By Tom Sauer, MAHS President

Milaca

AreaHistorical

Society NewsPreserving and sharing Milaca’s history for 29 Years

Summer 2013 – Volume 15, Number 2

Growing with the Historical SocietyAgain this year, membership numbers remain strong, as are

the use of our research facility and museum visits. People continue to think of the Milaca Museum when they have historic objects and photos to donate. However, there are some gaps in the collection, and we ask our members and friends to be on the lookout for these items:

Milaca High School homecoming buttons pre-1950 and post-1998. Homecoming was first celebrated in October 1946 and we do have all homecoming buttons between 1950 and 1998.

Programs from many MHS events, 1903-2013. We would like the originals, or we can make good copies for our records.

Pins, badges, etc. from MHS. We do have almost all the Milachi school newspapers from 1921-1988. We are missing

most of 1919 and 1920, and the period from 1970-1980. Photos of Mille Lacs Co. Common School District (CSD) buildings, interior and exterior;

report cards, diplomas and other memorabilia. Copies of photos of local residents in their military uniforms, 1861-2013, with a brief

biography of the person (a paragraph or two would suffice). The Star City video. This was created around 1980 as part of Milaca becoming a Star

City, and would provide a great look at the Milaca of that era. We can have a copy made for our collection if the owner doesn’t want to part with it.

MAHS Officers 2013Tom Sauer, President 982-6603, tysauer@milaca.netJere Day, Vice-Pres, 983-3325, jlazyday@frontiernet.netLynn Kent, Treasurer 983-3155, lynnkent@frontiernet.netAnn Johnson, Secretary, 983-6391, alj1941@yahoo.com Karen Schlenker, Newsletter, Curator 983-3586, jkarschlen@gmail.com

Summer 2013 MAHS News 2

We are looking for members who would like to volunteer a few days at the museum this summer and fall. You will work a few days with someone who is a veteran museum volunteer before we ask you to go it alone. We have had 25 or so volunteers each year for years but every year some can no longer help. We need new people on our list to help keep our building open the 150 or so days of our season.  If you would like to give it a try please call Tom 982-6603 or Jere 983-3125.

Local History – It’s Where You Live!

MAHS News and NotesTownships recognize importance of local history

The society has once again requested funding from our area townships at their annual meetings in March. We have been warmly received, with Hayland, Borgholm, Page, Bogus Brook, Milo and Milaca townships including funding for their local historical society in their budgets. Remember to thank your local township officers. Their support is important to us!

In memoriamWe were saddened by the loss of friends and supporters in recent months.

Vernice Asp was a long time member and helped fill in many gaps in our knowledge of the area. We are fortunate to have recorded and transcribed an interview in which she talked about her childhood neighborhood in Bogus Brook township.

Thora Allen was also a long time member, and with her husband Pete strongly supported our mission in many important ways.

Lloyd Deuel knew as much as anyone about the Foreston area in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and we are grateful that he wrote many of his stories down. We have a collection of them in the research room.

Milaca students learn about local historyMay was a busy month for the historical society. On the 23rd, 175 second grade students

and their teachers came to explore the museum. On the 24th, 90 seventh grade history students visited. Unfortunately, bad weather prevented the 3rd grade from taking their tour of historic Milaca this year—it’s one of our favorite activities!

Thanks to MAHS members Ann Johnson, Marian Peterson, Lynn Kent, Tom Sauer, Ardy Becklin and Jere Day for making the students welcome and helping them understand why history is important.

MAHS builds capacityOn May 10, MAHS officers Ann Johnson, Jere Day and Karen Schlenker attended a

workshop put on by the Minnesota Historical Society at the Morrison Co. Historical Society in Little Falls. Titled “Capacity Within,” the workshop shared information and insights about improving our use of our human, historic, financial and organizational resources. As with all the MHS workshops we’ve attended, we’ll be using what we learned for years to come.

MAHS Officers 2013Tom Sauer, President 982-6603, tysauer@milaca.netJere Day, Vice-Pres, 983-3325, jlazyday@frontiernet.netLynn Kent, Treasurer 983-3155, lynnkent@frontiernet.netAnn Johnson, Secretary, 983-6391, alj1941@yahoo.com Karen Schlenker, Newsletter, Curator 983-3586, jkarschlen@gmail.com

By Karen SchlenkerVolunteer Curator

Summer 2013 MAHS News 3

From the CollectionThe Collection Grows

We continue to receive objects, photos and documents that help tell the history of the Milaca area, and we continue to improve our computerized catalogue. We accessioned 287 items in 2012, and have already processed 231 in 2013. One interesting development over the last few years is our growing collection in newer media. We have been given CDs and DVDs of music, still photos, and video. We have digitized some recordings from vinyl and from audio- and videotapes in our collection, and we have also made digitized copies from tapes lent to us for that purpose. We recently were loaned photos related to MHS in the mid-1940's, and rather than scanning and printing all of them, we added them to the collection saved on our hard drive. There are challenges that come with this brave new world of collecting: What is needed to store these materials for future users? How do we assure access to them? How do we get the best possible quality for our collection? This is an important and growing aspect of our collection, and we’re learning as we go.

