Koochiching County History

KOOCHICHING COUNTY HISTORY CONTINUED

TRANSPORTATION

Dog Team pulled International Falls-Ft. Frances
" Ferry" when Rainy River was frozen

Before the railroads and roads were built, the early pioneers who came to the county hiked over Indian trails or whenever possible made use of the lakes and rivers to reach their destination. The most common route was via Kenora, Ontario, and then by boat across Lake of the Woods and up the Rainy River to Koochiching Falls. Some of the steamboats that made regular trips with passengers, mail and freight are: the Shamrock, Chieftain, Keewatin, Keenora, Rover, Couchiching, Empress and many others. According to old records, thirty-nine boats had been used.

In 1901 a Rainy River steamboat the "Welcome" began to make voyages up the Little Fork River to serve residents along its banks. Later, the "Itasca" and the "Mud Hen", built for the Northern Navigation Company, also made trips to the village of Littlefork. Another vessel, the "Sea Gull" was only used on Rainy Lake. The transportation of passengers and freight by steamboats up the Little Fork ceased when the railroad reached Littlefork in 1907.

In 1901 the Canadian Northern Railroad (Canadian National) that was being built from Port Arthur, Ontario (Thunder Bay) to Winnipeg, reached Fort Frances. Thus those persons seeking to make their homes on the American side of Rainy River had another and more convenient means of travel.
In 1907, two logging railroads, one the Minnesota and International (M & I) a subsidiary of the Northern Pacific, with its origin at Brainerd, was completed to International Falls; the other, the Duluth, Rainy Lake and Winnipeg, was completed as far as Ranier. Its name has been changed to the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific.

Birchbark canoes made by Indians were first means of travel here

The Minnesota and International reached Big Falls in 1905 and was to be completed to International Falls. However, the Northern Pacific interests showed little enthusiasm for building the last thirty-four miles of track to the border city. Mr. Backus then organized the Big Fork and International Railway Company in 1906 and began to lay track from Big Falls north. Before that company completed its task, the Northern Pacific had a change of heart, took over, and finished the job. The M & 1 was later operated by the Northern Pacific and is now part of the Burlington Northern Railroad system.
To give the Backus interests access to both the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific and the Minnesota and International railroads the Minnesota, Dakota and Western (M. D. & W.) Railroad laid connecting tracks to both of those lines. The M.D. & W. was extended west from Nakoda on the M & I to Loman and was used for shipping timber to the mills in International Falls.
It was said to be Mr. Backus's dream that the MD & W Railway be extended west from Loman to the Dakotas to haul wheat to the flour mills to be erected in International Falls.
When the pioneers arrived there were just trails through the woods. As the population grew, the settlers in the townships began to build roads to the nearby villages and communities. The cost was paid for by the townships. In many cases the men donated their labor. The roads were narrow and practically impassable when it rained.
With the passage of the Elwell Road Law, the state began to help the counties finance road construction by paying one-half the cost providing the highway built met state specifications. The roads were maintained by the county. Under this law roads numbered 5, 9 and 24 were built. Number 5 began at International Falls and went west to the junction and then south to Northome and the Itasca County line. Number 9 began at the border city and south to the St. Louis County line and number 24 began at the Pelland Junction and west along the Rainy River to the Beltrami County line now Lake of the Woods.
The Babcock Amendment to the constitution provided for a state highway department to be administered by a Commissioner of Highways appointed by the governor, designated certain roads as state highways, stipulated that all state highways be constructed and maintained through the State Highway Department, that all motor vehicles be licensed by the state at a fee set by the legislature and only used for highway purposes. The state legislature passed a law providing for tax on all gasoline sold for use in motor vehicles. The state tax on gasoline will be seventeen cents per gallon after January 1, 1984. Of the monies now collected from the motor vehicle license fee and the tax on gasoline, 69% goes to the state, 29% to the counties and 9% to cities having a population of over 5,000.


