Early Pembina: In Their Own Words

FOUNDING OF PEMBINA

Pembina Post Established

The Park River Post having been abandoned May 4, 1801, and the Langlois party having joined Henry's, the reunited Red River Brigade moved down the river to the spot selected originally by Chaboillez, and established the post at Pembina. Chief Tabishaw and other Indians arrived on the 8th. Nothing was then seen of the Indian settlement that was said to have been near the old Fort Panbian, erected by Chaboillez, which had entirely disappeared.

The Post Named

May 17, 1801, Alexander Henry selected the spot for building a fort at Pembina. The post was completed October 1, 1801, and thereafter Henry's scattered forces made their headquarters at Pembina.

The post was name "Fort Panbian," and was later called the "Pembina House." It was built on the north side of the Penbian River - afterward changed to Pembina - between that and the Red River, 100 paces from each, on land afterwards entered by Joseph Rolette, and in 1870, James J. Hill, subsequently president of the Great Northern Railroad, purchased of Mr. Rolette the identical ground on which the establishment stood, embracing five acres, where he built a bonded warehouse for trade with the Indians and settlements in Manitoba.

Norman W. Kittson, a later trader at Pembina, and identified with transportation and other interests of the Red River country and of Minnesota, was a relative of Alexander Henry. Henry's post consisted of a storehouse, 100x20 feet, built of logs. Later a stockade and other buildings, including store rooms, shops, warehouses and a stable for fifty horses, were added.

The Hudson's Bay Company built, the fall of 1801, a post on the east side of the Red River, near Peter Grant's old post, and the X.Y. Company built a post, also on the Pembina River at the Grand Passage, which was destroyed by fire April 1, 1803.

The name of Pembina, applied to the post and the mountains, previous to 1801 known as the Hair Hills, is claimed by recognized authorities to be derived from the Chippewa words anepeminan sipi, a red berry known among the whites as the "high bush cranberry."

The early efforts to create the "Territory of Pembina" were antagonized because it was alleged that the word was insignificant, when in the debates in Congress it was pronounced "Pembyny," by a usually well informed congressman, all efforts in that direction ceased. Early in 1882, the Bismarck Tribune, then edited by the author of these pages, used "North Dakota" in the date line of that paper, and from that time the friends of "North Dakota" were united in their efforts to secure "North Dakota" for the name of the proposed new state. Dakota had become noted for its great wheat fields, and it was desired, also, to retain whatever benefit might accrue from that fact, as the famous farms were in the northern part of the territory.

Michael Langlois

Michael Langlois of the Red River Brigade, after the trading post was established the fall of 1801, on the Pembina River, was sent to the Pembina Mountains, then known as Hair Hills, to establish a post at the foot of the steep, sandy banks, where the river first issues from the mountains, and the X.Y. Company sent four men there to build alongside of his establishment; also, aside from the two houses mentioned, there was another trading post in the Pembina Mountains, known as the De Lorme House, where Henry called on his rounds, visiting his several outlying posts that winter. These trips were made with dog sledges and snow shoes.

The following winter of 1801-02, Michael Langlois took at the Pembina Mountaints, 200 beaver skins, 24 black bear, 5 brown bear, 160 wolf, 39 fox, 14 faccoon, 57 fisher, 5 otter, and 15 mink. In September, 1802, he was ordered by Mr. Henry to Red Lake, but ailing to make that point, spent the winter at Leech Lake, accompanied by Hoseph Duford. The winter of 1803-04, he passed at the Pembina Mountains post with Le Sieur Toussaint and turned in 182 beaver skins, 51 bear, and 148 wolf. Maymiutch, Carlo's brother, an Indian who went up the river with the "brigade," while under the influence of liquor, shot at Michael Langlois December 21, 1803. The following season, 1804-05, Langlois was in charge of the same station with ames Caldwell. The returns of catch are as follows: 16 beaver skins, 37 bear, 251 wolf.

Other employees at Fort Pembina in 1801, or about that period, who conducted the work of the post, were Jean Baptiste Le Duc (possibly Larocque), Joachim Daisville, Andre La Grosser, Andre Beauchemin, Jean Baptiste Larocque, Jr., Etienne Roy, Francois Sint, Joseph Maceon, Charles Bellgarde, Joseph Hamel, Nicholas Pouliotte and Hoseph Dubois - all of Henry's Red River Brigade.

You can read more about the founding of Pembina, and what daily life was like in the early years of 1801 and onwards here, in Alexander Henry's own words. It's amazing the hard work that it, and the fascinating to read of the cultural differences, clashes, and sometimes harmony of the natives with the explorers, fur traders, and others coming into the country from afar. Everyone had their own motives and goals, and most of them were more gray than black and white. People will always be people, and there's no getting around that. When you actually read about ordinary people going about their ordinary lives, you find out a LOT more than reading so-called history books. I'd love to find some history written by the natives, and I'll be the first to share it, if I find it!

Running the Buffalo

Charles Cavileer spent over fifty years of his life in the Red River Valley. Mrs. Cavileer, his widow, is a grand-daughter of Alexander Murray, one of the Selkirk settlers, and a survivor of the Seven Oaks massacre; a daughter of Donald Murray, one of the early merchants of Winnipeg, and on her mother's side, a grand-daughter of James Herron, an old-time trader. Speaking of running the buffalo, she said:

"I can see them now as they started on the hunt. I can see them rushing into the herd of buffalo, the hunter with his mouth filled with balls, loading and firing rapidly. Loose powder was quickly poured into the muzzle of the gun and a ball dropped into place, and the point of the gun lowered and fired, resulting often in explosion, for the reason that the ball had not reached the powder, or had been thrown out of place by the quick movement of the gun. Riding alongside of the herd, which was on the run with all the desperation possible in frightened animals, they were hot down by the thousands in a single day, and then the work of pemmican making commenced, on the ground where they animals were slain."

Check out book in my Google library called “Early History of North Dakota” for references on Pembina’s early settlement – pretty interesting stuff in there! P. 31, 39 (chapter on founding of Pembina), etc. P. 42 has many interesting facts about oral history, firsts, etc.

Weather: Early Observations I

Alexander Henry, known by some as Henry the Younger to distinguish him from his well-known uncle, was a prominent figure in Canada's North West Fur Company during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He spent considerable time exploring, hunting, and trapping in the Red River Valley and helped establish old Fort Pembina just across the river from present-day St. Vincent, Minnesota. A literate man, Henry was one of the first pioneers in the region to keep a journal that contained detailed weather observations. Documents suggest that he established his trading post on the same ground used by Charles Chaboillez¹ in 1797. Chaboillez was a partner in the North West Fur Company who later supervised a company post on Lake Superior. He, too, kept a journal of his activities near the junction of the Pembina and Red rivers, but it lacked the weather and climate detail of Henry's.

Henry traded alcohol, tools, and weapons with the native americans who lived near Fort Pembina: the Dakota tribes of the plains on the western side of the river (later North Dakota) and the Ojibwe on the eastern side of the river. He was meticulous in keeping daily weather observations from September 1807 through June 1808.

The landscape of northwestern Minnesota was vastly different during Henry's time. Buffalo and beaver were abundant, as were red deer, moose, bear, and wolves. The wide river valley was populated with tall prairie grasses and old trees (oak, birch, maple, pine, poplar, and willow, among others) and dotted with wetland areas (sedge and marsh.) A mosaic of trails and paths devoid of vegetation weaved across this prairie where the abundant buffalo herds trampled and compacted the heavy, wet soils. In addition to hunting buffalo and red deer for food, Henry and his men had good luck fishing the Red River, which was full of sturgeon.

Henry prized his daily journal of weather and nature observations, three volumes of which were published in 1897. Though some historians consider the Henry documents to be dry and humorless, for climatologists they are a treasure trove for use in evaluating the weather behaviors of a bygone era. His records are also noteworthy because they include climate descriptions of the area before the end of the Little Ice Age (1850)², a relatively cooler period for the northern hemisphere.

The Minnesota State Climatology Office has archived records of Henry's daily weather observations from September 1, 1807, to June 1, 1808. These include morning, midday, and evening observations of air temperature, wind, and sky condition, along with remarks describing the day's character. The following tables show comparisons between Henry's observations and current published climatic normals at Pembina, North Dakota, and at Hallock, Minnesota.

In general the tables show that the climate of the Red River Valley during 1807-8 ws similar in temperature to today's climate, with one major exception: April was a remarkably warm month, producing a rapid and early break-up of ice on the Red River, with associated flooding. Henry noted the return of migratory birds as early as April 4 and 5. He also brags of enormously successful sturgeon fishing: on April 24 he "set a sturgeon net and caught 3 instantly." A more detailed book shows that the lowest temperature measured by Henry during the winter was -30F on February 18, quite close to the modern era's usual lowest winter temperature, which ranges from -30 to -35F at Hallock and Pembina. The coldest spell in February 1807 also coincided with some of the strongest winds Henry noted, likely producing wind-chill conditions in the -50F or colder range. However, the winter of 1807-8 saw only 43 days with temperatures below zero degrees Fahrenheit. Modern records from Pembina and Hallock both show an average of 67 days each winter with such temperatures. Thus, Henry and his men did not have to endure the persistent cold that Mother Nature usually brings to the area.

From Minnesota Weather Almanac, by Mark W. Seeley (Published by Minnesota Historical Society © 2006)

¹ - Charles Chaboilliez (Chaboille/Chaboillier) IV: (b.1772, Montreal - d.1812, Mascouche, Lower Canada) Charles was the son of Charles III & Marguerite Larcheveque and he married Jessy Bruce in 1811 at Quebec. Their children were; Charles V (1805-1863), Jean, Marguerite, Pierre (b.abt.1808) (m.Josette bef.1841), & Louise (b.1809)(m.Allan Morrison).