On a somewhat related topic, I wanted to give an overview of our process in acquiring items for the collection. Almost everything we add to the collection is a gift; we purchase items only rarely (for example, we have a standing order for the Milaca High School annual). We appreciate all of the wonderful things we are given. We don’t, however, accept everything that is offered to us. We must consider the size and condition of the item—we may not have space, or the ability to give it the care it requires. In some cases, we may already have duplicates in the collection. We are also trying to focus more carefully on local history, and the things that items in our collection can tell us about our local history. Sometimes objects not clearly or directly related to Mille Lacs County can help tell our story—tools, for instance, that were used in a particular period or in a particular trade. Objects related to local families, local businesses, local organizations are of interest, and the more information that can come with them, the better (who used this object, when? what years was the business in operation? who else worked there? where did the family live?). We try to err on the side of inclusiveness, because you never know where the next piece of the puzzle will come from, but the fact is that we cannot keep and care for everything that’s offered to us.

If you are interested in making a donation, contact me or any of our officers, and let us know what you are offering and when we can see it to assess its suitability for the collection. And please understand that we cannot display all of our over 8,000 objects. Even when not on exhibit in the museum, items in the collection help us research and understand the Milaca area’s past.

By Ann Johnson

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Places To Go, Things To DoLaura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, MN is open April through October. In addition to the museum in town, visitors can now go to the original Ingalls dugout site a few miles away. The Wilder Pageant will be performed in 2013 on July 12, 13, 19, 20, 26 and 27. For more information call 888.859.3102 or visit the website at www.walnutgrove.org

For great day trip ideas, see our collection of brochures from local and Minnesota Historical Society sites, in the Museum entryway.

From the RecordMember Ann Johnson took on the task of transcribing some audiotapes in the MAHS collection, and here is an excerpt. The tape was unclear in places, so names and phrases written in italics indicates uncertainty about their accuracy.

A Little Humor from Days Gone ByA cassette tape of a Milaca Civic Club meeting in 1971 recorded a talk by two long-time

Milaca residents about their memories of the early days of the Milaca area. One of those speakers, Guy Cravens, was quite a talker as well as a fine storyteller. He was informing the group of the means of transportation available in the early 1900’s. He explained that before the railroad came to Onamia (in the early 1900's), the only means of getting supplies to towns north of Milaca was by tote teams which took the old Milaca trail. Tote teams were made up of a team of huge draft horses drawing large wagons of supplies. The trail they followed was difficult when conditions were good, but nearly impossible to travel in wet weather since it was beset with large mud holes. He tells how Pete Bunt made this trek one fall day.

“The story has it that he started out from Milaca with two teams one day in the fall and the roads were very bad, but to save teamsters expense, he had his wife drive one of the teams. He had two teams and a big load. So they started out from Milaca about noon and by evening they had reached Mike Drew, and they put up there for the night. (His wife had) had such a tough time by that time, that he asked, ah, Jim Ward who ran Mike Drew, this Mike Drew Stopping Place, to take over as teamster on the other team and his wife, of course, then would just ride along with him on the front team. And Jim Ward agreed to do that. So (they set out) the next day for Page and try to make that by nightfall. Well (there were) mud holes . They went into them and they went out. And they got stuck sometimes and they got out. They had (barley along) so the story goes, and each time they got out of mud hole, they had to dedicate their success. (Being that there were) quite a few mud holes they were pretty well lubricated by the time they got (near Page). Well, then things were going all right, except they were feeling no pain, of course. And Pete Bunt and his wife were in the lead team and Jim Ward on the second until they got near Page, about a half mile below, and then they struck the biggest mud hole of all, and Pete Bunt proceeded to drive into the middle of it and get stuck. Well there was nothing to do but go back and unhitch the team from the tote wagon in back and hitch it to the team in front of the wagon in the lead and pull the wagon out. And this they proceeded to do after much bumbling and slipping around in the mud. And then, of course, they pulled that wagon up into the middle (of the) road out of the way and then they took the four horses and they hitched them onto the wagon in back and they pulled that wagon through. And (these two worthies sat upon the seat) as they went through the mud hole and they got out of the mud hole, and they saw the tote team up ahead, and in their condition they rather thought that something was blocking the road. . . And they could see there was a woman sitting on the seat. So Pete Bunt yelled out and he said, “Move

Summer 2013 MAHS News 5

on, Woman. Move on. Don’t sit there like a bump on a log.” Then Jim Ward nudged him and said, “Pete, I think that’s your wife up there.” So then they agreed, by gully, that was his wife. So there was nothing to do, and, of course, his wife spoke her mind. There was nothing to do but unhitch the four horses and they were going to unhitch two horses and put them on the front wagon, but by mistake and in their condition, they took all four horses and hitched them to the front wagon. Then they handed up the lines to Mrs. Bunt, and she took their advice. She drove off. . . . (I)t was quite a sight as she drove into Page with these two fellows slipping and sliding in the road behind Mrs. Bunt (whipping) up that team.”

MAHS appreciates our business membersAll-Aboard Travel/Travel LeadersBillings Service Blue Moon SaloonFirst National Bank of MilacaFransen DecoratingGreater Minnesota Credit UnionHarris HardwoodsJims Mille Lacs DisposalMilaca Copy Fast

Milaca DACMilaca Local LinkMilaca TownshipMolacek Family EyecareNorth Star GaragePeterson Johnson Funeral HomePicture-TileSage Cats ConsultingTown & Country Finance

Prom 1945. How many of these youngsters do you recognize?

Summer 2013 MAHS News 6

Milaca Museum Open HoursWednesday through Friday 1p.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.Admission is free!

MAHSPO Box 144Milaca, MN 56353

JOIN USat any of our regular MAHS meetings!

4th Tuesday each monthJanuary through October

Note The Time! 6:30 p.m. Note The Time!At the Milaca City Center

Council Chambers255 First Street E.

Call for updates or details 982.1212Participate in fun and fellowship with

the Milaca Area Historical Society!