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Manuscripts - ND Oral History Collection - 10157 - Steele County

Steele County

Region 8
1 Mrs. Clara Warriner, Bismarck
2 Mr. O. A. Engeness, Finley
3 Mrs. Ida Archer, Finley
4 Mr. Tom “Buck” Snortland, Sharon
5 Ms. Adeline Meldahl, Finley
6 Mr. H. M. “Hadley” Verwest, Finley
7 Mr. and Mrs. M.G. Pederson, Hope
8 Mrs. Anna Vadnie, Hope
9 Warren and Alma Carpenter, Hope
10 Mr. E. A. Brag, Hope
11 Mr. Thomas B. Linn, Portland
12 Mr. Ole Soholt, Galesburg
13 Mr. Grace Norris, Finley (Bantry, McHenry County, Region #16)
14 Mr. Mike Rasmussen, Luverne

Portions of the following interviews apply to Steele County:
A. M. Paulson, #5, Burleigh County

Tape #1 Mrs. Clara Warriner (Bismarck)
000 – Introduction
020 – Family history; Early days at Hope; Hope Hotel; Her education; Family history
110 – Leading businessmen; Churches; School social functions; Hope’s farming population; Badgers Mercantile Company at Hope; The Town Hall; Social functions
215 – Businesses at Colgate; Merchandise and furnishings in a General Store; Railroad service at Hope; Passenger service
306 – Leading people at Colgate; Elevators; Banker; Move from North Dakota; Her first marriage; School is constructed at Colgate; Clara teaches at rural school; Teaching qualifications; Salaries and board and room
425 – Location of Colgate, Sherbrooke, and Pillsbury schools; A typical day at a rural school; Disciplinary problems; School term; School functions
605 – Moves from ND; Teaching salaries during 30’s; Dust storms; People leave Edmunds in 30’s; Anecdote about a train forced to stop during a 30’s blizzard; Rearing a family in 30’s
705 – Colgate telephone system; Electricity service begins; Clara’s first sight of an auto; Doctors at Hope
810 – Early day road conditions; First airplane ride for Clara; Past and present neighborliness; Newspapers; Magazines
913 – End of interview
Comment:  Distinctive historical facts of this interview are Clara’s first sight of an auto and her first airplane flight.

Tape #2 O. A. Engeness (Finley)
000 – Introduction
020 – Reason for moving to ND; Works with settler; Nearest town; Nationalities Inland post offices and towns; A line off of Great Northern Railroad at area; Early businessmen
113 – Works with settler; Crops in 1910-14; Begins business at store; Becomes a citizen of US; His military service; 1918 Influenza Epidemic; Serves as sheriff and state inspector of county
205 – Enters into store business; Store closes in 20’s; Begins his own business; People leave during 20’s and 30’s; Acreage of 1910 settlers; Reason for people leaving; Discouragement in 20’s and 30’s
311 – WPA; Surplus Commodities Program; Anecdote about family learning how to use grapefruit from commodities program; Delivering commodities; People take advantage of commodities program; Government buys cattle for Surplus Commodities Program
449 – 1910-12 entertainment; Declination of cattle of farms today; A typical Sunday’s activities; Baseball; Dances; Visiting; Religion; Neighborliness; Churches
551 – Reading at home; His education; Church social activities; Farming with horses and oxen; Local sod house; Plentiful of wild life; Farming with steam threshing rigs and gas and steam tractors; Anecdote about problems with rocks in fields
664 – Farming with a drill; Anecdote about drilling with horses
SIDE TWO
705 – Buys first car; Begins building Model T’s; Price of first car; Discing; Dragging and seeding; 1910 telephones; Electrical generating plant; Depression in 30’s; Grasshopper and gopher poison
815 – Gopher problems during 30’s; Grasshoppers; Dust storms; Hardships in 30’s; Masonic Lodge; Other lodges
916 – NPL and IVA in area; Political emotionality; Lemke and Langer political rallies; Compares difference and popularity between Farm Bureau and Farmers Union; Farm Holiday Association; Trend of large farming in ND
026 – AAA and Soil Conservation aid farms; Effect of radio and TV; Newspapers at Finley; Magazines; Gardening; Canning; Root cellars
155 – Anecdotes from his military service; Sings in chorus; A short conversation about a woman leading horses with a man following while plowing
Comment:  O.A. speaks quickly and curtly at times.  He discusses farming, government, religion, the depression of 1930’s, and family life.  His anecdotes about the Surplus Commodities Program exemplify a few of the details of this program.

