My last weekend in Bismarck I headed out along the Missouri river for a bike ride on Saturday and on Sunday I thought I would try out a trail I'd heard about. However this was not to be. After I took my bike out of my car I realized my back tire was leaking. So I grabbed my spare tubes and then realized they had the wrong nozzely thing and neither of my pumps could take care of it. So I loaded my bike back in my car and stopped at Target to get another set (thinking that they would not have fancy nozzely things). However they did their sizes in inches not the 700x35 sort of way so I grabbed the wrong size. Of course I didn't discover this until I was back at the trailhead. Luckily I had also grabbed a patch kit and so I patched up my old tire. You would think that now I could be on my merry way. This was not to be. Perhaps I was a little zealous in my tire pumping- I do not know- but I was shocked when I heard the loud pop and realized I had put a substantially larger (and certainly not fixable with a patch) hole. I loaded my bike back up and gave up.
Fear not though, I did buy new tubes and on Wednesday I took the trail. I ended up in Fort Lincoln state park (which was one of the first places I visited in North Dakota). Technically I was supposed to pay a fee, but I never passed the station (and I didn't have any money on me either). It was pretty and I stopped to climb up a hill and look at the rolling tree-less hills off in the distance. If I haven't already dispelled the myth that North Dakota is treeless and hill-less let me do so know. Bismarck is surrounded by buttes and small, but steep beautiful hills. Along the river are trees. But in any case, there is something very beautfiul about the rolling tree-less hills- the sky seems so huge and I love it. So that was exciting.
And another exciting thing- the governor came to the museum for press conference. Whatever for you ask? Well the State Historical Society of North Dakota is planning an expansion. In order to do this though the state wanted the society to raise half the money- then they'd match it. So on Wednesday (I think) one big oil company donated the last 2 million dollars to put us over the mark so that they can start breaking ground (there is more money to be raised yet, so if you have a few million laying about...) The western part of the state produces lots of oil and the demand for jobs is high and places for people to live are low and meanwhile oil companies make lots of money. So it was part of political and corporate game, but it was exciting to see all the suits walking around and to see the governor speak. When he asked who drilled the first successful oil well another girl who works in archives with me shouted out the answer- she'd been working with collections of photos- some of oil rigs! And that was the hubub.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Pow Wow, the Phone Call and other Reading Room Stories
So before I catch up to the present I must start with the weekend of September of 11th which was weekend I went to the Pow Wow in Bismarck. It is one of the larger ones in the US I am told. I didn't want to go alone and since Greta (a friend from college who is now living in Fargo) was willing to go with me, she came out to see me. She took me out to lunch at Fiesta Villa too! Then I drove us out to the pow wow and we watched the dancing, walked around the stands and walked around the buildings. The pow wow is held at the United Tribes College which used to be Fort Lincoln and which also served as an Internment camp during WWII. I did two stories awhile back about the Internment so it was neat to be on the location. We sat in the grass and reminisced about our college days (which now seem so far away).
As it started heading into evening, I got an Indian taco for dinner and we found a spot in the stands. The regalia was amazing and it was fun to watch people dance and listen to the drums and singing. There was one group from the East Coast that came (I believe Mohawk and Seneca and some other groups) and they wanted to share their dances with everyone there- they invited everyone to come out. And they told some of the stories behind the dances too- apparently the Charleston originated out of one of their dances!
The next morning we headed to the Heritage center and I toured the museum (for the first time) as a visitor. Then I made Greta take some touristy photos with me near the buffalo statue outside. There always seem to be people on the capital grounds taking pictures next to the statues and the State Library (which has a Lincoln Memorial feeling to it), so I wanted to take part.
Then she headed home and the next day I headed back to work. The exciting thing that week was that when I answered the phone (for the first time too- I am the last line of defense when it comes to phone answering) the woman who answered was the daughter of one of the men I wrote a story about. When she said her name - I said oh the Pohlig collection. She was surprised that I knew and I told her about my story. She called back later to say that she enjoyed it and was sending it onto her family. (I frantically looked back at my story- overall I liked it, but maybe it was a tad too patriotic for me), but I was very happy to know that someone from the public appreciated it!
In the meanwhile there have been some other interesting happenings in the Reading Room. We had one man who was a relative of Andrew Ireland and he was looking up photos. He found several and one of them was of three lynched men hanging limply and another photo showed Andrew Ireland's burial- his mother standing off in the background. Apparently there was a murder of a white family and Andrew Ireland found a ring and brought it in- they blamed him (along with 4 other people). There were court cases, but a mob did the dirty work. Maybe there's more to the story, but it was very interesting to hear a relative talk about it. And he told me some other stories of grandmother and mother- his grandmother I believe survived the battle (or massacre) or white stone hill and of a time when he was in Germany and some blond haired blue eyed men greeted him and spoke with him in Dakota.
