Seven acres on the Warroad River
where Namaypoke had lived and is buried
In 1955, Maynard Nelson paid $727 for 7.27 acres along the Warroad River where Namaypoke (1840-1916) had lived and is buried.
Who was Maynard Nelson? Searching online, I found a surprising number of Lutheran ministers from Minnesota with that name. I contacted Linda Wimmer, the new pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Warroad to see if Nelson had ever been a minister there. After checking church records, she replied that he had not.
My mom’s cousin, Juanita Kling, lives in Warroad and she recognized the name but told me everyone knew him as “Buck” Nelson. When Juanita was growing up, Nelson and his wife, Amanda, lived only a couple of doors down the street. Mom’s Aunt Mildred and Uncle Ralph Kling often played cards with the Nelsons and socialized over coffee in each other’s kitchens.
Juanita found contact information for Buck’s son in her copy of the Zion Lutheran Church Directory.
I spoke with Maynard Nelson Jr. last week and discovered his mother and my Aunt Audrey had worked together as switchboard operators for the phone company.
He told me more about his father who was born in a small town in Nebraska and during the Dust Bowl moved to Warroad looking for work. He first dug outhouse holes on a farm southwest of Warroad. Everytime they drove by the place, Maynard recalled, his dad pointed out where he got his start.
Maynard Jr. was born in 1951 when his father ran the Husky Service Station at the corner of Lake Street and Highway 11, immediately across from the Warroad school grounds. On the map highlighting the parcels sold in Namaypoke’s original 1905 allotment, a blue line is drawn along Highway 11 as it passes through Warroad and the orange dot shows where the gas station was. The school district owned the parcel highlighted in pink west of Highway 11 and Nelson bought the seven acres highlighted in yellow further to the west along the river.
Maynard was too young to recall anything about his dad buying land, except to realize his dad could see the school grounds and river frontage from his vantage point at the Husky station on the corner.
On his first day of school, Maynard decided he wanted to leave because he didn’t like it. He slipped away and headed straight towards the busy intersection of Lake Street and Highway 11.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Buck called out to his son before he even reached the road.
“I quit.” Maynard told his dad.
His father didn’t let that happen. Maynard went on to graduate from Bemidji State University. Today he enjoys the monthly Trivia Nights at Lake of the Woods Brewery sponsored by the Warroad Heritage Center. He has many fond memories of growing up and living in this community.
Buck Nelson purchased Namaypoke’s land along the river in 1955, the same year Carroll “Cappy” Karlson came to work at the Husky Service Station. Cappy bought the business from him in 1956 and Buck became the head school bus driver for the Warroad School District. In the summers, he worked at the school as a janitor.
What Maynard remembered from his childhood about the woods along the river is how Indians had the right to go across that land. From an early age, he understood they belonged there and to respect their burial grounds.
Buck and Amanda Nelson held the deed for only six years before they sold it to Ed Christian on May 26, 1961, for “one dollar and other valuable considerations.” Known in real estate terms as a “quit claim,” this kind of filing is used when both parties trust each other. It transfers the deed of land from one person to another for a nominal dollar. It is a way to record the gift of real estate property.
Why did the Nelsons give him the land? Were his dad and Ed Christian friends?
“Yes,” Maynard told me. They were good friends, but Maynard said he didn’t really know why his father gave the land to Christian.
Ed Christian was a carpenter in the home construction business. His wife, Effie, died in 1945, leaving him a widower with six children.
In 1947, Christian’s eldest son, Gordon, graduated from Warroad High School, played hockey for the University of North Dakota, and returned home to play for the Warroad Lakers. He was called up by the US Army National Guard in 1951.
Gordon’s younger brothers, Roger and Billy Christian, dominated the ice in Minnesota high school hockey from 1953 to 1957. Roger and Billy played against the Soviet Union to win the gold medal in the 1960 Olympics.
On May 26, 1961, Ed Christian acquired the seven acre parcel from Buck and Amanda Nelson, after his sons came home to Warroad.
What did Ed Christian do with the land? On December 5, 1961, he filed a quit claim and gave the property to his third son and daughter-in-law, Billy and Carol Christian.
On September 13, 1963, Billy and Carol filed a quit claim giving back the seven acres of undeveloped land to Ed Christian. It’s the same date on the plat map of “Christian’s Sub-Division” on which Ed Christian is listed as the proprietor. The land had been surveyed and divided up into residential lots.
Three days later on September 16, 1963, Ed Christian filed another quit claim giving Billy and Carol one of the residential lots, Lot 4 of Block 3, outlined in blue on the map of the Christian Subdivision below. They would build a house here along the river.
Outlined in red is the 0.13 acre designated for the cemetery where Namaypoke, his brother Kakaygeesick, and his niece Laughing Mary are buried.
After this tract of land was subdivided, Ed Christian had the house built in 1915 for Namaypoke taken down and he created a new residential neighborhood around the gravesites.
Today the six-thousand square feet of burial grounds are surrounded by private residences on a quiet side street along the river.
gerald fish comment on a close connection here to manyard and buck nelson . Manyard was my best bud . we started kindergarden the samd day. I had a lead mand philip swenson at polaris farmer great guy. I tramatise Manard the first day wjen my older brothe dropped me off at kindergarden, I cried and cryed I see manard was made of tougher stuff, He tramatized me in third grade when he had his appendix out. He came back to school waddleing like a duck. He may have been the one who pulled my pants down at the drinking fountain or the lunch line. it was a jest kids were playing
It’s interesting that these latest events seem so “normal “, in contrast with the confusion and intrigue associated with the story of how the land came into the control of the settlers. I wonder is that’s because this recent history is more familiar and the older stories were buried? Glad to hear that the homeowners near the burial ground are good stewards. By the way, the Warroad school looks exactly like the school buildings in my hometown in southwestern MN….even down to the external fire escape slide!