Tape #3 Mrs. Ida Archer (Finley)
000 – Introduction
020 – Family history; Difficult times at Wheatland; Doctors; Midwives; Family history; Sewing; Nationalities
135 – Dalrymple’s bonanza farm; Farming with oxen; Plowing with a gang plow; Largest problem in farming; First gas tractor in area; Selling butchered cattle to neighbors; Using windmill to churn butter; Parents’ impression of ND; Nearest town; Ida attends a rural school; Furthering her education; Hardships of teaching school at Robinson; Living in a two story log house with a bathtub
236 – Teachers’ salaries; Becomes married; William Langer’s Moratorium; Plays college basketball; Boards at dormitory
337 – Teaches at Finley; Class meets at school basement; Husband’s family; Husband’s businesses; Their land and homestead; Husband has implement dealership
450 – 1918 Influenza Epidemic; Doctors; Finley’s reputation; Nationalities; Churches; Entertainment; Games; County fairs
606 – House parties; Visiting; Opera House; Home talent plays; Song fests; Dance musicians
715 – Depression in 30’s; People leave; Bad years; Hog prices; Implement dealership fails; Langer’s moratorium; Machinery at implement dealerships
825 – Churches; Church social events; NPL activity at area; Comments about present politics; Newspapers; Magazines
929 – End of interview
Comment:  Foremost topics of Ida’s interview are her college days and teaching school.

Tape #4 Tom “Buck” Snortland (Sharon)
000 – Introduction
020 – NPL’s in family; Farmers Union changes party political support; Tom is elected; Glenn Talbott orders Quentin Burdick to start Democratic Party in county; NPL meets at Carrington to form a young NPL; Difference in philosophy between young NPL and leaders
135 – Young leaguers leave NPL party; Nonpartisan League Executive Committee is organized; William Langer’s character and avocations; Langer’s political support of Elmer Christenson
239 – A radical label is given to NPL; Radical activity of Farmers Holiday Association during 30’s; Glenn Talbott and Farmers Union gain a stronghold on the public
327 – Farmers Union becomes a dormant organization; Radical members are removed from Farmers Union Board; General political structure of the Farm Holiday Association; Stock market begins the depression for farmers; Grain prices; Bread prices; Depression of the 30’s influences society today
431 – Definition of a farmer and reasons for his mode of living; A. C. Townley’s NPL relationship to Socialism; General comments about Communism; Farm Holiday Association fails; Difference between land ownership and Socialism; Farmers Union’s relationship with Socialism; Glen Talbott leads to divide farmers
532 – Farmers Union Oil Company is organized; Definition of a cooperative and its relationship to Socialism; Tax structures and its relationship to Socialism; Tax structures and Socialism today; Farmer resistance to Graduated Land Tax; Increasing the Inheritance Tax; Labor’s opinion of Inheritance Tax; Socialism threatens the back door of taxes
628 – Dangers of numerous small farms and conglomerates in ND today
764 – Reasons for people returning to farms; Stimuli to large and small farms; The depression in Steele County in general; Cattle prices; Farmers burn crops
863 – “Buck” begins his political life; Reasons for immigrants leaving Norway
939 – End of interview
Comment:  “Buck’s” interview is politically informative.  We discuss the organization of the NPL, Elmer Christenson, Farm Holiday Association’s radical activity, Farmers Union becomes a dormant organization and members are removed from board, NPL Farmers Union relationship with Socialism, Graduated Land Tax and dangers of large and small farms.

