“The Nicollet County Historical Societyis a recognized state leader inpreserving our historical heritage.NCHS leadership has preserved theirreplaceable Harkin Store residenceand, working with the Friends of FortRidgely, finished trails so that folkscan learn at and enjoy visitingMinnesota’s only Civil War site. I amproud to partner with the NicolletCounty Historical Society and I lookforward to our next steps to preserveour past for future.

~ Representative Terry Morrow

Minnesota’s bond funds are hard at workat two sites that the Nicollet County

Historical Society manages for theMinnesota Historical Society. Bond fundsfrom both the 2006 and 2008 Legislativesessions will be used to fund two projectsnow underway in Nicollet County. Bothprojects will be a collaborative effortbetween the Minnesota Historical Societyand the Nicollet County Historical Society.

At the Harkin Store, exterior restoration work willbegin in mid-September. When the project iscompleted in November, the store will have anew coat of paint on the exterior. The house willhave had rotted siding removed, the front porchrebuilt and a new coat of paint. The accessibilityramp in front of the house will be removed andreplaced with a less obtrusive scissors lift. Alongwith the building restoration, the site will have animproved stairway from the parking lot to thesite, better site drainage, and a new programarea on the east side of the house. Guy WillitsConstruction will do all of this work.

October 2008 • Volume 13 / Issue 3

Improvements at County Historic Sitesby Tom Ellig, Minnesota Historical Society Program Manager for Historic Sites

At Fort Ridgely, phase two ofinterpretive/recreational traildevelopment will be complet-ed. Phase one; research, writ-ing, fabrication and installation

Improvements continuedon page 10

The Alexander Harkin Store and home in2004 with the handicap access ramp andin 2008 with the ramp removed in prepa-ration for the installation of the newscissors lift. Note also that the dilapidat-ed shed on the property has also beenremoved.

Director’s Report 2

Site Info 2

Members 2

Memorials 2

Sites Wind Down 3

Museum Store 4

New Faces 4

Active Archives 5

Our Friends 6–7

Coming Events 8–9

Events Calendar 11

Membership Form 12

CONTENTS

Memorialsreceived since the lastnewsletter:

In Memory ofPeggy Schwichtenberg

Given byStan & Marjorie HalvorsonJudy Scholl

MembersThanks to the followingnew and renewingmembers of NCHS sinceour last newsletter.

Renewed$200 Business Member

Arts Center of St. Peter

Renewed$1000 Business Member

Gustavus Adolphus College

Renewed Individual Members:Janet BoesePaul BresnahanCraig NelsonDonna & Joe ResnerJohn Vogel

Renewed Family Members:Kathy CoreyRoger & Lois CurrierJeremy & Michel FreemanTerry & Sandy GappaRay & Liz Jacobson

Renewed Supporting Members:Don & Barb Olmanson

New Individual Members:Margie CooneyBette JohnsonWillie Lindquist

New Family Members:Betty & Tom McGraw-HynesJennifer St. Julien Powers

New Patron Members:Grant & Karen Annexstad

the CROSSINGis a publication of theNicollet CountyHistorical Society.Subscription isfree with a Societymembership.

Contributors forthis issue:Jessica BrockbergEileen HolzBen LeonardBob Sandeen

Director’s ColumnIt happens every year. Beautifuldays seem to string together all

the way across the ten day out-look, leaves change, childrenreturn to school, and summercrowds dissipate. Fall is a greattime to visit our sites, walk thetrails, or hit up a program.Harkin and Ridgely are openweekends through mid October,and the Treaty Site is open year‘round. If you haven’t seen thenew exhibit, please come checkit out. If you have a class, organization, orgroup of friends that would like to come, pleaseschedule a tour.

We’re looking forward to the rest of the year witha slew of new programs in just the next month. Ifthere’s anything you’d like to do or see, let usknow. We’d love to hear from you. Our membersare our greatest asset. If you know someonewho might be interested in becoming a member,pass along your newsletter – or tell us, we’ll besure they get one.