So those were two interesting people who came to the Reading Room. For the most part we get people doing family research, people who want to donate things, government people looking up minutes, researchers for universities and occasionally some foreigners (we had a guy in from Germany to look up Sitting Bull stuff and some people in from Norway doing family history). They are generally affable, sometimes excited to find things, sometimes disappointed we don't have more, but one woman was just complaining about everything and she couldn't understand why we didn't have marriage records before 1925. There weren't that many people in the state before 1870 and even then it wasn't necessarily required by the government- it was more of a church thing (if I remember correctly), but she just couldn't get over it. It was very frustrating.
And on a more pleasant note I should also say that my Liberal Arts education was worth it. Today or a few days ago my boss talked about how they chose the interns and one of the nice things about my application was that I had a variety of coursework. Also I actually used the Russian I took in college! A woman came in with a military document and didn't know what it was. It was from the early 1900s so there were some strange letters and I couldn't translate all that much, but I could tell her what the names and dates were on the document and that it was a military record. Very nifty.
As it started heading into evening, I got an Indian taco for dinner and we found a spot in the stands. The regalia was amazing and it was fun to watch people dance and listen to the drums and singing. There was one group from the East Coast that came (I believe Mohawk and Seneca and some other groups) and they wanted to share their dances with everyone there- they invited everyone to come out. And they told some of the stories behind the dances too- apparently the Charleston originated out of one of their dances!
The next morning we headed to the Heritage center and I toured the museum (for the first time) as a visitor. Then I made Greta take some touristy photos with me near the buffalo statue outside. There always seem to be people on the capital grounds taking pictures next to the statues and the State Library (which has a Lincoln Memorial feeling to it), so I wanted to take part.
Then she headed home and the next day I headed back to work. The exciting thing that week was that when I answered the phone (for the first time too- I am the last line of defense when it comes to phone answering) the woman who answered was the daughter of one of the men I wrote a story about. When she said her name - I said oh the Pohlig collection. She was surprised that I knew and I told her about my story. She called back later to say that she enjoyed it and was sending it onto her family. (I frantically looked back at my story- overall I liked it, but maybe it was a tad too patriotic for me), but I was very happy to know that someone from the public appreciated it!
In the meanwhile there have been some other interesting happenings in the Reading Room. We had one man who was a relative of Andrew Ireland and he was looking up photos. He found several and one of them was of three lynched men hanging limply and another photo showed Andrew Ireland's burial- his mother standing off in the background. Apparently there was a murder of a white family and Andrew Ireland found a ring and brought it in- they blamed him (along with 4 other people). There were court cases, but a mob did the dirty work. Maybe there's more to the story, but it was very interesting to hear a relative talk about it. And he told me some other stories of grandmother and mother- his grandmother I believe survived the battle (or massacre) or white stone hill and of a time when he was in Germany and some blond haired blue eyed men greeted him and spoke with him in Dakota.
So those were two interesting people who came to the Reading Room. For the most part we get people doing family research, people who want to donate things, government people looking up minutes, researchers for universities and occasionally some foreigners (we had a guy in from Germany to look up Sitting Bull stuff and some people in from Norway doing family history). They are generally affable, sometimes excited to find things, sometimes disappointed we don't have more, but one woman was just complaining about everything and she couldn't understand why we didn't have marriage records before 1925. There weren't that many people in the state before 1870 and even then it wasn't necessarily required by the government- it was more of a church thing (if I remember correctly), but she just couldn't get over it. It was very frustrating.
And on a more pleasant note I should also say that my Liberal Arts education was worth it. Today or a few days ago my boss talked about how they chose the interns and one of the nice things about my application was that I had a variety of coursework. Also I actually used the Russian I took in college! A woman came in with a military document and didn't know what it was. It was from the early 1900s so there were some strange letters and I couldn't translate all that much, but I could tell her what the names and dates were on the document and that it was a military record. Very nifty.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Moving Out and Moving In and Labor Day Weekend
So after I got back from MA I finished packing up my stuff and on Wednesday afterwork I took my first carload of stuff over to the new loft before heading back to the house grabbing the last things, cleaning up and heading out. And that was that. Except I forgot to give back the key, so I had to go back the next day and drop it off.
I unpacked a bit throughout the week, but I also promptly made borsch and cabbage salad with supplies I gathered from a farmer's market on the capitol grounds. So right now, I live in a loft with two other people who work at the Heritage center and a friendly white kitty named Spunky who has convinced me that I should get my own cat when I move out on my own again.
