I’m working on a story about an abstract company in northwestern Wisconsin. I saw an abstract (or deed for a homestead) for land which was signed by Grover Cleveland in 1862. Abstract companies work very hard to ensure a potentially new property owner has “ clear” title .
( I’m not sure what this has to do with your post - only that I learned a lot about transfer of property.)
That likely was one of the first homesteads after the Act was signed into law in 1862. Most of the land transactions in the Warroad area were recorded in the US Patent Office in Crookston. Abstract companies are still around and serve the same purpose today.
It's not surprising that Namaypoke was "short-changed." So many were and it's still happening. Another lesson in our sad history and the way we still function with people who are branded as different. I'm glad you're preserving some of the story.
I'm glad you are still reading. I've gone deep into the weeds with the research and it begins to feel a bit like insider baseball, but I know there are new readers every day who are introduced to the content for the first time as that makes the complexity of the larger story hard to convey. Thanks for hanging in there with me as I struggle with what it all means.
Thank you for your recap of these historic events. Writing these things down and sharing it with others is how history and the people involved in history survive. Thank you!
Writing them down is the only way I can seem to make sense of what happened. And even after I've written down what facts I've discovered, I still needed to take a step back to see the larger story. By sharing it, I hope others will fill in missing pieces or provide counter evidence that I have not yet found. Thanks for reading and helping me make sense of it all.
How tragic! Everything and everyone working against. I would imagine this is a story that resonates with many insidious across the country. Have you had any Ojibwe readers?
Ironic how easy it is to see now how everything and everyone worked against Namaypoke's interests at the same time settlers like Moody thought they were acting as "friends" of their Indian neighbors to set aside land for them and like Dickens, the Indian Agent, who thought Namaypoke noncompetent to act in his own interest. To answer your question about Ojibway readers, I know and recognize a good number of names who are subscribers from the Lake of the Woods area and am grateful to them and you who are readers.
What a tragedy! And I am sure Namaypoke's story is repeated with local variations thousands of times across the country. I am so sorry for all that our culture has done to rip First Peoples from their land, their culture, their language and their lives.
The transfer of allotment lands into private properrty mostly occurred before 1930 and it involved millions of acres across America. All of the land we walk today in this country is treaty land and it is so easy to forget that along with erasing what happened during our great-grandparents' lifetime.
Erasure is exactly the right word for it, and I am so appreciative of the tenacious and thorough research you are doing to restore the Warroad stories erased by those who believed one culture had the "right" to erase another and take their land. You are re-storying the history we all learned. Thank you!
It has taken many years to let go of what I thought I knew and many more to make sense of what I have been finding in the historical record. It's a process of un-forgetting more than re-membering.
When we think we know the stories and the pattern, it is very hard to integrate information that apparently doesn't make sense. And we are always slow to let go of the familiar and "un-forget" as you say, what we thought we knew. Good for you for persisting!
I was not aware of the process of how allotment lands got shifted into private property. This is a process that happens wherever people don't have clear title to their land, but disgraceful to see how it happens even in a "legal" context.
I recently learned that my husband's great grandfather, an immigrant from Sweden was farming in a place about 20 minutes from Warroad at this time.
There were a LOT of Swedish immigrants in Roseau County, also in what became Lake of the Woods County (previously Beltrami). Curious, which township? Name of Maguire?
No, Swedes named Lundberg. Their land is now part of the state forest, I believe. They were in Pencer, until my husband's great grandfather took to the road as a travelling preacher.
I'm in Door County this weekend for a nature writing conference but when I get home I'll look to see if I have anyting. I recognize the name Lundberg and there many families in that area who were relocated in the 1930s; the sandy land wasn't good for farming. Beltrami Island (island of glacial Lake Agazziz) is now mostly state forest. I'm guessing it is part of Hayes Lake State Park.
Like others who comment on your posts, Jill, I am simply awed with the efforts you are putting into this difficult research. I am old enough now not to be shocked or surprised with people holding some power and wealth taking great advantages of others with lesser power. Nevertheless it deeply saddens me.
In this post and last week's post, I didn't do any new research but instead connected dots between the pieces to provide a summary of findings to date and the story emerging from them. Same for next week's post. It has been helpful to take a step back and summarize where the research leads me.