Along with our membership the Society reallyvalues the relationships we have with other cul-tural institutions. In the coming months we’ll col-laborate with a number of different organizationsfrom the Gustavus Adolphus College EnglishDepartment to the Ney Nature Center and theArts Center of St. Peter. If you haven’t checkedthese places out, we think you should – they’rerun by like minded folks looking to improve ourquality of life and access to arts and culture.We’re lucky they do what they do!

Ben Leonard, Director

Gustavus international students get a taste of Minnesotahistory when they visited the new central exhibit in September..

Executive BoardPresident, LaVonne Craig, North Mankato

Vice President, Gary Schmidt, Mankato

Treasurer, Herb Poncin, Nicollet

Secretary, Julie Gilbert, St. Peter

Historian, Evie Swenson, Nicollet

DirectorsJeremy Freeman, St. Peter

Chris Corley, North Mankato

Arden DeBoer, Lafayette

Emily Lokensgard, Norseland

Thorild Nelson, Nicollet

Sujay Rao, St. Peter

Tami Skinner, St. Peter

Diane Stenson, St. Peter

Sally Webster, Bernadotte

Ed Wetherill, St. Peter

Contact InformationExecutive Director, Ben Leonardben@nchsmn.org

Research Coordinator, Bob Sandeenbob@nchsmn.org

Office Manager, Jessica Brockbergjessica@nchsmn.org

Museum Store Manager, Ruth Grewe

Cox House Manager, Judy Leonard

Harkin Store Site Manager, Ruth Grewe

Harkin Store Asst. Site Mgr., Ross Gersten

TSHC Museum Assistants, Allen McBride,Hannah Skinner

TSHC Maintenance, Wayne Passon

Ft. Ridgely Site Manager, Nancy Zempel

Treaty Site History Center

1851 N. Minnesota Avenue

St. Peter, MN 56082

TSHC Phone: (507) 934-2160

TSHC Fax: (507) 934-0172

Hours: Tues.–Sat. 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Sunday 1–4 p.m.

Archives: Tues.–Sat. 10 a.m.–4 p.m.General information via e-mail:

museum@nchsmn.org orresearch@nchsmn.org

Website: www.nchsmn.org

E. St. Julien Cox House

(Closed for the season)

Harkin Store

P.O. Box 112, New Ulm, MN 56082

Eight miles northwest of New Ulm,

on County Highway 21

Harkin Store Phone: (507) 354-8666

Hours: Through October 15

Fri.–Sun. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Fort Ridgely

72404 County Road 30

Fairfax, Minn. 55332

Fort Ridgely Phone: (507) 426-7888

Web site: ridgely@nchsmn.org

Hours: Through October 15

Sat. & Sun.: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

2 the CROSSING

Ben Leonard

the CROSSING 3

T housands of visitors made a trip to one of oursites this summer. If you haven’t, or are ready

for another, there’s still time. Harkin and Ridgelyremain open weekends through October 12th.The Cox House is now closed, but will be openin October for a Victorian Halloween experience.If you have any questions about hours, direc-tions, or anything else, call us at 507-934-2160.

The HarkinStore was abusy placeon Sundaysfor their pro-grams thisseason. Wehad a varietyof differentprograms,something for

everyone, displays or demonstrations, booksignings and of course, everyone’sfavorite–music. Our busiest Sunday programwas Grasshoppers and the next was Day in theLife of a Pioneer Woman, and thenIndependence Day. Our gift shop was alwaysbusy as well, but we still have many very niceand different items for your shopping needs. Wedo a sale after Labor Day so come check it out.We are looking forward to next season and thenew look to the site. We hope that we will be asbusy as this year and have some new and dif-ferent programs also.

Staff at FortRidgelyremain busy,but will soonreflect on theseason andstart planningfor next yearsevents. TheMilitaryEncamp-

ment is already scheduled for the last weekend inJune. Beside the 5th Minnesota Living Historygroup, the Minnesota Kite Society will do a kitefly event.

The updated exhibit room has had many posi-tive comments from the visitors to the commis-sary. Staring out the window gives the feeling ofhow the soldiers would have felt as they cameto request items for their personal use or asthey worked and trained at the Fort. Installingthe Sibley tent in the back room has made for

great times for the youth. Kidslove it and have fun spendingtime in the tent dressed in theuniforms and clothes we haveavailable at the site.

