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PPF 9: Gifts - M
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1935-02-28
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PRESIDENT'S PERSONAL FILE PPF 9 Gifts M Feb. 1935 PPF900483 st q-m February 1, 1935 My dear Reno: The President has received your very nice letter of January twenty-fourth. He has asked me to thank you for your kindness in send- ing your drawing to him and to extend his very best wishes to you. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Reno Mastracci, 516 Clinton Street, Buffalo, EAK New York. achid 1/35 ok 516 Clinton st. Buffalo, n.y. Jan. 24, 1935 Dear President I am sending you this picture of Uncle Sam that I bew free hand I am thirteen years old, in the 8th gride end d go to School no. 6, and my teachers name is Miss Raffauf. I hope you like my picture, Sincerely yours, Reno Mastricci WE DO OUR PART 1934 1 1935 SEPT. OCT. NOV. DEC. JAN FEB NRA SUCCESS / 2 P.P.7. February 1, 1935 q-m My dear Mr. and Mrs. Meis: The President wishes me to tell you how much he appreciates your note of birthday greetings and the besutiful boquet to which you refer. He is ever so grateful for your kind thought of him, and, in turn, sends his very best wishes to you. Very sincerely yours, antificial flow M. A. LeHand stre Roney PRIVATE SECRETARY Mr. and Mrs. H. K. Meis, Tecumseh, es Oklahoma. 2 Tecumseh, Okla, Jan. 28, '35. Mr. Franklin D. Roosevelt, all Washington, D, C.2/ pp7. 9-m & 35 Dear President Roosevelt;- - We are sending you this bouquet in honor of your birthday. 18 These roses have been patented only recently and :08- the are made of Oklahoma seed cotton. I am wishing to have the privilege of having you enjoy them first. We appreciate your policies of government in general. Wishing you a happy birthday and many,many more, We remain Sincerely yours. gdb Mr. of Mrs. H.K. meis. 2 7. 3-6 February 2, 1935 My dear Mrs. Maharon: Please accept our apologies for the delay in acknowledging the historical souvenir which you were good enough to send to the Pres- ident and Mrs. Roosevelt. They appreciate the friendly interest which prompted your thought of them and ask me to express to you their sincere thanks. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Mrs. Merz Maharon, 429 South Second Avenue, Mt. Vernon, New York. gdb / 2 THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON P.P.7. January 30, 1935. / 2, 1935 q-m From the desk of- Mrs. Helm Memorandum for Miss Le Hand: Mrs. Roosevelt has asked me to send you this for the President leased to to acknowledge. It has been here eetings and some time I am afraid, and I have only ind thought just been able to find it. rou refer. ,, in turn, shes. urs, LoHand $ SECRETARY George T. McClanun, Esq., Fayette, Missouri. es as fun / 2 Dear hardy, ask with end Emerica a (over) P.P.7. Club of all Westchester Utile County of Pie bruary 2, 1935 an of given by the Members of the Wath at the Library on South $ nnd Srinnd Anelue, Mount Ternon, !. N.U. Wire Pres in Alfred q-m. cordially innites you tn a Masira Neand Lecture Sunday, September two twelth, nineter hundred futenty President, Mme Myrtle B. Drz and Maharins at Entr n'rlnrk Serom Gounred Gurst, Mincha Mischakoff on been pleased to one finth Study day greetings and First Dire Pres Ulian Jurian your kind thought hich you refer. 1 isks me, in turn, They long st wishes. MyrleBM abaron ely yours, M.A. LoHend Stare Roms PRIVATE SECRETARY George T. McClanun, Esq., Fayette, Missouri. es as from / 2 2 To actid Mr to Mrs Rooserelt P.P.7. q-m. From 42990 So 2 noXang mt Vernon , ni Y. thanks you ever so much for your kind thought in sending him the cane to which you refer. He is glad to have it, and asks me, in turn, to convey to you his very best wishes. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHend Stae Rooms PRIVATE SECRETARY George T. McClanun, Esq., Fayette, Missouri. es as fun 2 p.p.7. February 2, 1935 q-m. My dear Mr. McClanun: The President has been pleased to receive your letter of birthday greetings and thanks you ever so much for your kind thought in sending him the cane to which you refer. He is glad to have it, and asks me, in turn, to convey to you his very best wishes. Very sincerely yours, W. A. LeHend Stare Roms PRIVATE SECRETARY George T. McClanun, Esq., Fayette, Missouri. es as fun 2 in ach of as C Fayethe Ms. 5 Jan -28ᵗʰ1935 p.p7 9-m Mr Frantilin D. Roosevelt Washington D.C. Dear Sir:- as I have had lots re- of spare time the last 5 years is being out of Employment most of made the time. I have been making to some Lickory hand made cames for Armisties Day for the Roger White Post 273 American Ligion of which I am a member. and knowing that you used a RY cane and that you have a Birthday soon. I thought I would make you a hand made Howard Co. Black Walnut came. for it. your Birthday. Hoping you like Very Truly yours. Geo T. Mcle lamon. rappy surnday. yours wring Dus Miller as fiver / 2 February 2, 1935 p.p.7. q-m. 9- My dear Mrs. Mara: The President is much pleased to re- ceive your birthday greetings and appreciates your kind thought in sending him the sketch made by your son. He asks me, in turn, to convey to you and your family his very best wishes. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand Star Ream PRIVATE SECRETARY Mrs. Edward Mara, 21 Jaques Avenue, Worcester, Massachusetts. es rappy surnday. Gus Miller as fun / 22 2 sketch of Pec To Pres.,President: the in This picticular al is one of many that p.p.m. q-m. 9 my boy has skitched of february 4, 1935 you and we thought you might like it as he S a guat I me to tell you admired of yours note of birthday you were kind Edward is his name osevelt. t we cannot do as and he is 14 yrs old requests are being S so extremely busy and in his first year le to comply with send you the Pres- of High School. your welfare and as you can all it ncerely yours, is done on the back of wak. a callender, he sits the die Lelland PRIVATE SECRETARY down and sketches on Miss Betty Main, 293 Fair Street, S.W., Atlanta, rfb Georgia. парру surinday. yours welly Dus Miller as fun / around. anything that is many Happy returns 7 The day fun the entin mara family which includes 22 voting Denocrate and along. 21 more coming Iam Sincerely mr. Edward mara 21 Jaques ave Washing mas 8 mm/ mic PRIVATE SECRETARY Miss Betty Main, 293 Fair Street, S.W., Atlanta, rfb Georgia. парру yours bruly Dus Miller as fun / 2 P.P.F. / February 4, 1935 9 My dear Miss Main: The President wishes me to tell you how much he appreciates your note of birthday greetings, and the gift which you were kind enough to enclose for Mrs. Roosevelt. I am very sorry that we cannot do as you ask, but so many similar requests are being received, and the President is so extremely busy just now, that it is impossible to comply with them. However, I am glad to send you the Pres- ident's very best wishes for your welfare and happiness. Very sincerely yours, artificial flowers and Hundwork the A. Lelland Stue revern PRIVATE SECRETARY Miss Betty Main, 293 Fair Street, S.W., Atlanta, rfb Georgia. rappy sunday. yours bruly Dus Miller as fiver 2 1-29-35 Dear President Roosevelt PPF. q-m just a Line to wish you many Happy Birthdays 9 am sovey I bant send you a Better Presant But I Have Been sick in Bed since a week Be for Christmass. of Be for that 9 was in so many towns that , dident do so good I make flowers of do Hand work Lipe the one I am sending you for mrs. Roosevelt. I Hope she will Like it. I am sending you my Photo. & was Born this way & rever stood up in my Life + es never Had my Hands to my face I Have no Joints in my rappy sunday. yours writey Dus Miller as fung 2 ) 2 Boudy at all just the way 5 P.P.7. q-m you see my Pitchure with my arms Trossed that is the way I do my work, of my Hands are twisted Back wards, you see I Like to travel +9 shure wood apricate a Letter from you it just saying Hope Every Boudy wood give this Little Lady a Chance to sell Her own make of articles. you see that wood Help me a Lots so I Y Could sell my work, + I will more than apricate that Letter from you, Hoping you Have es Lots of Happy Birthdays & may god Bless you with your good work rappy sunday. yours welly Dus Miller as fun 2 very Cincearly yours 5 P.P. q-m Betty main my address is 293 fair st S.W, only for a short time atlanta then am coming up that way ya n e in n, RY es rappy sivinday. yours bruly Gus Miller as fun / 2 February 4, 1935 PP7. q-m My dear Mr. Mullen: The President has been more than pleased to receive that fine birthday cake and greatly appreciates your kind thought it presenting it to him. He asks me, in turn, to convey his very best wishes to you. Very sincerely yours, Hand M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY William J. Mullen, Esq., The Mayflower, Washington, D. C. es rappy avenday. yours wring Dus Miller as first / 2 Recid cake and 2/4 so William J. Mullen Superintendent of Service Washington, D.C. February 4. 1935 q-m The Mayflower X13-m My dear Mr. Messier: The President has received your note of January twenty-eighth, and has asked me to assure you of his appreciation of your good wishes and of your thoughtfulness in sending the old stamp catalog to him. Very sincerely yours, Hause N. A. Le Hand PRIVATE SECRETARY Alfred R. Messier, Esq., 7 Quincy Street, Worcester, Massachusetts. LPB Happy Birthday. Yourstruly Dus Miller as fun 0.7 9.m m February 4. 