Tape #5 Adeline Meldahl (Finley)
000 – Introduction
020 – Family history; Nationalities; Large farms in area
138 – Early days in Finley; Sidewalks; Early businesses; changes in Finley’s size; Her education; Finley schools; Size of classes; Teachers; Curriculum; Laboratory facilities; Extracurricular activities
250 – Church social events; Religious tolerance; Literary societies at school; Social events; Hotel; Residences of teachers; Lodges; Women’s Auxiliary; Snow on Fourth of July
401 – Social life during depression; Dust storms; Entertainment at home during early days; Sociability; Bobsled riding; Livery barn; Commonality of reading; Games at home
508 – Her education; Teaches at rural school; Challenges of teaching at a rural school; Husband’s political life
625 – The depression begins; Extending credit to farmers during the depression
SIDE TWO
712 – Collecting credit from farmers; Banks fail; Business credit with suppliers during the depression; Competitive businesses at Finley during the depression years; Discouragement; Exodus of people; 1918 Influenza Epidemic; Doctors
808 – Raising livestock inside town; First minister; Dray lines; Railroad service and reputation
904 – Iceboxes; Cutting ice for iceboxes; Peddlers; Gypsies; Hobos; Crime
012 – Opinion of World War I; Patriotic soapbox speeches; Banks fail; Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidential popularity; WPA progress in area; Grasshopper pestilence during 30’; Gardening during early 1900’s; Canning
103 – NPL activity at Finley; Past and present political emotionality; Political rallies of William Langer and William Lemke; Compares the effect of radio and television on family life; Radio programs; Electricity; Streetlights
221 – Curfews; Magazines; Telephone; Women’s clubs
328 – Surplus Commodities Program; Farmers receive grapefruits, an unknown fruit, and feed them to hogs; Social levels and community communicability; Description of Opera House; Plays and movie
420 – End of interview
Comment:  Adeline speaks pleasantly and is very cooperative.  Conversation about farm and business credit during the depression of the 30’s and using iceboxes are topics that differentiate this interview from others.

Tape #6 H. M. “Hadley” Verwest (Finley)(Barnes County)
000 – Introduction
020 – Family history; Homestead Act; Eastern Township is organized; Nationalities; Reasons for moving to ND; Early railroad line near Hope
134 – Reasons for original settlers coming to ND; Family history; Building a frame house; A bonanza farmer; Railroad line from Hope to Aneta; Businesses at Pickert; Pickert brothers
300 – Inland post offices; First postmaster; Uses of a windmill; Pickert Post Office is moved to Finley; First depot agent at Pickert; Early Pickert businesses
401 – Doctors; Finley originates; First crop that settlers seeded; Breaking sod with a breaking plow; Plowing with steam rigs and gang plows; Condition of soil at area; A trail from Finley to Sharon; Anecdote about becoming lost in a blizzard
500 – A steam threshing rig; Traveling with cook car; Threshing prices
509 – Location of schools; His education; Township population; Vacant farms
692 – Prosperity of settlers; Hiring schoolteachers; Quality of education; His education
799 – 1904-30 crop conditions; Upgrading of seed grains; Crop yieldage; Kind of oats that was raised; Raising spelts, buckwheat, and sweet clover
SIDE TWO
940 – The depression begins for farmers; Crops in 30’s; Feeding Russian thistles and potatoes to livestock; Crops rust; Nearest flour mill; Discouragement; People leave
045 – Companies resell land after depression; Opinion of NPL and IVA; NPL township percentage; Political strength of Democratic Party; William Langer and William Lemke at political rallies; Compares past and present farmers
146 – Using anhydrides in soil; Compares the political abilities of William Langer and William Lemke; Comments about Langer’s trait to aid small farmers; Compares honesty of William Langer and Lemke
314 – Farmer’s Holiday Association holds sheriff at jail to prevent him from attending sale; Farmers Holiday Association and NPL cause animosity between farmers; State of politics in ND today
395 – Farmers Union is organized; “Hadley” serves as member of Farm Bureau; Ideologies of Farmers Union and Farm Bureau; Farmer’s force of influence; Compares farming with horses and tractors; Personalities of horses; Abuse of horses
635 – Visiting; Farmers Club; Businesses remain open Saturday nights; Reasons for changes of neighborliness
711 – Changes from past to present family life; Reading at home; Chores at home
833 – Changes from past to present work habits; Raising ducks and geese
881 – End of interview
Comment:  “Hadley’s” most informative topic is early farming methods and farm organizations