The opening of the State ParkGolf Course has added visitationto the site. The commissary hasbecome an unofficial clubhousefor the golfers to stop and cooldown and purchase a snack andcold drink. The patrons usingthe course have expressedpositive comments. Fort Ridgelyis the only Minnesota StatePark with a golf course withinits boundaries.

The next few weeks theMinnesota River Valley will havea great color show. Take a week-end drive over to Fort Ridgelyand enjoy the wonderful colorsthat will be part of the sceneryas you travel to the park.

The CoxHouse haswrapped upthe 2008season.We werepleased towelcomemany tours.The houseis a greatplace for everyone, from gradeschoolers to grandparents.Though the site has closed, itwill reopen for two very specialevents. The house will trans-form into a Victorian séance atHalloween. See the article inthis newsletter for more infor-mation. The house will reopenthe first two weekends inDecember for our much-lovedannual tradition, Christmas atthe Cox House. The Cox HouseCommittee will again team withthe Questers to decorate forthis year’s theme: A VictorianChristmas.

Upper left: the HarkinStore and AlexanderHarkin Home.

Bottom left: a groupof visitors to FortRidgely get an intro-duction to lifeat the early 1850smilitary fort.

Right: the E. St. JulienCox house–a trip intothe Victorian past ofSt. Peter.

Sites’ Season Winds Down

4 the CROSSING

Come see the recentlyexpanded Treaty Site

Museum Store! We’d like to bea place to stop and shopwhether you come to see theexhibits or not. We have a wideselection of books, even chil-dren’s books–from ThorntonBurgess to American Girl. Wehave a wide range of other toyslike plush animals, gyroscopes,star finders, compasses, andkites. Adults will find someunique items as well, leathercoin purses, original artwork,and more. We are having a 10%sale, members get 20% inOctober. Come in and get someearly Christmas shopping done!

New FacesSociety welcomes three new faces to the

Treaty Site History Center. Drew, Emma, andNicole will help greet visitors, answer questions,work in the shop, and help out with variousother projects. We’re lucky to have them!

My name is Andrew (Drew) Yackel-Juleen, andI hail from the town of Windom, Minn. I'm cur-rently a Junior at Gustavus Adolphus Collegepursuing a major in Religion and a minor inSociology. I consider myself somewhat of a his-tory buff, so it was natural for me to start work-ing at the Historical Society. My broad academicinterests have left me wondering what exactly Iwant to do after I graduate. Right now my incli-nation is to take a couple of years to serveoverseas with an NGO like the Peace Corps.After that…who knows? Maybe graduateschool, maybe not.

My name is Emma Foley and Iam a first year student atGustavus Adolphus Collegefrom Lombard, Ill. (a westernsuburb of Chicago). I plan tomajor in Physics, but have aninterest in History and havedone work at my local histori-cal society. My interests andhobbies beyond those subjectsinclude knitting, rubber stamp-ing and paper crafting, reading(especially Arthurian legends),writing, and playing the flute.

Nicole Whalen worked mostrecently at the Elks NatureCenter in Mankato.

Museum Store Musings by Ruth Grewe, manager

Donationsaccepted into our collections sinceour July 2008 Crossing:Bernadotte Lutheran Church: several confirma-

tion pictures approximately 100 years old.

Becky Briggs: ribbon from the 25th anniver-sary of Lafayette, Minn., 1896 to 1921.

Henry Cotten: History of the Jonas and EvaLundeen family and their descendents andan autobiography of Col. John A. Lundeen.

Dakota City Heritage Village: State ofMinnesota Supreme Court documents aboutlegal actions involving Nicollet County resi-dents in the 1880s.

Cletus Franta: St. George Church 150thanniversary book.

Ruth Johnson: numerous items from heryears of service as a member of theMinnesota legislature.

Ruth Klosnner: Gaylord – Hub of SibleyCounty book and Nicollet County SchoolDistrict 7 items.

Bob Lambert: St. Peter-Kasota AreaCommunity Recreation Council documents.

Emilie Lokensgard: Scandian Grove Churchitems (includes booklets of the minutes ofannual meetings and church yearbooks)and Nicollet County plat books from 1975and 1978.

