WHAT'S IN A NAME

WHAT'S IN A NAME: A family, a movie and a dog

Dennis Doeden — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 17:15:00 GMT

Editor's note: This is part of a 20-story series titled "What's in a name?" completed by Pioneer reporters for our 2022 Annual Report. Read more of the section by clicking the embed at the bottom of this article.

When Dick Gregg was developing property on the west end of Bemidji just south of Division Street, there were two new streets that needed to be named.

A city official gave him the chance to come up with those names.

Gregg said he asked the official, “Does it have to make sense?” She said, “No, you can name it whatever you want.”

So he did. The main north-south street became Mag Seven Court. A short side road became Mikrantip Road.

“When the gal called me I hadn’t figured out what I wanted to call it yet,” Gregg said. “But I was trying to think of a family deal. I have seven grandkids. I liked the movie ‘The Magnificent Seven.’ So I said why don’t we call it the ‘Magnificent Seven.’ It has to be court because there’s a cul-de-sac down there.”

The official advised Gregg that the name was too long to fit on the street sign, so he decided to abbreviate it to Mag Seven.

“So it’s named after my grandkids, but also including my dog Magnum,” he said.

How about Mikrantip?

Gregg’s three children are Mike, Randy and Tippy. So he took the first three letters of each name for the street name. Now both streets have family ties.

“I’ve never had a street named after me, but my kids have,” Gregg said. “And my grandkids.”

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Roger Lehmann Park honors a man who loved nature

Maggi Fellerman — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 17:10:00 GMT

Update: This story initially associated the namesake of this park with the wrong person, the story has been updated to reflect the correct Roger Lehmann the park was named after.

Editor's note: This is part of a 20-story series titled "What's in a name?" completed by Pioneer reporters for our 2022 Annual Report. Read more of the section by clicking the embed at the bottom of this article.

BEMIDJI — Roger Lehmann Park, nestled along the southern shore of Lake Irving, is named after a man who spent a lifetime outdoors and was an active member of the community.

Born June 4, 1911, in Mason City, Iowa, Roger Lehmann attended Mason City Junior College before graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture in 1936.

Shortly after graduating, Lehmann married Phyllis Gustafson on Oct. 19, 1939, at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa, and had two sons and a daughter – William, who lives in Elizabeth City, N.C., Judy (Patterson) and Donald, who both live in Sitka, Alaska.

According to his youngest son, Donald, his father started working for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in the early 1950s out of Minneapolis and moved to Bemidji to continue his work in the field as an Area Game Manager, which he did until his retirement in 1973.

“He wanted field work, that's why he moved to Bemidji, he wanted to be outdoors,” Donald said. “We bought the lot on South Lake Irving, he cleared it himself and created a garden there. We had raspberries and a variety of vegetables for the family along with numerous conifers.”

Donald also mentioned that a number of the trees still standing around town were most likely contributed by Lehmann, as he started many conifers from seed and had a small tree nursery business on his lot where Bemidjians now know to be Roger Lehmann Park.

After Lehmann died on Sept. 30, 1979, at age 68, his wife Phyllis looked to sell the plot of land. According to Donald, it was her idea to donate the land to the city in his honor.

“My siblings and I agreed, he loved that area of land. He loved nature and was associated with wildlife his entire life,” Donald said. “He always wanted to give back to the community. One motto he bestowed on us kids was to always leave a place better than how you found it.”

The small triangle of land located in the South Lake Irving neighborhood serves as a place for families to gather for picnics and a playground for children. There are also basketball and tennis courts for all to enjoy.

In Lehmann’s 25 years working for the DNR, he was involved in numerous projects such as wetlands acquisition, land classification and habitat development, along with accelerated and emergency programs for deer and game surveys. He also served as an observer for 10 years, where he rode in an airplane to survey the moose population, which eventually led to the state’s first moose hunting season.

As a member of various organizations in Bemidji such as the United Methodist Church and Bemidji Elks Lodge, he also served on the Itasca State Park board of directors, as president of the South Lake Irving Association, the Minnetonka Sportsman Club and the Minnesota State Game and Fish Employees Association.

Of all the areas he was involved in, Lehmann was most proud of the 50 wildlife management areas that he purchased and developed for the state. A couple of his favorites are still active today, including the Red Lake Trail and the Gulch Trail.

Besides his work and wide dedication to the Bemidji community, in his free time, he liked deer hunting, fishing, spending time in his garden and enjoying the outdoors in any way he could.

He and his family also had a cabin where they would deer hunt, they called it “the Palace in the Popple” located just north of town near the Turtle River Cemetery where Lehmann is buried.

