Your grandparents had a hard life. I like this line:I imagine ten thousand years of children playing here on this same bedrock and hope for ten thousand more.
A fine piece that captures the challenges of living on Lake of the Woods. If you get a chance go to the Catholic cemetery and Riverside cemetery south of Warroad to see the Johnston ancestors. The fact the family is split in different cemeteries says something about the history.
Riverside Cemetery is where Aunt Audrey was buried last summer at this time. My Uncle Al is buried there, too. I'll look for Johnstons while I'm here in the area. I'm not exactly sure why my great-grandparents were buried in Roosevelt and not at Mt. Carmel where my grandparents are buried. Still trying to figure that out.
I really like the juxtaposition of "bedrock" and "headstone". We used a glacial boulder (AKA "erratic") from our family farm to make my brother's headstone.
I've not read Bjornerund's book; I'll have to check it out! I've just started a new book about Midwestern grasslands by Hage and Marcotty, who were reporters with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It may not have much on Lake of the Woods, but it's super important for southwestern Minnesota.
As the author of a memoir of a gravedigger's daughter (WE'LL BE THE LAST ONES TO LET YOU DOWN), you recognize the kind of connection I have to the "Silent City."
Thank you, Jill. Yes, a hard, hard life not so different from my Missouri grandparents, but colder in Lake of the Woods. Your post reminds me of visiting the cemetary where some of my ancestors are buried in Mexico, MO. It was deeply moving to be in that cemetary next to the old church that felt large to me when I was a child. As an adult, it was clear the church couldn't hold more than 100 people, but I remembered a "cathedral." I'm glad you could visit your grandparent's graves and stir more memories--and stir my memories.
My ancestors conducted a similarly hardscrabble existence to the north in what was once the colony of New Iceland, but is now the Interlake district of Manitoba.
Between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba is somewhat similar landscape. But I admit I had never known about an Icelandic colony! How fascinating to learn about this period from 1870-1915 when they immigrated to Canada. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this, Jill. Those northern Minnesota settlements; that brutal land, so unfit for cultivation. Now, Silent City. Such lives our ancestors lived.
You hit the nail on the head, Mary. Only a few miles south of where they are buried is the Beltrami Island State Forest. It became a state forest because farmers couldn't get anything to grow there. During the Ice Age, the land was an island in Lake Agazziz, and there are no glacial deposits of soil here as there were in the west in the Red River Valley. In 1933 as part of Roosevelt's New Deal, the CCC constructed Norris Camp for the relocation of families who had homesteaded on the Beltrami Island lands.
Beautifully written, as always! So interesting to me, the name Silent City - it's haunting and meaningful and reflects our common cultural context - and at the same time, l know very well now that the dead aren't silent at all - they have lots to say and seem to be looking for ways to say it! l think you've done a wonderful job doing your part to give some of them a voice, in fact. Thank you for this -
Thanks, Constance. I, too, find the name Silent City interesting. Their words were few and their actions spoke for them. To know this landscape is to understand how it shaped their lives.
Your grandparents had a hard life. I like this line:I imagine ten thousand years of children playing here on this same bedrock and hope for ten thousand more.
Thanks, Naomi. There is something about stone that plugs me into a much more expansive sense of time.
A fine piece that captures the challenges of living on Lake of the Woods. If you get a chance go to the Catholic cemetery and Riverside cemetery south of Warroad to see the Johnston ancestors. The fact the family is split in different cemeteries says something about the history.
Riverside Cemetery is where Aunt Audrey was buried last summer at this time. My Uncle Al is buried there, too. I'll look for Johnstons while I'm here in the area. I'm not exactly sure why my great-grandparents were buried in Roosevelt and not at Mt. Carmel where my grandparents are buried. Still trying to figure that out.
I really like the juxtaposition of "bedrock" and "headstone". We used a glacial boulder (AKA "erratic") from our family farm to make my brother's headstone.
I've not read Bjornerund's book; I'll have to check it out! I've just started a new book about Midwestern grasslands by Hage and Marcotty, who were reporters with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It may not have much on Lake of the Woods, but it's super important for southwestern Minnesota.
What a lovely headstone. I’ve just read about erratics in Canada. https://canadaehx.substack.com/p/the-foothills-erractics-train
Cemeteries - a place of grounding and connection. I loved this, Jill. Thanks for sharing (and for the images).
Thanks. Consecrated land holds memories.
I always like a good cemetery visit!
As the author of a memoir of a gravedigger's daughter (WE'LL BE THE LAST ONES TO LET YOU DOWN), you recognize the kind of connection I have to the "Silent City."
100%!
Thank you, Jill. Yes, a hard, hard life not so different from my Missouri grandparents, but colder in Lake of the Woods. Your post reminds me of visiting the cemetary where some of my ancestors are buried in Mexico, MO. It was deeply moving to be in that cemetary next to the old church that felt large to me when I was a child. As an adult, it was clear the church couldn't hold more than 100 people, but I remembered a "cathedral." I'm glad you could visit your grandparent's graves and stir more memories--and stir my memories.
I'm glad it stirred up memories for you of your Missouri roots. These memorials connect us to the place where they lived.
My ancestors conducted a similarly hardscrabble existence to the north in what was once the colony of New Iceland, but is now the Interlake district of Manitoba.
Between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba is somewhat similar landscape. But I admit I had never known about an Icelandic colony! How fascinating to learn about this period from 1870-1915 when they immigrated to Canada. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this, Jill. Those northern Minnesota settlements; that brutal land, so unfit for cultivation. Now, Silent City. Such lives our ancestors lived.
You hit the nail on the head, Mary. Only a few miles south of where they are buried is the Beltrami Island State Forest. It became a state forest because farmers couldn't get anything to grow there. During the Ice Age, the land was an island in Lake Agazziz, and there are no glacial deposits of soil here as there were in the west in the Red River Valley. In 1933 as part of Roosevelt's New Deal, the CCC constructed Norris Camp for the relocation of families who had homesteaded on the Beltrami Island lands.
Beautifully written, as always! So interesting to me, the name Silent City - it's haunting and meaningful and reflects our common cultural context - and at the same time, l know very well now that the dead aren't silent at all - they have lots to say and seem to be looking for ways to say it! l think you've done a wonderful job doing your part to give some of them a voice, in fact. Thank you for this -
Thanks, Constance. I, too, find the name Silent City interesting. Their words were few and their actions spoke for them. To know this landscape is to understand how it shaped their lives.
Beautiful scenery! I too like the trip back in time, not just generations, but thousands of years of history.
The scenery itself seems timeless and it’s a bit like time traveling
Thank you for continuing to share this journey with us!
Thanks for coming along for the ride. It's wonderful to be under this big sky again.
The memories and photos you share are so interesting and inspiring Jill. You keep giving me a nudge to do some of my own digging!
Thanks, Leanne. This landscape inspires. We share a love of this lake!