Olmstead County Historical Society: Polk CityDirectories from 1987 and 1993 for St.Peter, from 1994 for Mankato and NorthMankato, and from 1987 and 1993 forNew Ulm.

Neal Siebenbruner: World War II photo albums.

Trinity Lutheran School in Nicollet, Minn.: atwo-volume set of W.G. Gresham’s TheHistory of Nicollet and Le Sueur CountiesMinnesota, and an extra copy of volume two.

Thank you for your concern for preserv-ing Nicollet County history and for yourinterest in “growing” the collections ofyour local Historical Society.

the CROSSING 5

Active Archivesby Bob Sandeen, Research Coordinator

Top to bottom: Several cooks can be seen in thephotograph of the large kitchen at the St. PeterState Hospital. Many others can be found by doingan advanced search of the St. Peter RegionalCenter contributions to the Minnesota Reflectionsphoto project.

Photograph from about 1949 shows St. Peter postoffice employees sorting mail. From left to right,Clair Gilbertson, Leroy (Jim) Miller, Ernest Kramer,Ray Sampson, and Jerry Pitman.

This postcard from about 1940 shows St. Peterdrummer Cliff Mollert and his band. The band mem-bers were, from left to right, Burton Johnson, DonAnderson, Bill Norman, Maurice Rheaume, CliffMollert, Bob Tousley, and piano player JeanGustafson.

Mr. Bean and a young boy on the Bean farm nearthe community of Nicollet in Nicollet County fromabout 1910. Another man is visible driving thehorse-drawn reaper.

Over two hundred new images from our photograph collectionhave been placed on the Internet at the “Minnesota

Reflections” website. Additional images should be available soon.

The new images include the five-inch by seven-inch photo-graph negatives that were used to make St. Peter postcardsfrom 1950 through 1965. Negatives from earlier years havebeen available on the website for a long time. Use the“Advanced Search” option to select the “Nicollet CountyHistorical Society,” click “Add,” and type “postcard negative”into the keyword search box to find these newly posted views.Each image has been converted electronically from a photo-graphic negative to a digital positive, which means that thefinal images look like normal photographic prints.

A series of photographs that shows the construction of the postoffice in St. Peter has also been added to the Internet. A numberof photographs of Civil War veterans can be found as well. Youwill find several post office employees sorting mail at the St.Peter Post Office and a postcard of Cliff Mollert and his band. Anumber of photos have been added that show the clothing stylesthat were popular in the past. These include some very niceexamples of women's hats.

The Norseland Lutheran Church has also added photographsto the “Minnesota Reflections” website. It is very unusual tofind an individual church listed as a participant in the project.Take time to look at their photographs.

The entire 1899 Nicollet County Plat Book will be on the“Minnesota Reflections” Web site soon. The plat book showsfarm boundaries and gives the names of the owners of theproperties. There are also maps of the county's communities.

Over 150 photographs from the St. Peter State Hospital will alsobe posted on the Internet soon. Look for them in the “St. PeterRegional Treatment Center” collection on the“MinnesotaReflections” website. They include a wide variety of imagesspanning many decades. It is a very impressive collection!

We have other projects that are also underway. We have alreadydigitized confirmation photographs from the BernadotteLutheran Church and the Norseland Lutheran Church. Our nextproject is to digitize the confirmation photos from ScandianGrove Lutheran Church. Those photos are already here at themuseum. The process permits each church to have extra copiesof their photos in digital form. Each church receives a digitizedset of the photos when the work is completed. Another set isstored here at the museum.

The three churches mentioned above have also brought us alarge number of additional photographs for us to digitize. Aftereach photo has been scanned, the digital version can be elec-tronically adjusted to restore colors that have faded, removespots and stains, replace missing corners and other portions ofthe photo, and generally bring the photo back to its original

Minnesota Reflections continued on page 7

Our FriendsSocial networking Web sites like Facebook and Myspace, each with one hundredmillion users, are changing how individuals, businesses, and organizations inter-

act. People can now be linked in ways that ten years ago would have been impos-sible. Log on to one of these sites and you can become friends with others whoshare your interests, join groups, or become fans of organizations. You can evenfind the Society on Facebook these days. We thought we’d capture the spirit ofsocial networking and put it in this newsletter. We believe the more cultural oppor-tunities available to everyone the better. So here are a few area organizations weconsider friends–and we hope you become fans of them too!