Tape #7 Mr. and Mrs. M. G. Pederson (Hope)
000 – Introduction
025 – Moves to ND; Banks at Pillsbury; Farm credit in 1912; The depression begins for farmers; Guaranteed Funds Commission; Bank liquidates and reopens at Hope; Barnyard loans; M.G. collects on copies of bank notes
155 – Banks in other towns fail; Foreclosing mortgages; Farmers Holiday Association activity at area; Prices of land and cattle during 30’s; M.G. sells ewes and bucks to farmers; Reaction and understanding of people to bank closings; FDIC regains trust of people for banks; Banks borrow from Northwestern National at Minneapolis
269 – M. G.’s bank buys Louis B. Hanna’s bank; Bank liquidations; Shareholders sustain reopening of bank; Moves bank from Pillsbury to Hope; M.G. and farmers buy out bank at Pillsbury; M.G.’s bank is one of first in state to finance cars
375 – The depression declines and economy rises; Reasons for banks failing; Mismanagement of banks
479 – Interest rates on loans; Establishing an interest rate; Reading of Market Quotation from 1932
579 – Farmers mortgage personal property; Federal Land Loans; Discouragement; Prices of land today; Financial objectives of farmers today; Soil Conservation and county agents aid farmers
675 – Changes in dairy and poultry farming; Savings interest rates; A prediction of our future economy
774 – M.G.’s various jobs; His education; Price of lots at Hope; Social life; Meets wife; Her family history
SIDE TWO
933 – Her family history; Typhoid pneumonia and doctors in 1896; Farming with walking plow; Planting corn; Attends rural school; Location of school; Her education; Teaching career; School term; Curriculum
065 – Salaries; Discipline at rural school; More about her teaching career; Anecdote about an unclean restaurant at Pillsbury; Description of a sod house
164 – Anecdotes about hoboes and Indians stopping at their home; Nationalities; Problems with wolves; Church events; Other nationalities
280 – Skating parties; Banks sell out stocks and farmers; Telephones; Dances; Becomes married; 1918 Influenza Epidemic
386 – Remedy for epidemic; Doctors; Depression in 30’s; Farmers leave; People lose homes; Paying teachers’ salaries in 30’s; Discouragement; Prices of land with mortgages during 30’s; County Seat moved from Sherbrooke to Finley
486 – NPL harms business community; Effect of Langer’s moratorium with banks; Anecdote about M.G. helping local farmer; Baseball
588 – William Langer dismisses Krueger – manager of Bank of North Dakota; Opinion of Gerald P. . Nye; Comments about William Langer’s controversial political reputation; Visits A. C. Townley’s oil well
722 – Anecdote about drinking homemade “bad whiskey”; “Dry towns”; Bootlegging; M.G. aids farmers financially
Comment:  M.G.’s interview is mainly the financial proceedings of banks at Hope and Pillsbury during the 1930’s