"Seagull" — hardworking steamboat operated by Joe Lloyd plied Rainy Lake, hauling supplies for miners and homesteaders.

train at Littlefork depot in early years of M&I	Falls to Bemidji Bus of 1920

Eight-car passenger train pulls up to International Falls Station — 1908

There are two federal highways serving the county: Number 53 south from International Falls to Duluth and Number 71 south to the Iowa Border. U.S. Highway 71 was Minnesota Highway No. 4 often referred to as "old No. 4."
The state maintains six highways in the county. They are: No. 11 beginning at Black Bay on Rainy Lake and west along the Rainy River and ends at the North Dakota Border; No. 65 south through the Nett Lake Indian Reservation and to Minneapolis; No. 6 south from Big Falls to Deer River and ends at the Junction of State Highway No. 18 near Mille Lacs Lake; No. 217 from Littlefork to Ray connecting U.S. Highways 71 and 53; No. 1 giving the southern part of the county an outlet east to Lake Superior and west to the North Dakota line; No. 46 from Northome south connecting U.S. Highways 71 and 2; No. 332 skirting International Falls and South International Falls, connecting U.S. Highway 71 with Minnesota Highway 11 and is referred to as the "Truck Route."
All of the federal and state highways in the county are hard-surfaced except for a short distance of No. 65. Some improvements are being made every year. In 1920 it took almost a day to travel by car from Northome to International Falls, now a little over an hour.
The county also has a good highway system. Many of its roads are wide, hard-surfaced and difficult to distinguish from the federal and state highways. Those not blacktopped are graveled and regularly maintained.
There is daily bus service between International Falls and the Twin Cities via Duluth over U.S. Highways 53 and 35.
Since 1946 the airways have become an important means of travel in the border area. The Falls International Airport located just outside the city limits of South International Falls is one of the finest in the state. Large jets can land on its runways. A modern, air terminal building was completed in 1979 to replace the old structure. The terminal also houses the U.S. Weather Bureau; The Crash-Fire-Rescue Vehicle, snowplows and other vehicles are kept in a separate building at the airport.
Republic Airlines has three flights daily in and out of the airport to Hibbing, Duluth and the Twin Cities during the summer months, two in the winter. The airport is the third busiest in the state during the summer. Many private individuals and a number of corporations that have their own planes use the airport for business and recreational travel.
For the sportsperson who wishes to take fly-in hunting, fishing or sight seeing trips on either side of the American or Canadian side of the border, there are Bohman Airways, Inc. with a seaplane base on Rainy Lake and Einarson Brothers Flying Service with its headquarters at the Falls International Airport. Rainy Lake Airways Ltd. and Rusty Meyers Flying Service operate from the Canadian side.

AGRICULTURE

There are approximately two million acres of land in the county. Much of it is suitable for agriculture but so far, most of the land is producing timber. Most of the land that has been developed for farming is in the Caldwell Brook, Little Fork, Big Fork, Sturgeon, Black, Rapid and Rainy River valleys.

Charley Grundmeir (Warren Twsp) Making Hay — 1919

A number of disastrous forest fires destroyed hundreds of acres of timber, farm buildings, livestock and lives. The fires, destructive as they were, made it possible for the settlers to clear large tracts of land. In places where the peat has been burned off the land, it is now used for farming.
Much of the agricultural land in the county is especially suitable for grazing. Hay grasses and clover grow abundantly. Many farmers are raising beef cattle profitably which at present is more extensive than dairy farming. There are a few flocks of sheep. Horses are being raised for riding.
Some farmers have done well financially raising alfalfa and clover for seed. Most of the crops raised are hay, small grains, corn and potatoes. A few are experimenting with wild rice and sunflowers. A number have combined their farming operations with logging. In the southwestern part of the county, dairy herd replacement stock is being raised.