Twin Rivers Center for the ArtsEmy Frentz Arts Guild523 South Second Street / P.O. Box 293Mankato, MN 56002507-387-1008www.twinriversarts.orgShannon Robinson, Directorshannon@twinriversarts.org

Looking for information about arts and culture inGreater Mankato? Twin Rivers Center for the Arts(TRCA) represents more nearly 30 local arts andculture organizations from dance to drama, visualarts to literature, cultural heritage to music. As anonprofit organization that advocates for the arts,TRCA connects people to arts and culture while

creating partnerships to ensure that the arts thrive in our community.

You can check out TRCA online, or stop by their new offices at the Emy Frentz ArtsGuild to pick up the latest information on all things art and culture in Greater Mankato.TRCA also serves as a central box office for local performing arts groups, includingthe Mankato Symphony Orchestra and Merely Players Community Theatre. Located inthe heart of a growing arts and historic district, the Arts Guild houses eight artist stu-dios and a gallery exhibition space. Call TRCA for more information or to set up agroup tour.

The Hillstrom Museum of Art at GustavusAdolphus College is one of the foremost art institu-tions of southern Minnesota. It has an active sched-ule of temporary exhibitions of art by contemporaryand historical artists of regional, national, and inter-national renown, including exhibits drawn from theMuseum’s permanent collection. The Museum alsopresents related lectures and gallery talks byartists, art historians, and art critics. The Museum islocated in the lower level of the Campus Center onthe north end of the College campus, and there isample parking for visitors nearby. Regular hours(during the academic year) are weekdays, 9 a.m.to 4 p.m. and weekends, 1 to 5: p.m. For moreinformation, see the Museum website atwww.gustavus.edu/oncampus/finearts/hillstrom/,or call 507-933-7200.

Our Friends continued on next page.

6 the CROSSING

the CROSSING 7

Arts Center of Saint Peter315 S. Minnesota / St. Peter, MN 56082(507) 931-3630www.artscentersp.orginfo@artscentersp.orgHours: Tuesday-Sunday 1–5 p.m.

Thursday 1–8 p.m.

Easy to find with a large Paul Granlund sculptureon the sidewalk in front of the building, the ArtsCenter of Saint Peter houses the Colonel TheodoreG. Moline Gallery mounting at least ten rotatingexhibitions every year. Our fully-equipped ClayCenter offers classes for children, families, andadults. Just off the Gallery on the main floor is aGallery Shop with area artists and musicians worksare for sale. Be sure to ask about the Center'sperforming art and arts class schedules whenyou visit. Gallery is always free of charge.

The old Center Building located on thegrounds of the St Peter Regional Treatment Centeris the oldest building on the campus and datesfrom 1867 when construction began. Philadelphiaarchitect Samuel Sloan had designed a number ofsimilar structures, this one being listed on theNational Register.

The building houses a museum of artifacts repre-senting the treatment center during the late 1800s,and is open to visitors by appointment. Displays arevaried, using photos and settings of furniture to givevisitors an idea of small vignettes of hospital life androutine at the turn of the century.

Individuals or groups interested in seeing the muse-um may receive more information by e-mailing theCenter Volunteer Office: betty.mcgraw@state.mn.us.Office hours are Monday through Friday 8 a.m.to 3 p.m.

Minnesota Reflections continued from page 5

appearance. This type of work has already been done for a largenumber of photos. Printed versions of the digital photos can thenbe put on display, while the original photographs are safelystored away from exposure to light and large changes of temper-ature and humidity.

As usual, we are still looking for interesting photographs from allparts of the county to add to our collection. If you want to keepthe original photos, we can add digital versions of them to ourcollection by scanning the originals. We also still need atlasesand plat books from any time period, telephone books prior to1990, church histories and booklets, and family histories.Right: The St. Peter High School Girl's Basketball Team in 1911. The names on thereverse are: 1, Evangeline Peterson; 2, Myrtle Blomberg; 3. Juanita Johns; 4, EdithBoethin; 5, Gladys Chappell; 6, Alma Haesecke; 7, Mabel LeDue.

