I have many memories of Bill Fassett as he was kind of ‘family’
throughout the years.  One very interesting memory happened when he was
putting together the Dunseith History book.  I was at Bill’s house to
bring a few old pictures I had and as we were talking about old stories
from way back,  I mentioned a story I heard from Axel Johnson,  my dad’s
uncle.  Axel told me that they were still living at the original home
site on Horseshoe Lake and there was a neighbor named Carl Strand living
a quarter mile to the northeast on the shore of Sucker Lake.  Axel kind
of kept an eye out for the older guy and checked on him regularly to
ensure he was OK. Axel said there was a blizzard for a couple days and
when it quit, he didn’t see any smoke from Strand’s chimney so he walked
over to see if he was alright.  He knocked on the door but got no
response so he opened the door and went into a very cold house.  Carl
was sitting at the table beside the kitchen stove and appeared to be
sleeping so Axel went over and told Carl he had better get a fire going
or he would freeze to death.  Too late–he was frozen solid. Axel said a
couple guys from town came with a team and sleigh to get the body but
when they loaded him he looked very grotesque frozen in that position so
they went by the straw pile and covered him with straw to hide him from
anyone they might meet on the trail back to Dunseith.  That was the end
of Axel’s story as I knew it.  Bill smiled and asked if I wanted to here
the rest of the story?  His dad,  ‘Pappy’  Fassett, was one of the guys
who came after the body and hauled it back to town.  Bill said they got
to the back door of the funeral home and waited until nobody was
watching and then hurriedly carried Strand’s body in the back door.
They then had to go to the hardware and ‘borrow’ a water tank and fill
it with hot water to thaw out the body so it could be prepared for
burial.  Now we have the whole story because of Axel’s first part and
Bill’s finale.  I like it when these old stories can be corroborated by
comparison from two individual’s recollections.  It was sure interesting
to hear Bill tell it from the other end.  Thanks Gary!

Dick