That Friday Mom and Grandma came out and visited me at work- I took them upstairs to the shelves of books and periodicals and we went out to lunch at a place called the Woodhouse. Afterwork we went out to Kroll's which is a local diner that serves some classic North Dakotan fare. I finally tried Knoefla soup (nef-la) which is a creamy soup with dumplings that is from an ethnic group that settled in ND called the Germans from Russia. I can't say I'll get it again, but I was happy to finally try it. Afterwards I drove them along the river and we ended up at Double Ditch archeological site which has earthlodge impressions from what used to be a thriving city before disease (I believe) hit. Right on the Missouri river, it also offers good views of the buttes (small mesas) off in the distance with their treeless, big sky beauty.
On Saturday we went around Kirkwood mall and saw the Governor's Mansion. They had peeled away the strips of wallpaper to reveal the past layers which was neat. It apparently used to get pretty cold in there. In the 60's it also became one of the first mental outpatient clinics back when mental health was starting to get a bit more attention. For dinner, I brought them home and made alfredo and watched a movie on the large tv at my new place.
Sunday we decided to drive south along the river since I had never been. We stopped at historic Fort Rice which had depressions and stone corners where buildings used to be and all of it was riddled with prairie dog holes. We stopped at a few other historic sites including Sitting Bull's gravesite. At the instance of Mom and Grandma we also stopped at a casino. It was my first time and I think I was the youngest one there, along with little old ladies and their walkers. I played slots which I was kinda excited about because I wrote an article about a slot machine for datebook. Did you know that slot machines were created in 1895 and originally used card symbols instead of the fruit we know and love today? Those came about largely because slot machines gave out payouts in gum (and cigars- hence, close but no cigar) so that they could be classified as vending machines which were legal. At one point I won 5 dollars and then I subsequently spent it trying to win more and understood how people get addicted to gambling.
On Monday we just hung out and Mom helped me get the loft in order. Now I have some things on the walls and my orange camping chair for a reading area. We also stopped by to see Joni's family for a chat (Joni is mom's friend) and then they left and it was sad and it was back to work.
Work's been going fine in the reading room. But I have discovered that not everyone has an obituary which is a bit frightening since obits are one of the best sources of info about a person's life. So I have decided that when it gets to be about that time I will start carrying around an obit with money for the paper- so maybe not. But I did meet a guy who was dedicated to putting dates on his tombstone and already had his obit ready to go.
By now I am one of two interns left. Surprisingly though I am more social at work seeing as I work in the reading room and I have fun joking around with some of the older people- humor must be an ingredient for longevity.
I unpacked a bit throughout the week, but I also promptly made borsch and cabbage salad with supplies I gathered from a farmer's market on the capitol grounds. So right now, I live in a loft with two other people who work at the Heritage center and a friendly white kitty named Spunky who has convinced me that I should get my own cat when I move out on my own again.
That Friday Mom and Grandma came out and visited me at work- I took them upstairs to the shelves of books and periodicals and we went out to lunch at a place called the Woodhouse. Afterwork we went out to Kroll's which is a local diner that serves some classic North Dakotan fare. I finally tried Knoefla soup (nef-la) which is a creamy soup with dumplings that is from an ethnic group that settled in ND called the Germans from Russia. I can't say I'll get it again, but I was happy to finally try it. Afterwards I drove them along the river and we ended up at Double Ditch archeological site which has earthlodge impressions from what used to be a thriving city before disease (I believe) hit. Right on the Missouri river, it also offers good views of the buttes (small mesas) off in the distance with their treeless, big sky beauty.
On Saturday we went around Kirkwood mall and saw the Governor's Mansion. They had peeled away the strips of wallpaper to reveal the past layers which was neat. It apparently used to get pretty cold in there. In the 60's it also became one of the first mental outpatient clinics back when mental health was starting to get a bit more attention. For dinner, I brought them home and made alfredo and watched a movie on the large tv at my new place.
Sunday we decided to drive south along the river since I had never been. We stopped at historic Fort Rice which had depressions and stone corners where buildings used to be and all of it was riddled with prairie dog holes. We stopped at a few other historic sites including Sitting Bull's gravesite. At the instance of Mom and Grandma we also stopped at a casino. It was my first time and I think I was the youngest one there, along with little old ladies and their walkers. I played slots which I was kinda excited about because I wrote an article about a slot machine for datebook. Did you know that slot machines were created in 1895 and originally used card symbols instead of the fruit we know and love today? Those came about largely because slot machines gave out payouts in gum (and cigars- hence, close but no cigar) so that they could be classified as vending machines which were legal. At one point I won 5 dollars and then I subsequently spent it trying to win more and understood how people get addicted to gambling.
On Monday we just hung out and Mom helped me get the loft in order. Now I have some things on the walls and my orange camping chair for a reading area. We also stopped by to see Joni's family for a chat (Joni is mom's friend) and then they left and it was sad and it was back to work.