T he Nicollet County Historical Society hasteamed up with St. Peter’s Sneaky

Productions, LLC to bring a Victorian GhostShow into the beautiful Eugene St. Julien CoxHouse for five nights this Halloween season.

A year ago Michael Callahan, owner of SneakyProductions, culled a batch of one hundred yearold methods, props, and techniques out of oldtexts written about the mediums at the turn of thecentury. From these, he assembled a stark showfilled with subtlety and darkness. Last yearCallahan’s show was housed in an empty storefront on Minnesota Avenue in downtown St. Peterand operated under the name “The Little GhostTheater.” This year, thanks to Ben Leonard,Director of the Nicollet County Historical Society,Callahan’s ghost show has been moved into thefantastically gothic Cox House.

“Shows like this work or don’t work largelybecause of atmosphere,” Callahan said. “Beingable to put a Victorian Ghost Show into thefinest example of Victorian/gothic architecture inSt. Peter (and arguably in southern Minnesota) isan outstanding opportunity. Even without theadditions made to the show from last year, put-ting the show into the Cox House alone would

make the event three to fourtimes more powerful,” Callahanwent on to say.

In addition to the site upgrade,this year’s guest experience willrun nearly 45 minutes, and willinclude new “manifestations.”“There’s more action thisyear…more things that gobump in the night, it’s a greatshow,” Callahan added.

Performances will be held thenights of October 23rd throughthe 25th, and again on the30th and 31st. Shows will starton every hour and half hourbeginning at 6 p.m. with thelast show beginning at 10 p.m.The Eugene St. Julien CoxHouse is located at 500 NorthWashington Avenue in St. Peter,Minn. Tickets are $9 and canbe purchased at the door or bycalling 507-934-2160. Creditcard purchases must be madeby phone. Reservations for spe-cific show times are encouraged.

Corn is the nation’s most-planted, most-processed, most-subsidized crop. More than 80

million acres of the heartland are planted in corneach year, and delivered to our tables. Almosteverything Americans eat contains corn: highfructose corn syrup,corn-fed meat, andcorn-basedprocessed foods arethe staples of themodern diet. Readyfor an adventure andalarmed by signs oftheir generation’sbulging waistlines,college friends IanCheney and CurtEllis know where togo to investigate.Eighty years ago,Ian and Curt’s great-grandfathers lived

just a few miles apart, in thesame rural county in northernIowa. Now their great-grandsons

King Corn continued on page 10

8 the CROSSING

Victorian Ghost Show Cox House

King Corn in St. Peter

Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis taste their harvest in Greene, Iowa.

Ph

oto

by

Sam

Cu

llman

Specific dollar amounts forarts, history and cultural her-itage funding have not beendetermined yet. Thesewill be determined by theLegislature and Governor, ifthe ballot question passes.

Why is this on the bal-lot? In recent years,advocates for out-doors and culturalprograms haveseen budgets cutand it has notkept up withinflation. Inaddition, the rapidgrowth in someparts of the state thatthreatens our environmentand cultural heritage–thethings that make Minnesotaspecial and contribute to ourgreat quality of life.

What if I don’t vote on thequestion? According toMinnesota law, on a constitu-tional question, not voting iscounted as a “NO” vote. So, asan informed and educatedvoter, you should study theissue and cast your vote.

On November 4th Minnesotans will have achance to vote for or against the Clean Water,

Land, and Legacy Amendment. This amendmentto the State Constitution would provide funding towater quality, wildlife habitat, arts, culture, parks,and trails. The Society, though it has the legalright, has not taken a position on the amendment.It would provide much needed funding towardsMinnesota’s quality of life. However, many ques-tions remain on how and to whom money wouldbe distributed. We have compiled several talkingpoints below compiled from several sources,including the Minnesota Historical Society.

What’s the tax? A question will appear onthe ballot in the November general election,asking voters to raise the sales tax three-eighthsof a cent. That would translate into less than 15cents a day–about a $1 a week–for the “aver-age” Minnesota family.