In May of 1791 he was hired by Joseph Frobisher for 4 years as a North West Company clerk. He was at the Cumberland House & Ile-a-la-Crosse NWC posts until he was assigned to the Assiniboine & Red River Departments in 1796. While trading at the mouth of the Pembina River he kept a journal until the summer of 1798. The list of his voyageurs include: Dubois, Chaurette, Roy, Bercier, Desjarlaix, Sauve, Bourret, Francois Delorme, Richards(the HBC trader that left that company to join Chaboilliez), Mineclier, Le Duc, Bertrand, Chevalier, Allard, Bibeau, Pouilliot, Foumas, Lambert, Cadotte & Hyversoit. On 14 Mar 1798 the David Thompson exploration expedition arrived at the Pembina post and 7 days later Chaboilliez accompanied Thompson to Vincent Roy's NWC post south of Pembina on the Forest River. In 1799 he became a partner in the NWC and was given charge of the Lower Red River Department for the company.

On October 31 1804 Lewis & Clark wrote to Chaboilliez from the Upper Mandan village on the Missouri; "...we met with Mr.Hugh M'Cracken, who informed us that he was in some measure employed by you in behalf of the North West Company, traffic with the natives of this quarter...we have determined to fortify ourselves, and remain the ensuing winter...If, sir, in the course of the winter, you have it in your power to furnish us with any hints in relation to the geography of the country, its productions, either mineral, animal or vegetable, or any other information...we should feel ourselves extremely obliged...". - From Trade Goods

² - The 'Little Ice Age' was an interval between about AD 1500 and 1850, characterized by advancing glaciers in mountainous regions of Europe and western North America. However, it is unclear whether this cool moist period was truly global in extent, or how it was manifested in other regions with different climatic controls. A high-resolution reconstruction of salinity fluctuations in Devils Lake, North Dakota, based on fossil diatoms, ostracode-shell geochemistry, and bulk-carbonate geochemistry, indicates that saline conditions prevailed throughout much of the recent past. These results suggest an arid climate in the northern Great Plains throughout the 'Little Ice Age' and that during this interval climatic gradients between the Great Plains and regions to both the east and west may have been quite steep. - From 'Little Ice Age' aridity in the North American Great Plains: a high-resolution reconstruction of salinity fluctuations from Devils Lake, North Dakota, USA by Sherilyn C. Fritz, Daniel R. Engstrom, and Brian J. Haskell (The Holocene, Vol. 4, No. 1, 69-73 (1994))

Peguis: A Noble Friend

Peguis: A Noble Friend, by Donna G. Sutherland, is reviewed.
Copyright Manitoba Historical Society Oct 2005
Edward A Jerome, Ruth Swan. Manitoba History. Winnipeg: Oct 2005. , Iss. 50; pg. 43, 4 pgs
Abstract (Summary)

Donna Sutherland wrote a biography of the Ojibwe leader, known as Peguis or the "Cut-Nose Chief" which was published in 2003 by the Chief Peguis Heritage Park, Inc. at St. Andrews, Manitoba. Sutherland wrote in the "Introduction" that she was inspired to agree to write this story at the behest of the Chief Peguis Heritage Park Inc. because of childhood memories of trips along the old River Road north of Selkirk and Old St. Peter's Church (Dynevor) which is located on the east side of the river. St. Peter's Anglican Parish was the home of Peguis and his Ojibwe settlers whose families had immigrated to the Red River Valley in the 1780s. Since he lived to be approximately ninety years old, his life span reflected the early history of the fur trade, the Red River Settlement, the establishment of Christian missions and the agricultural development of the area. As well, Peguis was well-positioned to meet many of the famous people who lived or visited in the area, including Lord Selkirk, Miles Macdonell and Cuthbert Grant.

Sutherland researched her subject in the archives of the Hudson's Bay Company, the Provincial Archives of Manitoba and other local repositories. This biography is mainly a compilation of information from primary sources and less from secondary sources written by historians and ethnohistorians who are specialists in Aboriginal History. She has also included a good collection of drawings, photographs and maps from archival sources and rounded out the picture by descriptions of Ojibwe material culture such as clothing and dwelling places inhabited by these early pioneers of the Red River Valley.

Using archival records and published primary sources is a good approach to researching Aboriginal History which we have used to good advantage in studying the Pembina fur trade and the origins of the Red River Valley Métis. Sutherland has also attempted to use linguistic analysis where possible to translate names from Ojibwe and French into English. Confusion often results from reading these records where one hunter might be described by a variety of names such as "Le Sucre", "Wiscoup", "Sheshepaskut" called by David Thompson, "Sweet" or "Sugar" (Sutherland: 10, 16 and 21). Translating the names of these Ojibwe or "Saulteaux" (Saulteurs) as they became known in Manitoba helps to trace their seasonal movements and trade patterns which might be confused in different sources by different authors (Dempsey: 626).

Unfortunately, being familiar with many of the archival sources used by Sutherland in her research, we found many mistakes as well as suppositions which cannot be proved by the evidence cited. Just to give a few examples, we will focus on the published journals of three contemporaries of the Red River Valley fur trade from the 1790s to the early 1800s: Charles Chaboillez, Alexander Henry the Younger and John Tanner. The first two were North West Company traders in the Pembina area. The third was an American youth who was captured by local Indians in the Kentucky area, traded to and adopted by an Ottawa family from the Great Lakes, who was raised in the Ottawa/ Ojibwe culture and who hunted and trapped in the Red River Valley during this period. Tanner's memoirs were first published in 1830 and the fur traders' journals much later. Nevertheless, they cover the same area at the same time, naming many of the same people and incidents. Tanner's recollections, which are very detailed, but not dated, dovetail very nicely with the dated but less informative entries of Chaboillez and the dated and self-serving views of Henry. Tanner gives an Aboriginal perspective on the fur trade while Chaboillez and Henry tell their stories from the view of the traders.

To begin with, Sutherland goes to great length to explain the origins of Peguis' name, suggesting that in Ojibwe, it is translated as "Little Chip" or "Wood Chip" (Sutherland: 1). She quotes a story from his great-great grandson who recounted how Peguis was abandoned by his Indian mother and left on a pile of wood chips. She also included an Appendix note (pp. 150-151) analyzing how the Ojibwe word for "chip" would be translated today. She cites both Tanner (Be-gwa-is) and Henry (Pegouisse) to show how different spellings suggest the same Ojibwe name. The problem is that Sutherland neglected to inform the reader that both Tanner and Henry translated the name as "He who cuts up the beaver lodge" (Tanner: 150 and Coues: 257). It seems surprising in retrospect that a respected hunter and trapper like this Ojibwe leader would be saddled with a childish name in adulthood like "Little Chip". "He who breaks up beaver lodges" seems more appropriate for someone that HBC trader Hugh Heney described as one of his best beaver hunters. Leaving out this important translation is an omission which is hard to explain. It would be interesting to know how "He who breaks up beaver lodges" translates into modern Ojibwe. Perhaps the editor can find out.

Tanner provided a story about how "Be-gwa-is" lost his nose, an important story because he was often called "the Cut-Nose Chief" (Tanner: 154). He interceded in a drunken brawl at Pembina and Tanner's brother, Wa-megon-a-biew, accidentally bit off his nose in the fracas. The mutilated hunter spoke with great modesty: "I am an old man," said he, "and it is but a short time that they will laugh at me for the loss of my nose." Sutherland quoted this story on page 28, dating it to March 1807. The problem is that Tanner did not include any dates, only suggesting that it happened "as soon as the snow went off in the spring" (Tanner: 151). Sutherland noted on page 27 that Peguis was age 33 in 1807. It is hard to understand why he would have described himself as an old man when he lost his nose. In fact, he lived until the approximate age of ninety. Possibly, he was making a modest joke or ironic jest which did not work well when written down in another language. The other possibility is that there was more than one "Cut-Nose Chief" or someone with the name of "Be-gwa-is" who was an old man when the incident occurred. Sutherland did not note or question these inconsistencies in the primary sources.

Sutherland continued to make suppositions about the story. Tanner noted that, while the men went off to hunt beaver, they left the women behind. Sutherland interpolated from this reference that the women were left behind to collect sap at their sugar camp. This was an educated guess, and the evidence is not cited. While ethnohistorians like to use cultural insights to round out Aboriginal history, Sutherland makes assumptions which are at best borderline. Since it was not clear where the women stayed, it cannot be assumed it was a sugar camp.

In her descriptions of the Pembina fur trade, there is more confusion. She called John Richards, a trader from Brandon House sent by the HBC to trade at Pembina, "William" (Sutherland: 15). Perhaps she was confused because the first HBC post journal written at Pembina was catalogued in the wrong series by the HBCA. Sutherland can be forgiven for not knowing that Thomas Miller's first journal is located under the Winnipeg Post Journals (B.235/ a/1) instead of under Pembina (B.160/a/1). However, Richards first name is mentioned by several different authors: Scott Hamilton (Hamilton: 83) and Margaret Clarke (Clarke: 4 - 82) on the Brandon House trade, Edith Burley on labour relations in the HBC (Burley: 229) and Ruth Swan in her doctoral dissertation (Swan, 2003b: 153). Because Peguis was not mentioned in Chaboillez's journal for 1797-98, the first published journal from the Pembina fur trade, she assumed he was trading with the HBC's Thomas Miller. But Miller did not mention him either; in fact, Miller did not mention most of the Indian customers he dealt with other than to call them "Indians". This may have been because he was an Orkneyman who came from Brandon House, via Albany on Hudson's Bay, and may have known Cree rather than Ojibwe. Unlike Chaboillez, he could not name most of his Saulteaux customers. Consequently, the Pembina records of either company do not shed light on where Peguis was trading in the winter of 1797 - 98.

Sutherland made other mistakes regarding these primary sources. For example, she noted that Chaboillez called the Saulteaux "Chippewa" without realizing that it was the editor, ethnohistorian Harold Hickerson, who used that American term. In the journal entries, which Hickerson translated from French, Chaboillez mostly called them "Indians" although occasionally used the French word: "Saulteaux". What French word Chaboillez used is not known, but it may have been the word "sauvages" which translates into "Indians" in English. In researching published texts, it is important to distinguish between the contemporary observer, Chaboillez, and the modern editor, Hickerson.

Sutherland speculated that Peguis' first wife was a daughter of "Le Sucre", the leader of the Red Lake Band with which he associated in his early years. There is no evidence that Le Sucre was his father-in-law. The only evidence for his marital status is that by 1814, he had two wives, four sons and six daughters (Sutherland: 17). Describing this extended family group as a "band" with a settled "encampment" in the 1790s is conjecture and so are their identities and genealogies.

