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| Sam's Resort on Lake Edna Nisswa, Minnesota |
PostCard Talk DPO Pequot, Minn.
There is a special place for me in Northern Minnesota which holds some of the best memories I have from the past. This summer my husband and I were able to relive one of the memories when we stayed at Fritz's Resort in Nisswa, Minnesota, the property purchased from my Grandfather, Sam (Samuel, Simon) Wakaruk. I think the best memories of the few times at Sam's Resort that I can recall due to my young age are when my brother and I would go down to the resort's dock on Lake Edna and feed dried bread crumbs that came out of a bag in the boathouse to the little sunnies and crappies that Grandpa Sam had trained the fish to expect.The resort, run now by Fritz's son and his family, is far different than when Sam maintained his 'fishing resort,' being mostly for campers, and I didn't mind that. We did, however, stay in one of the original cabins, which mostly I also slept in as a young child. The hospitality of the resort owners, Richard and Jane Geike, was helpful, kind, and friendly, and I think that even without having emotional ties to the place I would not hesitate to book another reservation.
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| Boathouse in 1951 at Sam's Resort Sam Wakaruk walking along the shoreline of Lake Edna. |
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| Same boathouse in 2012 at Fritz's Resort on Lake Edna Nisswa, Minnesota  at Sam's Resort on Lake Edna, Nisswa, Minnesota. |
Just five miles north on Highway 371 is the town of Pequot Lakes, and the cabin on Sibley Lake where we spent a lot more time over many years, after my widowed mother married again. There are so many good experiences that I can recall. And though the old musty cabin is gone, along with its 'honeymoon' suite that had a window looking into the kitchen, a curtain for a door, and an ancient iron bed with mattress that leaned always to the middle, among the other family inside jokes, the memories that helped shape who we are today will live on.
Pequot Lakes in its early years was associated with a few other names according to Crow Wing County history: Frogtown, Sibley, and also the single word, Pequot. The town may have usually been called Pequot Lakes, but in regard to postal history the town was simply, Pequot, until some time in 1940, which is when the 'Pequot' postmark ceased to exist, and was replaced by Pequot Lakes. The day after the last cancel, Pequot became what is known as a DPO, or Dead Post Office.
DPOs, as they are called, are an option for a topical postal collection. You will find DPOs on envelopes and postcards. I happen to prefer postcards with a clear postmark and message, with the photo being of equal or lesser importance. For me, envelopes with letters inside, particularly what are called mourning covers, run a close second in interest, and overall I lean toward postals originating in a select group of Midwestern States.
Over the years I have accumulated a few DPOs, and just the other day I noticed in my collection a few Pequot, Minnesota, postmarks, which were in existence form 1896 to 1940.
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| First Island, Sibley Lake, Pequot, Minn. ca. 1910-1919
Here is First Island on Sibley Lake in what was then known only as Pequot. And actually at that time the property around the lake where our cabin was located was outside of the town proper. My recollection from rowing back and forth on the 3 mile long, narrow lake, is that there was one island only, and this island was in the approximate middle of the 3 miles outside of the bay where our cabin, then owned by my stepfather's father, was located. This island, if it is the one island and by what I see it very well could be, was also known as Goat Island, for the fact that someone would remove their goat or goats to the island for the summer to feed on the vegetation--and without the worry of keeping the goat from wandering away.
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| Dear Monson--card received glad to hear from you again. Am at Pequot in a car started for Bemidji a week ago Saturday but was called back when I reached Hackensack. Think I'll be up this week Thursday. Love from C. Bergren.
The top speed of the average car in 1915 was around 40 to 45 miles per hour. If our postcard writer, C. Bergren, was able to go the 80+ miles from Pequot to Bemidji on the two lane roads cleared through the pine forests in Northern Minnesota, that would a little over two hours. We have no clear idea as to why Bergren returned south to Pequot from Hackensack, and that is a mystery for speculation--not enough gasoline to fuel the car the whole way and not a good place to buy more? Was someone sick, or was there car trouble? If there was car trouble, our writer might have gotten the car serviced in Pine River if the dealership there is that long standing, and then stayed in Pequot with a friend or family, not needing to pay for a hotel. Was the writer a man, since it is more likely for a man to address someone by their last name. If it was a man, it is not typical to sign off with 'Love' unless Miss Sophia was his sweetheart.
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| Addressed to Miss Sophia Monson, Bemidji, Minn., (Box 432)
It is interesting to note that Miss Sophia Monson has a post office box, since most towns in Northern Minnesota are smaller than what many people call a small town. The 1910 census shows Bemidji as having a population of approximately 5,000 people, then as now the largest town in the northern portion of the state.
Though the date is not completely present, the year may be 1912 because of the stamped line at the lower edge of the number one. The month begins with an A, and I am speculating that the date is April 22, not August 22.
Lastly, the photograph over time has maintained good color, yet the lake is either still covered with a coat of ice, which is possible, or the water has been enhanced in some way. A close up of this type was either taken from a boat or with a zoom lens--were there zoom lenses in 1912?
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This article written by Mary Katherine May of QualityMusicandBooks.com.
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