Our family enjoyed traveling. As I mentioned previously my father first drove to Oregon from his home in Redwood Falls, Minnesota in November, 1936 in his new Ford Coupe. He and his brother Aubrey visited their Uncle John Durlam in Lebanon, Oregon. Aubrey was eager to meet a women in nearby Portland that owned a parcel of land adjoining the Dirlam farm. He was hopeful that she would sell it to him once she met him in person. They followed US 30, a 2-lane highway, from Iowa to Nampa, Idaho, and then to Sisters, Oregon. At Sisters, they took a gravel road, the old McKenzie Highway, through the Cascade Mountains to Eugene. Then they drove 50 miles north on US 99 to their final destination. There were no interstate highways in the U.S. in 1936!
After Dad and Mom were married and living in Eugene, they made five trips to Minnesota by auto or train by the time I was born. My first trip was by train in 1946, when I was only 3 years old. My sister Deanna and I went with Mom, and then Grandma and Grandpa Hoffmann joined us on the return trip. I recall my second train trip to Redwood when I was 5 years old for Christmas. I got a bright orange, Adams Doepke toy road grader made of pressed steel. Although it was quite large, my folks wrapped it up and took it along so that I would have a very exciting Christmas Day surprise. I still have the road grader, and according to eBay it's worth around $300 today! This was well before the days of plastic toys; my toy was built to last. 
When I made my third train ride to Redwood for Christmas with our family in 1956, I was in the 8th grade and old enough to enjoy the amazing scenery on the Great Northern Railway. Deanna and I would spend a lot of time in the 'dome car' so that we could see the Rocky Mountains as we rode through western Montana. The train, which was called the 'Empire Builder', traveled right through Glacier National Park. This train line, which spanned over 8,000 miles, was the culmination of one man's dream, James Jerome Hill, who had been called the 'Empire Builder' because of his ability to create a prosperous business where none previously existed starting in 1898. In my youth, it served the area between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean. We left Eugene early in the morning, and got to Spokane, Washington around 11 pm, in time to have our railroad car 'switched' to the train that had originated in Seattle. We got off in Willmar, Minnesota thirty hours later at 5 am. Uncle Dick, my father's youngest brother, met us at the station and after a car ride south on US 71 we arrived in Redwood at Grandpa and Grandma Dirlam's house for a 6:30 am breakfast. Grandma had hot oatmeal ready for us, along with her homemade biscuits and strawberry jam. Not too bad after a 2000 mile journey!
I had never seen an African American, or as they were called in the 1940's, a 'Negro', until I stepped aboard the train. Prior to desegregation in the U.S. in the 1960's, the occupation of the train car porter was almost exclusively performed by black men. It was the post Civil War policy of George Pullman, head of the Pullman Company, who wished to tap into a huge potential work force that was also non-unionized. This eventually changed with the organization of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. The porters were extremely polite and friendly, and sharply dressed in their uniforms. Of course, the conductor was always a white man.
Deanna and I totally enjoyed going to the dining car for our meals. Our family rarely ate out at restaurants when we were young, and for us this was like going to a restaurant three times a day! Green split pea soup, served with french bread, became our favorite for lunch. I had never tried pea soup, and I decided that it was a nice way to 'eat my vegetables'!
As a kid, I never made a plane trip to Minnesota, but Dad, Mom and Terri flew from Eugene to Detroit in 1954 on a United Airlines DC-3 Mainliner. Deanna, who was 14 years old, took care of my baby brother Ron and me while they were away. One of her girl friends, Patty Berg, 15, stayed with us too. Dad was eager to pick up a brand new car at the Ford factory. They took deliver of a Ford Crestline 4-door sedan, and then drove to Redwood for a short visit, before heading home to Eugene. Airline travel was uncommon, and expensive, so quite a few years went by until I made my first commercial flight at age 20.