According to Donald, his father also enjoyed going to the Bemidji’s Elks Club every Thursday night for what he called “choir practice,” where instead of singing, he and his buddies gathered to play a game or two of poker.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Latin words combined to form ‘Itasca’

Nicole Ronchetti — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 17:05:00 GMT

If you’re like most people in the United States, you might assume that Itasca is an Ojibwe word, but it turns out that’s far from the case.

The name of the lake famous for being the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and the associated state park, is a word invented by explorer Henry Rowe ��craft that was meant to sound like nearby Native American languages.

The actual Ojibwe name for Lake Itasca is Omashkoozo-zaaga’igan, which means Elk Lake.

An Ojibwe guide, named Ozaawindib, led ��craft to the lake in 1832 as part of an expedition to find the source of the Mississippi.

After arriving, ��craft crafted a new faux-Native American name for the lake using a combination of syllables from two Latin words: veritas (meaning truth) and caput (meaning head).

Combined, ��craft intended the word to mean “true head” in honor of the river’s start.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Ball fields honor pioneer of Bemidji youth baseball

Christian Babcock — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 17:00:00 GMT

Mark Evenson was a central part of youth baseball in Bemidji before the dedication of the Mark Evenson Memorial Fields that now bear his name.

He played an integral role in getting those youth fields built, and when he died in February 1995 of a heart attack at the age of 41, he was an obvious choice to be the fields’ namesake.

“Mark was very instrumental,” said Moe Webb, also a longtime advocate of youth baseball in Bemidji. “He was a push behind it, I would say. We didn't have a president or anything, but he (was something like that). And they got it done. We got it done.”

The six-field Bemidji Youth League baseball complex was officially dedicated in his name on July 10, 1996.

But Evenson’s legacy stretches beyond just the construction of the fields — he’s also remembered for his dedication to the young players themselves.

“Mark, he just loved kids,” Webb said. “We had one year, after the Twins won the World Series, when we had 12 teams in each league. I mean, it just blew up. And that was a year when we said we were going to have to cut kids (because) we don't have enough sponsors. We don't have enough coaches.

“And we ended up cutting some kids, and Mark said, ‘No, no, we're not going to do that. I'm going to take those kids. I'm going to make a team. I'll get a sponsor for them, uniforms and everything.’”

And Evenson went out and did just that.

“They weren't very good,” Webb added, “but they won a game or two and the kids had fun playing ball. And we were happy they did.”

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: ‘Mr. Conservation’ lends name to BSU building, forest

Daltyn Lofstrom — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:55:00 GMT

Dr. Claude Vivian “Mr. Conservation” Hobson bears the distinction of having two things named after him at Bemidji State University.

Born in 1884 in Kansas, Hobson attended college in Nebraska and went on to complete his doctoral work, eventually receiving his doctorate in Education and Psychology.

He began his tenure at the Bemidji State Teachers College Laboratory �� for K-8 students as a science supervisor in 1931.

Becoming a geography and conservation professor in 1938, Hobson campaigned for the passage of the �� Forest Law, which authorizes public education institutions to establish and maintain school forests, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

The law was passed in 1949, though BSU had already acquired a 240-acre forest in 1948 for academic and recreational use by the university and community.

The forest would eventually be dedicated to him and become known as the Hobson Memorial Forest. It’s located along County Road 20 near Concordia Language Villages.

Retiring from his position as a geography and conservation professor in 1962, BSU’s student union was built in 1967.

Following his death in 1966, the union was dedicated to Hobson on May 1, 1972.

It now houses the Beaux Arts Ballroom, BSU Bookstore, Lakeside Food Court and several conference spaces.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: BHS media center honors pioneering Black lawyer

Annalise Braught — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:50:00 GMT

A plaque below a large painting of a man named Charles Scrutchin hangs in the Bemidji High ��’s media center, detailing the accomplishments and importance this man played in local history.

The center came to bear this name in 2018 after a student representative presented the idea to school board members during a meeting in November 2017.

Scrutchin is known as Minnesota’s first Black lawyer to practice outside of the Twin Cities and arrived in Bemidji just two years after the village was incorporated in 1896 and soon became one of its most significant citizens.

He was born in Richmond, Va., in 1865 and his family lived in Georgia for a while before moving to Spokane, Wash. where he graduated from high school and attended the University of Washington, graduating in 1890.

After practicing law in Chicago for five years, Scrutchin moved to Minnesota and shortly thereafter came to Bemidji and established an independent law practice.

In 1899, he worked with several other prominent Black leaders to author Minnesota’s constitutional rights law, which said no individual could be denied access or services in public places based on race.

The law was signed by Gov. John Lind that March.