1935 X13-m My dear Mr. Messier: The President has received your note of January twenty-eighth, and has asked me to assure you of his appreciation of your good wishes and of your thoughtfulness in sending the old stamp catalog to him. Very sincerely yours, Hause M. A. Le Hand PRIVATE SECRETARY Alfred R. Messier, Esq., 7 Quincy Street, Worcester, Massachusetts. LPB Happy Birthday. Yourstruly Gus Miller as fun / p.p.7 Worcester, mass. LPB 9-m Jan. 28,1935. My Dear mr. President: Knowing of your love for stamps. chwonder if you could findinterest in this old stamp catalogue. clam one who has 1 benifited by the new deal, after being out of work for three years. Dorothy L. Matthes, 1125 Michigan Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan. es Happy Birthday. Yours truly your any Gus Miller as fun in within three months el had after your entering the White House offers for five job asa Machinest which is my trade. chave a wife and two kiddies who adore their leader a real leader. cl have had the honor ofsering you once in Boston coming out of the Startler Hotel when as you. of h. york. I have a couple of hobbies hut not stamps of hich cl have only a few hundred my Rufren Rozes M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Dorothy L. Matthes, 1125 Michigan Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan. es Happy Birthday. Yours truly your wrung Gus Miller as fun bobbiesare old book and travel posters, of which el have nearly 300 from all over the world and p.p.7, q-m. a few war posters. Wishing you the best of health to come dremain dear mr. a happiness for many years d S President your humble to american citizen andadmirer n- is acpred R. missier nued 7 Twincy st. Wordester, mass, Please mr. Secretary dont think mea Crank,elam only an administ M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Dorothy L. Matthes, 1125 Michigan Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan. es Happy Birthday Yourstruly your avery Gus Miller as fun pp, February 5, 1935 Pq-m, My dear Dorothy: The President has been P leased to receive your letter of birthday greetings and wants you to know that he greatly appreciates your kind thought in sending him the flowers to which you refer. He, in turn, asks me to con- vey to you, and to your father and mother, his very best wishes for their welfare and continued happiness. Very sincerely yours, Puper Rozes M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Dorothy L. Matthes, 1125 Michigan Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan. es Happy Birthday. Yours truly your any Dus Miller as fung 1125 michigan are. ann arbor, Michigan 2 January 28, 1935. and ) P.7, Franklin D. Roosevelt of y as - m It hate House It ashington D. C. Dear mr. Roosevelt, I am enclosing, hereiith, just a little vremembrasicé of home- made paper Roses- as an expression of our most hearty smere good wishes to you - our great and noble President - for a very Happy Birthday blessings be with you may God's richest this day and always. With kindest regards from us all, the vremain, Very sincerely, Dorothy L. matthes and mother I Louise stanger matthes, (over) LICETTE TORUSTIN n la Knox, es North Dakota. Happy Birthday. Yourstruly your any Dus Miller as fun 1 P.7, 1 m L .8 STITE of Knox, es North Dakota. Happy Birthday. Yourstruly they your Dus Miller as first n.2 P.P.F. P.P.7, q-m February 6, 1935 My dear Gus: The President has been much pleased to receive your friendly letter of birthday greetings and greatly appreciates your kind thought in sending him the picture to which you refer. He asks me, in turn, to convey to you his very best wishes. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand Streetlener PRIVATE SECRETARY Gus Miller, c/o Michael Miller, Knox, North Dakota. es Happy Birthday. Yourstruly your my Gus Miller as fun Knox, n.Dabata M all Jan, 25, 1935 Pusident Franklin D. Roosevelt Washington D.C. Dear Mr Pusident: have many more. happy birthday and may you l am wishing you a very clam interested very much in art and am sending you one of my paintings for a birthday present, I'm not CWS very far advanced in the work but don't have the means to continue like d wont to. d am 12 years old and in the sixth grade, my fathers name, is michael miller, We live on a farm do. and have lotes of work to I have several.brothers and sisters both older and younger than dy and we all join in wishing you again a very Happy Birthday. Yours truly Gus Miller as fun p.p.7. February 6, 1935 q-m My dear Mr. Morrison: Your letter of January twenty-ninth has been received and I want to assure you of the President's appreciation of your thought- fulness in sending an autographed copy of your little book to him, and of the good wishes which your letter conveys. Very sincerely yours, House M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY CWS Gouverneur Morrison, Rsq., 107 East Micheltorena Street, Santa Barbara, California. as fun EL CORTEZ SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA January 29, 1935. Honorable Franklin D. Roosevelt, White House, Washington, D. C. My dear Mr. Roosevelt:- It is a privilege and indeed, an honor, for having the opportunity on this occasion to send you greetings on your fifty-third birthday. In honor of your fifty-third anniversary, I am forwarding by air mail an autographed copy of my late work, "Junipero Serra, Padre-Pioneer", California's first apostle and founder of the California Missions, as a birthday gift. Mrs. Morrison joins me in wishing you Many Happy Returns of the Day. With best wishes to you and Mrs. Roosevelt on this occasion, - Respectfully yours, Author. Home Address - 107 E. Micheltorena Street, Santa Barbara, California. as fun P.P.7- February 6, 1935 q-m My dear Mr. McCord: The President wants you to know that he is ever so grateful for your birthday thought of him, and asks me to thank you for the photo- graph with the accompanying cordial greetings. In turn, he sends his very best wishes to you. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand Stw Boorn PRIVATE SECRETARY John Hancock McCord, Esq., Fairbanks, Alaska. avv as first study J. @ RECEIVED a HOUSE at WHITE THE President Roosevelt The Greatest and most beloved President america everhad His beloved and Wife and Family, with Sincere Wishes For A Happy Birthday From her Faurbanks Alaska Jany-30.1935 Jany 301935 as fun / Feb 9' q-m December 6, 1935 My dear George: The President was much pleased to receive your letter of birthday greetings and thanks you for your kind thought in sending him the drawing to which you refer. He, in turn, asks me to convey his very best wishes to you. Very sincerely yours, M.A.LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY George Menor, 1064 Jackson Street, Marisette, es Wisconsin. as fun / Vicea druming the very for P.1. Marinette Wise Jan 30, and 1935 P.P.F. Dear President:- 2/6 as q-m l am sending this picture to you as a birth- day gift. But l am a little late in sending it, l am 14 years of age in the minth grade at Our Tady of Goundes High School This picture that I shew drawing. l have one of you is free hand brother, and two sisters 142 Winter Avenue, New Castle, Pennsylvania. es as fun and my father works in the Paper mill as a roll wraffer, I hope you well like this ficture and also when you have time me how you like it. l please write to me telling am mishing you many more SHaffy Brithdays yours truely. George Menor. 1064 Jackson st. Mannette marinette Win. Russell Mead, 142 Winter Avenue, New Castle, Pennsylvania. es al fust / P.1. P.P.7. q-m February 6, 1935 My dear Russell: The President thanks you ever 80 much for the drawing you were so kind as to send him and asks me to tell you that he appreciates your interest in writing. He, in turn, hends his very best wishes to you. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand Stae Ram PRIVATE SECRETARY Russell Mead, 142 Winter Avenue, New Castle, Pennsylvania. es al fust oo 142 Winter are, new Castle Pa P President Roosevelt:- off Dear Sir:- I knew you admire ships, so d am sending you one, is I think it is a fine ship. d am ten years old and think it must be - fine to be President all good wishes to you Russell mead Y Wisconsin. al fust / p.p.7. q-m February 7, 1935 My dear Kathryn: The President has received your let- ter and has asked the to thank you for your thoughtfulness in sending the photograph of your little sister and the birthday cake to him. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Kathryn Murphy, Delavan, Wisconsin. hm al fust 1 Do elavan, Viscomsin 7 Feb. 4, 1935. Dear B resident m Roosevelt: my daddy had this cake made for the P residents Birthday B all. This is my little sister ann. & he is three years old, she could. not write a letter so d am doing it for her l want to help my daddy so we can help other children who are side with informatele PRESIDENTS BIRTHDAY BALL 1935 DELAVAN, WIS. es - paralysis. I had to have mother help me 7 spell those words. m may G od bless you with love K atheyn murphy. PRESIDENTS BIRTHDAY BALL 1935 DELAVAN, WIS. Y es Lust name P.P.7. q-m. P. P. he ve hes. PRESIDENTS BIRTHDAY BALL 1935 DELAVAN, WIS. Y es al fusl name / P.P.7. February 7, 1935 q-m. My dear Bill: The President is in receipt of your letter and asks me to tell you how much he ap- preciates your kind thought in sending him the sketch to which you refer. He is glad to have it and, in turn, sends you his very best wishes. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand Stere Ream PRIVATE SECRETARY Bill Manni, 762 Morris Park Avenue, Bronx, es New York. al fust name drawny 4th of of we Pas, Dear President Roosevelt, President the of day after your your election State, as a great gront purture of yourse thank was Journal on the it pime Packweek Idended to your puture kept re to skitch your picture and grass it you Suppe like it blook it. From like you I hope you are a I did my to 763 Marrie Pk. ave Bill Marine 16yrs old Drux m.g. at fust non February 7, 1935 q-m My dear Frank: Your letter of birthday greetings was received and the President asks me to thank you ever so much for your kind thought of him and for the gift to which you refer. He, in turn, sends you his very best wishes. I am very sorry that it is not possible to meet your wishes. Requests for the President's bot of signature have become so numerous that it simply is impossible for him to comply with them. I am sure you will understand. small oppice pupplies Very sincerely yours, M.A. LeHand Store Romy PRIVATE SECRETARY Frank Ellis McKenzie, 74 Montclair Drive, Atlanta, Georgia. es at fust non but of office January 28 1935 and 2/2" Frank Ellis McKenzie 74 Montclair Drive, Atlanta Georgia, Dear Mr President I am just a eleven year old boy and will graduate at E. Rivers School this year , ofcourse I do not know much about politics , but I think you have as big a job as Washington had His job was to build a buildaa nation yours is to hold a nation together . so I can see what a big job you have to handle, and I think you will do as well as Washington did I am sending you a small present which I hope you can use I know you will get thousands of other presents that cost lots more , but no greater admirer will send them Saying goodbye and hoping you will be our next President Sincerely yours Frank Ellis ThE Kengie P.S. If it is not asking too much I would like your autograph. at fust have P.P.7 February 7, 1935 q-m My dear Mrs. Morvish: The President was especially pleased to receive your letter of birthday greetings and thanks you ever so much for your kind thought in presenting the painting to him. He asks me, in turn, to convey his very best wishes to you. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Stw Runn Mrs. Margaret Schroeder Morvish, Box 264, Sunland, California. es your voice to over when the we radio hear your all feel impered and more ready at first had Suarland California Hon. Franklin D. Rookevelt akp Boy264-Ian 28, 1935 President of United States of america Recd White House Marling ton D.C. Dear Mr Prosevelt. have mailed & you, under seperate cover, vice parel post, a panting of the California Redwoods. a great living any bol of americanium your very ideals, lofty as they lomehow you runind me of them, may seem to some of us, avereal they shall hive on through give- of truely american and as such, nations, like the redwoods a treasure we shall always reverbece bsp of love my good fortune to go up paint Every time it is for just having been There, and among them, Ifell figger bettr so it is when we hear voice over the radio your all feel impired and more ready at first had and best place m this earth to help make it the greatesh live & let live. I am that conditions I couldn't shed the painting properly framed ready to have sipe. I hustalid & send it sab all, feeling like Imight some Hjust couldritorist be presuming too much, but of no of still wanting to abudit the temptation and aftera year If dicided Ishould somehow Just knew that both you 8 Mas Roosevelt would understand tend our best wishes to you May the children 8 Tex- bsp for God a very happy hythday so day that you & may finish great work you away ably started on its Margaret Morvish. Sincerely your humble friend at first hand Ppt February 8, 1935 My dear Professor Moehlman: I was very glad indeed to bring to the attention of the President your letter of February fourth, and the pamphlet "The Red River of the North", which you enclosed. He is most appreciative of the friendly interest which prompted your thought of him, and thanks you also for the inscription. Your desire to be of service will, you may be sure, be kept in mind, should the occasion arise. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Professor Arthur Henry Moehlman, x The University School, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. bsp p7 P 9-P at fust hand Thank COPY February 4, 1935 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Esq., The White House, action Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Roosevelt: mg-55 Please accept this small token of my admiration. "The kg Red River of the North" attempts to tell the story of the old frontier's movements in a particular region. You are now in the process of correcting some of the destructive tendencies of that surge forward into new land. Two summers ago, I sat in the old St. James Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, and heard you say "We do our part". I was on an auto trip to the West Coast and return with the purpose of seeing the various regions of the country at first hand. I wanted to drive directly to Washington and offer my sword, which happens to be a training in regional and social history. But that seemed a bit presumptuous. Instead I completed my trip and went back to my work as a professor of social science in the new University School at Ohio State University. There I helped the educational advisors of the C.C.C. set up some objectives and interested myself in consumer protection. This fall, I was appointed Social Scientist directing Popula- tion Research for the Ohio State Planning Board, and have gained much experience. Perhaps by this time, I have training that may be of some use. I would like nothing better than to work on the Government Staff as a regional planner this summer and afterward. Some of the states still seem to need consultants. Sincerely, ARTHUR HENRY MOEHLMAN at first had February 4, 1935 Franklin Delans Rossevelt, Esg, The White House Washington D.C. Dear mr. Rousevell; Please accept This small Token 1 my admination "Thiked Kins of The north" attempts In tell The story in of The old frontin Is movements a particular region. you are new in the process of counting some of The destruction tendencies of that surge forward nith new land, Two summers ago I sat in The old H. James Hotel in Charleston, smith Carolina and hand you say " We dr our part"." I was on an Trip Tr The mest coast and return into with The purpose of sing The rains regions 1 The country at first had I wanted To duine duity In r Washington and offer my sund, which bappen In he a Training in regional geography and social history, But that seemed a bit presumptions, Instead I completed my Tmp and ment tack To my work as a perfessor 1 social science in The new University Achool at Other Hals numbersity, Then I helped The educational advisires 1 th C.C.C. set up sture objectives and interested myself in Consumer protection ] his fall 2 was appointed social directing Population Research for The Ohio state Velanning Board; and have gamed much if penenes Vulaps by This time I have Training that be 1 some use, To work I would m like Government staff as a regional planner the nothing may biller Than The summer and aftervand Some of states this still selm To need suncerely consultants. Certher Henry Mochlman THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH U BY ARTHUR HENRY MOEHLMAN THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY REPRINTED FROM THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW Vol. XXV, No. 1, JANUARY, 1935 Pp. 79-91 To Franklin Delano Konsell Creater 1 new Franters with respect and admination m vilution CWS AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY BROADWAY AT 156TH STREET NEW YORK d 35. THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH Arthur Henry Moehlman The Ohio State University T HE valley of the Red River of the North is not only one of the premier spring-wheat regions of the world but also one of the most valuable fields for the investigation of past trends in settle- ment. Waves of settlers with wide differences in cultural heritage have worked out their own distinctive interpretations of land utiliza- tion. An international boundary cuts this vast plain with its uniform landscape conditions and affords an opportunity for the study of the effect of political influences upon the opening up of a natural region. The records are rather recent and complete and available to the stu- dent of the science of settlement. The vast waters of Lake Agassiz once filled a shallow basin in the exact center of the continent of North America. Gradually the lake retreated until only a river meandered northward to a U-shaped remnant of the former broad expanse of water. Later, geologically speaking, tribes of red men hunted the bison herds upon the plains traversed by the river. Finally, white men transformed this hunting ground of the nomad into the granary known throughout the world as the Red River Valley.¹ THE UNITY OF THE VALLEY The Red River Valley runs north and south in the middle of the eastern edge of the great interior plains. To the west there is the gradual ascent to the barrier of the Rocky Mountains; to the east, the rocky peneplain of the Laurentian Plateau pierced by the Hudson Bay rivers and the St. Lawrence. The land-surface setting of the valley thus forms both barriers and avenues of approach to set- tlers. The valley is located at the meeting place of the chief river systems of North America, but the water routes are impracticable for the transport of heavy, cheap freight carried by large boats. The central location seemed to isolate the area as a center for agricultural settlement until better means of land transport than wagons appeared. Climatically and in its vegetation the Red River lies in a transi- tional zone. On the north is the taiga form (D') of climate; on the east and south is the Great Lakes form (BC'r), with severe, humid winters; on the west is the Great Plains variant (DC'd) of the semi- arid climates.² A traveler in the Red River Valley notices distinct limits to the 1 Warren Upham: The Glacial Lake Agassiz, U.S. Geol. Survey Monograph No. 25, 1895. C. W. Thornthwaite: The Climates of North America According to a New Classification. Geogr. Rev., Vol. 21, 1931, pp. 633-655. 79 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 80 THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH 8I plain except at Lake Traverse in the south. Here the country great to be only a little more undulating; and but the closer examination ponds. Timber supplies were depleted early by the wood-burning appears reveals an old beach line of Lake Agassiz edge of a drainage steamers. The prairie vegetation permitted rapid breaking of the rise of the Coteau des Prairies, Pembina Mountain, and the Tiger system flowing south to the Gulf of Mexico. Westward is the abrupt soil by use of the steel plow but necessitated the importation of wood from the forest lands fringing the valley on the north and east. Hills, marking the eastern border of the Great Plains, with their semi- Climate is uniform throughout the valley and presents both aridity and shorter grass. On the north a limit is formed by the water advantages and obstacles to settlement. The Red River Valley folk of the lakes and by the taiga. Southward from the shore of perspire in summer from the excessive heat, while the winds swirl surface billows Lake Winnipeg of the Laurentian the eastern Plateau limit of covered the plain by is pine seen forest to be where and muskeg rocky dust clouds up from the soil. Winter blizzards whip them with flying grains of snow and make it hard to find the way from house to intrude. Farther south a gently rolling, forested country dotted with barn. These are extremes, however. No matter how hot the days are lakes skirts the plains. Within these rough limits, uniformity of in summer, the nights are usually cool and refreshing. The tempera- features exists.