Work's been going fine in the reading room. But I have discovered that not everyone has an obituary which is a bit frightening since obits are one of the best sources of info about a person's life. So I have decided that when it gets to be about that time I will start carrying around an obit with money for the paper- so maybe not. But I did meet a guy who was dedicated to putting dates on his tombstone and already had his obit ready to go.
By now I am one of two interns left. Surprisingly though I am more social at work seeing as I work in the reading room and I have fun joking around with some of the older people- humor must be an ingredient for longevity.
Friday, September 3, 2010
FAMILY HISTORY IN MA
It has surely been a while since my last blog and there is much to tell of!
I suppose I should back track and relate the tales of my trip to Massachusettes which began two Wednesdays ago now. I got out of work early and went back to get something to eat. Someone from the historical society picked me up and dropped me at the airport where I realized that I needn't have worried about the 2 hour rule. Four gates and I was pretty much the only waiting for awhile. But I got to O'Hare allright and then I was delayed. So I took a walk, got a shake and looked through magazines on the stands. When I got in, it was late and so I took a taxi (all by myself, for the first time) to Aunt Sue's. After a little talk, it was straight to bed. In the morning we headed off to Lowell where Grandpa grew up- stopping at the cemetary to find those who had passed and finding the old family houses and standing creepily outside them taking pictures. When one woman came to ask what we were doing there, she and Grandpa shared stories of the house.
Then we headed out to lunch where we encountered New England accents which I was very excited for. I didn't really remember hearing them before, but perhaps I just wasn't paying attention. Apparently though when I was little, Grandma told the story of how I asked Great Aunt Anna what country she was from because of her Boston accent! Then we headed off to the old schools and stopped by Lowell Tech (it was a bit weird to be back in a university) and to the historic site of the mills where Grandpa used to work during the summers. I did not know that before and it was very interesting to think he had worked in similar buildings with the loud clanking of the looms that shook the ground.
The next day we headed out to Deerfield, settled into our historic hotel and headed out for historic house tours. Why Deerfield you ask? Well, (although there are a few generation gaps) Deerfield is the home of some of our ancestors. The story goes that the French fur trader Jaques de Noyon was ready to become english because of the better fur prices. He was courting Abigail Stebbins, a Deerfield native, and then the town was attacked by the French and Indian groups and they were taken back north to Canada. So we toured the historic town, which has actually been a tourist town for quite awhile. During the early 1900's, unable to compete with the industrial towns, Deerfield started celebrating its colonial history and taking part in the arts and crafts movement. We also visited a cemetary and tried some grave rubbings which we later read in the brochure that we were not supposed to do. Oh well. Without clear signage I cannot feel bad.
And just as quickly as it started, it was over and I was back on a plane and heading back home with a layover through Denver where I had a glimpse of mountains.
I suppose I should back track and relate the tales of my trip to Massachusettes which began two Wednesdays ago now. I got out of work early and went back to get something to eat. Someone from the historical society picked me up and dropped me at the airport where I realized that I needn't have worried about the 2 hour rule. Four gates and I was pretty much the only waiting for awhile. But I got to O'Hare allright and then I was delayed. So I took a walk, got a shake and looked through magazines on the stands. When I got in, it was late and so I took a taxi (all by myself, for the first time) to Aunt Sue's. After a little talk, it was straight to bed. In the morning we headed off to Lowell where Grandpa grew up- stopping at the cemetary to find those who had passed and finding the old family houses and standing creepily outside them taking pictures. When one woman came to ask what we were doing there, she and Grandpa shared stories of the house.
Then we headed out to lunch where we encountered New England accents which I was very excited for. I didn't really remember hearing them before, but perhaps I just wasn't paying attention. Apparently though when I was little, Grandma told the story of how I asked Great Aunt Anna what country she was from because of her Boston accent! Then we headed off to the old schools and stopped by Lowell Tech (it was a bit weird to be back in a university) and to the historic site of the mills where Grandpa used to work during the summers. I did not know that before and it was very interesting to think he had worked in similar buildings with the loud clanking of the looms that shook the ground.
The next day we headed out to Deerfield, settled into our historic hotel and headed out for historic house tours. Why Deerfield you ask? Well, (although there are a few generation gaps) Deerfield is the home of some of our ancestors. The story goes that the French fur trader Jaques de Noyon was ready to become english because of the better fur prices. He was courting Abigail Stebbins, a Deerfield native, and then the town was attacked by the French and Indian groups and they were taken back north to Canada. So we toured the historic town, which has actually been a tourist town for quite awhile. During the early 1900's, unable to compete with the industrial towns, Deerfield started celebrating its colonial history and taking part in the arts and crafts movement. We also visited a cemetary and tried some grave rubbings which we later read in the brochure that we were not supposed to do. Oh well. Without clear signage I cannot feel bad.
And just as quickly as it started, it was over and I was back on a plane and heading back home with a layover through Denver where I had a glimpse of mountains.
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