In all of Minnesota, only six Black men practiced law in 1900. When the Beltrami County Bar Association was formed in 1900, Scrutchin was immediately admitted.

By 1904, he held the highest degree of any lawyer in Bemidji’s 11 law offices and became vice president of the organization.

He is perhaps best known for defending a Black circus worker named William Miller who was accused of raping a white woman in Duluth in 1920.

His client was acquitted and charges against five other defendants in the case — all of whom were Black — were ultimately dismissed, according to the Minnesota Historical Society, but not before an angry mob forced its way into the Duluth city jail and lynched three more Black men accused of the same crime.

The lynchings drew national attention and a grand jury investigation which resulted in an anti-lynching law being passed in April 1921.

Scrutchin returned to his practice in Bemidji after the case and died in 1930. He is buried, along with his wife, in Greenwood Cemetery.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Rognlien Park honors young man’s memory

Micah Friez — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:45:00 GMT

Tucked behind a winding road and a forest of green lies the unofficial “jewel” of the Beltrami County Park system.

Rognlien Park offers a sandy beach with a swimming area, a playground, a boat launch, a fishing pier, picnic tables, fire rings and more to those who find the hidden gem.

Located one mile southwest of Wilton, the park is a relaxing summer afternoon waiting to happen.

The park was acquired by the state of Minnesota in 1937, when Malvin and Bertha Rognlien donated the land in memory of their late son, Arnold.

The Rognliens lived in Wilton, and Arnold died in a hospital at Eureka, Calif. in 1930 from tonsillitis and complications at the age of 24. Malvin died in 1953 and Bertha died in 1972.

In 2006, Beltrami County obtained the park from the state and has since managed the site as a park.

Today, Rognlien Park is a 3.5-acre day-use park that provides a number of family-oriented recreational opportunities right off of Grant Lake.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Cameron Park honors colorful legacy of zoo overseer and park steward

Christian Babcock — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:40:00 GMT

Peter James Cameron had a variety of contributions to the Bemidji community during his lifetime.

Cameron ran the Bemidji Zoo, an attraction with a history befitting its unique nature.

In 1922, 11.4 acres of land west of Diamond Point was purchased, and the Park Board soon developed the Bemidji Zoo to attract more summer visitors. The zoo was situated where the Bemidji State dormitories are today.

Cameron, the park superintendent at the time, tended animals native to the area, including bears, wolves, coyotes, foxes, porcupines, beavers, raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, gophers, turtles, rapture birds and "brickbats."

A large grazing area was fenced for deer, elk and eventually a buffalo.

He ran the zoo and managed the city park system for many years. The city decided to honor his memory by creating Cameron Park, situated just north of Diamond Point Park off Birchmont Drive NE.

Today, Cameron Park features a swimming beach and bathhouse, playground equipment, a picnic pavilion and a large picnic area. Public boat access, canoe and kayak access and parking are also available.

Fittingly for a park honoring a former zookeeper, Cameron Park features a shoreland habitat project area, which offers opportunities for wildlife viewing.

The park also has two purple martin birdhouses, which are maintained by a joint effort between the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Bemidji Parks and Recreation Department and Bemidji State.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Lavinia is named after a railroad man’s wife

Madelyn Haasken — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:35:00 GMT

Lavinia is a lakeside neighborhood nestled along the east side of Lake Bemidji.

The area was established around 1890 after the entry of the first railroad into Bemidji when residents of the Grand Forks, N.D., area decided to develop a summer colony on the lake.

Lavinia’s namesake is believed to be attributed to the wife of depot-master and former president of the Minnesota and International Railway, William Gemmell.

Lavinia Gemmell was prominent in the social work field at the time, and was buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Brainerd after her death in 1937.

Access to the neighborhood of Lavinia was made relatively easy because the summer residents could travel by boat across the lake from the Third Street Dock or they could come via the railway.

A December 1915 article in the Bemidji Daily Pioneer described Lavinia as "one of the best cottage resorts in northern Minnesota” and noted it had a “safe bathing beach for ladies and children."

A post office was established in the neighborhood in 1906, discontinued in 1907 and reestablished as the Northern Post Office in 1915.

At first, the federal government wouldn't allow a Lavinia Post Office because of post offices by the same name in Iowa and Tennessee.

But the Northern Post Office caused even more issues because there was a town of Northern where letters were often mistakenly directed.

In response to residents' petitions, federal authorities agreed to change the name to the Lavinia Post Office.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: The street and the lake are not the same

Nicole Ronchetti — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:30:00 GMT

The names for Lake Irving and Irvine Avenue sound similar enough that those not familiar with their histories might assume they are connected.

However, this isn’t the case.

Lake Irving was named by explorer Henry ��craft on his expedition to find the source of the Mississippi River.

