From Fargo, South Dakota

And then there was Fargo. The following pictures were taken at a wonderful historical society museum. It was spread over a large tract of land at the West Fargo Fair grounds. The pictures area as follows:

1. A restored 1890's mail wagon

2. The entrance to Bonanzaville

3. The church at the end of the street which is still used today for special events

4. Lee and Judi enjoying a "ride" in an early 1900 rail car

5. All forms of transportation put Gerry to sleep

6. A snow plow that is pushed by the train engine (notice Judi standing beside it!)

7. We were amused by this sign posted in one of the train cars.

8. A North Dakota Homesteader's cabin

9. A volunteer doing the wash. Notice the wind which is relentless

10. Volunteer Naomi Anderson and Gerry.

11. Rosemeade Pottery that was made near Fargo

12. Ladies room display cabinet

After a trip to the post office and UPS this morning we headed to Fargo. We pulled onto I29, set the cruise control at 75 and didn't pause until we reached Fargo143 miles later. Talk about a straight road! We passed the time trying to guess the 25 top stories in the last 25 years according to USAToday. Judi and I were pretty good but Lee did have to give a few hints.

Lee suggested that we go to Bonanzaville which she had read about in the guide books and she had a vague notion of what a Bonanza farm was. I was sure we were headed for some North Dakota version of Wally World! We drove into the parking lot and there were a few cars but we didn't see Chevy Chase. Turns out it is the home of the Cass County Historical Society . If anyone wants more information go to http://www.bonanzaville.com/. We got hungry at one point and ran down the street to a Subway and back to enjoy more of the facility.

There are many buildings located on the site which have been moved from other locations including the very pretty chuch in the pictures. Each structure was open and we wandered in and out of the train shed, depot, general store, tractor barn, school, homesteader's cabin, just to name a few. In the museum we watched a video on Bonanza farms which were common in the area in the late 1890's. These were very large tracts of land which were bought by investors, and large crews of men were hired at planting and harvesting time. There was an almost military like organization with division managers, crew bosses, and laborers. This led to large groups of itinerant workers showing up a couple of times a year. The railroads looked the other way as hoboes riding the rails came the area.

The Red River of the North which floods almost every year created a very fertile valley and this is where bonanza farms were located. They produced bumper crops of wheat for over ten years, causing the price of wheat to drop. After that length of time the land also became tired and an economic depression occured. This spelled the end of the bonanza farms. Small farms came back into fashion and some of the wealthy investors lost their shirts. The comunities had also grown tired of all the itinerant workers who came and then hung around when they were no longer needed on the fams. The age old story!

Another thing that struck us was the ease with which you could get close to all the displays. The bottom picture is a display in the modern ladies room in the museum. Why don't all these things walk out the door? Vandalism? What's wrong with the people in North Dakota? Are they civilized?

We found all this fascinating and the village the historical society has created well worth the stop. They will be closed in another month and the only other group here was a Public History class from the University of South Dakota. There is a degree students can obtain in Public History and find work in museums. We could use some of these people in Watsonville!

Finally got t0 the motel, went to a brew pub for dinner, did laundry, wrote the blog and now headed for bed! Minneapolis and Debi Rechnagles tomorrow night. No wireless connection there, so "talk" to everyone in a couple of days.

Love, The Gotta Go Girls.

P.S. for Jerry C. : Minnesota photo op finally dawned in Fargo. Weather news is our top story. Did the General say anything of import today?

P.P.S.: Hope the photos are in order. They weren't last night! I'm still learning how to use this program!