I got a phone call from a musician the other day that quite surprised me. He had gotten my name from Virgil Benoit, an old friend from Red Lake Falls, Minnesota. Virgil offered me his help writing art grants. Our paths have crossed many times in the interim, especially at Old Crossing Treaty Park He had asked the musician to write a song for the upcoming 2026 Chautauqua and, for some reason given him my name as a reference to ox cart trails and whatever else I could provide history wise, I guess. How I came to meet Virgil came up in our conversation; me being in one of my more rare babbling moods in various subjects that I know a little about, and this tomb, albeit greatly reduced in size, was one of them.
In the spring of 2008, Virgil invited me to Univ. of Minnesota / Crookston to participate in his Minnesota Sesquicentennial project:
Treaty at Old Crossing
Reflections, Writings, and Responses to the 1863 Treaty, Notes, and Dialogue.
Frankly, I struggled with it -- for days. I wrote several pages of drivel before I finally just went outdoors to build a fire. I needed a total break from all the dates and years of treaty documents, tribal official names, and places etc, etc, etc ... that, although I found the subject interesting, it seemed beyond me. What was I supposed to say that wasn't obvious?
So I just started writing what was in my head and called it good enough.
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