While Chaboillez and Henry described some of these Ojibwe beaver hunters coming from these Minnesota lake districts which afterward became important Ojibwe settlements, they were still relatively new to the area west of the Great Lakes. As Tanner's narrative showed, they followed a seasonal round which involved a large geographical area from Minnesota and North Dakota to Manitoba along the upper Assiniboine and its tributaries. Consequently, it is easy to exaggerate the importance of Red Lake and Leech Lake as Ojibwe "encampments" in the 1790s as Hickerson did. Assuming that Peguis married the daughter of a prominent leader of the "Red Lake Band" is a leap of the imagination not documented in the records. It is possible, but not documented, and she did not make the distinction.

The fact is that French Canadian and Scottish traders from the Great Lakes probably only penetrated through the headwaters of the Mississippi (Leech Lake) to the Red River Valley (Red Lake) in the 1780s. Canadian exploration of northern Minnesota was retarded by the Aboriginal conflict between Dakota and Ojibwe. While the Ojibwe may have penetrated to Red Lake after the smallpox epidemic of 1780, they had not been in the area very long before they were reported trading at Pembina by Chaboillez in 1797. Although Henry described many of his trappers coming from these Minnesota lake districts, they moved around a lot during the year and as part of the fur trade. Flat Mouth (a.k.a. Aishquebugicoge or Gueule Flatte) was an example of an Ojibwe leader who left the Leech Lake area by about 1790 and traded with Henry at Pembina a decade later. By 1805, however, he was reported back at Leech Lake and was known as the chief of that village (Hickerson, 1956: 299). The same observer, American army officer Zebulon Pike, had described Le Sucre (Wiscoup, Sweet) as the leading chief of the Red Lake group (Hickerson, 1956:302). Pike may not have realized how recently the Ojibwe had "settled" in northern Minnesota, possibly after they made trade contacts at Pembina. Hickerson concluded that during Chaboillez' time at Pembina, "no specified permanent hunting territories had been as yet established by individuals" (Hickerson, 1956:305). Sutherland did not cite this article by Hickerson on the genesis of the Pembina "Chippewa" in her footnotes nor did she critique his conclusions.

In describing the geography of the Pembina region, Sutherland suggested that it was not appealing to the Saulteaux because it lacked "marshy" areas in which to grow wild rice, one of their staple foods (Sutherland: 12). The fact is that there are many marshy areas around Pembina, but wild rice does not grow in marshes. It grows in lakes and that is why the Ojibwe were attracted to the northern Minnesota lake country, such as Leech and Red Lakes, or Rainy Lake and Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario. Hickerson argued that the geographic location of Pembina being on the border of the plains and west of the lacustrine Shield environment meant that the area lacked woodland resources such as wild rice and maple trees which the woodland Ojibwe were used to harvesting (Hickerson, 1959: 271).

There are similar mistakes and suppositions in the period of Alexander Henry the Younger at Pembina. For example, she misunderstood the disposition of NWC traders. Henry clearly was only at the Park River Post for one winter in 1800 - 01. Sutherland assumed he was still there in 1802 while he sent Langlois to Pembina. In fact, in the first winter, he sent Michel Langlois to camp at "Reed River" which is the Roseau River instead of Pembina (Coues: 77). On May 17, 1801 (Coues: 181), Henry ordered Langlois to build him a new post at Pembina while he attended the rendezvous at Grand Portage. Henry returned to Pembina in the late summer of 1801 and spent the next seven winters there. On October 10, 1801, (Coues: 189), Henry visited Langlois who had built at the Hair Hills west of Pembina, an important subpost. How Sutherland confused these details is difficult to understand. In the Coues' reprint published by Ross & Haines in 1956, he listed the date and place at the beginning of each chapter: for example, "Chapter Four: The Pembina River Post: 1801 02". Why Sutherland thought he was still at Park River suggests that she did not read the primary source very carefully.

A bigger problem with this biography of Peguis is that the writer still follows the old pattern of promoting Peguis as "the good Indian" who worked for the HBC and who was a champion of the Scottish Settlers in opposition to the big bad North West Company and their younger dupes, those "rascally" Métis. This stereotype of Aboriginal history can be found in Dempsey, Peers and Schenk who have, like Sutherland, been prisoners of their sources, the Hudson's Bay Company records and these memoirs of Selkirk Settlers. In this scenario, characters like Peguis and the Lagimodieres play their roles of the supporting cast to the winners, the Scottish and English traders and settlers (usually Protestants) (see Swan, 2003a). The French Métis lost because they were Catholic, part-Aboriginal and, well, French!

What is needed is a newer version which incorporates the Ojibwe and Peguis story in the context of the tragic events of the Fur Trade War of 1815-16. For example, more research in the Pembina post journals of the HBCA and the Selkirk Papers in the Provincial Archives of Manitoba would have demonstrated that the freemen (the fathers of the young Bois Brulés) and the young men who supported Cuthbert Grant in fact provided food such as potatoes and meat to the Selkirk Settlers when they arrived through the intercession of HBC Pembina trader Hugh Heney (HBCA: B.160/3/4). Furthermore, Sutherland's own quotes about Miles Macdonell's proclamation taking possession of The Forks for Lord Selkirk's Settlement on September 4, 1812 suggested that there were already "Canadians, Indians and 3 NWC gentlemen" to hear it (Sutherland: 39). In fact, there were already French Canadian freemen, Indians and Métis living at Pembina and The Forks before these settlers arrived, suggesting that the Scots were not the first Red River Settlers, but were more articulate in taking credit for it. (Swan, 2003b: 259).

Perhaps Sutherland made a mistake in relying too heavily on primary sources without reading the background secondary literature which is quite extensive. Perhaps one year of research is not enough for such a complex biography of a famous person. Sutherland did well to track down as many sources on Peguis as she did. However, there is more to the story than one man and one group. The Red River Settlement was a multicultural society riven by racist and colonial ideologies. While this biography might appeal to the general reader with no knowledge of the Red River Valley fur trade and the pre-Confederation history of Manitoba, it will be a disappointment to those who have made a study of this era and this important cast of personalities. Peguis was a man of many talents and his diplomacy paved the way for the development of the Red River Settlement. How he interacted with some of the opponents of the HBC expansionist schemes and British colonial ambitions is less clear.

Notes

Burley, Edith I., 1997, Servants of the Honourable Company: Work, Discipline & Conflicts in the HBC, 1770 - 1879, Toronto: Oxford University Press.
Coues, Elliott, 1897, 1965, New Light on the Early History of the Greater Northwest: The Manuscript Journals of Alexander Henry and David Thompson, 1799 - 1814, Minneapolis: Ross & Haines.
Clarke, Margaret L., 1997, Reconstituting the Fur Trade Community of the Assiniboine Basin, 1793 to 1812, M.A. Thesis, Winnipeg: University of Winnipeg.
Dempsey, Hugh, A. "Peguis", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, v. 9: 626 627.
Hamilton, Scott, 1985, The Social Organization of the Hudson's Bay Company, M.A. Thesis, Edmonton: University of Alberta.
Hickerson, Harold, 1959, "A Journal of Charles Jean Baptiste Chaboillez, 1797 - 98", Part 1: Ethnohistory 6:3: Summer 1959: 265 - 316; and Part 2: Ethnohistory 6:4: Fall, 1959: 363 - 427. Hudson's Bay Company Archives: B.160/a/1-4, Pembina Post Journals. B.235/a/1, Winnipeg Post Journal.
Peers, Laura, 1987, A Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggarman, Chief: Saulteaux in the Red River
Settlement". Papers of the 18th Algonauian Conference, ed. W. Cowan, Ottawa: Carlton University: pp. 151 - 160.
Schenck, Theresa, 1998: Paper presented to the Rupert's Land Colloquium, Winnipeg, 1998, on the Aboriginal participation in the Fur Trade War.
Sutherland, Donna, 2003, Peguis: A Noble Friend, St. Andrews: Chief Peguis Heritage Park.
Swan, Ruth, 2003a: "The Racist Myths of the Selkirk Settlers & Lagimonière - Gaboury Family", paper presented at the Métis in the 21st Century Conference, Indigenous Law Association, Saskatoon, June 18 - 20, 2003.
Swan, Ruth 2003b: "The Crucible: Pembina & the Origins of the Red River Valley Métis", Ph.D. dissertation, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba.
Tanner, John, 1830, 1956, A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner, ed, Edwin James, Minneapolis: Ross & Haines.

Edward Jerome is a descendant of Alexander Henry the Younger, Pembina trader from 1801-08, and his country wife, the daughter of The Buffaloe, one of Henry's Ojibwe hunters. His family has lived in the Red River Valley for almost two hundred years. He is an amateur historian who lives in Hallock, MN, USA. Ruth Swan is an independent scholar with an interest in the Aboriginal History of the Red River Valley. Her doctoral dissertation, "Pembina and the Origins of the Red River Valley Métis" was approved in 2003. She has been a resident of the Red River Valley for 30 years.

Dog Sleds & Pembina

The voyageurs driving the dogs rarely rode on the sleds. On a well packed trail the drivers ran on snowshoes, following the sleds. Sometimes the drivers used tag lines to help control the vehicle and they always brandished a whip which was combined with a healthy dose of strong language to control the team. If no packed trail was available the drivers hiked ahead of their animals, using their snowshoes to pack the trail. Sometimes drivers had to break trail for days at a time. On January 13, 1802 Alexander Henry set out from his Red River post for the Assiniboine, by way of Riviere aux Gratias and upon his return he recorded, “Each of my men had a train of two dogs, with my baggage and provisions, and I a train drawn by three stout dogs. Snow very deep; my men were obliged to beat the road all the way on snowshoes. We were one day going to Riviere aux Gratias; five thence to Portage la Prairie; five thence to Riviere la Souris; two thence to Delorme’s house in the Hair hills ; four to Langlois’ house; and one back to Panbian (Pembina) river. All this distance my men walked hard upon snowshoes.”

