Thursday, June 9, 2022 A Canadian Version: Walking The Red River Ox Cart Trail in 2022.

    “Let’s call Walter,” Chris Ostby of Bemidji, suggested to his oldest brother Shannon Ostby of Grygla as they tried calling people to aid the Doerksens in their dilemma. “Do you have his number?”

    We were standing on the road into Waterworth’s Wood Shop, just off the Pembina Trail near Viking, Minnesota, where Terry and Patty Doersken of Winnipeg and ‘Zik’ (zeke) their Shorthorn ox, were paused in the shade with their authentic Red River Ox Cart because of problems they were having; the cart’s wooden wheel spokes had begun to disengage from the hub; and Zik had become lame and was awaiting ox shoes ordered from Nova Scotia. All this only 160 miles into their 500 mile long journey to St. Paul.

    Doerksen’s trip started for me on Thursday June 2nd., when I received an excited phone call from my friend Floyd who had chanced upon these Canadians rolling past his place south of Strandquist, just as he was leaving his farm. He knew I would be interested in what the Doerksens were doing as my wife Jackie and I had participated in a similar historical activity with the Orlin Ostby family of Gatzke, Minnesota in 2008, celebrating Minnesota’s Sesquicentennial. Floyd said the Doerksens were heading on south toward Old Mill State Park to spend the night.

Orlin, assisted by his son Tom, arrives to Waterworth's Woodshop where the Doerksens had the opportunity to camp while they waited for their ox's new shoes.

Three of Orlin Ostby's sons were at Waterworth's Woodshop to meet the Doerksens and see their ox and cart from Winnipeg. Everybody was happy for Orlin to meet another Red River Ox Cart Trail driver. Orlin, his family, and friends walked the trail in 2008.

Orlin in wheelchair visits with ox driver Terry Doerksen

On right, Patty Doerksen, cools her heels in the shade of their RV as she visits with a family friend.

Zik (zeke) awaiting his new shoes luxuriated in knee-high grass he had all to himself.

Orlin meets Dave Hill, Editor of the Thief River Falls Times.

Terry talks to Orlin and Christopher about Zik's new shoes as others listen in.

All of us, except for Tom Thronsedt as he hadn't rejoined us by that time: Steve, Jackie, Orlin, Mandy, Catherine, Christopher, and Pum at Old Mill State Park in July of 2008.

 

    So the next morning, I sped off to find them, and maybe visit with Floyd. I knew from viewing his place, in Google Earth, it was tucked back off the road along the Tamarack River, so I took heart as I neared the area. Seeing the Pembina Trail Road sign, south off Marshall County Road 6, I stopped just past the intersection to scribble some notes before continuing west, and lo, discovered the Doerksens cart, ox, and camper parked there on the south side of the highway on what Terry later told me was an original part of the Pembina Trail! What luck!

    I turned onto the field crossing where they were parked. There was no one outdoors except the cud-chewing roan-colored ox, so respecting their privacy when I saw an open door in the camper and no one inside either, I approached warily, calling, “Anybody home?”

    Hearing no answer, but seeing a pair of empty boots inside the door, I took it as a sign they may be napping. I quietly backed away and slipped a bit of information about the 2008 walk and us under a windshield wiper of their camper and left the vicinity for an hour to leave them in peace while I went to look for Floyd’s place.

    Floyd was amazed to see me as my two attempts to reach him by phone had met an answering machine. We visited happily over a cold beer until it was time for me to leave and meet the Doerksens. I happened upon an old breath mint in my car; 'twas an oldie but a goodie.

    Terry and Patty had found the information I had left them and seemed eager to learn of our walk, all of which I was just as happy to share. The idea that Orlin, who lives in the Thief River Falls Care Center now, would be excited to learn of their walk, energized me. I had to remember not to do all the talking excited as I was to be learning of their walk, and seeing their reciprocation about wanting to hear of ours.

Steve Reynolds with Terry Doerksen of Winnipeg, Canada and his authentic Red River Ox cart on a leg of the original Red River / Pembina Ox Cart Trail in Marshall County, Minnesota.

 

    Terry Doerksen, a writer himself, wrote:  

“... Crossing the international border 12 miles east of Emerson isn’t that unusual. Many people – usually migrants or smugglers – have made use of the old Red River Trail crossing to enter or leave the United States. In fact, everyone who lives in the area knows that Al Capone used this hidden ‘Port of Entry’ to bring his bootleg whiskey from Winnipeg into prohibitionist USA.