³ A pilot flying at high altitude from Lake Traverse to ture seems to be generally invigorating during the six months when the land is worked and the harvest gathered. In winter it is consistently Lake Winnipeg gets an impressive view of the unity of the valley.4 below zero Fahrenheit, but the dry air makes the extreme cold easier A vast flat sea of land stretches north and south for about 300 to bear than the moderate cold of the humid Great Lakes area. The miles. East and west the plains extend IO or I5 miles to a distant climate may be referred to as a CC'd type-subhumid, microthermal, coast line of higher land. The traveler on the ground sees mirages with a deficiency of precipitation at all seasons but with moisture above the flat expanse, silos and barns floating in the air with a thin enough for agriculture. Thunderstorms bring a large portion of the strip of blue between them and the horizon. At the margins of the rainfall, which is heaviest usually in June. Snow covers the prairies plain are slight billowings where deltas formed by glacial rivers have a foot deep from December to March. Mean annual precipitation been heaped into dunes by the winds. A trench dug into the plain ranges from some 24 inches in the upper valley to I9 inches at Pembina reveals a deep deposit of yellowish, marly clay, stained black at the and nearly 22 inches at Winnipeg. The mean wind velocity approxi- surface by decaying vegetable matter. The margins of the valley mates that at Chicago, but the lack of cover upon the prairie makes show deposits of sand and of gravel useful in the laying of permanent the force of the wind more noticeable. A minimum of thawing in ways, but the clay forms a nearly universal soil surface of almost winter permits continuous use of the thin sheet of snow for sled inexhaustible fertility. transportation. The Red River winds SO tortuously across the flat plain that THE PIONEER FRINGE passengers on the steamboats used to land on one side of a point, walk across, and meet the steamer coming around the bend.6 The Ther 69 flowing fresh. river rising rapidly. many of the settlers passing out with their cattle and carts toward mountain. stream has cut a trough with sloping banks not far below the level of (May 6, 1852.) noon WN.W wading about in fort up to knee the plains like a the surrounding prairie, and the tributary streams are similar in sea. (May 13, 1852.) appearance. Floods occur in spring because of the melting snow in Ther 59 River has fallen since Saturday. saw a procession of cattle and people the upper courses and the firm ice at the river's mouth. Large sections crossing plains to the houses similar to what I saw when the water was rising. (June of the prairie may be covered by water, as in 1852, 1860, and 1882. 7. 1852.)⁷ Subsurface water is easily obtained by shafts sunk IO or I5 feet. Dr. Cowan watched the progress of the flood of 1852 on the Red Alkaline salts in the soil harden the water disagreeably but, as a River of the North from Fort Garry, and from this diary excerpt it is compensation, aid in producing crops of high-grade wheat. apparent that settlement was confined to the riverbanks, where water, Originally a thick sod covered the plain of the Red River, and the wood, and soil existed together. At first the prairie, here as elsewhere, chief cover is still the prairie grasses. Superimposed is a pattern of repelled the settlers; yet by 1881 farmers had settled the length and tree lines following the watercourses and the margins of the numerous breadth of the valley and by 1886 had passed on toward the Rockies &G. M. Dawson: Report on the Geology and Resources of the Region in the Vicinity of the Forty- (Fig. 1). To trace the advance of the pioneer fringe" into this area Ninth Parallel, from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, British North American Bound- is the main object of this paper. ary Commission, Montreal, 1875, pp. 212 ff. Air Photos of the Red River Valley, Topographical Survey of Canada, Ottawa, File No. FA807 The frontier of settlement may be thought of as a skirmish line (70-100). 7 William Cowan: Fort Garry Journals, 1852, MSS (dated in notebook April 21, 1852, to May 28, 5 Upham, op. cit., p. 27. 1853). Personal communication from W. J. Healy, provincial librarian of Manitoba 82 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 100 100 95 Lake Lake Manitoba Winnipeg 1850 1860 marking the advance of tillers of the soil into new uncultivated land. Stone Fort Portage FortGarrype Fort Garry The term " pioneer fringe"⁸ describes its form most accurately and is used synonymously with frontier. Density of population affords a Pembina SPJoseph Pembina Devils clue to the location of the frontier but must be used cautiously, check- ing sparseness of population, indicative of frontier conditions, against Georgetown FtAbercrombie the population maximum that the land is able to support on a power Lacs Breckenridge Traverse Alexandria level of culture. In the case of the Red River Valley we can identify StCloud Anthony Wausau and locate the frontier in terms of an outer limit of two persons a PSt EauClaire F:Ridgeley square mile.9 Winona THE FRINGE IN 1850 Sioux The pioneer fringe was far distant from the plains of the Red If River in 1850. It stretched from the tip of Green Bay roughly south- Westbourne 1870 1881 west across the Mississippi toward the fork of the Platte and Missouri Fort Garry Winnipeg rivers, passing to the north of Portage City, Prairie du Chien, and S.Joseph Fembina St Vincent ROUTE Des Moines, then retreating beyond in a half circle to make a final Totten- 1 advance up the Missouri beyond Council Bluffs. In advance of the Georgetow line proper were islands of settlement, round in form at Wausau and Duluth Eau Claire and elongated from Winona to St. Cloud in the direction Morris of the Red River Valley. The level of culture here included use of the St Paul steamboat and stage for transport and dependence on agriculture to produce food and shelter, but it still lacked the chilled-steel plow and the reaper as tools. The fur trade was passing on, and Bottineau, the scout, advertised land, plows, and wagons for sale.¹⁰ The Red River Valley had only isolated loci of settlements within its great area, where nomad tribes hunted the bison herds. 1886 Northwest of the pioneer fringe was Pembina, a cluster of half a Winnipeg dozen log dwellings at the fork of the Pembina and the Red rivers. THE ADVANCE OF THE FRONTIER Across the line was the Hudson's Bay Company's trading post. The 1850 - 1886 log houses of half-breed hunters were scattered along the streams toward Pembina Mountain. Frontier of settlement Red River settlement centered around Fort Garry at the fork of Railroads the Red and the Assiniboine rivers. Above the stone walls of the fort Roads floated the red ensign of the Hudson's Bay Company. Directly Trails across the river rose the twin towers of the Catholic cathedral, from which the bells chimed the evening vespers. From this center the SCALE I 19,000,000 "serpentine" villages radiated in a rather uniform pattern of white- 9 50 100 200 MILES 0 $0 100 KILOME washed cabins or stone houses fronting on the river as in old Quebec, 95 GEOGR. with the farms stretching back in two-mile bands to the common FIG. I-Maps showing the advance of the frontier of settlement and the chief communications in haying fields. The dwellings increased in number around Douglas frontier territory. The population figures were taken from the records of the United States, Dominion of Canada, North Dakota, and Minnesota censuses together with the early population enumerations in Point. Windmills used for grinding grain whirled their arms at inter- Assiniboia. The areas upon which the densities were plotted were drawn from the corresponding descriptions in the Statutes of Manitoba, Statutes of the Dominion of Canada, and the parish areas 8 Isaiah Bowman: Jordan Country, Geogr. Rev., Vol. 21, 1931, pp. 22-55. noted in Hind (see footnote 15). Contemporary maps and descriptions were used in the final drawing 9 Compare definition of the criteria used in the "Statistical Atlas, Twelfth Census of the United of thelines. Theroutelocations were plotted from the annual reports of the Northern Pacific, Canadian States, Taken in the Year 1900," Washington, 1903, p. 26. Pacific, and St. Paul and Minneapolis railroads, from the Dominion's Department of Railways and 10 T. C. Blegen: Minnesota Pioneer Life as Revealed in Newspaper Advertisements, Minnesota Canals, and from contemporary records. History, Vol. 7, 1926, pp. 99-121. 83 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW 84 THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH 85 vals along the river. From Fort Garry settlement extended of north for about twenty miles to Stone Fort, made up chiefly the farmhouses line from the Mississippi to the Red, and dots of settlement grew up of the Selkirk settlers, and west along the Assiniboine, where for about along the route from St. Cloud to Breckinridge and Georgetown, the two miles could be seen the dwellings of the pensioners Cheval of the Hudson's head of navigation. A printing press was even transported north by Bay Company, and beyond, to the Prairie du Blanc, the half- OX team from St. Paul to Fort Garry, and the Nor' Wester appeared as the first newspaper in the Red River Valley.14 breed settlements.