I made three car trips to Minnesota with my family: in 1951, 1955 and 1961. They were all in the summertime, and it was really fun traveling through the Rocky Mountains, and visiting Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Folks were still allowed to feed the bears from their cars, which is not really a good idea. Several times the bears were right by our car as we drove by them as slowly as possible. We stopped to see Old Faithful, a cone geyser in the Park, which was first discovered in 1870 by the Washburn Expedition. What an amazing sight that must have been for these explorers. Eruptions can shoot four to eight thousand gallons of boiling water to a height of 100 to 180 feet, and last from 2 to 5 minutes. Intervals between the eruptions were usually just over an hour, but they have increased to an average of 90 minutes today. We went to another other geothermal pool, or 'mudpot', which was bubbling, steaming, and stinking like rotten eggs from the hydrogen sulfide. There was a boardwalk leading right to the edge of the pool, with no protective fence. Instead a large sign was posted that read 'Extreme Danger, Hot Water Can Cause Injury or Death'. We took a big step backward!
Our next destination was the Black Hills National Forest in South Dakota. Here we visited the iconic Mount Rushmore, which features 60-foot sculptures of the heads of four U.S. presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The carving of this granite mountain, which is 5,700 feet above sea level, started in 1927 and ended in 1941 with no fatalities. About 450,000 tons of rock were blasted off the mountainside with the use of dynamite. We took pictures with our Brownie box camera, which was a very simple and inexpensive camera made by Eastman Kodak that we used to take snapshots. Needless to say, these photos did not do justice to this magnificent sight. There was no large visitor's center as there is today, and we never saw large crowds. Now, nearly 3 million people visit Mount Rushmore yearly..jpg)
In 1955 we also stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield, which is also in the Black Hills on sacred land to the Lakota Sioux, and is the site of the infamous 'Custer's Last Stand'. The battle, which occurred on June 25 and 26, 1876, was a prominent part of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It was an overwhelming victory for Native Americans, led Crazy Horse, and was inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull. The U.S. 7th Cavalry, with a total of 700 men led by General George Custer, suffered a severe defeat. The U.S. casualty count was 268 dead, including Custer, and 55 injured. The day we looked around the battlefield site, it was warm and sunny, and the view of the rolling plains was spectacular. It was hard to imagine such a horrible scene as was painted by the great western artist, Charles M. Russell.
Traveling through the northern part of the Great Plains, as we did in Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas, was very exciting for me. As a boy, I frequently played 'Cowboys and Indians' with my friends. We had our toy guns, cowboy hats, and I wore Roy Rogers cowboy boots. Roy was a 'singing cowboy' that I saw in the movies, and heard on his radio show each week. His nickname was 'King of the Cowboys'. He had a beautiful golden palomino, Trigger, and a German Shepherd dog named Bullet. Along the way there were many cattle ranches with real cowboys out on the land, and when we stopped in small towns for lunch we saw them at the local restaurants. We also saw herds of buffalo in Yellowstone, just like the ones that the Native Americans hunted for their livelihood many years ago.
Traveling through the northern part of the Great Plains, as we did in Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas, was very exciting for me. As a boy, I frequently played 'Cowboys and Indians' with my friends. We had our toy guns, cowboy hats, and I wore Roy Rogers cowboy boots. Roy was a 'singing cowboy' that I saw in the movies, and heard on his radio show each week. His nickname was 'King of the Cowboys'. He had a beautiful golden palomino, Trigger, and a German Shepherd dog named Bullet. Along the way there were many cattle ranches with real cowboys out on the land, and when we stopped in small towns for lunch we saw them at the local restaurants. We also saw herds of buffalo in Yellowstone, just like the ones that the Native Americans hunted for their livelihood many years ago.
Once we arrived in Redwood, we would make the rounds among all of relatives. I was very happy to spend a great amount of time at my cousins that lived on nearby farms. Don Hoffmann was just two years older than I, and he and my Uncle Orville would teach me how to drive a tractor in the corn fields when it was time to cultivate. It sure was fun, but I had to be careful not to wipe out 12 rows of corn at once! We went to Belview on Saturday nights, which was 5 miles west of Delhi. The men played horseshoes that were set up in a dirt side street, and I think they drank some beer at the Rainbow Cafe, which was owned by my mother's Aunt Hazel and Uncle Harry Montiel. It seemed that everyone was in a good mood in this village of 400 people after another hard week of work on the nearby farms.