“A guy who helped me in Minnesota said his family, living just on the American side, would leave their barn door open for Capone to enter with his wagon. By morning he’d be gone. “Did they just turn a blind eye?” I asked. “Oh no. They were on the take. Times were hard back then.”

“In the 1800’s ... the whole ‘international border’ concept and location were fairly nebulous. Passports and paperwork were unheard of ... But among those who have crossed on the Trail within the last century, my attempt would be different. I was trying to do it legally. The difficulty was not on account of authorities digging in their heels; everyone was quite enamored with the idea, but there was just no precedent.

“After innumerable phone calls to nine different parties on boths sides of the border, it was finally arranged that an American vet, Homeland Security, and Border Authority would meet Zik and I at the closest accessible road, 1/2 mile south of the border. The border authority even brought a sniffer dog – ostensibly to check for illicit imports, but I’m guessing he just wanted a good story to tell at the end of the day.

“All the humanity in uniforms with their protocols to complete didn’t take away from the fun I had in the actual crossing. Brent Chubaty, the landowner on the Canadian side, had gone the day before to flag my approach to the border, and cut a path through the new growth of trees. I had a chainsaw along to take out a couple of large trees that had fallen across the much clearer path on the American side. Patty walked with me as far she could (and a little further) to take some pictures. I have to admit it was quite a rush being on unaltered Red River Trail with cart and ox for the first time since 1870.

“Our biggest welcome to the United States came after the authorities had left. Terry Kent, the landowner on the American side, came ... to see if we needed anything. Then his daughter Danika, a farmer herself, brought us feed for Zik and some eggs to replace the ones that had been confiscated from Patty [who] had driven around through the Emerson/Pembina Port of Entry with the RV; she wisely decided to make a legal border crossing in the more conventional way.”

    Terry told me that they were walking the Red River Ox Cart Trail, in part, for its historical significance to the growth of both Winnipeg and St. Paul, as well as its idyllic opportunity to pray for both our countries, Canada and America, during these times of international turmoil.

    Thanks to ‘Carol’, the Thief River Falls Care Center’s Activities Director, 82-year old Orlin and his wife, Mandy, were able to meet the Doerksens at Waterworth’s. So did sons Christopher of Bemidji, Shannon and his wife Denise of Grygla; and Tom Ostby and his wife Kristie of Roseau. Unfortunately, Orlin’s daughter Catherine, who at 12 years of age, was on the 2008 walk, was unable to attend Wednesday’s event at Waterworth’s on such short notice, as was Orlin’s cousin Tom Thronsedt of Jamestown, who drove truck pulling the livestock trailer for the walk and provided comedic entertainment. My wife Jackie and I merely tried to keep up with their antics.

    Dave Hill, Editor of the Thief River Falls Times, came to interview the Doerksens at Waterworth's too. He had Doersken all to himself until all the Ostbys showed up en masse moments later. Jackie [Helms]was happy to see him, as she had worked for him at The Times eleven years and had long since retired; but doubted he recognized her since her all red hair had grown long and gray, eh. Watch for his story in the Thief River Falls Times

    Terry asked me if we had used ox shoes on Pum and was shocked that we did not, for Zik had started limping near Hallock twenty miles south of the border. Orlin had considered using plastic or steel ox shoes, but decided against it because of how they would be a disadvantage should Pum throw a shoe along the trail and create a real problem. Orlin decided that they would just closely watch where Pum had to walk; on the shoulders of roads, in gravel or dirt trails, and keep him from walking on stones on top of asphalt if at all possible.
 
    Terry said he had pushed Zik to make fifteen miles a day, (top speed at 1.5-2.0 mph) when the most Pum ever walked, as I recall, was ten miles. But in 2008, we walked the trail during the hottest summer since 1980 on 90+-degrees days. What beautiful weather Doerksens have! Nice cool temperatures in the forties and low sixties, so far!

    One real advantage Orlin had over Terry was Orlin’s intensive knowledge about cattle and horses. Terry said he was raised on a farm; knew how to milk a cow by hand, etc, etc; but it wasn’t as much of his life’s work as Orlin’s had been.

    Not wanting to overstay my welcome, I asked for the Doerksen’s telephone number and email address so we could stay in touch then left for home.

