Walking the Pembina Trail

Orlin Ostby plans to walk with Pum, his ox, the 400 miles from Pembina, North Dakota to St. Paul, to commemorate the Minnesota sesquicentennial and retrace the historic Pembina Trail.

This time next year, Orlin Ostby and Pum will be meandering across Minnesota.

MN @ 150: Pembina Trail - UPDATE

This year, events are taking place all over the state to celebrate Minnesota's 150 years of statehood. Few, if any, sesquicentennial events span the state north to south like the Sesquicentennial Stroll-planned for this summer-will.

Orlin Ostby of Gatzke has actually been planning the stroll along the Pembina Trail - one of the main historic oxcart trail routes from St. Paul to Winnipeg, Manitoba - for 50 years. With his wife, Mandy, some of his children, a cousin from Norway and a few others in tow, Ostby will set out by foot July 1 from St. Vincent, near the Canadian border, and trek down to St. Paul. A sturdy pair of oxen from New Hampshire, pulling an ox cart, will tag along as well.

MN @ 150: Walking the Trail Update

Isn't that a great header? That's from Orlin Ostby's website, chronicling his walk on the Pembina/Red River Trail with his ox Pum, which he's doing right now! If you go to his website, you can glean some updates between the guestbook and the journal. Originally they intended to update the journal daily but their satellite phone isn't cooperating. Technology strikes again!

Here's a photo taken by Steve Reynolds, who has a few more posted that aren't on Orlin's website, including a few taken when they were in and just leaving Pembina...

MN @ 150: Pembina Trail Update III

I have discovered a blog that shows great updates of Orlin Ostby's trip.

I'm telling you, I think that Pum is more popular than Orlin. And why not - what a handsome fellow he is! Steven Reynolds writes:

In 2003, Orlin purchased a team of young Holstein steers, broken to drive, from a 10-year-old New Hampshire 4-Her named Thomas Philbrick, who had begun training “Pum” and “Kin” as a team as young as eight days old...Over the past five years, Pum and Kin grew in size and experience, becoming celebrities in community events and parades across northwest Minnesota and the Red River Valley region. Pum, chosen for the Pembina walk because of his sweet disposition and cool head, weighs 2360 pounds and is six feet tall at the shoulder. He can easily pull the two-wheel, early-1900s Ontario cart Orlin has modified for the trip...

Minnesota @ 150: Hitting the Trail

Today Orlin and his team begin an amazing journey, recreating the annual trip from the border area to St. Paul on the old Red River Trail. From what I understand, they will be starting out from Pembina this morning.

Good luck to you all, and may the trail be kind, and the people you meet be welcoming. We'll be watching for you along the way...

All Trails Lead From Pembina/St. Vincent

Roberta Olson, editor of the Melrose Beacon, was kind enough to share the map at left, which shows all the major trails used by the fur traders back in the day. You could call any of them a "Red River Trail" in general, since they spring from the same place - the Red River settlement area at the border, at Pembina/St. Vincent. However, you'll notice on the map that there is a particular trail that follows the Red south that is called the Red River Trail. Going by this map, it appears that Orlin Ostby is following the Woods Trail...

Minnesota @ 150: The Pembina Trail

"Why don't you do the same in 50 years?" - Delmar Hagen
Orlin Ostby, who will be making quite the trip this coming year, has opened a website that will be documenting it all.

Orlin has been thinking about this trip for 50 years, inspired by a neighbor who did the trip in 1958.