PROFILE: Dr. Alexander B. Campbell

Dr. Campbell was a versatile man, with credentials as a Dentist as 
well as a Physician, from the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati
[Source:  Google Books]

Alexander B. Campbell, Surgeon was a local physician living in St. Vincent from approximately 1880 onward.  

St. Vincent Inventor: William Thedorf

Drawing submitted for Patent
[Click to Enlarge]

My grandparents moved from the homestead to uptown mainstreet of the village, in their later years. They bought a very cute little home with many beautiful appointments - gingerbread woodwork on the steep roof peaks, cream-coloured narrow wood siding, with shingle-like wood siding from the eaves to the peaks, painted in a dark red. It was quite a pretty little house, with its large front sitting room window, including a stained glass pane; very striking with the afternoon sun shining through it. There were gorgeous, wide framing throughout the house around the doors, windows, as well as foot-tall mop boards, all of it stained and varnished, showing off the beautiful wood grain. It was all carved, too, especially the top finials. Each room had hanging brass light fixtures, with the old-style push-button wall switches. The front porch had a storm and screen door, as well as an inner door opening into the parlour, the top half which was plain glass. My grandmother had an old-style oil cloth roller shade there, to provide the option of privacy.

My grandmother told me of neighbors they once had named the Thedorf family - what they did and what they were like - all of which has receded in my mind now, sadly.  But I do remember that their home eventually burned down, well before my time.  Evidently it was also a very beautiful home.  From what I can tell, the oldest homes, including some of the most grand, were built near the river, then eastward.  It was a common way to build out a town in the late 19th and early 20th century in the Red River Valley, despite the fact they always faced flooding sooner or later.

This post is about a discovery I made today, about my grandparents' long-ago uptown neighbor. Unbeknownst to me, the Thedorfs had amongst them an innovative inventor!

Bronson Dam

1936 - Construction on the dam begins! (Photo Courtesy:  Ron Johnson)

Kittson County is naturally lakeless¹, which seems odd in a state nationally recognized for its abundant water supply. In the early 1930s, as the Great Depression continued to greatly depress everyone, Kittson County was drier than usual, the region suffering through a terrible drought. As wells dried up and crops withered, officials concluded the county needed a safety net, a water storage facility on the South Branch of Two Rivers, near Bronson (later Lake Bronson). For more than a year, supporters of the plan lobbied the federal and state government for funds for the project. One of the leading voices was the mayor of Bronson, O.T. Danielson. Danielson was joined in the effort by county engineer J.E. Dishington and several other prominent Kittson County residents. It was not until Clifford Bouvette became part of the chorus in early 1936, however, that major progress was achieved.

Scientific Find in Kittson County (1892)

Found via Google Books,
aka "the researcher's friend"

The following excerpt highlights a pharmacological discovery by university scientists of an important plant (Northern Senega) in locations in northwest Minnesota, including Kittson County. 

The plant (general species, Senega - sometimes spelled Seneca) was originally identified into modern medicine, in the 18th century by a Scottish physican, whose attention was brought to it by the Seneca tribe in Pennsylvania. The plant had (and continues to have) important properties used in medical products to this day. It is also important in alternative medicine, as demonstrated at this Manitoba website showcasing local herbal remedies - all available to me in my backyard.

Trivia:  Metis (introduced to it by the Ojibwa) have long used Senega/Senega, aka Snakeroot, for it's medicinal properties.

I found it fascinating to run across this medical journal report of the find from 1892 (especially since the natives in our area are mentioned as using it mainly for subsistence purposes, not medicinal as tribes in other areas of the country had...)

THE AMERICAN

JOURNAL OF PHARMACY.

MARCH, 1892.

NORTHERN SENEGA.

By L. E. Sayre, University of Kansas.

The geographical distribution of senega has been a subject of a good deal of interest to the members of the pharmaceutical profession and the drug trade for a number of years. Chief among the contributors to our present knowledge of the drug in this particular have been Prof. J. M. Maisch and Prof. J. U. Lloyd, as will be seen by glancing over the back numbers of the American Journal of Pharmacy, the Proceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association, and other pharmaceutical publications.