    Knowing what I do about our walk in 2008, I thought Terry and Patty seemed vulnerable to what lays ahead i.e., their plans entering St. Paul and surrounding cities traffic, in contrast to our walk in 2008. He has no supporting cast with him here in the U.S., although I understood him to say, someone was coming down from Canada to trailer the ox and cart as they neared St. Paul; for now, it’s just Terry and Patty the way it looks. Orlin had a cast of a ‘hundred’... many of Norwegian ancestry whom he spoke to in a thick Norsk brogue whenever the opportunity arose.

    Orlin had started their project five years before the walk; Terry jumped into it in two, thoroughly researching routes and places to stay in Canada along the trail; the U.S would prove another matter, but prayer, he was assured, would see them through -- and has so far. Orlin’s ox ‘Pum’ had been trained to work as a team with his brother ‘Kin,’ from the age of four days old; Zik was much older whenhe started out. Pum was socialized around humans; he walked in many parades and county fairs among crowds of people before the Pembina Trail walk. Zik, was used on a sleigh and pulled a cart last year attracting public attention wherever they went. Chris Ostby conjectured, Zik was beginning to be less friendly toward people than when they started out, maybe because of his ailing hooves,

    Terry said he rode on his cart for much of the way until Zik began having problems. Orlin preferred to walk. He persuaded Catherine and Jackie to ride a short distance in 2008 to give Catherine's foot a rest after she injured it one day, but she soon jumped down; Jackie felt better walking than riding too.
 
    Christopher was really Orlin's ox driver, and walking beside Pum, he used a goad stick to touch Pum’s shoulders, chest, and back to turn, or stop, or prod him. The ring in his nose was simply the emergency brake that I don’t remember ever being used. We all had turns driving Pum; he was a good soul. https://www.grandforksherald.com/newsmd/northwest-minnesotas-lovable-ox-pum-dies

    The Ostby clan are well known throughout the northern part of the state and Red River Valley for, I think, primarily their past draft horse teams; transitioning to driving oxen, for Orlin, was just natural. When he started the 2008 walk it generated Minnesota’s 150th Birthday publicity on radio and in newspapers. His cousin, Margit Bakke, created a blog about the walk to further the public’s knowledge about him on Google: https://pembinatrail.blogspot.com/ People poured out to assist us.

    Friends and family of the Ostbys stepped up for the Doerksens on June 8th, as they characteristically did for Orlin in 2008, when Terry needed someone to haul Zik to Greenbush, at very short notice, to get his ox shoes put on that evening, or else be delayed for an indefinite time until John Nygard, the farrier, could return from his assignment as a chaplain to Uvalde, Texas.

    Leaning down to talk to Orlin sitting in a wheelchair, Terry asked, “Did you have to do a lot of repairs on your walk too, Orlin?”

    Judging by the surprised look on Terry’s face when Orlin said “No,” I think Terry wished he had talked to eighty-two year old Orlin long before he started on his historical prayer quest.

    Mandy and her sons started brainstorming who they could call who would have a pickup and livestock trailer to haul Zik to Greenbush -- and the time to do it, as field planting here in NW Minnesota had been so delayed by rain. All the farmers were busy. Between their horse raising & showing days; their farming and 4-H activities throughout their lives, who did they know might be able to do it? Tick, tick, tick ...

    “Let’s call Walter Jones, “ Chris said. “He’d do it.”

    Amazingly, 18-year old Walter is the grandson of the late Delmer Hagen of Gatzke, who made the walk himself with ox cart and Shorthorn ox, ‘Napoleon,’ in 1958 for Minnesota’s 100th Birthday. Delmer encouraged Orlin, then eighteen himself, to make the walk fifty years into the future for Minnesota’s 150th birthday in 2008. Orlin encouraged Christopher (or Catherine) to make the walk in 2058 for Minnesota’s 200th Birthday to continue the tradition. Maybe Walter has the notion too.  

Walter's grandfather, Delmer Hagen and Napoleon 1958

    So naturally, Walter agreed to help.

 

Links to Doerksen's trip include:

Watch for Thief River Falls Times Editor Dave Hill's upcoming story.

Facebook: By Ox Cart Down The Red River Trail

https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/manitoba-man-begins-red-river-trail-trek-to-the-u-s-in-an-ox-cart-1.5908104

Dan Gunderson/Minnesota Public Radio
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2022/06/07/reliving-150-year-old-history-a-step-and-a-creak-at-a-time

Wannaskan Almanac / Wannaskawriter:
https://wannaskanalmanac.blogspot.com/