Requiem for a Sheriff

There is a mystery surrounding
Sheriff Brown:  No known photo
has ever been found of him...yet

He has become an icon of our local history.  Much of that is thanks to his young cousin, Charles Walker.

Sheriff Charles J. Brown, popularly known as Charley Brown, came from a distinguished family.  He chose the life of a warrior.  First as a Union soldier in the Civil War, later as a soldier posted at Fort Pembina, and finally as Sheriff of Pembina.

He only lived to age 39, but he packed a lot of living into those years.  I, for one, am glad he shared 14 years of them with us.

NOTE:  What you read below, is thanks to new information shared by Jim Benjaminson...

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.

Honored

I am truly honored to have been selected today as one of 2013's Top 40 Genealogy Blogs by Family Tree Magazine.

St. Vincent Memories was chosen in the "Story Time" category, which is most appropriate.  I loved how they had "...looked for those sites that deliver a dividend to readers...of sharing a quest to part the curtains of the past."  One of the main reasons I write this blog is to impart forgotten history to those that have roots here, and to share our little corner of the world with those that don't.

Thank you, Family Tree Magazine, for recognizing the special place (and special people) that St. Vincent was, and is.

Incorporated TWICE

1881 Charter heading...

ST. VINCENT Township, organized March 19, 1880, is opposite Pembina, N.Dak. Its name had been earlier given, before 1860, to a post of fur traders here, in honor of the renowned St. Vincent de Paul, founder of missions and hospitals in Paris...The city in sections 2 and 11, located on the site of an XY Fur Company trading post, was incorporated as a village on May 23, 1857, and again on March 8, 1881; it had a station of the Great Northern Railway in section 2, and at St. Vincent Junction in section 6; its post office began in 1878. 

- Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia, by Ward Upham

Remembering Bobby Stewart

A "Bobby" moment in 1962 

The above photograph shows Bobby Stewart (age 18) - the lanky jockey from Kittson County, Minnesota - being presented with a winner's trophy by legendary jockey Eddie Arcaro, who was on a retirement tour at the time.  Who knew that Bobby would go on to win six riding titles, set five track records, and even ride in the (1969) Kentucky Derby?

Remembering Bobby: A brilliant career, a tragic end

In the photograph:  Winners' Circle, Saturday July 10, 2010, with paddock host Kirt Contois (right) following the Bobby Stewart Memorial Stakes are Bobby's brother Wayne (left), daughter Lori, son Lance and brother Garylle, all who live in the U.S. Garylle recollects the 1960's and 1970's when his brother (inset) lit up the toteboard with 724 wins and bagged a record six riding titles. Later, son Lance, a former U.S. Marine who now repairs X-ray equipment, talked about the demons that haunted his father after an ailing back ended his riding career in 1976. Bobby, he said, couldn't deal with "going from everything to being nothing" and in 1985, at the age of only 41, died from a police bullet after taking a gun to visit his estranged wife in Lake Bronson, Minnesota.

From the Assiniboia Downs website comes this tribute, written in anticipation of the race named in Bobby's honor:

He was the master of swagger, the Fargo Phantom, the reaper of records. He was, in short, a riding dynamo at the Downs in the 1960s and 1970s who's never been equalled. Bobby Stewart. Never in a hurry to get to the paddock to mount up ("C'mon, let's go!") but always in a hurry to cross the finish line first ("Way to go!"), he earned the leading jockey title six times (no other jockey has more than four) and set five track records. He even rode in the Kentucky Derby. Lanky frame, cherubic grin. "He had no peer," said ASD patriarch owner/trainer Bert Blake who had Bobby ride his horses every opportunity he got.

 

From the Red River Valley website on Bobby's family, a quote from Mike Rustad reminds us that "Former residents of Kittson County will remember that Glen Stewart's son got their start at the Kittson County Fairgrounds."  From humble beginnings can come much greater things!

Encouragement

[Click to enlarge]

I try and spread the word about this blog so as many people can be aware of our local history as possible.  The other day when I did that on the Minnesota Historical Society's local history Facebook page, they paid me a very kind compliment.  It really encourages me to continue to not only write about my local history, but to continue to strive for accuracy/proper sourcing, quality/interesting content, and appealing presentation...

History Detectives, Local Style

Wow, the news keeps coming on all the websites and history that our area encompasses, and changes to them. The following news is extremely exciting, because we've been working on resolving this problem for over a year: What to do about losing the Red River Valley history website started by Dennis Matthews, one of the earliest websites documenting my hometown area and surrounding region. It's a long story but in summary Dennis lost his host for the site and all the data is locked on his computer. A fellow expatriate wrote to say this, just this past weekend:

Meant to email you sooner. I am out in Seattle for a graduation and I am trying to set up a meeting with Dennis Mathews to see if I can get a back up of all of his historical data for you on Monday or Thursday of this week.

I wrote back to her to express my delight at hearing this news, and that her inquiry about if the Rootsweb site was still available and a viable option, to reassure her that yes, indeed it was!

The hundreds (probably thousands) of hours Dennis has put in on putting this website up is just amazing. He transcribed historical essays among other documents into web pages that had before only existed in rare hard copy format up until then. We owe him a LOT, and thus are going the extra mile to help him recover and preserve his work...

Honored & Humbled

Being the historian/archivist/documentarian type person I am, I felt I had to preserve the off-site reactions to the recent honor this blog received. Many readers expressed their congratulations on Facebook rather than in the comments here.

As I say below, I am honored but humbled...

SVM Named to "Top 100"

This blog have been named to the Top 100 Genealogy Sites as defined by MyHeritage.com - I'm pleased as punch to see that my little blog about my hometown area has gotten recognition. But I don't do this alone, folks...

Sure, I kill myself most weeks to research and write it and get it out there, but there are many others who tip me off on local content or share their stories or photos. Many of you reading this ARE those people! In the end, it's the history that's important. It's who we are...