He named the lake after American author Washington Irving, who is best known for his stories “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

The lake has also been known as Little Bemidji Lake in the past, but this has fallen out of use.

Irvine Avenue, meanwhile, got its name from longtime Bemidji resident John W. Irwin.

Irwin, who lived and raised his family in the city, became known throughout northern Minnesota for the logging company he owned with a partner, Irwin and O’Brien Lumbering.

He also became famous in Bemidji for owning a speedy and talented horse by the name of Isinetta.

Irwin, a Scotsman, lived at 700 Minnesota Ave. NW in 1905. He was a charter member of Bemidji Elks Lodge 1052 in 1906.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Leaders honored at Red Lake’s extended care center

Nicole Ronchetti — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:25:00 GMT

The Jourdain Perpich Extended Care Facility in Red Lake is named after the tribal chair and the state governor in office when it was built, both individuals with influential legacies in politics.

The building is situated next to the hospital at 24856 Hospital Drive in Red Lake.

Roger A. Jourdain served as chair of the Red Lake Tribal Council from 1959 to 1990, and played an important role in reforming the Red Lake’s government to an elected council in his younger years.

Known for his strong personality, Jourdain worked tirelessly to protect tribal sovereignty, and his achievements included reopening Red Lake’s Indian Health Services and improving the nation’s infrastructure, including by bringing running water to its residents.

Rudy Perpich served his first term as Minnesota governor from 1976 to 1979, and his second from 1983 to 1991. Born in Hibbing, Perpich was the state’s longest serving governor.

Among his achievements were the creation of the Mall of America and bringing Minnesota to the international stage by touring 17 countries and by inviting the Soviet Union’s Mikhail Gorbachev to the state in 1990.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Two men and the new town of Nymore

Elizabeth Stark — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:20:00 GMT

Nymore is a name heard a lot around the Bemidji area.

For most, it’s a name of a dog park, a hockey arena and a beach. What many do not know is how the area of Nymore got its name.

The namesake originated from two men, Porter Nye and E.C. Moore, in the festive lake town. Nye was a local farmer and Moore was a promoter for a sawmill.

Moore did not own the sawmill and suggested it become a homestead, but with a compromise the sawmill turned into a village and later a town owned by Moore.

With the line of work both Nye and Moore were involved in, they found each other and became partners.

Their names were combined, and it was first known as Nye-Moore and later became Nymore. Nymore was considered by most in the community to be the poor cousin of the town of Bemidji. A town that depended on the sawmill economy.

The town of Nymore was connected with the entrepreneurs of the Crookston Lumber Company and started Nymore mill in 1907.

With the success of the Crookston Lumber Company and its own mill company, Nymore became a town of job opportunities. Which later became streets and locations named Nymore around the Bemidji area.

The Nymore mill was eventually bought out and was under the ownership of W.A. Gould and J.M. Richards, and purchased as a larger plant belonging to the Foley-Bean Lumber Company in Milaca.

This mill moved into the city of Bemidji and was placed on the southeastern shore of Lake Bemidji. The mill was placed at the end of two streets which eventually became the Nymore street address we know today.

A post office, bank, churches, saloons and more were built to meet the needs of the labor force in Nymore.

With the changing times the town went bankrupt and was annexed into the city of Bemidji. A disastrous fire of 1918 destroyed the rest of the town of Nymore.

Although the town was no longer, the history of the town still lives in on in the region and community.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: From a ‘double Decker’ to a ceremony of his own

Dennis Doeden — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:15:00 GMT

When Jim Bensen was at the helm of Bemidji State University, he presided over two ceremonies that named campus buildings for former school presidents.

Both happened on the same day, no less.

The first ceremony, in May 1995, christened the BSU recreation center in honor of Lowell “Ted” Gillett. The second named the former Hickory Hall building for Robert D. Decker.

“We did Ted’s first, then went over to the other one,” Bensen said. “I said, ‘We’re doing two today, so this is called a double Decker.’”

Some years later, in 2012, Bensen was on the receiving end of a similar ceremony when the BSU Education Arts Building was renamed Bensen Hall.

“When I retired I wasn’t even thinking about that,” Bensen said. “I was off charging on lots of other stuff. One day (former BSU President) Dick Hanson said ‘get ready for something. We’re going to name a building after you. But you’ve got to approve it.’ I said I better go home and talk to my wife.”

Bensen said he attended classes in that building when he was a student at Bemidji State and his brother, Kermit, taught in the same building when it housed the Lab ��.

“If there was one building that meant the most to me, that would be the one,” he said.