The Hoffmann farmhouse was built soon after the depression in the early 1930's. Grandpa and Grandma Hoffmann lost their first farm due to the financial difficulties of this era, but fortunately they were able to buy their second farm just five-miles from the first in 1934, due to President Franklin Roosevelt's recovery policies. Their Sears and Roebuck kit house looked like 'The Gladstone' that I found online, which was delivered from Chicago to Delhi on the train. The published cost of the kit was around $2,000, which was far less than a custom built farmhouse. It was a two-story, square home with a wonderful front porch. Uncle Orville would get out his accordion and play for us on hot, humid evenings. He was really talented, and he loved to play well into the night. Air conditioning was not available except in movie theaters, so the porch was a great place to hang out for a sing along.
Uncle Orville told me that their house had no electricity when he and my mom were growing up on the farm. The U.S. lagged significantly behind Europe in providing electricity to rural areas due to the unwillingness of power companies to serve farmsteads. It was not profitable. One of the New Deal agencies created under President Roosevelt changed this when the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was created in 1935. Within in a few years they had power lines on their road, and in December, 1937, Dad arrived from Oregon and wired the house and barn for electricity. A few weeks later Dad and Mom were married on January 13, 1938, and then they headed west on the train to start a 'new life together' in Eugene.
Uncle Dick would always take me fishing sometime during our stay in Redwood. He knew that I loved to fish, and that Dad did not, so he was eager to help me catch walleyes, which are a fresh water fish closely related to a Northern Pike. The name 'walleye' comes from the fact that their eyes, like those of lions, reflect white light. The 'eyeshine' is the result of a light-gathering layer in the eyes, called the 'tapetum lucidum', which allows the fish to see well in low-light conditions. We could only keep walleyes that were 15 inches or longer when we would go fishing at Diamond Lake. Uncle Dick would cook the fish fillets on the grill and it was so delicious. No wonder that the walleye is Minnesota's state fish! I always had a great time on my fishing outings with Uncle Dick.
Uncle Dick told me many fascinating stories about the history of southwestern Minnesota during our stay, and took me to some interesting spots. The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, also known at the Sioux Uprising, broke out near Redwood. Uncle Dick became the president of the Minnesota Historical Society and was responsible for the creation of the Lower Sioux Agency History Center in Morton, at the site of the stone warehouse that was attacked by Little Crow and his band of Sioux when they did not receive the food that was promised in a treaty with the U.S. Government. I was so proud that my uncle would strive to present the 'true story' of what really happened to the Sioux to those that visited the center.
Uncle Dick also showed me the old North Redwood railroad station where Richard Warren Sears, a 22 year old Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway Agent, first sold a shipment of watches from Chicago at the station in 1886. This mail order enterprise eventually grew into Sears, Roebuck and Co. in Chicago. Before the Sears catalog, farmers typically bought supplies at high prices from local general stores. Sears took advantage of this by publishing his catalog with clearly stated prices, so that consumers would know what he was selling, and at what price. As children, Deanna and I would spend hours looking through the Sears catalog, just imagining that we could buy whatever we wished. We would also cut out some of the pictures to use as we played 'pretend' games together.
We also visited Uncle Aubrey and his family at the Dirlam farm. Dad was eager to show me inside the big, red barn where he milked the cows as a young boy. In the 1950's, Uncle Aubrey grew corn and soy beans, but no longer had any animals. The white farm house was 1 1/2 story, and was modest in size. Dad wired electricity to the house and barn while he was still a student at Dunwoody Institute following high school. For sure, Dad hit the ground running once he started his formal training in electricity and refrigeration.
