Whiteley Creek Homestead

Dick and I had a few days' gap in our bed and breakfast schedule, so we headed for Ely (Minnesota) near the Boundary waters Canoe Area with a stop in Grand Rapids to tour a logging camp. My goal in Ely was to research the CCC Camp where my father spent time in 1933 when he was 23 years old. (He died in 2004 at the age of 94 and was afflicted with alzheimers for the final two years of his life.) Since there were several CCC Camps in the northwoods at that same time, I wanted to discover which one he served in by locating a roster listing his name and then determine the camp's site. I had no reason to think that I would be successful… I just knew I must try.

A brief history lesson… The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a program established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression, to put unemployed men to work so they could support their families. Their task was to replant trees and grass in heavily logged areas because, at that time, the lumber industry was under no obligation to restore lands after harvesting lumber. In addition, the program's goal was to develop and improve the state parks system, which was in its infancy, by building picnic shelters, campgrounds, fireplaces, beaches, parking areas, log cabins, fire lookout towers, bridges, roads, hiking trails, canals, ditches, and dams. Their work provided the rustic look of parks that we know today. Most CCC Camps were abandoned when the U.S. entered World War II. In 1942, the CCC was officially disbanded and the buildings were dismantled and hauled away to be reassembled as Army barracks. 

Back to my research… My first stop was the Ely Chamber of Commerce where I was given a list of all the CCC Camps in the Ely area and their location designated by dots on a hand-drawn map. The Chamber personnel suggested I stop at the Ely-Winton Museum of Mining for further information. Enroute to the museum, I phoned my sister Marlene, who has done extensive family geneology, to ask her if she knew the camp's number. She told me that she seemed to recall the number 17 from an old photo. I ran through the list of camps… There were 10 in all, I think. Could it possibly be No. 711 since the other numbers weren't vaguely close to the number 17? She thought so. Upon arrival at the museum, an employee helpfully retrieved a well-worn paper bound compilation of information on all CCC Camps in Minnesota. Upon leafing through the book, I discovered a most wonderful treasure. There before my eyes was a "Roster of Company No. 711 Ely, Minn."  There was my father's name, Andrew L. Waltz Canby, Minn. (his birthplace), at the bottom of the 3rd column! (Click on the page to enlarge it and then reduce it to 75%.) 

So I now knew the name of his group. This provided the stepping stone I needed to search for the camp's location. Information uncovered at the Ely-Winton Museum of Mining showed that Company 711 was also known as "Portage River" and "F-8" on the map from the Ely Chamber of Commerce pinpointed the location in a gravel pit approximately 23 miles from Ely on a road that is still named the Echo Trail. The pieces were coming together. It was late afternoon when we set out on the 23-mile journey to find where my father had spent time as a young man. The map didn't prepare us for the snake-like curves that lay ahead and the hour it took us to get there. The pavement turned into dirt and the road less maintained. It seemed symbolic of turning back time as we drew closer to our destination. Our research indicated that we should look for a gravel pit. Sadly, we were so intent on searching for a "Portage River" sign, which we missed, and watching our odometer that we never saw the gravel pit. In hindsight, we do slightly remember passing a gravel pit, but it didn't register at the time. The sun was beginning to dip below the tree line when we concluded that we definitely were beyond where the camp might have been. We didn't want to risk being stranded after dark on that desolate road, so we decided not to back track but instead continue on down the Echo Trail where it intersected with a somewhat more travelled road. 

Seeing the gravel pit would have probably made me sad… much like returning to my grandparents' farmhouse 1/2 way between Brainerd and Pierz, after they both had died and new owners had abandoned the house to build a new structure next door. However, I will more than likely attempt to locate the gravel pit again… to stand where my father spent his early years so long ago. For now, I will remember what the camp looked like through old photos copied from the museum's tattered book that captured a short chapter in the lives of men who developed and preserved the park system that we know and enjoy today.