Bensen also was honored when the conference room in the Mayflower Building was named in his honor two years ago. He had served on the board of Greater Bemidji Economic Development (formerly the Joint Economic Development Commission) for 25 years.

“That one that caught me most off guard,” Bensen said. “That really surprised the pants off me.”

Besides Bensen, Gillett and Decker, several other buildings on campus have been named for former presidents.

The first was Deputy Hall, named in honor of the school’s first president, Manfred Deputy. Other buildings bear the names of presidents C.R. Sattgast and Harry Bangsberg. Acting presidents John Glas and A.C. Clark also have buildings named after them.

Other buildings have been named after former faculty members like Harold Hagg and Phil Sauer.

“There aren’t a lot more buildings to be named,” Bensen said. “I’m kind of glad they put tree names on the dorms (like Tamarack, Oak, Pine and Linden), because if something came at some point where they wanted to remove ‘Oak’ and put somebody’s name on it, that could happen.”

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: ‘The Chet’ pays homage to an iconic coach

Micah Friez — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:10:00 GMT

When local sports fans hear that a game is at “The Chet,” chances are they know exactly where to go.

Formally called Chet Anderson Stadium, the scenic field is synonymous with plenty of Bemidji teams, including football and soccer at both BSU and BHS. But often lost in the convenience of the nickname is a knowledge of the stadium’s namesake.

In 1955, a new coach named Chester A. Anderson took command of BSU football. “Chet” coached for 10 seasons, and he still ranks third in program history for wins (43), winning percentage (.555) and games coached (82).

“I was fortunate to meet Chet when I was here,” current head coach Brent Bolte said of Anderson, who died in 2008. “My first handful of years, he would stop in the offices and draw up some plays. As I got to know him more — he’d be at every Beaver Pride function on campus — it was a lot of fun to hear not only the stories about Chet from his former players but to actually hear from him.”

Resting on the shores of Lake Bemidji and neighboring Diamond Point Park, the stadium arose in 1939.

Prior to that, a field often referred to as Diamond Point Field was located just south of the current location, with end zones to the north and south and the east sideline running along the lakeshore.

But then came a federal grant of $172,000 for sports fields in 1939, and the money was used, in part, to build the field at today’s location.

“It’s evolved,” Bolte said. “Back when I first got here, it was still grass. … There were big jack pines right outside the end zone on the east side and throughout other parts of the stadium. That ties back into who we are. We sell that northern Minnesota, lumberjack type of mentality.

“It’s a beautiful, picturesque setting to play college football.”

The facility was officially named after Anderson in 1996, an honor initiated by his former players. Bolte said that honoring history like that is a big step in creating tradition within a program.

“We talk about standing on the shoulders of the people who came before you,” Bolte said. “(When I met Chet), it was fun to match a face and personality with something as iconic as the stadium we named after him.”

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Creamery owner David Park loved to show off his lavish home

Maggi Fellerman — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:05:00 GMT

The three-story brass railing, imitating a music note along with a dazzling curved staircase extending from the basement to the second floor, was brought into Bemidji on a flatbed truck, hoisted up by a crane and dropped into the place of what is now known as the David Park House.

The all-concrete house, located at 1501 Birchmont Drive NE, was built in 1937 by a young architect named Edward Mahlum, an employee of a Fergus Falls architectural firm.

Before the construction, Park attended the Chicago World's Fair, which showcased several demonstration homes and perhaps he was inspired by what he saw, but exactly why Park wanted the house constructed in this manner is unknown.

About 10 years before constructing the house, Park purchased the Koors Brothers Creamery in 1926 and converted it to the David Park Creamery, providing ice cream and other dairy products for decades in Bemidji and becoming one of the largest in the area.

He promised his wife Edna that he would eventually build her a home for their family.

Park and Edna moved into the streamline modern-style home with their three children in late 1937. Edna had only a few short years in the home before she died of cancer in 1941. Park then married his second wife, Wanda Hartman Batchelder, in 1944 and had another daughter.

Park was proud of his unique home, and according to his daughters, Margaret and Mary, he would invite guests to tour the home — even if the children were asleep in their rooms.

One of his most famous guests was Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Park continued to live in his home until he died in 1977. Wanda Park then deeded the house to the Bemidji State University Foundation.

Since 1992, the David Park House has served as offices for the BSU Alumni and Foundation and has hosted many university-sponsored luncheons, dinners and receptions.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Does the area have some odd street names? Yaubetcha

Micah Friez — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 16:00:00 GMT

Between Yaubetcha Lane south of town and Uffda Lane on the north end, the state’s vernacular shines through loud and clear in Bemidji-area street names.

Throw Lefse Lane into the mix, and the heritage starts to break through, too.