If the eighteen days that Henry’s men spent breaking trail were at all typical, they were probably very long days indeed. The dog-sledge traveling day usually began many hours before sunrise and didn’t end until well into the long winter nights. Alexander Henry was no stranger to this routine. His journal entries made while traveling...in 1811 show that on February 4th the party started at 4:30 am, and on February 12th they were on the trail at 3:00. On that day they made camp early, at 3:00 p.m. because the dogs were too exhausted to continue. More often than not the voyageurs stayed on the trail until daylight had long been replaced by the feeble glow of the Northern Lights.

Alexander Henry's Diary - Part I

Pembina River Post (1802)

May:

We pass our time chasing buffalo, for which we have many good horses, and take plenty of sturgeon...An Indian made medicine to ask his Manitou whether a certain sick person would recover. He started his juggling after dark, and sang for a long time, keeping chorus with a rattle. At times he pretended to converse with a spirit, muttering very low; then he interpreted to the bystanders what his Manitou had told him concerning the case - the case and nature of the sickness, and then some crime committed which prevented the cure. Before his conversation with the spirit his juggling machine always appeared in motion, bending to and fro as if shaken by the wind, while he continued to sing with his utmost force, and appeared greatly agitated; when suddenly he ceased and appeared deeply engaged in discourse. This ceremony continued until after midnight, when he at last declared he was in doubt whether the sick person would recover or not.

Sep:

A boy about 10 years of age was putting his gun in order to shoot ducks; his old mother was sitting opposite in the tent, and observed he was giving himself trouble to no purpose, as he could not kill a duck. This was jocular, as she knew he was an excellent little hunter for his age, and he took it as such. Having loaded and primed his gun, he aimed it at the old woman's head, saying, "If I cannot kill a duck I can kill you, if I want to." The gun went off and blew her brains out. The lad's gun fell from his hands; when he recollected himself he declared he had no intention of shooting his mother, and could not account for the discharge. However, the old woman was dead; her brains and hair were sticking to the tent-pole near which she had been sitting. The lad appeared much afflicted, as he was very fond of her.

Oct:

Mr. Langlois and others started for the Hair hills. This caravan demands notice, to show the vast difference it makes in a place where horses are introduced. It is true they are useful animals, but if there were not one in all the North West, we should have less trouble and expense. Our men would neither be so burdened with families, nor so indolent and insolent as they are, and the natives in general would be more honest and industrious. Let an impartial eye look into the affair, to discover whence originates the unbounded extravagance of our meadow gentry, both white and native, and horses will be found one of the principal causes. Let us view the bustle and noise which attended the transportation of five pieces of goods to a place where the houses were built in 1801-02. The men were up at break of day and their horses tackled long before sunrise; but they were not ready to move before ten o'clock, when I had the curiosity to climb on top of my house to watch their motions and observe their order of march.

Antoine Payet, guide and second in command, leads the van, with a cart drawn by two horses and loaded with his private baggage, cassetête¹, bags, kettles, and mashqueminctes [?]⁸. Madame Payet follows the cart with a child a year old on her back, very merry. Charles Bottineu², with two horses and a cart loaded with 1 1/2 packs, his own baggage, and two young children with kettles and other trash hanging on to it. Madame Bottineau with a squalling infant on her back, scolding and tossing it about. Joseph Dubord goes on foot, with his long pipe-stem and calumet in his hand; Madame Dubord follows on foot, carrying his tobacco pouch with a broad bead tail. Antoine Thellier³, with a cart and two horses, loaded with 1 1/2 packs of goods and Dubois' baggage. Antoine La Pointe⁴ with another cart and horses, loaded with two pieces of goods and with baggage belonging to Brisebois, Jasmin, and Pouliot, and a kettle hung on each side. Auguste Brisebois⁵ follows with only his gun on his shoulder and a fresh-lighted pipe in his mouth. Michel Jasmin⁶ goes next, like Brisebois, with gun and pipe puffing out clouds of smoke. Nicolas Pouliot, the greatest smoker in the North West, has nothing but pipe and pouch. Those three fellows, having taken a farewell dram and lighted fresh pipes, go on brisk and merry, playing numerous pranks. Domin Livernois⁷, with a young mare, the property of Mr. Langlois, loaded with weeds for smoking, an old worsted bag (madame's property), some squashes and potatoes, a small keg of fresh water, and two young whelps howling. Next goes Livernois' young horse, drawing a travaille loaded with his baggage and a large worsted mashguemcate [?] belonging to Madame Langlois. Next appears Madame [John] Cameron's mare, kicking, rearing, and snorting, hauling a travaille loaded with a bag of flour, cabbages, turnips, onions, a small keg of water, and a large kettle of broth. Michel Langlois, who is master of the band, now comes on leading a horse that draws a travaille nicely covered with a new painted tent, under which his daughter and Mrs. Cameron lie at full length, very sick; this covering or canopy has a pretty effect in the caravan, and appears at a great distance in the plains. Madame Langlois brings up the rear of the human beings, following the travaille with a slow step and melancholy air, attending to the wants of her daughter, who notwithstanding her sickness, can find no other expressions of gratitude to her parents than by calling them dogs, fools, beasts, etc. The rear guard consists of a long train of 20 dogs, some for sleighs, some for game, and others of no use whatever, except to snarl and destroy meat. The total forms a procession nearly a mile long...

From Early Canadiana Online, Alexander Henry journals

¹ Cassetête is good French for tomahawk, literally something to break a head with, and may be intended here; copy so reads plainly. But F. cassette - casket - was the usual word with the voyageurs for any sort of a box in which they carried small articles, as distinguished from the large packs, sacks, bales, or other "pieces" of which most of their loads consisted. The curious word which follows kettles I cannot make out.

² Name reappearing in MS, and print as Battineau, Battimeau, and Bottureau. Charles is listed as voyageur N.W. Co., Lower Red r., 1802, and we shall find him with Henry to 1808.

³ Plainly so in copy; no other record noted.

⁴ Antoine Lapointe, voyageur N.W. Co., remains with Henry to 1808; he had been about 15 years in this country in Oct., 1818, when he was in Toronto as a witness in the Semple case. Joseph Lapointe is listed voyageur N.W. Co., Fort Dauphin, 1804. Michel Lapointe, listed, Nepigon, 1804.

⁵ Auguste Brisebois appears in print as Angus, evidently by mistaking the abbreviation "Aug." for "Ang." He remains with Henry to 1808. Joseph Brisebois was guide N.W. Co., Upper Re r., 1804. Michel Brisebois, one of the oldest inhabitants of Prairie de Chien, was made a judge by Lewis Cass, May 12th, 1819; died 1839.

⁶ Michel Jasmin, sometimes Jesmin, voyageur N.W. Co.; no record beyond 1804.

⁷ Dominic or Dominique Livernois; no further record.

⁸ "Interesting. I notice that earlier in the same passage, the author also uses the word "mashqueminetes." I don't know any Native American word exactly like "mashguemcate" or "mashqueminetes," but I bet they're supposed to be the Cree/Ojibway word for "bag," usually spelled Muskimoot in English (maskimot in Cree, mashkimod in Ojibway.) It fits in with the rest of the text anyway."

Laura Redish
Native Languages of the Americas

The Stain on the Record

From Early History of North Dakota by Clement Augustus Lounsberry comes the disturbing facts as described below...

"Oh! stay not to recount the tale - 'Twas bloody - and 'tis past, The firmest check might well grow pale To hear it to the last. The God of heaven, who prospers us, Could bid a nation grow. And shield us from the red man's curse Two hundred years ago!" - Grenville Mellen

From the 28th of August, 1801, to the close of the year 1804, the record of the life at Fort Pembina [sic] is a series of complaints, demands, quarrels and casualties, the revolting details of which involve the characters of many brave Indians, who doubtless merit honorable mention, but who appear at best as "troublesome" and many of them as answerable for a long list of crimes, invariably with direct reference to an abnormal state of mind, attributed to over-indulgence on one side and criminal adulteration of the means of it on the other. The record of Alexander Henry, as made up by himself, during five years of the early history of the Red River Valley, is bad enough. Others were working on the same lines. In some of their journals the record is far more shameful than Henry's, and of his Doctor Coues¹ says: 

"The seamy side of the fur trade Henry shows us with a steady hand that we can scarcely follow with unshaken nerves, is simply hell on earth; people with no soul above a beaver skin, fired by King Alcohol in the workshop of Mammon."

Ingenious excuses were framed by the Indians for obtaining the stimulant which the white traders had encouraged them to use and taught them to prize above all things, and in the dealing out of them of the poison, there was often a nefarious liberality, let alone their questionable forms of trade, for which there can be no condemnation too severe. Henry in commenting on the degeneracy of the Indians, said: "The Indians totally neglect their ancient ceremonies, and to what can this degeneracy be ascribed but to their intercourse with us; particularly as they are so unfortunate as to have a continual succession of opposition parties to teach them roguery and destroy both mind and body with that pernicious article, rum! What a different set of people they would be, were there not a drop of liquor in the country! If a murder is committed among the Saulteurs (Chippewa), it is always in a drinking match. We may truly say that liquor is the root of all evil in the Northwest. Great bawling and lamentation went on, and I was troubled most of the night for liquor to wash away grief." The use of intoxicating liquor rouses the passions, among all races of men; it deadens the sensibilities, impairs and frequently destroys the memory. Love in the home of the man who is addicted to its use, his business will fail, his home will be broken, and his parents, his wife, and daughters may expect to go in sorrow to their graves. There is no evil known to man that can or does bring the distress to the human race that follows its unrestrained use. Perhaps it has been, and may be used to some advantage in medicine and mechanic arts, but there is absolutely no compensation that it has given or can give the world, for the ruin it has wrought in its use as a beverage. A noble race that peopled the plains and forests of North America have been nearly destroyed by its use and the white man's greed for gold, and countless thousands, aye, millions of white men have been unfitted for life's duties, not to speak of the murders and suicides, and of the miserable wrecks in the hospitals for the insane and in the penitentiaries and jails. The flagstaff for Fort Pembina, a single oak stick, "seventy-five feet without splicing," was erected on November 28, 1801, and at the raising the men were given "two gallons of high wines, four fathoms of tobacco, and some flour and sugar, to make merry." But it was not alone the aborigines who exceeded the bounds of sobriety, for it is written, that on New Year's day the man of the X.Y. Company and the Hudson's Bay Company came over to Fort Pembina, and the manager treated the company assembled to "two gallons of alcohol, five fathoms of tobacco and some flour and sugar, the neighbors and everybody else of both sexes and all classes losing their senses, and according to the narrator, 'becoming more troublesome than double their number of Indians.'" Good drinking water was scarce on the hunt and in the midst of the winter of 1801-02 (February 28th), Henry returned from hunting almost famished, and declared that "a draught of water was the sweetest beverage he ever drank." Of the Indian when not degenerated by the use of intoxicants it may be said there is no selfishness in him. His anger and his appetite in those days were uncontrollable, but there is no human love stronger than his for home and kindred, and he seldom forgot to recognize "discretion" as "the better part of valor," and for that he has been called cowardly. No matter what the Indian's prospect for success in battle might be, the moment that he realized that his women and children were in danger he would return. Their protection was his first consideration. Aside from that his creed was a life for a life, a scalp for a scalp. If the Indians traveled a thousand miles, enduring privation and dangers that were appalling, it was for scalps to recompense for similar losses. It was not the love of bloodshed, or for the wanton destruction of human life. It was for revenge, none the less sweet because indulged by the untutored tribesmen.

