, but the date it was completed is unknown.  It became the home to many families down through the years - Judge Edward Conmy & his family among them.

Another early image of the J.G. Webb home
[Photo Credit:  State Historical Society of North Dakota]

The photograph above was taken in the late 1800s. It shows the house's west side, facing Cavileer Street.  Not too far to the east (back) is the tree line and bank down to the Pembina River.

This photo shows the house from the north side.  In the mid 1890s, a bicycle craze swept the nation.

Around 1895/96, Pembina formed a cycling club¹, whose members pose in this photo in front of the home.  The small building in the right rear of the house is likely a carriage house where a buggy was kept along with the horse that pulled it. A carriage house was the garage of the 19th century for those that could afford such things.

The only references I could find thus far, to James G. Webb - the likely original owner of the home - was one where he was once up for Postmaster in Pembina, but in less than a month, the position was rescinded.² The Cavileer family continued in that role instead. The other reference was from a few years earlier in the 1880 U.S. Census, which listed him and his family living at the Winchester House hotel as 'boarders' at the time, and his profession as 'Merchant'. They bought the land that same year. By the time the house was built, the Webb family were evidently prosperous enough to not only build their own home, but to build one that made quite a statement.  It continued to be a point of pride in the town, to the day it burned down...


[Images Courtesy of Jamie Rustad Meagher]
________________

¹ - Cycling clubs sprang up in valley communities including St. Thomas, Forest River, Jamestown, Fargo, Elbow Lake (where women organized a “Bloomers Cycling Club”), Drayton, Larimore, Minto, Towner, Hillsboro, Pembina, Dickinson, Church’s Ferry, Park River, Grafton, Gilby, Epworth, Neche, Lakota, and Buffalo, North Dakota, as well as Crookston, Moorhead, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, where members also ordered uniforms. [From The 1890s Bicycling Craze in the Red River Valley, by Dr. Ron Spreng, Minnesota Historical Society Minnesota History Quarterly, Summer 1995]

² - See

James G. Webb's appointment as U.S. Postmaster at Pembina,
as well as the rescinding of that appointment a month later...

Bobby Stewart Update: "Fearless"

Bobby Stewart aboard "Ocean Roar" in 1969 Kentucky Derby
[Credit: Assiniboia Downs Archives]

Bobby Stewart would be my pick for the best jockey to ever ride at Assiniboia Downs. - ASD History

High praise, but well deserved.

A recent blog post talks about Bobby Stewart's career, and it's amazing to realize he came from our area. But you never know who will rise above the rest, or where they may hail from.

Be sure to check out an earlier blog post about Bobby, and the honor bestowed in remembrance of him at the inauguration of the Bobby Stewart Memorial Stakes in 2010.

A Tale of Two School Buildings

St. Vincent (left) & Orleans (right):  Built using same plans...?

School districts were especially numerous in the early history of Minnesota, and were much smaller than the township - often within the 26 square miles there would often be a half dozen or more.

Such was not the case in sparsely-populated Kittson County, however.

Stats for St. Vincent:

• St. Vincent's first school board was organized on January 7, 1880.
• The first schools in the county were on or near the St.Vincent village. 
• One of the first teachers was Eliza Moore, who taught all eight grades in a little one room school on the west end of St. Vincent. 
• The final St. Vincent school - located conveniently in the center of town - was built in 1903 (Orleans school was built in 1905).

[Click to enlarge & read details]

From my research it appears that schools like these were very common in smaller communities, and many were built across the country in the early 1900s.  Some were two-story, two-room, while others like those above were two-story, four-room.  You could buy standard plans, and have local carpenters, like St. Vincent's Ed Cameron and Al Fitzpatrick, build it for you.


Sources:

• The Minnesota Community: Country and Town in Transition, by Lowry Nelson
• Orleans:  Once, but No More, by Craig Wiese
• St. Vincent, by Barbara Bostrom
• The Fall of St. Vincent, by Faye Turner
• St. Vincent: From Lively Village to Near Ghost Town, by Carrie Nordstrom
• The Schoolhouse, by Joseph Augustus Moore
• Albert & Elizabeth Fitzpatrick 50th Wedding Anniversary Diary, by Harriet Fitzpatrick Short

Mike Rustad: County Fair Memories

Ah, the perceptions of youth!  In this reminiscence, Mike Rustad takes us back to the Kittson County Fair of a generation ago.  If you're like me, it will resonate strongly with your own memories of that time and place...