It takes a Daredevil Drive to venture down Fishy Waters outside of Cass Lake, which could get tricky if you find yourself on the nearby Riddle Road instead. Fortunately, the routes still offer more leeway than Last Chance Lane and beats the prospect of Nearlya Road.

If you don’t have any success finding Hidden Road, a short venture back to Leprechaun Drive and Shamrock Court could bring the luck of the Irish back to you.

You don’t need to travel through Apollo, Crest, Challenger or Voyager courts to reach Mars Lane, Mercury Lane and Venus Drive, but if you didn’t go Yesterday Lane, you may want to wait until Tomorrow Lane.

And, over the holidays, Santa Claus can bring presents to Christmas Point Road in Walker and Reindeer Court in Shevlin within a split second, not even needing to use a Shortcut Lane.

Even local mascots are represented on the region’s street signs with Beaver and Lumberjack roads. But Timberwolf Trail, Viking Court and Lynx Road are all represented, as well. Other recreational activities are included, too, from Walleye Drive to Paint Brush Drive, and yes: even Stoner Avenue.

Despite there being an abundance of oddball names among the Greater Bemidji streets, they’re still easy to miss if your eyes aren’t peeled. After all, these roads only come once in a Blue Moon Lane.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Despite sign thefts, Stoner Avenue prevails

Madelyn Haasken — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 15:55:00 GMT

Stoner Avenue has one of Bemidji’s most controversial street signs.

Due to its connotations related to marijuana and those who use it, Stoner Avenue signs have been consistently stolen from street corners throughout the years, and the city has spent thousands of dollars replacing them.

With all the controversy and money spent replacing these signs, it begs the question — why name the street Stoner Avenue in the first place? What some Bemidjians may not know is that the street was actually named after local pioneer Marcus Stoner.

Though his legacy on the town of Bemidji is often overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the signs erected in his name, Stoner made a mark on the town as Bemidji’s first city engineer and Beltrami County surveyor.

Stoner originally made his way to the area during the winters of 1892 and 1893, when he and a crew of government workers surveyed the Blackduck wilderness.

Dealing with Minnesota’s extreme winters became a part of Stoner’s everyday life. He recalled that many nights he would bury himself in snowdrifts, leaving only a small hole to breathe through.

At the age of 27, Stoner moved to Bemidji. The year after his move, he was employed as the engineer in charge of the construction of the railroad from Walker to Bemidji.

Stoner settled in Bemidji and embraced its culture — he even knew enough Ojibwe to converse with his Native American friends, including the famous Chief Bemidji, Shaynowishkung.

Stoner also had a house built for him that became the first house with siding in the history of Bemidji. The house sat across the street from where the statue of Chief Bemidji is now, and is still in use to this day, though it has been moved and remodeled.

In 1999, Beltrami County changed the name of Stoner Memorial Drive NE (Beltrami County Road 30) to North Blackduck Lake Road NE due to repeated theft of the road signs.

According to a 2011 Pioneer story about the issue, “At least eight signs and sign poles were reportedly stolen from this roadway. The cost of replacing each sign, which included the labor, poles and the sign, ranged between $55 and $200.”

Though this fixed the issue of Stoner Memorial Drive, the signs of Stoner Avenue continued to be stolen. In July 2011, the Bemidji City Council voted to change the street’s name to Franklin Avenue.

The decision was short-lived and shot down just two months later when a handful of Stoner Avenue residents attended a public hearing at Bemidji City Hall in September 2011 to voice their disapproval of the name change.

Many residents rallied to keep the name Stoner Avenue, due to the hassle they would have to go through to change their addresses. If the name change went through, residents would have to update their driver's licenses, banking information and other documents.

The city instead decided to explore options to make the signs more theft-proof, like using taller signposts or different types of screws.

Now, many Stoner Avenue signs are homemade and displayed on much taller posts than other street signs, in hopes of deterring thieves.

Thus, the name remains, and though riddled in controversy, the surname of Marcus Stoner stands tall on more than a dozen street corners and presumably will continue to do so for years to come.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: Bemidji elementary school names honor 3 men

Daltyn Lofstrom — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 15:50:00 GMT

A longtime superintendent, a baseball coach and a school board member inspired the names of three elementary schools in the Bemidji Area �� District.

James Wilford Smith became principal at what’s sometimes referred to as the “old-old” high school, which burned down in 1921 during his tenure. He went on to become superintendent for the district where he held the position for around 30 years.

J.W. Smith Elementary, one of seven elementary schools, was constructed in 1956 and dedicated to the long-term administrator who died in the 1960s.

Born in 1916 in Minneapolis, Horace May played baseball for Minneapolis North High ��, then played for the Minnesota Gophers. May moved to Bemidji after World War II to teach physical education and coach Lumberjacks baseball.