Jill
I’m working on a story about an abstract company in northwestern Wisconsin. I saw an abstract (or deed for a homestead) for land which was signed by Grover Cleveland in 1862. Abstract companies work very hard to ensure a potentially new property owner has “ clear” title .
( I’m not sure what this has to do with your post - only that I learned a lot about transfer of property.)
That likely was one of the first homesteads after the Act was signed into law in 1862. Most of the land transactions in the Warroad area were recorded in the US Patent Office in Crookston. Abstract companies are still around and serve the same purpose today.
It's not surprising that Namaypoke was "short-changed." So many were and it's still happening. Another lesson in our sad history and the way we still function with people who are branded as different. I'm glad you're preserving some of the story.
I'm glad you are still reading. I've gone deep into the weeds with the research and it begins to feel a bit like insider baseball, but I know there are new readers every day who are introduced to the content for the first time as that makes the complexity of the larger story hard to convey. Thanks for hanging in there with me as I struggle with what it all means.
Thank you for your recap of these historic events. Writing these things down and sharing it with others is how history and the people involved in history survive. Thank you!
Writing them down is the only way I can seem to make sense of what happened. And even after I've written down what facts I've discovered, I still needed to take a step back to see the larger story. By sharing it, I hope others will fill in missing pieces or provide counter evidence that I have not yet found. Thanks for reading and helping me make sense of it all.
How tragic! Everything and everyone working against. I would imagine this is a story that resonates with many insidious across the country. Have you had any Ojibwe readers?
Ironic how easy it is to see now how everything and everyone worked against Namaypoke's interests at the same time settlers like Moody thought they were acting as "friends" of their Indian neighbors to set aside land for them and like Dickens, the Indian Agent, who thought Namaypoke noncompetent to act in his own interest. To answer your question about Ojibway readers, I know and recognize a good number of names who are subscribers from the Lake of the Woods area and am grateful to them and you who are readers.
What a tragedy! And I am sure Namaypoke's story is repeated with local variations thousands of times across the country. I am so sorry for all that our culture has done to rip First Peoples from their land, their culture, their language and their lives.
The transfer of allotment lands into private properrty mostly occurred before 1930 and it involved millions of acres across America. All of the land we walk today in this country is treaty land and it is so easy to forget that along with erasing what happened during our great-grandparents' lifetime.
Erasure is exactly the right word for it, and I am so appreciative of the tenacious and thorough research you are doing to restore the Warroad stories erased by those who believed one culture had the "right" to erase another and take their land. You are re-storying the history we all learned. Thank you!
It has taken many years to let go of what I thought I knew and many more to make sense of what I have been finding in the historical record. It's a process of un-forgetting more than re-membering.
When we think we know the stories and the pattern, it is very hard to integrate information that apparently doesn't make sense. And we are always slow to let go of the familiar and "un-forget" as you say, what we thought we knew. Good for you for persisting!
Yes, including the land where I live in central NY.
I was not aware of the process of how allotment lands got shifted into private property. This is a process that happens wherever people don't have clear title to their land, but disgraceful to see how it happens even in a "legal" context.
I recently learned that my husband's great grandfather, an immigrant from Sweden was farming in a place about 20 minutes from Warroad at this time.
There were a LOT of Swedish immigrants in Roseau County, also in what became Lake of the Woods County (previously Beltrami). Curious, which township? Name of Maguire?
No, Swedes named Lundberg. Their land is now part of the state forest, I believe. They were in Pencer, until my husband's great grandfather took to the road as a travelling preacher.
I'm in Door County this weekend for a nature writing conference but when I get home I'll look to see if I have anyting. I recognize the name Lundberg and there many families in that area who were relocated in the 1930s; the sandy land wasn't good for farming. Beltrami Island (island of glacial Lake Agazziz) is now mostly state forest. I'm guessing it is part of Hayes Lake State Park.
Like others who comment on your posts, Jill, I am simply awed with the efforts you are putting into this difficult research. I am old enough now not to be shocked or surprised with people holding some power and wealth taking great advantages of others with lesser power. Nevertheless it deeply saddens me.
In this post and last week's post, I didn't do any new research but instead connected dots between the pieces to provide a summary of findings to date and the story emerging from them. Same for next week's post. It has been helpful to take a step back and summarize where the research leads me.