How much revenue are we talkingabout? It would generate approximately $300million per year in 2008 dollars. The languagein the constitution specifically allocates fundingamong four purposes as follows: 33% for waterquality, 33% for wildlife habitat, 19.75% for artsand cultural resources, and 14.25% for parksand trails.

How much money would go towardsculture? The Arts and Cultural Heritage por-tion of the proposal would raise 19.75% of thetotal, or approximately $54 million dollars.

scheduled for publication inspring of 2010. Join us for anafternoon of armchair traveland hear the unique informa-tion Doug has to share aboutthe parks that are part of thegreat state of Minnesota.

Admission is $2. Please contactthe Society at 507-934-2160 orjessica@nchsmn.org for moredetails. Fort Ridgely State Parkis located 7 miles south ofFairfax–10 miles north ofSleepy Eye on State Highway#4. Minnesota State Park per-mit required.

Renown Minnesota photographer Doug Ohmanwill be back at Fort Ridgely with a complete-

ly new show: State Parks of Minnesota: A PhotoJourney. Set to be published as another in hisbeautiful series of books, get a sneak peak onSunday, October 12th at 1:30 p.m. If youhaven’t seen Doug before you should. He’sextremely entertaining. It will also be your lastchance to visit the Commissary Building andexhibits this year.

Go on a Minnesota fall vacation with photogra-pher, Doug Ohman, as he explores area stateparks. Doug will eventually visit all ofMinnesota’s 67 parks for his upcoming book.Join us as he shares his stories, histories andpersonal adventures of the state parks he hasvisited. A power point program will highlight thepictures that will eventually be part of the book

the CROSSING 9

PhotographerDoug Ohman

Clean Water FundOutdoor Heritage FundCultural Heritage FundParks & Trails Fund

Clean Water,Land and LegacyAmendment

14.25% / $43 Million

0000 33% / $100 Million

0000 33% / $100 Million

19.75% / $59 Million

Photographer Doug Ohman to Present Program

Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment

10 the CROSSING

“This is as much

a thoughtful

meditation on the

plight of the

American farmer

as it is a rant against

our expanding

waistlines.”

Robert WilonskyVillage Voice

“Not only do his-torical sites likeFort Ridgelyand the HarkinStore help pre-serve ourregion’s uniquehistory, theyprovide stu-dents and visi-tors an interac-tive educationalexperience.By bringinghistory to lifefor both youngand old, theseattractionsmake learningenjoyable andexciting.”~ Senator Kathy Sheran

Right: The Fort Ridgelytrails system, presentlyundergoing a twophase improvementproject through theState of MinnesotaDNR, to be completedin 2009.

© 5/2008 by State ofMinnesota, Departmentof Natural Resources

Improvements continued from page 1

of interpretive markers and design of the trails was completed in 2006 with aLegislative Citizens Committee for Minnesota Resources grant. Phase two, con-struction of the trails, is now beginning. When completed, the site will have ahandicapped accessible trail that will tie together all of the new interpretive mark-ers around the interior of the Fort grounds. A non-accessible trail will take visitorsoutside the Fort proper to the location of ancillary Fort buildings and to the breast-works along the bluffs of the Minnesota River Valley. Construction work is tenta-tively scheduled to be completed in 2009.

Area visitors should make plans now to visit both sites next summer to see therestored Harkin Store and see the work progressing at Fort Ridgely.

1

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River Bluff Trail

River Bluff Trail

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Prairie Trail

Fort Trail

Old Field Trail

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Airplane Hill

Upper Valley

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Lower Valley Trail

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Oak Savanna Trail

River Bluff Trail

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Because lands exist within the boundaries of this parkthat are not under the jurisdiction of the D.N.R., checkwith the park manager if you plan to use facilities suchas trails and roads other than those shown.

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they plant and grow a bumper crop of America’smost-productive, most-subsidized grain on oneacre of Iowa soil. But when they try to followtheir pile of corn into the food system, what theyfind raises troubling questions about how weeat—and how we farm.