In 1972, Bemidji named its newest elementary school at the time after May following his death.

As the newest school in the district, longtime school board member Gene Dillon’s commitment to Bemidji Area ��s led to the construction and dedication of Gene Dillon Elementary in 2018, shortly after Dillon passed away.

"Many of us in the school district worked with a wonderful, humble leader who always wanted what was best for students," former superintendent Jim Hess said during the dedication as reported in the Pioneer. "He coached youth sports, he served our country proudly in the Navy, and he always had time to talk about issues, especially over a piece of homemade pie at the Minnesota Nice Cafe.

"I'm proud to have known Gene Dillon and to have served with him in Bemidji Area ��s. It is most fitting that this school is named in his honor."

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: World War I casualty Ralph Gracie honored by hometown

Annalise Braught — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 15:45:00 GMT

Ralph Gracie is a name that many around the Bemidji area hear on a regular basis.

It is not only the name of a small park next to the Bemidji State campus, but the city’s ever-active American Legion Post also bears this namesake. What some may not know however is the brave man they are named after.

Ralph Gracie is known most notably as Bemidji’s first World War I casualty. While flying with the American 17th Aero Squadron with the British Royal Air Force, his plane was shot down over the English Channel on Aug. 12, 1918.

He was initially reported as missing in action, but one of his squadron mates reported him as being targeted by four enemy planes. The bullets splintered his wing spars, and he crashed into the English Channel two miles off the coast of Belgium.

A letter to his father Daniel Gracie of Bemidji was signed by Samuel B. Eckert, commanding officer of the 17th Aero Squadron:

“Your son, Lieutenant Ralph D. Gracie, left this aerodrome with the other members of the squadron on August 12, 1918. While about 12 miles over the line they encountered a strong enemy formation and in the encounter which ensued the wings of one of our planes was seen to give way and the machine fell into the sea, the wing spars no doubt having been splintered by bullets.

“When the squadron returned, Lieutenant Gracie was missing and I fear it must have been he who fell into the sea. It will, I am sure, be a comfort to you to know that your son was loved by us all and universally admired for his character as a man and his oft proved bravery.”

Gracie’s body was not initially recovered. Eventually, his grave was found in a German cemetery where he had been buried on Aug. 13, 1918. His remains were brought home to Bemidji and buried in a family plot in Greenwood Cemetery.

The next year, Congress chartered a patriotic veterans’ organization, the American Legion.

On June 6, 1919, when Bemidji veterans gathered to organize the local American Legion, they proposed that the newly formed post be named to honor Ralph Gracie, the first Bemidji man killed in action in WWI. The charter became official in August 1920.

Gracie was inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame in April 2018 after his relatives located extensive documentation of his military career with photocopies from books, squadron archives and newspaper clippings.

His relatives, along with the Legion Post in Bemidji, supported Gracie’s nomination for induction to the Hall of Fame.

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WHAT'S IN A NAME: 25 years before Beltrami, a British-Canadian fur trader explored the area

Pioneer Staff Report — Sat, 13 Aug 2022 15:37:39 GMT

Editor's note: This is the first in a 20-story series titled "What's in a name?" completed by Pioneer reporters for our 2022 Annual Report. Read more of the section by clicking the embed at the bottom of this article.

With a slight twist of events, Beltrami County could have been named Thompson County.

That’s because in 1798, a British-Canadian man named David Thompson was the first foreign explorer to supply descriptions of Red Lake and Turtle Lake, according to the Genealogy Trails History Group website.

Thompson was a fur trader, surveyor and cartographer who was known to some Native American people as "Koo-Koo-Sint" or "the Stargazer.” In his career, Thompson traveled 56,000 miles across North America, mapping 1.9 million square miles along the way. He has been described as the greatest practical land geographer that the world has produced.

But it was an Italian explorer — Giacomo Costantino Beltrami — for whom the county was named. In 1823, Beltrami was in search of the Mississippi River’s source when he came upon a lake he named for a deceased friend: Lake Julia.

Beltrami thought the lake sent its waters both toward the Mississippi and into what was then known as the Bloody River, later formally named the Red Lake River.

Most locals know that Bemidji was named for the Ojibwe Chief Shaynowishkung, whose band of about 50 people had their homes on and near the south end of Lake Bemidji and around Lake Irving, including the site where white settlers founded the town.

Chief Bemidji’s name was taken from the older Ojibwe name of this lake, crossed by the Mississippi River. It was translated as "the lake where the current flows directly across the water.”

Explorer Henry ��craft, in the narrative of his expedition to Lake Itasca in 1832, wrote the name of Lake Bemidji as "Pamitchi Gumaug” or “Lac Travers."