¹¹ The level of culture, here, used muscle power for transport and for food and shelter depended principally on hunting and a primitive THE FRINGE FROM I860 TO 1870 sort of agriculture that was just beginning. The settlements were The pioneer fringe now ran from the Menominee River on Green practically isolated from the outer world, since York boats, canoes, Bay northwest to a point above the junction of the Crow Wing River Red River carts, and dog carioles did not give speed, regularity, or and the Mississippi and there turned directly south on a parallel cheapness of transport. Cavalcades of Red River carts set forth for with the 95th meridian to cross the Minnesota near the Blue Earth the spring and fall bison hunts or to carry trading goods farther west. River. From there it made a concave curve and struck the Missouri In autumn the fields along the river were filled with workers reaping near Sioux City to send fingers of settlement upstream on the James and stacking the grain. The winter entombed the settlements in drifts River and the Platte. The frontier of settlement still hesitated at the of snow, and wolves preyed upon the stock. edge of the Red River Valley, waiting in the forest area. Life had ad- vanced beyond that of 1850, since steamboat and stage reached the THE ADVANCE FROM 1850 TO I860 outer edge of the fringe, and farming machinery was coming into use. The following decade witnessed certain surges forward within McCormick had moved west from Virginia to the edge of the plains the valley. Settlers moved west from Fort Garry to Portage la where he was needed, and by I860 his factory was turning out 4000 reapers a year at Chicago. Prairie and from Pembina to Pembina Mountain but did not locate upon the prairies. In describing the latter settlement of St. Joseph Beyond the frontier of settlement, life in the loci of the Red River an observer stated that it was "situated upon the eastern slope of the Valley was centered around the maintenance of transportation and communication until one reached the junction of the Red and the longitudinal ridge of land, called Mount Pembina, which is in places Assiniboine rivers, where there was more progress in the field of heavily wooded, and presents an Alleganian appearance. The settlers at this stage of frontier advance seem to have jumped from the agriculture. Travelers were put up at stage stations, while wagons eastern forests to forested areas here and on the west coast. The tools and horses were changed as at Dayton and Alexandria. Georgetown served as a transshipping point from wagons or stages to the steam- of their culture were not yet strong enough to overcome the obstacles boat, while Fort Abercrombie functioned as a protective center. of the intervening plains-the heavy sod and the lack of water, wood, Pembina partially controlled trade, maintained transport and com- and transport to market.¹³ munication, and carried on some agriculture. About I857 the Red River Valley became a center of interest, when An observer of life in the "serpentine" villages radiating from the cession of the vast Hudson's Bay Company territories to Canada Fort Garry noted various strata of culture, ranging from the fur traders was under discussion. Furthermore, a drive northwestward into the and plains hunters to the steamboat men, freighters, and prosperous region was actually beginning. Settlers were moving up the Crow independent farmers. But plains hunting was still a primary source Wing and Mississippi rivers, and Fort Abercrombie was founded as a of livelihood, in contrast with farming. Cultivators kept to the river- military post at the fork of the Ottertail and Bois des Sioux rivers. banks, repelled by lack of wood, the troublesome Indians, and the The U.S. Post Office located at Pembina ahead of the army, and ad- scarcity of markets for their products, although they had better tools venturers laid out the townsites of Breckinridge and Graham's Point. brought from St. Paul. Beyond the tentacles of settlement at the The transport complex of the advancing frontier struck out up fork, growth was to be noted at Portage la Prairie and some mere the Red River Valley in 1859. Anson Northrup carried a knockdown dots at Oak Point on Lake Manitoba and at Islington and Rat Portage steamboat across the prairies to the Red River, where he put it to- up the Winnipeg River.¹⁵ gether and steamed down to Fort Garry. The Burbanks built a stage Many forces conspired to block the seemingly imminent forward W. Bond: Minnesota and Its Resources, Redfield, 1853, p. 288. 14 The Nor'Wester, Vol. I, No. I, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 1859. 12 Ibid., p. 276. 15 H. V. Hind: Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857, 2 vols. 13 W. P. Webb: The Great Plains, Boston, 1931, pp. 8-9. London, 1860; reference in Vol. I, p. 156. THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH 87 86 thrust of the pioneer fringe. The fur trade of the Hudson's Bay Com- Down the Red River the loci of settlement were growing at Breckin- pany was threatened by any agricultural advance and held its land ridge and Wahpeton, at Fort Abercrombie, and at Georgetown. north of the 49-degree line practically closed to settlement. The Farther downstream settlers and speculators were hovering near the Plains Indians went on the warpath in the autumn of 1862 and drove site of the present Fargo, but then there was a wide gap until Pembina the pioneers back toward the Mississippi. Then the intersectional and St. Vincent were reached. Again there was little settlement until conflict in the South drained men from Minnesota. Settlers even in the outliers of the farmsteads radiating from Fort Garry were reached. the years following seemed to trek across these woodless plains to The little village of Winnipeg was growing, and the nucleus of the reach the wooded mountains and valleys of the farther West. future great metropolis of the Canadian Northwest was to be found in its twenty-five or more buildings. But still the settlers shunned the plains and clung to the rivers. ADVANCE OF THE RAILROADS Settlers were drifting in all along the Red River Valley, but they The annals of settlement in the valley are scant until 1870, but a kept to the wooded streams. Young men, packing their guns and drive forward began in 1869. The Northern Pacific Railway was fishing lines, often went in advance to spy out the land, while families ready to strike from Lake Superior across the Red River, and the St. followed in covered wagons, far ahead of the railroad, away from the Paul and Pacific was about to resume its progress northwestward services of doctor and teacher. Alongside were the symbols of the from St. Paul toward the valley. Not only were the means of penetra- past, as Red River carts passed lightly over the thick prairie grass, and tion about to appear but the land north of the 49-degree line was also Indians on their ponies loped silently past. being opened to settlement. The Hudson's Bay Company had sold But the forerunners of the railroads were just gaining full strength. its territory to the newly created Dominion of Canada, which was The stage bumped and rocked along the route from St. Cloud to anxious to fill its land with settlers and hold it against "manifest Georgetown, while the Selkirk prepared for her first trip to Fort destiny." A new tool for the conquest of the prairies was being Garry. These means of transport, joined to the railroads and the perfected by Oliver-his steel plow, which could easily break their Dawson Route, brought passengers and freight to the Red River tough sod. The frontier was now backed by powerful forces. Settlements. Thus the pioneer fringe had pushed forward toward the Red River There at Winnipeg was a foretaste of the future as the Dominion Valley in the shape of a forked tongue along the headwaters of the surveyors planned to lay off the plains in sections in the United States Mississippi and the Minnesota, but it still hesitated in the forests at fashion and the first Dominion census was being taken. But the news- the southeastern edge of the prairies. In 1870 the skirmish line ran papers of Winnipeg still carried the list prices of prime furs beside from the middle of the west shore of Green Bay to the 93rd meridian those of agricultural implements.¹⁶ and from there northwest around Lake Mille Lacs to the source of the During the next few years settlement advanced in the valley, Crow Wing River. Thence it passed south through the Ottertail but only in the form of thin lines clinging to the wooded streams and chain of lakes, turning southwest at a point opposite Lake Traverse the new railroads. The rails of the St. Paul and Pacific reached to cross the Minnesota River at the 96th meridian. More venturesome Breckinridge, and immigrants paralleled and preceded its advance. dots of settlement advanced beyond the fringe along two lines of Moorhead and Fargo grew as the Northern Pacific touched and crossed transport toward the Red River. the Red River. The Dawson Route from Lake Superior to the Red Along the advancing frontier could be seen log cabins, with shacks River helped to swell the tide, and settlers from Ontario took up and sod houses in the open prairies at the edge of the woods. Slow- land along the route, on the Boyne River near Pembina Mountain, moving oxen drew the heavy wagons of the farmers, and first crops and on the Red River south of Winnipeg.¹⁷ Other settlers located were sometimes obtained by planting corn and potatoes in cuts made near Stony Mountain northwest of Winnipeg and out along the Assini- in the sod with an axe. The breaking plow was coming into use and boine. The depression of 1873 retarded growth in many ways, though was often used in common by many neighbors. The railroads were at a prize crop of wheat by a homesteader on the Sheyenne west of last striking out steadily toward the Red River. The St. Paul and Fargo pointed toward the future. Pacific was advancing toward Breckinridge by way of Morris, while the The pioneer fringe really began to penetrate the plains in I875, Northern Pacific was under construction from Lake Superior past when Mennonites from southern Russia traveled downstream by Brainerd toward Fargo. An outlet for crops raised on the plains was appearing. 