Reference has been made to senega growing in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but there has not been very definite information given, I believe, as to its collection or the exact district of country from which it is collected in these States. "Northern Senega" has been a current term meaning a variety of senega having certain physical characteristics very unlike the original Polygala Senega. Prof. Lloyd (Proc. Amer. Pharm. Asso., 1881), describing this variety¹ — which he says is derived from the Northwest from the States of Wisconsin and Minnesota—says it is very large and fleshy, sometimes white, again rather dark brown, the knotty crown measuring often from two to three inches in diameter, even of the dried plant. The root just below the knotty head is (when dry) from the size of the little finger to that of the thumb of a man ; six to ten inches in length and generally destitute of keel; not so contorted and branched as the " Southern " senega.

Northern Seneca Root
harvested in Manitoba

L. L. Dyche, Professor of Zoology and Taxidermy, of the University of Kansas, some months ago made an extensive hunting tour in the Northwest, the main point of his operations being in that country lying near the Lake of the Woods. During this hunting expedition he had an excellent opportunity of studying the country, its products and its people. On his return he handed me a root which he thought might be of some interest to me. He said it was collected in very large quantities and seemed to be one of the staples of that country. The natives depending upon its collection as one of the means of subsistence, have made this quite an industry among them. There the squaws and the children dig the root while the " Braves " hunt the valuable fur-producing animals. Prof. Dyche says that he saw at the different trading posts in Marshall and Kittson Counties, in the storehouses, as much as a thousand pounds stacked up in one heap. At a little town, Rocksted, near Thief River Falls, the Indians come in from long tramps of forty miles or more and bring in the fur, skins and this snakeroot. Here they had an immense stock on hand. Since his return, Prof. Dyche has received a letter from a trader at Jadis², Kittson County, stating that he has on hand a thousand pounds bagged up, waiting for a fair market price.

The root referred to is undoubtedly a good sample of senega. In length it varies from 4 to 8 inches; in diameter from 1/16 to 1/2 inch. Surrounding the root is a dark scar-covered head. This head in the case of younger roots is covered with immature pinkish leaf-covered stems. The characteristic keel of Southern senega is rarely present and the contour of the root is much less contorted. The color ranges from the light yellow of young roots to the dark brown of the older ones.

Near the head, prominent annulations are present. These continue with enlarging intervals of space for some distance down the root. Lengthwise the whole root is deeply wrinkled, while frequent warty enlargements occur. The branches are not numerous. In considerable quantities, the odor of gaultheria is quite prominent, as it is also in a cold aqueous infusion. The taste is very acrid.

Under the microscope the wood is found to be cylindrical, and the ingrowth of the inner bark on one side which produces the keel of the Southern variety is not apparent in a majority of cases. The wood is whitish, ligneous and occupies about y of the diameter of the root.

A sample of the drug was handed to Mr. McClung, one of the senior students, for the estimation of the polygalic acid. He used Quevenne's process, and obtained of the pure acid 35 per cent. Methyl salicylate was abundant, as shown by the ferric chloride test.

It would seem from the above that this specimen handed to me by Prof. Dyche represented a good sample of senega; its quality, equal to the average root of the market.

I have planted some of the roots, which seem to be full of vigor, and hope to be able at some future time to classify the plant.

¹ — Northern senega, collected in the northwest United States, is considerably larger than the usual variety (western senega), and darker in colour; it is less contorted and shows the keel less distinctly, but it has a very acrid taste, and is undoubtedly a good senega. It is said to be derived from Poly gala Senega, var. latifolia.

² - Jadis (named for Mr. Jadis, Kittson County Auditor) eventually was renamed Roseau - Kittson county included the western portion of what is now Roseau County until 1894 - From Kittson County History.