Filmmaker Ian Cheney will be at the Treaty SiteHistory Center Friday, October 10th at 6:30 p.m.to screen the film and answer questions. Theevent is absolutely free and open to all. Pleasedon’t miss this special opportunity to see animportant film and meet one of its creators. Thisevent would not have been possible without gen-erous collaboration and support from the St.Peter Food Co-Op, Gustavus AdolphusDepartment of English, Renewing theCountryside, and the St. Peter United MethodistFellowship.

King Corn continued from page 8

are returning with a mission:they will plant an acre of corn,follow their harvest into theworld, and attempt to under-stand what they—and all of us—are really made of.

King Corn is a feature docu-mentary about two friends, oneacre of corn, and the subsidizedcrop that drives our fast-foodnation. In King Corn, IanCheney and Curt Ellis, bestfriends from college on the eastcoast, move to the heartland tolearn where their food comesfrom. With the help of friendlyneighbors, genetically modifiedseeds, and powerful herbicides,

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Event/Program information:Harkin Store: Time: 1 to 4 p.m. / Fee: $3 adults, $2 seniors and children 6–17. Free for children age 5 and

under and MHS members.

TSHC & Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. unless noted below / Fee: $3 adults, $.50 children 13–18.Cox House: Free for children age 12 and under, NCHS and MHS members. $5 combo to TSHC & Cox House.

Now Open School House Exhibit TSHC Exhibit Room

October 5 Farrier Harkin StoreFarrier making horse shoes for the children and explaining the process. 1–4 p.m.

October 10 King Corn (see story on page 8) Treaty Site History CenterFilmmaker Ian Cheney will screen the film and answer questions.Free event and open to all. 6:30 p.m.

October 12 Quilting, Spinning, and Weaving Harkin StoreSheep raising is what brought Alexander Harkin to West Newton. See what is done tomake wool ready for use. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

October 12 Doug Ohman presentsState Parks of Minnesota: A Photo Journey (see story on page 9) Fort RidgelyProgram will highlight the pictures that will eventually be part of the book scheduled forpublication in spring of 2010, as Doug shares his photos about the parks that are part of thegreat state of Minnesota. Admission is $2. Please contact the Society at 507-934-2160or jessica@nchsmn.org for more details. 1:30 p.m.

October 12 Quilting, Spinning, and Weaving Harkin StoreSheep raising is what brought Alexander Harkin to West Newton. See what is done tomake wool ready for use. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

October 19 Pumpkin Carving and Bonfire Treaty Site History CenterCome join us for a fun day of pumpkin carving and s’mores.Free event. 2:30–4 p.m.

October 19 Lonesome Ron’s Round-up Harkin StoreLonesome Ron’s Round-up with a variety of music. Musicians are invited to joinin the making of music. 1–4 p.m.

October 23–25& 30 & 31 Halloween Celebration (see story on page 8) Cox House

6–10 p.m., Showtimes every 30 minutes.Tickets are $9 and can be purchased at the door or bycalling 507-934-2160. Credit card purchases must be made by phone. Reservations forspecific show times are encouraged.

December6 & 7,

& 13 & 14 Christmas at the E. St. Julien Cox House Cox House1–4 p.m. music and tours

2008 Calendar of Events:

NCHS especially thanks the St. Peter United Wayfor 2008 general operating support.

Preparing students for lives of leadership, service,

and lifelong learning since 1862.

www.gustavus.edu

1851 N. Minnesota Avenue • St. Peter, MN 56082

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Name ____________________________________________

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Yes! I would like to support my Nicollet County HistoricalSociety in 2008 at the following level (please check one).

�� Individual $ 30�� Family $ 45�� Sustaining $ 75�� Patron $ 100�� Supporter $ 200�� Benefactor $ 500�� Life Member $ 1,000

Business Memberships call ore-mail

for info

Please make checks payable to:Nicollet County Historical Society

Membership applications should be mailed to:Nicollet County Historical Society1851 North Minnesota AvenueSt. Peter, MN 56082

NCHS Membership Application

Your membership dollars at work…

new exhibits at TSHC painting of Cox House staffing at Harkin Store programming at Ft. Ridgelypartnering with

MHS at TdS Townsite