I looked forward to the the Kittson County Fair each summer. I enjoyed the rides as well as the carnival. My brother Tony and I collected pop bottles to save for the Fair. We would frequently have 4-H exhibits at the Fair. I remember once we were on a Tilt-a-Whirl (or similar ride) and Tony got sick on the ride. The operator of the ride was a crude man with a number of tattoos including something like "Born Loser." In any case, he would not let us leave until we cleaned up the ride. Since Tony was in no condition to help, it was left up to me. As farm boys, we were somewhat intimidated by the carnival workers. It was quite common for the carnival games to be rigged. I think that we would lose only a $1 or so on these games but they were cheap tuition. I think that the Fair illustrated the seedy side of society as well as the best.

The Fair was like the Tale of Two Cities: the best of times and the worst of times. One of the worst moments was experienced by my Mother. In an essay she wrote for the Scribe Tribe¹, she recounted how she placed her glasses case dutifully beside the hole.The case was cylinder shape and began rolling toward the hole because apparently the toilet was not level. In her haste to grab it, the clasp came open. Her glasses and keys went down the the dark smelly abyss. She was embarrassed but decided to take action. She found the Fair Manager and asked him for a flashlight and a shovel. The Manager asked her what she wanted them for. She was stopped numerous times by friends asking what she was doing with the shovel and flashlight. She dragged the odorous privy for a long time without success. For years after the episode, she was asked about how she got home without her glasses and car keys. For my Mother, this was the worst of times. 

The Fair was also the best of times. The lights of the rides were beautiful. For many years the Fair was not complete without a tremendous thunder storm and sometimes funnel clouds in the area. Later, a tornado destroyed the Fair Grandstand only a short time after it was filled to capacity. The severe weather conditions and the lights brought an indescribable excitement to the Fair. The 4-H exhibit hall was a favorite place. I always took time to look at every exhibit. I always wondered how I could never get beyond a red ribbon for my vegetables and insect collection. There were a number of local merchants who had exhibits. One of the highlights of the Fair was when the car dealer would give away a car and also bicycles. I never won but the anticipation of winning such a prize was greater than Publisher's Clearing House. 

My favorite place to eat at the fair was the Larson Family Stand which made the best hamburgers and generally had the best food at the Fair. Joyce Baldwin from Humboldt was a Larson and so many of the Baldwin kids helped out at the "Larson" food stand. Each of the 4-H clubs had special exhibits which depicted our activities for the year. I belonged to the "Stick-To-It" Club which was one of the oldest Kittson County Clubs. We had very good adult supervision. The Gatheridges, Baldwins, Bahrs, Wieses, Diamonds, Clows and many other families were active in the club. I remember that the older kids in the club were very helpful to the younger ones in exhibiting their products. Dennis Diamond was one of those older kids who was always helpful to Scott Clow and I who also showed sheep. Another memory I have is a 4-H parade through Hallock. A very pretty young lady asked me to help control her very large and unruly 4-H calf. I managed to keep the calf from stampeding through the streets of Hallock, but still received only a white ribbon. I can still remember the smell of those hamburgers at the Larson family stand. I hope that other former Kittson County residents will contribute their memories of the Fair and of their "Wonder Years." 

¹ - The Scribe Tribe began as a continuing education course in 1966.  The writing class morphed into a club with meetings in homes. These were more than social events - everyone in the club felt a great social pressure to produce writing. It was Dotty Boatz who first suggested that a writing course taught at Humboldt-St. Vincent High School continue on as a club and she was one of the most active members. The Scribe Tribe proved to be a huge success, and Gloria Swanson and Virginia Ott ended up writing a very interesting book on Fred Jones, who was an innovative handyman and inventor who lived in Hallock for many years. The title of the book was Man With a Million Ideas: Fred Jones, Genius/Inventor.