Tape #8 Mrs. Anna Vadnie (Hope)
000 – Introduction
022 – Family history; Nearest town; Nationalities; Builds a frame house; Family history; Other settlers; Prairie fires
112 – Prairie chickens, coyotes, and foxes in the area; Hunting; Kinds of farm livestock; Her education; School location, term, teachers, horse barn at school, buying books, and nationalities of students; Her education; Settlement of population in area; Seeding the first crop
198 – Other towns; Nearest post office; Anecdote about winter hardships of 1897; Storing vegetables; Preparing homemade pickles and sauerkraut; How the flour mill was powered; Storing flour
291 – Storage of butchered beef and pork; Homemade yeast; Farming with horses, oxen, and mules; Farming with gang plows; Land acreage belonging to father; Varieties of seed that were planted; Success of crops during early days
391- House parties; Dancing and musicians; Card games; Baseball; Churches; Religion’s lack of approval for dancing; First Lutheran Church; Other churches; Religious and social groups
493 – Early businesses; Opera House and kinds of entertainment; Hotels; Hotel is destroyed by fire; Creamery; Becomes married; Husband’s family history; Elevators at Hope
668 – Husband rents farm; Works with large farmer; Moisture in 1910; Moves to New England
SIDE TWO
715 – Moves back to Hope; Locations of farms where Anna lived; Rents land; Earning an income during 30’s; Selling dressed turkeys; Raising a garden; Water supply on farm; Feeding livestock in the 30’s; Grasshoppers
827 – People leave; Discouragement; Compares past and present extent of friendliness; Electricity; Telephones; Cooking fuel; A description of prairie without trees; Peddlers; Gypsies
928 – Selling dairy and poultry products; Methods in which grain was divided between landlord and renter; Farming with horses; Buys tractor; Cooks for hired men and threshers; Using a cook car
000 – Working with WPA and CCC
052 – End of interview
Comment:  Anna speaks softly and is difficult to understand at times.  In my opinion this interview is not of any outstanding historical value.

Tape #9 Warren and Alma Carpenter (Hope)
000 – Introduction
020 – His family history; Reasons for homesteading in ND; Red River Land Company; Family history
121 – County Seat disputes between Hope and Cooperstown; Griggs and Steele Counties are divided; Reasons for moving County Seat from Sherbrooke to Finley; Other towns; Inland post offices; Other homesteading families; Large farming families; Nationalities; Catholics in area; Closest town; First electric plant west of Red River
224 – Hotel; Railroad growth in area; First house built on claim; Family history; Commonality of butchering; Homesteading rules; Family history
328 – Her family history; Meets husband; Her education
492 – His education; Years of hardship come into area; Crops and prices, and prosperity in 1915-16; Raising Percheron horses; Peddling milk
580 – Factors contributing to depression; Making a living in 30’s; Methods of farm livelihood during early days; People leave; Better years follow the depression; Compares the severity of depression in areas; Buys hay with Federal Feed Loan
704 – Price of wheat straw
SIDE TWO
710 – Shipping in hay during the depression; Government buys cattle from farms; Surplus commodities; Canning beef; Jars used for canning; Freezing beef; Government destroys livestock; Making a living during the 30’s
809 – Federal Land Bank aids people during 30’s; Compares past and present extent of neighborliness; Anecdote about aiding a traveler; Burning wood for fuel; Kinds of trees in area; Other fuel; Price of lignite coal; Other fuel; Plowing firebreaks; Discouragement in 30’s; Federal Land Bank possesses land; Land Bank’s interest rates
916 – Preserving vegetables; Packing eggs; Storing eggs in a crock; Storing cabbage during winter months
014 – Compares past and present grocery buying; Sewing; Catalog ordering; Old spices
117 – Electricity; Telephone; Comments about M.G. Pederson’s work in area; Present price of land and machinery
184 – Political strength of NPL during 30’s; Political emotionality; General comments about William Langer; Social life; Hall where Farmers’ clubs held meetings; Community promotion; Social life
285 – Funeral procedures; Relaxation of living; Trend of change from small farms to large farms
418 – End of interview
Comment:  Historical data contained here includes the County Seat dispute between Hope and Cooperstown, Federal Feed Loans, Federal Land Bank, and the trend of movement from small farms to large farms.

Tape #10 E. A. Berg (Hope)
000 – Introduction
022 – Family history; Reasons for moving to ND; Various jobs he held; Buys land; His education; Rents land
122 – Raising horses; Ships livestock to St. Paul, Minnesota; Buys livestock
239 – Reasons for raising sheep rather than cattle; Controlling wild oats; Keeping feed for sheep in 30’s; Utilizing manure for fertilizer; Buys land during 30’s
330 – Politics; Farm losses during 30’s; Banks close; Opinion of NPL; His work with farmers; Farming with steam rigs and horses
431 – Selling draft horses; Ships cattle; Businesses at Blabon
544 – Drought strikes area; Buys land; Ships cattle; Government purchases cattle in 30’s
660 – Locating water and oil wells
794 – Farming his land
809 – End of interview
Comment:  This interview does not contain any data of historical value.