¹ - Dr. Elliott Coues was the appointed surgeon and naturalist for the Northern Boundary Commission...

Early Multiculturalism

I recently posted about a photograph that featured what appeared to be a black American in a boat during the 1897 flood; I also hinted at the identity of the first non-native child born in St. Vincent/Pembina.

Although unusual, I have learned that it was not unprecedented for our area to have had some non-native minority citizens in the 19th century and even before. Some say they were here well before the white man. It shouldn't surprise anyone - the world has always been prone to multiculturalism when there are places to explore, money to be made, and opportunities to be had. And despite what you may have been taught, it not only isn't always the white man who breaks the barriers, but a person of color...

"Childbirth was one of the greatest causes of anxiety to women on the frontier. Emotional problems resulting from births appeared to be every bit as serious as the physical. Medical science was crude and doctors were lacking, so women had to suffer. The first non-Indian child born in what is now North Dakota arrived on March 12, 1802 [some say March 14, 1802], in the Alexander Henry trading post at Pembina. She was the daughter of Pierre Bonga and his wife, who were both Negroes. The first child of two white parents in the Red River Valley was born on December 29, 1807, at the mouth of the Pembina River...The second child born of white parents arrived on January 6, 1808, on the open prairie a few miles from Pembina with only a wigwam for shelter. This girl, daughter of Pierre Lagimoniere, a trapper and fur trader, grew up to become the mother of Louis Riel...Marie Anne Lagimoniere had her second child under no less trying conditions. While traveling with her husband across the prairie on horseback in search of game, with their three-year-old daughter strapped in a moos bag on one side of her saddle and provisions in the packet on the other, Marie's trained pony spotted some buffalo and gave chase. During the chase Marie Anne was unable to control the horse and just before she was about to fall, her husband managed to overtake them and stop the horse. Marie Anne dismounted and shortly after gave birth to a son..." - From Challenge of the Prairie, Chapter XVI Heal Thyself: Childbirth, by Hiram M. Dache

If you follow some of the links above, they repeat that Pierre Bonga had "four sons", but there are sources that say he left "many" offspring. I don't find it strange a daughter isn't mentioned, since often during that period sons were considered of greater value. But then I found this reference which does mention a daughter, however one born earlier than the date above, and in a different location. Alas, history is not always an exact science, and when strong evidence does not exist (yet), one must either take things on faith, or with a grain a salt.

In this case, however, I will side with the reference to a daughter born in Pembina. Why? Because it was stated by a very reliable source - Alexander Henry, in his journals.

Park Map Reveals Parts of Old Pembina

The map above is from a booklet called Pembina: North Dakota's Oldest Settlement. Its contents are a collection of writings from some of the oldest residents of the town over many years.

Take, for instance, this map. It reveals some very interesting facts about Pembina's past...

NOTE: I advise you to click on the image above to get the larger view

In middle of the upper portion, near the top of the image, you will see on the north side of the east end of Rolette Street, near the river, a notation of 'Site of Old Fort Pembina'. Indeed, one of the versions of the fort was there. Just to the east and slightly south of that site, directly at the end of Rolette, you'll see the site of what was once known as Steamboat Landing. The first ferry took people back and forth between Pembina and St. Vincent at this site, as well as it being the embarkation/disembarkation point for travellers going by steamboat at one time, thus the name.

Upstream (south) there is another ferry crossing of later date, that meets up with the Pembina side of an old trail once used as a main road into Pembina from St. Vincent.

Inbetween, just south of Rolette Street on the east end, the map indicates where a trading post built by Alexander Henry, Jr. (aka Alexander Henry the Younger) once stood. As I recall, that area has grown over with trees, but I might be mistaken. Such is the case with the soldiers monument in the park, once out in the open, now shaded in trees.

Anyone reading this blog will recall reading about the Ferry, and Steamboat Landing, from various posts on this blog, including the ongoing seralization of Charles Walker's Sheriff Charley Brown. It is indeed gratifying to see documentation of these very real places that existed in our past!

WPA Tours of 1938: North Dakota

From the NDSU Center for Heritage Renewal's project, Highways and Trails of the WPA...



Tour 1
(Winnipeg, Man., Can.) – Pembina – Grand Forks – Fargo – Wahpeton – (Watertown, S. Dak.). US 81. Canadian boundary to South Dakota Line, 256.5 m.

N. P. Ry. parallels route between Canadian border and Joliette; G.N. Ry. between Hamilton and Fargo; Milwaukee R. R. between Fargo and South Dakota Line. Winnipeg-Fargo route of Northwest Airlines parallels route between Canadian border and Fargo. Graveled roadbed except about 31 m. bituminous-surfaced. Accommodations of all types in principal towns.

US 81 crosses North Dakota along its eastern boundary from the Canadian to the South Dakota border, and passes through the rich low valley of the Red River of the North, a wide level plain that was once the bed of the great prehistoric Lake Agassiz. The route parallels the Red River to Wahpeton, and the Bois de Sioux River between that city and the South Dakota Line. Constantly in sight to the left of the road are the heavily wooded river banks, but except for crossing several timbered tributaries the route runs through almost unbelievably flat green fields, broken here and there by an occasional farmstead.

During the early settlement of this region the Red River provided transportation into the newly opened Northwest, and beside its course slow-moving trains of creaking oxcarts preceded the steamboat into the new land. It was in the Red River Valley that the first white settlements in the State were made. Here in the last quarter of the nineteenth century flourished the bonanza farms--those huge land tracts entirely devoted to the growing of wheat that earned for this valley the title of "the bread basket of the world." Today the Red River Valley produces many other crops—potatoes, sugar beets, alfalfa—in addition to wheat. Its natural endowments of rich soil and good rainfall combine with the man-made facilities of transportation to constitute the most prosperous section of North Dakota.

US 81 crosses the Canadian border 64.5 m. S. of Winnipeg, Can.

PEMBINA (Chippewa, for highbush cranberry), 3 m. (792 alt., 551 pop.), named for the berries that lend their flaming color to the nearby woods in autumn, is the cradle of North Dakota white settlement. Here, at the confluence of the Red and Pembina Rivers, the earliest trading posts and the first white colony in the State were established. Charles Chaboillez, representing the North West Co., built the first fur post on North Dakota soil on the south bank of the Pembina River within the present site of Pembina in 1797-98. Rudely constructed and of short duration, it had already disappeared when Alexander Henry, Jr., also of the North West Co., came up the Red River in 1800. The following year he built a post on the north side of the Pembina, and in the same year both the XY and the Hudson's Bay Co. opened posts at the mouth of the river. The three competing companies, with their free rum and unscrupulous trading, brought about a lawless social condition in the new settlement. Drinking bouts and brawls were continuous as the Indians were plied with liquor by the conscienceless traders, who excused their conduct on grounds of competition.

It was during this time that the first child of other than Indian blood was born on North Dakota soil. The child was not white, but Negro, the daughter of Pierre Bonga, Henry's personal servant. The first white child in the State was born at Henry's post in 1807, the illegitimate son of the "Orkney Lad", a woman who had worked at the post for several years in the guise of a man. Her imposture was not generally known until the birth of her child, after which a collection was taken up and she and the child were sent back to her home in the Orkney Islands.¹

During the middle of the nineteenth century Pembina was the rendezvous for white and metis hunters, and the town was the starting point for the great Pembina buffalo hunts (see Side Tour 5A).

...Charles Cavalier, one of the most prominent settlers of the State [resident of Pembina, and what would become North Dakota], in the 1860s while making a trip with a party from Pembina..., saw a herd of buffalo like a black cloud on the horizon. The party immediately arranged their carts in a semicircle and prepared for an onslaught. The bison came on with a rumble like thunder, the rumble became a roar, and the earth trembled; but when they reached the carts the heard parted and swerved on either side, upsetting only the outside row of the improvised stockade. Not until the second day could the journey be resumed, and even then there were buffalo in sight for another day. The herd was believed to number two or three million, and in its wake was an area, several miles in width, entirely devoid of vegetation.

The fur trade brought some white settlers to this area, but it was not until 1812 that systematic colonization was attempted. In that year William Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, brought a group of dispossessed Scottish peasants to the Red River Valley to farm under an agreement with the Hudson's Bay Co. Untrained for the rigors of frontier life, and persecuted by the fur traders of the rival North West Co. who did not want settlers in their lucrative area, many of the Selkirk colonists moved to Canada in 1818 after establishment of the international boundary defined Pembina as United States soil. The next 30 years saw a slow influx of settlers into the Red River Valley and by 1851 Pembina had become a fairly important river port. In that year Norman Kittson, a fur trader, was named postmaster, the first in North Dakota; and Charles Cavalier, for whom the town and county of Cavalier were later named (see Tour 5), was appointed collector of customs at Pembina. Cavalier became postmaster in 1852, and, as under his influence newcomers arrived to farm, the fur trade declined and there developed the first permanent agricultural community in the State.