On a map drawn by Joseph Nicollet in 1843, the lake is spelled "Pemidji L.” Nicollet, a French scientist, geographer and mathematician, led three expeditions from 1836 through 1839. His map of the Hydrographical Basin of the Upper Mississippi covered parts of what would become eight states.

Here are some other interesting stories of how things were named in the area, according to the Genealogy Trails History Group website:

The town of Nebish and its lake bearing the same name are from the Ojibwe word “anibish,” which means tea.
Ponemah, a village on the Lower Red Lake, bears a name used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in "The Song of Hiawatha."
Puposky, a village in Durand Township on Lake Puposky, is an Ojibwe name recorded and translated by Count Beltrami, signifying "the end of the shaking lands," that is, swamps whose surface is shaken and sinks when walked on. It has also been translated as Mud Lake, with the Mud River outflowing from it.
Solway and the former Solway Lumber Company were named after Solway Firth, the wide inlet from the Irish Sea between England and Scotland.
Tenstrike, a railroad village on the line between Port Hope and Taylor townships, was platted and named by Almon A. White of St. Paul, alluding to the completely successful bowling which with the first ball knocks down all 10 pins.

Waskish, at the east end of Upper Red Lake, is from the Ojibwe word for deer: “wawashkeshi.”
Hubbard County was named in honor of Lucius Frederick Hubbard, governor of Minnesota from 1882 to 1887.
Clearwater County received its name from the Clearwater river and lake.
Cass County was named for statesman Lewis Cass, who in 1820 commanded an exploring expedition that started in Detroit, passed through lakes Huron and Superior, and then advanced to Cass Lake.
Bagley, the Clearwater County seat, was named in honor of Sumner C. Bagley, an early lumberman, who later moved to Fosston.

Shevlin township and village were named in honor of Thomas Henry Shevlin of Minneapolis, who came to Minnesota in 1886, settled in Minneapolis, and was president of several logging and lumber manufacturing companies, cutting much pine timber in Clearwater County. He was the donor of Alice A. Shevlin Hall at the University of Minnesota. The stream now named ��craft River was called by Henry ��craft the "Plantagenian or south fork of the Mississippi." Lake Plantagenet, through which it flows, retains the name that ��craft gave it in 1832. These names, for a line of kings of England, were derived from the flowering broom (in Latin, planta genista), chosen as a family emblem by Geoffrey, count of Anjou, whose son was Henry II, the first of the Plantagenet kings.
Alaska Township was named by settlers who had traveled to Alaska.

Buzzle Township and Buzzle Lake were named in honor of an early settler beside the lake.
Durand Township is named for Charles Durand, a homesteader on the northeast side of Lake Puposky.
Eckles Township bears the name of an early landholder interested in the building of its branch of the Great Northern railway.
Eugene Township was most likely named for Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana, candidate of the Socialist Party for president of the United States in 1904, 1908 and 1912.
Farley, a railway station in Port Hope Township, was named for a lumberman and merchant there, who removed west several years ago and has since died.
Frohn was named for a district of Gudbrandsdalen, Norway, the former home of immigrants in this township.
Funkley, a railway station and junction in Hornet township, was named for Henry Funkley, a lawyer in Bemidji.
Grant Valley Township and Grant Lake, with its outlet Grant Creek, were named for an early settler or lumberman.
Hagali Township was named for an early Norwegian settler.
Hornet Township was originally named Murray, a duplication of an older Minnesota township name, and the charge and selection of the present name caused much contention.
Kelliher Township and its village, at the end of a branch railway built for lumbering, were named for A.O. Kelliher, a former agent here for lumber companies.

Lammers Township was named for the Lammers Brothers (George A. and Albert J.), of Stillwater, who engaged in real estate and lumber business in this township.
Maple Ridge Township was named for its sugar maple trees, and for its situation at the sources of streams descending north to Red Lake. Sugar Bush Township is also named for the maple trees and sugar-making.
Port Hope Township was named by one of its first settlers, Captain William Wetzel, a veteran of the Mexican War and the Civil War, probably for Port Hope, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Ontario.
Shooks Township was named for Edward Shooks, who was a merchant there at a former station of the Kelliher railway branch.
Spooner Township is in honor of Judge Marshall A. Spooner of Bemidji, who served from 1903 to 1908.
Turtle Lake Township bears the name of its large lake, translated from an Ojibwe word. Explorer David Thompson, who traveled there in 1798, wrote of this lake that "its many small bays give it the rude form of a turtle."
Wilton, a railway village and junction in Eckles Township, was named for one of the 15 or more villages and towns of this name in the eastern states, Canada and England.]]>