Farming in the county is following the national trend. The farms are becoming larger, the small farms are disappearing.
Before the regulations for selling milk became so restrictive, almost every farmer owned milk cows and sold cream. Creameries were in operation at International Falls, Littlefork, Loman and Northome. There are now two classes of dairy farms: Class A qualifies the farmer to sell milk, Class B only permits the milk to be used for home consumption or fed to animals. The Class A dairy farms are in the vicinities of Littlefork and Ray. The milk from those farms is being purchased by a large creamery in an adjoining county. All the creameries in the county have been closed.
Thousands of acres of land that were once owned by the settlers are no longer used for raising farm crops or grazing. During the 1960s many land owners put their fields into the "Soil Bank", a federal program whereby the owners were paid for letting fields on which agricultural crops had been raised, remain idle. This program took many acres of farm land out of production. Some of it still is. The Boise-Cascade Company purchased a considerable number of farms for reforestation. Sports persons have purchased some farm property for hunting and other recreational pursuits. Some of the land has reverted to the state for non-payment of taxes. A few farms have been sold to individuals who do not till the soil but prefer living in a rural setting.

O.J. Wold, Ray area pioneer, tilled his land with 3 oxen — Tom, Dick and Jerry.

THE JUDICIAL DRAINAGE DITCHES

The Minnesota Legislature passed the Judicial Ditch Law in 1909. This law provided that an individual who wanted his land drained, could request the district court to order the county to have the drainage ditch dug if the court was convinced that there was a definite need for the ditch. The county was required to assume the expenses for the ditch dug.
Shortly after the county was organized, public opinion favored a ditching project to drain the low lying areas in the county to make the land suitable for agriculture and habitation. Judicial Ditch Number One was dug in Dentaybow Township (T-66-N,R-25-W). Other townships where Judicial Ditches were dug are: Townships 66 and 67 North, Range 26 and 27 West, northeast from Big Falls; Townships 70 North, Range 23 and 24 West, south from International Falls and Ranier; Townships 68 and 69 North, Range 25, west from Littlefork; Townships 69 North, Range 23 and 24 West, south from Ericsburg; Townships 156 and 157 North, Range 25 West, north from Big Falls and west from Lindford and Townships 154 through 160 North, Range 27, 28 and 29 West; in the western part of the county was where most of the ditches were dug. Today, about 75% of the area is uninhabited.
Note: State Ditch No. 60 was dug in Townships 69 North, Range 24 and 25 North, which lies several miles north and east from Littlefork. The State Ditch differs from the Judicial Ditches in that it was paid for by the State of Minnesota. State ditches may have been dug in other areas in the county.
The ditching project began shortly after the law was passed. Most of the judicial ditching was done from 1913 through 1917. The project was abandoned in 1919 when three residents of the county made a request to the district court to discontinue the project. Bonds were issued by the county in the approximate amount of $1,435,000.00 to pay for the cost of the ditching, a tremendous financial burden for the tax payers to bear.
The ditches were generally dug at two-mile intervals in both north-south and east-west directions. Large tracts of the ditched lands are unfit for agriculture. However the ditches did provide drainage for many acres of farm land west from Birchdale along the Rainy and Rapid Rivers as well as for the farm lands in the Lindford and Ericsburg areas. It is interesting to note that in recent years some of the farmers have requested the county to share in the expense of cleaning out the ditches.
Many of the ditch grades were leveled and made into roads giving the settlers access to the interior of the county and in a number of areas, large farms were developed. In some of the outlying areas the ditch-grade roads are used for recreation and hauling timber. Several of our hard-surfaced, county highways were ditch grades at one time.
The ditching project, the construction of the jail and court house, the building of roads and high tax delinquency all contributed to the county going deeply into debt. Through special legislation the State of Minnesota took over the payment of the county ditch bonds in the 1930's in exchange for a large tract of land in the western part of the county which was designated a game preserve.

Ditching machine on the job. Dozens of them operated in the county between 1913 and 1917.

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