Case Jones Revisited

Recently, actor/educator and historian (Minnesota Historical Society) Dwight Scott visited Hallock and presented a performance as Casey Jones, one of Hallock's notable past residents. Talk about exciting!<sup>1


1</sup> - Having lived in Fargo for many years, such a performance is common there, but it's a big event in small towns like Hallock. I'm pleased to see them get such events up there in the farthest corner of the state, a part of the state that is all too often ignored by those living in the southern portion. When 'Greater Minnesota' is remembered at all, it still doesn't include our extreme northwest corner; that is so ironic, considering that the crossroads of the Red River of the North and the Pembina rivers, have been not only a meeting place for so long, but also a major gateway for settlement and commerce to the region, yet today it is all but forgotten...

Profile: Major George Seton

Men's Barracks, Lower Fort Garry - Winter of 1857-1858

The Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment men's barracks as seen from the officer’s mess room window at Lower Fort Garry during the Winter of 1857-1858. Following incursions into Canadian territory by American troops, a company of this regiment was sent from Montreal in July 1857 via York Factory. It was at Fort Garry by early October and remained in garrison until 1861. Watercolour by Major George Seton the detachment's commander. (Library and Archives Canada, C-001066)

Seton was one of many military personnel that passed through our area during the 19th century. When researching him in response to a print I recently acquired, I came across a research project being done on his family line by a descendant of his, Nancy Anderson. She has kindly been corresponding with me and has shared a bit of information on Seton, which is hard to come by as you might suspect. Although Seton does surface peripherally in the historic record in several documents, it was mostly in records that mention him in passing - i.e., listing rank/position/location, or he participated in such and such event, etc.

On her website, she states:

...Seton [of the 93rd Highlanders and Royal Canadian Rifles] came to Lower Fort Garry (Red River) in advance of his troops and, in July 1857, met John Palliser of the Palliser Expedition there.

Blackfoot parfleche¹, around AD 1860
From the Canadian Plains, North America collection

She later wrote me with more specific information as regards the intersection of Major Seton with our area, stating:

...from The Palliser Expedition, an account of John Palliser's British North American Exploring Expedition 1857-1860, by Irene M. Spry comes this - "John Palliser and his men set out south, on horseback, from Upper Fort Garry [Winnipeg] to Pembina² Fort in the United States, along the banks of the Red River in July 1857. There was the usual scurry and bustle, swearing and shouting, attendant on a large party setting off from the fort...[I've omitted some description]...The civilized society in question included not only Mr. Swanston of the Hudson's Bay Company, who had received them so hospitably and helped them greatly with their preparations, but also Major Seton, who had come overland to Red River in advance of the troops then on their way from Canada by the Hudson's Bay route, and Mr. Johnson, the Recorder of Assiniboia..... These two gentlemen saw Palliser and his colleagues ten miles on their way next morning. Nine miles farther on, the explorers caught up with the slower carts, just as the men were pitching camp for the night..."

She also said, "The Hudson's Bay Archives information on Sixth Reg of Foot Records is on Reel 4M145, E.67/2-5. I haven't read it yet and don't know what's in it. Probably you can request it through your library or local archives...and there's a Beaver Magazine article, A Soldier at Fort Garry, by George F. G. Stanley, Autumn 1957 that talks about the troops coming to Fort Garry. They made Fort Garry (from Hudson's Bay) on Oct. 13, It says, 'One Major Seton of our Corps had been sent in advance via U.S. Route in order to see preparations made for our accommodation, and right nobly he had done it. Several of the large Stores Houses had been fitted up for the comfort and convenience of the men, and a Separate apartment for each married man.' I know that George Seton later formed part of the government of Assiniboia, but I can't remember what that government was called. That's about all on Seton [as regards our area...]"

¹ - Parfleches are rectangular rawhide containers that fold over like envelopes. They were used in the nineteenth century particularly for holding pemmican, ground dried buffalo meat mixed with fat and berries. This food was vital in the fur trade, where a high calorie diet was required by canoe men.

On the northern Plains, moccasin soles were sometimes made from sections of painted rawhide, re-used either from an older pair or from parfleches made as gifts.

