Writerly Inspiration Origins

Writerly inspiration comes from different sources for me. It’s intriguing how it occurs without strict format or outline, but instead ignites spontaneously once exposed to light. Composing a weekly Wannaskan Almanac article is a good exercise of the imagination and requires some effort on my part to string words together to draw an image, in not only my mind, but a reader’s as well. Hmmm, what to do, what to do? Just start....

I google: “June 7 in Minnesota history,” all the while knowing that June 7th is my nephew Stewart’s birthday, and I had surprisingly seen his mother, of all people, ‘way up here in Thief River Falls, Minnesota on June 2, at a funeral for one of our first cousins. I didn’t know she and her husband were driving the five hundred miles trip north from Iowa. It was such a surprise. Next week, June 12, is Stewart’s oldest sister’s birthday. I know these things because these two are my oldest nephew and my oldest niece, only six and eight years younger than myself. Can they be that old? I’m approaching seventy.


The first thing that came up in a Google listing was a  Civil War letter by Thomas D. Christie, written on June 7, 1863. His handwriting isn’t too difficult to read, but does require some patience and rereading to make sense. The synopsis leaves out the initial complimentary tone of the letter written to his sister, that lends us a different side of him other than an encamped soldier writing from a war zone.

CIVIL WAR LETTERS OF THE CHRISTIE FAMILY
http://www.mnhs.org/library/christie/letters/0607631.php
Author: Thomas D. Christie
Date: June 7, 1863
Location: Vicksburg, Mississippi
Addressee: Sarah J. Christie
Description: Construction of battlements and forts is explained.
Thomas also provides details on how his artillery gun is fired in battle.


I read but one page, tired as I am from spending several hours on a comfortable rider mower mowing our vast 1.5 acre yard, bordering more acres of woods and water. The grass grows so fast now, I’m at it every four days. By July, it’ll slow down to five. By August we can stretch it to six or seven.

Speaking of inspiration, a writer friend of mine originally from Wannaska, emailed me saying he had found a 1913 atlas of Roseau County in one of his mother’s old trunks. He wrote, “You have maybe seen one?  It is really interesting to see who owned land back then. I believe there were more landowners then than there are now. It appears your land was owned by a John H. Lohre, which you probably already knew. He also owned the land that Chairman Joe lives on.  Wannaska had a Main Ave. and a First Street.”

Well, this sort of thing is right up my alley and he knew that. After publishing The Raven: Northwest Minnesota’s Original Art, History & Humor Journal for 24 years, almost anything history-wise about our area of northwest Minnesota interests me. I replied: “I'll bet finding that 1913 atlas was interesting. I thought it had been included one of the 'recent' Roseau County atlases, but I couldn’t find it. I do have a copy of the 1913 Palmville atlas that’s not quite complete. For some reason, the eastern sections, 1, 12, 13, 24, 25, 36 are cut off. The whole thing must be around here someplace.

I found some notes I had about Dutch Henry's murder and a copy of Alex McKenzie's trial as written up in the newspaper, The Roseau Times. I can drop it by one day and you can make a copy of it, if you want. It's pretty interesting. Did I ever loan you Jake Nelson's manuscript? That's fantastic too. I think it's written in 1870s...They sell them at the museum, but I'll loan you mine. It's a great winter read about Roseau County. Anyways...

Thinking the 1913 atlas may have been in the Roseau County Centennial Book (the one with the stagecoach on it), I discovered that map is copyrighted 1907! That's six years older. This map is of the county and has various old trails/roads penciled-in like the "Hallock to Jadis Road" that follows the banks of Two Rivers, stemming from Dewey to Hereim and Pelan Battle Ground Park and Greenbush through "Old Greenbush" in the SW corner of Skagen to Badger in its NE corner, through the very NW corner of Stokes, then into Ross, and then Jadis and Roseau.

Just north of Badger and almost parallel to the Hallock to Jadis Road is another road called Badger Creek & Indian Trail Road that intersects at the "Old Indian Village," in Dieter's SE corner on the Roseau River with the Indian Town to Jadis Road that comes into Roseau on its NW corner.

Then there's the Summer Road to Warroad that starts in Spruce then into an unorganized township between Spruce and Cedarbend past the Monkman Saw Mill at 'Pequis post office,' on Hay Creek, and to its north, the Roseau to Warroad Winter Road.

The name Pequis interested me, so I googled Pequis French to English translation and it was just the same one way or the other, however, there was a notation with it that suggested Portugese. Hmmm... So I put in Portugese to English--nothing even in Portugese. Then Pequis in Ojibwe. Nothing. Then googled, "the origins of Pequis"--and something closer to home came up, as P-e-g-u-i-s, not P-e-q-u-i-s, It's a First Nations tribe in Manitoba with history linked to Hudson Bay. "The citizens of Peguis are of Saulteaux (Anishinaabe/Ojibwe) and Cree descent." Fur trappers/traders/explorers? Maybe misspelled as Pequis? Who knows now?

*In 2008, Peguis First Nation announced the finalization of a land claims settlement with the Canadian federal government. The claim is for land which was surrendered near Selkirk, Manitoba in 1907. (Spooky coincidence...eh. 1907???)

On this 1907 map there's a school house symbol on the quarter I own, which sort of substantiates my findings when we did the story of District 44 West school there, that it was built in 1904. At the very least it was there in 1907.

John Lohre was my uncle Martin Davidson's first father-in-law. This farm was a wedding gift. Martin married Lohre's daughter Mable, but she died with cancer three years afterward. Also, my great grandfather Louis Palm mistakenly filed claim where Chairman Joe lives now; the Palm claim was a half mile west, in the NW corner of Section 1. Frank Cwikla owns it. Lohre came after Palm. The bridge we call, "The Beito-McDonnell Bridge" over the river there, was always called The Lohre Bridge when I was growing up.

The writer friend went on: “This atlas shows a school in Palmville Section 9, a mile and a quarter west of your place. It does not show the Torfin Post Office though, which I have found other places shut down in 1914, so it should have been on there. It does show the Casperson post office which appears to be where Roger Berg Sr. lives. On part of the property I own, it shows there was a residence of H.S. Dahl. There is a foundation and some remnants of the old house still there.  I have a deer stand close to it and often sit there and imagine what it must have been like living near the river back in 1913 with the mosquitos and deer flies.  A much tougher life, but it may have been fun, with no distractions of smart phones and all the other gadgets!  A couple of miles north of my land, I used to deliver the Grit paper to an Olaf Bjorhus and I see in 1913 that property was in the Bjorhus name.”

Recalling his discovery of named streets in Wannaska, I wrote:
“Talking about Main Streets and such, Roseau's first streets were named Pearl and ...  Lilac? Well, Pearl was one of them for sure. Maybe not Lilac, I just can't think of it now... but to change their names to Main and Center Street? C'mon! How dull ...”

“W.F. concludes: “Viola, Pearl, Grace, Bertha were just some of the street names in Roseau.  Also Jessie, Florence and Thelma!”