Tape #11 Thomas B. Linn (Portland)
TAPE A
000 – Introduction
020 – Family history; Railroad built at Portland; Buys preemption and lives in dugout; Reasons for homesteading in Goose River area; Creameries in area; Grain markets
116 – General settlement of area; Large farmers; Lumberyards in area; Seeding by broadcasting
217 – Inland post offices; The organization of Steele County; Father is elected sheriff; Stagecoach, mail, and freight lines; Railroad transportation at Finley and Sherbrooke; Courthouse is built at Finley
316 – Prairie fires; Mixed marriages between Indians and Whites; Gypsies; Anecdote about a gypsy wanting oats for horses; Family history
416 – First White child born in Sherbrooke Township; Buys farm; Becomes married; Telephone
523 – Electricity; Crime; Sheriff’s salary
668 – Description of Blue Flat Academy; WPA bridges
803 – 1913-30 crops and prices; Purchases combine
920 – The “Dirty 30’s”
TAPE B – SIDE TWO
929 – Introduction
933 – Sand storms in the 30’s; Russian thistles; Fire brush; Making a living in 30’s; Constructs concrete silo; Meeting tax payments in ’36; Opinion of Farmers Holiday Association
001 – The Pioneer Farmers Club organization and dissociation; Tom’s political life; Young Peoples Society established in 1885; Church organizations
110 – Religious denominations; Education cultivation in area; Buildings constructed for church social events
213 – Wheat varieties; State and federal farm programs; CCC work; WPA dam; Construction of Elm River Dam
352 – Franklin D. Roosevelt’s popularity in 30’s; Short comments about Herbert Hoover’s 1929 administration; Bank closings; Teachers’ contracts in area townships; Serves on town board; Issuing Certificates of Indebtedness to teachers
456 – Reasons for buying a combine; Farming with a caterpillar tractor; Shoveling grain by hand; Purchasing a grain elevator and rubber tired tractor
583 – Farming by windblowers, corn planters, and drills
Comment:  This interview includes historical data about railroad development, the Blue Flat Academy, economic difficulties, and government aid of the 30’s, and improvement of operational agricultural methods.

Tape #12 Ole Soholt (Galesburg)
TAPE A
000 – Introduction
020 – Emigrates to ND; Family history; Reasons for Norwegians moving to ND; Meets wife
128 – Learns carpentry; Family history; Railroad built at Luverne; Danes immigrate to area; Businesses at Luverne; A local company; Luverne drugstore is destroyed by fire
239 – Constructing a barn; Rock buildings; Wooden basements; Cutting rock
354 – Living arrangements while building for farmers; Paint used on buildings; Contracts with Federal Land Bank to construct schools in 30’s; Loss of carpentry business during depression; Nationalities; Lack of comfort in homesteader houses
452 – Electricity; Barn building architecture in area; Cost of building barns
570 – His carpentry area; Construction materials; Using insulation; Construction costs of large houses; Heating systems
675 – Plumbing systems in homes; Military service; 1918 Influenza Epidemic
806 – Becomes married; His wife; Works with lumber company; Becomes self-employed; Friendliness; Communication status between nationalities; Building fireplaces
924 – Purchasing lumber supplies
TAPE B
935 – Introduction
943 – Crops in 30’s; Making a living during the depression; Gardening; Price of pork; Ole’s work with Federal Land Bank; Discouragement in 30’s; Political emotionality; NPL removes taxes from farm buildings; Percentage of NPL rural members; Opinionated comments about the orating ability of William Langer and J.F.T. O’Conner; Lynn J. Frazier and the Recall Election; John Moses is elected governor
055 – Trend of movement from small to large farms; Opinion of ND; Architecture of buildings; Description of log house; Compares past and present desire for financial success; WPA projects; Franklin D. Roosevelt’s popularity
155 – End of interview
Comment:  Historical data concerning the general construction and architectural design of local buildings is discussed in this interview.  There are also opinionated comments about politicians from 1915-45.