This parfleche forms part of the earliest documented collection of material from the Canadian Plains in The British Museum. It was acquired from a soldier, Major George Seton (1819-1905). Seton was also an artist, trained in creating panoramas for military purposes. He served in the Royal Canadian Rifles from 1853-58, the last two years stationed at Fort Garry, Manitoba (Rupert's Land), at the behest of the Hudson's Bay Company who had requested protection from supposed American and native threats. At the end of his posting he participated in two expeditions, one British and one Canadian, sent out to report on the Canadian Plains. He collected this parfleche while on the British expedition, which reported that the plains of Saskatchewan and Alberta were suitable for farming.

J.C.H. King, First peoples, first contacts: (London, The British Museum Press, 1999)

From British Museum collection: North America (Room 26)

² - "...On 21 July the expedition started on its journey across the plains, heading south up Red River to the American boundary, where they made careful observations in conjunction with a chance-met American land surveyor, Charles W. Iddings. From Pembina (N. Dak.) the party travelled west via St Joseph’s (Walhalla)..." - From Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry on John Palliser. FYI - Charles W. Iddings was a surveyor living over the post office in St. Paul in 1856. He eventually became associated with Joseph S. Sewall of St. Paul, the engineer who built the Wabasha Street bridge. During this connection the two men published a map of Minnesota which is known as the Sewall and Iddings map of 1860.

Map from Muskets to Missiles: A Military History of Minnesota by Virginia Brainard Kunz

Lake Agassiz

Pembina River--The Pembina River flows from the northern part of Turtle Mountain in a rather crooked easterly course through southern Manitoba and the edge of North Dakota about 130 miles, measured in a direct line, to its mouth at Pembina and St. Vincent. From its junction with the outlet of Pelican Lake to Walhalla, at the base of the First Pembina Mountain, its valley varies from 175 to 450 feet in depth. Rock Lake and Swan Lake, on this part of the river, each several miles long and from a half mile to 1 mile wide, are due to deposits brought into this valley by tributaries after it ceased to be the avenue of drainage from the Souris basin. In crossing the Red River Valley the Pembina runs in a channel only 20 to 40 feet deep. Its descent from the northern base of Turtle Mountain to Walhalla is about 700 feet, and thence to its mouth 186 feet, its junction with the Red River being 748 feet above the sea. Long or White Mud River, Clear Water or Cypress River, and Tongue River are its chief tributaries, all from the south side.

WELL AT HUMBOLDT, MINN.

Humboldt is a station of the Great Northern Railway, about 7 miles southeast of St. Vincent, at the farm of Mr. D. H. Valentine, on which this well is situated. It is on the flat plain of the Red River Valley, 6 miles east of the river and 5 miles south of the international boundary. The elevation of the surface is 792 feet above the sea, being a few feet above the highest flood stage of the Red River. On account of the saltness of its water, an analysis of which is given in Chapter X, the well is not used.

Prof. N. H. Winchell has reported this section,(14) shown by samples from the boring, a summary of which is as follows:


Drift deposits here reach a depth of 180 feet, below which are 458 feet of strata referable to the Trenton, Chazy, and Calciferous series of the Lower Silurian system. Next beneath the drift is a thick formation of magnesian limestone, shown by comparison with the other wells to be the Galena and Trenton strata, classed together as one formation under the second of these names by Whiteaves and Tyrrell, which outcrops at a distance of 75 to 85 miles northward, in the vicinity of Lower Fort Garry and East Selkirk, Manitoba. Its top and bottom at Humboldt, however, are respectively 612 and 317 feet above the sea, the entire formation here being thus beneath the level of Lake Winnipeg. In southeastern Minnesota, southwestern Wisconsin, and adjoining portions of Iowa and Illinois, the Galena and underlying Trenton limestones together range from 200 to 300 feet or more in thickness. The sandstone next below, having a thickness of 71 feet, is evidently the equivalent of the St. Peter sandstone, referable to the Chazy epoch, which in southeastern Minnesota underlies the Trenton limestone, and ranges in thickness there from about 75 feet to 164 feet. Its continuation in Wisconsin, as described by Chamberlin and Irving, averages probably between 80 and 100 feet thick, varying from a maximum of 212 feet down to a fraction of 1 foot. In this and adjoining States, according to Irving, it is continuous "over a region whose diameters are 500 and 400 miles."(15) Beneath this the Humboldt well penetrated 92 feet of shales, partly arenaceous and calcareous, which correspond to the Lower Magnesian or Shakopee limestone of southeastern Minnesota, ranging from 96 feet in thickness at Shakopee to 200 feet in Houston County, while in Wisconsin it is from 65 to 250 feet thick. The reports of the geological surveys of these States regard this formation as of Upper Cambrian age, but Walcott, in his more recent review of the Cambrian,(16) assigns the Lower Magnesian limestone wholly or mainly to the base of the Lower Silurian system. Its eastern equivalent is the Calciferous sandrock of New York. The entire Cambrian and Algonkian systems are wanting in this section, and the Lower Silurian strata rest directly on the Archean crystalline rocks.