Dunwoody was founded in 1914, when Minneapolis businessman William Hood Dunwoody left three million dollars in his will to 'provide for all time a place where youth without distinction on account of race, color or religious prejudice, may learn the useful trade and crafts, and thereby fit themselves for the better performance of life's duties'. When his widow, Kate, died a year later she left additional funds to the institute. Dad had enough money for the tuition at Dunwoody following the Great Depression only by chance. He was in a car accident during his senior year in high school when a reckless driver ran Dad off the road and into a ditch. His chin was cut badly and required many stitches. He received a court settlement in which the judge ruled that he had to use at least half of the money towards further education. Dad was an outstanding student in high school, and was the class valedictorian. He did extremely well on the state exams, and was offered a full-scholarship at Harvard. Grandpa Dirlam felt that Dad was needed on the farm, and at the Dirlam Meat Market in Redwood. Once the judge handed down his ruling, Dad's further education was secured. As I became older, I realized that Dad was very proud of the fact that his own children were allowed to pursue higher education if they so desired.
It was always fun to talk to Uncle Aubrey. He was keen about politics as a teenager, and worked as a legislative page at the Minnesota State House following his high school graduation. He successfully won 17 elections as a non-partisan state representative, and served for 34 years as Speaker, Majority Leader, or Minority Leader. Uncle Aubrey was instrumental in the expansion of the U. of Minnesota to branch locations. He knew many of the leading politicians of the day including Vice President Hubert Humphrey (l.) and Vice President Walter Mondale (r.), both of Minnesota. Each summer, during the State House break, he would return to Delhi to farm. Too bad our democratic system doesn't have more folks in office like Uncle Aubrey!
In 1961 I did some of the driving from Eugene to Redwood. I got my driver's license at age 16, so I had almost two years of driving under my belt. We traveled in our tan 1958 Plymouth station wagon. My brother-in-law, Claude Canfield, joined our family and he was behind the wheel for many hours too. Our car had three bench seats, with the rear one facing backward. My sister Terri, my brother Ron, and I took turns sitting in back, but the key was not to be there on winding roads as you were sure to get car sick. I remember being the driver on the curvy highway near Cody, Wyoming. This was a great way to avoid being uncomfortable!
In addition to seeing all of our relatives, Mom took us to the site of the one-room school house near Delhi, where she taught grade school before she got married. The octagon building was razed many years prior. She told us how she would start the wood burning stove each morning before the students arrived on the cold winter days. We also drove by the Delhi School in the village, where Mom and Dad went to school prior to attending high school in Redwood. It was a two-story red, brick building just a block from the grain elevator. The local public library was so important to mother as a young girl, as she would eventually read nearly every book they had on their shelves. She told us that the long winter nights provided her with more than ample reading time. She read the entire collection of Shakespeare's work. In high school she learned Latin, so she decided to read the Latin translation of 'Julius Caesar' as well.
Uncle Dick told me many fascinating stories about the history of southwestern Minnesota during our stay, and took me to some interesting spots. The U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, also known at the Sioux Uprising, broke out near Redwood. Uncle Dick became the president of the Minnesota Historical Society and was responsible for the creation of the Lower Sioux Agency History Center in Morton, at the site of the stone warehouse that was attacked by Little Crow and his band of Sioux when they did not receive the food that was promised in a treaty with the U.S. Government. I was so proud that my uncle would strive to present the 'true story' of what really happened to the Sioux to those that visited the center. Uncle Dick also showed me the old North Redwood railroad station where Richard Warren Sears, a 22 year old Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway Agent, first sold a shipment of watches from Chicago at the station in 1886. This mail order enterprise eventually grew into Sears, Roebuck and Co. in Chicago. Before the Sears catalog, farmers typically bought supplies at high prices from local general stores. Sears took advantage of this by publishing his catalog with clearly stated prices, so that consumers would know what he was selling, and at what price. As children, Deanna and I would spend hours looking through the Sears catalog, just imagining that we could buy whatever we wished. We would also cut out some of the pictures to use as we played 'pretend' games together.