Pembina appears from a distance more like a grove of trees than a town. Most of its buildings are old, reflecting the rococo architecture of an earlier day.

On the Red River at the eastern end of Rolette St. is MASONIC PARK, where a marker commemorates the site of the first Masonic lodge in the State, organized at Pembina in 1863. Each year, both on July 1, which is Dominion Day (the Canadian holiday similar to the U.S. Independence Day) and on July 4, the flag of the United States and the Canadian Union Jack fly together from the park flagpole, a practice illustrating the neighborliness of the border States and Provinces. The Canadian flag is a gift of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Manitoba.

The highway crosses the Pembina River, which in dry seasons is likely to appear more like mud than water. Left on the highway is PEMBINA STATE PARK (good water, firewood, kitchens, and tables), which includes the site of the Chaboillez trading post.

A bridge over the Red River connects Pembina with St. Vincent, Minn., situated on US 59 (see Minn. Tour 17).

At 4 m. is the PEMBINA AIRPORT (R), airport of entry operated by the Northwest Airlines. It is on part of the former military reservation of Fort Pembina, established in 1870. The reservation was turned over to the U. S. Department of the Interior in 1895 and sold at public auction. The fort was situated a mile and a half S. of the city of Pembina on the Red River ...

Isobel Gunn

¹ - UPDATE January 29, 2016:  Since I posted this in 2007, I have found out a few more details about the "Orkney Lad" named John Fubbister.  Her name was actually Isobel Gunn, and while her story began with courage and inspiration (not to mention hard work), it ended with more hard work, but sadly. Another recent article shares even more information, along with the sources they came from. Hudson's Bay Company itself has a history write-up about Isobel Fubbister "Gunn", aka John Fubbister, on their website with additional parts of the story.  However, another version claims that Isobel and the father of her son, John Scarth, were not so unknown to one another as others have contended.

Early Days: Tenacity Wins in the End

If it wasn't the weather, it was disease. If it wasn't disease, it was disagreements with the locals. In the early days of the European and Eastern American settlement attempts in our area, there was no shortage of problems...

During the first years of settlement the nearest market was St. Vincent, Minnesota. This place is situated opposite Pembina on the east bank of the Red river, about fifty-five miles from Gardar. To haul their wheat this distance, over roads that were bad, was not only a slow but a dangerous process; robberies not infrequently took place.

From Collection of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, Vol. I, for year ending June 30, 1906.

In 1793, the North West Company’s Peter Grant built the first Ojibwa-Red River trading post below the forty-ninth parallel, locating it opposite the mouth of the Pembina River at the site of today’s St. Vincent, Minnesota. Within a few years, Grant fled to Canada to escape Lakota hostility. In 1797, Nor’Wester Charles Jean Baptist Chaboillez established Fort Paubna immediately below the mouth of the Pembina River, then deserted it two years later because of the Lakota. In the fall of 1800, Alexander Henry the Younger became the latest North West Company trader to attempt maintaining a presence among the Ojibwas. The Park River Post – his first fort in the region – lasted from September 1800 until spring 1801, when it was replaced by a new fort at the mouth of the Pembina River. Although he held on longer than his predecessors, in the end Henry too abandoned the effort because of Lakota attacks.

From Rotting Face: Smallpox and the American Indian, Smallpox and the Fur Trade After the Revolution, by R. G. Robertson

Cemetery Project

I received a most welcome - and exciting - email two days ago, but was only able to post about it now since I've been out-of-town (yes, even I do get away from the computer once and awhile...) The email came from Marcy Johnson, and she had this to tell me...

I have been meaning to contact you ever since I found your web site. I am Marcy Dahl Johnson from Hallock and have been working with Perm Diamond on the Humboldt book. She asked me to do cemetery indexes for St. Vincent, Joe River and Humboldt/Clow Cemeteries. I have visited your web site several times and LOVE it! My interest is always the history.

I grew up in Marshall County (Eagle Point Township) and I enjoy genealogy. I have a data base with 45,600 names and information for Kittson and Marshall counties. I have been entering information in the data base for 6 years and it is from old newspapers, Kittson County atlas, maps, and history books from the area. This data base will be at the museum in Lake Bronson soon. They are in the process of setting up a new computer with Family Tree Maker software.

I also volunteered with the Minnesota Genealogical Society a few years ago and helped them create a data base of all cemeteries and private burials in Kittson and Marshall Counties. I visited all the cemeteries in both counties and gathered the following info which is now online:

Name; Alternate names; Cemetery Type (church, community, private); Oldest Burial; Active or Inactive; Location (City, Township, Street Address, County, State, Zip); Latitude; Longitude (I used a hand held GSP to determine latitude and longitude); Township Number; Range; Section Number; Sexton – Name, e-mail, Street Address, State, Zip, Phone; Driving Directions; Cemetery Notes; Location of any transcriptions of the cemeteries.

It would be great to put the cemetery indexes online after the Humboldt reunion so people can contact me with corrections or additions.

Someday I hope to complete cemetery indexes for all the cemeteries in Kittson County. I like to think big! I am now working on Teien Covenant, Saron Lutheran, Skjeberg Lutheran, and Eidsvold in Halma. I just finished Red River Lutheran for their 125th Anniversary last summer.

I could go on and on! I will send you a sample of St. Vincent. It is too huge (16 pages) to send it all as I just have dial-up at home. I also sent the page I did on the additional burials in St. Vincent Township. Since I finished the information on the cemeteries that went in the book, I have received copies of the early records covering the years 1881 to 1915 for Christ Episcopal Church from the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota. I wish I would have had them before all the information went in the book. There is several additions to the Joe River and St. Vincent Cemeteries that we never had and the additions were not in the early cemetery record books. I am giving copies of the early records to the museum. They would be a neat thing to put on your web site as it also lists all the baptisms for the area for those years.

When completing this research I found out that there was a cemetery north of the Christ Episcopal Church in St. Vincent. I will have to contact the MN Genealogical Society and add that info to what is already online. When I received the early records from the Episcopal Diocese there is two burials listed as being in the church yard. We did mention this early cemetery in the Humboldt book but the names of the two burials in the church yard are not in the Humboldt book.

St. Vincent Cemetery
A list of burials with family information

The St. Vincent cemetery is located in St. Vincent Township, NE1/4 SW1/4 of section 2, Kittson County, MN. It was established in 1887. To locate the cemetery on the north side of St. Vincent (from the intersection of State Hwy 171 and Cty 35) - go south on Cty 35 for .2 miles - cemetery is on your left.

Information was obtained from Kittson County Historical Society, township and cemetery records, Kittson County history books, Red River Valley Web Site by Dennis L. Matthews, the online MN and ND birth and death index, Social Security death index, census records, obituaries and family members. On occasion the dates in the courthouse records are different then the dates on the gravestones. We have used the dates from the birth and death records at the Kittson County courthouse if available. Many of the French, English, Swedish, Norwegian, etc. names were spelled or pronounced differently in the US. If there is more then one spelling of a name, the old spelling was used first, followed by a / and the current spelling.

This cemetery list will be available at the Kittson County Museum and will be updated yearly. Contact the Kittson County Museum at history@wiktel.com or contact Marcy Johnson at marneil@wiktel.com to add your additions or corrections. No responsibility is taken for the accuracy of the information.

baby Ahles 7 Oct 1949 - 7 Oct 1949; dau. of Allen and Alice Swenson Ahles; Lot 35-A

Christie McDonald Ahles 25 May 1894 - 13 April 1967; wife of William 'Bill' George Ahles; dau. of John and Katherine McDonald; mother of Katherine (Fred) Harper, Allen (Alice Swenson); Lot 5-E

Phillip 'Phil' Christoph Ahles 31 Jan 1882 - 19 Oct 1967; 1^st hus. of Marie A. Seed; son of John and Louisa Younker Ahles; brother of William; Lot 69-A

Andrew E. Anderson Feb 1848 - 1901; hus. of Annie Donnelly; son of ?; father of John Harris, Mabel M.; Lot 65-D

Annie Donnelly Anderson Oct 1857 - 9 Jan 1937; wife of Andrew E. Anderson; dau. of ? Donnelly; mother of John Harris, Mabel M.; Lot 65-D

John Harris Anderson 8 July 1878 - 9 Sept 1949; son of Andrew E. and Annie Donnelly Anderson; Lot 65-D

Ruth Russel Cowan Armstrong 13 Aug 1913 - 25 Oct 1929; dau. of Fred and Margaret 'Maggie' Cowan Armstrong; Lot 46-D

Sarah Sophia Russell Armstrong 29 Aug 1861 - 19 June 1939; wife of William J. Armstrong; dau. of ? and Rebecca Russell; mother of Ann, Margaret (Joseph) Lang, Lillian, Albert, Edna, Stella, Fred (Margaret 'Maggie' Cowan), James, Olive (John Samuel) Easter; Lot 56-D

William J. Armstrong 31 Aug 1858 - 17 Nov 1900; hus. of Sarah Sophia Russell; son of James and Ann Armstrong; father of Ann, Margaret (Joseph) Lang, Lillian, Albert, Edna, Stella, Fred (Margaret 'Maggie' Cowan), James, Olive (John Samuel) Easter; Lot 56-D

Barbara Ash 2 Jan 1882 - 17 Feb 1970; dau.of George and Solomey Ash; Lot 33-A

Carrie Amanda Cederholm Ash 15 Dec 1872 - 24 Aug 1941; wife of William Ash; dau. of Samuel J. and Bengta 'Betsy' L. Cederholm ; mother of William S. (Vera Easter), Carl (Marjorie Sylvester), Laurence Edward, Marguerite (Alexander) Shaw, Robert (Dorothy Gardiner), Ida (Edwin 'George') Sylvester; Lot 32 A

Esther Alida Johnson Ash 5 Jan 1879 - 27 Aug 1946; wife of Thomas Ash; dau. of Adolph Fredrick and Anna Mary 'Marie' Miller Johnson; mother of Russell (Florence Johnson), Muriel (Clifford) Clow, Nora (Albert) Clow, Marjorie (David) Irvine, Roy (Marion Peto); Lot 44-A