From The Glacial Lake Agassiz,by Warren Upham

Officially American

Major Stephen H. Long of the United States Army was the most important government-sponsored explorer in the decade after the War of 1812. He led three major and several minor expeditions up the Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas rivers and the Red River of the North, as well as exploring the central and southern Plains, the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, and the Great Lakes. His companions included engineers, cartographers, naturalists, ethnologists, and artists, and they gathered a wealth of scientific, military, and artistic data about the interior of North America. For years Long's expeditions have been overlooked or misunderstood; here for the first time they are placed in the context of American scientific development.

When they reached Pembina on the Red River, the explorers paused. There, they had only one task - to decide whether the village lay north or south of the 49th parallel. Once they had done that they would begin their journey back to the eastern states. The return trip would take them along the virtually uninhabited north shore of Lake Superior and then south across the Great Lakes, a region that offered them little scientific challenge. In fact, rather than examining animals and plants along their route of march, the naturalists found their chief task to be getting themselves and their equipment back to civilization before the early northern winter blocked travel. This they succeeded in doing. yet, they encountered so little of interest or significance that the last half of the expedition proved anti-climactic for them.

On August 5, 1823, the explorers rode into Pembina and found the settlement virtually deserted. Most of the villagers had left on their annual buffalo hunt nearly seven weeks earlier and had not yet returned. The next day, the hideous screeching of 115 wooden carts loaded with fresh buffalo meat announced the villagers' return as 300 men, women, and children marched into town, shouting and singing. They had good reason for joy. Each of the wagons carried some 800 pounds of buffalo meat, enough to last for the winter. For a community with almost no domesticated animals, the annual hunt was a matter of grim necessity and this had been a good hunt.

The happy townsfolk straggled into their rude community, which consisted of about sixty log cabins strung out along the banks of the river for nearly five miles. A Hudson's Bay Company trading post had operated there until earlier that same summer, when company officials guessed that the settlement lay within the United States. Now the building stood empty. By August 8, Long and Colhoun completed their survey and astronomical observations and decided that the village did indeed lie south of the 29th parallel. Accordingly, on that day the major had an oak post placed in the ground at the border. On the south side of the pole he put the letters U.S., while G.B. faced to the north. At noon the troops raised the American flag and fired a salute. Then, in the presence of the villagers, Long proclaimed that "by virtue of the authority vested in him by the President...the country situated upon the Red River, above that point...was within the territory of the United States."

This simple ceremony completed the explorers' last specific assignment, and all that remained was their return trip. Long's orders called for the detachment to follow the 29th parallel east, but the settlers urged him not to try that route. They described the entire region between the Red River and Lake Superior as a maze of marshes, small lakes, and boulder-filled streams - all virtually impenetrable by a party as large as Long's. Instead, they claimed that the only practical way to travel east was by canoe via the larger streams. This advice convinced the Major to use his discretion, as Secretary of War Calhoun had suggested, and he chose to proceed north into Canada before turning east. Accordingly, the party prepared for the last part of their journey.