16 Canada, Sess. Papers, 1876, No. 7, xli, pp. I02 ff.; Manitoba Daily Free Press, Oct. 14, 1876. 17 Manitoba Daily Free Press, Nov. 9, 1872. THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH 88 89 steamboat and dared to locate on the open plains north of the 49- Grandin Farm to work in the wheatfields and acquire the capital degree line and east of Pembina Mountain. Six thousand Mennonites necessary on the more recent frontiers of settlement. brought their old culture from the Russian plains to a similar land- There were many gaps even at the time that James Hill was push- scape.¹⁸ Settlements in the strassendorf form soon dotted the plains, ing the railroad forward over the eastern prairies. There were un- and the land held in common was farmed efficiently according to the settled spaces from Moorhead to Crookston and again from there to Old World rules. A deep religious spirit pervaded the communities, St. Vincent. From Emerson just across the border settlement was and their communal devotions compensated for the lack of contact progressing. There was a gap from Winnipeg to the Mennonite settle- with the outer world. These nearly self-sufficient Mennonite com- ments in the west prairies, and from there to Grafton.21 munities were established on the plains of the Red River far in advance However, at the beginning of 1879 a rail line ran from St. Paul to of the railroads. The inherited culture of these pioneers was perfectly Winnipeg over the eastern prairies and up to Fargo on the western adapted to the new environment, and there was no need to revert prairies, which were also tapped by the east-west rail line from Lake to the primitive culture met at the edge of the frontier of settlement. Superior.22 The great surge of settlement reached its full stride, and South of the 49-degree line the power-machine culture of the by 1881 our saga was completed. United States helped to conquer the resistance of the plains by making The pioneer fringe had figuratively flowed down the Red River large-scale farms profitable. By 1875 breaking plows were ripping up Valley, washed against the eastern shore of the old lake basin, and was the tough prairie sod near Casselton for the Cass-Cheney Farm. The spilling over the western shore. That is, the frontier in 1881 ran from bonanza crop reaped attracted a rush of large-acreage purchasers in- the western tip of Lake Superior, curving northwest above Mille Lacs, tent on bonanza wheat farming. This accomplished the purpose of across the Red Lake River to the 49-degree line at the eastern edge of the two directors of the Northern Pacific who had bought the land for the Red River region, and thence to the east shore of Lake Winnipeg. the following reason: "We needed something larger than the small The frontier crossed from Gimli on Lake Winnipeg to Oak Point on fields of the homesteader to attract farmers with means and give the Lake Manitoba. There were scattered settlements northwest from road something to carry. The steamboats, flatboats, and freight there toward Riding Mountain, but the real pioneer fringe curved wagons carried in heavy loads of lumber and tools and began the ex- south from the west shore of Lake Manitoba through Pembina Moun- port of wheat in 1876, in addition to the fur bales. Yet a north and tain, passing east of the Sheyenne River toward the Coteau des south railroad was needed to tap the wealth of the valley, and that did Prairies and the Missouri. There appears to have been a gap in the not materialize until December of 1878. marshy area between the Morris River and the Boyne later remedied Meanwhile settlers moved in from the south and east. The western by railroad and drainage. prairies near Buxton received settlers from Sætersdalen, Norway, The density map of five years later shows the pioneer fringe rolling and these pioneers used all the tools of their old culture from farm westward beyond Devil's Lake and into the Canadian Northwest, implements to skis in conquering the plains. The railroad reserves though some turn back with bitterness in their hearts, as expressed in often constituted an annoying man-made difficulty for these settlers. the legend seen on a covered wagon in Alberta (1917): "Fifty miles Swedes and New Englanders were taking up land along the Park River, from water, Fifty miles from food, To Hell with Southern Alberta, halfway between Grand Forks and Pembina. Icelandic settlers even We're leaving there for good. "23 left the shores of Lake Winnipeg, where the heavy timber and swamp The Red River Valley, then, was a valuable halting place for the made progress difficult, and settled near Pembina Mountain close to far-flung frontier of today. Here men experimented with the prob- old St. Joseph. They avoided prairies farther to the east because lems of the Great Plains-the lack of wood and water-under favor- "logs for houses could be had without the necessity of hauling them able conditions. The new tools such as railroad plow and reaper were from a distance" and because "it was sometimes difficult to get water tried out. Governments tested methods of land survey, land sale, and on these prairies. Many of the settlers walked south to the huge railroad subsidy and were faced with the clash between nomads and 18 Alexander Begg and W. R. Nursey: Ten Years in Winnipeg, Winnipeg, 1879, pp. II5 and 122; farmers. Statesmen wrestled with the problem of extending eastern Adam Shortt and A. G. Doughty, edits.: Canada and Its Provinces, Edinburgh edit., Vol. 20, Toronto, culture to new communities, which were often of foreign stock. The 1914, p. 295. 19 J. B. Power: Bits of History Connected with the Early Days of the Northern Pacific Railway necessity of constructing railroads to the Red River Valley and the and the Organization of Its Land Department, Collections State Hist. Soc. of North Dakota, Vol. 3, 21 James J. Hill: History of Agriculture in Minnesota, Minnesota Hist. Soc. Collections, Vol. 8, 19I0,pp.337-348;referenceon pp.34-345. 1895-1898, pp. 275-290; reference on p. 285. 20 Sveinbjorn Johnson: The Icelandic Settlement of Pembina County, Collections State Hist. 22 Manitoba Daily Free Press, Dec. 5, 1878. Soc. of North Dakota, Vol. I, 1906, pp. 89-131; reference on p. 99. 23 Personal communication from J. C. Cameron. 90 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH 91 coast brought Canadians in contact with the problems of the Canadian up land on the plains east of Pembina Mountain. Canadians settled Shield-too much water, wood, and rock. They overcame the ob- along the wooded Boyne, while French Canadians broke ground along stacle, which may assume its old role of binding the Canadians to- the streams east of the Red River. Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes gether not by the fur trade as in the past but by the exploitation of settled in rather solid blocks within the valley. How well have these minerals. different stocks adapted themselves to their new environment and THE INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY AND OTHER QUESTIONS attained unity of action? The pattern of settlement has a wide range. Along the streams The Red River Valley is a natural region cut by an international are long, narrow strips of land with single rows of dwellings at the boundary. Did the 49-degree line distort the progress of settlement? edge of the bank or clumps of dwellings with the fields round about Before 1870 the line appears to have been a barrier to settlement as at Graham's Point. Upon the prairies homes are scattered through northward, since entrance of farmers by steamboat and stage was the sections, but in contrast is the strassendorf of the Mennonites. hampered by the Hudson's Bay Company. Yet trade and other con- The "bonanza" farm pattern is again different. What are ideal rural tact between St. Paul and Fort Garry were not halted even by annoy- groupings? ing duties imposed at the boundary. After 1870 the line began to These pioneers lived on varying economic levels. The huge farms, exert a more effective influence over trade, as when the Mounted such as that of the Grandins, represented an immense outlay of capital, Police ejected the American fur traders. The boundary was used by while the Norwegian settlers near Buxton operated on a subsistence both governments as a means of restricting the transport of goods. level. The Mennonites borrowed heavily to pay the first costs of Freighting by Red River carts was brought to an end in 1871, and their settlement. How may pioneers be most efficiently financed? steamers were debarred in 1880. However, both were being super- The actual form of progress assumed by this pioneer fringe was seded by better modes of transportation, and settlement does not not a steady surge down the valley, as the density maps of 1870 and seem to have been retarded. Following 1870 the boundary was opened 1881 seem to indicate. Loci of settlement were shot far ahead along wide to the currents of settlement, except for the land reservations on the wooded streams and at the river forks to the south and north. either side. Many United States institutions, such as the quarter Settlement then filled in along the streams and gave the valley a section, and also tools were adopted by our friends across the border skeleton leaf form of settlement, the streams corresponding to the as an aid in conquering the plains. veins of the leaf. Patches of settlement began to appear in the inter During the ten years in which the frontier swept most swiftly stices on the prairies, but only to the north and south, leaving great across the Red River Valley (1875-1885) we observe little distortion gaps in the central area, which were finally filled in to form the picture in development, except perhaps some