We also visited Uncle Aubrey and his family at the Dirlam farm. Dad was eager to show me inside the big, red barn where he milked the cows as a young boy. In the 1950's, Uncle Aubrey grew corn and soy beans, but no longer had any animals. The white farm house was 1 1/2 story, and was modest in size. Dad wired electricity to the house and barn while he was still a student at Dunwoody Institute following high school. For sure, Dad hit the ground running once he started his formal training in electricity and refrigeration. 
Dunwoody was founded in 1914, when Minneapolis businessman William Hood Dunwoody left three million dollars in his will to 'provide for all time a place where youth without distinction on account of race, color or religious prejudice, may learn the useful trade and crafts, and thereby fit themselves for the better performance of life's duties'. When his widow, Kate, died a year later she left additional funds to the institute. Dad had enough money for the tuition at Dunwoody following the Great Depression only by chance. He was in a car accident during his senior year in high school when a reckless driver ran Dad off the road and into a ditch. His chin was cut badly and required many stitches. He received a court settlement in which the judge ruled that he had to use at least half of the money towards further education. Dad was an outstanding student in high school, and was the class valedictorian. He did extremely well on the state exams, and was offered a full-scholarship at Harvard. Grandpa Dirlam felt that Dad was needed on the farm, and at the Dirlam Meat Market in Redwood. Once the judge handed down his ruling, Dad's further education was secured. As I became older, I realized that Dad was very proud of the fact that his own children were allowed to pursue higher education if they so desired.
It was always fun to talk to Uncle Aubrey. He was keen about politics as a teenager, and worked as a legislative page at the Minnesota State House following his high school graduation. He successfully won 17 elections as a non-partisan state representative, and served for 34 years as Speaker, Majority Leader, or Minority Leader. Uncle Aubrey was instrumental in the expansion of the U. of Minnesota to branch locations. He knew many of the leading politicians of the day including Vice President Hubert Humphrey (l.) and Vice President Walter Mondale (r.), both of Minnesota. Each summer, during the State House break, he would return to Delhi to farm. Too bad our democratic system doesn't have more folks in office like Uncle Aubrey!
In 1961 I did some of the driving from Eugene to Redwood. I got my driver's license at age 16, so I had almost two years of driving under my belt. We traveled in our tan 1958 Plymouth station wagon. My brother-in-law, Claude Canfield, joined our family and he was behind the wheel for many hours too. Our car had three bench seats, with the rear one facing backward. My sister Terri, my brother Ron, and I took turns sitting in back, but the key was not to be there on winding roads as you were sure to get car sick. I remember being the driver on the curvy highway near Cody, Wyoming. This was a great way to avoid being uncomfortable!
In addition to seeing all of our relatives, Mom took us to the site of the one-room school house near Delhi, where she taught grade school before she got married. The octagon building was razed many years prior. She told us how she would start the wood burning stove each morning before the students arrived on the cold winter days. We also drove by the Delhi School in the village, where Mom and Dad went to school prior to attending high school in Redwood. It was a two-story red, brick building just a block from the grain elevator. The local public library was so important to mother as a young girl, as she would eventually read nearly every book they had on their shelves. She told us that the long winter nights provided her with more than ample reading time. She read the entire collection of Shakespeare's work. In high school she learned Latin, so she decided to read the Latin translation of 'Julius Caesar' as well. 
On our return trip to Eugene we got back to Central Oregon, where we could see the Cascade Mountains directly ahead. Just north of Bend, the Three Sisters, each of which exceeds 10,000 feet in elevation, towered majestically into the blue sky. This sight was like a welcome mat with only 3 hours of driving remaining. We were eager to complete our journey by getting to the other side of the Cascades, back home in the Willamette Valley. I was thankful that we were not traveling by 'Wagon Train' on the Oregon Trail as the nearly 50,000 folks had between 1849 and 1860! From Bend, they still had a difficult and dangerous time ahead. We just had to watch out for logging trucks on the McKenzie Highway!
No comments:
Post a Comment