Mike Hanson

‘Muskeg Annie’ Shelland Part II The students in Koochiching County and their families called her “Muskeg Annie” - the first superintendent of schools in Koochiching and when not in or on a stagecoach, she walked and then walked farther. Annie took note that that the lack of a tax base would never see a proper educational opportunity for a growing population in the new northern counties and that prompted her starting in 1909 to lobby the Minnesota Legislature for a better transportation system.

Annie had tuberculosis Annie married C.E. Williams in 1920 and moved to South Dakota; a few years later they moved back to Minnesota where she taught school in three different communities including Baudette.

The Wolf Man Carl Hanson was full of enthusiasm and was endeared to the prospects of adventure. There was some confusion about his name and what year it was, and it was later wondered aloud if he used an alias as he was also identified as Stanley Clarkson.

Frank has it tough Chapter 6 In late January of 1913 Frank Geddes wrote his family in Indiana that he was making progress but since last summer he had been short of breath from time to time; he thought he was improving though he admitted he was more chipper on some days than others. Frank was hopeful but also knew that he couldn’t get any more done on his house until he got more money and time to haul some lumber into his homestead but he was typically upbeat and figured he would get it “proved up” by fall and “ then it will count up pretty fast.” Frank’s son George took a snapshot of Frank with their team and a load of poles with his dad holding the reins, but it was George who actually ran the team.

Chapter 5 In 1912 Frank wrote to his brother Scott in Indiana that winter had been temporary postponed by a splendid fall. Frank had got his house up and the roof on but couldn’t finish it until he could get some lumber in.

Inexplicable Frank Chapter 4 In a long-detailed letter sent to his daughter Alice in June of 1912, Frank notated that his neighbors had strongly stressed that the “mosquitoes can be quite bad but it had been a breeze so far as it has been cool for this time of year.” Later in his missive he reported that big black horseflies had arrived yesterday, the locals call them bulldogs on account of their ferocious bite so now they had to keep a good smoke going at night and the house tight or “oh boy” and those little ones, you can’t keep them out they just go zip and then bite. Frank claimed he could tell the time of the day easily just by looking out the door and judging the thickness of the mosquitos.

Inexplicable Frank, Part 3 Frank and his son George lived eight miles south of Stratton, Ontario, and on the way to their homesteads there were miles of muskeg and moss or tamarack swamps from shoe-mouth to boottop deep. Frank penned in a letter to home that “we are back to nature all right,” other ruminations included that there isn’t a horse in here nor can one get one in here until it freezes up but some neighbors have oxen.

Inexplicable Frank It takes some musing and gauzy imagination to come to a realization that where we live was once one of America’s last frontiers, yeah explorers and fur traders traveled our area centuries ago but it was not until the early twentieth century that certain parts of our area were kinda tamed by settlers and it’s still arguable that elements of it still remain. With the advent of the Nelson Act of 1889 the Chippewa ceded an area southward from the Rainy River towards the Red Lake Reservation but fifteen years went by before the Rivers South bank was opened to homesteading because of the time the federal bureaucracy took to complete examination and classification of the ceded lands.

Big Sam Bjerre, Loman, Minn. Chapter 4 A few of the favorite amusements of our area pioneers included dancing and playing cards.

‘Big Sam’ Chapter 3 “Big Sam” served in both the Danish Army when he was just 18 years old and after emigrating to the United States and proving up a homestead, he enlisted in United States Army and was stationed overseas during World War I. After the War Sam returned to northern Minnesota and resumed his logging business.