George Ash Jr. 11 Aug 1870 - 28 Dec 1923; hus. of Nellie Sugden; son of George and Salomey Dunneral Ash; father of George J., Florence, David, Woodrow; Lot 11-A

George Ash Sr. 17 Nov 1843 - 5 Jan 1914; hus. of Salomey Dunneral; son of George and Barbara Ash/Esch; father of William (Carrie Cederholm), George Jr. (Nellie Sudgen), John (Mabel Horne), Thomas (Esther Johnson), Marguerite 'Mattie' (John) Horgan, Catherine (Thomas) Seed, Barbara, Lena (John 'Jack') Webster, Josepine (George) Webster; Lot 33-A

Joan Ash 12 Dec 1946 - 12 Dec 1946; dau. of Roy Frederick and Marion Alice Peto Ash; Lot 23-A

Jean Ash 12 Dec 1946 - 12 Dec 1946; dau. of Roy Frederick and Marion Alice Peto Ash; Lot 23-A

Laurence Edward Ash 18 Aug 1904 - 8 Oct 1921; son of William and Carrie Amanda Cederholm Ash; Lot 22-A

Salomey Donneral Ash 31 May 1849 - 5 Feb 1920; wife of George Ash Sr.; dau. of Nicholas and Margaret Donneral; mother of William (Carrie Cederholm), George Jr. (Nellie Sudgen), John (Mabel Horne), Thomas (Esther Johnson), Marguerite 'Mattie' (John) Horgan, Catherine (Thomas) Seed, Barbara, Lena (John 'Jack') Webster, Josephine (George) Webster; Lot 33-A

Thomas Ash 5 Jan 1874 - 2 Nov 1929; hus. of Esther Alida Johnson; son of George and Salomey Dunneral Ash; father of Russell (Florence Johnson), Muriel (Clifford) Clow, Nora (Albert) Clow, Marjorie (David) Irvine, Roy (Marion Peto); Lot 44-A

Vera Blanche Easter Ash 18 June 1900 - 25 Jan 1988; wife of William Samuel Ash; dau. of William H. and Hilda Monroe Easter; mother of William Herman (Audrey Joyner), Leo (Ann Botko), Harold (Barbara Saburn); Lot 32-B

William Ash 15 Jan 1869 - 24 Jan 1950; hus. of Carrie Amanda Cederholm; son of George and Salomey Dunneral Ash; father of William Samuel (Vera Easter), Carl (Marjorie Sylvester), Laurence Edward, Marguerite (Alexander) Shaw, Robert (Dorothy Gardiner), Ida (Edwin 'George') Sylvester; Lot 32-A

William Herman Ash 4 Jan 1930 - 6 Dec 1998; US ARMY; hus. of Audrey Marilyn Joyner; son of William S. and Vera Blanche Easter Ash; father of William G., Steven (Joy Johnson), Darryl (Candy Quarve), Mark (Kim Hatton); Lot 21-E

William Samuel Ash 12 Dec 1897 - 19 May 1981; hus. of Vera Blanche Easter; son of William and Carrie Amanda Cederholm Ash; father of William Herman (Audrey Joyner), Leo (Ann Botko), Harold (Barbara Saburn); Lot 32-A

Francis 'Bud' B. Bakken 13 June 1929 - 01 October 1982; US ARMY KOREA; hus. of Violet 'Vi' Johnson; son of Otto and Helen Juberg Bakken; father of Rodney (Shannon Seng Stenmark), Richard (Becky Gregorie Thorlacius), Rock (Deloros 'Dee Dee' Giffen), Robin (Chris) Brown, Randy, Lori (Tim) Gustafson; Lot 17-F

Blanche Marie Balderston 12 July 1909 - 29 Aug 1919; dau. of William 'Ernest' and Florence Marie Fitzgerald Balderston; Lot 59 D

Jane Balderston June 1864 - 19 Jan 1941; 2^nd wife of William Charles Balderston- dau. of ?; Lot 59-D

Mable Jane Balderston 23 April 1900 - 22 Aug 1900; dau. of William 'Ernest' and Florence Marie Fitzgerald Balderston; 4 months old; Lot 59-D

William Charles Balderston 14 June 1849 - 3 Jan 1919; hus. of Matilda Ann Hinton and Jane ?; parents unknown; father of Artemas Sandford (Mary Hannah Sylvester), William Ernest (Florance Fitzgerald), Benjamin Foster (Lillie Fitzpatrick); Lot 59 D

Annie Rose Ross Ball Sept 1874 - 6 July 1901; wife of Guy H. Ball; dau. of Wellington and Mary Graham Ross; mother of Orma, Almira; Lot 59-D

Guy H. Ball 9 July 1873 - 5 Nov 1931; hus. of Annie Rose Ross; son of John and Eliza Orr Ball; father of Orma, Almira; Lot 57-D

Marie/Mary Berthelet/Bartlette 1861 - June 1939; dau. of Pierre and Louise Bracer/Brayeau
Berthelet/Bartlette; Lot 37-C

Arlo Orsen Bergh 6 June 1918 - 21 Sept 2002; hus. of Dorothy Hazel Goldstrand; son of John O. and Olga Hoven Bergh; father of Arlene (Ronald) Curtis, baby girl, John (Deborah Gatheridge and Sharon ?), Orlin (Sherry ?), Loann (Pat) Misson; Lot 21-B

Dorothy Hazel Goldstrand Bergh 24 Oct 1921 - 7 Aug 2002; wife of Arlo Orsen Bergh; dau. of Ambrose and Mary Coffield Goldstrand; mother of Arlene (Ronald) Curtis, baby girl, John (Deborah Gatheridge and Sharon ?), Orlin (Sherry ?), Loann (Pat) Misson; Lot 21-B

Catherine Donneral Bernath 24 June 1842 - 16 July 1914; wife of George Bernath Sr.; dau. of Nicholas and Margaret Catherine Donneral; mother of John (Sarah Nolte and Jessie A. Doig), Salome (John 'Jack') Adams, Margaret (James A.) Thompson, George Jr. (Ellen Raynard), Julie Ann (Charles Henry) Hart, Albertina (Charles) Oakes, Daniel T., Barbara Ellen (James) Brown, Mary (Arthur) Hart, Jacob 'J.J.' (Nellie Elizabeth Brown); Lot 31-A

NOTE from author: deleted about 12 pages here for example purposes

Florence Ryan Sherman 31 Dec 1889 - 13 Sept 1970; wife of Carl Sherman; dau. of Joseph 'Joe' Richard and Sarah Jenkins Ryan; mother of Florence Sarah; Lot ?

Florence Sarah Charlotte Sherman 19 Nov 1911 - 20 Nov 1911; dau. of Carl and Florence Ryan Sherman; Lot 18-D

Gail S. Short 1 Aug 1895 - 23 March 1958; 1^st hus. of Liza A. Stranger; son of James William and
Caroline Foster Springer Short; father of Jeanne; Lot 50-C

Gordon Leo Short 14 March 1919 - 8 Aug 2001; hus. of Harriet Fitzpatrick; son of Homer Lyle and Bertha 'Bergit' Vera Sannes Short; father of Sharon (Bill) Hannaford, Betty (Bill) Thorsvig, Patricia 'Trish' (Thomas) Lewis; Lot 16-F

baby boy Skjold 30 Dec 1943 - 30 Dec 1943; son of John and Hazel Bernice Gradwell Skjold; Lot 37-A

baby girl Smidt June 1898 - 11 Aug 1898; dau. of Henry Smidt

Margaret Sorem 1872 - Sept 1943; wife of ? Sorem; Lot ?

Eva Sorgenfay 1905 - 23 July 1941; wife of Fred Sorgenfay; Lot 67-A

Evelyn 'Ellen' Mary Cridland Stacy 7 Dec 1875 - 9 April 1904; wife of James. W. Stacey; d. of ? Cridland; Lot 36-D

Percival 'Percy' Bernard Stacy 16 Sept 1901 - 29 June 1917; son of James W. and Evelyn Mary Cridland Stacey; Lot 36-D

Stanley Edward Stacy 22 July 1903 - 23 June 1904; son of James W. and Evelin Mary Cridland Stacey; Lot 36-D

Lottie May Matthew Stoltz 1875 - May 1938; wife of Ralph Henry Stoltz; dau. of Lousiea Matthew; mother of Wilfred Ralph; Lot 65 A

Ralph Henry Stoltz 1885 - Nov 1962; hus. of Lottie M. Matthew; son of ?; father of Wilfred Ralph; Lot 65-A

baby boy Stranger 29 Dec 1906 - 31 Dec 1906; son of Joseph and Della LaRoque Stranger; Lot 2-C

Charles Clarence Stranger 1908 - 14 Nov 1941; son of Joseph 'Joe' and Delma 'Della' LaRoque Stranger; Lot 49-C

Delma 'Della' LaRoque Stranger 10 Dec 1884 - 20 July 1979; wife of Joseph 'Joe' Stranger; dau. of Charles Alexander and Julia LaDouceur LaRoque; mother of Eliza 'Liza' (Gail) Short and (Fred) Kupcho, Christine (?) Schaefer, Charles Clarence, Fred J.; Lot 49-C

Eliza B. Stranger ? - 20 Jan 1901; is she the dau. of Joseph 'Joe' and Delma 'Della' LaRoque Stranger?; Lot ?