The brief stay at Pembina precipitated several bitter quarrels within the detachment, and, as a result, Mr. Beltrami quit the expedition. Long noted that the mercurial Italian, "having taken offense at the party generally, and being highly provoked at my objecting to his turning an Indian out of our lodge, left the party in a very hasty and angry manner." The Italian had proved a troublesome companion, and few of the other explorers expressed any regret when he left. James Colhoun claimed that the Indians said that one of the explorers "must be a foreigner, because he wanted the mild expression of countenance, which they said is universal with Americans. Their judgment was correct," he concluded. When the argument ended, Beltrami bought a horse from Long, and with a single companion rode south to find the source of the Mississippi. They failed to do so, but did find and name Lake Julia.

- From Stephen Long and American Frontier Exploration (1995)

Fur Trade Project (1990)

In 1990, the Department of Anthropology of the University of North Dakota, undertook a survey and testing project known as The Fur Trade of Northeastern North Dakota: The 1990 Fur Trade Sites Project. Some of the sites surveyed were in and around Pembina.

This project, more properly entitled "Survey and Testing of Fur Trade Sites in Northeastern North Dakota (Ecozone #16), 1738-1861," was financed in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service under grant agreement #38-90-50177-2 with UND and administered by the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
_______________________

The fur trade was the commercial medium through which much of the early Euroamerican intrusion into North America was made. Through the fur trade Euroamericans and Native Americans had their first contact. These contacts, in turn, led to the opening of Indian lands to Euroamericans and associated developments. This is also true for the history of North Dakota. It was a fur trader, La Verendrye (aka Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de la Verendrye), and his men that were the first Euroamericans to set foot in 1738 on the lands later designated part of the state of North Dakota. Others followed in the latter part of the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth centuries. The documents these fur traders left behind form the earliest known written records pertaining to the region. Through these records we can learn much about the early commerce of the region that tied it to world markets, about the indigenous populations living in the area at the time, and the environment of the region before major changes caused by overhunting, agriculture, and urban development were made. This history ties many of us to the early people and interests of the region.

In terms of North Dakota history, the fur trade of northeastern North Dakota provided the context for some of the earliest Euroamerican intrusions into what was later to become the state of North Dakota. The trade along the lower Red River, as well as that along the Missouri River, was the first organized Euroamerican commerce within the bounds of the modern state. Fortunately, a fair number of written documents pertaining to the fur trade of northeastern North Dakota have been located and preserved for study. These documents provide a plethora of data on various historical subjects. They do not, however, provide a detailed accounting of all the activities related to the fur trade. For this we must seek other sources of data, such as archaeological sites. No doubt various remains were left behind by fur traders when they abandoned the region and under favorable conditions of traders when they abandoned the region and under favorable conditions of preservation should be present within the northeastern North Dakota. These remains would be of immense use in learning more about the lives and activities of fur traders and the Indians with whom they had contact. Until the present time no comprehensive study of the fur trade in northeastern North Dakota had been undertaken, nor any systematic attempt to correlate written information on the furt trade with archaeological remains. In an attempt to overcome these deficiencies the 1990 Fur Trade Site Project was initiated...

From Introduction of the project report
_______________________

A main goal of the project was to identify the locations of the various fur trade operations (of which there were many) in the Pembina area. There is limited documentation of the locations, and there has been much development of the area disturbing the original sites (not to mention many floods...)

Auger probes were used. The few items found were excavated to be studied further offsite, i.e., clay (kaolin) pipe fragments, bone fragments, ceramic doll parts, cut nails, glass and pottery sherds, brass buttons, ax heads, padlocks, brass bells, gun flints, arrow points, marbles, silverware, beads, and thimbles. So far, I have not found out what information was gleaned from these items, if any, at a later date, but hope to track that information down and share it here.

The project reports concludes saying it was "...designed as a preliminary study of the historical and archaeological data pertaining to the fur trade in northeastern North Dakota between 1738 and 1861." They go on to say that their reconnaissance survey findings greatly encouraged them to recommend further intensive archaeological testing. They feel that despite flooding and modern construction disturbances, using modern analytical techniques such as soil and chemical analysis, to name but two, could still reveal substantial information.