retardation because of lack of seen in 1881. Should communal groups be planned for the pioneer railroad facilities in Manitoba. That requires further research. The fringe as holders of the far-flung loci? pattern of development in this natural region seems to have been These are some of the questions that arise in a survey of the little distorted by the presence of an international boundary. The progress of settlement in the Red River Valley and that appear to question is raised whether there can be international planning for the have significance in planning for the utilization of new and old lands. utilization of a natural region. The state and local planning boards of the United States are even The progress of the frontier in the Red River Valley, when viewed now attempting to solve some of these problems as they shift people as a whole, accentuates the point that transformation of the landscape into more favorable areas than those into which they were cast by un- began to occur when the forces synchronized. Only after 1875 did controlled movement of the old pioneer fringe. new tools, presence of transport facilities, population drive, and free- dom to settle upon the land without disturbance from nomads harmo- nize. Can such a harmonization be planned? The speed of advance is striking, since within a short decade a grassland was transformed into a wheat granary. In contrast with earlier frontiers, the area was covered with remarkable speed. Is rapid expansion the wisest path to take, or do we need more control? The complexity of the pioneer fringe is very apparent as regards race. German Mennonites emigrated from southern Russia and took is Ruses p.p.m February 8, 1935 My dear Mr. Malagarie: Your letter of January sixteenth has been received and is being referred for the con- sideration of the United States Employment Ser- vice. While your thoughtfulness in sending the spinning wheel to the President and Mrs. Roosevelt is deeply appreciated, they do not feel that they can accept it. I am therefore returning the wheel to you. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY CWS 1 M. Malagarie, Esq., Lafayette, Louisiana. The spinning where was received broken and arturued through Post office Inspector, 1 Feb 8 1935. & Rises W named Parel FROM # 3935 THE WHITE HOUSE 7 rom in malagania WASHINGTON, D.C. 1 da Cafayette & (Small Spenim's wheel addressed to The President M. Malagarie, Esq., Lafayette, Wash Db. Indiana, La. Recemied panel to he returned to pm Priently birthday Latanette ha appreciates your Inkmal to he returned to sender be beautiful firmerns 6m mare newsy his very bees P and happiness. Vary sincerely yours, Rivey M. the Leitland PRIVATE SECTITARY the More, 1638 Break withland Avenue, Charge, Illinois. Antificial very Roses P.P.7- February 8, 1935 q-m - My dear Mrs. Moore: The President has been especially pleased to receive your friendly birthday greetings and more than appreciates your kind thought in sending him the beautiful flowers. He, in turn, asks me to convey his very best wishes for your welfare and happiness. Very sincerely yours, mikeng M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Mrs. Elizabeth Moore, 6606 North Ashland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. es Inshing Recid artificial you a very Roses many more: why as happy birth day and Please at cept this humble tribute made by emyoun hands for you may god Bless you. P.P.7. Ins Eligabeth more 6606.A ashland any chicago Ills. February 8, 1935 9-m Gentlemen: The President has asked me to thank you most cordially for that fine picture you were so good as to send him. He is glad to have it and greatly appreciates your kind thought in sending it to him. Very sincerely yours, Star Roun M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Montana Relief Commission, 1st National Bank Building, Helena, Montana. es P.P.7. February 8, 1935 q-m Gentlemen: The President has asked me to thank you most cordially for that fine picture you were so good as to send him. He is glad to have it and greatly appreciates your kind thought in sending it to him. Very sincerely yours, Star Roun M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Montana Relief Commission, 1st National Bank Building, Helena, Montana. es p.p.7n February 11, 1935 q-m My dear Rosemary: The President has received your note and thinks it was very nice of you to send him a birthday message. He sends you his very best wishes. Very sincerely yours, gave away M. A. Le Hand PRIVATE secretary Rosemary McNally, 568 Fairfield Avenue, Stamford, Connecticut. LPB Place A BIRTHDAY GREETING y 11, 1935 p.p.7. q-m egg ally pleased ;reetings and ciates your um of photo- n, asks me ease your welfare ours, Zo Wand M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Mrs. S. Mitchell, 119 West School Street, Visalia, California. es To BRING p.p.7. "Best of Wishes!" February 11, 1935 and "Many Returns!" q-m To hope that your birthday is brim full of cheer, To be a reminder I'm thinking of you TODAY and TOMORROW as especially pleased and ALL THROUGH birthday greetings and THE YEAR! ch he appreciates your Ammosemary g him the album of photo- mcnaley He, in turn, asks me wishes for your welfare sincerely yours, Zo Wand 20 M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Mrs. S. Mitchell, 119 West School Street, Visalia, California. es Dear Dr President, 1 l put the H on myself I am 10 years old. Please use my hanky. yours Lovengly Rosemary McMally 568 Fairfieldave Stamford, Conn. 118 February 11, 1935 q-m My dear Mrs. Mitchell: The President was especially pleased to receive your friendly birthday greetings and wants you to know how much he appreciates your kind thought in sending him the album of photo- graphs of Giant Forest. He, in turn, asks me to convey his very best wishes for your welfare and happiness. Very sincerely yours, Zo Wand M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Mrs. S. Mitchell, 119 West School Street, Visalia, California. es Leahy, Mr. & Mrs. Thomas, West Phila., Pa., Feb. 12,1935, Ack'd. Birthday greetings. Sends cards and medal to the President. Prayers. SEE P.P.F. 310-L 9-m PSA 2.2 February 12, 1935. Dear Dave:- Just a note to thank you ever so much for the books on the life and history of Barbar The Elephant. They are most amusing. My best wishes to you, Always sincerely, pr71987 Hon. Dave H. Morris, *# American Embassy, Brussels, Belgium. Brussels EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Jan 24 my dear Franklin, my daughter alice gave me for pmas some books on The life and history of B abar I In Elephant which are written for children and which are so amering, That I am sending you copies for your infoyment and profil also. where The cares of office bring a frown or your philosophy promes tangled, just open These books at any page and The charming illustration with The whichical Teyt will show you how simple life is after all. and it you falter, Take your graudchildran on your lap and They will explain it to you with delight to all Concerned. yours as Ever pmt. February 14, 1935 9-m Gentlemen: The President was much pleased to receive the February issue of "Municipal Utili- ties" and thanks you for your kind thought in sending it to him. Very sincerely yours, atab magnyine Hame M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Municipal Utilities, 500 Shoreham Building, Washington, D.C. es pp.7. q-m February 14, 1935 My dear Mr. Miceli: The President is in receipt of the drawing which you were so kind as to send him and wants you to know that he greatly appre- ciates your thoughtfulness. He asks me to con- vey his very best wishes. Very sincerely yours, Rote M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Ignazio Miceli, Esq., 212 East 117th St., New York, N.Y. es p.p.7m February 14, 1935 9-m My dear Mr. Martin: The President is in receipt of the gift which you were good enough to send him and wants you to know how much he appreciates your kind thought. He asks me to convey his very best wishes to you. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY F. E. Martin, Esq., 1156 Iris Court, San Jose, es California. CELLER, Hon. Emanuel, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. February 14, 1935 Writes Col. McIntyre with reference to the desire of Eli Dantzig, the famous dance orchestra leader and composer, to come to the White House to present the President with the ori- ginal manuscript of his March which Mr. Dantzig dedicated to and named for the President, and played for the first time at the Presi- dent's Birthday Ball at the Hotel St. George in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the presence of Mrs. James Roosevelt, the President's mother, who expressed keen appreciation of the honor bestowed upon her son, etc. Mr. Celler would like to accompany Mr. Dantzig when he makes this presentation. See P.P.F. 1-B P.P.F. 9-m p.p.7. q-m February 15, 1935 My dear George: The President was much pleased to receive your birthday greetings and greatly appreciates your kind thought in sending the sketch to him. He asks me to convey his very best wishes to you and to your family. Very sincerely yours, Stare Room M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY George Meshel, 1158 Springdale Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio. es Happy Birthday fill walders of Reccd Pencil m and 2/15/88 of the Yres meshel Samily years old Jan. 30, too Iam going to be twelve George XXX 1158 Springdale are youngstours Ohio es PSA Im 9-m February 20, 1935 My dear Miss Meadows: The President was much pleased to receive your friendly letter of January twenty-sixth and more than appreciates your kind thought in sending him the beautifully painted birthday greeting card. + 11 if 3'm 1 He asks me to convey his very best wishes to you. Very sincerely yours, M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY X pp7 9-P Miss Thelma M.C. Meadows, c/o M. C. Wisler, X Nevada City, California. es Read rent" House ail Menada City Calif, Hranklen Wo Has as Roosenelt January 1935. P.7. white Hocepe, q-m. Our