Frank Stranger 24 March 1913 - 25 March 1913; son of Joseph and Della LaRoque Stranger; Lot 1-C

James Stranger 1840 - 30 Nov 1921; is he the hus. of Rose and the father of Joseph, Peter Stranger?; Lot 1-C

Joseph 'Joe' Stranger 17 May 1877 - 20 Dec 1950; hus. of Delma 'Della' LaRoque; son of ?; father of Eliza 'Liza' (Gail) Short and (Fred) Kupcho, Christine (?) Schaefer, Charles Clarence, Fred J.; Lot 2-C

Peter Stranger 1877 - 8 March 1902; Lot 2-C

Rose Stranger 1857 - 28 Feb 1931; Lot 2-C

Dorothy E. Easter Surface 1 Oct 1925 - 7 Oct 2004; wife of Wilmer E. Surface; dau. of William Garfield and Florence Muriel Clinton Easter; mother of Charles (Danna Gayer), Peggy (Willis) Roberts, Pamela (Duane) Giffen; Lot 6-B

Wilmer E. Surface 6 May 1920 - 30 Jan 1998; TEC 5 US ARMY WW II; hus. of Dorothy Easter; son of ?; father of Charles (Danna Gayer), Peggy (Willis) Roberts, Pamela (Duane) Giffen; Lot 6-B

Edwin 'George' Sylvester 3 Jan 1909 - 24 March 1994; hus. of Ida Dorothy Ash; son of Richard T. and Hannah E. Thomson Sylvester; father of Jean, James, Jeffrey; Lot 11-F

Ida Dorothy Ash Sylvester 16 Feb 1915 - 9 May 1968; wife of Edwin 'Geroge' Sylvester; dau. of William and Carrie Amanda Cederholm Ash; mother of Jean, James, Jeffrey; Lot 11-F

baby Symington 1966 - 1966; child of William and Betty Symington; Lot 6-F

baby boy Symington 21 Oct 1967 - 21 Oct 1967; son of William and Betty Symington; Lot 6-F

Donna Belle Jensen Symington 27 May 1924 - 12 Feb 1960; 1st wife of Garth Hughes Symington; dau. of Carl H. Jensen; mother of Garth Jr., Joan Lee, Linda, Tom, Edward; Lot 3-F

Garth Hughes Symington 2 Sept 1919 - 6 Jan 1978; hus. of Donna Belle Jensen and Hazel Isabel Langrell; son of Lyle and Ida Hughes Symington; father of Garth Jr., Joan Lee, Linda, Tom, Edward, Elaine, Mark, Ruth Ann, Esther; Lot 3-F

Joan Lee Symington 3 June 1947 - 12 Dec 1949; dau. of Garth Hughes and Donna Belle Jensen Symington; Lot 3-F

Herb Synder May 1887 - Aug 1900; Lot 62-D

baby girl Thedorf 23 Oct 1904 - 23 Oct 1904; dau. of William and Dorothy Matilda Cridland Thedorf; Lot 63-D

Christopher 'Chris' Thedorf 1843 - 9 Feb 1934; hus. of Sophia Kinse; son of ?; father of William (Dorothy Cridland), Mary, Mathilda, Christopher; Lot 63-D

Dorothy Matilda Cridland Thedorf 1883 - Sept 1965; wife of William Thedorf; dau. of William and Elizabeth Ann Cridland; mother of Doris May, baby girl, Blanch, baby boy, Howard Ross, Marjorie Ann, Flodie Sophia; Lot 63-D

Mathilda Thedorf Sept 1880 - 10 May 1897; dau. of Christopher and Sophie Kinse Thedorf; Lot 63-D

Sophie Kinse Thedorf 1846 - 9 Sept 1931; wife of Christopher 'Christ' Theodorf; dau. of ? Kinse; mother of William (Dorothy Cridland), Mary E., Mathilda, Christopher; Lot 63/64-D

William Thedorf 1873 - 25 Oct 1922; hus. of Dorothy Matilda Cridland; son of ?; father of Doris May, baby girl, Blanch, baby boy, Howard Ross, Marjorie Ann, Flodie Sophia; Lot 63-D

James 'Jimmy' Erick Towner 23 April 1944 - 11 July 1947; son of William and Cecelia Gosselin/Gooselaw Towner; Lot ?

Gordon Charles Turner 14 July 1922 - 3 June 1998; US NAVY WW II; hus. of Elva Ruth Fraley; son of Robert 'Jack' J. and Anne Kothe Turner; father of Jerry, John, Linda; Lot 5-B

Leslie James Turner 25 Nov 1943 - 9 Jan 1944 ; son of Lester John and Marie Anne Parenteau Turner; Lot 62-A

Lester John Turner 24 Aug 1914 - 13 April 1966; hus. of Marie Anne Parenteau - son of Robert 'Jack' J. and Anne Kothe Turner - father of Vaughn, Larry, Robert, Leslie James, Richard, Faye Ann, Judith, Diane Marie, twin girls who died at birth; Lot 62-A

Robert 'Dale' Turner 8 June 1927 - 25 July 1987; PFC US ARMY KOREA; son of Robert 'Jack' J. and Anne Kothe Turner; Lot 5-B

Robert Stanley Turner Aug 1899 - 8 Oct 1899; son of ?

Franklin 'Frank' Thomas Twamley 3 March 1888 - 26 Aug 1957; hus. of Mary Ellen Munro; son of Peter and Mary E. Gillas Twamley; father of Eileen (Harold) Rolsch, Doreen (Howard) Hughes, Mary Ellen (Elmer) Umland, Ivan Peter (Avis Hennisson); Lot 33-D

Ivan Peter Twamley 16 March 1920 - 15 Oct 1958; MN TECH US ARMY WW II; hus. of Avis Marie Hennisson; son of Franklin 'Frank' Thomas and Mary Ellen Munro Twamley; father of David; Lot 2-E

Mary Ellen Munro Twamley 28 Feb 1887 - 31 July 1958; wife of Franklin 'Frank' Thomas Twamley; dau. of Peter and Lucetta Clow Munro; mother of Eileen (Harold) Rolsch, Doreen (Howard) Hughes, Mary Ellen (Elmer) Umland, Ivan Peter (Avis Hennisson); Lot 33 D

Faith Peterson Waldrop 17 Oct 1939 - 18 Nov 1996; wife of Garnet Waldrop; dau. of Carl B. II and Geneva Howe Peterson; mother of Jennifer (Brian) Hanson, Daniel, Gabrielle (Rico) Boursaw; Lot 32 C

Garnet Waldrop 20 May 1929 - 1 March 1993; hus. of Faith Pederson; son of Ernest and Melissa Woods Waldrop; father of Jennifer (Brian) Hanson, Daniel, Gabrielle (Rico) Boursaw; Lot 32 C

Henrietta Franks Walker 21 April 1863 - 21 Jan 1938; wife of James Walker; d. of unknown Franks; mother of Milton, Elva, Beatrice, Vivian; Lot 27-A

James Walker June 1857 - 11 Oct 1933; hus. of Henrietta Franks; son of ?; father of Milton, Elva, Beatrice, Vivian; Lot 27-A

unknown Walker 1862 - Jan 1938; wife of Kenneth Frank Walker; Lot 27-A

Vivian M. Walker 31 March 1887 - 14 July 1969; son of James and Henrietta Franks Walker; Lot 27-A

Calvin John Webster 6 March 1919 - 25 Dec 1962; MN PVT CO K 4 INFANTRY WW II; son of John 'Jack' and Lena Ash Webster; Lot 32-A

Catherine Webster 13 Jan 1874 - 29 Feb 1960; wife of James Webster; dau. of Gilbert McDougall; Lot 54-A

Lena Ash Webster 7 Dec 1887 - 8 May 1974; wife of John 'Jack' Webster; dau. of George and Salomey Dunneral Ash; mother of Iona (Alfred) Schultz, Vernon 'Roy' (?), Calvin John; Lot 21-A

James Webster 7 Oct 1855 - 13 March 1918; hus. of Catherine; son of ?; Lot 54-A

Jean Yvonne Anderson Webster 11 July 1933 - 2 Feb 2002; wife of Rodney Walter Webster; dau. of Harry and Viola Allen Anderson; mother of Gary, Julie, Lori (Mark) Ellison; Lot 20-E

John 'Jack' Webster 15 June 1882 - 20 Dec 1946; hus. of Lena Ash; son of ?; father of Iona (Alfred) Schultz, Vernon 'Roy' (?), Calvin John; Lot 21-A

Peter Young Webster 15 Dec1885 - June 1966; hus. of Mabel ?; Lot 43-A

Vernon 'Roy' Webster 2 July 1928 - 19 Feb 2001; hus. of Vera Greer; son of John 'Jack' and Lena Ash Webster; father of Rob (Carolyn) Webster Guyot, Scott Webster Guyot; Lot 21-A

Bessie Jane McIlraith Wilkie 1 Jan 1923 - 3 May 1993; wife of William H. Wilkie; dau. of Fredrick 'Fred' and Lillian Christina Hokanson/Hawkins McIlraith; father of William 'Bill' Fredrick, James Scott, John Thomas (Susan Christensen), Gary Alan (Kathy Easter); Lot 19-E

William Henry Wilkie 13 Oct 1921 - 18 June 1989; PFC US ARMY WW II; hus. of Bessie Jane McIlraith; son of William and Hattie White Wilkie; father of William 'Bill' Fredrick, James Scott, John Thomas (Susan Christensen), Gary Alan (Kathy Easter); Lot 19-E

baby Wold 30 Sept 1943 - 30 Sept 1943; child of Lester Kermit and Eva Elizabeth Parenteau Wold; Lot 38-C

baby boy Wold 1 May 1937 - 1 May 1937; son of Lester Kermit and Eva Elizabeth Parenteau Wold; Lot 38-C

Eva Elizabeth Parenteau Wold 17 Sept 1907 - 16 May 1985; wife of Lester Kermit Wold; dau. of Moser and Angeline Jerome Parenteau; mother of Patricia 'Patsy' Ann, Rita (George) Arin, baby boy, Lester James, Angela, baby Wold, Henry Mark (Diane Applin), Elizabeth (Darrel) Dahlberg, Michael, Robert 'Bob' (Heidi Kruger); Lot 38-C

Henry Mark Wold 26 July 1942 - 14 Nov 1997; hus. of Diane Joyce Applin; son of Lester Kermit and Eva Elizabeth Parenteau Wold; father of Michelle (?) Walton; Lot ?

Lester Kermit Wold 13 June 1910 - 18 July 1970; hus. of Eva Elizabeth Parenteau; son of Olaf and Mary Iverson Wold; father of Patricia 'Patsy' Ann, Rita (George) Arin, baby boy, Lester James, Angela, baby Wold, Henry Mark (Diane Applin), Elizabeth (Darrel) Dahlberg, Michael, Robert 'Bob' (Heidi Kruger); Lot 38-C

Patricia 'Patsy' Ann Wold 15 June 1935 - 19 Oct 1936; dau. of Lester Kermit and Eva Elizabeth Parenteau Wold; Lot 38-C