Tape #13 Grace Norris (Finley)
TAPE A
000 – Introduction
020 – Family history; Nationalities; Family history; Social life
148 – Midwives; Farming with horses; Prairie fires; Card games; Language barriers; Homestead buildings; Family history
252 – Character and personality of barriers; Churches; Public acceptance of a Negro; Spinning wool; Mail route; Other post offices; Newspapers; Commonality of reading
362 – Size of families; Education; Teaches at Bantry; Gardening; Selling butter; Marketing centers
TAPE B
000 – Introduction
009 – Anecdote about a woman smoking a pipe;  A hypnotist; Child care; A religious fanatic; Social life; Family life as a child; Hiring men for field work
110 – Parents board schoolteacher; Description of father’s farm and hired men; Hobos; Boarding a teacher; Local school; Hiring teachers
223 – Past and present teaching expectations; Salaries; Penmanship taught in rural schools; Her education; Doing the laundry; Delco motors in the area
354 – Homemade butter; Sewing machines; Raising horses; Dividing of the work between family
455 – Raising ducks; Her education; Ration of male and female college students; College curriculum
SIDE TWO
504 – College costs; Her teaching positions; Salaries; Compares friendliness of towns in area; Nationalities at Bantry; Teaching stipulations
612 – Size of classes at Bantry; Her husband; Husband’s jobs; 1918 Influenza Epidemic; Older students in lower grades in schools; Compares nationality ability for education
738 – Parental support of schools; Financial competition between families; Past and present desire for material objects; Family togetherness
805 – Etiquette; Religious changes; Trend of movement from small to large farms; Effect of radio and television
948 – Discouragement in the 30’s; Neighborliness; Consumption of alcoholic beverages
009 – End of interview
Comment:  Grace comments extensively about the organization and operational abilities of our earlier educational systems.

Tape #14 Mike Rasmussen (Luverne)
000 – Introduction
020 – Family history; Typhoid fever; Diphtheria; Homesteading locations
126 – Family history; Predominant nationality; Hardships of women on the prairie
229 – Midwives; Doctor; Nationalities; Opinion of the prairie
324 – Building of the railroad; Businesses; Hotel burns; 1918 Influenza Epidemic; Flour mill; Doctors; Post office; Lumber company
434 – Livery barn; Dray line; Pool hall; Blacksmith shop; Newspaper; Elevator; Other businesses; Light plant; Danish Brotherhood Hall; First school; Churches
544 – Luverne is incorporated; Auto livery; Dairy; Banks close; People leave; Elevators; Other businesses; First mail route; Post office; Inland towns and post offices
644 – Luverne’s marketing area; Other towns; The importance of the river to homesteaders; Homesteading buildings
744 – Farming with mules, oxen, and horses; The sod house’s defense against nature’s elements; Game laws; Hunting fish and game; Price of cattle
873 – Fishing on Sheyenne River; Prairie chickens
SIDE TWO
927 – Life on the prairie for boys; Baseball; Orchestra; Hiring schoolteachers; Salaries; Description of river in wintertime; First homesteaders in area
058 – Danes leave and homestead in Canada; Influx of Danes to ND; Reasons for Danes emigrating to Canada; Description and uses of Sheyenne River in earlier years; Obtaining ice for business and home; Railroad service; Water bank
152 – Water ditch from river to Luverne; Railroad service; Section gangs; Nationality cooperation between railroad men; Outdoor movies; Business district shopping hours
266 – Railroad passenger service; Hotels; Catalog buying; Peddlers; Hospitality; Gypsies; Stockyards
380 – Stockyards; Hobos; IWW radical activity
498 – Hiring men for threshing crews; Building roads; Prohibition; Moonshining; Dances; Moonshining
613 – NPL movement; A. C. Townley builds an oil well in Luverne area; Townley’s oratorical ability; Percentage of farmers with NPL
715 – Opinion of William Langer; Compares Townley’s and Langer’s oratorical ability; Mortgaged farm foreclosures; Price of wheat in 1920
855 – End of interview
Comment:  Uses of the Sheyenne River; Danish people emigrating to North Dakota and Canada, and railroad service are topics of historical value.

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