Yesterday Dick and I spent the afternoon at the Forest History Center in Grand Rapids (Minnesota), which is run by the Minnesota Historical Society. We toured a 1900 northern Minnesota logging camp that included a bunkhouse with rows of beds on each side and a potbelly wood stove in the center of the room, a blacksmith shop, horse stable, small general store where lumberjack clothing could be purchased, and my favorite… a large food prep/dining hall building. I think I've found my niche. The rows of wooden picnic-style tables are situated in front of where I am standing in the logging camp kitchen preparing potatoes, carrots, and onions for venison stew.    

Next comes prep for tomorrow's breakfast… "logging berries" (prunes) that are served each day and "sweat pads" (pancakes). 

Yesterday morning, after I served my guests breakfast and cleaned up afterwards, Dick and I grabbed a few overnight essentials and headed for Minneapolis/St. Paul to attend a 7:30 p.m. performance of "Church Basement Ladies A Second Helping" last evening at the Plymouth Playhouse. It was equally as entertaining as the original "Church Basement Ladies" we attended a year ago. The setting is 1969… three years later. It closes Nov. 1, 2009, so don't delay making plans to see it.

This morning, we headed to the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul near the Minnesota State Capitol to see "Minnesota's Greatest Generation" which is an exhibit that opened May 23, 2009 featuring stories of people during the Depression, World War II, and the post-war boom. Although all of the exhibits were so creatively, artistically, and professionally arranged and bursting with interesting information, I was especially drawn to ones that evoked childhood memories such as this store selling black and white TVs and offering "tubes tested free".

Wouldn't you love to recreate this colorful living room in your own house? The exhibit's floor is built to spin in a lazy susan turntable fashion to show the 1950s era kitchen on the other side of the wall, but it apparently wasn't working so I was only able to peek behind to see the the room that is just as sweet as the living room.

Besides "Minnesota's Greatest Generation", there are nine other exhibits at the Minnesota History Center that are equally as interesting so plan to spend the day there. The house in the photo below is part of the "Open House: If These Walls Could Talk" Exhibit. It follows 5o different families that lived in a St. Paul house over the span of 118 years. It seems like a huge number of families to have lived there but, after the original family moved across the street, they transformed the house into three rental apartments so three families resided there at the same time. As you walk through the home, the decor and furnishings change to reflect the passing decades and recordings of actual residents tell the story of the families who lived there. It was easy to imagine the birthday parties, the family dinners, the everyday bustle of activity that made it home for so many people.   

This "basement", where we sat through a simulation of one of two F4 tornadoes that hit Fridley, Minnesota on May 6, 1965 just over an hour apart, is one part of  the "Weather Permitting" Exhibit. It was a devastating storm that destroyed or damaged one out of every four homes in this Minneapolis suburb. The sounds of the howling roaring wind, breaking glass, and debris flying about outside were so realistic that it took every ounce of self-control to not claw at Dick sitting beside me and to supress a blood-curdling scream. The color of the "sky" outside the basement window turned a green color typical of severe storms and a tornado siren wailed. The walls shook and the radio sitting on the workbench came on with an announcer urging residents to take immediate cover. The oldtime television turned on after the storm had passed with actual footage of the tornado and residents retelling stories of the harrowing experience. It was the closest to experiencing the real thing as I care to ever relive.   

Adult admission is only $10.00 for access to all of the 10 exhibits. If you have a "Blue Sky Guide" Community Coupons Book, which offers grocery, dining, entertainment, health and style, travel and recreation, yard and garden, and home coupons for destinations in the Twin Cities Area, there is a coupon for 2 for 1 admission to the Minnesota History Center. (I received a Blue Sky Guide free at the Living Green Expo earlier this month since they are given out to the first 100 or so in line for the event. They normally sell for $20.00.) Pack a lunch, as there are tables to eat outside. The entire experience was such a fun way to spend an inexpensive day!