"It is hoped that the fur trade site leads, and insight provided by this project, will be used to guide future studies of this interesting and important topic in North Dakota history."

Boundary Commission Tales - Part I

Treaties and Preludes

The boundary between Canada and the United States, where it sweeps westward along the 49th parallel of north latitude, was once marked by a single oak post, carved on one side "G.B." and on the other "U.S." But some humorist among the settlers living in the vicinity of Red River or perhaps a passing cynic, uprooted and turned the post around, so that the "U.S." faced north. So little did the mark matter, however, that it was allowed to stand thus until it rotted away.

As late even as 1875 the westernmost settlement in the Red River Valley was the Metis village of St. Joseph, about thirty-five miles from Pembina. Beyond that point in the northern border country not a single permanent habitation existed as far as the Rocky Mountains, if a few Indian tepees at Turtle Mountains and some log cabins where half-breeds wintered at Woody Mountain be disregarded. Much of it arid and treeless, with great extremes of temperature, the land was peopled by roving bands of Sioux, Assiniboine, Blackfeet, or Metis hunters who lived off the receding buffalo herds. Through this remote and austere wilderness, a part of the west still unwon, the boundary surveyors of the early 1870's were to make their arduous way.

From the Lake of the Woods to the Pacific Coast the border along the parallel is, between nations, the longest in the world formed by a continuous curve. For many years this 1300-mile line existed only as an imaginary concept, its beginnings going back to the early eighteenth century, when the 49th parallel of north latitude was first suggested to the commissioners under the Treaty of Utrecht as a southern limit for the Hudson's Bay Company in western North America. Although it appeared on several mid-century maps, mo such limit was actually fixed by these commissioners, or by subsequent treaty, when Great Britian took over French Canada in 1763 and France ceded Lousiana to Spain...

From West on the 49th Parallel: Red River to the Rockies 1872-1876, by John E. Parsons

Scientific History Made

In the 19th century, science was making great strides. Included in those gains of knowledge was the field of astonomy. St. Vincent and Pembina played their small parts in playing host to many expeditions that came to the area or were passing through...


"The interest aroused in total eclipses was now so great that astronomers were determined to take advantage of every opportunity, no matter how short the time of totality nor how great distances it was necessary to travel in order to view the eclipses."

Title: Excerpts From Simon Newcomb's Diary of 1860
Authors: Kennedy, J. E. & Hanson, S. D.
Journal: Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. 90, p.292

Using the Google coordinates for St. Vincent below, I think your best candidate for an eclipse visible from your town that would have attracted scientists would have been that of May 26, 1854. It was a rather long annular (ring) eclipse, with the Moon too far from the Earth to cover the Sun entirely, that had a duration of 4 minutes and 10 seconds in the annular stage. Here's the chronology:

2:30:38 p.m. CDST, SW edge of Moon makes first contact with the Sun, then 52 3/4 degrees above the SW horizon.
3:57:12 p.m., annular stage _begins_ with both bodies 40 degrees above the WSW horizon.
3:59:17 p.m., maximum annular eclipse, with 90.5% of the Sun's surface covered by the Moon.
4:01:22 p.m., annular eclipse ends as the leading edge of the Moon exits the Sun's NE rim, with both objects 39 1/6 degrees over the WSW/W skyline. Duration = 4 min. 10 sec.
5:18:42 p.m., last contact, with both bodies 26 3/4 degrees above the western horizon.

The partial solar eclipse of 7/18/1860 covered 83.3% of the Sun's surface, the partial solar eclipse of 10/19/1865 obscured 68.5% of the solar surface, and the partial solar eclipse of 8/7/1869 hid 93.5% of the solar disc. There were some piddling little partial solar eclipses that I have left out of consideration. Therefore your best candidate for a major eclipse that would have attracted the attention of astronomers and which lasted long enough to justify an excursion to St. Vincent would have been that of May 26, 1854. Hopefully narrowing down the eclipses to one strong contender will enable you to discover some eyewitness accounts.

Dr. Timothy L. Bratton
Department of History/Political Science
Jamestown College
Jamestown, ND