Beloned President:- but wish here all in your friends a very Happy Birthday on you, shall fanuary continue 30th Hope on you in che best of health and may your optimism every one in these good he thouspered to each and red united States mgs the splendid workrobich are so thankfull for we all love you and 2. you home accomplished may God and your lead you ever light pach President find peace and and may you BurBelond Contentment at the end of chat path. and best wishes for your with all kind thought own dear self Roservect Rind regards, Ilam for Mrs. Mob. Mendows Meorda City, a Birthday Dooklet P.S. L handpainted Wister. Calif. for you and hapeyou should receive like it alright to paint a picture for you. Budley P.P.M. February 20, 1935 q-m. 9' My dear Mr. Misiti: The President has received your note of February sixteenth and asked me to thank you for your kindness in sending the picture to him. He appreciates your friendly interest. Very sincerely yours, Store Room M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Mike Misiti, Esq., 225 Mill Street, East Port Chester, Connecticut. mgs COPY February 20,1935. My dear Mr. Rook: Your letter of January twenty-eighth has been received and the President ap recistes your kind thought in sendinghim the copy of the publication "Han and Eggs" to which you refer. He is indeed grateful for your expressions of loyalty and support. By the President's direction, I an reforring your letter to the Federal Emergency Rolief /dministrator for consideration. Very sincerely yours, 11. A. LoHand Private Secretary Carl E. Book, En., FERA: Has a proposition to put 462 Almyra Avenue, in side walks and eliminate Youngstown, ditches on certain cuburban Chic. streets - the property owners to pay for materials and the FERA to furnish the Labor. Says side-walks are much meded as children on way to school have been hit by cars. Commende the Pros. on his ro- lief logislation bu: thinks the CWA has done the most good. SEE P.P.F. 9-R P.M am I p.p.7. a' m February 21, 1935 My dear Mr. McCormick-Goodheart: I am indeed grateful to you for the fine gift which you presented to me for my birthday. I did not have this picture - in fact, I had never seen it before - and I am particularly happy to have it, especially in such a delightful condition. Very many thanks. With my best wishes, Very sincerely yours, ad Mr. Leander McCormick-Goodheart, O.B.E., V.D., Langley Park, Silver Spring, Maryland. THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON Write nice note of thanks for the President's signature saying he has not got the picture - in fact, he had never seen it before and is particularly happy to have it, es- pecially in such delightful condition. He is very grateful for his thought of him and send best wishes. M. A. L. Leander Commercial Secretary shington, rvous L ather British Embarry ertain lic man dential rse printed nd Mrs. LANGLEY PARK SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND achd 2/21/35- ad Respectfully Hered, M? President, on the accasion of your Anthday January 30th 1935 em by Leanter m Commits- shington, rvous Candral ather ertain lic man Ssectary, Acitish Gulasay, dential rse printed Commander, R.N.V.R, whind, and Mrs. prt q-m m February 25, 1935. Respectfully referred to the Federal Emergency Rolief Administra- tor for consideration and acknowledg- ment. LOUIS McH. HOWE Secretary to the President em FERA - Let. from MARIE BLOSEL, 619 M St., Centralia, Washington, 2/14 - writer afflicted with lung trouble; is highly nervous and fears that if confined to a hospital it will harm rather than aid her condition; in need of financial help for certain foods, medicines and clothing. Keeps house for a Catholic man and has found consolation in that faith; encloses two idential bracelet-like articles of black beads and heart with verse printed on it. (Rosaries with note that they are for the Pres.and Mrs. Roosevelt - retained). Place on thy heart ROWN one drop of the Precious y Infant Jesus. BLOOD of JESUS its origin to the zeal of and fear nothing. p.p.7 q-m. erite of the Blessed Sacra- Religious, who died in the February 25, 1935 WORDS P.P.IX. OF at Beaune, France, May 26, 164 ears. Th daughter of St. Teresa was dis- tinguished for her devotion to the Holy Child Jesus. Her writings have received ecclesiastical approbation, and the cause of her beatification is now pending before the Holy See at Rome. Her "Life," written in French and English, has had extensive circulation, and been the means of attracting many souls to the practice of the ias received your let- virtues of the Sacred Infancy, of which her own saintly career was the faithful mirror. th and read it with Inspired from above, Ven. Marguerite of the Blessed Sacrament made a chaplet consisting of three Our Fathers in honor of the Holy Family, a to have the quirt to and twelve Hail Marys in memory of the twelve years of the Sacred Infancy of our divine Sa- than appreciates your viour. To this chaplet of lifteen beads is attached a medal of the Holy Infant Jesus. During the 50 it to him. lifetime of Ven. Sister Marguerite the chaplet received the approbation of Superiors, and on August 9, 1855, Pius IX. granted an Indul- sks me to convey his or your welfare and happiness. Very sincerely yours, Stre M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Ben C. Mayes, Esq., 603 Pulliam Street, San Angelo, Texas. LITTLE CROWN OR Chaplet of the Holy Infant Jesus. THIS devotion owes its origin to the zeal of the Ven. Sister Marguerite of the Blessed Sacra- ment, a Carmelite Religious, who died in the p.p.7 q-m odor of sancity at Beaune, France, May 26, February 25, 1935 1648, aged 27 years. This worthy daughter of St. Teresa was dis- tinguished for her devotion to the Holy Child Jesus. Her writings have received ecclesiastical approbation, and the cause of her beatification is now pending before the Holy See at Rome. Her "Life," written in French and English, has had extensive circulation, and been the means of attracting many souls to the practice of the virtues of the Sacred Infancy, of which her own saintly career was the faithful mirror. as received your let- Inspired from above, Ven. Marguerite of the Blessed Sacrament made a chaplet consisting of th and read it with three Our Fathers in honor of the Holy Family, and twelve Hail Marys in memory of the twelve years of the Sacred Infancy of our divine Sa- d to have the quirt to viour. To this chaplet of lifteen beads is attached a medal of the Holy Infant Jesus. During the than appreciates your lifetime of Ven. Sister Marguerite the chaplet received the approbation of Superiors, and on August 9, 1855, Pius IX. granted an Indul- go it to him. sks me to convey his very best wishes to you for your welfare and happiness. Very sincerely yours, Stre M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Ben C. Mayes, Esq., 603 Pulliam Street, San Angelo, Texas. gence of 300 days, applicable to the souls in purgatory, for its devout recitation. On the medal the following invocation is said. "Divine Infant Jesus, I adore Thy Cross, and I acceptall the crosses Thou wilt be pleased to send me. Adorable Trinity, I offer Thee for the glory of the Holy Name of God, all the adorations of P.P.7 q-m the Sacred Heart of the Holy Infant Jesus." Each " Our Father" and Hail Mary" is pre- February 25, 1935 ceded by the aspiration: "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us." On termi- nating the chaplet, say: " Holy Infant Jesus, bless and protect us." The Divine Infant revealed to His faithful servant how pleasing to Him is this holy prac- tice; He promised her that He would grant special graces, above all purity of heart and innocence, to all who carried the chaplet on their person and recited it in honor of the has received your let- mysteries of His holy infancy. As a sign of His approval, He showed her these chaplets ath and read it with shining with a supernatural light. Our Lord, likewise, revealed to Ven. Mar- guerite of the Blessed Sacrament that those who ed to have the quirt to piously recite it in memory of His abasements at Bethiehem, in Egypt and at Nazareth, would than appreciates your not fail to experience the divine assistance in their spiritual and. temporal.necessities. ag it to him. BENZIGER BROTHERS, NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO. asks me to convey his very best wishes to you for your welfare and happiness. Very sincerely yours, Stre M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Ben C. Mayes, Esq., 603 Pulliam Street, San Angelo, Texas. p p 7 9-m February 25, 1935 My dear Mr. Mayes: The President has received your let- ter of February seventeenth and read it with interest. He is delighted to have the quirt to which you refer and more than appreciates your kind thought in presenting it to him. The President asks me to convey his very best wishes to you for your welfare and happiness. Very sincerely yours, Stre Marry M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY Ben C. Mayes, Esq., 603 Pulliam Street, San Angelo, Texas. V Recca whit Sanangelo Jepas 2/25 ES achy -Q to President of usa February 17 1935 Franlin D Roosvelt Washington D.b. Dear President as 9 am an old wareout cowboy 9 know the good of Rawhide quirt 9 am sending you one so you will Bu and as you are in the stock Buisness Ready for the sping Roundups vice President John Sarner can tree you all Bunt it they are my own Make yours Bin b Mayes 603 Pulliam st Sanangelo Texas IS Raw for old age Pension me 71 years old prt March 4, 1935 qm) My dear Mr, Martin: The President is greatly pleased to receive the Indian arrow head which you were good enough to send him and asks me to tell you how much he appreciates your kind pizz q-A A thought. He sends you his very best wishes to Addians # for your welfare and happiness. Very sincerely yours, STae Room M. A. LeHand PRIVATE SECRETARY H. W. Martin, Esq., Talco, Texas. es Recidan V Indiana. Calo Talco Tea The Provident D ear Please Sir. old acept Man 14 this gift from born an and raised in years Telas your friend